Thirty Nine (2022)

Great drama if you know what you're getting

I tend to only be interested in writing a review if I feel like I'm in the minority. Lots of negative reviews of this drama seem to be written by people who were expecting something else. So, let me speak for the other side and clear some things up from the beginning, here's what this drama is about: A woman and her two friends go through a very difficult year together and find strength to get through it by relying on one another. This is an especially character-driven drama, rather than story-driven.

Mi-jo is the central character, and her relationship to Chan-young is the primary relationship. I would say that Joo-hee and Seon-U or Jin-Seok are probably the second leads. If this were some rom-com and Mi-jo/Chan-young were the ML and FL, no one would be upset about them taking all the screen time. It's weird that everyone seems upset that the illness isn't the most important storyline--this is about their whole lives and that was a large part of it, but not the only part. I do agree that ALL the side plots eventually got a bit chaotic, but I liked getting small bits of insight into everyone's lives.

I thought it was an interesting move to tell us the ending in eps 2, but it allowed for so much more development of the leads and the (really wonderful) rest of the cast. I loved all the parents, with the glaring exception of one. I loved Mi-jo's sister, I fell in love with Seon-u and his love of Mi-jo. (I took a break from this one to watch Yeon Woo Jin in Shy Boss). Would have liked to see a little more of Joo-hee's relationship, but that's just because Hyun-jun's character seemed to have a lot of potential--but again, they aren't the main characters, so I'm fine with not having every answer.

Another thing that anyone should know by the opening scene, but in case you are wondering: This is a TEAR JERKER. I normally don't like tear jerkers and specifically come to kdrama for the comedy and romance. That said, this was a lovely story about women's friendships. Some of the side plot points were a little over the top (Seon-u's father and his sister; the slapdash adoption that appears late in the story, the jailbird), but they are all meant to get in the way of Mi-jo and Chan-young's friendship, and to show the different ways their friendship has shaped how they respond to difficulties.

Mi-jo is an imperfect heroine. She is anxious, clingy, and a bit of a control freak, maybe that's why she is getting so much negativity in the reviews. But, an imperfect character is way more interesting than a perfect one! Again, if you come to this drama interested in watching the main character move through her life and her relationships, including her close friendship to a terminally ill woman, you will be far less disappointed than if you come to this expecting an ensemble slice of life drama.

The music was good enough that I didn't notice it.

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