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[HanCinema's Drama Review] Man-hole Episode 4

Bong Pil has gone down the rabbit hole - er, manhole - once again. With a new set of time travel rules piled atop the old, we have even more factors at play, including Pil's growing determination to take care of and win his woman.

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The spastic Pil we met in the first episode is still present, but the manifestation of a goal has already begun to shape the time-traveling Pil for the better. I'm sure we'll see many version of himself as the manhole continues to take him back and forth through different and changing points of his life, but it is the core of Pil that I'm most invested in. He was aimless and not willing to chase after what he wanted: Soo-jin. But through all of this, he's seeing himself with different skills and attributes that he likes. Maybe he'll start to also chase after making himself the man he wants to be.

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This episode delivered a teeny bit more of his friends. Seok-tae is still a rather selfish outlier while Jin-sook is the mommy figure, Jung-ae and Dal-soo are flirting with each other, and Goo-gil is stuck in between. What we see in this episode is that Jin-sook just very may well be another player for PIl's heart. She's a sweetheart who is always there and her affability will make her a drama-watcher's piece of heartbreak. We learn more about Soo-jin's feelings for Pil, which are strong, and we even get more time with them together. As time passes, hopefully we'll get more insight into their past and how it informed Pil's original present.

Kim Jae-joong's penchant for dramatic is still there, but it has been tamped down as Bong Pil finds his purpose. There hasn't been enough time spent with the other actors to really get a feel for them save for Jung Hye-sung who is doing a magnificent job.

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A few cute moments revolved around soundtrack usage. "Secret Garden"'s "That Man" was played, which came out the year Pil traveled to, and Yoon Mi-rae's "Always" from "Descendants of the Sun" also played, adding some modern day pizzazz and a reference to always being there for the person one loves.

Until episode 5, don't fall down a manhole!

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

"Man-Hole" is directed by Park Man-yeong, written by Lee Jae-gon and features Kim Jae-joong, UEE, Jung Hye-sung and Cha Sun-woo.

Watch this episode on Viki

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