[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Valid Love" Episode 19

The overall theme this time concerns the meaning of life. More specifically, for what reason is life worth living? "Valid Love" has often drawn a parallel between the apparently frivolous emotional pain of the three leads and Hee-soo, who had resigned herself to living out her empty shell of a life. The events of the last episode have been enough to give Hee-soo a choice. And the decision she ultimately makes is an unsurprising one.

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The contrast in the broader storyline is with Il-ri, who also, in the same dreamlike manner, has the same choice offered to her. And just as predictably, Il-ri does not take this offer, although she clearly wavers on the question. This episode is the ultimate statement on what the friendship between Il-ri and Hee-soo has actually meant for both characters, and how even though this is the critical emotional relationship for both women, they're both eventually able to accept a permanent separation for the greater good, acknowledging that life has taken them to very different places.

It's this impetus that by the end has given Il-ri the strength to apparently cut off her romantic attachments once and for all. We've seen this happen before- and as mentioned, the main weakness of "Valid Love" as of late has been the sheer repititon. Excessive flashbacks are also a problem here- a disappointing one to be sure, given that all of the scenes definitely had emotional power the first time I saw them. Overexposure has by necessity lessened that somewhat.

Yet here, coming up on the final episode, getting final closure regarding Hee-soo and the kind of woman she is does a lot to emphasize that yes, the drama is finally ending. Like Hee-soo's life, everyone has accepted that the faint glimmer of long-forgotten happiness isn't worth holding on to in perpetuity just for the sake of nostalgia. It was nice while it lasted, but now it's gone. As meaningful as Il-ri's compassion has been to Hee-soo, ultimately, nothing lasts forever.

This makes for a fairly bittersweet elegy- one that probably would have come off a lot stronger if we had just moved to this several episodes ago rather than padding. Hee-soo admitted, quite some time ago, that she's perfectly well-prepared to die. While I thought the that this was just a matter of her own personal subplot, the thematic relevance to the drama as a whole is quite impossible to ignore. Truly, we can only really wish for the best.

Review by William Schwartz

"Valid Love" is directed by Han Ji-seung, written by Kim Do-woo and features Uhm Tae-woong, Lee Si-young, Lee Soo-hyuk, Choi Yeo-jin, Im Ha-ryong, Lee Young-ran and more.

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