[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Nevertheless" Episode 10

The final episode opens up with the awful truth which Na-bi has known all along, despite her best efforts. Jae-eon is manipulative, untrustworthy, and motivated principally by his own ego. Jae-eon doesn't understand Na-bi, or even really want to. The aloofness which makes Jae-eon so attractive renders him a terrible communicator with virtually no friends. Worse, Na-bi has adapted so many of Jae-eon's bad habits that she, too, stands aloof from her classmates at their final reception.

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And then there's the whole issue with Na-bi's sculpture. It was not, to be honest, a very good sculpture, but the circumstances behind its destruction are suspicious. The new one is a substantial improvement. More than just a detached body, the blackened wings evoke the myth of Icarus. I loved the slow camerawork over the piece, with the metaphor for Na-bi's own disastrous relationship coming in full focus. Na-bi flew too close to the sun, despite knowing the likely consequences.

But in a truly baffling twist, one that I was denying right up until the moment it happened, Na-bi rejects character development. She decides to live in the moment and to accept her youth as impulsiveness. Despite Na-bi still believing that Jae-eon is a toxic influence, "Nevertheless" she takes him back into her life. What's more, there are just enough pensive moments of Jae-eon showing sincere regret that the tone appears to suggest that Na-bi is making a sensible decision.

I'm disappointed in the apparent childishness of this swerve. Although it's not completely out of step with the tone. The subplot couples all had similar issues, negotating the boundaries between friendship and love, with public lives and private lives. The difference is, all of these characters had mutual respect. They actually knew each other, not to mention themselves. Na-bi and Jae-eon obsessed over each other so much they both lost track of what they actually wanted to begin with, save for the validation of having a passionate and attractive romantic partner.

Despite this, I'm not as frustrated with "Nevertheless" as I was expecting. My reaction to the ending is strikingly similar to that of Do-hyeok. I don't regret the experience of the previous episodes. I just have to accept that people, even people I'm emotionally invested in, will make bad choices that I have to respect. The great irony being that Jae-eon wins in the end entirely thanks to his unwillingness to adopt this ethos. In this way "Nevertheless" is bitterly ominous to the very end- even if I doubt that was the intent.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Nevertheless" is directed by Jang Ji-yeon, Kim Ga-ram, written by Jung Won, and features Han So-hee, Song Kang, Chae Jong-hyeop, Lee Yul-eum, Yang Hye-ji, Kim Min-gwi. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/06/19~Now airing, Sat 23:00 on jTBC.