Castaway Diva (review)
(무인도의 디바; aired from Oct 28 to Dec 3, 2023; available internationally on Netflix; 12 episodes)
Castaway Diva is the latest K-Drama with Park Eun-bin, Korean actress known from her versality and range of performances, most recently for internationally acclaimed role in Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Castaway Diva is not your typical romantic comedy, if it should even be classified as that, rather than a heartfelt drama centered on the struggles of several friends and their families.
The premise of the drama is a bit misleading: a high school girl Seo Mok-ha (initially portrayed by Lee Re and then as adult by Park Eun-bin) aspires to become a K-Pop idol, but due to unforeseen circumstances ends up stranded on uninhabited island for whole 15 years. The drama, though, is much more complex. It mainly focuses on events after she is rescued and returns to Korea to continue her unlikely rise to become a K-Pop idol, while her time on the uninhabited island is mostly covered at the end of episode one and at the beginning of episode two, as well as in flashbacks.
In fact, though, this is not the main subject of the series. The drama is rather devoted to the issue of domestic violence, which is the cause why Seo Mok-ha escapes from her hometown in the first place. She, and her friend, Jung Ki-ho (Moon Woo-jin) are victims abused by their respective fathers and decide to escape from their town to free themselves from them. In a result, Mok-ha ends up on the uninhabited island, and when she is finally rescued after 15 years, she has two goals: find her friend, Jung Ki-ho, and become a K-Pop singer.
Her rescuers, brothers Kang Bo-geol (Chae Jong-hyeop known recently from Unlock My Boss) and Kang Woo-hak (Cha Hak-yeon or N) take her into their family. From that point on, Mok-ha shares their lives and struggles, while Kang family helps her with reaching her goals.
In a secondary arc, Seo Mok-ha finds her childhood idol, singer Yoon Ran-joo (Kim Hyo-jin). Yoon Ran-joo becomes Mok-ha friend and mentor. It seems to me that Yoon Ran-joo’s visuals are somewhat modeled after IU, perhaps the most famous Korean solo female singer right now. In time, Yoon Ran-joo becomes an important part of the show as well, and part of the focus is on her own struggles. As is usual for K-Dramas the series slowly reveals the secrets of the past of Mok-ha and her group of friends.
The show deserves praise for tackling a difficult issue of domestic violence, which is treated respectfully and with realism. The lives of characters in the show are deeply affected by it and have to live with its consequences for their entire lives. While obviously Mok-ha’s escape and its results are somewhat exaggerated, maybe it should be read as metaphor for the victims of domestic violence who have their lives upended or worse.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that the creators decided to make a character of Seo Mok-ha the main comic relief of the show, what I personally consider a mistake. As was explained in the show, since Mok-ha ended up on the island at the age of 16 she never matured, and psychologically remains a 16-year-old for the duration of the show. This is a very similar concept to Still 17 with Shin Hye-sun — but while it is justified for that lighthearted romantic comedy, it seems a bit out of place in Castaway Diva, especially with its heavy subplot. Park Eun-bin therefore imitates a stereotypical teenager behaving in an exaggerated way, but also lacking some social skills. In my opinion that decision on part of the showrunners sometimes makes the character of Mok-ha feel shallow or unrealistic. A more serious portrayal would be perhaps more appropriate.
I am also not entirely on board with the show’s portrayal of the K-Pop industry. I understand it was necessarily simplified for the series, especially because K-Pop is just a part of the overall plot, it still feels like a missed opportunity. The show comes close to sensible representation of various struggles and controversies connected to the K-Pop industry, but overall falls short of really realistic portrayal. The whole premise that an unprepared adult could become a K-Pop idol overnight seems problematic: in reality it often takes years of training from early childhood for future idols to even debut. Instead of completely unnecessary arc of the uninhabited island, I would rather focus on Seo Mok-ha as a survivor of domestic violence and struggling trainee wanting to become an idol: and some scenes in the series suggest that such an approach wasn’t totally alien to the creators of the show.
In general, though, the series is a real tearjerker: it quickly captivates the audience’s attention and sympathy for Park Eun-bin’s character. This is obviously greatly due to Park Eun-bin’s performance and her unique talent for keeping audience’s eyes are always on her. However, she is surrounded by other talented performers portraying fleshed out supporting characters, each with their own engaging story.
Of note is also the fact that Park Eun-bin is personally performing several songs during the series (which are also available on the official soundtrack). This is one of the few examples when an actress makes a successful debut as a K-Pop artist, not the other way around.
Castaway Diva on Wikipedia and MyDramaList
