[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Our Beloved Summer" Episode 2

A brief opening montage summarizes the five year courtship of our lead characters. Apparently they started dating in high school. Ever since then Yeon-soo would fish for clear statements from Woong that he liked her, from which he demurred, instead only committing to specific actions that he would only want to do if he really liked her. The break-up itself is non-committal, with Yeon-soo motivated in some abstract way that wasn't clear to me.

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Really, if any one phrase sums up "Our Beloved Summer" it's motivated in some abstract way that wasn't clear to me. We find out that Yeon-soo really did meet up with Woong again for the sole purpose of trying to get him to commit to her store concept idea. This rather boring explanation, coupled with Woong's disinterest in publicity, implies that Yeon-soo made a pitch to Manager Jang she hadn't actually properly developed. This makes her look incompetent at best and unethical at worst.

But the broader problem is simply that Woong, as a character, doesn't seem to want anything. This is a very awkward place for a main character to be two episodes in, even if the epilogue clearly states that Woong will somehow become enthusiastic about the new documentary project. Speaking of which, our second male lead Ji-woong (played by Kim Sung-cheol) is obsessed with making the documentary project happen for reasons that, again, aren't clear to me.

On that subject our second female lead NJ (played by Roh Jeong-eui) is an idol who is very determined to romance Woong. Why this is so important to NJ is, once again, unclear to me. While we are told that the slovenly Woong is NJ's type, that on its own really isn't much of a story. "Our Beloved Summer" hinges around other characters showing up to pester Woong, who for all practical intents and purposes is a hermit, to participate in their pet projects when he has no reason to want to do so.

The result of all this is a story that as of the second episode hasn't actually started yet. We have clearer movement on the completely irrelevant subplot of Yeon-soo's bartender friend Sol-i (played by Park Jin-joo) trying to scope out the local franchise restaurant Daily Beer for menu ideas. That was one of the worse product placement scenes I've seen in awhile, if only because Daily Beer is a terrible name. Lifestyle Beer would be a much better translation.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Our Beloved Summer" is directed by Kim Yoon-jin-I, written by Lee Na-eun-I, and features Choi Wooshik, Kim Da-mi, Kim Sung-cheol, Roh Jeong-eui, Ahn Dong-goo, Park Won-sang. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/12/06~Now airing, Mon, Tue 22:00 on SBS.

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