My Name Is Kim Sam Soon [MBC] [Korea]

Written by Stephy

"I throughly enjoyed the series throughout. It kept me laughing right from the first episode to the last. Usually in dramas the show is usually funny in the beginning or in the first half and usually becomes more of drama afterwards, but this series was funny throughout the entire show!"

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Also Known As
My Lovely Sam Soon

Year
2005

Aired
June 21 - July 21, 2005 in Korea

Produced By
MBC

Episodes
16

Cast
Kim Sun Ah as Kim Sam Soon
Hyun Bin as Hyun Jin Heon
Jung Ryeo Won as Yoo Hee Jin
Daniel Henney as Henry Kim

Plot/Characters
Kim Sam Soon is an average 30 year old woman who is on the plump side. She loves to eat and drink, as well she is a very good pastry chef, having studied in Paris as a patissire for a few years. Having recently being cheated and dumped by her boyfriend, she tried to get over him, but it proved quite difficult. Later on she gets hired by Jin Heon as a pastry chef to work at his restaurant. This leads her to a love contract with him to pretend to be his girlfriend. She only agreed as she needed money so she wouldn't lose her home. At first she dispises him as he is selfish and cold, but she finds herself falling for him later on, but he is still not over his ex-girlfriend...

Hyun Jin Heon is the heir to a famous hotel owned by his wealthy family. A very young and good looking man, whom is admired by many women and has a bright future ahead of him. However, he is a very cold person and is rarely found to be smiling. This is due to a heavy burden that occured three years ago, in a car accident which killed his brother and sister-in-law and as well injuring his leg. The same time his girlfriend of many years Hee Jin suddenly disappears without a word, leaving him very heartbroken. After the accident he became cold-hearted and felt he doesn't deserve to be happy. He later met Sam Soon and signed a love contract with her so his mother would stop forcing him to go on blind dates.

Yoo Hee Jin is very pretty girl who is very intelligent, rich and has a kind heart. She met Jin Heon in high school and fell deeply in love for 6 years. She had to leave Korea because she was diagnosed with cancer. She had many painful surgeries and underwent two years of treatment. The day she found out about her disease was the day Jin Heon got into a accident. She couldn't bear to tell him as brother and sister-in-law were killed as well he was still in a coma. She couldn't wait for him to wake up and to tell him even worse news. She later returns only to find out he is with Sam Soon...

Henry Kim is a Korean-American doctor who grew up in the United States and doesn't speak much Korean. He is a very kind and generous man who fell in love with Hee Jin when he first met her as her doctor. He knows that Hee Jin doesn't love him, but she doesn't expect anything from her. He is just happy to be able to take care of her and help to cure her disease. When Hee Jin returns to Korea, he decides to follow her to take care of her as she left without completing her treatments. He doesn't mind that she gets back to together with Jin Heon and truly wants her to be happy.

Best/Funniest Scenes
- When Jin Heon was doing an interview with Sam Soon, he was scanning through her resume and looked at her picture she had with it. With an odd look on his face, he says, "Did you photoshop your picture??" I laughed so much when he said that, it was just so hilarious.

- Jin Heon and Sam Soon were in the washroom, but he didn't have any toilet paper and asked Sam Soon to give him some. However Sam Soon, goes on to tell him that people with different blood types react differently to these types of situations. Blood A types are introverts and are patient, they would wait for the cleaning lady. Blood B types are confident and would solve it with 2 things... their fingers! (eww!). AB blood types have traits blood types of A and B in them, they would reuse the toilet paper from the trash bin. The easy going blood type O would just walk out because they can clean themselves after. I was laughing so much watching this scene, I was practically banging on my table! I rewatched it many times! So you want to know what blood type Jin Heon is? Then watch the show!

- After the washroom scene, everyone is having lunch together. Jin Heon sits next to Sam Soon. He puts some vegetables on her plate and says, "Veggies are good for constipation" She then takes the same vegetables and puts it back on his plate saying, "They are also good for your piles!" Everyone sitting around had this digusted look on their face because they were of course eating. Sam Soon then adds, "I know a good doctor for piles, do you want me to introduce him to you?" Very funny stuff!

- When Sam Soon first met Henry and she was trying to communicate with him, but he didn't understand Korean very well and she didn't know English. Seeing them try to communicate was hilarious. There was this one part how Sam Soon was trying to explain to him about a French cookie they were eating called Madeline. She said in her very funny accent, "this is sexy cookie" which sounded like, "dis iz sexshi cookie" Then Henry goes, "oh this is a sexy cookie!" Haha very funny!!!

- Sam Soon decided to go up on this mountain to try to forget about Jin Heon. She was screaming at the top of the mountain that she was no longer Kim Sam Soon but Kim Hee Jin. Then all of a sudden Jin Heon suddely appears and says, "Who's idea was that?" He's usually dressed in a nice attire of nice suits and shirts, but he appeared wearing a red jacket and khakis wearing a backpack. It was a nice change and he still looked very good, and his hair wasnt gelled up but down and wet from the rain. He still looked hot! It was also a nice scene as Sam Soon was so shocked to see him.

- Sam Soon was on a date with a guy and Jin Heon comes to interrupt them. He goes to Sam Soon and says shockingly, "Are you drinking coffee again? I told you its not good for the baby!!" The Jin Heon's eyes quickly darted towards her date. Haha the expression on Sam Soon's face and her date was absolutely priceless!

- The scene when Mi Joo, Jin Heon's neice phoned him in the middle of the night. She does not talk in the series. It was very touching how Jin Heon knew that she called and knew what she wanted without her saying anything. He sang a song to her while she listened intently on the other end. Mi Joo and Jin Heon have a very special bond.

- Jin Heon and Sam Soon were both drinking at the restaurant alone at night, as well he was teaching her how to play the piano. Later on she got up to leave and almost fell, but he caught her. She suddenly kissed him.

- Jin Heon grabbed Sam Soon into the male washroom and kissed her passionately. He then finally confessed he his true feelings for her. A quote from Sam Soon that I liked she said at this scene is, " If you like someone then you like them, if you don't then you dont. Why is it so hard and complicated?"

Comments
One thing I really liked about this series was the character Sam Soon. In this drama she isn't glamorous, often dressed in plainer clothes and rarely if not at all wore any makeup. The biggest thing you'll notice of course, she isn't skinny. In most Korean dramas the actresses portrayed are quite skinny and look glamorous. Sam Soon's character is very realistic and she is someone that many girls/women can relate to, we can feel what she is feeling and feel sympathy towards her. As well what I also really like about Sam Soon is that she is very true to herself and others, she isn't afraid to tell you how it is and isn't even scared of cursing at people. This role played by Kim Sun Ah was done perfectly, she brought the sassiness and liviliness of Sam Soon.

Hyun Bin as Jin Heon, I believe fit the role very well and he looked the part too. I was quite shocked to find out he is still so young! He is currently only 22 and will be turning 23 years old this September. He looks quite mature as he was playing a 27 year old. I liked it best when he was so blunt because it was funny, but he was just telling the truth. Like the photoshop part haha. He had great chemisty with Kim Sun Ah, he was very cute when he was acting all lovey dovey with her. Another fine actor I'll keep a look out for!

I liked Yoo Hee Jin, even though she was the third party that everyone would have loved to hate. She was a very nice sweet girl and was suffering from cancer. Jung Ryeo Won looked and played the part well, however I thought she was too skinny. Then again, she's a cancer patient and as well her character said herself in the show she had lost a lot of weight. As well I thought she looked really good with Hyun Bin, but he's much cuter with Sam Soon of course!

Daniel Henney as the sweet, caring, and patient Korean-American doctor Henry Kim who was in love with Hee Jin and I did i mention very handsome? was pretty good, as I believe this was his first time acting in a drama. His character was really nice and he wanted Hee Jin to be happy even though she was still in love with Jin Heon. Daniel didn't appear as much as the other main characters but he really good screen presence hope to see more of him in dramas.

I'm always at awe how Korean dramas have such wonderful soundtracks. The music always fits so perfectly with the show and individual scenes. The soundtrack for this series is nothing less! My favorite songs are "She Is" by Loveholic and "Inside my Heart" by Kim Jung Eun. As well the background music has a classical feel. Kudos to the music producers!

One thing I was disappointed in the series however, was the ending. Well it was of course it was a happy ending, but I thought there could have been more drama buildup towards then end or more lovey dovey stuff. Other than that, I throughly enjoyed the series throughout. It kept me laughing right from the first episode to the last. Usually in dramas the show is usually funny in the beginning or in the first half and usually becomes more of drama afterwards, but this series was funny throughout the entire show! So I really recommend this series for those who like romantic comedies and want to have a nice chuckle.

Rating


Interesting Facts
Kim Sun Ah for the role of Sam Soon had to gain about 16 pounds for the part.

Daniel Henney is an Korean-American and a real model and actor (his mom is Korean).

Jung Ryeo Won was a k-pop singer in the four member girl group called Chakra.

Kim Sun Ah only slept for an hour everyday for a week to meet the tight shooting schedules and has been taken to the hospital three times.

Some Pictures
The following pictures and more can be found at imbc.com