Page Turner (2016)

Photo source: https://www.dramafever.com/drama/4899/Page_Turner/

Page Turner was a drama in my bookmarked list but I can't remember how it got there in the first place. I came across it again after looking at Kim Ji-Soo's discography. I saw it starred that new girl who seems to be pumping out dramas like crazy. It's only a 3 episode drama and I had an evening free so I decided to watch it. Page Turner revolves around the 2 top pianists at an elite performance school. These two have been rivals since childhood and passionately despise each other. When Yoon Yoo-Seul (Kim So-Hyun) gets into an accident, her rival Seo Jin-Mok (Shin Jae-Ha) changes his attitude towards her. At the same time, fate brings injured pole vaulter Jung Cha-Sik (Kim Ji-Soo) into their lives. This drama has pretty heavy themes on parents expectations and how intense it is to become a recognized pianist. The story and characters are written with great depth so even only 3 episodes long, you really feel what each character is going through and you understand them. If you enjoy classical music or a well written and serious story line that follows character progression then you'll probably appreciate this drama.

SPOILERS BELOW!!

The drama was tagged as a "romance" and I thought it was going to be a love triangle. But it isn't. The characters seem to be driven by their own motives to help each other. Between Cha-Sik and the Yoo-Seul it's definitely friendship. It may hint at something more but nothing we see really develop. With Cha-Sik and Yoo-Seul I thought it was guilt at first because he felt responsible for her accident. But later thought it's probably because he admires her. Between Cha-Sik and Jin-Mok I think they see the value each other has in Yoo-Seul's life so they work together for her sake. I'm glad Yoo-Seul's mother became aware of what she was doing and decided to support her daughter rather than push her into her own desires. I like Cha-Sik's mother because she was so supportive the whole way. When we find out she lied to him about his father, you could understand that she is a human and her sons well being is above anything else in her life. For Jin-Mok, his dad was a bit of an ass but definitely like a lot of our parents if we strayed off the typical career path. Mostly it was good to see him finally feel the passion for piano that he always seemed to be missing. My favourite character was Cha-Sik because he took all the criticisms and just tried to better himself. He worked so hard and was so motivated despite being torn down all the time. Also he was hilarious. Jin-Mok was always serious and the Yoo-Seul was kind of a bitch but it's because she was stressed out by her mother and really serious about piano.
The ending...I was a bit sad since it looked like Cha-Sik played the part perfectly, but he gave his spot to Jin-Mok because he wasn't confident. Also Yoo-Seul would have been so pissed off once she found out she played with Jin-Mok and her mother was there. She would have yelled at Cha-Sik so much for that. I like that we saw a little snippet of the aftermath of the show but I wished we saw signs of their future. I suppose all in all they were meant to be satisfying endings of the events that took place during the show. Yoo-Seul finally smiling from piano, Jin-Mok finally receiving first place, and Cha-Sik finding a new passion. Oh well it was only 3 episodes. Short and sweet and effective. Overall definitely an intense drama but one you can get absorbed in thanks to the character depth and actors performances. It was very well written and the writers didn't try to stuff in more plot points than necessary. Not exactly a fast paced and exciting story though, and some piano performances lasted a very long time. But still I have to emphasize how well this drama was made and acted out. 7 out of 10.

Have you seen this one? What did you think?

Until next time my drama queens and kings,
Sarah