[REVIEW] MBN TV series "What's Up" - 1st episode

Scene from MBN TV series "What's Up" [MBN]

MBN TV series "What's Up" - Saturday/Sunday 9 p.m.
The sound of a senior calling out "Students of the class starting in 2011!" while trying to establish a sense of discipline among a group of freshmen who just enrolled in the musical department of a college showed how much of a detour the show made before going on air. Because MBN's "What's Up" is getting to tell of freshmen of the 2011 school year, which starts in March, with 2012 just around the corner. But regardless of when they entered school, uncalculated passions clashed here and there on the campus of "What's Up," just like they did in series "KAIST" a long time ago. "What's Up," which tells of musicals but focuses more on its identity as a campus drama, started on its first episode with scenes of prospective students being interviewed for their practices which revealed each character's personality in a calm and orderly way. And each character was unique enough for the viewer to notice their characteristics from the way they expressed their happiness over getting into the department. The show then came together in the second episode by depicting on their behavior in classes and the school dormitory.

Yet although a campus drama, "What's Up" is not careless with its musical-related scenes. Like a musical number, the lyrics to the song sung at the concert by Do-sung (Daesung), who did not want to live as a presence behind a mask, stood for the lines he would have said that moment, and the scene where Jae-heon (Lim Joo-hwan) snuck into a theater and watched a musical's rehearsal was mesmerizing enough to steal viewers' hearts. Above all, "What's Up" contains the fluttering hearts that youths feel instead of depicting on dreams that have been forced to look pretty on the outside. It really has been a long time since the TV has portrayed youths who with no false show or pretentiousness speak of the moment "when your heart thrusts really hard." And the fact that they did not achieve their dreams with pure passion and effort was implied by how the opening scene had a vibe that stood in contrast to the cheerfulness seen in the main segment of the show and the shadow of death already drawn between Jae-heon and Tay (Kim Ji-won). "This Moment" that Do-sung sang for his interview is a famous musical number but Do-sung pulled it off as if the character in the actual musical. And like Do-sung who pulled off one of the most famous songs in his own way, screenwriter Song Jina too has started telling of the story she can tell best, "this moment, right now," through "What's Up." So will "What's Up," which has come a long way around, be able to receive a letter of acceptance like Do-sung did?

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