FRIDAY NIGHT DRAMA: Her Legend

This week’s I was feeling a little melodramatic so I’ve decided this weekend’s drama to marathon should follow suit, which is why I decided to feature Her Legend as this week’s Friday Night Drama. 

Originally airing on JTBC from August – October 2013, Her Legend follows the story of a plucky and talented designer, Eun Jung Soo (Choi Jung Won) and her quest to make a name for herself in the luxury handbag industry. After losing her mother to cancer at a young age, Jung Soo is taken in by a practically unknown uncle and reluctantly raised by he and his wife. Between the jealously of her cousin, Eun Kyung Hee (Son Eun Seo) and the resentment of her aunt, Jung Soo’s life is fairly miserable until she happens to meets Woo Do Young (Kim Hye Sun) and an interesting relationship between the two develops. Sympathetic to Jung Soo’s rather miserable situation and unable to have children of her own, Woo Do Young convinces her husband they need to adopt Jung Soo but a tragic twist of fate makes that impossible. Years later Do Young returns to make good on her promise to adopt Jung Soo but the schemes of her jealous aunt and cousin ruin Jung Soo’s chances for happiness for good. Time passes and Jung Soo accepts that some things are just not meant to be but that doesn’t mean she’s given up on trying to make her dreams come true.

Landing at job at Shinhwa Company, Jung Soo is on a mission to make a name for herself in the luxury handbag industry and she’s got the talent to do it but fate doesn’t let anything come easy for Jung Soo. Finding herself on the wrong side of Shinhwa Company’s heir, Do Jin Hoo (Kim Jeong Hoon), Jung Soo has a long way to go, if she’s ever going to succeed at Shinhwa but she does have Jin Hoo’s rival, Kang Min Ki (Park Yoon Jae) on her side. To complicate matters even more, Kyung Hee returns after years abroad and her jealous rivalry with Jung Soo continues. With so many obstacles to overcome Jung Soo has her work cut out for her but she’s determined to make the best of every situation and sets out to prove that with hard work and dedication, you really can make your dreams come true.

Leaning heavily towards the melodramatic, Her Legend is one of those dramas that slowly draws you in and before you really know what’s happening, you find yourself hooked. There’s a whole lot of back-story with this one, which is essential when you’ve got characters whose lives are as intertwined as these, but it means working your way through three episodes of tragic history before you can actually dive into the story at hand. The upside of having so much back-story right up front, is knowing exactly where each character is coming from, it’s easy to see where they’re going and that makes getting involved in the story that much easier because you already know who you’re cheering for and who you want to see get pushed off a cliff. (I’m looking at you Kyung Hee!)

While the melodrama in Her Legend can get to be a bit much, there’s a fair amount of romantic comedy thrown in which makes dealing with the crazy, a bit easier to handle. Being the sucker for a good “hate turned to love” relationship that I am, I found the blossoming relationship between Jung Soo and Jin Hoo to be fun and adorable and I really couldn’t get enough of them. Jin Hoo is such a spoiled brat, you know he’s going to learn a lot from the hardworking Jung Soo and it’s watching Jung Soo’s influence on Jin Hoo that really makes me smile. I just love it when the lazy good-for-nothing heir grows into a responsible adult, all because he fell in love with a good girl and this time is no exception. Of course, as is the case in any drama, there’s a whole lot of opposition to this relationship, mostly because there are meddling relatives galore but that doesn’t keep our OTP from getting things worked out by the end.

If you’re looking for a drama with well-developed characters, a decent story-line and enough twists of fate to make your head spin, Her Legend is one you should definitely watch. There’s enough sweetness to balance out the bitter and a plucky heroine who reminds us that anything’s possible if we’re willing to work hard and never give up. It’s a drama I enjoyed watching and I think you will too which is why I’m recommending it for your weekend drama to marathon. Just don’t forget to come back and tell me what you thought of it once you’ve watched it; I’d like to know I wasn’t the only one plotting Kyung Hee’s demise!