[ K ] If Park Eun-Bin, aka Extraordinary Attorney Woo, were to run for Presidency, never mind which country, I think she would probably win with a landslide.

She really has the ‘I may look lost but I won’t cause any damage’ persona.

In her latest series Castaway Diva, she demonstrates once again what it means to be totally deep into her character.

Marooned on a deserted island for 15 years, her character Seo Mok-ha only has one real goal in life – to meet her idol Yoon Ran-joo, played by the very delectable Kim Hyo-jin.

Because 15 years of her life were spent pretty much in solitude unless you count her friend Gull, Mok-ha has not grown up, and therefore still has a naive belief that the world isn’t cruel.

On the other hand, the jaded and back-stabbed Ran-joo has to accept her heydays are long over, until the super fan from the island disrupts her forced exile, giving her the little hope that the phoenix might yet rise again.

But I think there is a risk that Park becomes typecast as the simpleminded woman who goes around moving people to want to do good. It has become too easy to like her, especially when reality is that such loyal fan and person doesn’t exist any more.

Even when she has the chances to upstage her hero, Mok-ha insists on playing second fiddle. Deep inside, she believes her whole existence is to glorify her idol. How naive, but how refreshing.

And at the risk being pelted with rotten eggs all the way from Singapore to Seoul, I think it is her co-star Kim who is more impressive as the older, over the hill, had-been superstar. I love it whenever she loses it. When pushes to the edge, she just acts up and acts brilliantly.
The good thing is, we don’t really have to choose between Park and Kim. Most normal people would want Team Park & Kim to triumph the ingrate President Lee Seo-joon.

One thing that warrants mention is how much effort the folks behind the show put into making sure the younger versions of the leads are dead ringers, and that goes beyond the physical look. If you look at their mannerisms, the ways they speak, you would think that they are real.

Alas, what is a good K-drama without mixing up the genres? Castaway Diva would have been 5 episodes maximum without the stolen identities, stolen looks, subplots, blah blah blah.

Don’t get me wrong here. Castaway Diva is good. More than good. In fact, I am betting on both Park and Kim to be nominated for the top acting awards. I hope and believe that both can and should win.