First Impressions: “Pride and Prejudice,” Episodes 1 and 2

I’m pretty excited about this show, to tell you the truth, but that’s because I’m a sucker for good romantic comedies and I’m hoping “Pride and Prejudice” will deliver. It’s also Choi Jin Hyuk’s last role before he finally enlists, so I just had to check it out.

This show’s premise reminds me quite a bit of Choi Jin Hyuk’s previous show, “Emergency Couple,” in that it’s about a very gifted guy (there: doctor; here: prosecutor) who’s had a stormy relationship in the past (there: Oh Jin Hee, played by Song Ji Hyo; here: Han Yeol Moo, played by Baek Jin Hee) who both decide to show they can be something by picking the same career as their man and end up working with him!

Case #1: The Byuntae Affair

The first episode introduces all of our characters.

No surprises with this setup so far. You’ve got the super confident lady-charmer and ace prosecutor Koo Dong Chi (Choi Jin Hyuk), the young intrepid intern bent on vengeance Han Yeol Moo (Baek Jin Hee), and the super young and hot (and bound to be third wheel in this love triangle) inspector Kang Soo (Lee Tae Hwan). Then you’ve got the leader of the team, the arrogant yet brilliant prosecutor Moon Hee Man (Choi Min Soo).

However, the first episode starts off with an unusual story: A pervert flashes a young, pregnant woman on the street, causes her to lose her balance, fall, and thereby lose her baby.

Wanting to become a great prosecutor, Yeol Moo decides to take on the case, and the others of the team are forced to follow (though I don’t think either Dong Chi nor Kang Soo mind spending extra time together with her).

The case takes on an even more serious turn when Yeol Moo accidentally realizes someone has also been abusing a little girl who ends up missing. Thus starts a race against the clock to find the child before she ends up dead.

My favorite scene is when the initial suspect in the pervert case pulls down his pants to show Yeol Moo he has a mole on his thigh—something she’s thus forced to admit is true (despite inspector Kang Soo’s attempt to shield her eyes from this vile sight)! Later, he pulls the same act, saying Yeol Moo likes it, Dong Chi tells the man he asked Yeol Moo, and she said that she found “it” rather small.

This episode sets up the stakes for our main couple: Dong Chi obviously still harbors feelings for her, as can be seen in the way he tells everyone that they used to date to stake his prior claim. Despite her asking to pretend like they don’t know each other, Yeol Moo is most definitely looking for payback, and Kang Soo is the quiet knight who stares at his love with puppy eyes throughout the show (think Lancelot eyeing Guinevere from afar, although it remains to be seen whether any legendary romance is going to be developing between him and Yeol Moo). This is a particularly interesting triangle, because on top of that, both Dong Chi and Kang Soo are good friends who live together.

Case #2: The Wily Felon Affair

Here, we’re given a little more back story: Dong Chi and Yeol Moo met accidentally over five years ago, when the latter escaped from her mom and a haggle of neighborhood ajummas by hopping into Dong Chi’s car and telling him to drive.

For Dong Chi, it was love at first sight, and he does everything to pursue her: lends her money, then forces Yeol Moo to accept dates with him over a span of ten months instead of reimbursing him. Only, as she finally warms up to him, she finds out a torn piece of paper in his bag that sets off an alarm in her head (what is it?!) and she bolts. So now, we’ve got Yeol Moo searching for the truth behind Dong Chi’s past (is it what’s locked away in his drawer?) and Dong Chi angry at Yeol Moo for disappearing on him all those years ago.

Their story progresses through a second case, handpicked by none other than their boss Hee Man and given to Yeol Moo. However, when Dong Chi realizes it’s someone he and Kang Soo both know and are close to, he steals the case from her and covers it up on one condition: the guy (Jung Chang Gi, played by an amazingly funny Son Chang Min) needs to help them bring down a drug ring!

Turns out that Chang Gi doesn’t just know both Dong Chi and Kang Soo, but also has some mysterious past with Hee Man, so in the middle of the case, he runs away from them. This forces Yeol Moo to go meet with one of the drug dealers on her own and get kidnapped. Only the kidnapper/drug dealer seems to have bitten off more than he can chew, because she records everything he says on her cell phone. When he finally runs away, it’s her turn to chase him down.

My favorite scene in the whole episode was the introduction of Chang Gi, sitting like a lord in jail and giving out advice to his fellow jailmates in exchange for food (including a massive pile of Choco Pies—random fact of the day: some people in N. Korea, incidentally, do use Choco Pies as money, although it is illegal).

I also really liked the scene in which, after finding out it’s none other than Yeol Moo who went through his stuff, Dong Chi thinks she’s sleeping in the office and makes a reservation at a hotel for her—it shows how much he cares for her, after all these years, and this despite her running out on him once before.

Well, instead of picking the hotel room, Yeol Moo decides to join our two hotties Dong Chin and Kang Soo at the boarding house and live with them. I’m sure both boys are ecstatic, but I have a feeling Yeol Moo’s doing it to pursue her own secret investigation…

Thoughts and Conjectures:

I really liked the first two episodes of the show—not only does the romance promise to sizzle (though I’m afraid I’m already suffering from a mild case of second lead man syndrome), there are plenty of mysteries around: Yeol Moo’s past linked to Dong Chi’s, Chang Gi’s and Hee Man’s past, and of course every single new case that comes up in the daily lives of our prosecutor heroes. I’m therefore not at all surprised that the show is already in the lead in the Monday-Tuesday night drama slot!

[Warning: may contain spoilers in case my conjectures prove true. If not, then never mind…]

I believe that the piece of paper Yeol Moo found in Dong Chi’s bag was the top portion of the one she has, and it must be linked to (I surmise) her little brother’s death. I think that’s why she fought against and left her mother—because Yeol Moo wanted to find the truth about her brother’s death (hence the toys she packed with her), and that Dong Chi may have been the prosecutor in charge of the case. Which is why she believes Dong Chi’s a dirty prosecutor, because she believes he’s already covered up her brother’s case.

However, as this is a romantic comedy (sprinkled with mystery), I’m sure she’ll come to realize that Dong Chi was forced to drop the case, probably because he was threatened and/or inexperienced at the time, but he can’t forget that case either. And thus, our two heroes will bond over that old case as well, and be able to finally fulfill their destinies together as a couple.

What about you guys? What did you like about the show? And what do you think Yeol Moo is looking for?

[tv]You can check out “Pride and Prejudice” on SoompiTV every Monday and Tuesday!

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