Currently Reviewing: Love, Take Two

Currently Reviewing: Love, Take Two 

You missed my other works or simply you want to check out some of my older articles? Well, here are some very simillar topics that include amazing storylines and gorgeous cinematography that captures even the smallest details as seen from: Premiere Reminder: Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Premiere Diary: Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022) and Colorful Throwback: The King: Eternal Monarch.

The first dive into the story takes place quite suddenly in a hospital, where a doctor explains a cancer diagnosis to Lee Ji Ahn  (Yum Jung Ah) and her daughter, Lee Hyo-ri (Choi Yoon Ji), but before we learn anymore context — or can process the fact that the cancer bomb has already been dropped on our plot — we jump back an unknown point in the past so we can be acquainted with our characters before their lives are turned upside down.

She’s a really hard working and independent single mother in a malen predominated field of work (construction) who has likely had to make herself louder and metaphorically bigger in order to be noticed and promoted to construction site manager. However, when the time calls for it, she also knows when to shut her mouth and bow her head to the smarmy company CEO (Yang Hyun-min), who she warns her friend Kim Sun-Young (Kim Sun-young) to avoid. Despite how proud she is of her daughter, though, Ji-ahn has no respect for Hyo-ri’s time or mental workload. In order to save a few bucks on a taxi, she summons Hyo-ri in the middle of the night to be her personal Uber after drinking with members of her team and the company CEO. Then, when Hyo-ri reluctantly does her mother’s bidding, Ji-ahn shoves Hyo-ri into the spotlight and introduces her to the CEO. From that point on everything about that situation gets awkward, much like when you are mixing the wrong ingrediendients as too much vinegar on top of burnt oil, but here is about some really awful, unplesant meetings and timings.

In addition to Ji-ahn’s frustrating inability to read her daughter and sense when she’s stepping on Hyo-ri’s boundaries, her proud momma routine is extremely toxic  - loosing all balance in communication, she also never misses a chance to remind Hyo-ri that she gave up her youth in order to raise her. Ji-ahn acts as though Hyo-ri’s successes are a currency she’s owed in exchange for being a mother, and poor Hyo-ri is stuck pursuing a career she hates because she feels indebted to Ji-ahn.

When Hyo-ri finally is determined to quit med school, while closing her bank account, packs an RV, and hits the road with her friend Lee Sook (Yang Yoo-jin), I was feeling relieved for her to escape that dark and controlled environment, and the small seaside village where her RV breaks down seems like just the place for her to find some breathing room and discover who she wants to be.

Meanwhile, Ryu Jeong Seok appears calm and relaxed with a chic, distant gaze and his hands tucked casually in his pockets. Despite his cool exterior, Jeong Seok is a devoted single father who shows boundless affection for his son, revealing a tender heart beneath his tough facade.

Speaking about her role, Yum Jung Ah shared, “Lee Ji An is a character who endures and overcomes her circumstances rather than denying them, which made me feel even more attached to her. I tried to portray Ji An in a way that her strength and warmth would naturally resonate with viewers.”

Park Hae Joon described his character Ryu Jeong Seok as “someone who may seem cold and blunt on the outside, but he’s a soft-hearted and caring person who always ends up agreeing to other people’s requests.”He also shared his comments and respect for Yum Jung Ah, saying, “She’s always delivered great performances, but I think her portrayal of Lee Ji An this time will be especially lovable and full of charm.”

Ji-ahn comes in hot and ready to drag Hyo-ri back to Seoul, where she will personally get down on her hands and knees and beg to get Hyo-ri reinstated into med school, but Hyo-ri refuses to leave. Ji-ahn accuses her of ruining her life by jumping off the path that would have given her an enviable life, but Hyo-ri expresses her frustration over not having been able to choose a path for herself. Hyo-ri mentally checks out, having already heard her diagnosis and done her own research on it. Ji-ahn wants Hyo-ri to return immediately to Seoul for treatment and is naively optimistic that Hyo-ri can resume her studies somehow, but Hyo-ri is exhausted from shouldering her mother’s expectations and just wants to live freely with what time she has left because, this is actually a critical sign that her way of life and thinking need to change. 

Along the way she bumps into her first love Ryu Jung-Seok (Park Hae Joon) in a manner that is reminiscent of their first encounter in high school. It was love at first sight for Ji-ahn, but her bold and public pursuit of the obviously embarrassed Jeong-seok. However, despite his discomfort in the flashback, present day Jeong-seok is cool, confident, and clearly unbothered by whatever did happen between them in the past. He’s surprised to learn that her daughter is Hyo-ri, who has parked her RV outside his house while his son, Ryu Bo-Hyun (Kim Min Kyu), attempts to fix it. 

When the second encounter goes even worse, because Hyo-ri walks away before her mother could make her feel guilty on purpose with a cliché question as (“Am I not a reason for you to live?”), and escapes to the beach. She cries and yells her frustration at the waves, and from afar Bo-hyun watches.  He is a kind hearted young man who follows her out of genuine concern, but along the way he seems to also develop a small, yet sudden crush for her. 

Bo-hyun saves her, but Hyo-ri’s soaked hair and clothes triggers another argument with her mother. The tension carries over to their dinner later that night with Jung-seok and Bo-hyun, but Hyo-ri does her best to ignore her mother and carry on polite conversation with her hosts. She compliment’s Jung-seok’s home and confesses that she always wanted “a house with a picturesque view outside the window.” 

With Bo-hyun as their driver, they arrive at their target’s home, but instead of the man they’re looking for, they find his three dirty and starved children. Wordlessly, Hyo-ri and Ji-ahn set aside their differences to take care of the children, and Bo-hyun joins them when he realizes that he will not, in fact, get to watch them fight the man who owes them money. With their faces cleaned and their bellies fed, the children tell Hyo-ri and Ji-ahn where they can find their father, but by the time they locate Ji-ahn’s debtor, the fight has gone out of both women. Clearly he has his own problems, and his financial situation reminds Ji-ahn of her own struggles — most notably her decision to adopt her deceased friend’s baby daughter. That’s right, Hyo-ri is not Ji-ahn’s biological daughter. 

The deed to an old, dilapidated house comes into Hyo-ri's mother possesion. That house, is just what Ji-ahn needs to fulfill Hyo-ri’s dream of owning a home. It will require a lot of work, but surely Ji-ahn (a contractor) and Jung-seok (an architect) can turn it into something beautiful. More importantly, though, Ji-ahn’s decision to flip the house shows that she’s listening to Hyo-ri and attempting to give her the space (and a place) she needs to heal — metaphorically, at least.  

Meanwhile, Bo Hyeon appears with an armful of flowers, looking as radiant as the blooms he carries. His greenhouse radiates the expertise he’s gained from six years of running the farm. Though he shares his father’s stoic demeanor, he can never turn down a request from the villagers, revealing his warm-hearted charm beneath his tough exterior. A veteran at growing all kinds of flowers, Bo Hyeon finds entirely new emotions blooming within him when Hyo Ri suddenly parks her camper van in front of his house.

Choi Yoon Ji shared, “I remember being overwhelmed with emotion the moment I read Hyo Ri’s lines in my first audition for ‘Love, Take Two.’ Just from that one scene, I knew I really wanted to play this character.” She added, “While preparing for the next audition, I talked a lot with my own mother. The honest feelings we share as mother and daughter helped me immensely.”

Choi Yoon Ji continued, “Hyo Ri doesn’t easily express her emotions, so I thought her subtle nonverbal cues like silence and gaze were more important than lines. My biggest challenge was figuring out how to portray the gap between her exterior and inner feelings,” adding, “I didn’t think of Hyo Ri as defensive but rather as someone who knows too much. Even in her cold tone, I felt there was a hidden desperation.”

Kim Min Kyu shared a few words about his role saying: “He’s perfect on the outside but has an unexpectedly clumsy side, which is his charm. Bo Hyeon becomes a reliable tree for Hyo Ri, but he also carries hidden wounds, and meeting her helps him grow as a person.” 

In the present, Ji-an is convinced of taking care of her daughter, but Hyo-ri implores Sun-young to take her mother with her lest it permanently damage their relationship. Ji-an, meanwhile, learns about an abandoned mansion in the village, and she is immediately interested.

She takes Jeong-seok with him once again to renovate the house, but he is completely against the idea and shoots her idea down. Of course, Ji-an refuses to take no for an answer, and Jeong-seok is eventually sucked into the idea. Meanwhile, Sun-young arrives at the village, and Ji-an excitedly tells her about the mansion renovation. Sun-young is confused and doesn’t agree with her plans at first, but Ji-an’s enthusiasm wins her over. Elsewhere, things start to get tense between Hyo-ri and Bo-hyeon, as she experiences the things that she’s never experienced before… like surfing!

He finally agrees to remodel the house where Hyo-ri and Ji-an might live eventually. After the kids have a fun day surfing, they come back to have dinner together at Jeong-seok’s house, where Tae-oh reminds him that he is a divorcee and that there’s nothing wrong with him dating.  After dinner, Ji-an tells Hyo-ri that she left her job, which makes her spiral as she lashes out at her mother for doing so because she’s dying. Hyo-ri continues to speak ill to Ji-an, ending in her walking out when she starts to feel unwell, but not before telling her mother that they should stay away from each other so that they have a happy life apart.  

The next day, Hyo-ri is unconscious, and receives a sudden diagnose her with tonsillitis, leaving Ji-an worried sick for her daughter. When Hyo-ri finally comes to, Ji-an tells her a story from her childhood regarding her own mother, who dated several men after her father’s death and eventually abandoned her to follow him. It’s a heartbreaking story as Hyo-ri is shocked because she was told that her grandmother was a nice woman who loved her. This results in her accusing her mother of always pretending to be fine, as it puts the burden on her as well.

Ji-an, slowly opens up about her mother abandoning her and tells her that she doesn’t want her to have regrets with her daughter and begs her to stay with her. Hyo-ri, in turn, opens up to her mother about being scared as the two comfort one another.

Curios to read my previous topic? Well here it is Currently Reviewing: Law and the City. 

(Gif image source: deokmis on Tumblr and here) The links to the pages are from YouTube and Spotify! 

Goodbye everyone! Until my next project or recap, be well!

Sources: YouTube,Spotify, Soompi, here, here, Namuwiki, leisurebyte.com, here, DramaBeans and MyDramaList.