He Is Psychometric: Final Thoughts

Today, I went through a bunch more vocab and also conjugated all the verbs/adjectives as I went. It seemed to go pretty smoothly. Nothing new today, but I've been neglecting my vocab so long that it will take a while to go through it.

To be honest, waiting for a month before looking through it helped some. It's a real test of how well I know the words. It has helped narrow down the actually difficult ones that will require extra effort too.

Psychometric & Sad AF

I just finished He Is Psychometric, and I've got to say that it is one of the best kdramas I've seen in many ways. First, the pacing was tight from beginning to end. There were no dull episodes, and it felt like all of the time was well used.

Second, the acting was nicely done for pretty much the entire staff, though the female lead wasn't as good as the female side roles. All of the other actresses outshined her. The male cast is talented as well.

Third, I was only slightly bummed about the ending. The most tragic and sympathetic character in the drama was definitely Kang Sung-Mo. I kept hoping that he would just get a slap on the wrist. Also hoping that maybe Lee Ahn (MC played by Park Jinyoung) would forgive him or at least call him "hyung" as an indication that he might forgive the guy one day.

That might be an unpopular opinion. Not sure. I don't want to spoiler anything, but if there was ever a full situation in which someone did a bad thing but should be pretty guiltless, it is this one. The real "crime" was just not knowing when to stop, since the "game" seemed a bit long.

Fourth, the lead killed it! Who knew that a kpop star (Jinyoung is in GOT7, clearly), could pull out such a touching performance? He ran through just about every emotion I can think of: rage, hopelessness, joy, contentment, love, hate, desperation, sorrow... and he really did a more believable job than lots of actors I've seen. Impressive. 

I was a fan anyway. Now though, I'm really looking forward to his future roles. His singing is beautiful, and his dancing is nice if not brilliant. But I think he's a better actor than idol. Talented guy.

Hands-Down Best Part

For me though, even with lovely cinematography, unintrusive OST and sound effects, nice acting by a large cast, a well-written script, and characters I came to care about... the best part were Lee Ahn's male relationships.

I was incredibly touched by the backstory of how he became best friends with Dae-Bong, a poor abused rich boy who is loyal to a fault and latched onto him. The friendship was cemented when Dae-Bong took a beating but still managed to talk his father into letting Ahn off the hook for taking a bat to the dad's car. 

Not only did he show up to get Ahn from jail... but he was beat to hell and still smiling. Love the character, who shows up any time Ahn needs him. No Jong-Hyun, the actor who played Dae-Bong, did a great job with a surprisingly deep character: happy, loving, sensitive, vulnerable, but with pain just below the surface.

Obviously though, the relationship between Ahn and his hyung was the most touching in many ways. Sung-Mo was a super damaged character who, I think, was just trying to do his best to be responsible for Ahn and not hurt him more than he'd already been hurt. I genuinely feel bad for him more than any other character in the drama.

While it was sort of a stiff, one-sided brotherly love... there were moments between the two that seemed like the most "normal" thing either of them ever had. This was particularly true because Ahn could touch his hyung without visions. It must have been a relief to have one person in his life that he could touch without worry.

In the end, the biggest disappointment for me was that this relationship changed. It seemed incredibly unfair for both of them... and the weak romance did not replace it at all. A real shame.

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