Ahhh, where do I start? Well, I really won't mince words here; the relationships in Jazz For Two are abusive.

They're written with the sort of hope that keeps people in abusive relationships; the hope that deep down we understand each other and can make it out on the other side. There's something astonishing , and honestly, magical to me about the way this is so perfectly captured while maintaining this strong aura of soulmates.

Seheon gets hurt physically and emotionally regularly by Tae-I, who only apologizes once. Doyoon is also later found out to be enduring regular abuse from Juha. The act of enduring pain and abuse is treated like a type of pure or higher love. Both Seheon and Doyoon let these things happen to them because they have some sort of understanding that this person they love must also be battling something deep inside them. Their true selves, they naively believe, are hidden somewhere inside of this person who repeatedly does them harm and one day they will see their earnestness and open up to them.

This kind of hope for change in someone’s actions and willingness to “wait out” abusive behavior keeps people in abusive relationships. Guys, this shit is really serious. If someone reveals this kind of behavior to you, understand and believe that this IS their true self. The extreme highs you might feel with them will always be accompanied with extreme lows. If someone hurts you, that’s your sign to go. If you’re not sure, talk to someone you trust about it. Most importantly to remember: if someone really loved you like you deserve, they wouldn’t ever think it was okay to hurt you.

Anyway, it’s still a really good show.

Keeping these toxic themes in mind and understanding that relationships in this show shouldn’t be mimicked in real life, I can honestly say this show is a really enjoyable watch. Leaning into some of our worst impulses and rewarding them with the love story we wish could be; it’s like junk food. It’s good to have something fucked up like this to enjoy every once in a while. Don’t get into the ingredients too much tho.

The story is kinda meh. The whole thing with Tae-I and his brother is kind of done like a second thought and leaves you kind of wanting more. Obviously though, it becomes apparent as you watch this show that the story isn’t actually the important part so I’m not too hung up over it.

The direction is fucking beautiful, every scene is stunning. The acting is really good too, and you get all the subtleties of their emotions in all of the important parts and then all of the humor in all of the funny parts. The show is incredibly re-watchable. I actually am doing this review now because I’ve just re-watched it lol :)

I think my biggest complaint (besides the blatant toxicity of the relationships) is the fact they didn’t have enough jazz! The songs were jazz, sure, but it wasn’t really jazzy. The show is literally called Jazz for Two, can’t we get some of that punchy, spunky vibe from jazz? There wasn’t a lot of that fun energy we like to associate with jazz, incredibly disappointing. And then there were some crucial scenes that didn’t even utilize jazz in the background at all that really set me off.

Or at the very least juxtaposing jazz with classical music. With how much this show was putting jazz on a pedestal and putting down classical music I really thought we’d actually get to explore these mediums. Instead, we did get to see a small glimpse into what it’s like to be a musician, but it did leave much to be desired. Again… not the point of the show though, ultimately I understand.

Jazz be damned, the music was still very good.

Summary: The relationships were toxic as shit. Be mindful and watch with caution. The jazz wasn’t jazzy enough for my taste. Everything else was really beautiful though, and it was very enjoyable.