She rationalizes on Do Kyung’s behalf she lashes out at him when she really does want him to come to her she wants to hear that he loves her, but can’t bring herself to ask him about it.Įpisode 12 is where it first occurred to me that everyone involved in making this show understands intimately what it means to be abandoned by someone, and to hurt so bad that you want to die. The things that Hae Young says, about wanting Do Kyung to be in a lot of pain, of wanting to kill him, and yet missing him and wanting to be with him, are spot on.
That’s such a believable and human response. I mean, it’s not commendable, but it’s human. In episode 11, when Hae Young finds out that Do Kyung is the cause of her wedding being called off, her behavior in episodes 11 through 13 swing between the two extremes of wanting Do Kyung back, and wishing pain &/or death on him and everyone else too. It’s such a tiny, almost throwaway sort of remark, but it’s so real, relatable and true to life. That’s totally the kind of thing a girl would think about, if she had to meet her Ex without notice. In episode 8, Hae Young frets about seeing her ex-fiance Tae Jin (Lee Jae Yoon) coz she hasn’t washed her hair. Show demonstrates its deep understanding of pain and how we as humans respond to it, so many times in the course of its run, in the bigger moments, as well as the smaller ones. Major props and deep respect to everyone involved, seriously. My pain didn’t manifest itself in precisely the same behaviors, but I can’t deny that at my most hurt and most broken, that was exactly how I felt. I know not everyone experiences heartache and heartbreak the same way, but I have to admit, Show’s portrayal of Hae Young’s pain (Seo Hyun Jin) hit home, and hard, because I’ve felt all those feelings before. That intimacy and familiarity with emotional pain shows through with profound depth and nuance in our characters’ pain, which all feels so raw and so, so real.
One of the things in this show that left the deepest impression on me, is how everyone involved in making this show – from PD-nim, to writer-nim, to the actors (Seo Hyun Jin in particular) – clearly understands emotional pain.