Letter #45: The Silent Sea

Good morning, Erin.
 
So, a little scrolling through my Netflix queue had me jumping into Kingdom, which is a typical historical drama but also it’s the zombie apocalypse. And it didn’t take long to get pulled into it. 
 
And I was so pulled into it that, after two episodes, I binged a totally different show over the weekend—because I thought I recognized an actress in Kingdom, and it turns out I just knew her face from the little preview clips Netflix keeps showing me of a short sci-fi series called The Silent Sea. Which we are going to discuss now. 
 
…by which I mean I am going to tell you a couple of things about it (because there’s not much to get into) and then spend the rest of the letter giving you my “best to worst” list of all the Korean shows I’ve watched to this point. 
 
Ready? Of course you are. Let’s go!
 
1. This show was really, really good. I totally recommend it. (I even recommended it to my sister, who is a sci-fi fan but is disinclined to watch non-English-language shows.) It’s very plot-focused, very atmospheric (eerie rather than overtly scary), not filled with character drama that distracts from the story. And it’s 8 episodes that are roughly 40 minutes long, so it’s a breeze to get through.
 
2. I love the look of this show. It’s super-slick future-techy but also equal parts recognizably analog. (I don’t know if this counts as being “retro-future” design, but that’s how I’d describe it.) It’s such a fun and believable mix. And the slick stuff looks fantastic. (Their version of hard disks for computers are pure cyberpunk gloriousness. Arguably my favorite thing in it.) Whoever did the set designs needs a raise. The whole thing just looks rad as f***. 
 
2A. Speaking of retro: there’s a communication device that someone uses that I swear is just a repurposed Zune. Which is hilarious. 
 
2B. …the Zune? Microsoft’s attempt to make their own iPod? No?
 
3. “But,” I hear you ask, “did you recognize anyone?” Well, I’m glad you asked, Erin, because I absolutely did. Not many people, granted, but there was:

• Mr. Goblin from Goblin as the captain

• Ji-ho’s mom from Because This is My First Life as the doctor

• Actor Girl’s love interest in Thirty-Nine as the chief

 
4. Everyone in this has a different, sort-of terrible hairstyle. And it took me until almost the third episode to realize that everyone has these sort-of terrible hairstyles as a way to make them easier for the audience to identify because you never learn anyone’s names, really, and they’re all wearing identical spacesuits. 
 
5. There’s not a lot of character-y stuff going on, but, insofar as you get to know the characters, my favorite is the guy from Thirty-Nine. 
 
6. Also: Mr. Goblin cuts a very heroic figure, I have to say.
 
…and that’s about it. I mean, it’s got some minor pacing issues, some relatively unsubtle beats (that, if you aren’t paying attention, you won’t notice, but…I noticed), and I feel like it cut itself a little short, but still a really, really good time. And you should absolutely watch it.
 
But you just want to get to the “best to worst” list, right? Well, when have I ever said no to you:
 
1. Vincenzo
2. Hotel Del Luna
3. Goblin
4. Start-Up
5. My Mister
6. Mad for Each Other
7. A Business Proposal
8. Sweet Home
9. Glitch
10. The Uncanny Counter
11. Alchemy of Souls
12. Little Women
13. It’s Okay to Not be Okay
14. All of Us are Dead
15. The Silent Sea
16. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
17. When the Camellia Blooms
18. Twenty-Five Twenty-One
19.True Beauty
20. My Sassy Girl
21. Rookie Historian 
22. My Name
23. Soundtrack #1
24. Touch Your Heart
25. My Love from Another Star
26. Weightlifting Fairy
27. Our Beloved Summer
28. Extraordinary You
29. Because It’s My First Life
30. My Liberation Notes
31. Korean Odyssey 
32. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
33. Man to Man
34. My Roommate is a Gumiho
35. Kiss Goblin
36. 18 Again
37. Nevertheless
38. Cafe Minamdang
39. Inspector Koo 
40. Thirty-Nine
41. 100 Days My Prince
 
…at least, that’s the list as I type this. Could easily change. And, admittedly, I’d say most of the middle-y section of the list is pretty arbitrary. ‘Cus I’d rank a lot of them as being equally, y’know, all right. 
 
Anyway. It’s been over a year of these letters, now, as it turns out, and…well, I’m still having a blast. So, thank you for tolerating my fairly presumptuous impositions. It means a lot, silly as that sounds. 
 
—Daryl