Early Access: Twenty Five, Twenty One E2 (Patreon)

E2. Guh. I LUFF THIS SHOW.

I'd been slightly afraid that episode 1 might've been some kind of amazing fluke, and episode 2 might not live up to episode 1's level of awesome, BUT IT DOES. It so does. And I am so thrilled that I can't quite wipe the happy, goofy grin off my face.

To be clear, I am mostly in love with the flashback portion of our story. I appreciate the present-day portion too, but it's the flashback portion that has my heart.

To my eyes, the present day portion is important, though, so I don't begrudge it its screen time. Not only does it show us that Hee Do's understanding of her mother continues to evolve in the present, ie, it's an ongoing, incomplete journey, it also creates this mirror effect, where Min Chae in the present, goes through a similar grappling of her own, in the midst of a Big Event of the times, like Hee Do had done, in the past.

I do like this idea that we are more alike than we think, and Min Chae being enthralled by Hee Do's story of her teenaged years, very likely because she identifies with it so much, brings out that theme very nicely.

Much as I came into this with a strong affection for Choi Myung Bin, I have to confess that it's Kim Tae Ri who has my heart, in this show. This is literally my favorite role of Kim Tae Ri's that I've seen, to date. She is flat-out WONDERFUL, as Hee Do. I just LUFF her, so much.

I love how frank and unfiltered she is, not only with her own feelings, but also, when she talks with others. There is absolutely no guile about her, and when she attempts to be polite and hide her feelings a little bit, it's not hard to see right through her, to her true heart.

I love what an irrepressible bundle of flaily, gangly, chaotic energy she is. I know reactions are mixed about how convincing Kim Tae Ri is, as an 18-year-old high schooler, but I personally think she nails it. I am completely convinced that Hee Do is an unpolished, gawky teenager, who's all limbs, and all heart.

Hee Do strikes me as someone that you just can't keep down for too long. I love her bright-eyed, hopeful, passionate approach to the world, and I also love how she's instinctively empathetic as well. She's all heart and hope, and I love that about her, so much.

I am also enjoying Nam Joo Hyuk in this, very, very much. What he's giving us, in Yi Jin, reminds me of his work in The Light in Your Eyes, and even The School Nurse Files. Both of those were roles where I was genuinely impressed by his delivery, and felt that he was proving himself to be a more serious actor than one might first assume, if only looking at his fluffier, relatively easier roles like Start-Up, Weightlifting Kim Bok Joo, and School 2015.

In this episode, in particular, I feel like I'm getting a better sense of the kind of underlying angst that we're going to get in Yi Jin, and I really liked the way Nam Joo Hyuk delivers it all. I love that this role is going to allow him to showcase his depth as an actor.

I love how nonchalant and devil-may-care Hee Do is, in terms of her transfer to her new school. She's happily curious about things, and will ask if she wants to know something, but she's also not at all intimidated by her new surroundings and the new people around her.

She literally only cares about fencing and about being near her idol Yu Rim, and her joy at these two things, is so, so pure. Also, the way she goofy-spazzes about Yu Rim, like she's her total girl-crush, is very cute.

The way Hee Do's wide-eyed happy reverie, at the idea of becoming part of Yu Rim's orbit, comes crashing down in the face of Yu Rim's cold, distant sort of attitude, is so relatable. I felt like I could practically hear Hee Do's heart come crashing down to the floor, when Yu Rim first gives her that cold put-down, about her being a nobody.

For the record, I don't dislike Yu Rim, even though she says some mean things this episode. I think Show does a solid job of showing us clues, that help us identify what's going on with Yu Rim, underneath that prickly surface.

Like that way she hesitates at the sight of her own shabby shoes, when Coach Yang casually mentions that the shoes she'd gotten off Hee Do, are branded. It's not hard to see that Yu Rim's acting out of insecurity, and her default way of doing that, appears to be pushing away the source of that insecurity; in this case, Hee Do.

Additionally, Yu Rim's under a great deal of pressure, as a gold medalist, who's in the spotlight, and under the eye of the entire nation. There's a great deal that Yu Rim must feel she needs to live up to, and I'm sure she doesn't feel like she's quite the living legend that everyone thinks she is. So that pressure to live up to an image must also be weighing on her.

On top of that is the fact that, with Yu Jin's family going bankrupt, she's lost her key sponsor, and therefore has financial worries, on top of everything else.

I still think that my initial impression of Yu Rim holds true; that she's isolated and lonely, at the heart of it all.

Overall, I feel more sympathy for her than dislike, and I'm putting my faith in Show, to not make her an unlikable second female lead.

Of course, there's also that detail, where Yu Rim appears to very possibly be nursing a crush on Yi Jin, which could prove troublesome, when the OTP loveline eventually gets going. I'm still hoping against hope, though, that Show works out this situation without making Yu Rim into a manipulative lovelorn second female lead.

I love-love-LOVE the interactions between Hee Do and Yi Jin. It all feels so natural and easy, almost as if it were all unscripted - even though I know it is.

I really like how Yi Jin continues to be friendly with Hee Do, even though he's in a really tough personal situation, and it would be easy to just withdraw into himself and just not talk to people. I actually really appreciate that detail about him.

Even at his lowest, with all this responsibility bearing down on him, for being his family's son, he makes it a point to visit Yu Rim, to make sure she's ok, and when he runs into Hee Do, he makes it a point to connect with her, even though she makes it a point to avoid him, at least a little bit, for the fact that he knows Yu Rim.

I love that Hee Do's petty effort to distance herself from Yi Jin doesn't last long at all, and that the moment he lets on that he'd heard her happy news about her transfer, in the morning, she completely opens up, with her cheeky-mischievous nature firmly back in place.

I love that little detail, where he extends his hand to congratulate her, and she smacks it away, with a naughty grin, saying that she hadn't heard him. This feels so artless, carefree and innocent; I love it so much.

I found the scene on the bus very cute, with her giving up the seat to him as a way to respect the elderly, then him saving her from a fall by grabbing her by the backpack - and then giving up the seat to her, as athlete protection. Tee hee. They just this really good rhythm with each other, with the way they rib each other, without missing a beat.

What a great little reveal, that Hee Do's online friend, turns out to be Yi Jin himself! This kinda-sorta gives me You've Got Mail vibes, except that they don't hate each other in real life. Plus, he's offered to meet in real life. I wonder if Yi Jin's pieced together, from the various details that she's shared, that his online chat buddy is Hee Do?

For some reason, this detail about them being online buddies, who've been chatting from long before they ever met in real life, really thrills me. 🤩

Full disclosure: I know nothing about fencing, so I have no pre-existing fondness for it. I have to say, though, Show had me on the edge of my seat, during that spar session between Hee Do and Yu Rim.

Can't lie; I was SOOO excited for Hee Do, that she wins the match. It feels like a huge deal, not only because this is Yu Rim whom she's up against, but also because we've been told that Hee Do's been in a slump for quite some time. If she's able to beat Yu Rim in any sort of situation, that's a huge breakthrough, isn't it? And it means that she's likely out of her slump, too?

I love that Coach Yang puts it all in perspective for the both of them. That Yu Rim's disadvantage is being known by everyone, and that Hee Do's advantage is being unknown to everyone. That makes so much sense, but I hadn't even thought of it, until Coach Yang articulated it. It's great food for thought, honestly.

And, what an interesting nugget of information, that Yu Rim does know Hee Do's name after all; that Hee Do had once beaten her at a competition, when she'd been at the height of being known as a fencing prodigy. I'd hazard a guess that this is also playing into Yu Rim's decision to keep Hee Do at a distance. She's definitely got some emotional baggage around this memory.

I do love that Hee Do makes it a point to tell Yu Rim that it was an honor to spar against her, even though she knows that Yu Rim is unlikely to welcome the interaction. And, I love that when Yu Rim questions Hee Do on why Hee Do likes her in the first place, Hee Do's ready with a string of reasons that are clearly well thought-through conclusions of a longtime fan, rather than a bunch of things that she just plucked out of the air, in the moment.

And, I love that when Yu Rim tells Hee Do that she's wrong, Hee Do flat-out tells Yu Rim that she's basically talking nonsense, because what does she know about Hee Do's feelings? HA. I love that. Also, how essentially kind of Hee Do, to point Yu Rim back to her ankle injury, and tell her to take care of herself instead. Even in the face of Yu Rim's cold put-downs, Hee Do doesn't resort to maliciousness. I've said it about a million times already by this point, but really, I love her. 🤩

The flashbacks to Yi Jin's happier, more carefree days, land so poignantly, in contrast to his current situation. What a rude shock it must be for him, to one day have the perfect life, and the next, to have that perfect life give way to his worst nightmare, pretty much.

That scene, where his father's ex-associates are badgering him for information his father's whereabouts, is so painful to watch. Yi Jin looks so deeply pained, and so sad and so helpless, all at the same time.

I felt so sorry for him, when he eked out that promise, to never be happy again, as a way to make up for the misery that these men are now in, because of his father. Oof. That hurt to watch, seriously.

Poor Yi Jin. He should never have been place in such a situation, because, honestly, what can he do? He can't give them back the money they lost, because he barely has any money himself, and he can't tell them his father's whereabouts, because he doesn't actually know where his father is.

Nam Joo Hyuk does such a fantastic job of this scene. He made my heart break for Yi Jin, and he made Yi Jin's dilemma feel so painfully, profoundly wretched. 💔

I'd kind of thought that Hee Do being privy to this very private pain of Yi Jin's, might put a damper on their relationship, but in true Hee Do fashion, she doesn't allow this to get in the way of bonding with Yi Jin, and in true Yi Jin fashion, he doesn't allow his personal situation to get in the way of being friends with Hee Do.

The way Hee Do navigates the conversation with Yi Jin, following this incident, feels so pitch perfect. She remains unfiltered, and doesn't shy away from talking about it, but the way she talks about it is - for her, anyway - quite gentle and tentative.

Plus, I think it helps that Hee Doo naturally goes off on regular tangents, which inadvertently work to take the focus off Yi Jin's situation, somewhat. I think, together, this has the effect of taking away the shame of the moment, for Yi Jin. Like, it's ok to talk about it, because it's nothing that shameful.

I love that when Yi Jin says that he would like to turn back time, Hee Do thinks of the one thing that brings her pure, unadulterated joy, and takes Yi Jin to experience it.

The upside-down faucet fountain is such a simple thing, and it brings her so much joy; I love it. I love how it really doesn't take much, to bring a smile to Hee Do's face.

I also love how Yi Jin keeps an open mind to this serving of happiness that Hee Do is offering him. Instead of snubbing the small happiness it represents, he gamely thinks of a way to take it to the next level, by turning on all the faucets, to make a medley of faucet fountains. Hee Do's wonder at Yi Jin's ability to think big, and her accompanying cackle of happiness is so perfect. Hee.

It's so great, to see them playing happily in the water like that. In that moment, it feels like all of Yi Jin's troubles have melted away, and that's precious.

In a similar sort of vein, I love Hee Do's assertive proposal to Yi Jin, at the close of our episode. After they're all wet and out of breath from running away from the security guard, Hee Do, eyes shining, grins breathlessly to Yi Jin, "Let's do fun things together from time to time."

"Remember what you said to those men earlier today? You said you'll never be happy again."

"I'm against that. The times took everything from you. You can't give up on happiness. But you already gave your word to them. How about this? From now on, when you hang out with me, you can be happy and keep it a secret. When it's just us two, let's be happy when we're together, albeit temporarily. So this can be our little secret."

What a wonderful, perfect proposal, honestly. It's so wonderfully earnest, and so innocently pure. I love that it brings a genuine smile of comfort, to Yi Jin's face, and I can't wait to see these two hanging out together, and spending happy times together, just like Hee Do promises. ❤️

Next episode notes will be out on: Friday, 25 Feb 2022!