President (2010)

Stimulating. Addictive. Endearing. These words describe what every drama aspires to be, and what President most definitely is. How surprising that something so fun is also little known! "But wait," you say, perhaps suspiciously. "How can a show about a political campaign be anything but stodgy?" Don't run. Hear me out.

While a good portion of President does revolve around politics and the campaigning process, much more can be seen than that. After all, this is the tale of deep and involving characters, each with their own fleshed out philosophies, backgrounds, and behaviors. These deal with and engage in various conflicts and intrigues, some scandalous, some campaign-crushing, others life-ruining. So what does such an atmosphere produce? High stakes conflict, with constant twists and turns. The viewer never knows what might come out of various happenings, even until the end. There were times I held my breath, totally drawn in, or even cried, having become so involved in this bitter battle.

Another strength rests in dialogue, a major point for scriptwriters. Much like in another surprisingly fetching drama (Empire of Gold), conversations are strong and memorable, if not as literary. Several speeches served up goose bumps, especially those delivered by Jang Il Joon (Choi Soo Jong).

Despite the deep praise I have for much of President, problems do exist in the narrative. There were times, if only on occasion, I found certain events unbelievable or a little “too much.” More serious might actually be the inclusion of Yoo Min Ki (Kim Jay), and the overall pacing of that character’s subplot. Two romances exist on top of this, yet only one works well; the other feels shoe-horned in to hook unsuspecting romance fans.

Acting! Why not start with the best? Jang Il Joon might be one of the most fascinating characters ever written for a drama, and Choi Soo Jong brings him to life with overflowing charisma. Is this a good man, a bad one, or a bit of both? This unforgettable portrayal deepens as our knowledge of Jang Il Joon does – and what an electrifying effect! His voice especially gave me the impression of a true leader; I could listen to this man speak all day, yet always be moved.

Other fine performances belong to Ha Hee Ra (as the deliciously complicated, unscrupulous Jo So Hee) and Kim Heung Soo (brilliant advisor Ki Soo Chan). The majority of Jang Il Joon’s competitors and campaign workers were great too, though particularly Hong Yo Seop (playing noble Kim Kyung Mo). I honestly wanted to give this section a perfect score, but unfortunately several young cast members prevented me. These include Kim Jay and Wang Ji Hye as the biggest offenders, but their scenes are mercifully short in comparison to the rest.

Two great vocals are provided by Super Junior (“Biting My Lips”) and 4MEN (“To Go and Die Alone”) respectively. This second touched me the most; its lyrics suit Jang Il Joon and his upward struggle to a magnificent degree. Otherwise, most incidental music worked fine or was at least unobtrusive, though both the “love ballad” and campaigning tracks were not to my taste.

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Passable, I guess?

The opening scene is a teaser from episode 17, I hate when a drama pull this kind of stuff. It's okay to tease a couple of episodes in advance but not a teaser from the ending. Speaking of the ending, the last two episodes were bad, they were leaning to heavily on old melodrama themes/cliches that doesn't work in the context of this drama. Most of the cast did a half-assed job, their performance came out as awkward and immature, especially from those who work in the campaign. The candidate's son Jang Sung Min was the worst character/actor in the dram, replace him with a stranger might be better.

Regarding the story and its events, there was no real big escalations that you might expect in a political focused drama, it was mostly the known generic jabs in a political context. They forced "In Yeong" and "Min Ki" plot line but then proceeded to brush it off aside without much regard. Their screen time appearance was very limited after that. The drama was passable at best.

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Almost stands the test of time

The only reason I watched this show was that it was leaving Netflix. And after I got used to the pace and 'look', I was interested for the most part. Some things were questionable. Looking at you, totally inappropriate 'romance' between Yoo PD and the adopted daughter. I never was and never will be interested in an incestuous relationship, so I skipped those scenes.

But the best part about this show is the characterisation.

* The ML is a presidential candidate and he truly was a hard person to pinpoint. Forever walking the fine line between 'using any means to achieve his goals' and 'the morality of the means used'. A truly grey character. Even Yoon PD couldn't pinpoint what kind of a person the ML was. He was charismatic and handsome and made some really great speeches, but it was hard to tell how much of it was true and how much of it was for show. I greatly enjoyed that. Anytime he did a good thing, he make sure to do it with as much show and pomp as possible, making it hard to judge if he was doing the good deeds because it was right or because he wants clout. But then again what is politics without clout?

* The FL was one ambitious lady. To the point that even the ML started to fear her. I loved her tenaciousness in making her husband a President. She had zero chill and I was here for it!

* Some other characters I liked were Candidate Ko and Shin for their morality and idealism. Camp manager Ki for using every trick under the sun to win. Reporter Hong for being a first-class opportunist and excelling (until the end that is). And advisor Choi, for forever believing that the ML was evil and plotting his demise even when people called him obsessive.

*But my fav will forever be Candidate Park Eul Seop. That guy has said his name so many times in this show, I don't think I'll ever forget. His completely improper (read: sexist) and tactless 'humour', horrible character + brutal honesty were frankly fun to watch. He was crazy and he sure knew it. I still can't believe his 'playboy...playboy' song made it through editing lol

* However, a lot of the other characters fell flat or were so wishy-washy it was as if the writer wrote them as they were needed each episode without ever giving them their own voice. Those included the PR head Oh, Speech/ policy maker Yoon, the stepdaughter, the First lady (she had the potential to be a great villain but ultimately fizzled), Candidate Han, Senior/ Advisor Lee (though at least he was consistent in his ambition and his acting was great), the current President, the sniper, and Yoo PD who is apparently one of MC.

The acting was over the top but I'm chalking that to the fact that this drama is from 2010. However, even the time cannot forgive the absolutely atrocious 'acting' by the son (played by Lee Sungmin). Yoo PD and the daughter were equally bad, to the point where I couldn't even bear to watch them on screen
The ost was meh and forgettable.

The writing was decent if sometimes draggy. Some things were repeated without any real purpose other than to fill the time, but we went along for the sake of the drama. Also, some of the things were just ignored and due to the sheer length of the drama, we kinda forget about them (the bio daughter's character disappeared midway lol). The 'real' villain being someone else. The villain's end etc. I'm still iffy about how the drama dipped itself slightly into the makjang territory near the end and then how conveniently everything was wrapped up.

Just hoping that Advisor Choi has found the snipper and messed up the ML's life (not too sure he deserved to win. Especially after all the things that unfolded in ep 19-20).

But an interesting watch nonetheless. I kinda wish that someone would remake this show. It has such great potential, especially in the current political climate, I think.

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