Pasta
파스타9/10
I’ve been re-watching Pasta this week,
because there’s nothing like a post-turkey hangover to make a family sit down to
watch Koreans making pasta, throwing pasta, and eating pasta. I wonder what this show’s food budget
was. I wonder how much these actors had
to diet after filming…. Oh yes, food aside, more fantastical things happened
this week. My mother started watching
her first genuine K-Drama. I was
concerned, but she’s a Food Network junkie so really, there’s no better drama
to begin with! I’m also seeing it for the second time. My husband is also watching it for his second time. We’re all still sitting on the couch laughing
our heads off. Something seems strange
about this, but I’m not going to argue.
I’ve got more than myself watching dramas now, and I couldn’t be
happier.
My first run with Pasta came after a long line of mediocre
dramas. (Take Care of the Lady, Can You
Hear My Heart?) I remember feeling
the despair, almost sure that I’d reached to the end of my K-Drama mania. What Pasta
did for me (besides crave Italian food) was bring me back into the light. It’s fun, it’s zany; it has a wacky cast of
side-character that I’d need a third hand to even count. And best of all, it features an almost
sickeningly cute kitchen romance between leads Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Sun
Gyun.
These two really do
make one of the best pairings I’ve ever seen.
They may not have that mythical chemistry we’re always looking for in Dramaland,
but each play such a unique character that they really don’t need it. Gong Hyo Jin as kitchen assistant/cook Seo
Yoo Kyung plays the adorable without resorting to the dreaded aegyo.
Lee Sun Gyun (aka The Voice) plays Head Chef Choi Hyun Wook with all the
pizzazz of the overbearing, rude, misogynistic male, yet never comes across as
obnoxious. His strut and posturing at
the chef’s table may have something to do that (“Table number 6 – Vongole –
HANA!)
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| Just a normal day in the life of an OTP |
I think the real
success of Pasta is that it doesn’t
try to take itself too seriously.
Abysmal plot-devices are at an all-time low. Mischievous side-characters are more for
comedy than for angst, and rarely take up too much screen time as to become
unbearable. At 20 episodes I can almost
believe that Pasta, while not being
too heavy on the plot to begin with, has almost no wasted scenes. It’s compact, humor-laden, and seamlessly weaves
its enormous cast into kitchen fiascos, competitions, and epic almost-battles (Frying
Pan vs. Lighter, Round 1!) Best of all, we don’t have to wait until episode 20
for our romance to finally kick in.
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| Even the intrusion fo this brooding guy (Clazziquai's Alex) can't make our lovers budge. |
Something else to
look forward to: If not for eye-candy, then at least for hilarity, these guys
put the show over the top.
Meet the Korean Team:
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Featuring Lee
Hyung Cheol (far left) awww… from City
Hall.
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And the Italian Team:
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Including
No Min Wook (2nd from right), currently starring in Full House 2.
Even here
he had some strange hair…
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| Female character: "Is that a man...or is that a man?" My mother: "I don't know. Is that even a man?" |
Point is: Watch or Rewatch Pasta, unless you hate cuteness, or food.
"Yae shep!"