On Jirisan

Jirisan, a highly anticipated drama showing exclusively on tvN (Korea) and iQiyi (worldwide). The drama stars Giana Jun Ji Hyun, Ju Ji Hoon, Sung Dong Il and Oh Jung Se as park rangers on Jirisan the second highest mountain in South Korea. Written by Kim Eun Hee, it was action from the word ‘go’. Just as how Kang Hyun Jo (Joo Ji Hoon) is tasked to join a recuse mission, the moment he stepped into the station on his first day at work, the viewers also joined in the adrenaline packed journey.

There is a strong emphasis on how dangerous the mountain can be. You can easily get lost or hurt if you are careless, Mother Nature is a beautiful force to be reckon with. In rescuing the lost hikers and protecting the mountain from illegal hikers, poachers, the rangers demonstrate their dedication and determination that all should come out alive.

The review ahead contains spoilers, so if you have yet to watch it and prefer to find out the surprises on your own, you should skip.

At the end of the Episode 2, we see Seo Yi Kang (Gianna Jun) reporting for duty in a wheelchair! That was indeed a surprise. In the next few episodes, we learnt that there was a serious accident in one heavily snowed December night which left both Seo Yi Kang and Kang Hyun Jo seriously injured, with the former wheelchaired bound and the latter in a coma.

There was a hint during the press conference that Ju Ji Hon has visions whenever someone is in danger of being killed in the mountain, although the press releases did not mention this. And as the show progressed, there seems to be a murderer in their midst. But even more!

After that fateful night that left both our main leads injured, someone continued giving hints to Seo Yi Kang clues about these fatality cases. Determined to find out who was using these signs that only she and Hyun Jo knew, she came back to Haedong Branch station.

I love the cast- all good solid actors. Chemistry between Gianna Jun and Joo Ji Hoon was acceptable, though I think it could be better. Perhaps it is due to my higher expectation? Or the fact that half the time, they are not in the scenes together.

I like stories behind why people go to Jirisan for all reasons, from the normal to the illegal tracking, or conducting illicit activities like poaching.

I love the cinematography and the scenes were all brilliantly shot.

But I do feel a little disjointed and confused. I wish I had been warned that it is not a straightforward mountain rescue storyline. A murder mystery I can accept. A person with special visions, I can also accept.

But throw in out of body communications…. I find that rather hard to follow.

On top of all these, the show keeps shifting between 2018 and 2020 so it gets a little confusing at times. My mind has to keep shifting timeline.

So there are now paranormal incidents and a murderer, who might just be one of the rangers.

I am not too sure what to make of it.

I hope the rest of the episodes will be able to tie up everything and give me less headache in trying to remember when it it 2018 and when it is 2020.

Love this couple- Young Sun and Goo Young. By the way, I am terribly impressed by Oh Jung Se’s acting ever since ‘It’s Okay to Not Be Okay/ Psycho But It’s Okay’.