Friday, January 9, 2015

SPY Episode 1 and 2 Highlights

SPY starring Kim Jaejoong as Kim SeonWu



Video Highlights from SPY

(Episode 1)


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(Episode 2)

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DramaKBS


Press Releases...

Translations (of various press reviews) from crystalmoon64

shows polarizing charms from ordinary son to charismatic NIS intelligent analyst  

, “I would never do anything to worry you. Love you, mom." "Fool for his mom."  

#스파이 Come on over quickly, never seen any spy drama such as ths, right?   

KBS 2015 New attempt, a success? First epi records 8.5% viewer rating! Refreshing start!  

Despite unconventional schd, viewers rave: thrilling,! What's plot?   

1st Ep: Spy thriller movie for living rm, breathtaking 50 mins, 5 star worthy  

, Gifts spectacle to living rm theater off the bat! What is coming next?   

first ep, refreshing start! Is it sign of the tide turning?  

First ep of His double, polarizing charms mesmerizes the living rm theaters.

Refreshing rendezvous of spy thriller n melodrama, result? Sumptuous feast!  

His fatal double life begins... Gripping eyes!   

starts w a commending above 8% viewer rating. effect?  

Fires impressive first signal flare! Forecasts birth of a hit(Daebak) drama!  

, a manga character, boasts chemistry w all the cast   

, an ACTOR, indeed! Displays variety of charms.

goes beyond limitations of spy thriller genre! Anticipation builds for next development!  

1st ep viewer rating at 8.5%: Will it resuscitate KBS from brink of its death?  

review: spy Episode 1


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Spy is nice work. I just hope it doesn’t out to be some heartbreaking Mata Hari tale. KBS is airing two episodes back-to-back a week but I have decided to review the episodes separately. Jae Joong looks sharp and I like the calculated pace and sound plot enough so far. Cinematography is sleek, soundtrack is a great listen.
Our heroic South Korean spy, Kim Seon Woo (SW) is chatting causally on the phone with his mom while on a mission in China. Just as he hops into the getaway car, a truck smashes into its flank. The baddies roll out, led by Hwang Ki Chul (KC). Seon Woo’s poor colleague is stabbed to death and SW is about to suffer the same fate when XX sees SW’s family portrait in his wallet. Obviously, he recognises someone in there and barks orders to his lackeys to let SW live.
Park Hye Rim (HR), SW’s mother, gets a call informing her that SW has gotten in a traffic accident and is in hospital. She rushes to the hospital frantically. SW must have taken the next spy plane from China to South Korea. Spy team leader Song Jung Hyuk (JH)) tells SW he has to explain what happened during the mission gone wrong. HR barges into the room and frets over SW. JH hastily takes his leave and when HW inquires curiously who he is. SW fibs that JH is his team leader – not exactly a lie, more like a half-truth. 

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We meet SW’s Kim Woo Seok (WS), who is a busy, but pleasant, loving father and husband. He reassures HR over the phone that their boy will be fine. HR wonders why SW keeps going on business trips. She thought SW’s job as a civil servant would be a rather safe and uneventful one. Later, SW gets interrogated and passes the lie detector test with flying colours.
Meanwhile at home, HR is preparing a feast for dinner: SW is bringing his girlfriend home for the first time. SW is running late because of his interrogation, thus girlfriend Lee Yoon Jin (YJ) is left waiting in the cold outside his home. But SW’s parents spot her from the window and invite her in. Someone is watching her. YJ seems like the perfect girl but there is something about her that unsettles HR. They start dinner without SW so it’s just YJ and SW’s family. Awkward…I would loathe to be stuck in such a situation if I were YJ. When YJ mentions she is originally from China and her hometown is the very same one as HR, HR grows even more uncomfortable. SW’s sister accidentally knocks the water jug over and YJ catches it in speedy reflex. Another spy in our midst? Mata Hari sent to seduce SW? 

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SW finally returns home and the couple leave after a short while. WS comments he likes YJ, while HR shares that her six sense is telling her something is off with YJ. WS think she’s just being paranoid and jealous. Heh. The couple end up having drinks at a pretty café and YJ sighs that she didn’t make a good impression on HR.

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A young girl, Soo Yeon (YS) gets thrown out of a van. She escapes her tail and quickly dials someone from a public pay phone. SW gets a call in the morning and he quickly gets going without touching his breakfast. Before he rushes off, he tells HR that he likes YJ because she is a lot like HR. Anyway. SR heads out to make contact with a turned North Korean spy who has indicated she wants to check in.
SW manages to spot the contact: they exchange a coded message. She is taken to the spy quarters for interrogation. The initial interrogation doesn’t go well and SW steps in. He manages to deduce where SY has been kept. SY begs him to save her family back in North Korea. HR is all happy after a sweet afternoon with her hubby but she is rudely interrupted by KC.

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Spy is engaging and the narrative is actually not too bad considering the rather dubious timeline for a couple of things. I like the chemistry between SW and his mom, and the chemistry between his own parents. I like the 007-ish background music.

review: spy Episode 1 http://wp.me/p3scju-3Bm via @wordpressdotcom

review: Spy Episode 2


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Say what? My baby is a spy??? Hye Rim suffers the ultimate shock of her life when she discovers her warm, easy-going son has actually been keeping dangerous secrets from her and is quite the master of deceit. Inherited genes, maybe? But now that she knows her beloved son is a spook, what then now for her? Seon Woo also realises being a spy is not only about being good at guns, bombs and keeping secrets. It is also about keeping one’s intellect separate from the heart. And making mistakes is not an option and unforgivable.
KC calls HR by her real name and she slams the door in his face in fright. She dashes back to the kitchen and grabs a knife just as the door opens and KC walks in like he’s the master of the house. Urgh. He knows the password for the lock and he does note that a knife is missing. He opines that she probably thought that he died all those years ago but he lives with the battle scars, which look like burn scars.
He pours himself a drink and strolls over to the family portrait – which is the exact same miniature SW carries in his wallet. KC comments that HR has been living quite the life since: she has changed her name, married and has two kids. He notes that SW is probably the baby she was pregnant with in China that time…hmmmmm…
She attacks him with the knife and after a short spar, KC gains the upper hand. He tells her he needs her help for one final mission, after which they will forever go their separate ways. Back at the spy HQ, SW is asking SY to describe her the person in charge who rounded up all the suspected turned North Korean spies. He prompts her with his own hazy recollection of KC and he realises that the same man is responsible. SY begs him to save her family’s life and JH informs SW that they can’t make such promises. 

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Back at home, KC is still going on about how HR’s hand in his present situation and picks up the phone to call SW, who is currently spying on his fellow spies. Heh. His mobile shrills and he quickly picks it up while pretending he was just walking by. KC is on the other line but doesn’t say anything. He cuts off the line and HR panics. SW returns the call and she shakily replies that she dialled him by mistake.
SW’s sister returns home from school just as KC is leaving. HE introduces himself as a old family friend of HR and gives her some pocket money before prancing off. HR nervously swallows down some pills and there it’s flashback time. I’m sure we’ll get quite a number of these. KC sees the ultrasound scan and orders HR to abort the baby. She refuses vehemently, saying that the baby belongs to “that person”. I’m assuming it is her hubby. Anyway, HR kinda strapped her handbag with a bomb, which she leaves with KC, and hits the button when she is a safe distance away. Argh. Now I know why KC is blistering with revenge. 

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SW is unhappy that he has re-assigned to work under intelligence expert, Kim Hyun Tae (HT). HT reminds SW that spies operate using their minds and not their hearts. After changing the password on her door, HR starts sweeping her apartment for bugs. She switches on the vacuum cleaner to full power to throw off KC, who is listening in. Eeeeeeks. She finally finds a bug in her fancy lamp but leaves it there. WS returns home and is surprised to see the mess. 

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SW has nightmares about his colleague’s tragic death in China and of KC. He shudders awake and he’s actually in bed at YJ’s place. YJ pleads with him not to put his life on the line under any circumstance. They chat about SW’s family and when SW comments that he and YJ will become family one day too, she replies carefully that might not happen. She may be a North Korean spy or someone bent on revenge… The first episode revealed that KC is watching her. 

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HR is thinking whether to tell WS what happened but she is wary that her bedroom may be bugged too. WS heads out of the bedroom to take a call and sees SW sitting in the dark alone in the living room. He asks his son whether he is having trouble at work and SW admits that he is sorta having a tough time at the office. WS sits next to SW and throws his arm about him warmly and gives him simple advice: do things without regret. 

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HR is in a parent-teacher event at school when KC calls her. She leaves abruptly and does as he says, which includes getting into disguise. Meanwhile, SW talks to SY again and assures her he wants to catch the culprit as much as she because KC killed his colleague. HR does her part, which is to drop off a briefcase at the subway. She phones KC and warns him to keep his promise, to which he drawls that he too wants her to lead a happy life. Yeah, right. 

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But the bag explodes. Yikes. The incident is all over the news that night. HR watches the news report with trepidation with her kids. CCTVS have captured HR but she her disguise is a pretty good one. But she gets sent a clip of herself in full view with the briefcase in the subway. She freaks out and KC calls her. Just as she is arguing with him, he informs her that SW is a South Korean spy. When she insists that SW is just a civil servant, KC shares that SW’s recent injuries were inflicted by him when they met in China. KC compliments SW: he is quick, strong and great at keeping secrets and deception.
In disbelief, HR stares at her son, who is calmly watching TV. It suddenly dawns on her – those numerous business trips now make sense. SW turns around and flashes his mother a warm smile…and HR is left caught between a rock and a hard place.

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Phew. I loved that last scene of SW turning around to smile innocently at his mother just when she finds out that he is a spy for the country – HR suddenly realises her son may be just as good as keeping secrets as she. So technically, in KC’s mind, SW is his enemy and HR will be caught between two loyalties. Of course, her loyalty is with her son and family, but KC isn’t going to it easy for her to protect them. If she follows his orders, she’ll be committing treason against South Korea and betraying her family. If she chooses to disregard KC, he is going to reveal she was behind the incident in the subway and most probably will hurt her family. SIGH.
The first two episodes of Spy went off without a hitch and do set the tone nicely for the drama. The cast are comfortable in their roles and the story is told with a steady, deft hand. I like it off-the-bat and to me, it more than delivered because I was engaged throughout. KBS’s Friday night dramas are becoming my staple of the week… 

https://breathlesssurvival.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/review-spy-episode-2/


'Spy - Drama' Spy Bae Jong-ok and NIS agent Kim Jae-joong, tragedy begins


2015/01/09
The tragedy between loving mother and son has started.
On the first episode of KBS 2TV 'Spy - Drama', Park Hye-rim (Bae Jong-ok) was threatened by Hwang Gi-cheol (Yoo Oh-seong) to work on a mission per his request. However, her son Kim Seon-woo (Kim Jae-joong), an agent of National Intelligent Services was tracking down Hwang Gi-cheol (Yoo Oh-seong).
Park Hye-rim , an ex-spy sent by North Korea was visited by her old fellow spy, Hwang Gi-cheol. He threatened Park Hye-rim to deliver an explosive device to a subway station. She followed his order believing his words he would let her live free after the one time mission. Hwang Gi-cheol recorded her when she was installing the explosive device and threatened her again with the video and gave her another task to complete, which she should pull her son into their side.
Park Hye-rim said "Seon-woo is just a government officer. Don't involve Seon-woo in this". Hwang Gi-cheol disclosed the fact Kim Seon-woo was an NIS agent and was on track after him. Hwang Gi-cheol finally said if Park Hye-rim would bring her son into their side, then she would be set free.
While Kim Seon-woo was such a mama's boy, who is so close to his mother, Park Hye-rim , she now had a secret kept from him. This frustrating situation heightened curiosity in viewers as to how the ex-spy mother would be able to cope with the situation.



'Spy - Drama' Spy Bae Jong-ok and NIS agent Kim Jae-joong, tragedy begins

2015/01/09
The tragedy between loving mother and son has started.
On the first episode of KBS 2TV 'Spy - Drama', Park Hye-rim (Bae Jong-ok) was threatened by Hwang Gi-cheol (Yoo Oh-seong) to work on a mission per his request. However, her son Kim Seon-woo (Kim Jae-joong), an agent of National Intelligent Services was tracking down Hwang Gi-cheol (Yoo Oh-seong).
Park Hye-rim , an ex-spy sent by North Korea was visited by her old fellow spy, Hwang Gi-cheol. He threatened Park Hye-rim to deliver an explosive device to a subway station. She followed his order believing his words he would let her live free after the one time mission. Hwang Gi-cheol recorded her when she was installing the explosive device and threatened her again with the video and gave her another task to complete, which she should pull her son into their side.
Park Hye-rim said "Seon-woo is just a government officer. Don't involve Seon-woo in this". Hwang Gi-cheol disclosed the fact Kim Seon-woo was an NIS agent and was on track after him. Hwang Gi-cheol finally said if Park Hye-rim would bring her son into their side, then she would be set free.
While Kim Seon-woo was such a mama's boy, who is so close to his mother, Park Hye-rim , she now had a secret kept from him. This frustrating situation heightened curiosity in viewers as to how the ex-spy mother would be able to cope with the situation.
 
Press Pics and News Releases...







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, “I would never do anything to worry you. Love you, mom." "Fool for his mom."

via crystalmoon64




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shows polarizing charms from ordinary son to charismatic NIS intelligent analyst
 
via crystalmoon64

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첫방 스파이 / 사진: KBS '스파이' 방송 캡처













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Press Pics(From SPY Episodes 1 and 2)



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kjj_onlylove

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