‘The Great Seducer’… A feast for Karma.
When I was finishing up The Great Seducer (also translated as Tempted), I realised how much of it was about Karma, about the universe getting back to everyone who is anyone, with a wicked doing in the past. The effect seems such, because all of it takes place simultaneously, in a short span of a few episodes, and you can’t help thinking, well, Karma is just having a field day.
While most dramas do involve redemption, punishment of some sort, here every character seems to demand it. Watch the scene where Kwon Shi Hyun (played by a intriguing Woo Do Hwan), and Eun Tae Hee (played by a tolerable Joy) come closer together; parallelly, their parents get back again too. It is a sharp turn of events, not unexpected but bitter because each of them asks for it, and even the characters surrounding them are not to be spared of the heartbreak that ensues.
The Great Seducer, starts off with a great premise. It’s about Kwon Shi Hyun, Choi Soo Ji (an effortless Mun Ga Young) and Lee Se Joo (a fantastic Kim Min Jae), three rich kids, who bet on other’s lives, just to amuse themselves. They mess up people and their feelings, just to satisfy their ego, and entertain themselves, but they aren’t downright evil as well. Their families are equally messed up, and they don’t get the attention and companionship they crave from them. This creates a distinguished duality in these three characters, but instead of exploring this antagonism, the story, unfortunately, slips into the usual rich-silent-guy-with-issues meets a-little-less-rich-cheerful-girl. The initial premise does pop up at various points, but more like a reminder to the characters themselves, Hey! Remember this plot point? and then just slips back into the generic rom-com.
I am not sure if the abrupt switch in the direction of the plot was due to the low ratings or if the director wasn’t brave enough to carry on the bold plotline. I mean in the first episode itself, Kwon Shi Hyun makes out with his classmate’s mother, and Choi Soo Ji, was in a relationship with her art teacher, but in a few episodes, the focus shifts to only Eun Tae Hee and Kwon Shi Hyun. Even the big reveal of the two events, fall flat, and the only reason to tug along this show becomes Ga Moon Young, Kim Min Jae, and Kim Seo Hyung, who are brilliant in their respective roles.
I also wasn’t too convinced the way Eun Tae Hee was brought into the story, it felt rather forced; and about all the controversy surrounding Joy’s casting, well she wasn’t bad. She was watchable, and she didn’t get on my nerves, but when she is sharing the screen with someone as experienced as Ga Moon Young, or Jeon Mi Sun, her faults do become very apparent. You can easily spot the one who is acting, and the one who is the character.
