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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Was Pretty" Episode 7

As was to be expected, the road trip for work purposes ends up being almost completely derailed- sometimes to a point so absurd to as to be barely believable. But it's all in keeping with Seong-joon's character. Seong-joon is so used to everything proceeding in an easily predictable way that he has no way of anticipating or reacting to unforeseen turnabouts. Seong-joon expects lackeys (like Hye-jin) to do all the work. And of course, there are times when simply acting superior isn't of any help at all.

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One aspect of Seong-joon that I rather like is how he's a snooty upper-class archetype. And yet we know for a fact that Seong-joon's background isn't anything like that. It's sweet watching him interact with Hye-jin and slowly unwinding, because she convinces him not to worry so much. The context in the present day is completely different from what it was before, but the basic thrust of Hye-jin's positive effect is mostly the same.

Unfortunately this doesn't do much for Ha-ri's character. Ha-ri is increasingly more of an interloper, a person who is making a conscious decision to lie because she can't bear the prospect of admitting the basically shallow nature of her personality. Ha-ri is especially sad because it's obvious that she's capable of doing better. Ha-ri is a true friend to Hye-jin in a way that's genuinely rare, and the way Ha-ri is risking their friendship is genuinely worrisome and sad in terms of what she's likely giving up.

Si-won lacks any such issues on account of the fact that he's always such a goofball. Unfortunately this makes it difficult for anyone to tell whether or not he's being serious at any given moment. Although I do like that Si-won can make any kind of elaborate lie seem charming and inoffensive. Mostly this is because Si-won is so embedded with his comic relief that it's hard to disassociate his pleasant goofiness from the more annoying personality traits.

The comedy this episode is mostly the same sort of steady humor that we've seen up until now- and I'm still not tired of it. Excusing the obvious low brow nature of the big joke at the restaurant, and the predictably contrived nature of the second team getting waylaid, all of these plot points happen in the context of clearly defined characters running up against the predictable consequences of their own flaws. It's a struggle that's encouraging to watch because incrementally at least, character progression is being accomplished.

Review by William Schwartz

"She Was Pretty" is directed by Jeong Dae-yoon, written by Jo Seong-hee and features Hwang Jung-eum, Park Seo-joon, Go Joon-hee, Choi Si-won, Yoon Yoo-sun, Seo Jung-yeon and more.

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