[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Valid Love" Episode 12

It figures that apparently the only context where Gi-tae and Ee-ri can get along is when they're drunk. Another fact worth noting- while Gi-tae and Ee-nee have been consistently portrayed as an obviously immature beta couple, neither of them are really all that young. Gi-tae is the same age as Il-ri, even if his speech usually defers to her as if she's older than he is. All of this serves to underscore an essential point- it's context that determines maturity more than any specific inherent quality.

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Look at Hee-soo for more exposition along those lines. Having finally reunited with Il-ri after all of the crises regarding the affair, one fact is immediately obvious. Hee-soo is genuinely very happy to finally see Il-ri again. She has someone to talk to again. Hee-soo can't actually communicate with Il-ri all that well, but note how they're actually able to have a working conversation even though Il-ri mostly has to just guess what Hee-soo is actually saying in response. More significantly, note how Il-ri's guesses are more-or-less correct.

As a person with pretty much nothing else to do, Hee-soo has become an expert in the way people look and act. An irrelevant, barely noticable scene that highlights an extra really underscores how Hee-soo wishes she could actually engage life like a normal person. Il-ri enables that. More significantly, however, it's Joon that makes a point of trying to engage with Hee-soo even though he knows this can't possibly work out for the better.

Hee-tae is still trying to adjust to the changes in his life, and it's rather surprising just how little he actually knows. Il-ri is understandably perplexed by a phone call that from her perspective seems completely unnecessary, and Hee-tae himself doesn't particularly appreciate until right at the last minute how dependent he's been on other people to keep his life mostly organized and coherent. Honestly I'm surprised Seon-joo still finds him attractive after all that.

For the most part characters just mill about in place ineffectively this episode, although even that's commented on rather directly by the ending, wherein a protest rather predictably gets out of hand. The resolution is particularly significant. It's a testament to the fact that the obvious solutions to problems are almost certainly the wrong ones. Probably the main reason why the main characters have been unable to meaningfully resolve their differences is because they won't admit how emotionally charged they are. Fortunate for them that at least somebody could take a step back and take a look at the broader circumstances.

Review by William Schwartz

"Valid Love" is directed by Han Ji-seung, written by Kim Do-woo and features Uhm Tae-woong, Lee Si-young, Lee Soo-hyuk, Choi Yeo-jin, Im Ha-ryong, Lee Young-ran and more.

 

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