I had high hopes for Athena because I really enjoyed Iris, well except for its tragic ending. But right off the bat, I had this feeling that it would not be as good as Iris. It got something to do with the main character Lee Jung Woo (Jung Woo Sung), a special agent from the National Anti-Terror Service (NTS).
I don’t know how Jung Woo became a NTS agent. He is too weak and he lacks the mental ability to be an agent. He risked his career and betrayed the country for a girl that he just met. I can’t imagine how a guy like him was able to qualify as a spy and be given sensitive assignments.
I was expecting to see an intelligent spy drama but what I got was a story of love and betrayal. The girl in question is Yoon Hye In (Soo Ae), a double agent. Jung Woo fell hard for her and he didn’t even suspect her of any wrongdoings even when all the evidence pointed towards her. He wholeheartedly forgave her when he learned about the truth in the end.
It was not just Jung Woo who has a golden heart in Athena. Everyone in the NTS seemed to forget that Hye In is a traitor and she managed to escape any jail time. She even helped them go after Cha Seung Won (Son Hyuk), the Athena leader.
SM Entertainment must have invested a lot in Athena because the series featured some of its artists. BoA was featured in Episodes 7 and 8. She didn’t have any troubles with her role because she got to play herself. While I’m a BoA fan and enjoyed seeing her in the small screen for a cameo, I didn’t get the relevance of that Japan sortie to the story. All it showed was that Jung Woo is a player.
Another SM Entertainment artist in Athena is Choi Si Won of Super Junior. Now his character is a good one. He plays Agent Kim Joon Ho, a data analyst at the NTS who is reluctant to return to the field after a traumatic incident.
Then lastly, there’s Max Changmin of DB5K. He appeared starting from Episode 16 until the end. He played Agent Choi Tae Hyun, who seemed to be close with Agent Kim Joon Ho. While I still don’t like his lips, he did well with the action scenes. Si Won and Changmin were featured in an action sequence where they showed why they deserved to be in this action-packed drama.
Speaking of action, I don’t have any complaints about the action sequences. Each action scene was different and I enjoyed all of them. This was one factor why I stuck with the series until the end, even if I found the plot to be weak and unbelievable.
Another reason why I watched Athena until the end was Lee Ji Ah, who played NTS Agent Han Jae Hee. She’s not Kim Tae Hee but she’s close. Jae Hee used to date Jung Woo but then he already had his sights set on another. It’s a pity that the writer killed her character off instead of Hye In. That could have made the ending better for me.
Athena is said to be an Iris spin-off and there are some recurring characters from the previous series. Kim Seung Woo returned as Park Chul Young, the North Korean liaison to the south. Kim So Yun also returned as Kim Sun Hwa but this time around she has a family and living peacefully in the south but the higher-ups in North Korea ordered a crackdown on defected agent and Chul Young’s warning came a little late. Her family was killed and she vowed revenge against North Korea. Will her story be the feature of the next season? I just hope that it wouldn’t be a love story again.
I thought Athena’s ending would be as tragic as that of Iris. Hye In managed to kill Seung Won but she shot herself as well. Then a minor miracle occurred and we see Jung Woo and Hye In together in the end.
Athena would have been better if it stuck with being an action drama and got rid of the cheesy romantic story of boundless love. The main plot was interesting except for some holes in the plot. This is not a must watch but if you got the time then check it out.
