When I was 17, I dated a man who was like 23 and honestly, it was one of the best relationships I had in high school. He was mature and kind and respectful and never stepped over any boundaries that I didn't want him to. While I for sure know that a lot of abuse happens between minors and adults, at the same time not everyone fits into the same box either. Maturity happens to everyone in a spectrum, and it's not like a switch gets flipped magically on your eighteenth birthday and you suddenly become an adult emotionally, just legally (in the US anyway.) I haven't seen this film, but I definitely know what my own experience was like dating an older man as a minor.
This is definitely my favorite of the season and will likely end up as one of my favorite JDramas!
This is definitely in the top five for me! It's completely different than a drama like Alice in Borderland obviously, so I have categories for my favorites. LOL
This episode reminded me a bit of the race that Taek and Jung Hwan had to reach Deok Sun in Reply 1988, and that cemented their relationship. I was firmly on #TeamTaek so I loved how that one turned out, but I can now see what it must have felt like to be on the other team. :-)
This episode was freaking brilliant on so many different levels. The drama is all about being 'stuck' and being…
A variation on a comment that I left below. (I'm compiling some of my comments for when I write a review when it's over.)
Shun has been utterly consumed with shame and regret and a sense that he was a complete failure, so much so that he couldn't fully commit to anything or anyone. We saw that pretty clearly in the first few episodes. I believe that he was trying to make a minimalist way of life work, and do what he could to make himself feel better, but all it took was even just the mention of Hortensia to give him a panic attack. I'm not convinced he was actually as happy as he wanted people around him to believe that he was.
Hana told him that he owed it to the restaurant, and to himself, to make his past mistakes right. I don't love that he's back in his ex's orbit, but she's 100% correct that he needed to prove it to himself and others that he's not a failure. He had to pass that restaurant test without running away again. He needed to take that guest's criticism and make the next duck better without running away again. That's the mark of growing maturity and letting go of the shame of the past.
I very much hope he doesn't stay at Hortensia long-term (because he doesn't need to be around Hana 24/7 - although I love that he mentioned Mashiba to her.) He doesn't need to live obsessed with being a chef anymore either. And he's ignoring Mashiba to his peril. There's got to be a middle ground somewhere. But I have to admit that it was really sweet to see that confident spark light up in him, even as I was worried that what happened at the end of the episode would happen.
I'm so sad about this episode. I loved Shun for his minimalist thinking, I believed that he was happy with that…
I actually disagree with you here. I don't think he was happy living that way at all. He was utterly consumed with shame and regret and a sense that he was a complete failure, so much so that he couldn't fully commit to anything or anyone. We saw that pretty clearly in the first few episodes. I believe that he was trying to make that way of life work, and do what he could to make himself feel better, but all it took was even just the mention of Hortensia to give him a panic attack. I don't think that way of life is wrong at all, but I'm not convinced he was actually as happy as he wanted people around him to believe that he was.
Hana told him that he owed it to the restaurant, and to himself, to make his past mistakes right. I don't love that he's back in his ex's orbit, but she's 100% correct that he needed to prove it to himself and others that he's not a failure. No, he doesn't need to a super driven chef anymore to be happy, but he had to pass that test without running away again. He needed to take that guest's criticism and make the next duck better without running away again. That's the mark of growing maturity and letting go of the shame of the past.
No one says he needs to stay at Hortensia, and I very much hope he doesn't (because he doesn't need to be around Hana 24/7 - although I love that he mentioned Mashiba to her.) And he doesn't need to live obsessed with being a chef anymore either, I agree. There's got to be a middle ground somewhere.
I don't agree at all that it's character development gone wrong - on the contrary, I think it's great writing. Luckily there are a few more episodes to see how it turns out.
This episode was freaking brilliant on so many different levels. The drama is all about being 'stuck' and being…
But that said, I have not been surprised - AT ALL - by Orca's behavior toward Mashiba lately, even as it pisses me off to no end. Since he hasn't been formally attached to a company lately, we haven't seen the kind of obsessive drive and ambition that it takes to run a company, the kind of cutthroat competitive nature that's in his very DNA. It is no accident that his freakin' nickname is Orca - the apex predators of the ocean. They look cuddly and cute on the outside, and their beautiful black and white markings mask the ferocious nature of their hunting and feeding patterns. Great white sharks have been known to flee an area where orcas have been spotted and not return for over a year. (Orcas are like the mafia dons of the sea...) The President isn't quite that vicious, thank goodness, but he's got a competitive streak in him, no question, and he's not averse to using some underhanded tactics to get what he wants (or maybe even what he feels like he deserves.) And he did warn Shun that this would happen - which doesn't make it right, but shows that he follows up on his threats.
This episode was freaking brilliant on so many different levels. The drama is all about being 'stuck' and being…
This whole time it's been alluded to that Shun ran from his responsibilities, ran from his restaurant and his girlfriend and has been consumed with regret ever since. But we got to see that Orca also felt like he ran from his responsibilities and let a lot of people down. He's been living with a lot of regret too, apparently. I thought it was so interesting (and the mark of great writing!) that we got to see Orca have to face up to all the people he ran from at Arco Iris and what effect that had on him. His emotions at the office must have surprised even him. I love that even though I'm mad at the Orca right now, I felt like he was feeling and expressing real emotions and I could feel them with him.
This episode was freaking brilliant on so many different levels. The drama is all about being 'stuck' and being chained to your past by regret, or being unable to move your feet out of the muck towards something - anything - new. And little by little, each character is pulling their feet out of the muck, exorcising the past and moving forward in fits and starts. They all do that differently, though, and have different scenarios that then have to be confronted. They're all learning about what's important and how to manage expectations - for themselves and others.
Some specific thoughts below under spoiler tags...
Ok Chef Shun is hotter than Food truck Shun. Hair alone does it for me. LOL. Ryusei Yokohama reminds me of Jungkook…
They're friends irl. I don't think they look the same though - each has their own (gorgeous) look and I don't think that's why this show is #1. It's #1 because it's amazing on all levels. :-)
I haven’t seen this drama, but ADHD isn’t “curable.” It can be managed with different therapeutic interventions. (Also, symptoms can show up differently in women than men - but not always - but the gap in diagnosis between genders is not that large anymore.) Thanks for the interesting article.
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I haven't seen this film, but I definitely know what my own experience was like dating an older man as a minor.
Shun has been utterly consumed with shame and regret and a sense that he was a complete failure, so much so that he couldn't fully commit to anything or anyone. We saw that pretty clearly in the first few episodes. I believe that he was trying to make a minimalist way of life work, and do what he could to make himself feel better, but all it took was even just the mention of Hortensia to give him a panic attack. I'm not convinced he was actually as happy as he wanted people around him to believe that he was.
Hana told him that he owed it to the restaurant, and to himself, to make his past mistakes right. I don't love that he's back in his ex's orbit, but she's 100% correct that he needed to prove it to himself and others that he's not a failure. He had to pass that restaurant test without running away again. He needed to take that guest's criticism and make the next duck better without running away again. That's the mark of growing maturity and letting go of the shame of the past.
I very much hope he doesn't stay at Hortensia long-term (because he doesn't need to be around Hana 24/7 - although I love that he mentioned Mashiba to her.) He doesn't need to live obsessed with being a chef anymore either. And he's ignoring Mashiba to his peril. There's got to be a middle ground somewhere. But I have to admit that it was really sweet to see that confident spark light up in him, even as I was worried that what happened at the end of the episode would happen.
Hana told him that he owed it to the restaurant, and to himself, to make his past mistakes right. I don't love that he's back in his ex's orbit, but she's 100% correct that he needed to prove it to himself and others that he's not a failure. No, he doesn't need to a super driven chef anymore to be happy, but he had to pass that test without running away again. He needed to take that guest's criticism and make the next duck better without running away again. That's the mark of growing maturity and letting go of the shame of the past.
No one says he needs to stay at Hortensia, and I very much hope he doesn't (because he doesn't need to be around Hana 24/7 - although I love that he mentioned Mashiba to her.) And he doesn't need to live obsessed with being a chef anymore either, I agree. There's got to be a middle ground somewhere.
I don't agree at all that it's character development gone wrong - on the contrary, I think it's great writing. Luckily there are a few more episodes to see how it turns out.
It is no accident that his freakin' nickname is Orca - the apex predators of the ocean. They look cuddly and cute on the outside, and their beautiful black and white markings mask the ferocious nature of their hunting and feeding patterns. Great white sharks have been known to flee an area where orcas have been spotted and not return for over a year. (Orcas are like the mafia dons of the sea...)
The President isn't quite that vicious, thank goodness, but he's got a competitive streak in him, no question, and he's not averse to using some underhanded tactics to get what he wants (or maybe even what he feels like he deserves.) And he did warn Shun that this would happen - which doesn't make it right, but shows that he follows up on his threats.
Some specific thoughts below under spoiler tags...
Thanks for the interesting article.