K-dramaland has been filled with all other ethereal beings in the past and it’s now time for a quirky angel to take the spotlight.
A Guardian Angel
Angel Dan (Infinite L / Kim Myung-soo) is not your typical guardian angel. He’s good at finishing his mission but he would always take risky decisions. He always goes beyond what his mission should be and a firm believer that every lives matter. So, it wasn’t a surprise at all when this Angel didn’t think twice saving a lady in need. Archangel Hoo (Kim In-kwon) can berate him all he wants but Angel Dan has forever changed the course of his life after meddling with a human’s life.
The first few episodes of the series revolve around this basic story line of Angel Dan becoming human Kim Dan. His adjustment from a guardian angel to living breathing human resulted in a lot of funny antics and loud (and sometimes physical) banters with the center of his mission – Lee Yeon-seo (Shin Hae-sun).
The Wounded Ballerina
Yeon-seo’s character arc was the exact opposite of Angel Dan’s seemingly humorous character arc. This ballerina’s life was as tragic as it could be. She lost her parents at a young age. She went blind and was robbed of her ability to dance. No one could blame her for being the evil Yeon-seo that everyone in her household hated. Everyone except Secretary Jo Seung-hwan (Jang Hyun-sung). He firmly believed in Yeon-seo’s good heart. He would do anything for this girl, who’s like her real daughter. Anything including giving his own life for her.
Yeon-seo got her eyesight back and her chance to perform on stage again. But she was still injured and no one could see her scars and deep wounds. Because no one dared to take a closer look at this wounded ballerina.
The depiction of her character arc was so heartbreakingly good. Yeon-seo might look like a heartless character but she was indeed a warm-hearted woman just like how Secretary Jo saw her.
The Fallen Angel
Creative Director Ji Kang-woo (Lee Dong-gun) has been introduced as a mysterious character from the start of the series. There were hints of his identity but the revelation of his back story still came as a shock. It was probably one of the best reveals in this series. And the intrigue surrounding Director Ji didn’t stop after knowing [SPOILER ALERT] he was once an angel too. The story continued to tease Kang-woo’s past and how he became a mortal.
Kang-woo’s character was also a parallel plot for Yeon-seo and Dan’s story. He stirred up emotions of the two main characters and he was also a good supporting character for Yeon-seo and Dan’s final plot point. So, I’m still a bit torn whether I like the ending of Kang-woo and Geum Ni-na’s (Kim Bo-mi) characters. It was hinted that both of them were healing from their past experiences but I think they deserve better.
I also think the revelation that Geum Ru-na (Gil Eun-hye) was the real villain and not her parents Chairman Choi Young-ja (Do Ji-won) and Kim Ki-cheon (Kim Seung-wook) could have been executed better. They could have waited until the few last episodes to reveal that it was indeed Ru-na plotting everything. I think they disclose Ru-na’s identity a bit too early which made the build-up to the final episodes a bit weak. It felt like they couldn’t decide what final conflict they’ll use. Is it Ru-na’s evil plan or Dan’s situation? They did both and although the execution was okay, again, it could have been better. Why? Because this series’ first half was really good. It showed strong potentials but they weren’t able to finish it well.
The Last Mission
The last mission is to make Yeon-seo learn to love again. This may sound like an overused romantic story line for K-dramas but this is one of the main reason why I still believe this series was worth watching after all. I like how Dan’s mission, the underlying story arc, evolved from a simple angel’s mission to everyone else’s mission.
Through Dan’s eyes, we saw that there were people in Yeon-seo’s who genuinely wishes her well. The seemingly strict butler, Jung Yoo-mi (Woo Hee-jin), became Yeon-seo’s family in the end. Archangel Hoo sacrificed himself for Dan because, in the end, he saw that Yeon-seo was worth the fight. Ni-na sided with Yeon-seo instead of her own family because Yeon-seo’s words always reached her heart. Kang-woo was blinded by his obsession with his late beloved at first but his feeling, later on, became real. The great character developments saved this drama for me.
Maknae’s Final Verdict
Angel’s Last Mission – Love had a strong premiere but with predictable ending. Other than the ending though, this series is still in my good book. Shin Hae-sun outdid herself again. Her performance during melodramatic scenes was tremendously good. Some scenes even left me speechless. It was hard for a neophyte actor like L to give the same level of performance. But you know what? Kim Myung-soo did a good job as well considering he acted alongside veteran actors like Hye-sun and Lee Dong-gun. I’ve seen all of his dramas and I can objectively say that he improved a lot. I can’t wait to see more from him and Hye-sun.
Image credit (1)
ahjummamshies.com 