Currently Watching: Something in the Rain

Something in the Rain aka Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food is a Friday/Saturday JTBC drama currently airing.

The drama is pretty stereotypical as a K-Drama story: a younger guy falling for an older woman who falls for him as well. There’s nothing new there, nothing at all and nothing that hasn’t already been portrayed on the screen one way or another. He’s richer and she’s poorer; she’s a strong focused career woman and he a man that falls for her charms and so forth, so the question is:

Why should one give this drama a try when there’s an abundance of similar K-Stories out there?

Borrowing the lyrics from the OST:

- "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman..." Carla Bruni

- There "are pieces still yet to be discovered with your love; I can see anything through wherever you are; I can feel you; your smile, your touch, your voice; each detail in your face; I can study everything about you forevermore; the way you're looking at me, connecting with you now; you've given me a strength I've never known; you've reached into my soul!" Rachel Yagamata

- ..."don't you know I love you so?..." Bruce Willis

The story is organic!

Do you know, when you want to buy a watermelon and there are two options available to you? One is a regular watermelon and the other one is organic. Do you know what the differences are between them: flavour and price! Do you know what the difference is between Something in the Rain and the other noona romances? Flavour and tone! In essence, a regular farmed watermelon with chemicals will grow faster, be harvested faster, be widely available in the supermarkets which will result in a higher awareness and be cheaper. An organic watermelon is chemical free, grow and is harvested slower, have a limited availability in local markets and or/local supermarkets which results in a lower awareness and is more expensive. The bottom line is: you should enjoy each watermelon differently for they are different!

The script flows

It’s a simple story, well written with a dialogue that seems taken out of the real world, where words and actions are symbiotic and seemingly natural. It’s not forced like trying to show that lemon juice and milk are a good combination. Mixing milk with lemon juice? That’s a no-no but mixing milk with popcorn and eat it like a cereal for breakfast works. It’s pretty unpretentious and natural but to create that is a monumental task for, more than talent to write a good story, the writers have to be visibly versed in showing a good story. Something in the Rain is a showcase of that! A great story told by great storytellers that brings sweet reactions from the audience!

It’s believable

A woman in her mid-thirties falling in love with her best friend’s younger brother, who’s 10 years younger than her, it’s pretty real! Love can develop like that, from knowing each other forever to developing feelings for one another after not seeing each other for a while it’s a normal thing and suddenly starting to see each other regularly because they work in the same building. Sometimes feelings develop like that, starting with the normal bickering of two people who have known one another for a long time, to the realization that they might feel more than just friendship for one another, to the uncertainty of how the other feels, wanting to make the first move but hesitating, friends teasing, holding hands for the first time, kissing for the first time… love appears when one least expects it to and soju and/or beer appear everywhere!

The main characters are performed by the right actors!

Sometimes when watching a drama, there’s that feeling that a character isn’t developed to its full potential. It’s almost as if viewers are watching the actor rather than the character for the two don’t match! When you go out for dinner to eat Doenjang-jjigae Geotjeori Bibimbap (Fermented Soybean paste stew with salad). If the stew has more green chilli peppers than it should, it won’t be right, it won’t taste right, it won’t feel right. It has to have the right amount. In Something in the Rain, the actors don’t perform themselves, they are the characters!

Something in the Rain is Jung Hae In's first leading role and Son Ye Jin's first drama in five years. Additional cast includes: Jang So Yeon, Jeong Yoo Jin, Wi Ha Joon, Seo Jung Yeon, Lee Joo Young, Yoon Joong Seok and Park Hyeok Kwon amongst others.

Visually it looks like a French ballad. 

It might be strange as Something in the Rain is not filmed in any French region, but in Seoul nor does it have a French song in its soundtrack or anything that can remotely resemble France, yet all of it feels French. From Carla Bruni’s Stand By Your Man to Rachel Yagamata’s Singing in the Rain, the smooth, mellow energy of the drama, the rich lighting and pallet colour has that unique French tone, that unique vibe that makes the story look like a French ballad where lyrics are the dialogues in a pure poetic form and when combined with music transform themselves into art, performed by the actors and the artists.

Are you watching it? What do you think about it so far?

If you haven't started watching it, do you have any plans to do it?

Share your thoughts and your comments below.