'The Silent Sea': Not bad out of 10

A scene from "The Silent Sea" / Courtesy of Netflix

By David A. Tizzard

While acknowledging the genuine popularity and success of hallyu products around the world over the last couple of years, I've often had a slightly different take on some of the biggest hits. Despite the welcome inclusion and representation of a transgender character and a Ghanaian-Korean, I thought Itaewon Class had a ridiculous plot and lost its way heavily in the mid-point of the series, if not earlier. BTS are the world's biggest boyband at the moment, but their recent all-English hits ("Butter" and "Dynamite") purchased from western songwriters seem to be reinforcing occidental hegemonic cultural power rather than challenging it with anything particularly new or Korean. And I often wonder if many of those caught up in the controversy surrounding the new drama, "Snowdrop," have actually watched it and realized it's a teen romance, more akin to a Disney feature than anything pretending to present an authentic and accurate portrayal of real Korean history and democracy.

In saying that, there's also a lot I do like in hallyu. The movie industry, driven by genuine auteurs such as Bong Joon-ho and Park Chang-ho, produces amazing art. The music of AKMU has been a bright light of novel melodies and self-written lyrics; the schizophrenic sound of aespa is unlike anything you'll likely hear on a western radio station. Though not exactly hallyu, there's also a flourishing electronic and independent scene being made more accessible by publications such as Platform.

And so with that as unnecessary but given context, there is now "The Silent Sea" ― the latest Netflix offering from Korea. As with anything the country produces at the moment, the cinematography, the visuals and the lighting are all off the charts: a feast for the eyes. There are no ropey backgrounds and the CGI and models that are used appear so infrequently that one can suspend disbelief for a few seconds. Basically, like much else here, the standards on appearance and aesthetics are on-point.

Familiar faces appear from hits "Squid Game" and "Crash Landing on You." Most important, however, is the role of Song Ji-an played by Bae Doo-na. Bae has serious acting chops. The skills demonstrated in "The Host" and "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" are put to good use in "The Silent Sea." As it's a Korean drama, there's a lot of gratuitous close-ups of faces and dialogue-free scenes where emotions are presented through viewer interpretation. But throughout, Bae manages to hold the audience, growing deeper into the role as the story progresses. She certainly carries a lot of the weight in this regard as Gong Yoo's only demonstration of feeling throughout the series is to shed a barely perceptible single tear at the end. What Gong Yoo does works, and the man has serious star power, but he's definitely more Keanu Reeves than Marlon Brando in this show.

The actual plot, about a dystopian world deprived of water, centers around a mystery on a lunar space station called Balhae. With a radiation incident having taken place 5 years ago, leaving no survivors, a team of scientists and military people are sent to retrieve a package. As they investigate further, a mystery unravels and things are no longer as they first believed them to be. If you've seen James Cameron's 1986 movie, "Aliens," there's a lot you are going to recognize. At some points, it's basically "Aliens" but without the Aliens. The same motion trackers are used, the labs look incredibly similar, and there's what's eventually revealed to be a young girl running around in the air vents having survived this horror all by herself. The female lead, Silent Sea's Ripley, develops a maternal bond with the young girl and even convinces the macho military man (Hicks) to begin caring for her too. As this situation unfolds, the characters are aware that what they have found on this abandoned space station is wanted back on Earth by those pursuing commercial interests, yet they worry that rather than saving people, it might end up killing everyone.

Just like Aliens' Ripley, the woman survives all of this carnage while everyone else around her succumbs to the circumstances. I thought it was quite noteworthy that in this Korean drama, the three characters that survive the ordeal are all women. Unlike most every other Seoul soap opera, there's not a single romantic plotline or unresolved sexual tension anywhere. It's modern and asexual.

Its online banking and HWP files notwithstanding, Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Therefore, that it has primarily focused on historical dramas and left science fiction and future-centered stories to the west has been a genuine source of discussion. A few academic papers see these differences as the result of centuries of pioneering imperialism and colonialism overseas and inward-looking stability, respectively. If Aliens was an allegory for the Vietnam War, maybe we can tenuously find some geopolitical allegory in "The Silent Sea?" Similar to "Squid Game," the real behind-the-scenes bad guys who inflict all the suffering on the Korean people in "The Silent Sea" are caricatures of westerners: English-speaking villains who care only for their interests. Is Korea a post-colonial society still coming to terms with the bitterness and resentment of external influence and imperial power? Looking back before it looks forward? Maybe.

"The Silent Sea" is a decent watch. It won't be for everyone, of course. But in a world in which everything is either hyped beyond recognition or the worst thing ever, I found this drama a fairly interesting story with some watchable performances. I was never quite sure how everything was going to pan out and it deserves some credit for achieving that. A lot of early K-pop was derivative ― copies of western and Japanese music. However, over time, it found its own style and generated new art forms. If the hallyu trend continues to explore science-fiction as well as these initial early steps, there might be a lot more good stuff to come in the future. Hopefully there'll still be some water for us though.

Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. He is also the host of the Korea Deconstructed podcast, which can be found online. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.