In the new Netflix K-drama Four Hands, Two Sonatas, two piano prodigies from very different backgrounds become rivals, then friends. But they mostly push each other to be better, given that one is technically perfect but passionless, and the other is talented and full of passion but raw.
Opening Shot: Prague 2017. It’s the finals of the Harmonie International Competition. A young pianist comes out to play his featured sonata, but he’s flashing back to a traumatic incident that happened prior to his arrival, leaving his fingers bloodied. But he plays brilliantly.
The Gist: Six months prior, that pianist, Kang Pi-o (Song Kang) is attending the Korea Arts High School, and is being presented a certificate in front of the entire class, lauding his showing at a prestigious competition. He takes the certificate into the bathroom, scoffs, and throws it in the trash.
Three of his classmates bully him and chide him for being so dismissive of these honors. The only classmate who supports him is Hong Jae-in (Jang Gyu-ri), a viola major who wants Pi-o to accompany her as she rehearses, but is mostly in love with him and the way he plays.
Pi-o is the grandson of Kang Seung-woon (Jung Jin-young), a renowned conductor who was himself a piano prodigy. Kang has never thought much of Pi-o, and not just because his daughter, Kang Ji-hye (Yoon Se-ah), had him out of wedlock. He also doesn’t think much of Pi-o’s playing; when Pi-o finally confronts his grandfather about his disdain for his talent, Kang finally tells him that, while his technique is perfect, he plays to please others, which comes through in his passionless performance. Do Hyeon-soo (Kim Joo-hun), a pianist whom Pi-o seeks out to take him to a new level, tells him the same thing.
Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-yo (Lee Jun-young) goes to a non-arts school and works for a loan shark, ostensibly to pay back everyone whom his alcoholic father owes money to. But he was also a piano prodigy, and still plays when he can. He sees Pi-o at a competition and remembers the two of them playing together when they were kids.
After the competition, Jeong-yo goes to Pi-o’s dressing room and plays; Jae-in hears how brilliant he is and drags Pi-o in to hear it. Pi-o doesn’t recognize him, however, and is annoyed when Jeong-yo gives a note on his performance.
Jae-in pays Jeong-yo to accompany her as she practices at the arts school. His playing catches the ear of Do Hyeon-soo, as well as director Yoon Seon-ju (Kim Mi-ran). As much as he doesn’t want to go to the school, his circumstances get worse, and he reluctantly takes Yoon’s scholarship offer.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Four Hands, Two Sonatas feels like a cross between a Korean romantic drama like Can This Love Be Translated? and a classical-music-oriented series like Mozart In The Jungle.
Our Take: Yes, Four Hands, Two Sonatas is a romantic drama. While we don’t think that Pi-o and Jeong-yo are going to actually become a romantic pair — unfortunately, we don’t see a lot of same-sex couplings in K-dramas — but they will become both friends and rivals at the same time. The idea with this show is as their friendship and rivalry progresses, they’ll push each other to be better, while they each deal with the various dramas in their lives.
What’s fascinating about the story is that they both struggle with the fallout of father figures that are either neglectful or disdainful, and it’s reflected in their performance. For Pi-o, it’s a sense that he’s being held back by his desire to please his grandfather and others, and for Jeong-yo, he’s held back simply by the idea that someone with his background doesn’t have the means to sustain a life as an artist.
Along the way, we’ll see the two of them likely keep their distance, until Do Hyeon-soo suggests the four-handed performance that the show’s title suggests will happen. At what point does the rivalry turn into bonding? We’re not sure. But we’re looking forward to hearing a lot of great music as the story develops.
Performance Worth Watching: Both Lee Jun-young and Song Kang do a good job of showing each of their character’s ability on the piano.
Parting Shot: Pi-o arrives early in the morning to practice and hears Jeong-yo play, bringing him back to when they were kids.
Sleeper Star: Jang Gyu-ri’s character Hong Jae-in is instrumental (pun intended) in this story, because she has the ear to know how good Jeong-yo is. Plus, her insistence on finding a virtuoso to accompany her gives the story a bit of lightness.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Your cadenza sounded a bit dry. Was that intentional?” Jeong-yo’s note to Pi-o is a bit confounding. Does he mean that it was boring?
Our Call: STREAM IT. Four Hands, Two Sonatas takes the romantic K-drama formula in a new direction, with a lot of good music to listen to as the friendship between the show’s main character develops.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
