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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Don't Dare to Dream" Episode 14

Episode 14 of "Don't Dare to Dream" is jammed full of raw emotions. Na-ri rallies and proves what she is made of at work while with Hwa-sin she emotionally crumples. Hwa-sin is more certain than ever about what he wants, and it isn't what he thought it would be. Jeong-won is painfully caught in the middle, wanting something that his mother doesn't support and that he ultimately can't have: Na-ri.

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Hwa-sin has been an immature character to date with his ego, misogynistic tendencies, and his tendency to disregard others. But with Na-ri he has improved on all of those terrible qualities and has become quite selfless. What he once considered important dissipates in the face of his love for her and, I'm sure, in the face of cancer. I do wish the show would focus more on the cancer's effects on him and on the effects of breast cancer in a man. How did he end up going to the hospital without Na-ri? Did he maintain the ruse of acting like the supportive husband or what? Aside from that, I like to see him making decisions, suffering consequences and acting like a grown adult.

Na-ri, on the other hand, has buried her feelings for him and kept them as hopeless and unable to be acted upon, until now, that is. Hwa-sin's confession ripped the seal off of her latent feelings and she's more confused than ever with his caring help during her audition, and his surety in his feelings for her. She runs around in a cloud of denial for most of the episode until she cheats on Jeong-won with a very steamy locker room kiss. Her chemistry with Hwa-sin is undeniable, but it doesn't excuse the cheating. I hope next episode doesn't find her turning down the anchor position because of her feelings of guilt towards Hwa-sin or towards Jeong-won. Hwa-sin loses an opportunity because he helped her and Jeong-won has lost her devotion.

Turning to Ppalgang, her mothers, and the people of the apartment building, I have to say I'm disappointed. The development here is so poor that the characters could be thrown aside with little consequence. We barely see daughter and mothers reconcile. We don't see Na-ri's brother make his romantic moves. We barely see the chef and the two reporter moms. It's inconsistent and should be better developed if it was introduced. I do see more of the two moms, Hwa-sin, Ppalgang and Hwa-sin's mother acting like a family, which is nice, but it doesn't give us any real development.

Jeong-won had pitifully little to do this episode but moon over Na-ri and placate his mother. He is definitely pushed to the side, along with many other characters, as Hwa-sin ramps up his romantic relationship with a reluctant Na-ri.

Written by: Lisa Espinosa AKA Raine from 'Raine's Dichotomy'

"Don't Dare to Dream" is directed by Park Shin-woo, written by Seo Sook-hyang, and features Cho Jung-seok, Kong Hyo-jin, Go Kyung-pyo, Lee Mi-sook, and Park Ji-young.

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