Week in Review (Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2020)

What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:

TV

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

I think I went into When the Camellia Blooms with very high expectations, and that might have been the main reason why it didn’t quite match up to them. 

A lot of the time I found the show to be a bit contradictory in what its message was. When it came to motherhood especially, it started off on a very positive note, addressing single motherhood and the effect that it has on both the parent and the child, showing that you don’t need a second parent to live a fulfilling life. But then it also turned that same issue into a hinderance in Dong-baek’s (Kong Hyo-jin) other relationships. All the more, when it was coming from Deok-sun (Ko Du-shim) –  the one woman who might have actually been able to relate to Dong-baek –  it made all the conflict that much more confusing, since she should have understood the hardships of raising children by herself, too. I guess the message was that even nice people can be hypocrites sometimes…

I also found Yong-sik to be a bit immature, despite all the charm with which he was portrayed by Kang Ha-neul. His absolute devotion to Dong-baek seemed a bit out of the blue. Yes, this is dramaland, where characters fall in love at the drop of a hat, but to me it never seemed like there was enough of a foundation for them liking one another.

Quite possibly the most contradictory part of the show though, came in the form of the murder mystery. Without giving away any spoilers, I found the killer’s motivation lacking in many ways, and the final payoff felt unearned.

Perhaps my favourite part of the show was the village ajummas, who were passive-aggressive in the best way. Kim Sun-young has a knack for playing larger than life characters, and she is always a delight to watch, even when she’s being loud and obnoxious.

I really wanted to like this show, but ultimately there just wasn’t enough there to give this show that warm fuzzy glow I was hoping for.