[Disclaimer: this article contains spoilers]
Written and directed by Kim Young-hoon, Mask Girl is a seven-episode mini-series that promises a non-linear storytelling style, with twists and turns present in every single episode. The show starts off simple: a social satire on beauty standards. Unbeknownst to the audience, it quickly delves into darker and more sinister themes surrounding societal hierarchies and expectations, prejudices, discrimination, and even mental health issues. There were also ancillary themes on dating in the modern day, education, patriarchal systems, work-life balance, empowerment, parenting, religion and much more. In my opinion, the reason why Mask Girl is so magnificent is because the director does not attempt to force said themes down the audience’s throat; unlike some other shows out there, he was able to execute the presentation of these themes in a non-forceful manner.
If you have yet to watch Mask Girl, I highly encourage you to do so before reading further into this article as it will contain spoilers from here on out. Alternatively, you can head straight to the “Other Stuff” segment where I discuss other details unrelated to the plot.
Episodic Analysis
Right from the start, we are introduced to the main character of the show (or so it seems), Kim Mo-mi. Being someone who does not conform to society’s beauty standards, Mo-mi has been struggling with her looks since she was young. To counteract this, she runs a popular livestream channel at night after her 9 to 5 job where she wears a mask and performs as “Mask Girl”. The reason why Mo-mi is so comfortable and confident behind her mask is because one: (obviously) her face is covered and two: she is portrayed as someone with an excellent body, so much so that netizens are willing to stave off their curiosity of how she looks to admire her other assets. The director left it up to the audience to decide whether this is a good coping mechanism for someone who is otherwise unconfident. This is the first of many instances where the audience can make their own autonomous judgement on the characters’ decisions.
I enjoyed the fact that they used recent trends of online live streaming services, because it creates a sense of relatability for the audience. The gripe I had with this episode was when Mo-mi gets absolutely heartbroken by her boss who is having an affair with another co-worker; this served as the beginning for Mo-mi’s downward spiral. For context, Mo-mi and her boss operate on a strictly professional level and it is only by her own delusion that she believes that they are closer than they actually are, which led her to develop a crush on him as well.
Even though the plotline is meant to be melodramatic, the suspension of disbelief for the show really gets challenged here; can someone really be this damaged and delusional? Is it due to the years of getting bullied for her looks? Why does she behave like that? These were all questions that remained in my head at the end of episode one. Resolving these issues would have been valuable in further hooking an audience base who might be more critical about shows and believability of plotlines.
Episode two takes a darker turn, and without revealing too much, it actually explores how guys are treated in society. I thought this episode was well-done, because it pivots the attention that the audience has regarding society’s treatment of females to the opposite gender. It deftly and aptly builds up the storyline of a male character who is socially awkward and not conventionally attractive. More importantly, the episode shows how he has to navigate through his own struggles as a kid, and that there is a symmetrical pressure on males to behave in a certain way that is deemed socially acceptable. It reaches out to the empathetic hearts of the audience, but very quickly, the series of events that follow takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster; and I might even posit that some mental gymnastics had to be done because some of the actions are also quite dramatic and maybe tethering along the lines of unnecessary. This episode is not for the faint-hearted, but I implore you to look closer and think deeper when you are watching it to truly appreciate it.
The next two episodes attempt to resolve the massive conflict in the previous episode by bringing in several other characters that would be quintessential to the overall plot of Mask Girl. Themes relating to overbearing and helicopter parenting, friendship, coming of age and sisterhood were present in these two episodes. The constant shifts in timeline (to depict these themes) can be a mental treat especially for someone who enjoys non-linear storytelling. The episodes challenge the audience to connect the dots, and to figure out what and who is exactly telling the truth. They get the audience pulling their hair out of sheer frustration due to the uncertain motivations of the characters. Admittedly, that was something that got annoying at some point for me because each episode was about an hour long and sitting through a show where characters made questionable decisions was sometimes a tad bit irritating. However, the plot twists absolutely made up for it, and I found myself getting more invested in each of the character arcs. It was also precisely because the episodes were so lengthy that the director was able to pump so much narrative in them. And just as the audience thinks and falls into the illusion that the story will get stale from the end of episode four, the director hits us with a whole new twist in episode five.
Episodes five and six include a time lapse, and the spotlight is now on the next generation of individuals who are related to those of the previous episodes. It shows how intergenerational trauma is deeply problematic, how parenting does not change from one generation to the next and how society continues to be judgmental even years after the events of episodes one through four. I appreciated these episodes because of the character details that may or may not be relatable to individuals of our generation: a young tweenager willing to lie about her family background (among other things) in order to make friends with the one person who does not have other friends in school, someone who tries their best to be accepted, but is harshly rejected by the school population because they give off “loser” vibes, someone who yearns for companionship but is plagued by her family’s terrible past. All of this seems detached from the overall storyline, but that is far from the truth because these characters were eventually weaved into the main story which instantly opened up more room for discussion about the events of the show and why they happened the way they did. Some people might critique these episodes because the pacing is drastically different from the first four, but I think it is necessary to continue the depth of messages that Mask Girl aims to deliver.
The finale episode could honestly have been a whole movie by itself, but I am eternally grateful that the director decided to present the end of the show in the ways that he did. After what seemed like forever, some of the characters that were protected by plot armor finally had resolutions (good or bad, is up to your interpretation). Furthermore, despite the extensive fighting scenes present in this episode, and with me going like: when is she going to die for almost 1/3 of the episode, I felt that the conclusion would leave the audience contented because it closes the open loop from the first episode. Mask Girl does this exclusively well because there were no character stories left unresolved, and the plots concluded logically. Overall, I was very happy that the show ended the way it did, and I had no regrets about binge-watching it earlier this semester.
Other stuff that was amazing (no spoilers)
A show cannot be complimented purely on the storyline and the way it was told. Many a time, shows cannot be a jack of all trades; they either have the storyline down but unfortunately are cursed with bad pacing or acting, or vice-versa. However, I think my belief has now been challenged by Mask Girl. Each and every actor/actress acted out their characters really well, and the emotions that they were supposed to feel were comprehensively conveyed to the audience throughout each and every episode.
Additionally, the cinematography, concept and colours used in the show were also stunning because it delineated the timelines from one another, allowing a better flow of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of the 80s through to the early 2000s, where technology is shown to be slowly advancing. Mask Girl also incorporates present day elements into the overall aesthetic of the show, which positively suggest that the director was willing to go above and beyond to create a different masterpiece.
But not only that, the pacing of Mask Girl is manageable; this is especially true for those who intend to wind down after a long day at work or school—the show is neither too long nor too short, you can most definitely watch it, perhaps hit a cliffhanger or two and come back to it the next day without feeling like it is now a chore that you have to finish watching it.
The end of every episode goads you to continue on, and if you are anything like me, be prepared to be unproductive for at least two or three nights.
Conclusion
Overall, I would rate the show at least a 9/10 and I think that everyone should go watch it if they can. For literature buffs and cinephiles, this is definitely the show for you. It has its own drawbacks, especially when it comes to specific parts of specific episodes, but do not let that deter you because the other elements of the show were more than enough to make up for these issues.
Even if you are just an average consumer of shows, I still think that this is a must-watch because of the accessibility of the show. You do not need to think too much about what is going on (although that would be a bonus) but yet it still provides you with just the right amount of satire and social commentary that will leave you yearning for more.