I love this drama but damn, the more I think about it, the more confused I am. Maybe confused isn't the right word. I just don't know how to feel about the characters.
Looking at Eun Ho's & Hyon Oh's relationship that we've been able to see through all the flashbacks, they genuinely seemed happy together. But at the same time, how have they been together for 8 years but barely knew anything about one another? It seems as though Eun Ho doesn't know about the grandmas and Hyon Oh doesn't seem to know much about Hye Ri. How is it possible to keep such big parts of your life away from someone you love and are in a relationship with for so long?
I can understand Hyon Oh's logic about not wanting to get married because he felt his wife would suffer, but at the same time, how can he never talk about this with Eun Ho? Even being upfront from the start and telling her that he never wanted to get married, and expecting her to accept that without question doesn't seem fair. Especially because he does want to get married. He just feels like he shouldn't.
The two of them just keep making the same mistakes again and again. Hyon Oh wanted to get back together with Eun Ho when she was sick, even though his situation didn't change at all. He knows she wanted to marry him and he still feels he shouldn't marry her. Yet, he wanted to get back together without even trying to talk about why he broke up with her 4 years ago.
On the other hand, Eun Ho has always felt like she is not good enough for him. She has said this when she first asked him if he likes her. She said it again when he gave up 9 o'clock news for her and she was upset because through all the time they were together, she didn't want for his success to suffer "because of her". Even in the flashbacks, she is constantly asking him to tell her what he likes about her and that to me, feels as a clear sign of her feeling like he's too good for her. Because of that she is always afraid that he is going to leave her - which he has done several times. Not talking to her for 6 months because she didn't tell him that she likes him? Him breaking up with her in a heartbeat after 8 years together? That's why I loved the scene in episode 6 so much - when she tells him that she will never be sick again. Because it felt to me as though she is finally ready to move on from him which I strongly wished would happen.
I don't hate Hyon Oh. Everyone has their own issues and their own baggage. But it feels to me as though he only wanted to be in relationship with Eun Ho on his own terms. When she said she wanted to get married, he broke up with her right away. But at the same time he didn't want her to be with someone else (he was jealous when Ji On asked her out and tried to sabotage their date & then when he found out about her dating Ju Yeon as Hye Ri, he couldn't fathom the idea).
Because of all of this, I really don't like how Eun Ho's happiness and self-worth seems to be completely tied to Hyon Oh. Instead of her moving on from him or at least being happy on her own before getting back together with him, she is now returning back to the past when her life & her happiness were completely dependent on him.
Now Hye Ri and Ju Yeon. To me, it has always felt as though they infantilized Hye Ri too much. Yes, she is younger but still, she is supposed to be 28 - definitely not a kid anymore. The whole premise of her developing feelings for Ju Yeon because she knew that he is cold to everyone and she imagined for him to only be nice to her (and seeing that as something very romantic) felt very silly to me. I also didn't quite like how their relationship started because I couldn't understand why exactly he started liking her because to me, it felt she had an emotional intelligence of a teenager.
However them spending time together, her helping him blame himself a bit less about his brother's death and making it clear to him that his mother shouldn't be treating him like that, it did feel like they are good together. I also liked Ju Yeon's "speech" in episode 10 because to me it felt like he accepts Hye Ri as a part of Eun Ho and not a completely separate person (which is how I think of DOD) and is open to giving their relationship a chance, to see if they could love one another as Eun Ho and Ju Yeon and not only as Hye Ri and Ju Yeon.
Maybe confused isn't the right word. I just don't know how to feel about the characters.
Looking at Eun Ho's & Hyon Oh's relationship that we've been able to see through all the flashbacks, they genuinely seemed happy together. But at the same time, how have they been together for 8 years but barely knew anything about one another? It seems as though Eun Ho doesn't know about the grandmas and Hyon Oh doesn't seem to know much about Hye Ri. How is it possible to keep such big parts of your life away from someone you love and are in a relationship with for so long?
I can understand Hyon Oh's logic about not wanting to get married because he felt his wife would suffer, but at the same time, how can he never talk about this with Eun Ho? Even being upfront from the start and telling her that he never wanted to get married, and expecting her to accept that without question doesn't seem fair. Especially because he does want to get married. He just feels like he shouldn't.
The two of them just keep making the same mistakes again and again. Hyon Oh wanted to get back together with Eun Ho when she was sick, even though his situation didn't change at all. He knows she wanted to marry him and he still feels he shouldn't marry her. Yet, he wanted to get back together without even trying to talk about why he broke up with her 4 years ago.
On the other hand, Eun Ho has always felt like she is not good enough for him. She has said this when she first asked him if he likes her. She said it again when he gave up 9 o'clock news for her and she was upset because through all the time they were together, she didn't want for his success to suffer "because of her". Even in the flashbacks, she is constantly asking him to tell her what he likes about her and that to me, feels as a clear sign of her feeling like he's too good for her.
Because of that she is always afraid that he is going to leave her - which he has done several times. Not talking to her for 6 months because she didn't tell him that she likes him? Him breaking up with her in a heartbeat after 8 years together? That's why I loved the scene in episode 6 so much - when she tells him that she will never be sick again. Because it felt to me as though she is finally ready to move on from him which I strongly wished would happen.
I don't hate Hyon Oh. Everyone has their own issues and their own baggage. But it feels to me as though he only wanted to be in relationship with Eun Ho on his own terms. When she said she wanted to get married, he broke up with her right away. But at the same time he didn't want her to be with someone else (he was jealous when Ji On asked her out and tried to sabotage their date & then when he found out about her dating Ju Yeon as Hye Ri, he couldn't fathom the idea).
Because of all of this, I really don't like how Eun Ho's happiness and self-worth seems to be completely tied to Hyon Oh. Instead of her moving on from him or at least being happy on her own before getting back together with him, she is now returning back to the past when her life & her happiness were completely dependent on him.
Now Hye Ri and Ju Yeon. To me, it has always felt as though they infantilized Hye Ri too much. Yes, she is younger but still, she is supposed to be 28 - definitely not a kid anymore. The whole premise of her developing feelings for Ju Yeon because she knew that he is cold to everyone and she imagined for him to only be nice to her (and seeing that as something very romantic) felt very silly to me. I also didn't quite like how their relationship started because I couldn't understand why exactly he started liking her because to me, it felt she had an emotional intelligence of a teenager.
However them spending time together, her helping him blame himself a bit less about his brother's death and making it clear to him that his mother shouldn't be treating him like that, it did feel like they are good together. I also liked Ju Yeon's "speech" in episode 10 because to me it felt like he accepts Hye Ri as a part of Eun Ho and not a completely separate person (which is how I think of DOD) and is open to giving their relationship a chance, to see if they could love one another as Eun Ho and Ju Yeon and not only as Hye Ri and Ju Yeon.