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Personal Taste (2010)
Personal Taste
개인의 취향 / GaeIn’s Taste
(Mar – May 2010)
who’s in it
Son YehJin (Alone in Love, Summer Scent)
Lee MinHo (Boys Over Flowers, I Am Sam)
Kim JiSuk (Chuno)
Wang JiHye (Friend, Our Legend)
Im SeulOng (2AM – member)
what’s it about
Son YehJin plays a woman who is having the worst week of her life—the kind of week that would make a normal person like you and me wither away in defeat. Her new business venture in furniture-designing is a failure. Her boyfriend has been sneaking around on her with her friend of 10 years, who by the way, is a mega biatch. Her assistant tries to have sex with her while she’s drunk and this same twerp has stolen $10,000 from her and put her home up as collateral with a loan shark, a beautiful manor that is an architecturally significant accomplishment by her father. She’s bankrupt and heartbroken. Her one non-backstabbing friend assures her, in a bit of foreshadowing, when one steps out of a crappy car, a Mercedes will drive up. Well, she just says a new car, but...turns out, Lee MinHo, a gifted architect from a small, struggling firm does in fact drive a nice car, a Benz. He himself is a Mercedes Benz, actually, as we learn he’s a pretty decent guy with good work ethic and a sense of responsibility. I suppose this makes Son YehJin’s ex, played by devilishly hot Kim JiSuk, a BMW—Bad Man Walking.
Son YehJin and Lee MinHo’s co-habitation begins when her lack of finances force her to accept him as a tenant, which she allows despite the fact that he’s a man because prior run-ins with him have incorrectly lead her to conclude he’s gay. But why does he want to sublet a room in her home? Well, it’s all business. He needs to study the design of her home in order to win a large contract for a project that could be the savior, or death, of his entire firm.
commitment
16 episodes
network
MBC
wildcard factor
Four beautiful leading actors/actresses, lead by the incomparable magnetic duo of Son YehJin and Lee MinHo. Need I say more?
first impressions
I didn’t really have a problem with the premise, the situation outlined was extravagant, but a *fairly* plausible one. What didn’t work [initially] was the chemistry between all the characters. It was a lot like flat soda, slightly fizzy, but a bit lacking in bite. To be honest, I thought Son YehJin was subpar and didn’t stand out amongst her lively costars. Fortunately, Lee MinHo reminded us quickly why he was the breakthrough star of Boys Over Flowers (acting-wise) by effortlessly shaking off all the pressure he must have felt in this first attempt to shed Goo JunPyo. He did a credible job playing the more modestly contained architect and proved to be the best part of the Personal Taste introduction. Kim JiSuk (BMW) continued to impress here with his acting presence, as he did during his ab-tastic turn in Chuno as the playboy slave hunter.
I looked forward to continuing this drama more than any other that was airing at the time (including Oh! My Lady) but despite my positive reaction, I felt this one had the higher chance of failure because of the great foundation provided…and therefore the greater expectation. On the other hand, a solid base meant it had a higher chance for greatness as well. After the first few episodes, I thought the characters needed to rise beyond the cleverly arranged plot and find more heart. Son YehJin and Lee MinHo needed to find a way to defy the beginning awkwardness between them and find their mutual fizz, so to speak. If these two couldn’t convince us of their couple-mojo, despite all the interesting character setups, this show was likely to fall short of expectations.
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