You’re the Best Lee Soon Shin Insights [Episodes 1-10]

Two of my favorite dramas happen to be weekend dramas just because I am more prone to getting attached to the characters due to the abundance of episodes. Unfortunately, this also means that there will be more conflict, and to people who are not accustomed to watching weekend dramas, it may feel as if the story is dragging. When huge secrets were being disclosed to Soon Shin’s father in episode 4, I was excited but scared because this usually never happens. And because this drama like any other drama abides with the laws of the drama gods, if any character that has good intentions knows a secret that is crucial to almost every conflict being solved, the law says they must be killed off. Poor dad, he’s killed off here and he’s a murderer accomplice in Nine. What kind of roles is this actor picking? Besides the whole plot development of killing off the father, the drama is progressing quite nicely. If anything, this was all a setup to get the ball rolling for Soon Shin and Joon Ho’s relationship as well as many other things.

If you’ve been keeping up with the drama you should know by now that it will be going down the birth secret route. I’m not a fan of that type of plot twist because the dramatic irony really kills me. I tried to watch Twinkle Twinkle (Sparkling) and I’m sure my blood pressure raised because of all the birth secrets. Speaking of birth secret’s, Soon Shin’s “mom” has been playing Sherlock Holmes these past few episodes. Once she finds out her hunch is correct, she is going to be very angry at her husband, but he’s already dead. What matters is how she will react to the product of all this which is Soon Shin. I hope she won’t take it all out on her. It’s ok for her to be mad, but all this time she was basically the single person in Soon Shin’s life that understood her.

Because there are just so many things that can be addressed in this drama, instead of writing huge pedantic paragraphs, I’m going to copy, paste and edit (a lot) of what I write while I’m watching each episode. I only write about what really stands out to me. Also, excuse the very short insights in the beginning episodes, I was looking out for how interesting the drama would be and the acting chops more so than trying to analyze each character.  Scroll down to whichever episode you are curious to know my thoughts about.

Episode 1 + 2:
* I love Yoo In-na, but i absolutely do not like her whiny character! And why does she treat her sister that way? *Must. Put. Up. With. It*
* To put it bluntly, Joon Ho’s father sucks on so many levels, but his mom seems ok. I hope she will at least be able to accept Lee Soon Shin in the future (but I will not take this to heart, because moms can be very bipolar..Can We Get Married anyone?), because at this exact moment, if Shin Joon Ho brings Lee Soon Shin in front of his father to be his bride, he will probably be banished from his household.

Episode 3 + 4:
* Soon Shin’s father is really nice. It seems he is the only level headed character in this drama so far. I would include the cafe owner…but we don’t know much about him other than the fact he is a good friend of Joon Ho.
* I was really surprised when so many secrets were being let out and we were only in the 4th episode. LO AND BEHOLD, they were planning to kill off the very person who knows these secrets and who has a huge secret of his own.
* I feel Joon Ho doesn’t have any romantic feelings left for Yeon-ah. I think he’s more concerned with showing her that right now he is better off after she left him. He just wants her to have a guilt trip, and she is actually enjoying tormenting him to a certain point.
* So I’m guessing the birth secret is that Lee Soon Shin is not really her “moms” real child, and is the child of Song Mi Ryung which is ironic because Soon Shin’s “mom” feels that she resembles her greatly.

Episode 5 + 6:
* Wow. Song Mi Ryung better be ready to meet her maker once this secret gets out. Just to save face, she runs away from the scene of the crime. This will torment her for the rest of the show.
* I really don’t like Yoo In-na’s character. And I know she is grieving right now and she is taking it out on Soon Shin, but she is just too much. I can’t wait till they can come face to face with their feelings. I feel that when Yu Shin finds out that Soon Shin isn’t really her sister, she is going to have even more hatred towards her. Finally knowing that during her whole life, her parents have paid more attention to someone who might not even be blood related to them might hurt her. It reminds me of  Hwang Tae Hee and the maknae from Ojakgyo Brothers. The maknae didn’t didn’t completely hate Tae Hee, but there was a little jealousy there.
* I love that in family dramas theres an OTP, but theres more than one love line that we know in the end will actually be a happy ending. I’m really excited for Shin Soon and Joon Ho’s chemistry, but I am secretly even more excited for the older sister and the bakery guy. Like, I can’t wait till he starts to fall for her. She is a very sad character, and I really want her to find happiness again.
* On that note, I hope her daughter will have some character development. She’s been a pretty static character so far with very few lines. She misses her dad and despises her mom for divorcing him. She also hates seeing her mom cry so much, so hopefully she will grow up a little and learn to protect and comfort her mother whose heart is very broken. In Ojakgyo Brothers, Guk su plays an important role for his father’s development into a mature man who is willing to take responsibility for his actions.
* Everyone is attacking Soon Shin’s mom for her coping methods. They expect her to be moping around and crying. This isn’t fair, not everyone grieves the same. They need to just comfort her, she just lost her husband.

Episode 7+8:
* Chan Mi’s mom can’t keep a secret for her life. And obviously we need horrible characters like her to get the ball moving, but goodness gracious.
* The cafe owner is definitely Soon Shin’s daddy long legs. And frankly, he might be the best boss ever.
* Another character that I highly dislike is Yi Jung. Her voice is annoying, her laugh, her face. Yes I just might be cruel, but I love how she will be used to give Yu Shin a push in the romance area, because right now Yu Shin’s pride has touched heaven, and it needs to be brought down asap. Yi Jung’s might even be worst than hers.
* Mi Ryung asked Joon Ho’s dad what he will get out of telling the police about the accident. He will actually get the satisfaction of seeing his son’s company tainted, and acknowledging to his entire family that they should have stayed away from her. I’m sure deep, deep, veryyyy deep down he loves his family, but he cares more about reputation and having control.
* Does Yeon ah still like Joon Ho? Probably does, but not enough to put her entire career in jeopardy. I think she feels that he’s not really hot on the market and that he will forever take a liking to her, so she’s not afraid of losing him. But now that Soon Shin is in the game, even though none of them think of her as a threat especially as a potential lover, Yeon A will try to protect Joon Ho’s love for her. I have a feeling that Yeon A will not like Soon Shin once she takes away the guy she finds pleasure in keeping at arm’s length, and the woman that she has spent years trying to be acknowledged as her daughter.
* I got really upset when the flashback of the dad finding Soon Shin explained that she was found on the street (what is this, the girl version of Oh Soo?). I don’t think that’s how it went down, but we’ll see…

Episode 10 (Nothing in episode 9 really called to my attention):
* This episode was actually done really well. It was as if the writer took a chisel and chipped away at each of the very important characters, especially Lee Soon Shin. This girl’s confidence level is probably in the depths of hell right now. Time and time again she is reminded of how inferior she is to everyone else. People she doesn’t even know well tell her that she’s just an ordinary girl that causes trouble. She really showed some confidence during two points in this episode: When she stood up to her sister Yu Shin about her maltreatment, and at the very end when she ran to Mi Ryung’s home to ask her if she really had the potential to become an actress.
* Yi Jung-ah is an incredibly annoying, obnoxious, rich lazy bum. Every time she opens up her mouth my eyes roll to the back of my head, and I try to block out her annoying voice. I’m actually on board with her father and Mi Ryung’s plan on making her drop acting. It’s cruel, but I think more importantly this experience will teach her that not everything can be handed to you on a silver platter. Yes, money can buy a lot of things, but it cannot buy innate talent.
* Yu Shin really bounced back as a character for me this episode..she’s making baby steps. She still needs to stop interrupting people when they talk though, because she is the one who professes of hating misunderstandings, yet she keeps making them because she is too direct. When she made that bold step of giving up her savings to pay off Soon Shin’s debt, I knew from there that she really loves her family. She is just a very headstrong woman, and she has a different way of showing her love to others.
* The bakery guy is hilarious. He is so over the top. I’m really excited for the romance that will spring between him and the older sister whose name I should memorize from now on.

You’re the Best Lee Soon Shin is an ongoing Saturday and Sunday drama. IU is the main heroine…I think that’s a good enough reason to watch it 😉

Official English You’re the Best Lee Soon Shin Website: http://english.kbs.co.kr/tv/main.html?tv_code=13
Official Korean You’re the Best Lee Soon Shin Website: http://www.kbs.co.kr/drama/soonsin/

*All photos used in this post belong to Korean Broadcasting System (KBS).

🙂