Rating: 8.5/10
When I first heard about the actors that signed up for Encounter (or Boyfriend, as the original title goes), I was pretty surprised. For one, both Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum were away from dramaland for a couple of years after their last hit shows in 2016 (Descendants of the Sun and Love in the Moonlight, respectively). It was a bit of a shame but still understandable, since they would have been hard acts to follow.
The other thing was the fact that Bo-gum is a pretty close friend of Song Joong-ki, and one that Joong-ki treats like a little brother. Not many people made a fuss about the casting, but it wasn’t drama-free. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, personally. I realize both Hye-kyo and Bo-gum are professional and it’s acting but knowing the close relationship made me think things would be a little awkward. In any case, I’m glad I gave it a chance.
I expected this to be another noona romance–something like tvN’s answer to Something in the Rain, but the age difference was nearly a non-issue, overshadowed by the difference in social class. Even then, it didn’t feel like a typical rich/poor couple that we see over and over in Korean dramas with all its predictable opposition from the parents and impossible misunderstandings. Yes, there was a great deal of opposition from the parents, but it was motivated by different reasons.
What stood out to me the most was how the story always remained about the two characters’ personal journeys. The attempts of Cha Su-hyeon’s spiteful ex-mother-in-law to take over the hotel she worked so hard for and the pressuring of her mother felt more like background noise to Su-hyeon and Kim Jin-hyeok’s developing relationship and Su-hyeon’s resulting transformation. In a sense, I understand how that might make people who expect a more dynamic story to feel absolutely bored.
I saw many people complain about the lack of plot, but the story never lacked plot. It starts with a lonely, muffled, and anxious Su-hyeon who lives her life pandering to those around her, being torn down to shreds near daily, and ends with a Su-hyeon who is much brighter, much happier, who realizes life’s too short to live it according to someone else’s blueprints.
Jin-hyeok, of course, was instrumental in that transformation, but it took a lot of introspection and hesitation on Su-hyeon’s part to be true to herself. And every step of the way, Jin-hyeok was there to soothe the loneliness that had built up over the years, to make her smile again, and love her. There weren’t any of the unreasonable misunderstandings because Jin-hyeok and Su-hyeon both cherished each other and were aware of the other’s love.
The only part that really detracted from the story was the last hurdle, episodes 13-15, which felt like the final boss of the drama and something the couple had to move past. I understood the importance of Su-hyeon needing to get over that last bit of hesitation left in her but it still felt like the screenwriter took the chance to add some tension-causing angst to tie up the story with. Good show overall.
Asian drama fanatics 