Flower Boy Next Door (2013)

이웃집 꽃미남 

Flower Boy Next Door is the third installment of TvN's Oh Boy! series. And for the nth time, I cannot help but laud the cable station for continuously churning out quality dramas one after another. Though Flower Boy Next Door, may not be their best, it's still one of the better ones in the land of Kdramas.

It was love at first episode for me. I was instantly hooked over the quirky and eccentric characters. Go DokMi (Park ShinHye) is a recluse, a homebody who has long chosen to stay indoors and avoid human contact. Enrique Geum (Yoon ShiYoon) is a reknowned animator. Though Korean, he grew up and became popular in Spain. Their lives intertwined so adorably that I couldn't help but quickly love these two. They are two different individuals who in the course of our story, brought out the best in each other. It's my favorite type of love story.

Park ShinHye being adorable; Yoon ShiYoon being Ke-geum-ah

There are many things to love about this drama and one of that is the amazing leads that are Park ShinHye and Yoon ShiYoon. I have seen most of Park ShinHye's works but this is my favorite role of her yet. Though I had only seen her as a cutesy actress before, her portrayal of Go DokMi exudes raw talent and depth in understanding her character. This is the first time I see Yoon ShiYoon in action, and I cannot help but just be awe by his interpretation of Enrique's character. He plays a child-like and boisterous character who can be annoying but Yoon ShiYoon managed to make it adorable. I was worried that I'd end up hating his character but the consistency and dimension of Yoon ShiYoon's Enrique is endearing until the end.

With winter as its backdrop, FBND tells an engaging story of a girl who hides herself from the world and a boy who tries to bring him back into it. It's heartfelt, it's emotional, it's heart-warming, it's real. These are what I felt just from the first few episodes alone. The tight writing brought to life by an amazing cast made me love this series. If only I felt this way till the last episode, I would have easily claimed this to be my favorite drama for 2013 despite the fact that it's only March. But the first half of the drama is really solid, almost flawless. I was head over heels in love with the character development of Go DokMi and Enrique. Then we reach the last four episodes and I wonder what happened.

DokMi with the flower boys!

It's not like I have many qualms about the series, but if there's one word to describe the last four episodes, it's underwhelming.

First, we have a secondary lead, Oh JinRak (Kim JiHoon), who seems to have a dark and mysterious past. But when we learn what this past is, we also learn how it is mysterious and it can be dark, but not that relevant to the story. I still don't understand why it's given so much importance from the very first episode when it really does nothing to the story. How it's so easily resolved and brushed over just makes me sad.

Second, I feel like it could have been a better drama if it's a lot shorter. The last few episodes felt like fillers, just so they could reach that 16-episode mark. The growth shown by Go DokMi is enough to make me feel proud like a mother, but the episodes after that really did nothing else for her character, and the same can be said for Enrique. The additional conflict in which Enrique should decide whether he'd go back to Spain or not just seems so forced. The nuance that is the fangirls and fanboys doesn't help.

And third, nothing else really happesn in the last two episodes. It's good that we see what happened with every character, but by that point, I no longer care because I already know that it'll be a happy ending. I also cringe at the last scene because it reminded me too much of Shut Up's last scene.

♚

It's really too bad because it is a good drama but the fact that the ending didn't match with the awesomeness of the first half is saddening. But if I will sum up all the good parts, it'll be like this:

1. Go DokMi and Enrique are two of the best characters in dramaland. Fleshed out characters who aren't perfect but perfectly written and portrayed.
2. The narration in the start and end of every episode gives a good insight on our leads' thoughts. It also sets the mood for quite an atmospheric drama.
3. DongHoon and Manager PD are the bestest OTP ever. Omg their every scene together!!!!!!
4. Still better than most of the mainstream dramas!

So basically, it's still a drama worth watching.