CAST: Yoo In Na, Yoon Hoon Min, Joo Sang Wook
DIRECTOR: Seo Min Jung, Lee Tae Gon
Successful dating coach and influencer Bo-ra, known as Deborah, tells an interviewer that dating is no longer necessary. In fact, it’s a turn-off and energy-draining for most people who choose work over love.
When the interviewer asks Bo-ra what she would choose, she says she would choose both. She claims she can have it all. She then argues with the photographer about which side of her face he should shoot. She continues to talk about fail-proof strategies for dating and promotes her book.
At a publishing company, Han Sang-jin tells Lee Su-hyeok that Deborah is looking for a new publisher and they should meet with her. Su-hyeok is unconvinced, saying he can’t expect sincerity from someone like her.
The interviewer asks Deborah about the man she’s currently dating. Without revealing too much, she describes him as kind and considerate. An ordinary man. When asked about any ‘good news’ in the future, Bo-ra says marriage doesn’t have to be the end goal of every relationship. She says support and trust are key for a successful relationship while the interviewer discreetly rolls her eyes. The photographer takes a bad picture of Bo-ra, which ends up in the article.
Bo-ra and Su-Hyeok are as different as cheese and chalk. Yet every time they meet, sparks fly. Not the sparks that lead to them being together, but every time Bo-ra is in a situation she wishes no one else could see. Su-hyeok is somehow a spectator to it.
Bo-ra and Su-hyeok are such clear opposites of each other. Both of them have such extreme views, from meticulously strategizing romance to having no structure at all.
Because of his attitude, Su-hyeok’s girlfriend dumps him just when he purchases a ring to propose to her. He decides to let her go instead of explaining. (she has had advice from Bo-ra’s radio show) Meantime, Bo-ra catches her long-term boyfriend in a compromising position with his so-called cousin in a car outside and breaks up with him. ( Su-hyeok sees this happen)
Unable to bear the aftermath of his behavior, she takes to drinking and commits career suicide while getting on stage drunk at an event.
Su-hyeok, who is also at the event, saves her dignity and starts the process of really getting to know the prickly human being he did not like so much.
After hitting rock bottom last week, Bora finds comfort in knowing that, like most “scandals,” hers was just a flash in the pan, and the world has moved on. However, her anxiety briefly returns with La Bella’s latest issue featuring a column from Deborah. All of the hundred thousand released copies get sold out in two days thanks to BlackPink as the cover model.
But it’s not so bad for Bora after all because, thanks to her column, the public sentiment finally shifts towards her. And this means the Deborah project is back on the table at Jinlee Publishers.
Bora backs out of writing a book project — and no, it’s not because she overheard Sang-jin describing her as “the main character of an epic story of failure.” It’s just that after her breakup, Bora doesn’t think she can write a book about love again
The show is about the lead pair’s journey from disappointment to finding their strengths as people, and some of the dialogues and situations are really realistic. If you have ever been cheated upon in a relationship, the yoyo of realization you undergo is something you see Bo-ra undergo until she finds the moment when she clearly moves on.
There’s nothing like heartbreak to bond two sad souls, so Soo-hyuk spends most of the episode trying to cheer Bora up. From playing along to activating jealousy in Ju-wan, Bo ra’s ex, to a solidarity lunch at Dad’s Chicken (Mom’s Chicken’s competitor), to telling her about his heartbreak experience — it’s Soo-hyuk to the rescue.
But when we thought Bora was spending too much time at the bottom of the heartbreak rock, this girl clawed further down to dig for oil. Her drunken self really staggered all the way to Ju-wan’s at night to beg him to get back together.
“How low are you going to go?” Ju-wan asks, and honestly, we thought he said all our lines!
My goodness, Bora! What happened to practice what you preached earlier on about loving yourself more?
But then, there are some lessons that only total humiliation can teach a person. Bora needed to learn once and for all that, there was no salvaging her relationship with Chicken Junior. Telling her that he hates her like crazy, Ju-wan slams the door in Bora’s face. Welp! And as usual, Soo-hyuk is present as a witness — but he does more than observe this time; he pulls Bora into a comforting hug.
The supporting characters of the show are extremely well-written and developed as well. Whether it is Sang-jin, Soo- hyeok’s partner,
The series gets our respect for tenaciously holding onto an uncomfortable topic and seeing it through to the end. The series is self-aware. The male lead is frustrated with Bo-ra’s self-indulgent grief, and the female lead is exhausted and disgusted with her own behavior. The ex-boyfriend is exasperated over being made the ‘bad guy’ in her melodrama. Soo-hyuk even made a meta ‘Anton Chekhov’s gun'( and Bo-ra didn’t even know who Chekov is – a commentary towards social media experts of our times) comment about the viewers expecting something more than the female lead just wallowing in misery; they expect to see a happy ending.
However, the salient point of the series for us was the fact that Bo-ra breaks down and, in her downward spiral, is the realistic veneer of a person who, despite her heroic media-facing personality, is ultimately a human dealing with rejection.
Media has a habit of washing over how sad people can get. Grief after a relationship is treated as a weakness, partly because of how it portrays it. As a woman, we cringed hard when she went to see her ex, but it happens a lot with people who fail at relationships. Bo-ra isn’t just mourning the relationship, her career, and the life she expected.
The series is not about OTP ( one true pairing) between the leads but about Bo-ra finding self-awareness and peace of mind and ultimately staying true to who she is, despite the pressure to be the one she needs to be in the public eye. Her journey from humiliation to self-discovery is a very well-written plot.
Highly recommended.
Streams on Prime Video
