Letter #37: Glitch

Good morning, Erin.
 
As much as I was itching to see Ms. Hong (from Vincenzo) in something else, I have to admit that the trailer for Glitch did not inspire confidence. Something about the tone of it (…and the CGI alien in the baseball helmet, which, if I’m honest, probably colored my whole perception of the thing) left me worried that I would regret following an actress to where she landed rather than letting the show lure me in on its merits. 
 
…as if that’s ever stopped me. 
 
Fortunately, in this case, my baser instincts did not lead me astray—because this show was awesome, and the trailer didn’t do it justice. 
 
So, let’s talk Glitch, dear Erin—and, like with Little Women, it’s gonna end up being a quick overview with nothing spoiled. And we’re also going to say that, like with Little Women, it’s because everything is too tied up in plot and not because I was too wrapped up in every second of the series to take particularly detailed notes. 
 
Cough. 
 
1. Let’s start with the “everyone I recognized” list:

• Ms. Hong as (conveniently for me) Ms. Hong, our main lead

• Woo Young-woo’s dad as Ms. Hong’s dad

• one of the younger sister’s club-mates from My Liberation Notes as Ms. Hong’s boss

• Lee Ji-eun’s grandmother from My Mister as the old lady in the wheelchair

• the little sister from [REDACTED] as [REDACTED]

• the paralegal from Vincenzo as…uh, some guy for a minute in one scene…I think

 
2. Ms. Hong does a great job. She’s playing a very different character, here, far less outgoing and ridiculous than on Vincenzo—but she’s still almost as funny.
 
2A. She looks ridiculous when she smokes, though. Because she clearly doesn’t know how. 
 
2B. BUT…she looks really good when she runs. Like, sure, she’s not hitting Tom Cruise-levels of looking good at running, but she doesn’t look silly.
 
3. However, the one who stole my heart was Nana, who plays Bo-ra, who is our other main lead. I pretty much fell for her immediately. And though she doesn’t have the acting chops that Ms. Hong has, she’s got tons of charisma and tons of chemistry with Ms. Hong. (Though, to be clear: she’s also very good in her own right. Just…not quite as good as Ms. Hong.) I just wish they’d given her a little more character work. But…well, I’ll get to that. 
 
4. Speaking of acting, though: the girls they cast to play Ms. Hong and Bo-ra as tweens were excellent choices. Could easily see them growing up into the adult actresses. 
 
5. This show was as delightfully offbeat as it was shockingly dark. 
 
6. There is some excellent writing, when it comes to Ms. Hong’s boyfriend, specifically in the first episode. It’s particularly subtle, but I picked up on it. And really appreciate it. 
 
6A. Speaking of the boyfriend: I could have sworn I knew him from somewhere, but the internet tells me the only time I would have seen him was in the movie The Call as one of the cops who comes to the house. And I almost certainly don’t actually remember him from that movie, but…hey, maybe my brain isn’t as Swiss cheese as I think it is. 
 
7. Speaking of Nana, though, here’s something I wanted to show you from the second volume of NANA: 
I swear I’d never heard anyone say that phrase—then I start talking to you, and now it’s everywhere. 
 
8. This show’s mix of bizarre, funny, and truly dark worked for me in the same way that much of Inio Asano’s manga does for me. Which…doesn’t mean anything to you, but trust me. It’s pretty accurate. And definitely a compliment. (I’ve probably mentioned Solanin to you, before. Which is not especially bizarre or dark. But it is Inio Asano. So…there’s that.) Like, the side characters in this are especially like something he’d write. And, overall, this is kinda of like Goodnight Punpun crossed with Dead Dead Demon’s De-De-De-De-Destruction. Which also doesn’t mean anything to you. But trust me. It’s pretty accurate. And definitely a compliment. 
 
9. My favorite thing about Glitch, though, was the obvious Hyundai sponsorship. All the cars? Hyundai. Defunct baseball team that plays a significant role? Hyundai. Best show ever. 
 
10. My second-favorite thing was the interplay between the two main characters, their backstory, the mix of their personalities, the reasons they became friends—all of that was really, really strong. The only problem is that there’s so much plot to get to (and it’s really good plot) that there isn’t enough time to do as much with this character stuff as I would have wanted them to. Because it’s really meaty, and…it doesn’t get chewed on as much as it could have. Which is not to say there isn’t enough to get everything across that needed to be said, just that what we got was so good that it deserved even more space. 
 
11. And my third-favorite thing was Ms. Hong was listening to Lofi Girl’s 1AM Study Session Mix on YouTube. It’s one of my go-to mixes when I’m writing my letters to you, late at night.
 
12. Love how evocative the synth soundtrack was. Not, like, synthwave tracks, just a synthy score that was as unsettling as it was appropriately Sci-Fi-y. 
 
13. There are some character relationships that are both weird and weirdly compelling, and…they kinda get dropped, as the story goes on. For logical reasons? Maybe. But, much like with the character stuff for the main girls, I thought these things deserved a little bit more—or, at least, more of a clear wrap-up. 
 
14. There is one very small background detail that, I’m happy to say, gets paid off. Because I kept pointing it out (...to my throw pillows, I guess), every time it would come up—which was a lot. So, yay, they didn’t just have it in there for the sake of having it in there. 
 
15. I still don’t know how I feel about the wrap-up to the plot. There’s nothing wrong with it, ultimately, because it’s both logical and entirely consistent with the storytelling up to that point. But…well, it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting, which is neither good nor bad, but I don’t know if it gave me the same feeling as everything leading up to it. Though, regardless of where I eventually fall on that, the coda that follows the closeout of the plot is pretty darn satisfying. 
 
Which, I think, takes care of that. 
 
So, yeah, big recommend from me. Like, don’t quote me on this, but Glitch currently sits at #9 on my Top Ten list of Korean shows I’ve watched. So.
 
Sure, the first episode is a little uneventful, the emotional story doesn’t quite give you enough (perhaps only because it’s so good), and I don’t know that they totally stick the landing…but, golly, I had a fantastic time with this. And it’s only 10 episodes, so it’s a pretty quick watch. 
 
[watches you scroll until you find a totally different show with a handsome male lead]
 
…you do this to hurt me, I know it. 
 
—Daryl