[KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS] 엠 (M)

THE SHOW

It was a freezing night in January 1994, when Korean TV Drama viewers met for the first time someone who would become one of the most popular actresses of the decade. Back then Korean TV was dominated by Historical Dramas and Family Dramas, like 아들의 여자 (The Son’s Woman). But, for the first time since 1992’s 질투 (Jealousy), a Trendy Drama was competing neck to neck with the big boys, often beating their performances. Just a few weeks after it started airing, 마지막 승부 (The Final Match) was the hottest show in town, with the whole Korean Media proclaiming its young leads Jang Dong-Gun and Son Ji-Chang as the new stars setting teenagers’ viewing impulses on fire. When on February 22 ‘The Final Match’ scored an impressive 48.6% rating share, the woman at the center of those two popular young stars’ attention began what would become a spectacular rise to stardom. She already had appeared on a few variety shows, co-hosting MBC’s 토요일 토요일은 즐거워 (Fun Saturday) for a few months, but this was her acting debut. Her name was Shim Eun-Ha.

Playing Da-Seul in the sports Drama—about two young men who dream of becoming basketball stars—Shim became one of the hottest new faces on TV, and contracts started to pile up, including a leading role in what is still one of the top rated TV Dramas of all time, the ‘medical horror’ 엠 (M). As the title suggests (납량 means a cool breeze in the Summer), ‘M’ was different from all the other Dramas, it was a breeze of cool air in that insanely hot Summer. Koreans weren’t too familiar with the horror and thriller genres on TV, since the only other Horror Drama of note was 전설의 고향 (Hometown of Legends) in the 80s. It was never a genre able to move popular trends or create new stars. But that Summer the viewing public embraced the show in a way its producers never expected. Airing all over the month of August, ‘M’ ended with a stunning 52.2% rating, still in the Top 30 of all time. Mixing the kind of tension found in Mystery Dramas with the tropes of melodramas, along with a strong message about abortion, ‘M’ is still remembered as one of the most unique Korean TV Dramas ever made.

1994 was an extraordinary year for Korean TV Dramas. Unlike movies, which were struggling commercially but starting to show strong signs of the renaissance which would blossom two years later, TV Dramas were almost a self-contained world, paradise. Some of the best writers in the country were let loose, producing classics like 종합병원 (General Hospital), 서울의 달 (The Moon of Seoul) and 모래시계 (The Sandglass). Even minor works like the delightful 도전 (Challenge) took simple outlines and carved extremely strong character-based shows. There were stinkers, yes, but even then the writing was miles ahead of what you find today. And MBC was at the center of this ‘Golden Age’, with one excellent show after another. Even when you were sitting there watching those shows, jaw on the floor and laughing at the silliness of some of the plot developments, you’d still be hooked to the TV set, because the characters always had that certain charm, the ‘MBC Magic’. The channel had a half dozen shows near the 50% rating mark that year, and continued to produce quality and quantity until the end of the decade, when a tsunami called 한류 (Korean Wave) submerged creativity and storytelling, leaving a few survivors today.

‘M’ was, believe it or not, a big technical step up for Korean Dramas. Explosions and special effects were used before, but CG rarely was, and in most cases it failed to make any impact. Sure, if you look at those FX today, you’ll feel like a teenager watching an episode of the Original Star Trek Series after a 24 hour marathon of films like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, but back then even the sight of top star Shim Eun-Ha making a scary face with green eyes, possessed by the ‘presence’, was enough to impress the viewers. During particularly ‘scary’ scenes, MBC would add subtitles ‘advising pregnant women and weak old men’, because the shock could have harmed them.

But this ‘M’ project risked collapse before it even started, as a big scandal involving Shim Eun-Ha’s past was revealed before the show began. After the end of ‘The Final Match’, one of the usual vampires wandering the Korean Media circuit dug some ‘problematic’ issues about her past and leaked them out for everybody to see. MBC wanted to cancel the Drama, even though Shim was already cast, afraid that the scandal would hurt the show’s chances of success. But it was PD Jung Se-Ho who came to the rescue, saying he’d go with the original cast, with no changes. For that reason, Shim paid back PD Jung, starring in his 1999 Drama 청춘의 덫 (Trap of Youth), which became Shim’s last ever TV Drama appearance.

Park Mari (Shim) is a bright young student, always hanging out with her two best friends Eun-Ha and Ye-Ji (Kim Ji-Soo and Yang Jung-Ah), an almost inseparable trio. After going on a trip to the East Coast with her friends, Mari is attacked by a group of thugs, who assault her. But then… hell, fire and brimstone! A devilish thunderbolt nearly hits her, and she’s magically turned into the Korean version of The Hulk… except they didn’t have enough money to do that, so she just gets green from the fury (wow! Green eyes and deep baritone voice… that’s so scary!) and attacks the thugs, as if a demon entered her body.

Her shocking display of superhuman force alerts her friends, who after forcing her to take medical tests in Seoul, find out the shocking truth: there’s a presence living inside her body! A living, breathing presence dictating how our Mari acts, alerting her friends to the trouble which will ensue. That’s all I’ll say. This is too fun to spoil. You’ll meet evil foreign scientists—evil because they can’t act worth a lick, no other particular reasons—vengeful and deadly kisses, mysterious murders, doppelgangers, crazy displays of force and corny special effects, and yes… love, because after all, this is a Korean TV Drama. Think like MST3K meets Winter Sonata, or something along those lines.

Watching ‘M’ today is like looking at a great artist move the first steps into the limelight. It’s like when rock legend Seo Taiji was prancing around with his ‘Boys’ in the early 90s, rewriting the history of Korean pop music. Yes, it was a little corny, and listening to it today removed from that context might only evoke laughter. But those dance ballads turned into the first traces of mainstream hip hop in the country (although it ‘officially’ started from the underground a few years later with more serious cultural influences), then that young man, leader of a band who sold million of copies and was all over the Media with songs like 난 알아요 (I Know) and ‘Come Back Home’ blossomed into a serious artist; a pioneer of rock music in a country which was still all ballads, silly dance pop and corny trot.

I see ‘M’ in the same way: its social commentary might be as superficial as Seo Taeiji’s early songs, its awkward special effects just like the first trials and errors that pop band went through back in the days. And, just like through sheer talent Seo Taiji emerged from the group and was able to find his identity, Shim Eun-Ha blossomed into something more than an idol of teenagers. She became a very good actress, someone who didn’t merely spend her time in the limelight with lame, safe star vehicles, but also looked for meatier works. I’ll always remember her role in Hur Jin-Ho’s 8월의 크리스마스 (Christmas in August), or the cold and calculating femme fatale in Jang Yoon-Hyun’s 텔 미 썸딩 (Tell Me Something).

I’m not going to lie, if this is your first ever Korean TV Drama, it won’t have much of an effect on you. It’s cliched, a little preachy, and production is not even on the same planet compared to today’s Dramas, although the difference is more evident since we’re talking about a CG-heavy show. But it has a certain innocence, the kind of charm that got me into Korean TV Dramas to begin with. It brings you back to that period, just like 별은 내 가슴에 (Star in My Heart) did for 1997. Shim Eun-Ha is now a married woman, and who knows if she’ll ever return to show business. This is probably one of her worst Dramas, but that’s just because she’s been so good. If you’re like me and have a long past of watching these shows, it’ll be a nice walk down memory lane, reminiscing about the days when things were much different. If you started watching those shows a few years ago, brought in by the effects of the Korean Wave, it will be an interesting, quirky discovery. And, if you’re just a fan of Korean Cinema, it’s just 10 hours of corny fun. I can’t guarantee it’ll have the same effect on you, but never underestimate the power of a good laugh.

THE DVD

Two versions available: Bitwin (No Subs) and YesAsia Entertainment (English Subs).
Of course the smart choice is going for the YesAsia version, because of the subs, but if you don’t need them there’s a few pretty cool clips from TV on the Bitwin version, showing Shim both as a MC, and presenting the Drama on other Variety show. YAEnt’s boxset has the added bonus—as always with their Korean Drama boxsets—of having the first episode from two other TV Dramas in their catalogue (in this case, the first episodes of ‘Damo’ and ‘All About Eve’), so the choice is yours. Video and Audio should be exactly the same.