HIGH SCHOOL: LOVE ON EPISODE 2

"How does this work again?"

Recap:
Seul Bi steps in front of a car, but Woo Hyun saves her. Sung Yeol continues to be rotten to his stepmother, Ji Hye, throughout the episode. A purse snatcher makes off with Ji Hye's purse, but is chased down by the idols, the angel, and Sung Yeol's father. Seul Bi uses her power to disarm the thug, but faints afterward. Seul Bi's angelic mentor appears and gives her documents so that she has a verifiable identity and all that. Grandma is taking pills, but hides them when Seul Bi enters the restaurant. Since Woo Hyun has transferred schools, he now gets to know Sung Yeol�and has run-ins with the bullies.

As punishment for fighting, the two boys have to run laps. Here, they seem on better terms, and Sung Yeol allows Woo Hyun to punch him in retaliation. As they collapse in exhaustion, the two playfully wrestle on the ground and end up laughing together.

That evening, we see Ji Hye fondling a locket wistfully when she remembers Sung Yeol's birthday. Trying again to be nice, she gives the surly young man a cake and a present. He rebuffs her kindness, repays her with insults, and drives her out of his room.


Ji Hye contemplating her locket

The next day, a bully soaks Woo Hyun's school clothes and knocks him into the pool. Woo Hyun flashes back to childhood when he was drowning and his mother was unaware. Still under water, Woo Hyun struggles to stay alive...

My take:
Sung Yeol seems to really hate his stepmother. Now, blended families are almost never ideal, but he seems entirely unreasonable. She's not perfect (no one is), but when she attempts to be nice to him, he harangues her and drives her away. It's almost as if he feels that making her life hell would either cause her to run off on her own or his father to dump her. I don't quite understand since she seems to be light years away from the evil drama mama we've seen so much of. I also find the interaction to be less than realistic based on what I know of Korean culture. You're supposed to be respectful to your elders and Sung Yeol's behavior is anything but. I'm surprised his father's as kind about it as he is.


Woo Hyun�drowning

So Grandma's taking pills and hiding it. Well, since I'm reasonably sure she's not a drug fiend, she most likely is an example of that well-used trope of the Dying Loved One. Eventually toward the end of the series, she will expire, along with some words of wisdom and doubtless a funeral. If I seem cold, it just seems like it's almost part of every drama I've seen. What I would think would be more original: Grandma is pursued by a determined suitor throughout the series and eventually they end up together. Do it comically and endearingly..

Sung Yeol and Woo Hyun now have met and appear to be getting along. What I don't understand is why they don't seem to recognize each another. They've both been involved in a near miss scooter accident and the two boys have chased a purse snatcher down, yet they still act like relative strangers? I don't know if that's the writers or a lack of acting ability. The two idols seem to sort of sleepwalk through their roles. I'm hoping the director will coax more emotion from the two, although the scene this episode in which they were running laps was pretty convincing.


"You're dead, boy!"

Seul Bi gets more interesting each episode. She still has some powers, but it costs her to use them. And there are adorable moments, too, like when she tries to ride a bicycle or breaks the cuckoo clock because the cuckoo wouldn't stop.. While she desperately wants to be an angel again, it seems almost like keeping her busy pushes that wish to the back of her mind. Typically when an alien or spirit comes to inhabit a human body in works of fiction, the seduction of the mortal world serves to keep them here, from sights and sounds to sensations and emotions. Maybe that will happen here, at least for a little while.

We also see more developments that promise to be more filled out as the show progresses. Like Ji Hye's pendant. Whose picture is in the pendant? An ex-husband? A son? It seems like she has good memories associated with it, so I'd love to find out more about who she is, what her life was like before Sung Yeol. Some of you have mentioned that Sung Yeol and Woo Hyun might be step brothers...


Fast friends?

Another concept that I'd like to see more backstory on is Woo Hyun's near-drowning as a child. He flashes back to it when he's pushed into the pool, and this probably has some connection to him skipping class and electing to clean up instead. Does his mother's neglect have something to do with why he's with his grandmother now?

This series keeps me watching -- I eagerly devoured the first two episodes without hesitation. I think it's fun so far. It's not high art (although the special effects last episode were pretty sweet), but it holds together and is funny. As I said, I want more out of the leads. Kim Sae Ron is perfect -- the others not so much. Sungyeol is supposed to be a riot on variety shows, so I expect more out of him than what we're getting. The scene in which the two idols were together gave me hope, though. Maybe there will be more scenes in which they can further humanize both of them in the future. I'm definitely interested in what comes next.

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