Abyss
“Abyss” is about a man and a woman who tragically die and are given another chance at life through soul-reviving marbles in a magical abyss.
Go Se Yeon was a tough, accomplished, and an unrivaled beautiful female prosecutor who worked in the Seoul District public Office but gets into a fatal accident and dies. However, due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—Go Se Yeon is revived, but now in a totally different appearance. Go Se Yeon now possesses a common appearance based off of how “good” her spirit was in her previous life.
Cha Min was the highly intelligent heir to Korea’s top cosmetics company but was also a smart, humble, and a kind-hearted man. Although he has both the brains and an astounding amount of wealth, he considers himself unattractive and is insecure about his looks. Like Go Se Yeon, Cha Min gets into an accident and dies. Due to the mysterious magical marble—Abyss—he comes back to life with a different appearance as an exceedingly handsome man just as bright as his spirit he had in his previous life.
Go Se Yeon and Cha Min begin to work as a lawyer and an administrator at a private law firm and decide to investigate the magical incident. Romance blooms in the office as the two intertwine together to accept their same fate.
This has been one of the dramas that I’ve been anticipating since it was announced. Park Bo Young coming back to a drama? Sign me up! My expectations were high and excitement matched. I guess that’s where I went wrong.
When it comes to Park Bo Young, she was one of my first k-actress crushes; I freaking loved Oh My Ghostess, and she was the highlight for me in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. So, I knew that she could handle the Fantasy/Supernatural aspect of Abyss. I think my bias for her blinded me to a few things.
First, I completely ignored the fact that the main leads wouldn’t come immediately. The premise is the main two dying and their souls coming back in new bodies. What I didn’t anticipate was me not liking the original body of Park Bo Young’s character. A friend of mine told me the actress was from the show Secret Garden and I immediately remembered how I disliked her and I got the same vibes from her here.
A second thing was the pace. I’m used to shows picking up after the first episode, but the premise was so strong with this, I was expecting a bit more. Personally, I have no reason to care that these two died and I sat there thinking I should.
Third, I was pretty confused about what was happening. I know there will be some more backstory down the line. But the relationship between Cha Min and Se Yeon felt weird and disconnected. Again, I’m left with wondering “Why do I care?”. There were so many things left in the air after the first episode, I wonder how they are going to rectify it.
Lastly, the freaking abyss. It’s a ball. Okay. But… why? Nothing is really explained and Cha Min is like “Alright. I’m hot now. So who cares if any of this makes sense.”
Now, there are things I liked about the first episode. Cha Min, played by Ahn Hyo Seop, is very easy on the eyes and has a puppy dog quality that I find myself caring about him more than any other character. I’m left concerned how he’s going to stay this new hot self and not be considered a murder.
Another thing I really like is the serial killer subplot. I love a good mystery. However, I feel like they are hinting too much toward one character being involved, so I hope they switch it up and do something unexpected with the true culprit. When I figure out the ending way early, I get bored.
I think my biggest like was the cameo by Seo In Guk and Jung So Min. The leads of tvN’s drama The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (see my review here), hammed it up in a surprising cameo that I had to watch twice. They need a drama spin off just from this!
I won’t go out on a limb and cut ties with this drama because I really think it has promise, but I don’t think it’s going to join the ranks of Her Private Life and The Secret Life of My Secretary as my currently airing dramas to watch. I will probably watch the second episode and then wait for it to finish airing and then binge. The promise is there, just not my attention span.
First Impression Score: 5/10
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