The Fabulous Early Review: SHINee’s Minho as hunk, Chae Soo Bin as damsel strike fashion home

Name: The Fabulous

Director: Kim Jung Hyun

Cast: Choi Minho, Chae Soo Bin, Lee Sang Woon, Park Hee Jung

Rating: 3/5

Language: Korean

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Storyline:

Two exes in the fashion industry cross paths after 3 years and pick up from where they left off in 'The Fabulous'. SHINee member Choi Minho plays the desirable, skilled photographer Ji Woo Min. Chae Soo Bin is the hustling head of PR at a luxury brand, Pyo Ji Eun. The ever-dynamic but inherently typical fashion industry is portrayed through the eyes of those who work on the sidelines. As people who tend to the broken ends and rough edges, these are the souls of the highly vigorous industry where Ji Woo Min and Pyo Ji Eun, along with their designer friend Joseph (Lee Sang Woon) and rising model Ye Seon Ho (Park Hee Jung), live their lives on a whim. After a delay of a month and a half, Minho and Chae Soo Bin’s pairing seems to have piqued the audience’s interest, but will it prove to be successful?

Highlights:

1. Choi Minho and Chae Soo Bin’s ex-to-friends-to-more turnaround
2. Visuals and overall drama
3. A ton of clothing

Opinion:

The first look of ‘The Fabulous’ showed that high-intensity tension awaited the fans of Minho and Chae Soo Bin who seem to still harbour lingering feelings towards each other. The show acts right on that as it begins with their untimely one night stand and Pyo Ji Eun rushing out of Ji Woo Min’s bachelor apartment. A classic flashback from her daily life reveals her meeting with her best friends Joseph and Ye Seon Ho at the former’s fashion show where she comes across her past flame Ji Woo Min who has returned from a vacay in Hawaii. A new man on her arm, classic jealousy flashes through the photographer’s eyes. One thing leads to another, and the two are back at his home that she is now racing away from, only to face a humiliating break up and gain the interest of the hotel’s server. What follows is a classic page from any fashion title as you get sucked right into the people-pleasing, a heavily moody and narcissistic industry which shovels deeps into the nooks of classics to seek inspiration each time innovation does not work out. Pyo Ji Eun is often the needy one in the story where Ji Woo Min becomes her saviour multiple times, leading to more confusing feelings and undefined relationships. We wait to watch all 8 episodes to know if it will be yet another predictable love story.

The goods:

Fashion has to be the prime focus of the show with clean, high-quality cinematography taking charge right from the get-go. As promised, it delivers an-almost psychedelic scene in the club with the leads getting lost in each other’s eyes. The confirmed highlights are the characters of Miss Oh, the representative of the PR agency Pyo Ji Eun works at, wonderfully played by Shin Dong Mi and Hong Ji Seon, the opportunist fashion stylist, played by the talented Lee Mi Do. The two ladies brush off any crumbs you may notice in the storyline.

The bads:

The first two episodes don’t offer much about the leads’ story but we anticipate just the same level of revelations in the rest of the show. The story is likely to follow their undefined growing feelings and past regrets and lead into a happening relationship which adds nothing to the predictable set-up but instead wears it down.

Our take:

If you are a fan of SHINee’s Minho and have been waiting for his return to the small screen in a lead role, you might want to continue. Chae Soo Bin is adorable as ever with her cheeks full of rosy excitement and her energy may influence you. You can binge it if you need a fashion pep talk!

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