Of travels, food hunts and korean entertainment: Drama Review

Search: WWW is about 3 successful ladies in 2 rival portal engines who are trying their best to beat their respective rival companies while protecting what values are important to them. Throw in some wonderful friendships (new and old) and romance, and it's a complete k-drama.

Wow what a breath of fresh air of a drama. Centred on 3 females, all in powerful positions in their respective workplaces, and all complex and layered in their own way.

The main character, Bae Tami was such a wonderful reflection of many women in society now - in secure positions at work with no desire for marriage. I really liked that she was truly capable at work. And while her personal beliefs weighed down the main romance a lot, I really liked that they truly explored this very relevant issue in current society and that they never gave any "tragic" reason behind her wish to not get married. I guess it particularly resonates with me because I have quite a few friends who also do not believe in and do not want marriage, but may just go through with it for the convenience and insistence of elders. Park Morgan was just too sweet to be true, and Jang Ki Yong, while very charming and handsome, was obviously very green next to all his experienced co-stars.

Song Ga Gyeong (Jeon Hye Jin) was the most wonderfully complex character of the show. Her constant straddling between the moral boundaries was fun to watch, and everyone cheered when she finally stood up to her mother in law. (And I love the big bad was also female!) Her relationship with her husband, Jin Woo, was also intriguing, as they were not an ordinary couple yet obviously respected each other and eventually grew affection for each other.

But Cha Hyun/Scarlett was without a doubt my favourite character - she's capable, badass, loyal and has the best fashion. Lee Da Hee has grown so much since her first few breakthrough roles in I Hear Your Voice and Secret. She won all the fangirls after this show with good reason. Her romance with "her actor" Seol Ji Hwan was made of marshmallows and rainbows and provided the fluff compared to the very heavy main couple.

Her friendship with Tami was such a joy to watch as they grew from rivals to coworkers to friends who even hang out together after work! My definition of friendship is when people meet up of their own volition, outside of the circumstance that made them close (eg. school or work). Their begrudging growing closeness with Cha Hyeon always calling Tami cute, while constantly bickering, was always a hoot to watch.

And I refuse to believe that her relationship with her beloved sunbae was nothing more than respect and friendship - the way their scenes were filmed and the back story clearly hinted that they were more than mere sunbae-hoobae, and even till now, they were the only ones who could affect each other like that. We saw how much Hyun's disappointed look affected Ga Gyeong where she was contemplating the meaning of her existence, Hyun believed that her sunbae would make the right choice till the end, and Ga Gyeong gave up her CEO position because she couldn't bear to disappoint Hyun again. They would literally give up their dreams and life to save each other. Best love story right there.

Best love triangle ever.

The writing was solid, and I particularly loved that many of the subplots were so relevant to our current reality (eg. the manipulation of search rankings, a consistent topic in korea, or the marriage debate), and even one liners said by characters like the one by TaMi in one of the first few episodes about referring to a coworker's 'partner' instead of girlfriend as she did not know his orientation or the one by Cha Hyeon about not judging what 'normal' is. So progressive.
The directing and cinemtaography is interesting in this show - because sometimes I loved it (best example was the Hyeon & JiHwan kiss scene), and sometimes I really hated it (those close ups and blurry effects!) The OST was used appropriately and Search and Wow will never fail to make me feel powerful haha.

I picked up this drama because I saw quite a lot of buzz on the net about it, so I was really surprised that the viewer ratings weren't that great. It's a great solid drama with interesting takes on modern issues and 3 gorgeous and successful women at the forefront. Definitely worth watching, if only for the awesome fashion and the most satisfying ending.