[REVIEW] SBS TV series "Secret Garden" - Episode 1 & 2

Official poster for SBS TV series "Secret Garden" [SBS]

SBS TV series "Secret Garden" - Episode 1 & 2

After the arrogant and thoughtless department store CEO Kim Ju-won (Hyun Bin) falls for the ordinary stunt woman Gil La-im (Ha Ji-won), he even ends up confessing, "To me, this woman is Kim Tae-hee and Jeon Do-youn [top Korean actresses]." That too in just two episodes of going on air.

In "Secret Garden," the main male character's emotion develops to its peak at a pace that is extremely fast compared to the usual romantic dramas, showing that it will not be the typical love story between a rich man and poor woman. Its focus is rather on 'change' and aims to be a coming-of-age drama about a man and woman who find their true selves after their souls switch. Hence the first two episodes of "Secret Garden" served as the basis to showing how different the two's lives are currently. Ju-won is a chaebol who goes to work exactly twice a week to sign paperwork but cannot ride elevators because he has claustrophobia, while La-im is a stunt woman who doubles for the main characters of movies but is holding out with the "pride of being an action star." When the souls of these people who are entirely different in both personality and class are switched, Ju-won will learn lessons to life through the physical work he experiences, while La-im will live as someone who confidently speaks her mind but discovers Ju-won's pain.

The two main characters growing up in completely opposite environments or their souls switching may be cliche set-ups separately but fused together, present an opportunity to become quite an interesting drama about transition. On top of this, writer Kim Eun-sook's unique style of scriptwriting brings the characters to life and by having Gil La-im be a stunt woman, she is regarded a 'cool' woman who works hard every day of her life to make a living than just be the object of pity of a wealthy man. All that is left now is to see them faced with their new lives after they go into each other's bodies. The actual story has yet to start.