[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Modern Farmer" Episode 9

Apparently Hwa-ran's makeover is permanent, and along with it comes a personality change to something more bright and outgoing. I've heard that a change in personal dress can affect such an alteration, so I'm not too upset at "Modern Farmer" for upsetting continuity like this. It's just I liked her better the way she was before is all. Even in this episode, by far her best moment is leaping around the field at light speed to catch some grasshoppers.

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That's the episode's best joke, by the way- grasshoppers. At first the way they're brought into the story just seems sort of creepy-crawly, but the payoff is pretty excellent. Most of the humor / drama this time around centers around the four band members and their apparent roadblocks in trying to obtain romantic fulfillment. "Modern Farmer" in general seems to get its best jokes from one simple word- there's also a nice run around this time concerning the abstract concept of spaghetti. And let's not forget the whole bit with the sweet potatoes.

In terms of actual serious plot stuff, though, the drama is less than successful. I didn't much care for Soo-hyeon's backstory the first time it was introduced, and quite a bit of the drama here is based entirely around the difficulties she's run into regarding all that. Additionally, the preview makes it seem like this is going to be a focal point for the next episode too. I don't have anything against gangsters- that's worked out fine for Min-gi, after all. The larger issue is that Soo-hyeon just isn't a likable character. This works for fine for comedy with Han-cheol, but it's a lot more iffy when we're supposed to be sympathizing with the woman.

Outside of that particular plot thread, there's actually not very much movement in terms of the rest of the storyline. Partially this is deliberate, since a big point is being made of all the characters getting frustrated in their search for romance. At the same time this leaves us with not a whole lot to go on except for the jokes, which tend to be hit or miss. The drama's still just funny enough I'm not worried about a huge decline, but it's still a step down from last time.

On the more positive end, I'm liking Kang Hyeok more and more. Ironically, his behavior isn't really any different than it was from the first episode. He's still just really well-meaning and also annoying. But as presented here, Kang Hyeok is also very refreshingly blunt and helpful. Though this may not the most useful attitude to have at the hospital, it certainly makes for fun times at the farm.

Review by William Schwartz

"Modern Farmer" is directed by Oh Jin-seok, written by Kim Ki-ho and features Lee Hong-ki, Lee Hanee, Lee Si-eon, Park Min-woo, Kwak Dong-yeon and Lee Han-wi.

 

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