Eccentric! Chef Moon

Presentation

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Analysis

Synopsis

​Yoo Yoo Jin is a famous fashion designer known under the pseudo of Bella. Despite her fame, no one has ever seen her face in the industry. Moon Seung Mo on his side is a renowned chef. His parents own a restaurant, whose success is based on a secret formula. Unfortunately, the restaurant located in the countryside burns down and Seung Mo’s parents die in the incident. He decides to move there and meets Bella, who has lost her memory in a car accident. He shelters her and they progressively fall in love, while fighting their common enemy. 

​My Opinion (No Spoilers)

In my opinion, it was an interesting drama. Some parts of the plot captivated me, but at the same time, some others were really annoying. I thought that the romance was very nice and characters were very compatible. The villains were also playing their roles perfectly, to the point that they infuriated me. 

​If you are looking for a nice drama with a bit of suspense, romance, and sweetness, go for it!

​Analysis (Spoiler Alert)

Characters: I believe Moon Seung Mo (Eric) and Bella (Go Won Hee) are really compatible in terms of personality and their relationship actually proved to be quite strong throughout the drama (especially on Seung Mo’s side). He is a really protectiveand caring character, even towards those who are not parts of his family. For example, he doesn’t hesitate one bit to jump, if it means protecting the village, its inhabitants, a little girl who pretends to be his daughter, a stranger (Bella), etc… He is an honest and just character, that I really liked during the entire drama, especially because all of his actions are directed towards others and not himself. He is absolutely not egoistic and is not afraid of sacrificing himself. He is a devotedlover and learns how to be a devoted father as well. 

​Yoo Yoo Jin/Bella (Go Won Hee) is a little bit more hesitant and reluctant in her relationship because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. When she loses her memory, her life gets a little more easier, joyful and worriless. That’s when we discover her personality that is close to a child’s. However, even though she appears to be quite clumsy and naive, she knows how to be serious and step in to protect those she loves, just like Seung Mo. What I also quite admired is that losing her career, her company and even her identity doesn’t affect her that much, as long as others are safe and sound. This is exactly the same devotion I could observe in Seung Mo’s behavior. That is also the reason why I found them so compatible, they are literally the same. Bella is also really forgiving – particularly towards Madam Jang (Gil Hae Yeon) and Im Hyun Ah (Cha Jung Won). 

​Im Hyun Ah is a very interesting character in my opinion, because she really suffers from mental disorders. She has never been recognized for her work, always been in Bella’s shadow, to the point that it drove her crazy. Moreover, her father Im Cheol Yong (Ahn Nae Sang) has never really cared for her and worse, he uses her to fulfill his ambitions. His daughter is just a pawn to him and he pushes her so much that she loses herself (I even believed she had a dissociative disorder, thinking of herself as Bella), her identity and her sanity (she hurts herself). She is so stressed out also, because she believes she has killed someone, that it kills her from the inside. The combination of all that pressure (mental and external) turn her into another person, who believes in her own lies. Fortunately for her at the end, she manages to get away from her father’s bad influence and can find a way to redeem herself and start from scratch. She also tries her best to be forgiven, and I couldn’t help but feeling a bit empathetic towards her, because she has been through a lot alone and has never received any sort of help or attention, to help her overcome her issues. 

​Her father on the other side is the kind of constant evil character that you can’t help but hating. He is way too ambitious and greedy, manipulative and is willing to do everything to get what he wants, even killing people. I simply hated him. Point. And as you watch the drama, I believe you will feel the same. 

​Finally, the other supporting character that I though was refreshing because original, is the chaebol son, Donghan Group’s CEO Kong Joon Soo (Jang Jae Ho). He embodies in my opinion, the new generation – as opposed to the old one with Cheol Yong – who wants to do things right, abide by the rules and lead a successful but also legal business. I liked the fact that he genuinely wanted to help Chef Moon in preserving Seoha Village. He sided with the weaker but just side, when he could’ve just decided to crush everyone to take the power in the company. It was a nice character in the end. 

​Ambiance: The atmosphere is split between the suspenseful moments and the romantic ones. Both are well done; but there is one details that really annoyed: the stupidity of the characters. I thought that some of the twists were too easy at some points and that good characters were giving up a bit too hastily. Plus, they didn’t think about their strategy enough and let bad characters crush them. I was hoping that Seung Mo and Bella would fight back and stand strong in the face of adversity, why not threaten also Cheol Yong if need be! It really frustrated me! Im Cheol Yong always gets out of problems so easily, proving that Seung Mo and Bella’s attacks are not strong enough. We have to wait the very end, that is when all characters finally decide to act together, to finally put an end to Cheol Yong’s evil actions. 

Plus, can we talk about that ridiculous scene, in which Cheol Yong is literally cornered by a dozen of policemen and all of the characters (his daughter, the village people, the main leads) and yet, he still manages to flee. Shoot him in the leg, instead of letting him run away with a car, for god’s sake! Incredibly unrealistic! Which is even worse is that he sets the house on fire afterwards! What the actual fork! 

​What are the themes questioned?

​The first one that comes to my mind is naturally anorexia, because Bella suffers from it at the very beginning of the drama. The only food she accepts to eat is Seung Mo’s. The way they demonstrated that this mental disorder comes from a psychological distress or blockage, was very clever I thought. Because Bella loses her memories, she also gets rids of her psychological issues that prevented her from eating normally. I don’t know if it would actually work in real life, but this was solid proof that the mind has very strong powers and that it needs to be taken care of properly. 

The drama seems to lightly tackle other mental disorders, especially through the character of Hyun Ah. It was not a central theme in the drama, still it helped the intrigue and reinforced our empathetic feelings towards her. 

​Family ties were also emphasized by the deep relationship that the villagers and Seung Mo create. This topic is best represented by the father-daughter relationship between Seung Mo and Seol Ah (Ko Do Yeon). The child actress by the way is extraordinary! Their bond reminded of that in The Great Show. Indeed, in both dramas the main character ends up sheltering a kid that is not his and doesn’t want to create ties at first. With time, affection takes over, and they establish a connection. I loved this message: you don’t need to share the same blood to be a family, which is quite accurate in our time and day. 

​P.S: For all French speakers: Am I the only who didn’t understand a single word of the dialogues in French (even the foreign actor’s (Louis’) accent was weird)? 

I’m sorry I couldn’t find a proper trailer 😦