3 scenes that really stood out to me - seungho plastering a smile on his face before meeting seokryu and moeum 🥺 - danho crying and apologizing as moeum scolded him - seunghyo fighting tears washing seokryu’s shirt
once again, i’m taken in by how human these characters are. i know what it’s like to have feelings for a friend and swallow them because you just don’t see the reason to risk losing having that person in your life. it’s very frustrating so i can understand his behavior. is it immature? HIGHLY. but what can he do? he’s really in a fix. he can’t comfort SR over her ex, cause she won’t share, he can’t tell her how he feels because he believes she’s still in love with her ex so even if he feels there is a chance, that cancels it. his feelings have resurged with full force and he’s fighting for his life to hold it together. it’s obviously not working. he might lose her forever if she even gets an idea of what’s going on and that’s the biggest issue. you can really see how all those feelings come together when he was washing her shirt and that scene did something to me. it was as though by doing that, he could rid himself of some of the weight of his frustration and guilt. i felt for him tbh. if you were seunghyo, what would you do?
kang danho & moeum. even without knowing his backstory, my heart broke for him. it’s not easy to be a parent. it’s even harder to be a single one and he’s clearly a good one. he has to take care of his daughter and he has to provide. it’s a dilemma every parent faces but he must be taking it harder. again, he’s super believable as a dad! when he cried, i really wanted to hug him. i understand that moeum went too far but let’s take it back a bit. from that info she shared with SR at seunghyo’s office, her dad is no longer in her life. he’s literally dead and it’s clear that that still affects her. i don’t know if anyone noticed that there were tears in her eyes as she was talking to him. it’s almost like she was talking to her father in that moment and not him. i might be reaching, but my mind went there 😅
it goes without saying that i like this drama. im nigerian and some parts of it are just relatable to me. i think what this drama does well is connecting dots. there are things that we still don’t know but for the ones we do know, we kind of understand how a lot of them went from point A to point Z. the details here are everything. i think that’s what sets it apart from its ancestors. hehe
i have so many thoughts on this dramaaaa but can we just take a moment to appreciate how visually pleasing episode 5 was?? woww i have realized through this drama that tags affect our viewing experience. if you think of this drama as a slice of life with funny bits, you’ll definitely enjoy it more i don’t agree with all the ‘ep 5 was too slow’ comments. everything was needed to lead up to something else. what makes an episode feel slow and another fast? i really like dramas that help me just unwind and stay entertained and this does that for me. it’s clearly more character driven than plot driven. if they get together very quickly, people will still complain that there’s nothing left after they get together and it’s boring. ofc, i’m open to other perspectives funny how i thought it was going to take SR way longer to find her dream. i still haven’t found mine 😅
I was one of those who loved this drama from the get go.... Felt their friendships be it between the ajhummas…
that means you haven’t been following - she mentioned in an earlier episode that she had a food blog for korean food. she mentioned this to seungho. - remember the rooftop scene where she sees those plants and started making that pancake/omelet thing. they even took care to show her process of making it. it wasn’t for nothing - she was super eager to help her parents at the restaurant but she was turned down - when she was looking at seungho’s kitchen, she kept talking about how lovely it was and was so taken in by the gas cooker.. when they lingered on that scene, i could tell that cooking excited her everything today, was a culmination of what has been in the making since ep 1. as someone experiencing a burnout, she was so focused on looking for one huge thing to give her a sense of purpose rather than something as (permit me to use your word) random as cooking. i think the ex was just a conduit for that. she also kind of ushered in seokryu’s pov. that’s one of the things i like about this drama, there are details that just count so you realize that nothing’s really a filler
i really like this drama. i thought i was going to watch the first 2 eps to see if it should stay on my watchlist or get dropped but look at me, waiting for saturday 🤧 unpopular opinion: i liked the convenience store meet between the 2nd leads. yes, it probably seemed so unnatural and out of character but i liked that it showed that both of them, upstanding as they are, are humans with interests and likes that they won't let go of for anybody. just because a person is selfless in some areas, doesn't mean they can't be selfish in others
i saw a theory that FL's dream might have something to do with cooking and i agree because remember how she kept rubbing the cooker at SH's office lovingly? let's see where they go with that
i also think this drama is very nuanced and it could not have come out at a better time for me. like FL, i'm currently unemployed and wondering what's going on with my life. like FL, i chose not to pursue a career at a company that everyone felt was 'to die for'. like FL, my workplace came with a lot of stress. i also hated the role. it's all so very relatable and realistic. perhaps at the end of this series, i too, would have gotten a sense of what my dream is :)
I mean, we knew Choi Seung Hyo was emotionally neglected by his parents and that's why he was so close with Bae…
i love your review so much and how you capture the nuances here! i’m following you and i’d love to talk to you along the themes of this drama! 😊
The base plot is obviously copied from Welcome to Samdal-ri.
whats the base plot though? the leads in WTS dated and ended badly but these two are good. the reunion wasn’t even awkward. i think you should look at it again. would we say welcome to samdalri copied hometown chachachá then?
to everyone who's saying they've been more into cdramas recently, PLEASE DROP SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEeeeeee
also going to say that i loved this article. i started watching kdramas in 2022 so i'm still a newbie but it no longer feels new to me. i do like some recent works (Lovely Runner, Knight Flower, Marry my Husband, My Sweet Mobster), but i realised that the way older stuff was amazing. thankfully there's a lot from the earlier years i can still catch up on. the new dramas just seem so tired which is sad cause money goes into these things. i'm wondering what goes through the writers' heads these days, i wonder if we should blame netflix or not, i wonder what's going on. hopefully, they can return to the basics and innovate from there
I havent started this yet but have been so tempted to but, like you, I am not sure i want to start this until…
i’ve actually surprisingly been able to stay away since episode 3 but i’m craving drama so i might just binge watch the rest of the episodes out now 😂
I havent started this yet but have been so tempted to but, like you, I am not sure i want to start this until…
yeah and this one has some characters that’ll make your blood boil. can’t believe i said i’d watch just one episode and ended up watching everything. 😂
I havent started this yet but have been so tempted to but, like you, I am not sure i want to start this until…
yeah and this one has some characters that’ll make your blood boil. can’t believe i said i’d watch just one episode and ended up watching everything. 😂
- seungho plastering a smile on his face before meeting seokryu and moeum 🥺
- danho crying and apologizing as moeum scolded him
- seunghyo fighting tears washing seokryu’s shirt
once again, i’m taken in by how human these characters are. i know what it’s like to have feelings for a friend and swallow them because you just don’t see the reason to risk losing having that person in your life. it’s very frustrating so i can understand his behavior. is it immature? HIGHLY. but what can he do? he’s really in a fix. he can’t comfort SR over her ex, cause she won’t share, he can’t tell her how he feels because he believes she’s still in love with her ex so even if he feels there is a chance, that cancels it. his feelings have resurged with full force and he’s fighting for his life to hold it together. it’s obviously not working. he might lose her forever if she even gets an idea of what’s going on and that’s the biggest issue. you can really see how all those feelings come together when he was washing her shirt and that scene did something to me. it was as though by doing that, he could rid himself of some of the weight of his frustration and guilt. i felt for him tbh. if you were seunghyo, what would you do?
kang danho & moeum. even without knowing his backstory, my heart broke for him. it’s not easy to be a parent. it’s even harder to be a single one and he’s clearly a good one. he has to take care of his daughter and he has to provide. it’s a dilemma every parent faces but he must be taking it harder. again, he’s super believable as a dad! when he cried, i really wanted to hug him.
i understand that moeum went too far but let’s take it back a bit. from that info she shared with SR at seunghyo’s office, her dad is no longer in her life. he’s literally dead and it’s clear that that still affects her. i don’t know if anyone noticed that there were tears in her eyes as she was talking to him. it’s almost like she was talking to her father in that moment and not him. i might be reaching, but my mind went there 😅
it goes without saying that i like this drama. im nigerian and some parts of it are just relatable to me. i think what this drama does well is connecting dots. there are things that we still don’t know but for the ones we do know, we kind of understand how a lot of them went from point A to point Z. the details here are everything. i think that’s what sets it apart from its ancestors. hehe
i have realized through this drama that tags affect our viewing experience. if you think of this drama as a slice of life with funny bits, you’ll definitely enjoy it more
i don’t agree with all the ‘ep 5 was too slow’ comments. everything was needed to lead up to something else. what makes an episode feel slow and another fast? i really like dramas that help me just unwind and stay entertained and this does that for me. it’s clearly more character driven than plot driven. if they get together very quickly, people will still complain that there’s nothing left after they get together and it’s boring. ofc, i’m open to other perspectives
funny how i thought it was going to take SR way longer to find her dream. i still haven’t found mine 😅
- she mentioned in an earlier episode that she had a food blog for korean food. she mentioned this to seungho.
- remember the rooftop scene where she sees those plants and started making that pancake/omelet thing. they even took care to show her process of making it. it wasn’t for nothing
- she was super eager to help her parents at the restaurant but she was turned down
- when she was looking at seungho’s kitchen, she kept talking about how lovely it was and was so taken in by the gas cooker.. when they lingered on that scene, i could tell that cooking excited her
everything today, was a culmination of what has been in the making since ep 1. as someone experiencing a burnout, she was so focused on looking for one huge thing to give her a sense of purpose rather than something as (permit me to use your word) random as cooking. i think the ex was just a conduit for that. she also kind of ushered in seokryu’s pov. that’s one of the things i like about this drama, there are details that just count so you realize that nothing’s really a filler
unpopular opinion: i liked the convenience store meet between the 2nd leads. yes, it probably seemed so unnatural and out of character but i liked that it showed that both of them, upstanding as they are, are humans with interests and likes that they won't let go of for anybody. just because a person is selfless in some areas, doesn't mean they can't be selfish in others
i saw a theory that FL's dream might have something to do with cooking and i agree because remember how she kept rubbing the cooker at SH's office lovingly? let's see where they go with that
i understand the ML not wanting to declare his feelings for the sake of the friendship. better to have her in his life somehow than not at all. the swim meet was where i also fell in love with SR! how can you not?! 😩 the scene where they were cussing themselves out was also really funny 🤣
i also think this drama is very nuanced and it could not have come out at a better time for me. like FL, i'm currently unemployed and wondering what's going on with my life. like FL, i chose not to pursue a career at a company that everyone felt was 'to die for'. like FL, my workplace came with a lot of stress. i also hated the role. it's all so very relatable and realistic. perhaps at the end of this series, i too, would have gotten a sense of what my dream is :)
also going to say that i loved this article. i started watching kdramas in 2022 so i'm still a newbie but it no longer feels new to me. i do like some recent works (Lovely Runner, Knight Flower, Marry my Husband, My Sweet Mobster), but i realised that the way older stuff was amazing. thankfully there's a lot from the earlier years i can still catch up on. the new dramas just seem so tired which is sad cause money goes into these things. i'm wondering what goes through the writers' heads these days, i wonder if we should blame netflix or not, i wonder what's going on. hopefully, they can return to the basics and innovate from there