Title: Pandora: Beneath the Paradise
Director: Choi Younghoon
Screenwriter: Hyun Jimin
Number of episodes: 16 episodes
Cast: Lee Jiah, Lee Sangyoon, Jang Heejing, Park Kiwoong, Bong Taekyu, Han Sooyeon
In order to protect her beloved family, Hong Tae Ra must become the First Lady of Korea. Hong Tae Ra has a perfect life with her beloved husband Pyo Jae Hyun and their lovely daughter, except for one thing. Hong Tae Ra has no recollection of her past. One day, she regains her memory and faces her harrowing past. Her perfect life is now broken and she finds herself in an uncontrollable situation. Hong Tae Ra struggles to take revenge on those responsible for her past. Pyo Jae Hyun is married to Hong Tae Ra. He is an extremely smart developer, who developed new technology in the neural smart patch field. He runs his company with gentle leadership skills and a sensible personality. He is admired by those around him. People in the political world begin to talk about him as the next presidential candidate.
***
So, it's been a while for me to watch an ongoing series. One day, I stumbled into Pandora: Beneath the Paradise. After Crash Course Scandal, I saw that Pandora would fill the time slot. Therefore, I decided to watch it as an ongoing series. I remember how enjoyable to watch Business Proposal in that way. I think it will be not that pressuring when I watch it as an ongoing series.
The Story
Hong Taera (Lee Jiah) is living a happy life. She got a very perfect husband, Pyo Jaehyun (Lee Sangyoon) who supports her all the time, and a beautiful daughter who she love. Then, she also has a kind big sister, Hong Yura (Han Sooyen) who always helps her.
Sadly, her perfect life has shattered when she started regaining her lost memory. In some of the fragments, Taera remembers her past life as No. 50, a hired assassin that has been trained at Hanwol Mental Hospital. As No 5, Taera is a well-known and skilled killer. She is the best of the best in Hanwol at that time.
After that, more memories start pouring in when some accidents happen to Taera. When finally she regain all of her memories, she realized that she was entangled with the late President Ko's murder. Yes, President Ko is the father of Taera's close friend Ko Haesoo (Jang Heejin). This fact of course terrified Taera the most. How could she explain everything to Haesoo?
The Opinion
To be honest, this revenge tragedy drama is full of plot twists. From the very start, there are so many unexpected things that happened. Starting from Taera's fake identity, Jaehyun's plan to become the South Korean president, the entangled fate between Jaehyun, Taera, and also Kumjo Group, Kyojin's accident that lead up to Hatch's smart patch research, and others.
Well, from the beginning, I know that Jaheyun is really sus. I think I have suspected him as the mastermind for everything that happened in Taera's life. But, I didn't expect that this arrogant and psycho human being has fallen for real to Taera. At least, those sides of him make Jaehyun being more human.
What I didn't really like is how Haesoo's rush attitude and decision made everything worst. I mean, I know that she is brokenhearted by the fact about Taera and her father's death, but as a journalist, she should be diving more into what happened. Why she isn't questioning how a teenager like Taera becomes the assassin? Is that really her intention or there is someone behind that incident? Who hire the assasin and what's the reason? So, I am a little bit disappointed with Haesoo's character here.
Then, among other characters, I even fall for Jang Dojin (Park Kiwoong). Of course, at first, I didn't see him as a potential character that could be lovable, but then, his determination to help Haesoo and uncover the truth amazed me. He is willing to sacrifice everything for other people's sake, in this case, Haesoo.
Ahh, I also should mention Cha Pilseung (Kwon Hyunbin), Taera's little brother. I really love his character the most. I was so relieved that he finally can rekindle with his sister, even though is just for a short period of time.
To be honest, Pandora is a really complex story. Jaehyun's ambition to be a president is really scary. He is that person who utilizes all of his connections to get everything he wants. It scared me when Jaehyun also has a skill to mess with people's mind through a chip.
Conclusion
Sigh. I know that the ending is confusing. How I wish they will just end it at that cliff scene. Why they should be at that Swiss' scene?
For me, this drama somewhat makes us curious about the story. It's a quite fast-paced drama, therefore you will find a lot of unexpected things in every episode. Is this drama became my favorite? Not really. I think this is an okay drama. Some parts make me bored and the characters are not that lovable.
Then, the later part of this story make me roll my eyes, especially when Jaehyun who always outsmarts everyone, didn't even realize that Taera didn't lose her memory at all. Then, I did wonder why is it so easy for Taera to give that sleeping pill to Jaehyun? Why Jaehyun didn't suspect anything after that long sleep?
Last, is the ending. I wonder why they have to choose that ending. Sigh.
So, it's 6.8 from me.
Sincerely,
Ra
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