Letter #70: Bo Ra! Deborah

Good morning, Erin.

I started this series because it’s Sunny, and we like Sunny. But, as I alluded to in my previous letter, I burned through this series in about two days because Netflix is a garbage company that hates its customers, which means I couldn’t immediately continue with what I had originally planned to watch next and so had to get to what I had at hand. Which was Sunny. And, like, 25 other things I could have started, sure, but I’d already watched an episode or two, previously, so I figured what the heck.

Plus: Sunny. And we like Sunny. 

…whom I will continue to call “Sunny,” even though I know the actress’s name is Yoo In-na and her character’s name in this series is literally the title of the show. (Old habits die hard.)

So…was Sunny the only sunny side to this? Or did something new that I was actually looking forward to pan out for one? Only one way to find out: let’s (non-spoiler) talk about Bo Ra! Deborah.

1. Cutting to the chase: I really liked this show. And I’d compare my positive impression of it to that of Love to Hate You, which I similarly burned through in short order, once I started it—particularly in that I think Bo Ra! Deborah would have been exactly as good (maybe even better) than Love to Hate You if it had been a little more like Love to Hate You and only had 10 episodes. Because Bo Ra! Deborah is 14 episodes long…and it really shouldn’t have been. The first four(-ish) episodes could probably have been condensed into one episode (or maaaaaybe two) and consist mainly of…I’ll call it worldbuilding details that set up what comes later down the line, and I think most of that could have been severely shortened or handled with quick dialogue rather than full-fledged scenes. But, if you can push through that, the rest unfolds quite enjoyably and at a very solid pace. 

1A. Also, the cast/characters being predominantly in their late-30s/early-40s helped the show do more with the “rom” in “romcom” than most shows do. Because they all had slightly different things going on that were tied to things people in their teens or early 20s wouldn’t have cause to deal with, yet, which means the romantic storylines and conflicts were not what you would typically see in most other romance-y shows. It also meant we got different (than usual) perspectives on love and loving and what love and loving relationships look like. The show doesn’t lean too heavily into this (in that the theme isn’t specifically about any of this), though I would have been happy if it had, but it’s definitely there and definitely gave the show a little extra panache, in my opinion. 

2. Speaking of age: our dear Sunny is in her 40s, now, and it’s starting to show. Because the plumpness of youth has left her face, readily revealing all the little details that give away the amount of, um, sculpture work that underlies the beauty? Sure. But the real giveaway is that they’re dressing her in…longer skirts. The indignity. 

3. That said, both Sunny and her best friend are also not infrequently in belly shirts. Which…I mean, yes, they’re both quite slim and fit, but…c’mon, if miniskirts are verboten…midriffs? Really?

4. And sticking with style for a moment: I talked about this in my Touch Your Heart letter, but much as they skew Sunny towards glammy, pop star-y styles, she ABSOLUTELY ROCKS the classy, mildly conservative look—and, despite the frequent employ of midriff tops and perhaps too-short skirts, this show does do a fair bit of letting Sunny dress, y’know, normal-nice. And, occasionally, very casually. (Very, very, casually. Like, Netflix-and-chill casually.) And y’know what? She looks great. More of this, guys. More IU in Hotel Del Luna and less IU in Persona. 

4A. Wait, what the—IU’s birthday is the same day as my mom’s. Oh, that’s…I don’t like that. 

5. Just a reminder that Bo-ra is apparently my favorite Korean name. So, double-points for this show. 

6. In a very subtle, very clever bit of visual theming on a show that is essentially all about the giving or receiving of a diamond engagement ring, there are a lot of things (from phone cases to suit jackets) that end up being Tiffany blue. 

7. I only recognized two people in this one: Sunny, obviously, who plays the titular Bo-ra/Deborah; and Sunny’s Best Friend, who was the tavern owner/madame(?) who’s buddies with Mu-deok in Alchemy of Souls.

8. And, for the record, Best Friend is really good, in this, and she’s probably the best character. She’s a hoot, and she’s got maybe the most interesting and nuanced character arc. I don’t know how popular this series ended up being, but I hope it’s popular enough for her to get some heat from this role. I’d like to see her in more things.

9. …of course, good as she was, I think the real make-you-take-notice actress is the young woman playing #BestGirl U-ri, the new hire at the male lead’s publishing company. She is ADORABLE, very much like Eun-tak in Goblin, just without the constant looming layers of tragedy. She’s on screen an appropriate amount of time for her role in the story, but I really wish we’d seen more of her. 

9A. I mean, look, maybe it will turn out that it’s less that she’s got a well of charisma to delve into than it is that she was just really, really good at being really, really cute, but I absolutely want the chance to find out. Like, seriously. Sure, most of my notes about her are just SHE’S SO CUUUUUUTE!!! over and over again, but I really do think she’s got something. 

10. Oh, wait, I lied: I also know the actor playing the male lead’s dad: it’s Princess Rival Girl from Hotel Del Luna’s abusive father in True Beauty. 

11. This show absolutely nails the comedic friends-eavesdrop-on-dramatic-conversation gag, late in the show. Like, it should be taught in schools. It’s great. And subtle, which is key.

11A. There’s a similarly impressive amount of audience-figures-it-out-for-themselves subtlety to a pivotal part of the inciting event for the story. It’s very well done, very slick. 

12. A couple of characters are watching Mad for Each Other, at one point. Which made me smile. 

13. More than one reference to (500) Days of Summer. Again. Which…why is this such a go-to movie reference in all these shows? Did it do especially well in South Korea? Did they only get it recently? Has it turned out to be their Mean Girls or Princess Bride? 

13A. There’s also the possibility that two of the characters are going to see it in a movie theater, though I don’t think that makes any amount of sense. Unless (500) Days of Summer is just, like, always playing every Valentine’s Day season or something. I mean, there’s also the possibility that the implication about seeing (500) Days of Summer is supposed to be seen as a sort of joke that hid an excuse to ask someone out to see a movie. But…whatever, we never see what movie they watch, so it could be anything. 

14. The male lead was totally driving a Hyundai Ioniq, and the show absolutely covered the logo, the absolute jerks. 

15. Great out-of-context line: “If you won’t play the tambourine, at least clap!”

16. There’s yet another reference to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which, while predominantly astute and benign a concept by strict business standards, is actually a sensible veneer placed over an insidious world domination and control mechanism designed by what could very well be literal vampires. And I really wish these shows would stop bringing it up. 

17. That said, the show also explicitly refers to The Art of the Deal, so there’s some balance. Which is nice. 

18. Oh! I totally recognized the cafe where Sunny is being interviewed at the start of the first episode! And you should, too: it’s the cafe that looks like it’s right out of Bendy and the Ink Machine that was featured in one of the dates on Change Days. You remember: the cartoony-looking place that seemingly warranted not a single comment from either of the people on the date. 

19. Sunny’s Best Friend works for a magazine company, and the one issue of the magazine we see get published has BLACKPINK on the cover. Which makes me think the show paid a pretty penny for the rights to feature them. 

19A. For the record: I like Jisoo best. She’s funny. 

20. There are maybe a couple of instances of people having to do the fake relationship trope, and I may have loved every second of it. 

21. I’m not much up on fashion, but I feel like I need a literal map to help me understand trendy Korean styles. 

22. Sunny has a couple of stellar rants, in this, and more than a few good lines in general, including one about how she thinks beer should be reclassified as a soft drink—which made me laugh, but also made me question what the f*** soju is made of. Turpentine? Bleach? 

23. Speaking of Sunny, and bringing things back around to how old she is…she makes a handful of pop cultural references throughout the show, but most of them are from, like, 20 or 30 years ago: The X-Files, Hugh Grant cheating on Elizabeth Hurley, Titanic, the Paris Hilton sex tape—I mean, maybe I’m not plugged into the zoomer zeitgeist, but I feel like these aren’t obvious touchstones for a lot of people, these days. I mean, she’s the right age to make these references, but…is the audience also presumed to be composed of aging millennials? 

24. Don’t think I didn’t notice the significance of the color of Sunny’s Best Friend’s purse in that one episode, show. You can’t slip a bit of symbolism like that past me! 

25. I was not a big fan of the male lead. I mean, he’s mostly okay, but there’s a hitch in his writing that bothered me, and it’s not dissimilar from the problem I had with the main guy in Because This is My First Life: he too often vacillates between being…emotionally out of touch, in that “too logical” sense, and an incredulous amount of too dumb to understand basic human behavior. I get that he’s supposed to be a little exaggeratedly unsentimental as foil to Sunny’s romance expert character, but he’s a little too frequently given the “whatever the story needs” treatment for my liking, when it comes to how intelligent he can be. 

26. Sunny’s Sister is good, though. I liked her. 

27. And there’s some pretty solid smooching, in this one. I was worried that it wasn’t going to pass muster, but it turned out to be pretty good. 

Which…I guess is all I have to say about that. 

It was a good time, and very much worth the watch, if you can press on past the sloooow start. Like, I’d even go so far as to say the quality of the show sneaks up on you, which is probably why I more or less—almost without realizing it—binged everything post-Episode 2 like I did. 

So it’s I guess it’s appropriate that I also sorta blasted through this letter more quickly than I anticipated. I mean, I know I said that I was going to have another letter for you quickly, but…honestly, I didn’t think it’d be this quickly. Which now throws my claim that I’d have yet another letter for you even more quickly than I’d get you this one, but…yeah, no, that’s not going to happen. Not with my family excitedly waiting to sit down and watch American Ninja Warrior together, tomorrow. But I should have it ready for you to be disappointed by before the weekend is out. 

And no: no hints about what this next letter will be about. 

BUT…it looks like Netflix is now back and available to me, somehow, so I might be back on my plan for where to go next. 

Unless you want me on something else. In which case, I’m doing that. Obviously. 

…

You’re going to make me watch that Good Bad Mother show, aren’t you.

—Daryl