I watched this because of lee je hoon. i watched him in taxi driver and remembered that he played in signal as well. so, i was curious about this drama as this one is a different genre from the other two. can he do romantic drama as well?
title: where the stars land
cast: lee je hoon, chae soo bin
genre: romantic drama
han yeo rum (chae soo bin)was just assigned to the passenger service team after a year working at the incheon airport. though she was still new, her track record was bad. she's known as a trouble maker. though it wasn't all her fault, really. she's just mainly clumsy and sometimes her emotion got he best of her. while lee soo yeon (lee je hoon) is a quiet and secretive man. he's also in the passenger service team. though he only worked there for a year as well, since he had better record, he was told to be yeo rum's supervisor. their different personality made them argue sometimes, but soo yeon hid a secret from yeo rum.
at work, both of them started to have arguments regarding how to solve problems at the airport. yeo rum wanted to prove that she's worthy to be in the team, while soo yeon preferred to stay hidden, and being with yeo rum made him stand out. yeo rum has another best friend at the airport, ko eun seob (rowoon). at first eun seob pretended that they were just friends. but when he wanted to make yeo rum as his someone special, yeo rum has fallen in love with soo yeon instead.
on the airport, there are other people like the passenger service manager, yang seo koon (kim ji soo). she's a cold and strict lady, but she's warm hearted and a bit partial toward soo yeon because of her brother. her brother has similar condition to soo yeon, that's why she helped soo yeon covering his past so he could work at the airport. apparently, even though she looks like a single lady, she was married to the head of the security team, choi moo ja (lee sung wook). she's been served the divorce paper but never signed it yet. their relationship is a bit funny though. they look cold on the outside but they care for each other secretly.
while in security team, thanks to a case, yeo rum made friends with oh dae ki (kim kyung nam) and na young joo (lee soo kyung). dae ki is a bit warm hearted and friendly while young joo is cold on the outside and a bit weird. she pretended to have a boyfriend while in fact she had no one. at the end we saw that dae ki has feeling for young joo and vice versa, but the later is reluctant to admit it. however, at the end, she was forced to admit her feelings and it was really cute.
the problem occurred mainly because soo yeon's condition. apparently he had first degree disability, which meant he had problems with either his arms or legs. the fact was when he was young, he was involved in an accident because he was chasing his half brother, seo in woo (lee dong gun) who was involved in trouble. but his brother left him when he was hit by the car. the accident made him couldn't move his right arm and right leg, so he had to be in a wheelchair. he almost took his own life because he didn't want to be talked about or looked at for being in a wheelchair. when he almost took his life, yoo reum's dad stopped him and later introduced him to the person that would made him the prosthetic arms and legs, so he could move again. yoo reum's dad once showed him yoo reum's picture and later on his adult life, he's met yoo reum twice before they started working together at the airport.
however, in woo showed up again as airport planning operation manager, and he was persistent to kick soo yeon from the airport team. even soo yeon thought that the problem was in woo didn't want anyone else knew that he was involved in the accident that caused him to be a disable person. while in fact, in woo was involved with a dangerous and shady businessman who got them into the accident years ago. he tried to let loose from them but didn't success. so he wanted soo yeon to be kicked out from the team to protect him, in case the bad guys found out that he was his half brother and used him to threaten in woo. at the end, soo yeon knew the real reason but it was a bit too late.
the problem with soo yeon's prosthetic was sometimes it was malfunction when he was around yoo reum. and he overused it. he was supposed to take a rest from using it, but he overused it to save yoo reum and in woo. at the end, he was told to choose between dying or letting it go. he wanted to just die instead of trying again, but yoo reum persuaded him to try again and he agreed at last. after a year, we saw at the end a glimpse of soo yeon got back at the airport, but we never saw his face.
what i like:
- this is my first time watching an airport's life situation. i never think about problem that could occur because of simple thing like advertising banner at the airport. thanks to this drama, i get better understanding about airport's life.
- most of the actors and actress are good. however, i think lee je hoon better stick to action/thriller drama instead of romantic one. somehow i feel he's a bit flat as a romantic guy.
what i don't like:
- the storyline is a bit complicated. like how soo yeon is connected to yoo reum's dad. but yoo reum's dad was died at the end? and what about in woo's dad? how is is possible that a son can't recognize his own dad? and do they reconcile at the end?
- there's too many side stories. like the history between the T2 director and the transportation service manager. and manager yang and manager choi. and dae ki and young joo. though the last couple is my favorite though. they're cute.
rating: 7/10
binge worthy: so-so
recommended for: someone who like airport life drama, fans of lee je hoon, chae soo bin, and rowoon, don't have problem with slow moving plot and a bit flat drama.
