From bold confrontations to fluttering hearts, this week’s episodes had quite a lot going on and once again I find myself cheering No Ra on as she continues on this journey of self-discovery… self-improvement… self-awareness??? Maybe it’s all of the above?
With the way things were left last week, I was so afraid No Ra was going to allow her awful husband to manipulate her to get what he wanted and though he did postpone their divorce for the duration of this week’s episodes, No Ra isn’t going to let him keep this ridiculousness up for long. (And all the world rejoiced.) You know, after twelve episodes of Woo Chul’s shenanigans, I’m so ready for No Ra to be rid of him completely. As she herself said, Woo Chul is nothing but a narcissist who expects the world to revolve around him and it’s time someone told him he’s not actually the center of anyone’s universe but his own. I’m seriously hoping everyone in Woo Chul’s world ditches him by the end and he has to spend the rest of his life alone. Already he’s well on his way towards this as No Ra’s begging him to go to the courthouse and make their divorce official and Min Soo wants nothing to do with him. Now all we need if for Ye Jin to realize Woo Chul’s actually nothing but a slime-ball and dump him and then he’ll be free to live his life completely focused on nothing but himself.
Until that time comes (and it had better because if this story ends with No Ra living happily ever after with her dip-wad of a husband I’m going to flip all the tables) we’re forced to watch Woo Chul spin one lie after another in a desperate attempt to keep No Ra beside him. The question is, why? Why, after 20+ years, would Woo Chul start to care for his wife? After all, he’s spent all this time resenting her, why change now? My guess is it’s because he sees she’s desirable in other’s eyes and he can’t stand the idea of losing something that might actually be valuable, even if he can’t see the value. It’s kinda like someone who’s been given some awful, ugly vase and they hate the thing and have wanted to throw it out for years but just when they started to toss it, someone says something about it being a priceless heirloom and suddenly this awful thing that’s been nothing but a blight for years becomes precious. Not that the thing itself is precious, but the worth put into it by others makes is something that can’t be let go. That’s how I see things with Woo Chul and No Ra. I don’t think he’s ever liked her as a person and he’s certainly never respected her as a wife, but now that she’s out and around other people who actually see her worth and love her, Woo Chul thinks he’d needs to keep her close by, on the off-chance she’s actually worth more than he believes her to be. It’s no wonder No Ra is ready to walk out of his life. Why stay with someone who’s never once shown any sign of real affection?
As if No Ra didn’t already have all the reason in the world to leave Woo Chul, now she’s beginning to develop feelings for Hyun Suk which, naturally, makes things confusing when she’s around him. It’s always weird when you one day realize you’ve mysteriously developed feeling for someone who’s only ever been a friend. Even if the feelings aren’t unwelcome, there’s always a bit of awkwardness as you decide to take your friendship to the next level. Not that No Ra and Hyun Suk are there yet but they certainly could be soon, especially now that Hyun Suk knows No Ra is on the verge of a divorce. I have to say, I’m so ridiculously happy all of these relationship mysteries are finally out in the open. No Ra knows about Woo Chul and Ye Jin, Hyun Suk knows about No Ra and Woo Chul and now No Ra knows about Hyun Suk’s long-harbored crush. After 12 episodes I’d like to think we can begin to make some real progress in the relationships that make up this story. If No Ra is going to leave Woo Chul, she needs to just do it. If Hyun Suk is going to pursue any sort of relationship with No Ra, he needs to just do it. Woo Chul needs to just take a long walk off a short pier and Ye Jin needs to go find a man who’s actually into her the way she wants someone to be into her. Poor woman, I don’t think she’s ever had a real, romantic relationship with anyone in her life. She really needs some dashing stranger to come in, sweep her off her feet and make her forget Woo Chul ever existed.
I wish I had a better idea of where things were going to go from here but I always have the worst time predicting where things are going to go when a marriage is involved. I know what I want to happen but that doesn’t mean that’s what’s actually going to happen. I still say I’d be happy with No Ra spending the rest of her life alone if it meant she was free to live the life she wanted. Of course it’d be best for her to have a healthy relationship with Min Soo as well as her freedom but I don’t think I have to worry about that. Min Soo seems to be truly concerned about his mom and he really is such a cute son, I’m sure they’ll get everything worked out in time. Who knows, maybe one of these days he won’t even be embarrassed to admit No Ra is his mom. (Wouldn’t that be something?)
So tell me, what did you think of this week’s episodes? Were you at all surprised by Woo Chul coming up with lame-sauce excuses to postpone their divorce? Do you have any idea why he suddenly wants to keep No Ra around? How long do you think Ye Jin is going to put up with his shenanigans? What do you see happening between No Ra and Hyun Suk now that he’s given her that box of precious memories? You know I always love hearing from you so be sure to let me know what you’re thinking by leaving me a comment below!
You can catch up on all my reviews of Twenty Again here:
was thinking about the different kind of First love between WC and HS. what WC saw and loved in Nora, was shallow, though i resist naming it “lust”, the genesis of his feels was awed by her glow when she dance. that’s that, maybe he furthered wowed by her “talent”, her”arty sense”, our artsy WC loves anything “cultured and arty”. he loved what he chose to see partial in Nora, not Nora as a whole
Hyun Suk, love, not just the Dancing artsy Nora. he first mesmerized by her when witnessed her bounced back everytimes after Yoon-young knocked her whacked her up, finally when Yoonyoung was done her bullying, Nora was a total mess, with her face bruised hairs pulled, but her eyes still dauntless, that was the spirit that owned Hyun Suk’s heart forever, not the dancing glamorous Nora.
the Nora he saw, was fighting spirit within her, the dreams that was way beyond her reach but she still dare yearned. a Nora that seek not the norm, and is spirited enough to try new horizons, (eg. her readiness to try mixing Ballet with modern dance). what pained Hyun Suk is, whatever WC has loved, and now will never loved, was and is not this Nora Hyun Suk saw and loved. and this is the Nora, he wanted Nora to remember and hang on to, the rest of her new lonely life, “post-WC era”, that’s the purpose of the unveiling of the Treasure Box. “i like you” for you your real-Self, from now live your life remember this.
I think you summed both of these first loves perfectly! Hyun Suk loves No Ra for who she is while Woo Chul was only wowed by her shining on-stage presence. When the stage lights dimmed and the glitz and glamour gave way to the humdrum reality of life, Woo Chul’s admiration of No Ra also faded. He has never once loved her for who she is, only what she once was. This is why Hyun Suk is so mad at Woo Chul, he’s never once known the real No Ra even after spending the last 20 years with her. Woo Chul has kept the real No Ra suppressed to the point she might not have ever made a comeback had she not dared to go back to school and that is why Hyun Suk can’t stand No Ra’s husband. This is why I’m hoping No Ra can finally break away from Woo Chul. She deserves the chance to live her life as herself, not as someone’s looked-down-upon housekeeper.