What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Racket Boys (2021) – Ep 9-16
Do you ever come across a show where you look forward to watching it each week, but you also can’t bring yourself to watch it too quickly for fear it will be over soon? That’s what Racket Boys was, a weekly dose of fun, humour and heart, all rolled into one perfect show. When I found out that the show was only going to be once a week due to the Olympic preemptions, I decided to wait until it had finished airing, because I didn’t want to drag out my viewing experience. I’m glad I did, because I don’t know how I could have waited through those cliffhangers each week.
The show managed to build incredible tension in its final few weeks, with the girls and boys competing in the National Competitions. Each week seemed to bring out a new facet of our players’ personalities, and it was such a delight watching not only the kids grow, but also the adults take it upon themselves to do better and be better. It was nice seeing the invincible Coach Ra (Oh Na-ra) have a moment of struggle when she was without her star player but have her juniors show her the way back. Coach Yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) was similarly self-reflective, apologizing to the boys for his shortcomings as a coach and promising to do proud by them in the future. Even some of the veteran coaches were shown that just because they’ve seen everything doesn’t mean there aren’t some more surprises waiting around the corner for them.
That is exactly what the our Racket Boys showed them, with their dedication to teamwork, training and even letting their pride take a backseat for the greater good of the team. Woo-chan (Choi Hyun-wook) in particular displayed this last quality greatly; rather than insisting he wanted to play knowing he wan’t on the same level as the others, he gave in to sit on the sidelines so others could shine. I’m glad that Coach Yoon managed to take everyone’s prejudice against him and found the perfect opportunity to let him play the final game with Hae-kang (Tang Joon-sang).
Hae-kang had the most difficult journey as a player, with his injury seemingly career-ending, but even there they found a solution. In-sol (Kim Min-ki) was the true hero in Hae-kang’s journey, providing strategic advantages and encouragement, finding solutions to unsolvable problems. Those two boys could not have been further apart in personality, but when paired together they were virtually undefeatable. The writers definitely excelled in this arena, taking two extremes and finding a happy middle ground between them.
They also did fabulously when it came to showing the struggle on identity that several of our players felt during the show. Yong-tae (Kim Kang-hoon) in particular was so caught up in trying to imitate his idol, that he forgot to be himself in the game. However, once he met that idol, and realized that there’s more to him than just what he can emulate, it opened up a whole new dynamic to his game. Han-sol (Lee Ji-won) similarly struggled with figuring out what she was, using Se-yoon (Lee Jae-in) as a crutch to her gameplay. I liked that they showed that she could have just as much confidence in her game by having Se-yoon there with her in spirit as her being there in person. (I also liked the misdirect of having us think that she would think of Yoon-dam (Son Sang-yeon) to cheer her up just because he’s her boyfriend, when really girls always stick together.)
By far my favourite part of the show was its tongue-in-cheek style of humour. Whether it was characters breaking the fourth wall for product placements (with confused onlooker wondering who they were talking to) or it was the adults trying and failing miserably to relate to their kids (like Coach saying the boys were better than BTS and the boys instantly distancing themselves for fear of backlash), the show always managed to make me laugh. This was mixed in with plenty of heartwarming moments too, from the tribute to the village elder to Coach Bae (Shin Jung-keun) introducing his protege, Tae-soon, to the girls and boys to help boost his confidence and show him his worth.
I’m genuinely upset that I have to say goodbye to the show, but I’m glad to say that I got to see it off so well. The Racket Boys (and Girls) in this show were some of the best characters on TV, and I’m sure I’ll end up revisiting these characters very soon.
Colourful Granny 