K-Drama Review: A Gentleman's Dignity, Episodes 7-8

Read Episode reviews for:

A Gentleman's Dignity--Episodes 1-2
A Gentleman's Dignity--Episodes 3-4
A Gentleman's Dignity--Epsiodes 5-6

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 7-8

Well, Yisoo's not admitting that she's developing feelings for stubborn architect Do-Jin, but she sure does spend an awful lot of time thinking about him.

Like Most Women, She Does Her Deep Thinking While Wearing A Towel Hat.

Finally, Do-Jin's habit of recording everything that happens to him is explained to the audience--he has some weird mental condition where stress makes him lose his short-term memory. His sound-recording pen helps him remember the lost time, and I predict that this will play a bigger role in future episodes. He'll probably lose his memory of Yisoo entirely, just as she falls in love with him, like in Secret Garden.  Apparently, having an unrequited attachment to Yisoo is short-circuiting his brain quite a bit. Do-Jin needs to resolve this love issue quickly.

The Doctor Prescribes Love Potion Number 9. No, Not Really.

Yisoo's roommate Sera is still fussy because Yisoo likes Taesan. This conflict also needs to resolve itself soon, because it's not leading anywhere new. Me Ahri's buddy Colin is still around, trying to locate his birth father and making no headway. Jungrok is still getting into trouble with his wife and barely bothering to cover his tracks. Yoon and Me Ahri take a step forward, then back again as Yoon briefly mans up and asserts his interest, then back away again.

Sadly, This Moment Was Too Good to Last.

Me Ahri's got a lot to think about and so does Yisoo, so the two ladies go to the sauna to talk out their relationship issues. I'm a big fan of the jimjilbang setting in K-dramas--like noraebang and pojangmacha, it's a bit of cultural color that's not quite duplicated anywhere else.

Note: Same Jimjilbang (찜질방)Uniforms as in Rooftop Prince.

Do-Jin tries again to persuade Yisoo to give him a chance, and I really can't recall why she's still saying no, partly because I don't have a really good sense of Yisoo as a person or an idea of why she does what she does. She has many admirable qualities (excellent teacher, good mentor, supportive friend), but these just feel like an amalgamation of characteristics, rather than aspects of a real person's attitude.

Likable, but Missing Some 3-Dimensionality.

Do-Jin and Taesan are having trouble with their construction business, just to prove that there are non-lovey plotlines going on in A Gentleman's Dignity. But the business issues are shuffled pretty far to the background. Maybe the show would've been better if the audience could have gotten more invested in Yisoo and Do-Jin's lives apart from each other and the other characters? Just thinking.

Conference Time, Boys.

Episode 8 does manage to end on a slight cliffhanger when Taesan addresses the elephant in the room between himself and Do-Jin, and suggests that he (Taesan) might not be so indifferent to Yisoo's feelings for him after all.

Finally, He Gets It!

Things I Loved:

1. Yoon Staying With Do-Jin. It's because he's on the run from his own sad life, but Yoon has been living with various friends and family members for a long time even though he can afford his own place several times over. It's a tiny part of the episodes, but it's so sweet that Yoon slips into the nurturing role when living with Do-Jin.

Housekeeper, Complete With Apron.

2. F44. This show was ostensibly about all five guy friends and about their bond, but in actuality it seems more like a collection of love stories tied together by everyone being acquainted with each other. But it's still nice to get scenes of all of them just hanging out and supporting each other.

The Dudes, Just Being Dudes.

3. Brother/Sister Relationship. Taesan and Me Ahri have a few brief serious convos, and you realize that Taesan adores his kid sister and wants the best for her, but he's also willing to crush her heart by sending her back to America in order to "protect" her from her feelings for Yoon. Eh, his methods are high-handed, but his heart's in the right place.

But Baby Sisters Need Love, Too.

Complaints:

1. Stalled Love Story. I know Do-Jin and Yisoo will end up together, but the things keeping them apart aren't really good obstacles. In real life "I just don't want to date him" is a perfectly fine excuse, and once a woman decides she doesn't like a guy, that's the end of the story. But with Yisoo, I feel like she's just flouncing and avoiding the inevitable. Though perhaps that's just because I already know the endgame, here.

Watch A Gentleman's Dignity HERE on DramaFever.

Episode Evaluations: These episodes were okay. Nothing too new and nothing terribly frustrating; I'm expecting some big plot shakeup to happen next week. Please?