[HanCinema's Drama Review] Nail Shop Paris Episode 8

Episode 8 of "Nail Shop Paris" was a mangled mess of emotions for the manicurists. Everyone is dancing around Yeo-joo's identity and our leads are both pining for her. The problem client of the day seems to only be there to push the main cast into positions necessary for the progression of the story.

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This episode deals with the social pecking order of mothers and children in school. Bullying runs rampant and is not easily stopped. A mother who doesn't agree with the head mother of the classroom is ostracized from the other moms and her son is subsequently picked on in school.

Kei and Yeo-joo from "Nail Shop Paris" Episode 8

While this is a very good topic for exploration, the episode handles it badly. This is the only case that the Nail Shop Team of detectives fails to complete. The attempt to solve the issue is flimsy, the bullying isn't stopped and the situation becomes worse than it was initially. It sends a horrible message. The manicurists solve problems with rapist ghosts, dying grandmothers and spiteful mothers, but one of the testiest social issues goes unsolved? Not cool.

The bullying issue seemed secondary to Yeo-joo's romantic issues. It was a catalyst for her emotional realizations. While she is happy dating Kei, this case puts her in close proximity with Alex. That closeness makes her realize that she isn't over him. When she cries over her failure, her emotional frailty brings her to kiss Alex and cheat on Kei. This episode moved the plotline much more quickly than the last seven episodes combined. Yeo-joo acts very close to Kei at the beginning. She confides in, flirts with and kisses him. Then turns around and lays one on Alex. It feels like the show is running out of time and the production team is just trying to get things done. This situation would've been easier to digest had it been better developed over time.

With a mini-series, pacing is absolutely key. There are only ten episodes to tell a story and no time can be wasted. This show doesn't delve very deeply into situations of character development, which is unfortunate because it seemed to veer towards a character-driven drama. That requires diligent pacing. Less time on guest problems, more time on the Nail Shop Team of emotionally confused manicurists. Only in the last episode did Alex express any romantic interest in Yeo-joo and so that interest feels incredibly forced.

Yeo-joo and Alex from "Nail Shop Paris" Episode 8

There are two episodes left and I want to see some evenness in tone, pacing and character development. It's not too late to give this show the stability it desperately needs.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

"Nail Shop Paris" is directed by Park Soo-cheol, written by Seong Min-ji and features Park Gyu-ri, Jin Hyun-bin, Song Jae-rim and Thunder.