HOW GOOD WAS [CRASH LANDING ON YOU]? – A DEEPER ANALYSIS ON PARK JI EUN’S SCRIPT WRITING

If you’re an avid fan of k-dramas, or even if you just occasionally follow Korean entertainment news in general, chances are that you’d already heard of how this drama series swept the records and gained immense popularity by surpassing Goblin to achieve the highest ratings ever for a TvN drama series.

The series followed Yoon Se Ri, who was a famous heiress (played by Son Ye-Jin) that ended up in North Korea by accident following a paragliding accident. There, she met a North Korean soldier Ri Jung Hyeok (played by Hyun Bin) who was kind enough to not report on her and decided to help her return to her country. Inevitably, both of them started developing feelings for each other and that’s how a k-drama series is formed!

Image by [Naver TV]

One of the reason this drama stood out was the fact that it touched on a whole wide range of aspects on North Korea, a country which is still deemed mysterious and not widely known by many because of their seclusion from the world. Thanks to North Korean defector Kwak Moon-Wan's assistance in the writing process, we were able to have a slightly better understanding on North Korea.

With both having garnered experiences for over 10 years, scriptwriter Park Ji Eun had produced many successful k-drama series that became popular hits, such as “My Love From The Star”, and “The Legend of The Blue Sea”. Both dramas managed to generate more than 20% viewership ratings for their episodes! Director Lee Jung Hyo also had works dating back from 2007, and was constantly invited to direct various films and series.

So, instead of sharing my personal reviews for this series, I decided to try another route to further analyze Ji-Eun’s storytelling method and share how her delicate planning and details made this series such a success. I’ll share some of my favourite moments that I feel is worth mentioning!

Note: This will be all based on my PERSONAL thoughts and observations, and should not be representing anyone else’s. I still have lots of room for learning in this area, and there might be areas I’d overlooked or misinterpreted.

And obviously, there WILL be spoilers so read at your own risk!

The Art Of Irony

As defined online , irony is “a situation in which what was intended to have a particular result has the opposite or a very different result.“ In short, it means that there exists a conflict between our expectations and the reality of a situation. This applies not only in our daily lives, but also in films!

This was a concept greatly used by Park Ji Eun. The application of irony in film itself not only helped add depth and more meaning to the storyline, but also served to increase audience engagement to the series. (To understand more about the concept of Irony, read here).

Here were several examples of situational irony from the series, where the casts’ fate were switched, or their wishes fulfilled, in a completely unexpected manner:

1. Seri’s Confession

At Episode 9, when she discovered that the composer of that piano song she was searching for was Jung Hyeok all along, she shared how she felt really lost at that time. During that period, she travelled to Switzerland to get euthanasia (Switzerland is currently the only country that legalises this). She wanted to die, escape from reality, and to be somewhere far from everyone, somewhere nobody knows her.

Ironically, her dreams were fulfilled, not in Switzerland, but in North Korea a few years later. Her family tried to erase her existence, she (temporarily) lost her CEO responsibilities, was proclaimed ‘dead’, AND was somewhere supposedly unreachable to everyone outside of North Korea. NO ONE outside of NK would’ve known that she was alive.

2. Jung Hyeok’s Arrival In South Korea

During Episode 11, amidst Jung Hyeok’s secret arrival to South Korea in order to catch Cheol Gang (played by Oh Man Seok), Seri attempted hiding his identity with her scarf because of her status, and worried that Jung Hyeok might be discovered for his identity. As his escape from the North was unannounced, his safety would be compromised if he was discovered by North Korean officials.

Ironically, she was faced with the exact same situation in North Korea, where her identity as a South Korean would risk being caught by the State of Security Department. But this time, it was Seri’s claim that she would protect Jung Hyeok.

3. When Seri gave Jung Hyeok a South Korean makeover (Also Episode 11)

I’m sure everyone that watched this film would remember this iconic moment; being able to watch Jung Hyeok in suits for the first time was refreshing after watching him in his military uniform for so many episodes, and for us girls, a comfort to the eyes! *wink

To refresh your memories, while Jung Hyeok was trying out the outfits Seri chose for him, there was this particular female staff that couldn't STOP praising him for how dashing he looked (as if we needed any reminders), and even touched his arms to emphasize the suit’s perfect fitting on him.

(Yes Se Ri, WE FELT YOU!)

At first it might seem like the staff was flirting with Jung Hyeok, but as it turned out, she was actually sucking up to make sure that they bought the clothes. That lady staff apparently assumed that Jung Hyeok was Seri’s husband as she raved about his looks and how difficult it’d be for Se Ri to choose a suit for him.

Flattered and pleased with her remarks, Seri bought the ENTIRE collection of suits available (and all we could do was gasp)!

It’s ironic; back in North Korea, Se Ri had to suck up to the villagers there, by constantly flushing out extravagant praises to gain their trust. She had no power or control over anything there, and her status then was equivalent to a beggar. But now in South Korea, she’s the one with all the authority, surrounded by people constantly sucking up to her to try getting on her good side.

There were so many, in fact, too many examples and usages of this throughout the entire 16 episodes to the point that it’d be tedious to list everything down!

If this still doesn’t perk your interests, here’s more of what I discovered:

Ji Eun has an amazing talent to convey her messages in such an intricate manner.. The messages she hoped to convey were clear, but yet in a complex way that can only be read through observations.

How The Differences Between North & South Korea Was Set Aside

Being one of the only countries under heavy surveillance and censorship for any foreign good usage, with 70 percent of population relying on food aid , and also the only country that’s limited to 15 state-approved hairstyles (don’t even get me started on Kim Jong Un’s) , it’s natural for us to compare their condition to that of their neighbor, South Korea; a country that was once inseparable with North Korea before the Cold War started.

While this series itself focused on the differences between both nations, scriptwriter Ji-Eun also reminded us all that while both nations can exist at the extreme opposites politically, economically, and culturally, both South and North are still one, and without either one of them, Korea would never exist.

Here’s how director Lee Jung Hyo perfectly portrayed this thought and ideal in the most simplistic yet obvious way:

1. Korea VS. Japan Football team

At Episode 13, while Jung Hyeok’s cute comrades (teehee) finally got to satisfy their fried chicken cravings after locating Seri and Jung Hyeok, the crowd of other customers around them were all watching a soccer match online. Every one of the 'comrades' except Eun Dong (played by Tang Joon Sang) initially scoffed at the idea of watching soccer as a form of entertainment. However, their reactions switched drastically after Eun Dong informed them that it was an international match between Korea and Japan.

They eventually joined the crowd and cheered for Korea together, and also celebrated happily whenever Korea team scored a goal.

This was, in my opinion, one of the most heartwarming scenes I’d watched.. here, everyone’s differences was thrown aside regardless of whether they’re from the south or north.. What matters was that they were both supporting the same team, and for this moment, everyone was united.. damn, that was a really iconic scene in my opinion; even though I’m not Korean but the message conveyed was felt!

2. The 2nd and 3rd points from previous topic (Episode 11)

As previously covered regarding the usage of irony, those two moments of Seri and Jung Hyeok’s interaction could also carry a satirical meaning to it:

Both of them experienced a weird twist of fate, as their status in North and South Korea switched. However, this switch could also be Ji-Eun’s way of making us ponder about whether the actual difference between North and South, or even globally, are really that huge.

Putting aside both parties’ handling of weaponry or their methods of resolving conflict, our culture, along with the South, is not any different from North Korea, in some aspects (I think I’d need to emphasize this in case anyone misinterprets what I’m trying to explain). Our countries would deem anyone entering without a proper ID as criminals, and THERE’S ALSO THE FACT THAT there’d always be this one person/friend around you that has a huge talent of licking the boots of others (ahem)..

So, what do you think? Was the scriptwriter trying to subtly remind us that we, as humans, have the tendency to think and act alike, despite of where we come from?

Once again, I stand on my word that everything here is based on my understanding and it should not reflect others’. If there’s any other areas I might’ve misinterpreted or if you see anything I mislooked, do share it with me! Would be glad to learn :D

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There’s actually so much more to discuss about this series, but it’d take quite some time to organize all my ideas ahahahah.. will definitely post it here when I’m done!

And if you made it here, thank you so much for spending your time on this! I really appreciate it. Do share with me your thoughts and opinions on this if you want to!