Early Access: Lost E1 (Patreon)

E1. I know this show doesn't look super appealing at first glance, but I hafta say, this one feels pretty promising, right off the bat.

In broad strokes, it reminds me of My Mister, and I consider My Mister a masterpiece that all drama fans should watch, if possible.

Similar to My Mister, this one feels rather melancholic at first glance, and when we meet them, our two main characters are struggling quietly with their own desolation. Also similar to My Mister, our two leads are different on the surface in many ways, but at the heart of it, they are similar, in that they are both lonely and dealing with varying degrees of hopelessness in their lives.

At the heart of our story, similar to My Mister, it feels like we - and our characters - will be grappling with the idea of what it means to be human, and I'm hopeful that, similar to My Mister, our characters will find solidarity and strength in each other, as we get deeper into our story.

Certainly, this isn't a redo of My Mister by any means; it's clear that this show is its own creature. And I like that; I like that Show manages to feel so much like its own beast in so many ways, despite kinda-sorta looking like it could be related to My Mister.

I have to say that so far, I'm very much enjoying the amped up slice-of-life vibe that Show is serving up. After the theatrical ostentatiousness of The Devil Judge, this feels like we're taking a magnifying glass to the mundane and everyday, and it's rather refreshing, at least for me.

Both of our lead characters feel like they are in good hands. Right away, it's apparent that both Jeon Do Yeon and Ryu Joon Yeol are putting in restrained yet nuanced performances, and this bodes very well, for the rest of the episodes to come. I mean, if we're getting such solid, earthy performances in just our pilot, imagine the potential for when we get to meatier stages of our story.

I'm intrigued by Ryu Joon Yeol's character Kang Jae, in that he already feels a bit like a bundle of contradictions. Sometimes he comes across as detached and nonchalant, to the extent that he seems aloof, but then, he'll do something caring, like deciding to hold a funeral for the friend who borrowed 40 million won from him and then committed suicide, even though he's now really tight for money, or calling friends to persuade them to come to the funeral, or giving Bu Jeong, who's pretty much a stranger to him, an expensive handkerchief so that she can wipe her tears and not ruin her clothes.

There's a distinct sense of melancholy about him, though, even as he makes these kind gestures. It kind of feels like he cares, but it also kind of feels like he thinks everything is futile anyway. It almost feels like he's just going through the motions of living, and hasn't really figured out if it's worth it.

Women seem to crave his company, judging from his popularity as a guy for rent, and from the way the ladies at the funeral parlor come to the funeral hall where he's at, just to gawk and say hello. At the same time, even though Kang Jae is polite to them all, it feels like he hates this work and wants to distance himself from it.

I'm guessing that's the case, from the way he politely and smilingly lies to that lady client at the hotel, saying that he has another appointment and can't extend her time, but then, once she leaves, slumps onto the bed and sinks into what looks like a depressive sort of nap, for an unspecified period of time.

He definitely comes across as at least somewhat depressed, and Bu Jeong definitely comes across as very depressed.

The more I learn about Bu Jeong, the more I feel sorry for her. It feels like she's stuck in a life that she doesn't want.

From her voiceovers about regularly praying for a specific someone's suffering, there's some kind of rage (or hate?) gnawing at her heart, towards someone, who's likely wronged her in some way. And, whatever's happened, she's keeping it a secret, even from her husband and father. She's left her job at the publishing house, and is doing housekeeping work to make ends meet. But she's encountering discrimination, rudeness and I'd even go so far as to say, some form of emotional abuse, as she tries to do her housekeeping thing.

To make things worse, it appears that she's distant from her husband, and not getting along with her mother-in-law. It doesn't help that Mom-in-law is demanding, nosy and shrill. And it doesn't help that her husband Jung Soo doesn't appear to be all that good at mediating between his mother and his wife.

Plus, it seems that Bu Jeong's lost a baby at some point, as well. This might explain the distance between her and her husband, and it might well be contributing to her depression as well.

That scene, where she finally breaks down and cries to her father (Park In Hwan! 😍) that she thinks she's a failure and is unlikely to ever make something of herself, and has no right to, well, anything, is really heartbreaking.

She's working so hard to hold it together, but the cracks in her armor are so visible, even right now. It feels like she's really not that far from shattering into a million pieces, because it's just too hard to hold it together.

There's this pressure on her, albeit well-intentioned, that she ought to live a better life than her father has. To Dad, this is just the way of life; that children ought to enjoy a better life than what their parents had. But to Bu Jeong, this is turning out to be a huge burden, because, the way she sees it, her life is likely going to turn out even more dismal than her father's, and she doesn't want to disappoint him.

The idea, that you have to earn the right to be human, is one that is full of yearning and heartache. It feels like such an unfair concept. We are born human; why do we need to earn the right to be human?

I'm intrigued, as Bu Jeong reaches out to stop Kang Jae from getting off the bus, at the end of the episode. I'm curious to know how their connection forms, from here on out, and how these two might possibly bring hope to each other, despite them both feeling desolate and hopeless themselves.

Next episode notes will be out on: Saturday, 25 Sept 2021!

*This show will be covered on the Early Access Plus (US$10) Tier*