[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Make a Woman Cry" Episode 34

Jin-han has clearly recovered some of his memories. It's not totally clear which ones or how many. But what we do know is that this recovery was prompted by Eun-soo's blatant attempt at emotional manipulation. Eun-soo has frequently demonstrated intelligence, but she appears either unwilling or unable to process the significance of this. Jin-han isn't rejecting his family because of his current wife. He's rejecting his family because they consider Eun-soo to be his de facto wife, and Jin-han is completely unwilling to tolerate Eun-soo's presence.

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It's useful, I think, to consider Eun-soo's character in comparison to everyone else. In the earlier portion of the drama Kyeong-cheol was the villain of the drama. He has since reformed, and is trying to live out his life with dignity and respect for family. In the mid-portion of the drama Deok-in's mother seemed like a villain, but she was really just couthless. Treated with kindness and properly nudged, Deok-in's mother is actually a reasonably pleasant person to be around.

More than that, though, Kyeong-cheol and Deok-in's mother were both dealing with trauma that clouded their actions. Eun-soo claims special traumatic circumstances every time she acts vicious, but what's obvious at this point is that these are just excuses. Eun-soo is a serial emotional manipulator and abuser. Jin-han's family has been giving her the benefit of the doubt this entire time under the assumption that Jin-han left her in a bad place, but it's increasingly looking like Eun-soo was the one that really forced the meltdown here.

The contrast between Jin-han and Hyeon-seo is also an interesting one in this context. Hyeon-seo is nearly at the breaking point with his mother, even though it completely defies his personality to act angry or mean-spirited. The connection between Hyeon-seo increasing lack of patience and Jin-han's absolute lack of patience gives the clear impression that they have a similar relationship with Eun-soo, at different points of development.

While the Eun-soo storyline has gotten kind of pulpy, I can't really call it unrealistic. Let's not kid ourselves- we've all known someone like Eun-soo at some point in our lives. She manipulates narratives to keep people from calling her out. Eun-soo's exaggerated histrionics are a far cry from the genuine grief and recovery we see from characters like Deok-in and Jin-woo. It's a testament to the patience of the production that these markers have only just recently become so obvious- if the rich family couldn't figure it out in twenty years, why should we get it right away?

Review by William Schwartz

"Make a Woman Cry" is directed by Kim Geun-hong and Park Sang-hoon-III, written by Ha Cheong-ok and features Kim Jung-eun, Song Chang-eui, Lee Soon-jae, Ha Hee-ra, Oh Dae-gyu and Lee Tae-ran.