REPLY 1998 - EPISODE 5

Dad dutifully guarding Bora's door.

Everyone's freaking out because Bora (Deok Seon's unnie) is participating in the protests. It gets to the point where the dad barricades her in her room, and guards the door. Eventually, she is collared by cops and taken to jail for her part in the protests. She gets out, and Jung Hwan's dad tells Bora's father to let her know she's in trouble. He replies that she hasn't done anything wrong.

Deok Seon babies Sun Woo after he hurts himself during a stupid stunt in class, much to the annoyance of Jung Hwan. In a funny turn of events, we see the fabled chocolate commercial starring Lee Mi Yeon (well, not quite see, since they blur it out). Later, Deok Seon dreams of herself as Lee Mi Yeon, with Sun Woo as the boyfriend, while Jung Hwan dreams the same, only with him as the protagonist.


How Deok Seon studies -- must be sleep-learning. :)

Jung Hwan's grandma suffers an injury, and thus begins a comical time of helpless men trying to survive without mom for a few days. When mom finally comes home, everything's exactly where it should be, thanks to a monster clean-up job. Mom becomes depressed, wondering if she's truly needed, until Jung Hwan artificially creates disasters, so mom can feel useful again.

Sun Woo's mother frantically cleans and straightens the house, preparing for a visit from Sun Woo's grandma, who is an absolute bear of a woman during her visit. At the end, they make up, each realizing that mom and daughter are forever, even when the daughter is a mom herself.   


What happens when Jung Hwan's mother is away

My Thoughts:

I figured Bora had something up her sleeve, based on her anti-establishment comments in the first episode. I wasn't sure how deep those sentiments ran, but apparently she's serious about it. We also get to hear events narrated from adult Bora's point of view this time. These protests have to do with the leadership at the time, and they were military dictators who had no problem quelling protests by torture and death. The protest movements were spearheaded by university students, who risked life and limb to try and make a more equitable South Korea. Fortunately for us, they succeeded, and South Korea not only became richer for it materially, so did the world culturally.

So now we have a full-blown triangle. Sun Woo and Jung Hwan both like Seon Deok. I think Seon Deok is aware of Jung Hwan's interest (based on some facial expressions), but I don't think she knows what to make of it. It's got to be maddening, especially if you find yourself caught between them. They're all friends, so by favoring one over the other you cause hurt feelings and jealousy, and possibly help tear the group apart. So can their friendship overcome the vagaries of first loves and triangles? I guess we have to stay tuned to find out.


Jailbird Bora

I thought some of the family scenes were really touching. I like how this installment actually pulls back and shows you how the family interacts instead of just the kids. The previous ones really focused much more on the kids and the families were just set pieces, with much less conflict. It's nice to see that Deok Seon's family is struggling with money; it humanizes them a lot more. And I like how the kids decide to make things right, even if sometimes they have to talk with their friends to figure it out.

After five episodes, this is a pretty good drama. It actually has its own pace, and the actors do a damn fine job of portraying their characters. This isn't a fast moving drama, with lightning edits and constant tension. It's more a window into a different time, and we're watching events play out. It is said that in a novel, the purpose of a sentence is to get you to read the next sentence, and this drama epitomizes that nicely -- each shot leads into the next nicely, organically,and you find yourself wanting to see more.

Well, I've rambled enough. So -- let's have your take!

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