[Drama Review] 'Revolutionary Love' - Episode 14

AKP STAFF

Suddenly, the policeman next door who used to have no-name in ~~viewers'~~ my mind has joined in to turn the three trusty friends of 'Revolutionary Love' into a 5-member crew. And with police officer Jang Chul Min's active involvement both in the fight against the hidden crimes of the Gangsu group, as well as in the romance and friendship dynamics of our main characters, the drama is now very quickly headed toward its climax! The writers really decided to pick up the pace this past weekend, didn't they?

Even though we're not going anywhere because all this thing does is go back and forth, the drama is finally headed somewhere! Hooray!

In the romance department, there have been two very strange developments. One is that Kwon Jae Hoon (played by Gong Myung) makes some serious moves on Baek Jun (played by Kang So Ra). I'll be honest. When I should have been focussing on what kind of exploitation plan Jae Hoon and Jang Chul Min wanted to carry out the night of D-Day against the Gangsu group, and why it made Jae Hoon decide to make up for his past regrets by asking Jun on a date, I was just too engrossed in worrying about whether the drama suddenly started supporting Jun x Jae Hoon or not. But it was just so heartbreaking to see Byun Hyuk (played by Super Junior's Siwon) realize that his best friend has feelings for the girl he loves! The way Siwon played out Byun Hyuk's feelings in his expressions and his demeanor reminded me quite a lot of how his one-sided love toward Hwang Jung Eum in 'She Was Pretty' ended up. And this I mean as a compliment, because both times, he was effective in making me feel immense pity and sympathy toward him.

And the other thing is, Jun's middle-class mother getting in the way of Jun and Hyuk's potential relationship, because she doesn't approve of Hyuk's chaebol status? The tables have REALLY turned in the world of K-dramas since the early 2000's... but I'm not necessarily sure if in a good way. Just because the situation is flipped around, it doesn't quite mean that there was improvement. It honestly just feels like the same thing. If dramas want to depict and influence culture in a more modern sense, then I personally feel that there should be no sort of commandeering parental opposition at all. Whether it's rich parents opposing a chaebol's relationship with a commoner, or commoner parents opposing a daughter's relationship with a chaebol, it's still the same conservative practice of parents being unreasonably strict and dominant in children's lives to me.

Oh the secret's out. The surefire way to a girl's heart = strawberry ice cream.

Moving on. After leaving early from his date with Jun to finally fulfill his mission, Jae Hoon gets kidnapped by Byun Woo Sung's underlings, since there's no way that the evil older brother is going to let his father's company be exploited so easily. But Jae Hoon dutifully delivers the evidence he's gathered in Jun's hands, and the all-important USB is passed over from Jun to Hyuk. What will Hyuk do with the information he has? Will he use it to carry out Jae Hoon's dream in his friend's place, or will he just turn it over to his father for the price of getting Jae Hoon out of the false criminal charges?

Okay this I truly did not understand. Why did she start crying here? Like, why? I thought she got over Jae Hoon, like, years ago?

For a drama that has had a lot of ups and downs, it's somehow managed to arrive at a decent, pre-climax point. Our poor, commoner main characters - Jun and Jae Hoon - were never able to stand up and fight properly against the rich and their privileged ways of getting away with everything through money. But now, an unlikely hero in the form of Byun Hyuk suddenly makes it possible for the commoners to have a fighting chance. Somewhere along the way, Byun Hyuk has managed to convince everyone that he is a good enough person to set aside his blood ties to his family in favor of the greater good. So then... how come up until now, all of the elements leading up to this critical climax has been such a struggle of boredom?

Aw he looks so happy.

And now he looks so sad.

Nevermind the drama's fumbles in the past episodes. The plot is now headed in a very clear direction as we wait for next week. The only thing I want to see improved with next week's episodes is Jun's role in this fight against the Gangsu group and BS. In the beginning, Jun was the heroine who solved all of the problems that Hyuk caused, or so it seemed. But now, it feels a little as if she's been reduced to a female character with only romantic support as her main role? I'm sure Jun being Jun, she will want to have more voice and more active participation in the challenges her friends face.

Only two more episodes left! How are you expecting 'Revolutionary Love' to end?