Early Access: Mad For Each Other E12 (Patreon)

E12. Oof. Show serves up the angst this episode, and it's of the raw, hit-me-hard variety. This was a tough episode.

First of all, I dislike Hwi Oh's ex, so much, you guys. She really is a miserable person. The way she keeps acting all condescending to Hwi Oh, and makes herself out to be the bigger person, when she'd been the one to abandon him in his time of need. I'm really amazed at how patient and gracious Hwi Oh is towards her, given how she's acting now, and how she's acted in the past.

And, to make Condescending Ex even worse than she already is, she puts on a show in front of Min Kyung, knowing that this is the woman that Hwi Oh's seeing now. That just blows my mind, honestly.

I mean, it's not even like she's trying to hold onto Hwi Oh for herself; after all, she's getting ready to marry someone else. I feel like she did that to, 1, exert her superiority over Min Kyung, and 2, make sure Hwi Oh's in more unhappy circumstances than she is. UGH. She's awful, and I'm glad that she's not in Hwi Oh's life anymore, though I do want to throttle her, for purposely stirring up trouble, where Min Kyung and Hwi Oh have enough on their plates to sort through.

I really wanted Hwi Oh and Min Kyung to sort out their misunderstanding, and more than once, it almost kinda-sorta feels like we're on the cusp of a breakthrough - but not quite.

Clearly, both of them still have a great deal of issues and baggage, and the hard truth is, it is getting in the way of them fully trusting each other.

Min Kyung's wounds are so deep, that the single interaction with Hwi Oh's ex is enough to send her into a tailspin, her mind whirling at every thing that Hwi Oh's ever said to her, and how each thing might not be the truth after all. And with Min Kyung being this anxious and fragile, it's legitimately difficult for Hwi Oh to keep his promise to her, to believe everything that she says, no matter what.

And then there are Hwi Oh's anger issues. He may not be directing that anger towards Min Kyung, but I can attest to the fact that when you are mentally and emotionally fragile, having someone show explosive anger in front of you, is in itself a terrifying thing. It presents the (very real) possibility, that this violent anger could well be directed at you, in the not-so-distant future. It's very triggering, to put it mildly, and I can understand why Min Kyung would want to keep some distance between them. Sigh. It's a tough situation, for sure.

I really feel for both Hwi Oh and Min Kyung, through it all. I feel for Min Kyung because she's been so hurt, and she's still hurting; her wounds are still fresh, because they are that deep. My heart goes out to her. It's really hard, to heal from something like that.

And I feel for Hwi Oh, because he's doing his best, but it's just not working out. Even though he's taken steps to verify Min Kyung's assertions, every step he's taken, seems to create an even greater divide between him and Min Kyung, and that's the last thing that he wants. That scene, where he tries so hard to express himself to Min Kyung, that the tears start leaking out of his eyes, is just so, so well done. I legit choked up, watching Hwi Oh struggle to connect with Min Kyung.

"I'm the one who's crazy. I'm the real crazy one. I'm so angry. I'm so angry that it drives me crazy. Seeing you hurt… Seeing you in so much pain… That makes me so angry, okay? I don't care what happens to me now." ... "This hothead who's always beating people up just wants to be with the crazy woman who had an affair with a married man!"

I feel his helplessness so acutely, as she walks away, despite his best efforts. 😭💔 The heartbreak and resignation is real, y'all. Their issues are complicated and very much present in their lives, and there is no guaranteed fix either. Sometimes, people are damaged for life, because they simply fail to heal. I'm believing that Show is going to steer us towards a happy (ish?) ending, but for now, the angst is very real and raw.

The only silver lining, I'd say, is the sight of Su Hyun and Samantha becoming legit friends, as he works with her to put her amazing singing voice out on social media. I love that. I love that the adjummas pronounce that they are a "set" now. And I'm looking forward to seeing Hwi Oh and Min Kyung come back together as a "set" in our finale. Coz that's definitely going to happen, right?

Review will up on the blog on: Tuesday, 7 Sept 2021!