viola

sticks the landing for the eternal conflict in noona romances

Once again, solid episode. The previous episodes did very well to build up the kind of culture and environment the hagwon life is, so while it's completely ridiculous that Hye Jin's career is being threatened by her relationship with Jun Ho, it also makes sense. We know how the culture works. Even as an audience, we learned about how two other instructors ruined their academy by getting romantically involved. The stakes are indeed high, and the show did a good job in establishing that.I was shocked that it was the White-Haired Witch who dropped the bomb that Hye Jin and Jun Ho were involved. I'm glad it was her and not the Vice Director. Also, liked how we got the Director back and how you can tell that he is in Hye Jin's corner, compared to how he tried to abandon her earlier in the drama. Him saying that he already knew they'd get together was the sole comedic point in this episode.What I really liked was that Hye Jin at no point says the words "we should break up". I think this is always the quintessential line that comes with age-gap, noona romances, when a partner either can't endure the gossip or doesn't want their loved one to have to put up with it. And that's why I really expected Hye Jin to say it at the end, but instead we get her confession of love to Jun Ho which was very sweetly done. I feel for Hye Jin so much. I feel less of that for Jun Ho, who as a character is very good, but he's basically the reason as to why everything is crumbling down now. And even though he's the reason, I didn't get the sense that he was truly suffering from what was going on. Yes, he was concerned for Hye Jin's sake, but you never get the sense that he's concerned for his own sake. Which is nice, but it makes him less complex compared to Hye Jin. Maybe the next episode will introduce more of his own struggles with this situation.

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Heading into the final stretch? Hopefully

I've been repeating myself over and over for every episode, but once again this was a good episode! The conflict between Hye Jin and Jun Ho was resolved in a realistic way, which is what happens when there are two adults in a relationship who are both good at communicating and expressing their feelings. I thought it was very funny that Pyo Sang Seob was forced to watch them argue, and the audience was meant to also think it was funny from the way it was directed. Nice to see Pyo Sang Seob feeling confused and put-off after the numerous times he made Hye Jin feel that way. But otherwise, this episode and the last did a lot to redeem Pyo Sang Seob as a character. In the end, you even start to root for him after watching his special lecture.Also loved how Hye Jin handled Vice-Director Woo having the audacity to not only steal all her material but use that to threaten Hye Jin into leaving with her. The way Vice-Director Woo is so obsessed with her because she knows firsthand how talented she is in the industry. Genuinely liked the way Hye Jin resolved it at the end because all her prior material means nothing to her now that she has the resolve to move forward in a different direction. And that is thanks to Jun Ho and to Pyo Sang Seob.

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first couple fight

Jun Ho and Hye Jin have fought before, but I think this is their first real confrontation after they became a couple. As always, it was a good episode. If the previous episodes were more about Hye Jin and her personality, this one did a good job at reminding the viewer about Jun Ho's. We know that he is a very confident character who has a lot of pride in his work ethic and ability to achieve the things he wants. We have never seen him fail in the context of the story. Everything he's taken on has worked out for him. So his anger at his parents and then later at Hye Jin makes sense. This is someone who doesn't understand why everyone around him can't believe in him and take his words at face value. He feels belittled by both which makes him even more stubborn about sticking to his guns. Not only that, but we've seen him wish for Hye Jin to confide in him more, so he's hurt by the way she shuts him out.The thing is, I can also understand the fight from Hye Jin's point of view. This came out of left field for her, and honestly, out of left field for the audience as well. I did not expect Jun Ho to throw out his study book and pivot his teaching strategy entirely, so I felt just as confused as Hye Jin was when she found out. Throwing out an entire reference book days before the new semester starts is a risk no one would ever take, which is why Hye Jin and Sang Mi were horrified. Not only that, but Jun Ho suddenly going off about how he'll teach students to really learn, rather than how the academies teach them to memorize and retain sounded very idealistic. Sang Mi and Hye Jin have been part of the academy scene for a while. They're weathered in their expectations and understand how things go. In contrast, Jun Ho is completely new to all of this, not only to the Academy but also to teaching in general. He wants to change things and doesn't understand why Hye Jin can't support him. I think he is also afraid that she still thinks of him as someone to support, rather than someone who can support her.I think Hye Jin loves Jun Ho, but she doesn't really think of him as an equal. Which, I can't blame her for, considering how he reacted last episode, and how she admitted that she thinks he represents the worst parts of herself. This is demonstrated when she speaks with Pyo Sang Seob, who is also someone who has butted heads with before. She sees him as an equal. Even though he's not an Academy instructor, he has years of teaching experience that Jun Ho doesn't have. So when Sang Seob says he'll handle things his way, she lets him do so. I felt like the most emotional scene in the episode was not the fight between Hye Jin and Jun Ho, but the scene with Sang Seob and his student, when she asks him to review her material. You could tell that he was moved by the fact that she listened, and also bitterly regretted that he can no longer move his students in that way. I felt for him as a character, and I respected him more when he told Hye Jin about how the vice director of her own academy had betrayed her. Ten years of teaching materials??? I would cause a scene if I were here.Maybe she will cause a scene in the next episode? We shall see.

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romance is still cute while the plot finally moves onward

I genuinely enjoy the way this drama is shot, and of course I really like the script too. Jun Ho and Hye Jin's first night together was comedic and sweet, and shot so naturally that it really just felt like two people who love each other, rather than two people performing together? They're very cute, but I will admit that I'm relieved that the episode didn't lean too hard into the secret relationship at the workplace heehee, and instead pivoted back to Pyo Sang Seob, who's been part of the plot since the first episode but has been pretty much of a non-entity these past few eps.The most interesting scene in this entire episode was actually between him and the temporary teacher. At first, I didn't quite understand the reason for her frustrations, but that's because of a lack of knowledge about the culture, rather than any fault of the script. Now that I've thought about it, I've realized that the temporary teacher was upset because Pyo Sang Seob's insistence on relying full stop on the textbook made it very easy for the students to pass the test, which makes her job harder when it comes to grading. You'd think that every school would be happy if all their students do well, but this is South Korea where ranking means more than anything in this society, which means there have to be students who do poorly so that the ones who do well shine all the brighter. That also means that the temporary teacher has to resort to the most banal deductions in order to preserve the ranking, and because of that, she also knows even more parents and students will complain. It's the kind of situation where no one wins: if you give every student a good grade, then the parents will say no one gets to be number one then, and if you don't, then the students who get penalized for the silliest of mistakes will get all the more frustrated that they're being punished, even though their answers are technically right. This is how I'm understanding it, at least.I would feel more for Pyo Sang Seob if, on upon being asked not to "do anything", didn't immediately jump ship to the cram schools. It makes sense for his character, because he's already established himself as someone who is motivated mostly by his pride. If he really cared about being the last bulwark of education or whatever, then he'd probably have taken the teacher's advice and ran for superintendent, because he'd want to change the system. Except, he's just someone who wants to be taken seriously and respected, and doesn't actually care that much about the institution itself. He just uses it as an excuse to justify his actions. Which is why him becoming the vice-superintendent aka taking what would have been Hye Jin's job if she accepted -- makes so much sense for him.And now he's probably going to pin the blame of the whole situation on Hye Jin. Very funny that as a teacher who apparently cared so much about education, he's now going to become someone obsessed with grades and satisfying parents first. It's pretty short-sighted of him, which is what we need in this drama, since the other characters are mostly good or intelligent.

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a sign of more romance to come?

I feel like I keep repeating myself in these reviews because I keep saying "good episode", but listen, it was a good episode? I did actually gasp out loud during one of the scenes, and that was when Si Woo expressed his intentions to switch hagwons directly to Director Choi Myung Sun's face. Even though we, as the audience, already knew that he'd switch -- it was still a surprising moment for him to say so out loud to a character that's been established to be very intimidating and scary, especially since Si Woo seems to be the kind of student who is very polite and listens to the adults around him. I also gasped at the end of the episode preview, but that's for the next episode.Hye Jin really is my favorite character of this series. She's just so cool and extremely refreshing in a society where women are instructed to downplay their achievements and exhibit modesty at all times. She's also not written in a "grrl power" kind of way, where her superiority is constantly talked about or displayed without any real meaning or build-up behind it. The story's done a fantastic job at establishing that she's a confident person with the intelligence and talent to back up what she says. The line when she tells Jun Ho that she wasn't shocked by Choi Myung Sun's offer because she believed that she deserved that kind of offer was a banger line. Of course, I also enjoyed at how she shared her troubles with her lawyer friend about how she doesn't know if she wants to take this offer, and her own hesitance is so strange to her. We can tell that part of that hesitance is because of her attachment to Jun Ho, but I wonder if she a.) realizes that or b.) has realized that but is slowly coming to terms with it.The other characters kind of recede to the background during this episode, which is fine because it is undoubtedly Hye Jin's episode. It is Hye Jin who has to deal with the consequences of their special lecture failure, it's Hye Jin's history with the hagwon that makes her punishment feel so bitter to us as the audience, and it's Hye Jin's emotions and decisions that control the flow of the events in this episode. For example, it's essentially Hye Jin who gives Jun Ho his first student, because she decides to step aside for him. The best thing a drama can do is keep the audience wanting more, which I definitely felt when this episode ended. I'm curious to see if Hye Jin will leave Daechi Chase, and I'm curious to see how Jun Ho will try to either convince her to stay or the reasons why he'd let her go.

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a good second episode

A good connecting episode. It built up a lot of what the first episode introduced and in a way that I felt made the characters a little more interesting, especially Jun Ho. He's clearly a very confident character, and his confidence does come across as arrogance, especially in the first episode, but with his interactions with Hye Jin and especially his parents, his determination really comes through? Like he's not someone who's just full of hot air or living with rose-colored glasses, he's also someone who is determined to make his way. He sets goals and makes promises that he's fully confident in carrying out. I think that makes him more impressive as a character, and it makes his potential journey much more interesting to watch because I absolutely would like to see how he fails and how he bounces back from that failure.I also liked Hye Jin's conflict in this episode. She's someone who's made it clear that she's pretty much concerned with results, but then her own thoughts and actions come out to be contradictory, because she was so concerned with Jun Ho as a person. I really liked the juxtaposition between her and Pyo Chang Sub. Chang Sub who looks down on her for not being a "teacher", and yet he's the one making his students' lives harder because of his own pride, while Hye Jin swallows her pride in order to let Jun Ho go his own way. So technically, you could say that she is way more of a teacher than Chang Sub is. I liked how we also got more from the hagwon Director, who has a strong relationship with Hye Jin. He cares about her as a person and as an instructor. He's also not from an educational background. I liked the small detail we learned that he used to make movies and he's only in academies because he pivoted from a previous failure. It makes his obsession with "star quality" make much more sense now.I enjoy the hagwon atmosphere because it feels familiar, but it's also different enough that it's not pulling me into terrible PTSD memories of after school studying. I do think it's interesting that we don't have a main "student" character, and instead are relying on more minor characters to relay the students' perspectives. I wonder if that will change in the future. But overall, a good second episode.

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amping up to a crazy finale omg

gurl what!!! the way i was wondering during the beginning of the episode where exactly this one and the next one will take us!!! i'm glad for the joseon era callback. i was afraid that it would be tied up once seori realized who she really was because why else would she have any reason to go back or think of the joseon era and then the writer hits us with this!! diabolical but i obviously don't hate it.this episode was a lot better than ep 12 in terms of pacing and things happening and our couple getting both sweet and somber moments. i am a little confused at how easily they wrapped up mo tae-hee's purpose. i mean it's not like she ever had real feelings for him which was obvious from how she saw him as a status symbol/means to an end, so getting even more profit from a simple partnership with him vs having to marry a guy who doesn't even like you... it makes sense but i think we could have done a little more there.the aunts getting dust made me laugh like. i am glad that segye didn't give them the time of the day because in terms of usefulness they have absolutely zero to offer him. which goes back to segye's mindset that he only thinks of people in terms of allies or enemies. mo tae hee might have pissed him off earlier but she's useful and resourceful. his aunts just have shoddy business ability AND scandals.i liked the juxtaposition between segye's grandfather and seori's grandmother. they both care for their grandchildren, and they both went in such different ways to express that affection. segye's grandfather being pissed off that segye refuses to come to heel and then takes out his anger in ways that even he and mun-do acknowledge were messed up vs seori's grandmother who took seori in and raised her with all the love and care in the world. AND did the same to danshim presumably while danshim was in seori's body. speaking of danshim, i wonder if the hint of the past that hte shaman saw means that danshim will go back and live a life she likes aka being a peddler? that is i'm sure danshim will come up at some point, though hopefully not a major part of the finale. anyway im seated and excited to see how this ends. my god.

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some things confirmed and others still a mystery

I really did think that we would spend a whole episode with Dan-shim in Joseon before we got her to wake up again in the modern world, but I don't hate that she woke up early. Instead of the main conflict being her stuck in Joseon, she instead has to deal with returning at any second. I like that plot point a lot in terms of angst potential.This episode was spent more on our side characters, though at no point did I feel like our main couple was getting jilted from screen time. When your main pairing is so strong in terms of chemistry and relevance to the story... I think a lot of dramas should take note of this, especially those with side characters that eventually distract or even dominate the plot. Here, everyone serves a purpose, and I actually liked seeing our sides get a little more time. The beauty of a romcom is that it hinges on the chemistry of the entire cast, especially for a drama that's prioritized comedy so heavily throughout the show. You can't just have two people being funny. You need strong chemistry with everyone in order to make the jokes land, and that's accomplished with the writing and directing choices made when it comes to our side characters.It is very funny that Seori/Danshim and the grandfather have recovered already from the truck of doom but then again the truck of doom is a plot device solely meant to throw Seori/Danshim back into the Joseon era. We don't need anymore big contrived scares now that we've established that she can go back at any time. It's scary enough just knowing she can disappear! We've got confirmation too that Seori and Danshim are actually one person, what with Danshim suddenly remembering Seori's past -- something she did not have knowledge of in all the episodes prior. I do like that twist more than two souls in one body, because the show has not spent enough time to make the latter meaningful, so it's better that we find out that Seori and Danshim have always been one.

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moving out of the capital!!!

the way we're moving out of the capital just as the political stuff gets interesting... i think the drama is on more solid footing after these seven episodes, especially with the onslaught of information and events they bombard you with in the beginning. better to find their footing later rather than never tbh. but i am looking forward to chu zhao when she's away from the court. i think her clever mind shines most when she's not restricted by court machinations, so i'd like to see how she does when she's out on her own in yunzhong and with xie yanlai. i think chu zhao's strongest trait is her desire to survive at all costs, so I'm curious to see how it will be tested in a different setting/environment.her father is clearly her most important emotional anchor so it'd be good to have her see him again too. we've seen chu zhao desperate, afraid, ambitious, motherly, and cunning. she's been vulnerable with xie yanlai for a few brief moments, but i'd like to see her let her guard down completely around her father.

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brace yourselves for the next two eps

Less frenetic pace-wise compared the last five eps, which is fine. I liked that we got to sit in Jeju Island with our two leads, and as always, their chemistry is very good. We're also getting more movement from our villain(s), who seem to also include Mo Tae-Hui aka Se-gye's blind date. I do like how he's already figured her out. I also like how he already knows that Mun-do is the one behind all these schemes. Usually, the villains are just annoying caricatures or extremely incompetent at their villainy, so Mun-do actually being very efficient at his evil-doing AND also known to the main leads is what makes the conflict actually work in terms of the drama. As for our leads themselves, I think this small interlude before that final kiss scene at the end works for their relationship. I was afraid that they'd get together very fast and then have their relationship contested, so I like how it's more of a slow pace (at least towards Seori's end).

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on board with the pacing

That last scene killed me. It was both so funny and so cringe, which again, reminds me of older romcoms. I like that this show knows its theme and will stick to it. I was worried they'd go overboard with Segye chasing after Seori even after her repeated rejections, so I liked that instead he retreated from her because of his hurt pride because that makes more sense in terms of his character. Consort Kang's stubborn personality also finally gets some kickback at the set, which is far more interesting to see for her character. We also get a little bit more with Mun-do. You have to sympathize with a guy who's doing everything he can to take over a position only to find out that his uncle will always give it to the guy who doesn't even want it. But at the same time Mun-do is clearly also deranged, so....

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felt like there was so much but lim ji yeon really nailed it all together

Genuine chemistry continues. Se-gye and Dan-shim shine together in ways that are already making me root for them. I did feel like the pacing of this episode was very fast and also the editing a bit all over the place. They shoved in as much as possible in this single episode, but luckily Lim Ji-yeon ties it all together with that final scene. Her frustration at her new life being so similar to her old one helps ground the episode altogether.I am surprised at how quickly the romance is proceeding, but it's not technically a bad thing, and it makes sense when you think about how hard and fast Se-gye has fallen. Now it's up to him to prove to Dan-shim that he actually likes her, and that it's not just out of a sense of pity.I wish we could have seen Kang Dan-shim/Seo-ri's reaction to Mun-do telling her to get together with his brother. Did she simply leave without saying anything? Did she refuse? Or did she agree? There were a couple of scenes where I wish they extended it a little longer, like Dan-shim's reaction when Se-gye says to his grandfather that he only helped her out of pity, but overall, I feel like I have enough emotional stake in this relationship regardless.

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gears up for the next arc of random side characters

but at least there's only ten episodes left so we're so close to being done. i wish tjr got to keep playing as ji ling because he is struggling so bad as chi wen. the problem with chi wen is that we as an audience keep seeing different motivations (which as gjm lacks subtlety like a brick, we can pretty much tell which ones are real) which makes him hard to connect with. i do wish wu yi wasn't being shafted into a corner in terms of character agency but yeah sure we need to devote time to chi wen crying at 0.25 speed for the sake of the plot and for egregious water sequence as yan an tries to act as well as he can in the water as he does normally (which is not at all).

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