Sensory Couple Episodes 1&2

I began Sensory Couple this week, mostly on the strength of Park Yoo Chun. The premise sounded wonky to me: a man without pain sensations, a girl who sees smells – love ensues! AND yes, that is partly true. What I was unprepared for was a show that managed to hit all my targets.

Park Yoo Chun is not the handsomest K drama actor out there, but has a huge charisma that infuses his scenes. Whether it is outsized comedy, a subtle humorous expression, or anywhere on a vast sliding scale from wistful to heartbroken, Yoo Chun embodies the emotional state of the character.

His female opposite is ably handled by Shin Se Kyung. She has the unenviable task of having to stare into the middle distance and express surprise, curiosity and disgust, but manages to do so credibly.

The Secondary Characters, are engaging. Many of the actors seemed to have been pulled wholesale from Modern Farmer. If the Gossipy Ahjummah or Kimbap Auntie show up I’ll laugh my head off.

Mystery. I’m a sucker for a good mystery and while Yoo Chun’s obsession with his sister’s death brings to mind his crazy focus in I Miss You, fortunately it’s handled with a lighter hand here – so far. The same actress playing Yoo Chun’s deceased sister in Sensory Couple, Kim So Hyun, gave a masterful turn as the younger version of his love interest in I Miss You.

I am eagerly waiting for episode 3, I haven’t been this engaged in a drama in a while.