Lazy Unnie’s Couch: Hyena

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I wouldn’t say I am a big fan of law and justice shows either in or out of dramaland. I mean, I too love the occasional Law and Order binge on a rainy day, but I didn’t think I would get the same feels of watching Benson and Stabler when I decided to watch Hyena. Let’s say I was half wrong about that.

What immediately drew me to this was the poster and trailers, I mean they’re hot. Outside of that I didn’t really know what to expect. After watching this I can say that there were storylines and aspects of the show that I just didn’t understand. That isn’t really fault to the show itself but maybe it was. I just found myself lost midway through the middle but it wasn’t until the end that I saw how the bigger picture worked. There were also things that I wished they would have explored more because personally I found them to be more interesting than the political and financial gains of men in power.

ANYWAY… lets touch on the things I did like about the show because there were many. First would be Kim Hye Soo’s Jung Geum Ja. I know the title of the show is called Hyena and I first thought it was just cause of a throw away line from a supporting character but I finally realized that it had some weight. Jung Geum Ja was a straight savage. She straddled the morality line more times than not. Money and survival was always in the forefront of her actions and I respected that. Some would call her a classless or morally unjust bitch but if her actions were done by a man he would be viewed as cunning. And I think she knew that. It was her backstory that I wanted to know more about. How Jung Eun Yeong became Jung Geum Ja and more about her step-father and mother (or foster mother, that was unclear to me). I feel like toward the end they focused on the big bad so much that they wrapped up that storyline in a haphazard way.

Second would be Joo Ji Hoon’s Yoon Hee Jae. I mean, I’m so transparent when it comes to male leads. I fall hard nine times out of ten, and this time was no different. But what was different was Hee Jae. He came across as this golden boy lawyer who came from a long line of prosecutors and judges but here he was defending big businesses and guilty chaebols. Was he this? Yes. But what really made me take a step back and realize that Hee Jae wasn’t your average dramaland male lead was the role reversal. Did Geum Ja trick him into a relationship to win a case? Yes. Was Hee Jae vexed when he found out? Absolutely. Through all that he still was there, loving Geum Ja in any way he could. When the introduction of Kevin Jung as a possibly second love interest came we got to see Hee Jae be a little jealous and really start to show how no matter how hard he tries not to care or how much Geum Ja resists, he has feelings for her outside of his anger for her betrayal or their physical relationship.

On top of the two of them, I really loved their chemistry and their dynamic. It felt nice to see a more mature relationship. Albeit romantically or work related. The sarcastic banter and the way she basically owned his ass was entertaining to see.

Team H, their coworkers at Song & Kim were nice too. You got the feel like they were a real team at one point and that they cared about what they were doing. Lawyer Boo could have easily slipped into the typical scorned second female lead but it was refreshing to see they didn’t go that route. One of my favorite supporting characters was Geum Ja’s faithful assistant Lee Ji Eun. She was smart and dedicated to Geum Ja no matter what almost illegal activity they were doing. I think Ji Eun was there to help Geum Ja not sway too much in the evil column.

With all this said of what I liked, what it came down to is the understanding of what was going on. At times it felt like too much legalense was going on and I should have stopped and rewatched some but I’m a lazy bitch and kept on. Cause when it got to the drama with Hee Jae and his dad I was completely lost. The acting was great and the stories all panned out except one. I would have liked a little more romance because I’m a hopeless romantic at my core but anymore from Geum Ja would have been out of character. I had a bunch of favorite scenes and lines but this one stuck with me the most because know what, it’s true as hell.

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