REVIEW OF HYENA EPISODE 1-8
HYENA DRAMA REVIEW.
Episode 1 starts off with a bang as we are introduced to Attorney Yoon Hee-Jae.
He takes on the scandal of Secretary lee and ‘White Ventures’ ( I think that is a company. You know business talks.). He shows his skills as a competent lawyer in the courtroom, shushing up his opponent, delivering points, and winning the appeal while looking handsome, effortless, and relaxed.
I was impressed, then again, I expected nothing less. The story continues to show us who Yoon Hee-Jae really is. From his interaction with his colleagues, his grandfather who runs the law firm he works at – Song and Kim, and the people around him. He comes off as a slightly egotistic person, totally confident in himself, aware of his charms and talents and not afraid to use them
His colleagues hate him, the women love him; how could they not, his seniors despise him; He doesn’t bow but they all agree on one thing: He is an exceptional lawyer.
I like what was shown. There is something nice about being shown a self- confident person.
Episode one takes an interesting turn when a mundane habit of his introduces him to the mystery that is Kim Hee-sun. The lady at the laundromat. No, seriously, he met her at the laundromat.
Intrigued by her presence, he finds himself interested in her but content in watching her from afar. Not because he is shy, he just doesn’t see the need to, until the blackout.
It had become a normal coincidence, whenever he goes to the laundromat, Kim Hee-sun is always there by the same time around 6:35pm. The both of them; Yoon Hee-Jae and Kim Hee-sun sit in silence, far away from each other.
She reads, he thinks.
This fateful day, the light at the laundromat goes out and the normal routine between the two is disturbed. Kim Hee-sun quietly bring out her phone, turns on the flashlight and uses a water bottle to illuminate the room, by placing it ( the water bottle ) directly on the beam of light
I was impressed by this, and I think Yoon hee-Jae was too. they both sit in silence for a while and Hee-sun speaks up apologizing quite lightly for disturbing his routine. After a few words, exchanged, not a conversation.
(Imagine, light, bold, mysterious queen vibe.)
The light comes back on and Kim hee -sun prepares to leave. It is raining, she has no umbrella. Hae-Jae tries to offer her his but she doesn’t hear him. Tugging her hoodie over her head, she runs out into the rain.
Yoon hee-Jae notices that she had forgotten the book she was readin.g it was a blue paperback by the author ‘Donte Crissi’. He is impressed. We learn later that this is his favourite author. Kim hee-sun runs back in, Hae-Jae returns it to her and offers her his umbrella this time, she declines it as she is already soaked.
After that incident, Yoon Hee-Jae finds himself anticipating her presence at the laundromat but is disappointed to see that she no longer comes at the usual time.
Kim Yu Mi is a friend of Yoon Hee-Jae and also thinks him difficult and stuck up. she invites hee-Jae to her high school reunion after he refuses; for the umpteenth time to take up her divorce case.
Yoon hee-Jae declines the invite but perked up when he learns that the laundromat girl will be there. He gets there before Kim Yu-mi.
At the school reunion, he shows his stuck up personality to the guests, moments before Kim Yumi and Kim Hee-sun arrival. He is stunned by Hee-sun’s beauty, and charmingly, charismatically changes seat to be opposite her. He introduces himself, she pretends for a moment not to know him, later accept him and they share a little banter.
He asks her why she no longer comes to the laundromat and she asks why he wants her to come to the laundromat. He replies that he would like fate to have taken place.
He offers her a proposal: the two of them should leave the venue together. He adds that if she declines the proposal, he would accept that they just were not meant to be.
Kim Hee-sun stands up picks her bag and walks away. she stops however and signals to him to join her, the spectators of their drama express their disbelief.
I really think all men should borrow a leaf or the whole tree form this scene.
From that point onward, a beautiful romance is seen and we fall in love with Yoon hee-Jae and Kim Hee-sun until the big day.
Yoon Hee Jae has a court case and is prepared. He has all his evidence with him and he is confident he would win the case till he sees the opposing lawyer. Jang Geum-Ja.
Kim Hee sun is Jang Geum ja
It is later revealed how she planned the whole meeting at the laundromat and the romance that followed. She learnt of his favourite wine, author, movie and music to deceive him into a relationship.
By doing this, she seemed like the perfect woman for him, was able to steal his hearts and the documents she needed.
The shock of this affects his performance at court, and his own evidence, stolen by Jang Geum Ja ( his girlfriend Kim Hee-sun) wins the opposing party the case. Yoon Hee Jae is made a fool out of by his colleagues at the end of the hearing. He beats Jang geum ja to her car, demanding an explanation but she sashays him off.
Jang geum ja through the next episodes is shown to be a moral-less lawyer. She doesn’t care who she works for, or who she hurts as long as the pay is good. We see that when she blackmails the mistress of Ha Chan Ho ( a rich client of hers) to drop her lawsuit and go back to him despite being aware that she was maltreated and being assaulted by Ha chan ho.
Sincerely I hated and yet loved seeing Jang geum ja and Yoon hee Jae together. Their meeting made me hold my breath, as Yoon hee Jae displays his anger at being duped and she flounces it off.
It made me wonder does she know hurt?
Despite that, the universe seemed to keep crossing their paths together as they always battle on every case, unfortunately with Jang geum ja taking the upper hand due to her unethical methods.
At a point in time, I just wanted to beg Yoon hee-Jae to stay clear of her but alas! the writers do not spear us the heartache.
In the episode, Jang geum ja is employed at Song and Kim and is asked to wok with Yoon Hee Jae on the D&T case.
The owner of the company, D&T is genuinely a bad man, who stole the persona information of his clients, sold it to a pornographic company for the sum of 4.5 billion won in cryptocurrency.
The whole point of the case is to get the company, D&T listed and any scandal will negatively impact that.
Yoon Hee Jae and Jang geum ja butt head as both are sincerely stubborn and insufferable.
I wanted to strangle them both as I saw the potential in both of them working together.
Yoon hee Jae is smart, intelligent and geum ja is an out-of-the-box thinker, together, they could conquer all but no, pride first, as each had a problem agreeing to work with the other.
However, trust the laws of chemistry and sexual tension. They finally, subconsciously slid into each other roles and won the case of D&T.
The moment at court made me jump like a lunatic. I felt like a proud mother.
In episode 8, we see a glimpse into Jang geum ja’s past ( finally ) and it’s sad. I had expected that if something like that comes up, it would reduce her aura of toughness in my eyes but it only made her stronger,
Jang geum ja suffered at the hands of her abusive father who under the influence of alcohol killed her mother but was released as it was not intentional ( lawyers, please explain this before I rage!!) so to make sure he stays in prison.
She masterminds a scene where he stabs her. She thrusts the knife into his hands and stabs herself. With his fingerprint on it and the whole scene, he is sentenced to prison.
I had no words for this scene. I cannot congratulate, neither do I sympathize. I am dumbfounded.
Yoon Hee Jae meets her during her reminisce, he is drunk. He tells her that the reason why he came to see her, all the way from his house to the pub was simply because he wanted to see her.
She tells him in a few words to forget her, find a nice woman, get married and have kids. She tells him not to forget her words when he sobers up.
Yoon Hee- Jae makes to leave but tells her
I too am annoyed that we keep crossing paths but I get more annoyed when I don’t see you. It annoys me so much if I don’t see you.
The next day at the office, an older man comes looking for Jang geum ja, Yoon hee-Jae happens to intercept him and points him in the direction of her office.
It is revealed to us that that is Jang geum ja’s father.
Hold your breaths, people and brandish your weapons.
Geum ja arrives at her office, – she wasn’t in, thank god – and is told that her father is here. Her shock registered, she walks in.
I hated that moment most in this movie. I felt so vulnerable with her and her father in that confined space. I starting praying for a drama intervention.
You know, those scenes when the female lead is in trouble and the male lead just happens to walk in/by?
Praise be the lord though, we were granted one, I think?
Yoon Hee Jae as an excuse to see Jang geum ja offers to give her some files. He arrives at her office in enough time to hear geum ja’s screams at her father. It startles him but he doesn’t move. ( Out of shock? where was the intervention we hoped for? )
Unlike most classic Korean drama, Yoon Hee Jae does not go in/ burst into the room to know what is wrong. He stays outside, standing, both he and geum ja’s secretary, staring at her door. Till her father walks out
He doesn’t even go in after?
What genre of movie was this again?
It is night and Jang geum ja is still at the office, seething, sulking but we do not judge her. Yoon Hee Jae walks in with a bottle of wine and two glasses.
( A man after our own hearts? I mean, flowers and hugs were so last two years)
He offers it to her and as usual, started talking. He implies that he had guessed that the older man was her father. She responds by saying that she has no father.
Pouring her self a drink, she takes it down in this slow, antagonizing way that makes us all feel her pain.
Jang geum ja asks Yoon Hee Jae if he has more wine and he assures her that he has more bottles.
He offers her a chance to talk about it. at this point, I really believed that she would snap at him, or go bitter but she surprised me by talking.
Her painful words and narration of her father and the grip her scarred memories have on her, though short, bring Yoon hee Jae, pain. True love, anyone?
He asks What can I do for you right now?
I can’t help but notice how that is different to if they is anything you need, ask me? or How can I help you? in the sense that, his chosen word signifies his acceptance of her being her own woman and person, he is not helping her. Neither is he offering an uncertain, shaky hand by asking if there is anything…….?
Rather he is confident and wants to do something for her, at that moment.
Jang geum ja again, surprises with her response to his question by asking him to just stay there ( with her). She adds saying that he should not get the wrong idea, she wasn’t trying to rekindle their romance.
Her words affect Hee Jae who assures her that she should manage her self, his heart was his to solve. He tells her to use him, adding that she is so good at doing so anyway. His painful smile brings our heart to a painful crash.
He stands up to get more wine, only to be stopped by Jang geum ja’s words accepting his offer.
She says that the night never happened and we see the steamies kiss ever!!!!
Seriously though, those two could win best kiss in a movie.
I had high hope for this drama and it did not disappoint. I have read a few reviews while watching the dramas and for those that claim, the drama is not good, well, to each their own opinions.
Hyena is and I think, will remain one of the best kdrama I will ever watch because of its uniqueness
.
The characters.
Yoon hee Jae is not the best man, neither is he painted hero. He is even described by Jang geum ja as a bad judge of character. His own overconfidence and love of small talk leads him most time, to his own failure.
Jang geum ja is basically a heroine villain. She is a lawyer yet she is lawless and doesn’t seem to show those qualities most kdarma heroine show. The strong heart, braveness, half of every cute in the middle of the drama, etc. Rather, she makes the viewer hate her with so much passion.
I hated both the lead characters to put simply, they are insufferable and I still hate them but we can not deny the chemistry that flows between this two. it makes us want the best for the both of them. it makes us hold our breaths.
So Overall, I can rate Hyena a beautiful 9.8/10.
Now onwards to episode nine.
ps: I am rewatching the end of episode 8 again. * coy smile*
