[SHARK] Don't Look Back : The Legend of Orpheus Marathon Ep.1 - 12 -mslee's thoughts

The drama premiered May 27, 2013 but due to other dramas that I was following, I wasn't able to watch this one. Honestly, I haven't watched a Kim Nam Gil drama before, but I do know Son Ye Jin. Watched her twice in Summer Scent and Personal Taste.

Anyway, I did try to catch up on this drama since this week. And Oh my! The hours I spent, I thought was wasted for the first few episodes. It was kind of dragging for my taste. I like it fast moving, with instant development on each character and the plot. But although it started on a wedding of Jo Hae Woo [SYJ] to one of Han Yi Soo's friend Oh Joon Young [Ha Seok Jin] , the story needed to flashback 12 years ago for viewers like me to understand.

HYS was Han Young Man's [Jung In Ji] son, a brother to Han Yi Hyun [Nam Bo Ra]. The father was working for Jo Sang Gook [Lee Jung Kil], grandfather of JHW. She was the only grandchild of this wealthy business man and although his son, Jo Ui Sun should be a pillar of righteousness in the society, he was an embarrassment to the family, He has a mistress which resulted to JHW's mom to abandon her and went away. He always brings scandals to the family. But although he is a weak person, his only crime is his weakness. This I realized after moving on with drama. He greatly depends on his father. Even Hae Woo thinks greatly of her grandfather.

There were feelings involved between HYS and JHW after HYS and his family moved to the house of the Jo's. Yi Soo's father was a loyal servant, driver to the old Jo Sang Gook. And though this kind man seemed to be a very nice grandfather to all, in reality, he was hiding a secret that he would protect even if it meant doing harm to other innocent people.

And the tragedy started when Jo Ui Sun ran from the hit and run accident, thus putting all the blame to Yi Soo's father but misfortune kept surfacing, he died which tied up to the death of another poor soul who gave a  document to YS's father. The documents contain a secret that JSG would forever guard.

And in the midst of all these chaos, YS and HW relationship was affected. While trying to find the real culprit and the reason behind his father's murder, YS found himself the next target.

Then the accident happened and he was declared dead although in truth, he was missing because his body was nowhere to be found at the accident area. He was taken away by a Japanese businessman Junichiro Yoshimura [Lee Jae Gu] and whisked to Japan and later changed his identity to Kim Joon.

All these 12 years were in preparation to Kim Joon /Han Yi Soo's revenge towards Jo Hae Woo family. To expose the dirt and secret that killed his father. Junichiro was also using YS for his own motive. 

Back in Seoul, YS/KJ checked in Gaya Hotel, owned by the Jo family. The day he was there was the day of HW and JY wedding. But you can feel that although HW finally learned to love JY, her heart still misses YS, and the reason she became Seoul's top prosecutor. To find the truth.

The pacing however was slow at this moment, because of flashbacks. But it changes as more cases happened. Two more murders were committed linking them all back to 12 years ago. The interesting part was that YS was the one giving clues to HW and the detective Byeong Ban Jin [Park Won Sang] who happened to adopt YS little sister Yi Hyun, still pursues the case. He was the last one YS called before the telephone booth was dragged by a truck, with YS inside.

The clues get bigger and bigger while YS and HW attraction towards each other hang over them. Definitely, YS is still in love with HW, though she is now a married woman to his friend. But HW finds herself looking through Kim Joon's personality because there are lots of similarities to her friend YS. And chance meetings between them keeps popping up.

One instance was when YS/KJ could not hold his feelings anymore and kissed HW hard. She was startled but to me as a viewer, she did not struggled much. A few seconds passed until her wits came back to her and that's when she pushed him away. She walked away but decided to comes back and gave him a slap on the face. To save her from that moment of insanity, perhaps?

But in episode 12, HW instincts became clear that Kim Joon is Han Yi Soo. She confronted him and told him to stop because she will stop him. But he replied that he won't.

My favorite part so far of the drama was the scenes between siblings. I felt YS affection to his sister but because of the circumstances he was in, he can not tell her the truth. And he keeps on visiting her, in her work place, thus misreading his intentions. So cute.

I'm looking at how the love angle will survive. Clearly, the chaos inside Jo household and Joon Young's father, the chief prosecutor involvement in the conspiracies of blocking and hiding the truth is getting to JY nerves. And it is making the marriage suffer.

Oh Joon Young is a righteous person, he believes in his father, but realizing all these events, he came to face the truth that even his father who he idolizes so much is a part of a crime that once the reason why his brother was killed.  A crime that was not punished because it was also a hit and run case. This he can not forgive why of all people, his father would cover for something that happened before to them.

Well, for now, I will stop and will wait for the next episode. The drama hooked me already and there is no turning back for mslee. I love the chemistry between Kim Nam Gil and Son Ye Jin. Amazing even though they only shared the same screen and there were no sweet moments so far.

Some stills via google.

credit to the owners.

Am not sure if I will be able to do screencaps but will try. 

-this is mslee1107 writing-