“Crash Landing on You” (사랑의 불시착)

From K-drama to real-life romance for Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin

☆☆☆½ (out of ☆☆☆☆)

Jeong-Hyuk (played by Hyun Bin)
Se-Ri (played by Son Ye-Jin)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Crash Landing on You” is one of my favorite Korean dramas. From casting, to storyline, to direction, the series was so well executed. Like millions of other viewers, I watched the series finale a couple months ago. And I still find myself missing the characters and the camaraderie they had for one another.

At first glance, “Crash Landing on You” is a fish-out-of-water story. A South Korean heiress accidentally crashes in North Korea after a paragliding accident. Found by a righteous and kind captain — himself a member of an elite North Korean military family — she learns that her status in the South is nothing more than an impetus for death. But as the episodes progress, the series depicts how two sets of very different people have more in common than not.

Played by Son Ye-Jin, Se-Ri is a rich girl who is spoiled, but has earned every penny through hard work. Unlike her brothers, who are conniving and lack business skills, she is both educated and street smart. When their father selects her over them to take over his conglomerate, the siblings and their spouses spend more time trying to oust her from the business (and family) than doing good work. So when she goes missing, the youngest brother and his wife are happy to leave her in North Korea. And if she should be killed there, so be it.

Se-Ri is paying for her father’s “sins.” She is the product of an affair. Her stepmother dealt with her own issues with Se-Ri not by punishing her husband, but by abandoning the small child at the beach. In other words, she’s too enamored with her privileged lifestyle to abandon her cheating spouse, but has little problem with punishing an innocent little girl who looks up to her as her real mother.

Lead actors Son Ye-Jin (“Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food“) and Hyun Bin (“Memories of the Alhambra“) share insane chemistry together that’s sweet, funny and romantic (in a bittersweet way). The supporting cast is just as good, especially the actors playing North Korean characters. Jeong-Hyuk’s loyal crew of North Korean soldiers would die to protect him. And his neighbors — including a fiery gang of woman who rule their village — will do everything in their power to protect his girl — and their newfound friend — Se-Ri.

In real life, conservative lawmakers and religious groups in South Korea pointed to the series as dangerous propaganda meant to garner South Korean sympathy for the North, by presenting North Koreans as normal people. It seems to me that was the point of the K-Drama. South Korea may still be technically at war with North Korea, but they are first and foremost Koreans split by an unjust divide.

The finale ends in the only way possible, which will disappoint some viewers. But to me, it showed signs of hope, which any kind of love needs to flourish.

Airdates: Sixteen episodes aired on tvN from December 16, 2019 to February 16, 2020. I watched this on Netflix.

Meta Moment: Kim Soo-Hyun makes a special guest appearance in Episode 10 as Dong-Gu, a North Korean spy living in Seoul. He played the same role in the 2013 film “Secretly, Greatly.” This was Kim’s second cameo appearance since his military discharge. The first was in the series finale of “Hotel del Luna.”

In Episode 12, Jeong-Hyuk becomes enthralled with a video game, which he’s playing online against one of his comrades without realizing it. As he starts to really get into it, the distinctive music from “Memories of the Alhambra” kicks in. Nicely executed!

Spoiler Alert: The last few episodes show Se-Ri settled back in the South as the head of her business and at the top of her game. When a North Korean mercenary follows her to to Seoul to kill her, Jeong-Hyuk also heads to South Korea to protect her. His crew of soldiers follows suit. It was sweet how awed they were by the glitz of Seoul but, at the same time, unable to fully appreciate their bounty knowing that their families back home didn’t have adequate resources. The series does a great job of weighing the pros and cons of a better lifestyle. Can you really enjoy it, knowing that your parents, partners and children wouldn’t enjoy it with you? Given that choice, how many of us would choose to remain in the South when our families couldn’t join us?

As with many K-Dramas where characters forgive family members who did really horrible things to them, Se-Ri seems to forgive her brother who. had. hired. a. hitman. to. kill. her. She awaits his release from prison, almost oblivious that he is not a nice person. AT ALL!

As for the lead couple, they reunite on a yearly basis in Switzerland, where they first met in their 20s…but didn’t remember until a decade later. (He was there as a music student. She was there to take her own life.) The privilege they have of coming from elite families within their own countries allows them the freedom to do this. But the ending is bittersweet, because it’s a reminder that as it stands today, families from the North and South can never be together anytime in the foreseeable future.

But at least in real life, Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin fell in love, got married, and have a gorgeous little baby boy together. 💜

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