Encounter (2018)

Very predictable and little chemistry

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2018/2019 South Korean television romance drama with 16, 60 minute episodes.

Cha Soo-hyun (Song Hye-kyo), has lived life in the spot light serving as a poster child for her politician father. Her mother, who sees her daughter as a pawn to further her husband’s political career, marries her off to a chaebol whose family has wealth and power sufficient to support her families‘ political ambitions. The loveless marriage soon falls apart when Soo-hyun’s husband declares he wants to marry one of the women he had been having an affair with. There are conditions to the divorce on both sides, Soo-hyun’s mother-in-law insists she continue to attend family gatherings until her son remarries. Soo-Hyun requests to be CEO of a hotel owned by the family which is on the verge of failing financially. Soo-Hyun makes the hotel so successful that she goes to Cuba to strike a deal to expand her hotel brand. It is while there that she has several chance encounters with Kim Jin-hyuk (Park Bo-gum), who saved doing part time jobs for a fun filled trip too Cuba before returning to South Korea and settling int his career. Soo-Hyun takes an impulsive trip out without her staff to see a highly recommended beach sunset and winds up being pick pocketed and stranded. She asks Jin-Hyuk to help her and they wind up spending a spontaneous and eventful evening together. They planned a good bye meeting the next morning but Soo-Hyun gets delayed and they return to South Korea separately thinking they are unlikely to see each other again. Fate has a say though and Jin-Hyuk’s new job is with Soo-hyun’s company. Differences in age, social class, and her ex in laws and parents desire for her to remarry her former spouse all stand in the way of the developing romance. Can the two overcome all the obstacles?

spoilers** Overall I would characterize this as boring. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly good either. The entire story line was very very predictable. When they were in Cuba it was slightly interesting as it was intriguing knowing neither one of them really knew who the other one was so there was anticipation in that. Also, in Cuba, they were doing some interesting things in that cultural space. When they were back in South Korea there was a moment of uncertainty when it turned out he worked for her and her company and when he had to go to an office farther away. The female lead character had a very “flat” personality. It was supposed to be due to her upbringing but, other than a few more smiles, the character did not change or grow significantly. It made it hard to understand why the magnanimous male character would be so madly in love with her. I thought that her conflict with her ex‘s family would turn out to be a way bigger deal than it actually wound up being. The fact that her father took care of it made the entire struggle leading up to that kind of a mute point. Even their small break up was very predictable and the fact that they got back together even more predictable. If it seems like I’m using the word predictable a lot it’s very intentional there were no major surprises or twists which for me made the story very ho-hum. His mom and her actions is something you would expect within the context of a Korean drama yet I still found it very mean and irritating. I know it’s the American in me that finds the way parents in Korean dramas interfere in the lives of their children annoying. When it is just them disapproving and working on their own child it is one thing but when they harm someone else emotionally it is just abusive. I was disappointed he was not angry with his mom about it. The father was and I liked that. I was glad she finally came around but it was almost too late. Not one I would rewatch or recommend unless someone is a serious fan of one of the leads or just likes very predictable romantic dramas.

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