Greetings! India AKA Drama Debussie here humbly joining Zombie Mamma on this 20-episode journey that is called Iron Man. Let’s jump right in shall we?
Thank goodness we have our Wookie back! Sure, we may have seen him a mere two months ago when Hotel King ended, but it can never hurt to see Lee Dong Wook so soon, now can it? Especially in a series like Iron Man that already strikes me as fast-paced and quirky which seems to be the place where Dong Wook shines even brighter. Depending on the vision for this show, that combination could result in a hot mess, but the first two episodes were surprisingly funny so I’m choosing to stay optimistic.When I say funny, I mean laugh out loud funny which was a product of its speed and quirkiness. This show is right up my alley.
These first two episodes were mainly used to set-up the different stories that we will likely be following for the length of the show. Something I appreciate seeing that we don’t have to spend episode after episode trying to figure out what storyline we should be following. Who has time for that?!
So far it’s been pretty simple: rich boy meets poor girl who reminds him of his first love and hilarity/insanity ensues. I know what you’re thinking, ‘How the hell is this different from any other drama we’ve watched?’ First of all, that’s rude. Secondly, maybe I’ve simplified this just a little too much.
Sensitive smelling, wealthy man-child, Joo Hong Bin, whose ill-temperament causes him to grow sharp blades from his body and unknowingly controls the weather with the same ill temper meets a poor, optimistic, young woman, Son Se Dong, who wants to buy back her company from Hong Bin after it was sold to him without her permission or knowledge. Hong Bin makes contact with her first after he notices that she shares the aroma as his first love, Kim Tae Hee.
No, not THAT Kim Tae Hee.
Now, have things gotten a little less simple for you? I haven’t even mentioned his heavily involved secretary, housemaid, and seemingly cruel father. Because what’s a drama hero without parental issues, right?
The dynamic between the characters are already intriguing.
Se Dong plays the relative sane one in this world that is led by Hong Bin who is the unquestionable leader of craziness. While she does find herself sucked into the ridiculous goings on, she’s able to keep an objective perspective due to her knowledge of how cold the world can be which puts her in a sympathetic position where she’s expected to fix, well, everything.
She’s the nurturer for everyone yet she has no one on which she can lean. This may explain why she’s become the caretaker for her company’s now unemployed flower boys, the adorable but traumatized young boy that was dropped in her life, and, soon, Hong Bin. Not a bad gig if you can get it. Her life is basically Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but if the story was written by someone who’s hallucinating after eating mushrooms.
Hong Bin and his father…wow. That would take a lifetime of therapy and maybe a few appearances on Iyanla Fix My Life to fix. Of course in the dramaverse we only have so much time. Nothing too abnormal here, drama wise. Father disapproves of son’s first love because she doesn’t come from an affluent family so he forces them apart. Something tells me there was tension before the first love, but we haven’t gotten there yet. There’s also Hong Bin’s younger brother (played by the Lee Joo Seung who I loved in High School King!) that he didn’t want to claim publicly but was willing to protect him when his father scolded him for fighting. Their family reunions must be tons of fun.
Even with all of these mysteries, one involving the little boy who may or may not be Hong Bin’s son with the first love that ran for the hills, the biggest mystery are Hong Bin’s abilities. What the hell are the blades about? And why does his anger bring rain?
It’s not like we haven’t seen dramas with characters that have supernatural powers (i.e. ANY drama featuring gumihos), but this is a little different. I’m hoping as we explore more of this series it won’t get so off-the-wall that it becomes hard for us to suspend reality. That’s a talent that every drama fan must rely on heavily but the limits of that suspension should not be tested if they want us to keep watching.
What were your first impressions of Iron Man? Let me know in the comment section below!
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Iron Man Episodes 1-2 [Part 1] [Part 2]
I’ve just convinced myself that this drama is meant as a parody and that’s why it’s so over the top otherwise I can’t see how any of this is meant to be taken seriously. I am very curious about Chang though, what happened to Kim Tae Hee and why did that Eliza chick have him?