[HanCinema's Drama Review] "You Are My Spring" Episode 2

When last we left off with "You Are My Spring" psychiatrist Yeong-do had given an unsettling warning to leading lady Da-jeong about the ever persistent Joon, and likewise told Joon to leave her alone. Right away the action picks up with an unsettling flashback giving some credence to Yeong-do's warning beyond mere jealousy. But by the time we get to the end of the episode and have this better contextualized, Yeong-do's reasoning still isn't all that convincing.

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More of a point is made on Yeong-do being a clinical expert in the study of psychopaths and sociopaths. He quite literally wrote a book on the subject. We also see him quickly catch on to the exact source of some fairly self-evidently preposterous lies from a patient. There's no real reason to mistrust Yeong-do, except for the fact that he shows similar symptoms of detachment that Joon does, and might seem comparably dangerous. Except that Yeong-do doesn't really want to do anything.

While I wasn't convinced by Yeong-do's pitch on Joon being sinister and manipulative, I did believe him about his not being interested in Da-jeong. This is less due to the whole eye contact thing and more the way he carries himself. Even Young-do's interest in the whole situation between Da-jeong and Joon is largely clinical. He examines them the way a plumber might examine a clogged pipe, and his warnings have an ethical tone despite the personal nature of his mistrust of Joon.

It's only when "You Are My Spring" finally gets to the actual date between Da-jeong and Joon that there's a particularly compelling argument for Joon's behavior. And it's also only then, right at the very end of the episode, that we get a particularly strong hook for the mystery, with a scene of major drama being followed up by revelations of Joon's apparent real motives. As the preview suggests, we're a long way from an actual explanation despite the seeming finality of the car crash.

The pacing is slow. There's little obvious reason why two episodes were needed to get to this cliffhanger. We do get exposition of other characters, but outside the main three they seem largely superfluous. Ga-yeong (played by Nam Gyu-ri) is particularly out of place, an actress wrapped up in constant marital rumongering. There's plenty of time for these disparate elements to be tied together, though "You Are My Spring" is already shaping up to be an exercise in patience.

Review by William Schwartz

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"You Are My Spring" is directed by Jung Ji-hyun, written by Lee Mi-na-I, and features Seo Hyun-jin, Kim Dong-wook, Yoon Park, Nam Gyu-ri, Kim Ye-won, Han Min. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/07/05~Now airing, Mon, Tue 21:00 on tvN.