Reviews

A second chance that was put to good use

Episode 17:Timeline 2:Xia Guo and Xue Min find themselves at a crossroads that will inevitably put them further apart from each other. Xue Min even bought the wedding ring, but did not make the proposal to Xia Guo, if he did, she would have quit her job, her promotion and would have gone with him to Singapore, as she is not afraid of new beginnings, but afraid of losing him. He went to work and take the job in Singapore, but he left a message on her cell phone: wait for me, I'll be back, because he said they could always meet on weekends, though she said: that long-distance relationships never work.Timeline 1:Yu Jian and Xia Guo are living together but had to give up babysitting. One day they were talking and the baby fell out of bed. At the hospital, the couple regrets the fight they had at home, because of her desire to have a job and he wants them to move back in with his mother's house. And that his mother would be very happy to be with her grandson and with them.That day when she came home from work tired, lunch was sent by his mother. Yu Jian's mother found out what happened to the baby, and one day, when Xia Guo came home from work, Yu Jian's mother was taking care of the house and the baby. And then she realized that Xia Guo had a fever and made her a ginger soup and made her rest. Xia Guo has a sad surprise, her mother is in the hospital about to die.Her stepfather said that she had known about the terminal illness for a year but didn't want to tell Xia Guo. At the hospital, her mother, before she died, said goodbye to Xia Guo and acknowledged that she had always been selfish, but in this last year she sought to be a good mother to her and a good grandmother. She said to Yu Jian: Take care of her, I'll leave it in your hands. And he cried and said yes. PS:There is a moment in this episode when the two Xia Guo, on a pier, talk and console each other for the death of their mother. But I didn't like Xia Guo's statement from timeline 1. Xia Guo from timeline 2 asks her if she could make a different choice. And she replies that there are no second chances, we just move on. (I don't think that kind of response reflects what the drama shows.)The choice of Xia Guo, timeline 1 (he was happy, even with problems, was more significant). (What I think is what the filmmakers of the drama mean: that whatever choice we make, there will always be some regret. But I think it looks like it wasn't worth that life. And I see it in the drama that it was worth it, the story of timeline 1).

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Love Rewarded

Episode 16:Timeline 2:Xia Guo lives with her boyfriend Xue Min, who is caring, charming, intelligent, and gives her a cozy life and gives her a lot of attention. But by the end of the episode, she'll realize from a remark made by her young friend, bartender, and her friend, Lucy, that Xue Min, her boyfriend, is probably someone who doesn't want to get married. The two go to a jewelry store to buy a wedding gift for their friend Lucy, but then she sees an engagement ring, and looks hopeful, but she looks hopefulBut he purposely turns away to the other side. When they get home in the evening, he's repairing the lamp to make her job easier, and she says pointedly, I want to marry you. But he, again, pretends he didn't hear and dismisses it. Xue Ming is looking for work, but the only job he can find is in another country, Singapore (he doesn't want to, and tells his friend that he doesn't want to move away from his girlfriend). But, at the end of the episode, we see that he will lie to Xia Guo, saying that he is going to Singapore for a temporary job and therefore will not be able to accompany her to her friend's wedding. He buys her a beautiful dress and gives it to her to attend the wedding.Timeline 1:Yu Jian's parents pay a visit to Xia Guo's mother's house, and for the first time they hold their grandson in their arms. Yu Jian's mother asks her to allow Xia Guo to return home. Weeks and weeks Yu Jian showed his long-distance love for his wife and son, including assembling a wooden baby stroller and leaving it at the door of her house, she accepted. But the time comes, and Yu Jian finally manages to convince his wife to return home. But this time it will be in a house of their own. They won't live in his parents' house. However, his family will have all the access to live with his grandson. For this to happen, Xia Guo's own mother said that she wished that she would now return to living under the same roof with her husband. And also Yu Yan went to talk to Xia Guo, to apologize for everything that happened, that it was her fault, that Yu Jian was not with her at the time of delivery, but was trying to save her, as she was found full of blood, in an attempt to take her own life. Xia Guo excuses her, and asks her aunt to see her nephew, and lets her hold him in her arms. Yu Jian wouldn't want his wife to go back to work but take care of their son, but he won't stop his wife from getting a job. At this point, he asks his friend at the company to help him come up with more projects to increase the money to take care of the baby and his wife. When he gets home, Xia Guo has hired a babysitter. Wen Ya arranges for him and his friend to go to a restaurant where there will be a meeting with potential customers, to help them with what they need in the company. Yu Jian seizes the moment and asks Wen Ya, what importance a woman gives to having a job, because he thinks he would be protecting her from the stress of work, but his wife thinks differently. Wen Ya explains in some ways that this means self-assertion, comparing it to Yu Jian's satisfaction in being an engineer.PS:A very important point of this episode was Yu Jian and Xia Guo's conversation. She explains all the details of the helplessness she felt at the time birth of the baby, in the hospital, without any family and having to sign the hospital document with her trembling hands. They both cry and she lays out her grievance to him, and the two reconcile.

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Hurts to be healed.

Episode 15:Timeline 2:Xue Min resigned from his job, and Xia Guo remained with the company. He went to meet her at the company's restaurant, showing her that their relationship is solid, and this problem wasn't going to tear them apart. Li Qiu and Xue Min's daughter said goodbye to him, and agreed that he would always visit his daughter at Christmas. He said it was his fault that he had lost the child like that, lost a lot of time in his relationship with his daughter.Timeline 1:Enter taking care of Xia Guo, about to be born, her son. And taking care of the sister who tried to kill herself, Yu Jian's mother and Yu Jian rushed YuYan to the hospital. At home, the water bottle on Xia Guo's belly came loose, and Yu Jian's father took her to the hospital. The child was born but was in danger of dying as he was losing oxygen.Xia Guo's mother, after that, took charge of Xia Guo and the child, not allowing them to return to Yu Jian's house. They spent 3 days at the door of the ward without being allowed to meet the baby. A nurse went to ask Xia Guo for Yu Jian so that he could meet the baby.He met him, he was so happy that he left crying when he showed the photo of his son to the two nurses. Yu Yan received the officer with the divorce papers at her home, and she accepted, calming her father and brother who were angry with the officer. Moments earlier, Yu Jian had been at a police station for having a fist bump with Yu Yuan's husband.Yu Jian accompanied Xia Guo, her mother, and the baby to her mother-in-law's house, and asked Xia Guo that his parents be allowed to see the child, but she didn't allow it. Xia Guo's mother and Yu Yuan had a mother-daughter conversation, and she told her hurts to her mother, and mother, in her own way, settled with her daughter.How is Yu Jian going to bring back his wife and son close to him?

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Well, episode 4 of The Atypical Family was…

Well, episode 4 of The Atypical Family was the best until now! It’s great to see such an interesting plot back on track. Now, that we have more information on Da-hae’s past and her relationship with Il-hong and the others, the plot has suddenly taken a turn for the better. We also have a background on Bok family’s powers and it seems, their powers are inherited from a long chain of historical ancestors.Even though the origin of their powers is unknown, this little information greatly improves the setting of the show. Character motivations have also become way clearer than in the previous episodes, where we now understand why Man-heum has her suspicions about I-na’s parentage because it’s impossible for her to not have any powers. This suspicion might even be the basis where she thinks that Se-yeon’s second child is illegitimate as well.The highlight of this episode was hands down, the Gwi-ju’s time travels and how well they are placed in the episode, where all incidents from the past and the future connect in harmony. There are some unclear details though, for instance, how was he able to take the flowers from the present and give them to Da-hae in the future? How could nobody see the flowers until Da-hae held them?We have no clear answers and so, we can only suspend our belief regarding these little details since the show itself is quite entertaining at the moment. It is possible that we’d soon get an answer in the following episodes.Dong-hee’s character had a shining moment in this episode where her otherwise stereotypical character was portrayed in a good light. It might not be ideal but this is definitely a great beginning to her character development.Lastly, the last scene was a stroke of genius with Da-hae manipulating Gwi-ju’s situation to advance her plans. It is clearly in line with Man-heum’s comment that when others find out about Bok family’s powers, they either run away or take advantage of their powers. Since, Da-hae hasn’t run away, she’s definitely chosen the second path to follow.

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The Atypical Family episode 3 was definitely…

The Atypical Family episode 3 was definitely a step up from the previous chapter. This time around, we understand Gwi-ju’s power as a symbolic manifestation of his depression.He suffers from guilt and trauma that arises from the harrowing event of the past and cannot help but revisit his past, mulling over it while neglecting his present – his family.From the episode, it’s clear that Se-yeon had enough of Gwi-ju’s time-travels and was planning to leave him due to his continual absence. The events of her death only heightened Gwi-ju’s trauma, leading to the loss of his power. At the same time, Da-hae’s literal colourful arrival in his life signifies a renewed connection, a chance at coming out of his illness.Amidst all this, the show keeps on getting mysterious and interesting at the same time as we ponder upon the reasons for the last scene, where Gwi-ju’s reflection did not appear in the mirror. Is it an after-effect of his time travelling power? Or does it highlight that he’s a person who doesn’t exist in the present? We don’t know that yet but it’s certainly exciting.However, a point to note is that in many monochromatic sequences of Gwi-ju’s travels to the past, the viewing experience is subpar owing to the odd editing and low production quality. It seems as though Gwi-ju is cut and pasted on the film separately and it makes the entire sequence look unpolished and abrupt. Another thing with the episode is the under-developed characters and plots. Da-hae and Gwi-ju’s romance arc seem slightly forced and unrealistic in terms of how quickly Gwi-ju feels connected to Da-hae despite claiming to suffer from serious depression.Dong-hee’s character is nothing but a cliched stereotype at the moment. The only well-rounded character in the series until now seem to be I-na and so, it would be exciting to see her character development.

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Sacrifices for Love

Timeline 2:Xia Guo proposes the use of Li Qiu's project in one of the company's needs, uniting it with Xia Guo's project. Xia Guo and Xue Ming get along better and better, and their relationship solidifies despite many difficulties. But Li Qiu has a lot of trouble to disrupt their relationship, (using their daughter to persuade). She always makes Xia Guo feel insecure in her relationship, always pointing out what will happen in the future.Xue Ming doesn't introduce her as his girlfriend when talking to a friend who meets him at the restaurant, Xia Guo questions him for it, and he explains why. Xia Guo's friend is fired after discovering that she is dating a colleague. Xia Guo talks to her mother at the restaurant, and her mother approves of her courtship of the well-heeled boss.Xia Guo realizes that her mother doesn't take care of herself anymore as soon as she used to. Li Qiu keeps pressuring Xue Ming using their daughter as an excuse. Upon discovering Xue Ming and Xia Guo's relationship, the two are implicated. Xia Guo submits her letter of resignation, but learns that Xue Ming resigned earlier to protect her so she could keep her job.

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Important choices.

Timeline 2:Xia Guo had to see Xue Min, Li Qiu, and their daughter together to feel totally uncomfortable with the situation, to the point of punching an inconvenient colleague in the restaurant where everyone was celebrating the birthday of the child, Xue Min's daughter. She goes again to talk to the bartender, who says: that's the nature of men, no matter what age. But Xue Min shows up, but refuses to talk to him. Xia Guo's proposal for a project in the company defeats Li Qiu's proposal, who gets very angry and blames Xue Min, who tells her that it was the choice of the majority, and not just his. At the supermarket she meets with him again and they embrace.Timeline 1:Xia Guo wants to make the food and Yu Jian's mother doesn't want to, but she does it anyway. Xia Guo and she are happy looking at the clothes bought for the baby. Yu Jian presents his mother and Xia Guo with a red envelope. Yu Yan arrives from the United States, she reveals that she is pregnant and wishes to get rid of the child because her husband wishes to divorce her. Yu Yan's foreign husband arrives and makes her very unhappy (he wants a divorce and doesn't want the child). But Yu Jian and Xia Guo's mother advise keeping the child even if she has to separate from her husband. Yu Yan starts drinking, and Xia Guo scolds her. And they advise her Yu Yan who is happier and talks to the baby in Xia Guo's belly. "Seriously, wife, do you know that you have the most beautiful pregnant belly in the world?" Yu Jian said lovingly to his wife.

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