:: Sixtwentyseven ::

Phew.

I think that will be my expression when I've just finished watching Athena: Goddess of War. Frankly speaking, I thought I'd never finish this drama, not on the fact that the drama is not entertaining but rather on the fact that there are so many quality programs out there that attract my time to watch them. Korean variety programs like Running Man & We Got Married, has particularly got me hooked on. However, I've managed to finish Athena and provided all with my take on the drama.

Athena: Goddess of War is the sequel to the ever popular 2009 drama IRIS, which featured Lee Byun Hun and Kim Tae Hee. In Athena, they have managed to snag a top actor to helm the drama in the form of Jung Woo Sung. Jung Woo Sung is Lee Jung Woo, an top NTS agent who falls in love with Yoon Hae In (Soo Ae), a supposed Black Agent but is in fact an Athena member. Son Hyuk (Cha Seung Won) is the main leader for the local operations of Athena who is under the disguise as a section chief of the CIA. Another actress of prominence is Han Jae Hee (Lee Ji Ah), a NTS agent who is a former lover of Jung Woo but is separated due to her father's insistence of a breakup.

If I were to describe Athena as a sequel to IRIS, I think it would be inappropriate. Yes, Athena was scripted to continue from IRIS, and both stories do share some common characters, like the President, the North Korean Diplomat Park Chul Young and Seon Hwa, a former agent who started a new life in New Zealand. However, that's where the similarities end. The new writers did not fully describe the roles of Chul Young and Seon Hwa in this drama and they left an open ended ending with regards to the development of Seon Hwa. That, I feel is a bit disappointing as it is possible to not introduce Seon Hwa in this drama at all.

The second more disappointing aspect of the drama is the ability to capture the audience. Granted that they promote Athena as the "official" sequel to IRIS (I put in " " due to the fact that IRIS was produced by KBS while Athena is produced by SBS), one would naturally compare both dramas. Athena, to me personally, is a drama that does not skimp on the actions and locations, but however fail to address the various loopholes in the plot. There were a few situations that was quite unreal and does not exactly make sense. Also, IRIS managed to keep the suspense right until the end while Athena revealed its main plot pretty early in the drama, hence that mysterious aura is gone and viewers may not be kept. After all, comparisons are bound to be made.

Of course, not all is bad and Athena is still a very good production. The choice of actors are good and I would choose the characters of Son Hyuk and Kim Ki Soo(Kim Min Jong) as the standout characters of the drama. It's hard to compare Lee Byun Hun and Jung Woo Sung as they're both very, very outstanding actors.

As for the actress, I think most would focus on Lee Ji Ah due to her recent marriage scandals (go google it). That aside, I think she has more room to express herself in this drama as compared to Soo Ae. For some reason, I thought Soo Ae has few expressions. Perhaps it's her role in this drama.

As always, there is always a nice song for a good drama and this time round, Taeyeon of SNSD gets the plaudits for her song "I Love You". Unfortunately, that's also the only song that caught my attention in the whole drama. You can sample it below.