I recently finished watching this 2021 Korean drama called "Melancholia" and decided to review and post some of my thoughts. It was directed by Kim Sang-Hyeob. Lee Do Hyun (male lead) and Im Soo Jung (female lead) were casted, but tbh I only recognised the actor, Lee. It's a pretty long post, but you can skip to the parts that you're interested in. Let's go!
What’s this drama about (without spoilers)?
The male lead (Paik Seung Yoo) is a math genius who had been invited to study at MIT (a university in US) at the age of 10 but something happened, and he dropped out. Ever since he returned to Korea, he was unmotivated and disinterested in his studies until he meets the female lead in Asung High School.
The female lead (Ji Yoon Su) is a new math teacher employed by the school for her astounding skills – her students often win prestigious competitions such as the Math Olympiad. She appears in the male lead’s life and helps him to reignite his passion for Math.
The story of these two Math geeks could have just ended there if the school was an ordinary one. However, Asung High School’s student population is made up of children from rich and relatively powerful members of society and there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes manipulation. So, the main leads find themselves getting in the way of Principal Noh’s plans and she will do everything in her power to “protect” her precious school.
A heartwarming relationship between a teacher and a student gets twisted into an ugly scandal to direct attention away from the ongoing corruption. The female lead gets fired from her job and the male lead promises to bring the bad guys to justice. But wait, this is a Korean drama right? Is there really nothing going on between the teacher and the student? Watch to find out OR you can just read this post luh.
Would I recommend you to watch it?
Unfortunately no, unless you are a fan of the actor Lee Do Hyun (aka male lead) and you are interested in watching all the dramas that he appears in. I enjoyed the first 6 episodes, but the next 10 episodes were rather predictable and draggy. Anyway, I still ended up finishing the entire drama because I was quite entertained and wanted to watch if anything unpredictable might happen.
Genre: School life, teacher-student relationship, math (uni level I think), power play and politics.
Let’s talk about this drama!
SPOILER ALERT! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Topics (click on these instead of scrolling there):
Brief overview of the 16 episodes
The timeline jumps around a little here and there, but I would say that there is one pivotal moment which is when the female lead gets fired from Asung High School. This moment divides the entire story line into 2 parts – before she was fired (first 6 episodes) and after she was fired (last 10 episodes).
In the first 6 episodes, we see how fate binds our main leads together in multiple coincidental encounters allowing the female lead to help the male lead walk out of his past trauma.
The next 10 episodes show our main leads trying to right the wrong 4 years later by gathering evidence to expose the corruption that “destroyed their lives”. It also becomes the male lead’s turn to help the female lead walk out from the unhealthy and unhappy state she was in.
Okay luh, technically their lives were not destroyed – the male lead becomes famous, and nobody actually digs up his past until he exposes himself while the female lead teaches privately in a good cram school. Well yes, her marriage was ruined but come on, it didn’t seem to me like she was head over heels in love with her fiancé (Ryu Sung Jae). Both main leads are still able to make a living (can rent/buy house, buy car, buy motorbike, buy many high heel shoes) and can afford to put the past behind them, except that they are both very righteous individuals, so they can’t rest until they’ve got the baddies behind bars.
Is there a link between the title “Melancholia” and the drama?
If you google, Melancholia means a state of prolonged sadness. Okay, so is the show very sad? Otherwise, why must the title be Melancholia?
I am not 100% sure, but here’s my take.
In Episode 3, the female lead brings the male lead to the library to get some inspiration for his presentation. They look at a piece of art titled “Melencolia” by Albrecht Dürer. She describes the feeling of nothingness, after a persistent downwards spiral, to a point of longing for a breakthrough or “light at the end of the tunnel”.
I think this is a feeling that resonates throughout the drama – i.e., how Mathematicians (like Yoon Su’s father) spend many tiring years trying to come up with the proof to their math statements, or the difficult process of individuals working through their trauma, and how Yoon Su was also stuck in a toxic state of wanting and waiting for revenge to be served to the corrupted individuals. Until that moment arrives, everybody will experience melancholia.
Side note: The main characters are generally not so outwardly expressive people, so their calm personalities kind-of reinforce a sense of melancholy throughout the show, I guess?
Is it just me or do y’all find the drama draggy as well?
I think the story could have been more effectively conveyed to the audience in 12 episodes or less. The pace of the storytelling before and after the female lead gets fired felt different. It was relatively fast initially and most of the scenes were satisfyingly packed with content to a point that I thought we were close to the climax and the end of the show even though we were only at episode 6. The last 10 episodes were a little frustrating to sit through because I can already predict what’s going to happen and nothing new really pops up.
One of things that they could have considered removing was the number of car or motorcycle scenes from episodes 7 to 16. There were far too many scenes of characters arriving at or leaving a venue in their vehicles. Sometimes, they would have conversations in the car or were just simply looking pensive and using their phones. Yes, I am excited that the female lead ditches her bicycle for a white car and the male lead rides a black motorcycle almost everywhere he goes, but hello, a bit too much uh? It’s so ridiculous that I decided to scroll through quickly and do a count for y’all.
There was a grand total of 84 vehicle scenes in the last 10 episodes!!! Notable mention: If you watch episode 8, you’ll see the female lead’s car at least 7 times and the male lead’s motorcycle at least twice.
I also noticed that Ye Lin was always going to Principal Noh’s office just like how her mother kept going to the male lead’s parents’ café. No prizes for correctly guessing which one occurred more frequently because it’s too obvious. Based on my fast scroll-through skills, Ye Lin’s mum went to the café 7 different times (I think all different outfits) while Ye Lin visited Principal Noh’s office 12 freaking times (literally every episode except for ep 4, 8, 9, 11 and 16. Oh and she went twice in ep 12 too).
Without a doubt, Principal Noh’s iconic office with all her plants also showed up a lot of times throughout the entire show. I wouldn’t be surprised if it appeared in every episode because I think Principal Noh is secretly the actual main lead (haha, I kid).
I’m guessing that the screenwriter also planned on giving the next generation side characters (aka Choi Si An and Kim Ji Na) screen time for some character development. Principal Noh is just too strong an evil character and her daughter is the only one capable of causing her downfall. Unfortunately, I was simply not that interested in their stories, and this could have added to my frustration for the last 10 episodes.
Lastly, I just want to mention that there were quite a lot of “cliffhangers” used (within the episodes, not referring to the pre-credit scenes kind) especially in the last few episodes. For example, what did Principal Noh whisper to the female lead in episode 11? What did the female lead tell the male lead’s father at the start of ep 13? Who called the male lead and what information was shared with him over the phone in ep 15? Who cleared Principal Noh’s secret safe in ep 15? This gradually felt like an overused technique of some sort that made me slightly irritated too.
My favourite scene happens in Episode 2!
[Quick recap] The female lead returns to the school at night and finds the male lead trying to solve the question in the math classroom alone. She quietly observes him from the back of the classroom. She feels her heart beating faster as she looks through his work on the chalkboard. He is oblivious to her presence but pauses after drawing 4 circle figures. He takes a moment to think and in that silence, an idea pops into her head and she approaches the board instinctively. He turns his head in shock to look at the random person who has just materialised out of nowhere but relaxes a little after realising that it’s Ms Ji. But wait, it IS Ms Ji. What is she doing here? She draws a fifth figure on the board. He redirects his attention back onto the board and the fifth figure sets him off on some excited scribbling. The female lead reads his scribbles with a mix of curiosity, awe and pride. The corner of her lips turn up ever so slightly and when he stops, she jumps in to add in a missing negative sign in his equation. Then, she picks up from where he had stopped. He takes a look at what she has written and starts to scribble down another line of equation. This time, before he is done writing his line, she starts to scribble down the next line as a continuation. No words nor looks are exchanged as they fill the entire board with math equations and before long, warm orange rays shoot through the windows. It’s already morning.
SIde note: I have no idea how they got into the school so late at night. Did the staff forget to lock the school gates and classrooms? Does the school even have a school gate or do they function like a university? And, why is the vice-principal sweeping the corridors in the morning? Don’t they have cleaning aunties and uncles? They so budget meh?
Okay, let’s ignore the questions that we will never get answers for and focus on the scene. I just love this breath-taking display of intellectual “conversation” between our main leads. No words are needed as the communication occurs on the chalkboard. They understand each others’ thinking process so well and are able to continue from where the other person left off. There was no physical intimacy happening on screen, but their interaction/exchange felt so intimate and personal. I don’t mean it in a sexual way, but more of this unique connection which happened in that moment between the two of them. The phrase that comes to my mind when I think about that scene is “I’m so happy that I met you”. They are both simultaneously experiencing this unexplainable mix of emotions that is only possible as a result of them meeting and all the interactions leading up to this moment.
At the center of all those emotions, I think there’s immense joy in having someone understand you the way you want them to. I think about how lonely the male lead must have been in his past years trying to repress the gift that he has while believing that it’s a curse. It’s amazing how the female lead is able to bring out this side of him without triggering the terrible flashbacks. She gives him the patience and guidance to work through his trauma and rediscover his passion for math. This experience is something that no other significant adult in his life was able to give him and I’m so glad that he got it from a respectable teacher.
Anyway, I’m going to quickly put it out here that I’m quite disappointed in the progress of their relationship. I know that Korean dramas usually have a romance plot between the female and male leads and I always ship it, but this time I was really hoping that they maintain the platonic student-teacher relationship! Sigh… The ending was way too cringey for me. The male lead uses the oldest math equation pick-up line on the female lead and in a Telegram group chat for math enthusiasts?! Wah I couldn’t contain my disappointment. Help luh!
The relationship between our main leads
There are usually 2 reasons to explain why we continue watching a show. One, if there’re actors/actresses that we support or two, there’s something that we are curious about, so we watch on. The main motivation for me this time round was finding out how the relationship between the main leads would unfold.
A student-teacher relationship kind of plot is not that common as it’s usually frowned upon by the public for its controversial nature. Teachers are just not supposed to be dating their students and for the most part, we see the female lead rejecting the male lead’s “advances”. Although I am not an actress and can't comment much on the acting, but as a viewer - I thought that Lee Do Hyun portrayed the "young student having a crush on his teacher" state very well. You know it's not right and you're doubting yourself, but you just can't stop the emotions (which you think is "love") from flowing. You give her a gift and she rejects it, but you're not that surprised because you kind of already expected it. She's a teacher and you're just a student. Stop it and don't get her into trouble for goodness sake. I enjoyed watching his portrayal of the shy and awkward teenager who's not too sure and trying to figure life out while respecting his teacher and not behaving in ways that crosses any boundaries.
Later on, I thought the female lead handled his confession really well in ep 6 and he looked like he decided to respect her wishes when he burnt his gift to her. I know that you can’t just tell someone to stop liking another person, but it’s difficult for me to understand how he eventually developed and sustained such a deep romantic interest for her over the 4 years of no contact. There were also no indications that she had any feelings for him back then. Tell me, did I miss something?
But looking back at her actions as a teacher, I think she could have done a better job at drawing the lines. For instance, she could have protected herself better by not being alone with him outside of school without parental knowledge. They went to Jeju via plane… just the two of them leh. Can meh? Why not ask his Form Teacher to go together? And I know that sometimes teachers go above and beyond for their students, but have you ever heard of a teacher introducing her father to a student? Isn’t she feeling a little too comfortable with that? Could there have been alternative ways to help him out of his trauma without resorting to such means?
I’m not too sure how she also developed romantic feelings for him 4 years later but my guess is that she was touched by his genuine love and care for her father, his unwavering support and their common interest in math. Plus, he is no longer a student and she’s not his teacher anymore.
If I had the chance to rewrite the plot, I wouldn’t want the female lead to reciprocate his feelings or even struggle with reaching a decision about this matter. Not simply because I think student-teacher romantic relationships are inappropriate, but I think the show would have been more relatable and impactful if the male lead does what he does because of his admiration and respect for the female lead. Perhaps he could have realised over the 4 years that he was confused and mistook his gratitude for romantic love instead. He now wants to clear his teacher’s name because she helped him walk out of his trauma and guided him back to a life filled with meaning again. I don’t think that this should be confused with other intentions (e.g. he did all these because he thinks he loves her). The audience may have an easier time relating to this alternative plot while they reminisce about the significant teacher figures in their personal lives. I mean how many people actually date their teachers in real-life and not get into trouble? And if we take a look at the ending, our main leads managed to direct the attention back to the corruption, but they didn’t really get back to the reporters about their scandal 6 years ago. It’s too complicated to explain, so they just dropped it?
Who knew that being a Principal can be so powerful?
I know that Noh Jung Ah (actress: Jin Kyung) was the Director or something at Asung High School previously but aiyah, let’s just call her Principal Noh for convenience sake.
She is so OP as an antagonist character. Nothing escapes her knowledge and people are afraid of getting on her bad side because she has all the information that can be used against them. In addition to that, running a school also means she has some control over all the students and even their parents as well. She’s super manipulative, especially towards Ye Lin. Just look at the number of times Ye Lin goes to her office (I think it’s more than the times she is shown to be talking to her parents). The rich and influential parents end up bowing or kneeling to her because they need her help with their children’s “education”. It’s ironic how her only weakness is her daughter who is a product of the education that she advocated for. She expected her daughter to be as smart as her when doing bad things but the girl is just a child and mistakes are a part of growing up.
The show gave Principal Noh quite a lot of screen time actually. There was more space for character development and story-telling which helps us to understand how she became the way she is. You can say that she’s also a product of the kind of parenting/education that she encourages. She grew up in an environment where she was constantly competing with her half sister for their father’s love and attention. This sounds pretty normal except for the fact that she’s born into a position of power and she misuses her power to turn things into her favour. I’m sure the father knows about the ongoing sibling rivalry and corruption, but he allows it all to happen because that’s how he learned too. It’s an endless cycle if you think about it, but I’m not saying that she has no fault. She’s definitely responsible for how she wants to live her life. Anyway, her goal is very clear from the start to the end: I must create a perfect school so that my father will be proud of me, and he will show that by allowing me, instead of my sister, to take over his company.
I think Principal Noh’s acting impressed me the most, especially the scenes showing her character slowly falling apart when she realised that she can’t clean up her daughter’s mess. Her character reminds me of an intense Korean drama called “The Penthouse: War in Life”. It has a similar theme of rich parents and spoiled students. I can totally imagine her acting in it tbh.
Adults don’t always make the best decisions!
There is also a constant theme of adults thinking that they know what’s best for their children and/or the younger generation. Here are some examples:
Ye Lin’s parents’ bribery/affair with Principal Noh for the sake of her and her brother’s education and future
Sung Jae’s (the female lead’s ex-fiance) parents’ eagerness to decide his marriage for him
Principal Noh’s father "playing" with her and her half sister even when he knows that they are fighting to win his favour and company
The female lead refusing to share her plans with the male lead in hopes of protecting him (I don't get this... You guys are on the same side yo. Just tell him!)
The male lead’s parents imposing their hopes and dreams on him
Side note: I was so excited to see the male lead shout at his father finally because we rarely see changes in his emotional output and he’s always holding back, refusing to express his opinions to his parents even when they went ahead to make the police report against the female lead for inappropriate relationship. BUT, so sad that it lasted so short! I don’t think what he said can fully help his father to understand what went wrong, but I guess it is in line with his character to be a man of few words. It also reflects the reality of how we sometimes never get to properly express ourselves when the opportunity comes. We never know what’s the right thing to say and we never know when’s a good time too.
I find myself feeling so frustrated watching these unfold even though they are quite reflective of the real world. The older generation is often coming from a point that they have more experience in life and thus, they should know better. However, some of them seem to forget that life is always progressing and what worked in the past may not be as effective in the present. Every individual is also different and should have the right to make decisions for their own lives. Besides that, youths are also very impressionable at a young age and all interactions with adults have significant impacts on their lives. Regardless of how twisted their parents were, I feel relieved that the children (e.g. Ye Lin and Ji Na) were able to be brave, acknowledge their wrongdoings and accept new perspectives.
We need more people like the female lead in our lives. Her approach with the students is patient and non-imposing. You can tell that there’s a difference between her and the other adults in the ways that they speak to the youths (e.g. choice of words and tone). Regardless of the extent of their mistakes, she is always concerned about their well-being first. In episode 5, she finds out that Ye Lin was the one who cut the brakes on her bicycle and instead of reprimanding her for it, she became concerned about Ye Lin’s anxiety levels and tried to seek mental health support for her. In episode 15, she was worried that Ji Na might be in a frightened state after almost fatally injuring Shi An and insisted on meeting her. When she actually meets Ji Na, she quickly tells her that Shi An is okay and reassures her that she will be okay too instead of immediately pressing her for the details of the incident.
Besides just hoping for the world to be a better place, we also need to strive to be better people. Ownself check ownself first. Instead of being too quick to respond to our urges/emotions, we can take time to breathe, think and prioritise what’s important to us. One thing that the show has taught me is that a restorative approach yields positive results even though it may take a longer time.
And...writing this post also taught me that a drama review post is not a piece of cake. Wew!
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