NCT 127 The Lost Boys Episodes 3 and 4 Review: The 4-part Disney+ exclusive South Korean mini docu-series (NCT 127 더 로스트 보이즈) features the 9 members of the K-pop boy group from SM Entertainment. NCT 127 is the Seoul-based sub-unit of the otherwise long roster of the boy band that comprises of 20 members. With ‘127’ in the sub-unit’s name referring to the longitude coordinate of Seoul, the nonet includes Taeyong (leader), Taeil, Johnny, Doyoung, Yuta, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Mark and Haechan.
After the first two episodes of the series premiering on Disney+ and Hulu on August 30, 2023, the last two, i.e. Episodes 3 and 4, dropped on September 6, 2023. The “neo essays” have been directed by Pak Jayil, with creators Cho Youngchul and Yim Pilsung, under the banner of Mystic Story. Each episode delves into the life stories of 2-3 members as they all take a minute to pause and reflect on their global success since their debut in 2016, while also opening up about their childhoods and the journey to this point in never-seen-before exclusive interviews and other artistic footage.
NCT 127 The Lost Boys Review of Episodes 3 and 4 Contains Mild Spoilers
NCT 127 The Lost Boys Episodes 3 and 4 Review
After having covered the life stories of Mark, Haechan, Yuta and Taeil in the first two episodes, the NCT 127 The Lost Boys Episode 3 dives into the narratives of the members of NCT’s newest sub-unit – NCT DoJaeJung – consisting of Doyoung, Jaehyun and Jungwoo. Beginning with the quiet yet extroverted persona of Jaehyun, the episode lets him speak about his insecurities, the past drive of always keeping up the facade of perfection and the lost feeling of not belonging to a place. He conveys the same through a short stand-up session, making him the first K-pop idol to do so.
Then, we get down to Jungwoo’s story and his clown performance, and how his habit of being the smiliest member of the group started developing during his childhood, with his desire to make others in his vicinity smile as well. His members call him “adorable like a puppy”, as he also reminds some of them of Jim Carrey owing to this infectious vivacity. The episode concludes with Doyoung, someone who’s like a “mother to the members”.
The trio’s persona and profound attempt at claiming their childhoods is likely to touch your heart as they openly discuss issues that troubled them during their early years, and it also allows them to establish their individual identities as people outside of a K-pop group. Even if their stories or struggles may not necessarily be relatable experiences for us all, the cathartic sense of relief that is extended upon them sharing it all with us goes a long way in grounding their respective realities.
Moreover, the illustrated animations aid in foregrounding that essence of loneliness and their “lost childhoods” visually for us, and they do a tremendous job in getting the word and feelings across to us. Each of their talks bring us lessons galore, and one of the most memorable bits for me came up during Jungwoo’s chance when he talked about leading his early years as a trainee with romanticised notions and expectations about the same.
It further hinges on the idea how many of us as the audience also proceed to view these artists with a set idea associated with the idol or celeb lifestyle as the spotlight’s overpowering presence and vision causes our understanding of the hard work that goes behind it to diminish.
In that way, most of the members’ words are not just helping them reclaim their sense of lost-ness, but also supporting them to acknowledge the difference between their past and present consciences. Plus, by touching upon their heartfelt relationships with their parents and other hardships, the series puts in a great effort to bring them back down from the illusive cloud of perfection to a grounded humble land of human emotions.
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Additionally, hearing the members’ take on each other is refreshing despite it being a cliche choice. The K-pop industry has made it a big habit to inflate the the goody-good image of a group’s members getting along with each other no matter what. While it’s inevitable and obvious that not everyone can get along with everyone, the sense of genuine emotions the NCT 127 members have for each other is only further consolidated in the docu-series, in turn reminding us that neither of these people are expendable for the group’s image to stay rooted firmly.
However, the same picture also contradicts with the flat-out exclusion of Winwin from the NCT 127 discourse despite him having been a former member of the sub-unit (though still an NCT member under the sub-unit WayV). It would be really appreciated if this aspect and side of the K-pop industry completely erasing an ex member’s name and contribution were brought to question one day. NCT isn’t the only group to have been subjected to this problematic erasure despite companies first pushing the image of all members being a “family” to each other to play on the fans’ emotions and shrewdly manipulate them into contributing to the otherwise capitalistic venture that keeps the K-pop scene running.
The last entry, i.e. the NCT 127 The Lost Boys Episode 4, takes up Johnny and Taeyong’s voices. The former is referred to as “a sunflower who appears when our team is in the dark” by Yuta, which significantly establishes his role in the group, especially with him being the most experienced member with the most number of training years under his name. Old fans may already be aware of him almost having debuted with EXO members, a fellow SM boy group senior to the NCT brand. And so, his bit loosely narrates the issue to us again without naming any names.
Lastly, Taeyong faces the camera, as Doyoung calls him “the identity of NCT 127” itself, while other members speak at length about him being the best leader out there owing to some of his classic habits like voicing the “group’s thoughts to the crew and staffers as if they’re his own”. This is evidently portrayed through the series as well in his choice of contributing to each member’s storyline actively, by either sporting the role of Mark’s elder brother in Episode 1 or Johnny’s trainee friend who debuted before him in the last one, or even providing audio narration for their stories.
Even though each of their stories is held up as an entity on its own to highlight their individual lives, struggles and whatnot, which ultimately led them to this point of being paired up as members of a group, there are mutual links to each story. We spot the common aspects of them courageously pushing through it all and finding support and encouragement in the words and actions of at least one of their family members early on, which went a long way in building up their confidence and leading them to this juncture.
By correlating their stories like so, Pak seamlessly and effortlessly threads their stories together even though they were but strangers to each other at those points in their lives. This practice makes room for a vision of universality of human emotion throughout all episodes which equally balances out their individual interviews, and the stylistic portrayal of their lived experiences through child plays and other musical presentations, thus creating a well-balanced channel for them to experience their childhoods again but with the privilege of now knowing how things would end up for them, and then flip over to their (and their parents’) bright and happier presents.
NCT 127 The Lost Boys: Final Thoughts
All in all, this mini series is a must-watch for K-pop fans, just as I’d mentioned in last week’s review as well. NCT fans especially, like myself, may have to pull out their tissues because the emotional light being shed on all the members in this series grants us a look at their personal lives like never before, and it truly feels like a privilege to see their vulnerable sides on camera for once.
The various methods employed by the creators of the series to convey the members’ truths are emotionally beautiful. And though I may have critiqued the series for not having included talks revolving around the objective interrogation of the K-pop scene at large, I also acknowledge that these chapters have more to do with singularly addressing the NCT 127 members as artists, contributors to a group and individuals with human emotions. With that in mind, the series accomplishes its mission in presenting them as courteously modest and down-to-earth vulnerable people.
All 4 episodes of the new NCT 127 documentary series, i.e., NCT 127: The Lost Boys, are streaming on Disney+.