Hello! Miss Episode 1

I finally was able to download the first episode and finished watching it last night. As previously mentioned, I was planning to do an episodic summary for Hello! Miss (H!M). However, ripgal (Jo), a wonderful Mukgu-er @ soompi, will take on this project instead. I'll just write about my thoughts on the drama and you can check out the details in Jo's summaries. The summary for episode 1 is already posted. You can read it by clicking here. Please drop her a thank you note to show your support for her effort if you do visit the soompi thread. Jo did an amazing job with the summary, so I was surprised to learn that this is her first time writing one. Thank you, Jo!

Episode 1

As with most dramas, episode 1 of H!M serves as an introduction to the lead characters and the supporting players. LDH as Soo Ha is super adorable while at the same time, very feisty. Yes, there are over-the-top expressions from her but I did not have any problem with that because they are hilarious. Soo Ha's facial expressions and gestures do remind me of Yoo Rin, but then again, it's just the first episode. Perhaps, once we get into the drama a little more, I'll begin to see Soo Ha in her own light.

The first episode is really all about SH. Everytime LDH appears, she lights up the screen. (Although, that observation might just be biased me raving about one of my favorited actresses so you'll have to check out H!M for yourself to see if you agree with me or not.) I love how SH can be sassy in one moment and soft-spoken in the next scene. And she does both equally well and made me laugh in both situations. When she's feisty, her expressions and tone of voice are so cute and hysterical and when she's soft-spoken and demure, I'd laugh because we all know that that's not the real SH because she's putting on a show to achieve something. One of my favorite scenes is when SH is on the phone trying to negotiate with the finance company. When things do not seem to be going her way, she starts yelling at them and of course, they hung up the phone on her. The phone rings again and thinking that it's the same company, she raises her voice. However, when she realizes that it was actually one of the elders of her village, her tone changes dramatically and immediately. Even though the elder on the other line really couldn't see SH's behaviors, she was bowing too when she talks to him. If you're not getting why I find it funny, watch the episode and you'll understand. (I hope.)

Of course, with any romcom (romantic comedy), you have your share of quirky characters. In H!M, there is SH's village family and her new friend Jung Sook, the girl who has a questionable fashion sense. Also, there are many familar faces whom we've seen from past dramas, which I'm always excited to see. For example, there's "mandoo ajumma" from Bad Family, "Gong Shil Jang" from Fantasy Couple, and "the King" from Goong and Hwang Jin-Yi. Mandoo ajumma is now the housekeeper for SH; Gong Shil Jang is the assistant to a high ranking executive, which is funny because it's similar to his job title in Fantasy Couple. So while watching him, I was thinking, "Hey man, how's Billy doing? You don't work for him anymore?" He also keeps his special way of saying "ne." The King is SH's father, so in a way, he's still "king" as he's the patriarchal figure of the family.

In addition, the way the characters are set up are somewhat similar to My Girl, or perhaps it's not really similar but I'm just reminded of My Girl because of LDH. For example, we have the good guy played by Lee Ji Hoon, the player who will grow fond of this "strange" girl that he's just met, and the quirky friend.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. There are characters that I already sense I will dislike and ones that I will root for. And of course, LDH is breathtakingly gorgeous, but we know that already, right, fellow Mukgu-ers?!