[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Reply 1994" Episode 10

This episode goes for a change of scenery and a rather extreme time-skip- I know I've been complaining about how the drama seemed stuck in summertime but I didn't think it would go this far. Although it's an appropriate enough step to take- if anything has been made clear it's that our various main characters are really bad at confessing their feelings of love, so it's understandable that it takes a momentous event to actually make them step up their game. Even if it's just a holiday.

Advertisement

Yes, that's right- we finally get to love confessions and I have to admit, they were well worth the wait. It is so, so very easy to see a person agonize over should-I-or-shouldn't-I in regards to this question that a viewer is tempted to scream "just do it! It won't be so bad!" Then we get the lovey-dovey realization that everything's all right because they really loved each other all along, blah blah blah.

Well not in this drama. Love is a messy complicated game here. Sure, we get that one extremely picturesque, absolutely lovely kiss in about the most romantic context imaginable. Ah, the undulating waves, the beauty of the sunlight, the symbolic appreciation of the moment that ushers in a new beginning. A pity all this wondrous majesty is attributed to an event in the subplot instead of the main one, but I guess that can't be helped.

The humor is a bit better than usual- though I haven't been impressed with the drama's comedy as a whole since the early episodes. We get a lot of contextual jokes that relate to how long the cast has been hanging out in Seoul, and what they've been learning and doing there. Then there's an exciting adventure at a protest- which isn't anywhere near as violent as what the preview made it look like.

The main significant fallout, though, is as always, the emotional one. While this is the main way the drama's been building tension so far, the fact that this episode made clear significant progress, and added another potential complication to keep the situation interesting, adds a really nice hook to the plot that should help keep it from sagging. Although what I'd really like to see is more exploration of parental attitudes- having to deal with elders who may or may not approve of the kids' complacent attitudes is a nice level of conflict that I really like watching the characters try to overcome.

Review by William Schwartz

"Reply 1994" is directed by Sin Won-ho and written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Go Ara, Sung Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa and Jung Woo.