[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Our Beloved Summer" Episode 8

Previously, Woong and Yeon-soo had been kidnapped by their friends and dragged off to an isolated cottage in a rural area. The idea, I had been led to believe, was to provide a more compelling environment for the production of documentary footage. But despite Min-kyeong critiquing the aimlessness of the documentary in the previous episode, the documentary production remains aimless. Ji-woong claims that there's more of an emotional approach now- but there's little evidence of a meaningful change in direction.

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"Our Beloved Summer" is constantly its own enemy like this. The compelling story is the romance between Woong and Yeon-soo, and the mystery of their past relationship and falling out. All the other story elements just interfere with that in often arbitrary ways that don't make a whole lot of sense. The documentary forcing Woong and Yeon-soo out into the countryside makes sense for their love story, but does almost nothing for the plot of the documentary itself.

And the love story continues to have its moments. A big part of the opening details a past attempted breakup. I really do appreciate the nuance of the lead performances. Despite mostly looking the same, it's always easy to tell on a scene by scene basis where we are in their lives. Yeon-soo is always guarded, yet she clearly misses Woong in the flashback. This is a marked change in the present day, where Yeon-soo's stiff attitude has overcome all else, and even Woong won't admit to anything if he thinks she's nearby.

The story of their reconnection is interesting on its own merits. But there's also not very far it can go. Indeed, with so much of "Our Beloved Summer" so obviously leading up to their getting back together, it's difficult to tell what other stories the drama can even tell. We're at the halfway point and nearly every new plot hook is almost immediately abandoned. NJ is already back to just wandering around idly looking for Woong with no other clear motivation.

This episode did at least make the sensible decision to keep going with the romantic subplot of Eun-ho hanging out with Sol-i, with both of them constantly flirting. The chemistry between Ahn Dong-goo and Park Jin-joo is so good it could have and probably should have served as the actual anchor to the plot, with their interactions being used as a vehicle to force Woong and Yeon-soo to spend more time together.

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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