Catch Me If You Can
Episode 7 of Our Beloved Summer begins with a look at how Choi-Ung deals with stressful situations. Or, more specifically, doesn’t. He has a habit of running away from his problems, and we see that from elementary school all the way through to present day. According to Choi-ung, this is just a reasonable decision and he doesn’t even see it as running away. In the present, off the back of his big drawing demonstration, a celebration is about to get underway. And of course, Choi-ung runs away again. Only, Yeon-Su also goes AWOL as well. With Eun-Ho and Sol-Yi there twiddling their thumbs, they debate over where the pair may be… and if they’re together. They’re not though but left to their own devices, they decide to drink the bottles of wine. After all, it would be a shame to waste them, wouldn’t it? Meanwhile, Ji-Ung heads to work and notices they’ve been assigned a brand new writer. This woman is Lee Min-Kyung and she throws shade at the upcoming documentary, unsure exactly what Ji-ung’s angle is in all this. She watched the old documentary before coming into this and believes there’s something simmering between Yeon-Su and Choi-ung. Looking at the new documentary, that’s not there. So naturally, she questions Ji-Ung’s filming and whether there could be more to this than meets the eye. So naturally, she comes up with a big draft script for the documentary. When she finds out about Choi-ung running away though, she implores Ji-Ung to bring them back and this time, make sure they stay. Even if that means locking them up or kidnapping them. Figuratively speaking though right Lee Min-Kyung… right? By chance, the pair do run into one another at the library, It’s incredibly awkward and absolutely hilarious. Yeon-Su feels embarrassed as she cried in front of Choi-ung but when he learns how embarrassed she is, and isn’t running away, it makes him reconsider his actions. The two do hash out their issues, with Choi-ung unhappy with Yeon-Su always being the one in control and making all the decisions. This time though he decides to walk away. When he does, NJ and Eun-Ho send him a video message wishing him congrats on his success story. The thing is, the pair have been drinking wine together and are very drunk. What begins as a nice message soon turns into crying. Meanwhile, NJ organizes a charity event but the who commenters who show up to help have an ulterior motive. They’re all doing this to avoid being sued and just pretending to be happy. They’re only sucking up because they know that last year those who volunteered were let off. As a whole table of people discuss this, NJ happens to be just round the corner and she hears the whole thing. NJ puts her foot down and confronts them after the day’s events, deciding she’s not going to drop the charges against these malicious commenters after all. When she eventually drives away, she runs into Choi-ung and the pair head to the park together. There, a couple of kids show up who happen to be fans of NJ. Choi-Ung admires her patience and comments how difficult it must be to juggle all of this. While the pair get along really well, Yeon-Su shows up and sees them together from afar. At least until Ji-Ung appears. NJ finally breaks the news that she likes Choi-ung, who is shell-shocked when he finds out. She also calls him Tofu (the name of her dog) and suggests they should hang out together again soon. Interestingly, Yeon-Su and Ji-Ung also hang out, after taking a very drunk Sol-Yi over to Yeon-Su’s to crash. As Yeon-Su watches from afar, Ji-Ung and her grandmother get on really well – could there be romance here, I wonder? In the morning, Ji-ung makes his decision along with Ms Lee and they bring Choi-ung and Yeon-Su up to a secluded cabin in the middle of nowhere to film. They’ve got three days together and this time, there’s no running away!
The Episode Review
Our Beloved Summer changes tact this year and focuses on the idea of running away from your problems. That’s something these characters have done across the years, especially if those flashbacks are anything to go by. The decision to throw Yeon-Su and Choi-ung in the deep end, forcing them to spend three whole days together and not run away, should be enough to spark the film into life. Interestingly, Choi-ung has the romantic prospects of NJ to deal with here too, and I’d imagine we’ll see him dating her for a while before realizing that his heart lies with Yeon-Su. Likewise, the whole Ji-Ung situation alongside Yeon-Su looks to be building up to something but we’ll have to wait and see if that comes to fruition or not. For now though, Our Beloved Summer bows out with another good episode, one that thematically sticks to the idea of running or facing your problems, leaving plenty of food for thought. It’s also named after a damn good movie featuring Leo Di Caprio and Tom Hanks, so there is that too!
