KDrama Review: Beating Again/Falling for Innocence

The Gist: Kang Min Ho (Jung Kyoung Ho) has a major chip on his shoulder. After his sick father’s death during his childhood, his uncle betrayed his father, took over his company and abandoned his family. The betrayal and loss prompted his mother to commit suicide, leaving Min Ho with a whole slew of emotions to work through. He lands primarily on revenge, eyeing his uncle’s company, with a plan to dismantle it before the same heart disorder that claimed his father’s life claims his own.

It is in the midst of this hostile take over, that he is reunited with a childhood acquaintance Kim Soong Jung (Kim So Yeon). She has taken up the mantle of her father as secretary to the chairman, Min Ho’s uncle, at their company. This has not done her any favor with Min Ho, who sees her whole family as complicit in his uncle’s betrayal.

A twist of fate intervenes when Soon Jung’s dopey and lovable fiancé is in a car accident (more on this later), and is a match to donate a heart to Min Ho. After the transplant, Min Ho starts displaying personality traits and a stronger affinity towards the now grieving Soon Jung. This relationship is further complicated by longtime friend Joon Hee (Yoon Hyun Min) who will do anything to win Min Ho’s seat at the company and Soon Jung’s heart (like, literally ANYTHING).

Love:

1) Min Ho Substitute Father

So Min Ho is understandably wrestling with a lot of guilt when he realizes that he has Soon Jung’s fiance’s heart. One of the best things about this show was the relationship he builds with the heart donor’s father, played beautifully by Ahn Suk Hwan. They have a hilarious teasing relationship that turns sincere as they are trying to save their company. All the while, they are filling a void in each other’s lives, with Min Ho having lost a father and Tae Seok having lost his son. He is a great force for good in Min Ho’s relationship with Soon Jung, as he wants her to move on and be happy. *Minor Spoilers* When it is revealed that Min Ho has his son’s heart, Tae Seok is happy for Min Ho and grateful that his son’s death means another can live. The continued relationship for them I felt was very strong and added a good depth to Min Ho’s development across the span of the show. While I love the romance, this relationship was probably my favorite thing about this show.

2) Min Ho

Kyoung Ho really gets put in some work and show off his acting chops in this drama. He does a great range from pre and post transplant Min Ho. He plays fierce perfectly in the beginning of the show, but is completely believable as the softer hearted man he becomes throughout the show. He does excellent work So Yeon, who are handling a lot of complex emotions they need to show on screen. So Yeon also does an excellent job juggling falling for Min Ho, still missing her fiance, and feeling guilty about both. Min Ho is just an instantly likable character, and even when he is being cruel, you can tell that he is just hurting. I like that they plant some seeds of empathy in Soon Jung before his transformation and you can tell that even she understands why he is the way he is. Sure, that doesn’t necessarily excuse his behavior, but he is a character whose motivations I understand completely. This is a combination of solid writing and great acting, that I really enjoyed. 

3) Villain Commitment

We are going to head back into spoiler territory. So at the beginning of this series, you really think that the uncle is going to be the big bad. Oh boy is that not the end of it. Joon Hee starts out as a fairly beige character whose biggest threat is being in a love triangle. But oh man do they double down on committing him to irredeemability. If Min Ho’s motivations are completely understandable, than Joon Hee is on the complete other side of the spectrum. He, in the course of the show, sabotages a company several times, murders his best friend and then relentlessly pursues his fiancee, treats his father like garbage even though he is willing to protect him at the cost of his life, and just has no sense of shame. I have never seen a character under the guise of a friend who I so strongly object to. I found myself just watching this play out with my mouth agape at the gall he has to continue to woo Soon Jung after murdering her fiancé. I just can’t even.

However, I will say that this kept things interesting. I am sick to death of the second lead syndrome and Joon Hee’s actions again and again make it totally impossible for him to ever have a shot at being redeemable in any shape or form. I was impressed that the show was willing to go this far, to break Soon Jung’s heart so completely. I am also glad that the show gave Soon Jung a chance to confront him after she figures out what he’s done. It was a unique twist to this show’s development.

Meh:

1) Let’s Suspend Our Disbelief

I know most Kdrama’s really ask you to not think too hard about what it is they’re doing with the plot, but this show is pushing the envelope a little. Now, people who have transplants do sometimes start exhibiting tastes and behaviors of the people their organs are from. However, I don’t think psychic memories are included. I am willing to set this aside for the sake of an otherwise strong show, but it did have me sort of scratching my head a little bit when we would run into those scenes. If you go into this knowing that you are going to have to turn off your thinking brain for a bit to get through a few scenes, you should make it out OK.

2) A lot of Corporate Stuff

Oof. Beyond the wonderful character building and romance development, there is a lot of time spent plotting and in corporate warfare. I think this show does a fairly good job of balancing that aspect of the story with other more interesting parts of the show, but there were definitely scenes and problems that I was just ready to be done with even before they started. Still, the reward for sticking through all the corporate problems is satisfying. More spoilers, the ending is a nice wrap-up with Min Ho getting what he’s working for and Joon Hee getting some swift justice.

So:

So… my gripes with this show are relatively minor and I will say I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show. The romance was a delight from start to finish and now that I am more used to dramas being a bit both dark and funny in the same show, I think I didn’t mind that this show is a strange blend of several tones. There are definitely some heartbreaking moments, but the viewer is rewarded for powering through them with some great character development and sweet moments. I will say, when I first read the summary for this show, I thought it sounded stupid, but I was very glad I gave it a try (I should stop judging shows on their summaries. Some of the best ones have the dumbest premises!).

Final Grade: A