“Forecasting Love and Weather” New K-Drama (First Look)
Hello, and welcome to this week’s first look post. Today we will be talking about the currently airing drama “Forecasting Love and Weather”. As of the writing of this review, Netflix has released 10 episodes with 6 more to go. The drama will finish its run on April 3rd, 2022.
Any opinions are based on my first impression after watching only the first 4 episodes of “Forecasting Love and Weather”.
The literal title of this drama is “Meteorological Administration People: Office Romance Cruelty” (Korean: 기상청 사람들: 사내연애 잔혹사 편), directed by Cha Young-Hoon. He is known for such gems as “Gaksital” a.k.a. “Bridal Mask” (2012), “Are you human?” (2018), and “When the Camellia blooms” (2019).
**Warning: This review contains spoilers. Proceed with caution!**
CAST
- Park Min-Young as Jin Ha-Kyung
- Song Kang as Lee Si-Woo
- Yura (Girl’s Day) as Chae Yoo-Jin
- Yoon Park as Han Ki-Jun
- Honorable Mentions: Kim Mi-Kyung (Healer; Faith), Lee Sung-Wook (Hit-and-Run Squad), and Kwon Hae-Hyo (My Lovely Sam-Soom)
Summary
Jin Ha-Kyung (Park Min-Young) works at the Headquarters (HQ) for the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). She forms part of one of the Forecast Bureau teams. Her team is responsible for deciding if, when and what announcements and warnings are to be relayed to the public based on upcoming weather conditions. Accuracy in forecasting depends on experts in her team as well as constant communication with colleagues at the KMA Regional Offices. Ha-Kyung’s job keeps her busy, but she enjoys being dedicated and excelling at her job.
However, despite her work responsibilities, Ha-Kyung was able to find love. She is in fact planning to get married soon to her fiancé Han Ki-Jun (Yoon Park), whom she has been dating for 10 years. He also works at KMA HQ for their Office of Spokesperson.
With her wedding only a month away, Ha-Kyung starts getting suspicious that all is not as it should be in regards to her future husband. Her suspicions are confirmed when she catches Ki-Jun cheating on her with another woman.
Regardless of Ha-Kyung’s devastation at his betrayal and his subsequent shameless behavior, she continues going forward. Instead of letting the matter destroy her, she slowly emerges from the experience a stronger person.
********
Lee Si-Woo (Song Kang) works as a forecaster at the KMA’s Regional Office, hoping to one day be promoted to HQ. He loves the outdoors and seems to have a sixth sense for spotting weather abnormalities. Si-Woo is friendly and has created a wide network of acquaintances within the forecasting offices. Although they often sigh at his insistence regarding upcoming weather conditions that they disagree on, the fact that he has proven to be correct time and again has gained him widespread respect.
Whether at his work or in his personal life, Si-Woo is someone completely dedicated to give 100%. He constantly tries to improve himself to please his longtime Girlfriend Chae Yoo-Jin (Yura), who is a reporter. When she one day – out of the blue – breaks up with him, Si-Woo is deeply hurt. To make matters worse, it turns out Yoo-Jin has been seeing someone else and is getting married shortly after their break-up.
With his love-life in shambles, Si-Woo is even more glad to finally be transferred to KMA Headquarters, where he gets assigned to newly appointed Director Jin Ha-Kyung’s team. Despite their previous encounter some time ago being a rocky one, Si-Woo quickly develops an interest in Ha-Kyung that goes beyond colleagues.
Author’s Note
Going into episode 1 of “Forecasting Love and Weather”, I had no idea story-wise what I was in for. However, the cast looked so promising that I had to give it a try, and I was not disappointed.
Park Min-Young as Jin Ha-Kyung is perfect! Along with her characters in “Healer” and “Her Private Life”, strong female lead Ha-Kyung is fast becoming another of my favorite Park Min-Young roles.
Yoon Park as the cheating and selfish Han Ki-Jun is equally awesome. Not sure if it is just me or the fact that he has done so many shifty roles, but I’m always on guard with the characters he portrays.
Song Kang also fits the character of Lee Si-Woo to a t. His facial expressions and actions portray the character’s emotions so well, without appearing too soft.
Story-wise “Forecasting Love and Weather” is not out there doing anything new and I’m okay with that. The setting within a weather forecasting office is refreshing, giving a behind-the-scenes look into something we normally don’t give much though about.
The character development is overall good, but especially noteworthy in the female lead. She learns to stand up for herself fairly early on, demanding respect as a woman and as a professional.
———-
Now, in order to keep this review real and honest, I must point out the one thing I truly disliked: The one-night-stand-leads-to-romance trope. I have never been a fan in general of any movie or drama plots using this method. It especially irks me though when it is not necessary for the story to move along but is still done. Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo’s relationship was developing at a perfectly acceptable pace, and the actors have a very natural chemistry. There was no rush, even more so since both characters just got out of a long-term romantic relationship and obviously needed healing.
Since I’ve made it past the above mentioned hurdle, I look forward to what is yet to come. It certainly seems like several of our characters are still hiding more secrets to be revealed. There is also sub-plots that are at the same time endearing and heartbreaking to watch.
Let me know your thoughts on “Forecasting Love and Weather”. Was it what you expected, or not?
Until we drama again,
Cee
