REPLY 1988 - EPISODE 3

Deok Seon wants to win a walkman (the iPod's of the 80's) at the school talent show. The talent show will be taking place at a class retreat. Her friends tease her about liking Sun Woo, but that's all she needs to head out with Sun Woo later, her face powdered white like a gisaeng. Jung Hwa's mom secretly funnels money to Deok Seon's mom, so our heroine will have spending money for the trip. Our heroine is given a camera for the trip, but that quickly gets lost.

At the retreat, Jung Hwan hands her a bottle of whiskey to hide. Her friends try to catch the boy's talent show illicitly, and end up in traction when they fall off a wall in the attempt. She talks to the teacher, who says she simply has to fill the stage. So she fills it with Sun Woo, Jung Hwan, and Dong Ryong, who put on an awesome performance and win her the walkman. When Deok Seon comes out to bring Jung Hwan his whiskey at midnight, Dong Ryong's teacher dad is out to get them for sneaking out. They squeeze between two buildings to hide, and Jung Hwan's pants get a little tighter. That night, while everyone else is asleep, Jung Hwan finds himself awake and thinking.   


The boys have a little fun on the bus ride to the retreat.

Of course, there's trouble in paradise where the families are concerned. Deok Seon's dad buys things from other people when he sees that they are poor, much to the consternation of his wife. Jung Hwan's dad, despite being rich, acts poor, and buys accordingly, also angering his wife. Deok Seon's little brother gets in trouble at school for selling items to get some spending money. At the end, we find out that Deok Seon's family used to be rich, and the dad used to float cash to Jung Hwan's father when they were dirt poor. However, three years ago, when he bought the winning lottery ticket, Jung Hwan's family's fortunes changed.

The next afternoon, they're home from the retreat and Seon Deok's mom goes after her for losing the camera; she hides behind Jung Hwan who looks nonplussed. When her dad comes home and sees this, he leaves again, resolving to be rich, certain that's the source of all their fights...


The boys kill it during the talent show

Okay, so like the voiceover says, her first love was Sun Woo, but now this complicates things because of Jung Hwan's *ahem!* feelings.  So if it continues this way, in the next episode it'll be someone else. It's not going to be a love triangle, it's going to be a big, tangled love pentagon. Which leaves me to wonder if anyone is going to get into fist fights over her?  Because we've got Dong Ryong, Sun Woo, and Taek, who all commented that she was cute in Ep 2, or at least agreed to it. We've already got scenes with Sun Woo and Jung Hwa, and the latter told them they were all delusional. I should run a pool, and we should bet on the winner...

I like the money fights, but at the same time am uncomfortable about them. There are times when it is lean, and this makes family life a little awkward at best. So I totally understand the dad's idea that riches would calm the mom down. But I have a feeling that her stress comes from the fact that she's a mom to three kids, and her anger and frustration has to be directed somewhere. Since the problems can't be solved, she gets upset and blames some external things. I'm a little worried about the dad though. Where's he going? And what does he think is the path to wealth?


Hiding from the teacher, and getting really uncomfortable.

The fights in general are a little excessive. While I don't expect everything to be perfect, it just seems like a lot of chaos. The wives fight with their husbands because everything's not perfect. Seon Deok fights with her unnie because she can, and neither of them are entirely innocent in that, as Sun Woo talks about when he mentions that unnie will likely steal the walkman. It's a very noisy drama, and I think it would be good to have a little conflict without all the constant yelling and hitting.

I'm totally here for the romance. Far from being a tease, the writers have actually made it cute. First this boy, now this one, and they drop a clue here or there. This girl is probably going to go through all her male friends before she settles on one, and likely go back to one or more after they break up. We haven't seen enough to know that, but I can see it happening easily. They've set it up for it to go that way.


Hiding behind Jung Hwa

Now that they've made the introductions, the show flows a little more smoothly now. I'm getting used to the focus on family, as these conflicts are important to the plot. This episode is another excellent entry in the series, and I can't wait to see what's next.