Early Access: Why Her E2 (Patreon)

E2. Overall, I'm gonna hafta say that I thought this episode felt weaker, compared to episode 1.

I think it has something to do with Show's shifting tones; it almost feels like episode 2 is kinda-sorta almost from a different story world, than episode 1.

Of course, that is very likely because we are still in the early stages of our story, and Show is still in the process of getting everything set-up, so that our drama world is properly established.

Mostly, I think the reason I feel that this episode vibes differently than the previous episode, is because I felt like the behavior turnaround that we see in Soo Jae, this episode, along with the catalyst for that turnaround, feels rather.. treacly, if I may use the word.

And, while kdramas have been known to be rather treacly when they want to be, I just hadn't expected that from this particular show, given our starting point.

We'd started with Soo Jae being cold as ice and tough as nails, after having packing up her humanity and compassion, and shoving it into some dark corner of her consciousness, and suddenly, one hour of screen time later, she's getting involved in clearing a powerless college student's name?

And the catalyst is basically that Gong Chan, who's essentially nobody to her at this point, tells her that she's better than this, and then later tells her that her behavior is uncool?

I dunno; I guess I'd pegged Soo Jae for being so cold, tough and jaded, that these statements, coming from (to her, so far) a random student in her class, would be far from enough, to get her to change her approach to things.

Which, altogether, probably means that I'm still getting a handle on where Show actually wants to pitch itself.

Perhaps Soo Jae's humanity isn't as far from the surface as I'd assumed; perhaps Show isn't as gray and edgy as I'd first imagined; perhaps Show has more treacly DNA in it than I'd have guessed.

Because it's still early days yet, it's understandable that there might be some unevenness and wobbly-ness, as Show finds its feet. I feel that given another episode or two, Show will be able to establish more clearly, what kind of drama it wants to be.

On another note, I find it a strange choice, that Show would cast a completely different actor to play Gong Chan's younger self, particularly since that other actor doesn't even look that much younger than how Hwang In Yeop looks, as Gong Chan.

And, since it doesn't look like Gong Chan had the money to go for extensive plastic surgery to get a new face and a new life, I feel that this was an overall odd choice.

I get that the idea is that Gong Chan's changed so much, that he's hard to recognize. And, I buy that idea, because it's very possible for someone to look very different after some time, after a drastic change in lifestyle &/or diet.

And, perhaps it's just hard to give Hwang In Yeop a radically different look, because of practical concerns like hair length and weight, for example, but dramas have asked us to suspend disbelief for much more than this (like telling us that Park Bo Young is ugly, for example, which, pfft 😏), so I'd rather have had Hwang In Yeop play Gong Chan's younger self.

Plus, after all that time has passed, I would've found it easy to buy the thought that Soo Jae is unlikely to remember him, after so many other things have happened in her life.

All that said, I do prefer that Gong Chan has a history with Soo Jae, and has had heart-eyes for her ever since he'd met her, years ago, than what I'd first assumed last episode, that he'd just fallen for her at first sight.

This way, his attachment to her makes a lot more sense, particularly since she'd been the only person who had believed him, when he'd protested his innocence. I mean, even his own father hadn't believed him then, so I can imagine how precious Soo Jae's trust in him had been.

And therefore, I can believe that his admiration and affection for Soo Jae, and his goodwill towards her, runs long and deep.

In terms of our story, I suppose it makes sense that Soo Jae's still involved in matters relating to TK Law Firm, since her exile to law school is supposed to only last for a semester.

Therefore, it's logical that she would still be in the thick of digging for information, through her trusted aides,  in order to fight this battle that she finds herself in.

That said, I still found the tonal shifts between the TK Law Firm stuff and the law school stuff a little stark. But maybe that's the whole point; that law school and the real world are two very distinct and different places.

It sucks that Chairman Choi is effectively abandoning Soo Jae in favor of his son, but given the heartless nature of the beast that is the law arena Show introduces to us in episode 1, I can't say that that's very surprising.

What is rather surprising to me, is that Yoon Sang, Bae In Hyuk's character, turns out to be Chairman Choi's son. Not only that, he'd received personal tutoring from none other than Soo Jae herself, when he'd had to retake his CSATs.

Somehow, I'm rather taken with this idea, that Yoon Sang is a rebellious son, who presumably fails his courses in defiance, because he's somehow got a more righteous heart than his father and brother, and sees them for the morally dubious people that they are.

I almost feel like Yoon Sang could be the lead in his own drama, heh.

In the meantime, I have to give Soo Jae points for the way she manages to get all those students back into her class, without actually changing the way she intends to conduct the class - occasionally.

I mean, dangling an internship at TK Law Firm, AND a cash bonus out of her own pocket, to ther top performing student in her class? And then swanning in there and telling everyone that she will conduct the class on occasion? That's chutzpah. 😁

I also like that in her plan to claw her way to get back what she's lost, Soo Jae doesn't include the managing partner position that she'd lost to Choi Joo Wan.

Soo Jae isn't specific about how she plans to get her own back at Chairman Choi for treating her like yesterday's trash, but I like that she now considers the managing partner position not worth fighting for.

I do wonder whether she'll be successful in getting Hansu Bio's sale to be under her purview, but I just like that she's coming across as someone not to be taken lightly.

The arc to do with lecherous Professor Seo molesting first Soo Jae, then a student, is not my favorite thing, this episode.

It feels kinda like it was shoved in there, just so that there'd be something to bring Soo Jae and Gong Chan together, at least for a while.

I also thought it was a little whiplashy to have Soo Jae tell Se Ryeon to apologize to Professor Seo, one minute, and then, not that many minutes later, have her reveal that Professor Seo had molested her too.

I was actually rather relieved to have this arc finish up, and then see Soo Jae throw those incriminating photos at Professor Seo's wife, to ensure that she keeps her husband in check. That feels more like the Soo Jae that Show introduced to us, from the start.

All that said, the fangirl in me couldn't help but get a bit of a thrill at the elevator scene, where Gong Chan tells Soo Jae that it's not that he likes Se Ryeon, but that he likes her.

Somehow, I can believe that this would touch Soo Jae's heart in some way.

I think it's because Soo Jae's dipped back into her humanity, however briefly, for Se Ryeon's case, and, fresh off of that, she's being told by someone, with all sincerity, that he likes her.

That must feel quite different for Soo Jae, since, from what we've been shown, Soo Jae has been more likely to receive either lip-servicey compliments, or outright hate, in her time at TK Law Firm.

While it does seem quite forward of Gong Chan to hold Soo Jae's hand like that, even for a short while, with the context of how she'd once held his hand, when he'd first been sentenced to prison, it makes a lot more sense.

It's quite poignant, really, to see that Soo Jae's words, that they both need to gain power and have a solid foundation, in order to not get lost, have been Gong Chan's inspiration, for turning his life around.

And so, despite my quibbles about the execution of this episode, I still find myself very interested to see how this re-connection unfolds between Gong Chan and Soo Jae, going forward.

Next episode notes will be out on: Sunday, 12 June 2022!