KDrama Review: Cheese in the Trap

The Gist: Poor college student Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun) just wants to live her college life under the radar when she makes a startling discovery: popular senior student Yoo Jung (Park Hae Jin) is faking some of his emotions and is causing discord between students behind the scenes. Unfortunately, Yoo Jung catches Seol watching him and sets his sights on making life difficult for her and when she can’t take anymore, she takes a leave of absence from school. However, when Seol returns to school, Yoo Jung seems determined to be nice to her (much to her terror). Can she trust that his change of heart may be genuine?

I am going to start this review by saying I am incredibly biased. I have a huge reserved space in my heart for Park Hae Jin. Besides being so gorgeous it’s distracting, I think he is an incredibly talented actor. I was impressed with his character in Bad Guys, as a psychopath you actually feel rather bad for. When I found out the lead in this show was a sociopath and it was played by Park Hae Jin, I knew that he could lend the complexity that this kind of character requires (prideful, victim, damaged, hurt, caring, and bold all at once). For this reason, I was always going to root for Yoo Jung, even when things got dicey.

In short, I am not a fan of Baek In Ho (Seo Kang Joon). I think there are legitimate arguments to be made from people who prefer to In Ho to Yoo Jung, as he is a much more typical drama lead and a more normal person. But, really, I disliked In Ho a lot so I’m going to start my review there.

I am also going to say that you have to spoil the ending of this show for yourself if you are going to have any hope of enjoying it. So, don’t worry about spoilers and let’s go.

Hate:
 
In Ha/In Ho

There is barely anything worth mentioning about In Ha. Growing up with her would make anyone a sociopath. She is totally despicable and even when she has glimmers of humanity, she is so selfish and out of touch and reliant on others, that it is impossible to find anything even quasi positive about her.

So, let’s focus on In Ho. The siblings have a complicated relationship with Yoo Jung, but In Ho just straight up pissed me off. I feel like there was a double standard with how this show treated In Ho and Yoo Jung.

While Seol ultimately forgives Yoo Jung for the one time he gets violent, In Ho handles all of his problems with his fists. Somehow Yoo Jung is painted as some psycho for beating up someone who threw Seol down stairs, but In Ho is just a scamp for trying to beat up her stalker? Not to mention, In Ho is the one who begins a fist fight with Yoo Jung. Yoo Jung shows incredible self-control around In Ho and In Ho just does whatever he feels like.

Second, the way he has this tell it like it is attitude, that is actually just him being an enormous jerk. Yeah, Yoo Jung isn’t always honest, but In Ho is off-handedly hurtful without even trying. When you finally find out the reason Yoo Jung is made at him all these years, my heart just broke. For someone In Ho ostensibly sees as a brother, he bad mouths him without even trying. Worse than that, I’d have to think of how In Ha would be if In Ho didn’t degrade her constantly. From their youth to adulthood, In Ho tells her she isn’t talented, while he’s a genius, and that she has no prospects in life. Of course she is a dependent psycho, he doesn’t care about her at all. And then he just leaves her! Yes, I get him not wanting to stay in the house after his accident, but he doesn’t give a passing though to what that would do to In Ha. Of course she’s attached to Yoo Jung - he has to defend her to In Ho and is not outright cruel to her. Honestly, In Ho managed to seriously damage both Yoo Jung and In Ha, without being able to process FOR YEARS, why they might be angry with him. Don’t get me wrong, Yoo Jung has problems, but he at least understands why In Ho is angry, he just doesn’t think he’s right.

What really was the nail in the coffin for In Ho in my esteem is the piano stuff. I had some measure of sympathy for In Ho after learning about his accident because I thought that’s why he wasn’t playing piano… and then in the middle of the show, he just decides to play again. WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? So, instead of taking the time to heal and get back to what he cares about, he sulks for years and picks it back up when it suits him, while blaming Yoo Jung all this time. At some point, at least, he realizes he’s been wasting years he could have been pursuing this, but I’m with Yoo Jung on this one, he is drawing out something bad that happened to him and using victim mentality to prevent him from doing something he cares about. That lost him all credibility for me. I’m not saying what he went through wasn’t bad, but I thought he was robbed of piano playing forever and he wasn’t. Then, to satisfying his own feelings, he beats up Yoo Jung even though it damages his hand. I mean, how thick can you be?

Let’s also not forget about the way he clings to Seol. Yes, he is allowed to have friends. But seriously, in the whole wide world, he has to cling to her? After he figures out Seol is Yoo Jung, he is again, not mindful of hurtful things he says about either of them and their relationship. He knows this is going to put her in an awkward position, but doesn’t ever leave her alone, after it’s clear that she is not leaving Yoo Jung (not that that should have mattered). She’s a big girl, she can make her own decisions. They should have had a passing wave at most. But he sticks around until she considers him a friend, going as far to work at her parents restaurant (seriously? I mean, I know he needs money, but that seemed so tasteless to me. Go work at your enemy’s girlfriend’s place. Classy). And he has some audacity to feel bad when he starts to like her, even though she made her feelings clear long ago. It really validates how uncomfortable Yoo Jung is about him hanging around Seol. In Ho really does just feel entitled everything that Yoo Jung has. It’s gross.

At the end of the day, I was just bored with In Ho. I found Yoo Jung to be a unique and complex character and In Ho was just so… ordinary. Once we got into his piano stuff, I just started skipping his scenes and the drama didn’t suffer from it at all. Again, I know I’m biased because I love Park Hae Jin, but I didn’t even feel conflicted between the two of them. Thumbs down from me for In Ho.

Love:

Yoo Jung and Hong Seol

I think these two were perfectly cast and played their characters beautifully. I love that Seol is so appropriately wary of Yoo Jung at first (smart girl), but she really works hard to understand him. I like the moment where he stays over and they actually kind of see each other for the first time. Yoo Jung needs an incredibly understanding and forgiving girlfriend and she is that for him.

More than that though, I feel like he supports her in a way that others don’t. One of my favorite embodiments of this is when she overhears her parents saying they’re going to take her tuition to pay for her brother’s school when he doesn’t want it and she runs out, and even though they’re fighting, Yoo Jung is waiting there for her to take care of her and understand what she’s going through.

Let’s talk about Yoo Jung. I was really wary about starting this drama after reading the reviews, but when I decided to, I imagined that Yoo Jung was going to be more…evil. Really, I feel that You Jung is a mirror. He is ruthless, but he doles out what has been dealt to him. He never attacks innocents (now whether or not he is attacking at the level they deserve is an interesting question), but always sees people for what they do. Which is why Seol is a good match for him, she is like a sponge. She never hits back (until she learns when she needs to). He helps her stand up for herself and she helps him absorb more. But really, the big thing is there is just nothing for him to lash back at her about. She is a truly kind person and on some level, they both recognize in each other that they are constantly bending over to keep others happy (family, fellow students, even friends) and that makes them kindred spirits, so that they don’t just have to bottle up how they feel anymore.

Honestly, what gets me most about this romance is just that it is bizarre. I love that they are overcoming unusual problems. Do sociopaths not deserve love? Even when they feel bad about it and are trying?

I’m going to say that, yes, he way crossed a line with the stalker situation.  That was upfront just despicable what he put Seol through sicking that guy on her. But I appreciate that she really corners him about it and makes him face what he’s done to her. In that Yoo Jung is a mirror, him caring about Seol, actually gives him a real chance to confront himself.

And on some level, that is why the ending works at all. He realizes that he is putting way to much on Seol and while he needs her, she can help motivate him to change. There is something really amazing about the growth he works towards in this show. When he realizes that he is still pulling the same shit and Seol will stand by him, he knows he has to take responsibility. I really admire that he recognizes his own victim mentality.

While we are talking about the ending…

Mixed Feelings:

Again, I do not think you can truly enjoy this show if you don’t know where it’s going. If you’re an In Ho fan, you should know now that it can’t be him. If you’re a Yoo Jung fan, the ending is going to feel a little unsatisfactory. I think he was right to break up with her, but I have two problems with the ending.

First, is that she just seems like she’s miserable and has been for years without him. Yes, she has some friends, but even In Ha gets her love story and Seol is just waiting. Is it good to Yoo Jung to change? Yes. Is Seol happier with him changing without her, leaving her alone, than she would be if he worked through it with her? I don’t think so and in that the breakup suddenly doesn’t make as much sense. I think he leaves her alone for too long. Now, he does sometimes do things to help her that are at the expense of others and he needs to knock that off, but I think this show made a good argument for the two of them together and yet he leaves and In Ha stays??? It’s so bizarre.

Second, they don’t show him coming back!!! AH. I would have even taken a Goblin-style starting at each other ending (although a kiss would have been better). While, I like that they hint that he’s coming back to her, after three years, he needed to get his rear in gear and go get her.

Actually, I also have a beef with the ending that isn’t about Jung and Seol. I can’t believe after all of that In Ho just leaves. Like he hangs around long enough to just make it impossible for everyone and then he finally does the right thing and bails. I feel like at that point, he should have made some sort of effort with Jung and In Ha. If he was just going to leave again, he should have just done that to begin with. I know then it wouldn’t be a show, but I just am so over In Ho.

I think if you’re prepared for this ending, you can appreciate it for what it’s trying to do. It’s an unusual ending for an unusual romance. I think if I hadn’t known it was coming, I would have been DEVASTATED.

So…

So, I think this drama was worth watching. I think In Ho and the ending are both kind of so/so (though many watchers appear to really like In Ho, which may also make you feel mixed about this show), but I think that Hae Jin and Go Eun have spectacular chemistry and I like them both so much. I really found myself rooting for their romance, even when things got complicated. It was funny to watch this show right after Love 020. It’s like this show was making up for Love 020’s total lack of conflict, but having SO MUCH CONFLICT. I will also say that this show has a very engaging and strange pilot/first episode. I loved it. It’s not perfect, but I am glad I watched Cheese in the Trap.

Final Grade: B