This article contains major spoilers.
2.5/5 stars
Lead cast: Lee Young-ae, Lee Moo-saeng, Kim Young-jae, Hwang Bo-reum-byeol
Latest Nielsen rating: 6.8 per cent
Throughout the run of the classical-music-themed prime time melodrama Maestra: Strings of Truth, there’s been a dangerous figure lurking in the background, seeking to do harm to globally renowned conductor Cha Se-eum, portrayed by screen icon Lee Young-ae.
Maestra: Strings of Truth midseason recap – Lee Young-ae in flawed K-drama
Maestra: Strings of Truth midseason recap – Lee Young-ae in flawed K-drama
Many red herrings were thrown our way to lead us to suspect the people around her. Could it have been her pathetic, cheating husband Kim Phil (Kim Young-jae), his conniving mistress and Hangang violinist Lee Ajin (Lee Si-won), drug-addled orchestra member Kim Bong-ju (Jin Ho-eun), or maybe her former lover, the smirking investor Yoo Jung-jae (Lee Moo-saeng)?
The answer, of course, is that it was none of them. Instead, it was the innocent and guileless violinist Luna Lee (Hwang Bo-reum-byeol), who has always been on her side, and has therefore been the most suspicious character from the very beginning.
The revealing of Luna as the diabolical mind behind Se-eum’s poisoning, and a raft of murders or attempted murders of people around her, was not in the least bit surprising, but that’s not why it was such a huge letdown.
What was so disappointing about the show’s denouement was how haphazard and half-baked it felt. Luna’s adoration of Se-eum was possessive and we are led to assume that her ultimate plan was to enfeeble Se-eum, knock out the people around her – she almost managed to kill her husband – and step in as her caretaker.
Why was Luna’s love so obsessive? We’ll never know, because the show didn’t bother to explain. What we do learn is that this was not the first time she had exhibited this kind of deranged behaviour.
Se-eum finds out from Luna’s sister that Luna, who was adopted, appeared to be a doting daughter to their sick mother, but was actually faking her medication doses to keep her in hospital and thus in perpetual need of her care.
So not only was Luna psychotic, she was also an orphan – an outsider with no blood ties who should never have been trusted in the first place. This, combined with the stereotypes about dangerous drug use ascribed to Bong-ju, paint a pretty clear picture of the show’s conservative viewpoint.
The regressive social mores on display even extend to Se-eum, a rare, brilliant and confident female conductor and the one thing the series has had going for it from the outset.
Vividly brought to life by Lee, Se-eum is a character whose fearsome faculties radiate from her aura. Yet after building up such a formidable character, the show ultimately seeks to tear her down.
Fearing that she may have inherited the debilitating Remington’s disease from her mother, Se-eum doubts herself and gradually pulls away from the conductor’s podium.
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Yet rather than regain her confidence once it is revealed that her health issues were the result of her poisoning, she continues to pull away. By the end of the series she has quit her post at Hangang and is about to go on a very long trip around the world.
In the last scene she finally reads the result of her Remington’s test. The results are not shared with us, but it doesn’t matter. Regardless of the results, she is content and set on stepping away from her illustrious career and perhaps rekindling her romance with Jung-jae.
Undoubtedly, Se-eum deserves a break, but this is far more consequential than that – she has conducted her last performance. She is going off to heal somewhere, possibly with Jung-jae – who, despite clearly adoring Se-eum, is possessive and manipulative.
Persevering in the face of adversity is the true sign of strength. Surely staying on at Hangang, with all the orchestra members who stayed by her side, would have been a more inspirational end point for her character?
Maestra: Strings of Truth struggled to reconcile its twin desires to be a high-class drama and a tawdry melodrama. But every once in a while, for the briefest of moments, those elements connected.
Such was the case during Se-eum’s final performance, when she lures Luna – who has gone into hiding after being found out – back to the stage for a duet of Luna’s dream piece, Handel’s Passacaglia. The sheer emotion of the exquisite piece captures our imagination, and washes away the story’s imperfections.
If only the show could have done so more often.
Maestra: Strings of Truth is streaming on Disney+.
