Dong-Seok and Seon-A 2
Episode 9 of Our Blues begins with In-Gwon heading home but finding Ho-Sik glum and down in the dumps. Ho-Sik drops to his knees after inviting himself into In-Gwon’s place. Together, they drink as Ho-Sik decides that they should let their kids have the baby after all. As the tears flow, In-Gwon apologizes to his old friend for calling Yeong-Ju a girl who sleeps around. Just before In-Gwon leaves, Ho-Sik encourages him to forgive Hyeon too, and reveals that he’s going to treat him like a brother now. “We’re not brothers, we’re in-laws,” In-Gwon replies, as this bitter rivalry looks to be over for now. In town, Dong-Seok has a whole line of people to sell his gear to. That certainly puts him in a good mood as he does his chores around selling odds and ends. Unfortunately the dream day turns into a nightmare when Dong-Seok’s truck gets stuck in the mud. Through some ingenuity though, he does manage to free it. Dong-Seok heads to the motel to dry his things, where the owner quizzes him over the “woman in Room 201.” This is Seon-A, of course. He’s unsure what Seon-A’s deal is and hasn’t seen her in 3 days. Dong-Seok expects the worst, ringing her constantly and heading out to track her down. From flashbacks, we see Dong-Seok’s past, including his ties with best friend Jae-Gu and Seon-A herself. This is the catalyst for the ill-will between these guys but more will be revealed in time. Anyway, back in the present Seon-A rings Dong-Seok back, informing him that she’s up at her old house. Dong-Seok rocks up outside in his truck. This place holds a lot of memories for Dong-Seok- and not good ones either. The flashbacks we see help to add more context to Dong-Seok’s pain. Specifically, we see Jae-Gu meeting Seon-A alone. When he heads back in town, Dong-Seok follows, believing he’s slept with Seon-A and beats him down. Back in the present, Dong-Seok and Seon-A hash out their issues and clear the air over what really happened. Seon-A opens up and admits that he was all she had back then and truly loved him. Not only that, it turns out she never slept with Jae-Gu after all. They were getting undressed but he ended up getting cold feet and decided to leave, not wanting to betray his friend after all. Seon-A also admits she never phoned the police either after Jae-Gu’s beatdown (another part of the earlier flashback), it was just to scare him. With their issues aired out, the pair decide to head off and watch the sunrise together. Whilst there, Dong-Seok asks her about the pills she’s taking. They’re anti-depressants, but she takes them infrequently since the day her dad died. This, coincidentally, is also the day Dong-Seok beat up Jae-Gu for that misunderstanding. Seon-A’s father drove his car into the sea after sending Seon-A off on an errand. It’s a horrid day for her all round and no surprise that she snapped. After chatting, and with the sun rising, Seon-A comments how easy it is to chat with Dong-Seok about these sort of sensitive topics. Dong-Seok’s anger wells up again though when he learns that Seon-A’s partner left her because of her depression. This angry outburst is something Seon-A decides to adopt herself, shouting at the heavens for Yeol. It’s a beautiful and cathartic moment, one that really helps to build her character. As this is going on, we cut to Yeong-Ok and Jun, who discuss the nature of love. The latter decides they should go on a trip to Gapa Island. They’re interrupted by Eun-Hui dancing about though, given the bar has made 300,000 won that night and they want to celebrate. We also cut across to Hyeon and Yeong-Ju in the midst of this, with Hyeon taking his partner to school. On the way, they kiss but Myeong-Bo stops in his car outside and berates them for kissing. Step forward In-Gwon and Ho-Sik, who both open up their windows and tell him it’s okay, they’re practically married now. Back with Dong-Seok and Seon-A for now, and the pair head up to the old house and continue remodelling. Seon-A admits that all of this is for her and Yeol. She’s determined to win Yeol and live together in this old house. Losing in her upcoming custody battle is not an option.
The Episode Review
Our Blues returns with another good episode, albeit one that slows down a little and focuses more exclusively on Dong-Seok and Seon-A. Understanding what they had together in the past and how that ties into the present is a really nice touch. Most notably, those flashbacks add a lot more context to their past and the subsequent misunderstanding that plagues their childhood. Funnily enough though, the real highlights of this episode come from more uplifting segments. Seeing Seon-A cathartically screaming to the heavens down by the shore, along with In-Gwon and Ho-Sik patching up their differences, help to add some much needed levity and brightness to an otherwise sombre chapter. There’s certainly a lot to like with this show, and the ending leaves everything wide open for tomorrow’s follow-up.
