[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Sly and Single Again" Episode 16 (Final)

"Sly and Single Again" wrapped up its run neatly. It concluded most of its major issues, included some funny moments and some poignant resolutions. Despite its flaws, it was a solid and entertaining drama.
The strongest conclusions were found in Ae-ra's and Jung-woo's story. The two initially married with separate dreams and without speaking about the future. It ultimately led to secret keeping, tragedy, and divorce. They have reconciled and remarried and this time around, they understand each other and accept the relationship with full knowledge of each's wishes and desires.

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Seung-hyeon and Yeo-jin, on the other hand, found a very weak end. Both suffered from their father's iron-fisted rule and their mother's escape to England. Each coped differently. Seung-hyeon became a free spirit and his issues were mostly well-developed throughout the drama. He didn't quite come to terms with responsibility as I would've liked him to, but he did learn to let Ae-ra go and a lot of his familial pain go. I had hoped that when he stepped into his role in the company that he would grow into some responsibility. Instead, the writer used the move purely to antagonize Jung-woo rather than allow Seung-hyeon to really learn from it.

Yeo-jin's development as a character was a mess. Yes, she suffered from her father's unbending will, but her tragedy is partially of her own making. The show did not have her cope with the loss of her husband or her leg well. She basically threw fits and was hysterical.

Both siblings found some consolation when their father became nice due to his illness and their mother very randomly returns from England. Her return seemed like a panacea of sorts that was illogical albeit effective. The two needed their mother, but more than that, they needed to come to terms with the issues her abandonment caused. That did not happen.

We did get to see how Secretary Gil and Jung-woo became friends in a short, but telling, pair of scenes. It showed a depth to Secretary Gil that wasn't really displayed throughout the drama and it could've been. This relationship could've been played up much more and taken the place of a lot of Ae-ra's annoying family drama. Kim Myung-soo was wonderful as the humorous sidekick and had solid chemistry with Joo Sang-wook.

A lot of screen time was wasted this episode with an inordinate number of flashbacks and a focus on the cute, but paltry, romance between Ae-ra's roommate and her older brother. The romance was better than the nonsensical family interventions that happened earlier in the drama, but it was still fluff. Other fluff included Ae-ra's former co-workers joining her efforts to help Jung-woo grow his new product and company. This, at least, was fluff that had a place in the story. Ae-ra struggled with workplace issues for a long time and just as she learned from them, her co-workers did as well.

"Sly and Single Again" wasn't the drama to beat all dramas, but it was a solid watch and funny to boot. It rarely lost it's humor, which many romcoms tend to do in their latter halves. The main pairing was charming as was Seo Kang-joon. It was light-hearted fare that made every Wednesday and Thursday night a pleasure.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

Follow on Twitter @raine0211

"Sly and Single Again" is directed by Ko Dong-seon , written by Lee Ha-na-I and features Lee Min-jung and Joo Sang-wook