Crash Landing on You: A Tale of Two Star-crossed Lovers

Crash Landing on You is a story about Yoon Se Ri (Son Ye-jin), a South Korean fashion entrepreneur who goes out for paragliding and goes off course to DMZ (demilitarized zone), a place forbidden to South Koreans in North Korea due to a sudden tornado. There she meets Ri Jeong-Hyeok (Hyun Bin), a member of the North Korean elite and a Captain in the North Korean Special Police Force. Romance starts blooming when Ri Jeong Hyeok helps Se-ri and lets her stay in his house. He also secretly helps her return to South Korea while investigating the murder of his older brother. In all this, the couple slowly unravel mysteries and overcome obstacles while falling in love.

This drama really takes you on a journey of two worlds which are different yet the same. It shows how Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong-hyeok live in two different countries with stark differences but at the same time how both of their lives are the same. Like whether it’s being haunted by their past, thriving under family pressure or having good friends who always in believe in them.

Strong- Suits

1) Well-written Characters

What makes this drama so engaging and attractive is its well written characters like the main character of Yoon Se-ri who as an entrepreneur is so talented that she is able to sell her products even in a isolated village of North Korea and also buttering up the general’s wife to get Ri Jeong-hyeok a promotion. She even gets chosen as the successor of her father’s group despite being an illegitimate daughter. At first, she is shown as some irrational, spoiled heiress who only cares about profit and is disliked by people. However as the story progresses, she becomes more and more likable with her endearing antics. She is a fitting lead for a drama like this and makes the story feel alive.

Our male lead, Ri Jeong-hyeok is also shown as a serious and stoic male lead but later you are able to see his cute side when he gets jealous or when he is thrown off guard by Yoon Se-ri. The Captain has his own horde of fangirls in a small village who religiously follow him and deliver food at his home. He is in the pursuit of finding out who killed his brother.

2) The Nokor Boys

Honestly the ones that steal the show are the Nokor Boys with their vibrant personalities. Whether it’s good-looking Park Kwang-beom or K-drama fan Kim Ju-muk alongside Pyo Chi-su and Geum Eun-dong. Their shenanigans are hilarious to watch and make you so laugh hard. Also seeing them adapt to south korean culture and having the time of their lives really is makes you forget about the leads and just focus on the Nokor boys.

3) The Second lead Couple

It wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t mention the second leads who also slowly fall in love in North Korea. Seo Dan (Seo Ji-hye), is a violinist and from a rich family who is supposed to marry Ri Jeong-hyeok as they both know each other for a long time and then there is Gu Seung-joon (Kim Jung-hyun) who is on a run from international police and decides to take shelter in North Korea illegally. He meets Seo Dan one day and is enamored by her. I really enjoy him try to win her love by any means necessary and he warms her heart and makes her open up. Also I love how she accepts him and their loves isn’t magical or love at first sight but a slow process.

[SPOILER] While their love story and chemistry was quite enjoyable, their ending was not, its tragic. The amount of sadness and pain Gu Seung Joon go through is just too much. Their ending still pains me.

4) Character Growth

At last, I would like to credit the scriptwriters and editors for not letting the side characters remain unchanged and actually make them evolve with circumstances and own up their mistake. One instance is of Go Myeong-eun, Seo Dan’s mother who has a change of heart after seeing her daughter happy with Alberto Gu.

Also the village ladies are seen hostile in the beginning but aren’t antagonised but are also their different sides and how welcoming they can be, it shows that people have different sides.

Shortcomings

1) No Surprises

Since the story was extremely straightforward and didn’t many twist and turns in the romance, so having such huge and long episodes really felt unnecessary and rather forced. Jeong-hyeok and Se-ri had realised their feelings qutie early on, which made the early episodes of them falling in love interesting but after they started dating, their moments weren’t consistent and it was only interesting with other characters as props.

2) Villains

Secondly, villains have to be unlikable and should be seen in negative light but the villains that are, Se-ri’s brother and sister-in-law are so unlikable and embarrassing that you just want to skip them. Luckily, their ending is more satisfying but does not make for the suffering the viewers suffered watching them on screen.

3) Unnecessary Plot Points

Since Jeong-hyeok is in the army and has his brother’s killer after him, there are bound to be some action sequences. To be frank, the action scenes seem unnecessary and very few of them contribute to the plot.

This drama has many great points and is a good watch; however it does have some moments here and there in which it loses focus and adds unnecessary plot points especially having a past connection. The story doesn’t need to have a past connection to make the lovers feel that they’re fated to be as their love and sincerity towards each other speaks for itself. Also the past connection felt really forced and would have made the story better and more refreshing.

Final Verdict

This drama is an untypical rom-com between two lovers who live across the border and meet each other by fate. The drama really makes you root for this couple and want them to have a happy ending. The Nokor Boys can be relied to make you laugh no matter how serious the situation is. This drama really makes well-written and directed drama considering how everything could have gone south if it wasn’t diplomatic.

The review wouldn’t be complete without the wonderful OSTs whether it is Flower by Yoon Mirae, But it's destiny by 10cm or Sunset by Davichi.

Binge it on Netflix!!!

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