Week in Review (Feb 13 – 19, 2022)

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

When the Weather is Fine (2020) – Ep 3

Life has been rather busy for me, so I only got through one episode this week, but it was a rather eventful one for Mok Hae-won (Park Min-young) too. After avoiding her childhood friend-turned-enemy, she carried on with business as usual. This has become a defining feature of her character, and she seems to have an ostrich-like tendency of dealing with her problems by pretending they don’t exist. I have a feeling this is going to come to a head really soon.

With the Walnut House in disrepair, Aunt Myung-yeo (Moon Jeong-hee) being more and more concerning (I suspect she’s terminally ill), and her having to find a living space, it’s no wonder that she had a breakdown and realizes that she does want caring people around her. And lucky for her, she runs into the arms of someone willing to take her in.

We also got a slightly more melancholic look at Eun-seop’s (Seo Kang-joon) life. While it is still unclear what sorts of emotional scars he carries, he seems to want to shoulder the burden himself, and only let others see his cheerful side. However, Hae-won clearly picked up on it, and it seems that her finding him in the forest and realizing that he too has a place he wants to escape too made her feel closer to him.

I really enjoyed the stylistic choices of this episode, and I enjoyed how the book club tied the themes of this episode together. The retelling of legends, and their metaphorical application to our characters’ lives was wonderfully done, but I really just enjoyed them for what they were too. Tales like these are often indicative of what values those who tell them hold dear, and it was clear that our book club group are insightful, hopeful and self-reflective.

I’m sure going forward, our characters will only come to learn and grow, but even if they stumble or fall, there are those around them who are willing to help.