Drama Profile
Title: Mine
Main Cast: Lee Bo-young, Kim Seo-hyung, Lee Hyun-wook, and Ok Ja-yeon
Writer: Baek Mi-kyeong (Melting Me Softly, Lady in Dignity, Strong Woman Do Bong-soon)
PD: Lee Na-jeong (Love Alarm, Fight for My Way, Oh My Venus)
Timeslot: Saturday and Sunday 21:00
Network: tvN
Episodes: 16
Genre: Melodrama, Murder Mystery, Thriller
Plot Synopsis: Featuring the high society’s enormous lifestyle, the drama follows two strong and ambitious women who are trying to find their real selves while being married to the sons of a powerful conglomerate.
Major Tropes: Screwed-up Family/ Bones in the Closet
Grumpy’s First Impression:
Whenever we get a K-drama about the filthy rich, it always involves either adultery or murder. I’m sure there are more conflicts out there, but it’s always either of the two. And if we’re lucky, we get both. The plot of tvN’s latest drama Mine isn’t spared from showing the dark side of the elite. Aside from having two of the most powerful female leads ever, we also get to have interesting storylines for each character – a different, fearless kind of twist for a soapy drama.
My favorite character is Seo Hi-soo (Lee Bo-young), without a doubt. She used to be a top actress, but she gave up her glistening career to marry the second son of the Hyowon Group, Han Ji-yong (Lee Hyun-wook.) I like how she’s always confident about herself even though the world she now lives in is very different. She’s an accomplished woman even before she met her husband – she wasn’t even aware of his chaebol status when she fell in love with him! But I felt bad for her because she felt like those achievements mean nothing now. It also seems like the future isn’t bright for Hi-soo if we’re basing it on the behavior of her two-faced husband.
Jung Seo-hyun (Kim Seo-hyung) is also another strong character that makes Mine worth watching! The revelation about her past was a twist I didn’t expect and I love it! I was wondering the whole time why would an old money agree to marry a very incompetent, alcoholic chaebol son, if wealth is out of the question. The answer is obvious – she needs to forget her great love – who happens to be another woman! Can we explore more about this, show??? I like to see another layer of Kim Seo-hyung’s remarkable acting range!
Lastly, we always know a villain when we see one, don’t you agree? The moment Kang Ja-kyung (Ok Ja-yeon) entered our screens, we all felt hate at first sight! No wonder, The Uncanny Counter fans think she’s still possessed with an evil spirit in this drama. My wild guess is that this new tutor has something to do with Hi-soo’s husband and step-son. I’m not sure if she’s the mom – or the mom’s twin. You know anything can happen in these types of stories – even the most unthinkable can pass as logical.
I was honestly flustered with Ja-kyung’s shamelessness in the pilot week! We are used to villains who are brazen enough to shake the main character but this tutor is on a distinct level. And what’s more shocking is that Hi-soo just let it pass! The tutor was caught in the act wearing her employer’s fancy dress but our kind-hearted heroine just asked her not to do it again!!! Girl, that’s a major red flag!
I know we’re all tired of the barrage of rich family melodramas lately, but at least, Mine is trying to stand out among the rest. They’re on a whole different level of filthy rich – their drinking water comes from Antartica and the air they breathe is purified!
There are other side characters in the drama – actually they’re many – but not worth mentioning as they just make my blood boil. I remember the show was initially called “Blue Diamond” when the casting news made rounds. And we also got a glimpse of why the title was like that. The patriarch fainted just before mentioning giving a blue diamond necklace to a member of his expectant family. I wonder if this massive stone will play an important part in the future.
Grumpy Alley
🍷 Why does every single drama that I want right now starts with a dead person’s body? Why does every drama always turn out to be under the mystery/crime genre? Most importantly, who DIED and who KILLED the victim?
🍷 I have never seen a nun carrying an Hermes bag ever – this is a first! Mine fans went wild with this particular detail! Mother Emma (Ye Soo-jung) isn’t an ordinary nun, she’s a rich nun. And mysterious, too. (Why do I feel like she has something to do with the family patriarch? Is she the chairman’s mistress/mother of Ji-yong?)
🍷 The love line between Han Su-hyeok (Cha Hak-yeon) and Kim Yu-yeon (Jung Yi-seo) looks promising but I don’t feel any chemistry at all, just yet. I’m not closing my heart, though, maybe it just takes time to get used to their unusual set-up.
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