Simply put – I did not like this drama. To be fair, there’s nothing really wrong with the show, I just didn’t like the characters – not a single one of them. I thought they were tremendously pathetic and wouldn’t have wanted to know any of them in real life. For me, Misty was just plain bad.
South Korea’s most beloved and successful anchorwoman, Go Hye-Ran, has worked at station JBC for several years and has a reputation of being smart, talented, and beautiful. One morning, just seconds before the news is to air, she is handed a new opening story – Professional golfer and recent PGA winner Kevin Lee died in a car accident the night before. Shortly after the announcement, Go Hye-Ran is taken into custody by police for questioning in the matter. Then, a few days after her release, she is arrested and indicted for the murder of Kevin Lee. Although she insists she had nothing to do with the incident, all evidence points to her being the killer and her husband, public defender Kang Tae-Wook, insists on taking her case. Will Attorney Kang be able to protect the woman he loves from being found guilty or is there enough evidence against her to get a conviction? Tae-Wook and Hye-Ran have had a very unhappy and dysfunctional marriage for many years now. Just how well will Tae-Wook be able to defend his wife when things between them are so extremely strained?
Ever since she was a young teenager Go Hye-Ran has wanted to break free of her depressed economic situation and become a famous, powerful force to be reckoned with. Her goal was clearly defined and she resorted to any means necessary to achieve it – using people, lies, betrayal, cheating, blackmail, abortion… nothing was off limits when it came to quenching her lust for power. And now that a job as Blue House press secretary is inches from her grasp she will not hesitate to eliminate anyone who stands in her way.
Kang Tae-Wook’s family is the elite of the law world, his father and grandfather having been Supreme Court judges. He passed the law exam on his first try in his second year and had a job at the prosecutor’s office before he even graduated school – just the type of guy Hye-Ran needed to propel her dream forward. He became obsessed with her the first time they met and begged her to marry him, knowing all along she didn’t love him but craved the power she could have through being his wife. He walked away from being a prosecutor, wanting to remove himself from the corruption that went on there, and became a public defender. In his eyes, Hye-Ran can do no wrong.
Born into very humble circumstances, Lee Jae-Young (aka Kevin Lee) was devastated when his wife left him because she claimed he had no prospects or ambition. The situation changed him and he remarried a woman who followed him to America and supported him financially while he put his all into becoming a professional golfer. Now, after winning the PGA Tour, he and his wife are back in Korea. What would his first wife think about him and his accomplishment now?
Seo Eun-Joo is the second wife of Kevin Lee and an old high school friend of anchorwoman Go Hye-Ran. Eun-Joo has no knowledge of her husband’s prior marriage and thinks she is his first love. She sacrificed a lot, being the sole breadwinner, to help make his dream of being a professional golfer come true. She is thrilled when she bumps into Hye-Ran upon returning to Seoul and is anxious to renew their friendship. Hye-Ran has no problem using their past in order to get an exclusive interview with Eun-Jo’s husband and once again accomplish something other reporters couldn’t dream of doing.
After graduating high school, Kim Nam-Joo enrolled at Suwon Women’s College as a Dance major. While still a sophomore, she entered the Miss Korea pageant and that experience lead her to quit school in order to peruse a modeling career. After winning fourth place in a talent competition she quickly became a television actress. After acting just shy of a decade she went into semi-retirement, only appearing in commercials for luxury goods and cosmetics. In 2005 she married actor Kim Seung-Woo and became a full-time housewife and mother for two years. Together they have two children. In 2007 she starred in a motion picture and then made her television comeback in 2009 with the drama Queen of Housewives. After a six year hiatus, Misty is her return to TV. Her portrayal of selfish, power hungry, Go Hye-Ran won her the Best Actress award at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards. She is also the author of the book Kim Nam-Joo’s House.
To find out about Ji Jin-Hee, the handsome actor who plays Attorney Kang Tae-Wook, you can read about him in my Second to Last Love review.
It’s been a long time since a Kdrama made me so upset. I felt with this show kind of like I felt while watching Say You Love Me – extremely frustrated. I hated these characters (especially Go Hye-Ra) because everyone is so selfish and stupid. I just wanted to smack that smug, arrogant look right off Hye-Ryan’s face. On several different occasions I found myself calling her an “evil b**ch” out loud. I wasn’t very sympathetic towards Tae-Wook either. One time, while he is crying in self pity because Hye-Ran doesn’t love him I said, “I don’t feel sorry for you one bit, Buddy. You knew she didn’t love you when you married her.” It’s difficult for me to feel badly for characters who are rotten or stupid. If the writer was hoping I would feel sympathy for Hye-Ran at the end of the show they were oh, so very wrong. On the contrary, I felt bad she didn’t suffer more than she did. Although I do believe in repentance, I’m not one to easily forgive.
I liked the way the director, Mo Won-Il, used slow motion in this drama. It’s in the show a lot but doesn’t seem excessive (I wonder why) like some other shows I’ve seen that throw slow motion in everywhere. The slow motion shots in Misty appear at reasonable times and don’t last long. Good call, Mr. Director.
I’d really like to know where the title Misty came from. I thought that was going to be the main character’s nickname, but it wasn’t. Then I kicked around the idea that maybe it was referring to the mystery (things being unclear, foggy, misty…) but that’s not very likely. Hummm… If anyone has an idea as to why this drama is called Misty, please let me know.
I noticed a couple mistakes (like Tae-Wook parking his car in one place and it being in a different place when he walks out to get it) but didn’t really care about them because I was so involved in being disgusted at the characters.
Misty’s subject matter isn’t well suited for beautiful love songs or snappy, fun music. What we most often hear is the intense instrumental stuff that has what sounds like made-up Latin being sung by a huge choir in the background. However, there is a handful of decent songs with lyrics. Bob Dylan’s song Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is focused on several times and has something to do with Hye-Ryan’s secret past. It’s sung by KLANG. Someday, performed by Lee Seung-Chul, is a pretty ballad with a sad sort of sound. I really liked the piano accompaniment. He also sings one entitled Painful Love which is played quite often at the end of the episodes. It leans heavily on the acoustic guitar and reminded me a bit of one of the songs from Stairway to Heaven. The most dramatic song is Forever, sung by Min Young-Ki, a man with a rich, operatic tenor voice. It’s beautiful and impactful especially for a melodramatic show like this one. Another pretty, yet melancholic sounding song is On the Way sung by Im Han-Byul.
The show’s main shooting spots are – the JBC newsroom, Kang Tae-Wook’s office, and Hye-Ran and Tae-Wook’s home. They live in a large apartment that isn’t as lavishly decorated as I would have thought Hye-Ran’s place would be. I was really surprised they didn’t have a showcase house. The cast and crew filmed a small portion of the show in Thailand which provides a different backdrop than what we usually get with Kdramas. The nighttime view is especially lovely!
I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about Misty. It’s definitely not a horrible show, in fact, the mystery is fantastic. I just really disliked all the horrible characters and that made it impossible for me to like the drama – that’s the reason I gave it such a low score.
Score: 4
The Good:
Excellent mystery
Some Thailand scenery
Good soundtrack
The Bad:
Unlikable characters
Depressing subject
Heart and Seoul 