Monday, October 1, 2012

K-Drama Review: To The Beautiful You, Episodes 13-14





Read Episode reviews for:

To The Beautiful You--Episodes 1-2
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 3-4
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 5-6
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 7-8
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 9-10
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 11-12
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 13-14
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 15-16


Contains Spoilers for Episodes 13-14

Taejoon at last tells Jaehee that he doesn't want her to go to America--she needs to stay with him.

That's One Half of a Proper Confession.

Eungyul shows up to swap cellphones with Jaehee before she can answer Taejoon. If I never have to see Jaehee looking sad and confused again, it'll be too soon. Taejoon and Jaehee go home to their dorm room after a weekend of volunteering and Taejoon tells Jaehee that after she gets cleaned up, they need to have a for-real sit-down discussion.
 
School Doctor and Taejoon finally have an open talk about how Jaehee's a girl. Did it have to take 13 episodes for something so basic to happen? Taejoon declares his romantic intentions to the Doc, but Doc isn't sure how Jaehee will react to a confession.
 
Perchance, She Will Be Sad and Confused.
 
Now Taejoon doesn't want to confess because he thinks it'll scare Jaehee away. *facepalm* Life continues. Just having Jaehee around makes Taejoon so happy that his high jumping improves more and more. His rival Hyunjae, however, is getting nervous. He's hitting the bar every time he jumps, and he's going to lose all his endorsement deals if he doesn't improve. Even though Hyunjae's a secondary character, it feels like we're finally in high-stakes territory.
 
By Now, The Sports Story is Cooler Than The Love Story.
 
And it looks like Hyunjae has decided to sabotage Taejoon instead of just improving his own game! We see Hyunjae standing on a balcony, then a giant flower pot falls and nearly smashes into Taejoon's head. Blatant Dream High reference.
 
That night, Hyunjae sabotages Taejoon's bicycle, but as he crawls home to his dorm, Eungyul is waiting for him with a belated birthday present and a happy birthday song. Hyunjae's heart is warmed, and the sweet moment makes him feel all the more guilty.  Jaehee suspects something is amiss with Taejoon's bike, and when she borrows it for a test drive, she crashes. Her fall is broken by Eungyul, who injures his ankle in the collision.
 
Ruh-Roh...
 
This is super-extra-really bad because Eungyul just made the national soccer team. He hides his pain at having to miss the upcoming match, and says to himself that it's all worthwhile, so long as Jaehee is not hurt.
 
Jaehee grows a backbone again and confronts Hyunjae about the bicycle sabotage and the trouble he has caused. Eungyul overhears and berates Hyunjae, too. When did Hyunjae become such a pathetic person, Eungyul asks? Didn't he know that someone could be injured by his prank? Hyunjae can't do anything but miserably say he's sorry.
 
Meanwhile at the hospital, dorm captain Seungri is working up the courage to chat up Hanna.
 
I Was Expecting Hanna/Eungyul, But This Is Cute, Too.
 
Hanna tells him that she wants to be left alone, in that snooty-brat voice of hers which I somehow find endearing. Seungri continues to fumble for words as he attempts to be charming. She reluctantly agrees to let Seungri amuse her while they're both staying in the hospital.
 
At Genie High, a tiny tot wanders on campus (which has the worst security ever), and tries to find "Taejoon Oppa".
 
Adorable! And Kind of Mean.
 
Tiny tot gets into Jaehee and Taejoon's room after Eungyul decides to cart her inside in a gym bag! Oy vey, the child endangerment. And she's not even Taejoon's 동생--she's actually Hyunjae's baby sister.
 
As I thought, Hyunjae's family is very poor, and he is expected to win a gold medal and get lots of endorsement deals in order to support them. His little sister adores him and misses him, and her appearance pushes Hyunjae to apologize to Eungyul. Yay, friendship mended!
 
There's some new drama with Taejoon's dad, who faints and goes to the hospital. Taejoon doesn't want to go see Dad because he blames Dad for Mom's death two years ago, and for not getting Mom the proper medical attention. Jaehee convinces him to go, though.
 
Anyone Else Not Really Care, Either Way?
 
Hospitalized Dad is very apologetic for all he's done to hurt his son, but Taejoon says to his dad's face that he'll never be able to forgive him.
 
Off in the romantic plot, Jaehee is only just now thinking that Taejoon might like her. And if Taejoon likes her, this must mean that he's gay! *forehead smack*
 
Always So Very Far From The Truth.
 
Jaehee spends some time with Eungyul, who is missing the chance to play in his first national soccer game because he got hurt helping her. Then she spends most of the next day on what amounts to a date with Taejoon. I can't tell if everybody's ultra-sweet or if everybody is leading everybody else on. Who likes who? Does it matter anymore?
 
As these two walk home, Taejoon asks if Jaehee ever regrets coming to a school so far away from home. She says no--it's so nice to be near a person who was once so far away, meaning him. Their conversation heartwarms Taejoon so much, he wraps his jacket around Jaehee and moves in for a kiss.
 
Yay, I Guess.
 
And kisses should mean that the characters have revealed their feelings, or are at least going to discuss their feelings? Hahaha! No, Jaehee pushes Taejoon away and they both blame his impulsive behavior on the fact that he ate chocolate which might have contained alcohol. We have now stooped to blaming our actions on alcoholic chocolate.
 
Back to the family plot. To help Taejoon, Jaehee arranges for him to have dinner with his dad, and Dad explains some things about Mom's death that make Taejoon hate him less. Jaehee comforts Taejoon afterward, as usual.
 
Rather Sweet, After All.
 
Life goes back to normal for everybody. Taejoon finally tells Jaehee that he likes her, but she doesn't answer him. Due to series of unlocked doors which really should have been locked, Eungyul walks in on Jaehee changing and now knows she's a girl. What will all these poor, confused babies do now that the secret is out?
 
 


Things I Loved:

 
1. Taejoon Loves Jaehee. Honestly, Minho's performance of Taejoon being head over heels for Jaehee is pretty convincing. He lights up at her every word and gesture. Nicely done, kiddo.

Missing Her Before She Even Leaves.


2. Hyunjae's Struggles. He's a good-but-not-perfect athlete placed next to the Olympic-caliber Taejoon. Who wouldn't resent Taejoon a little? But then Hyunjae has to go and get villainous, sabotaging Taejoon and hurting Eungyul in the process. It complicates his character.

Suffer-Suffer-Angst-Angst.

3. Hyunjae's Sister. The very definition of cuteness!

This Kid, Seriously.


Complaints:

1. Nothing Matters Anymore. Is there such a thing as consequences for anyone's actions? Nope, nada, nyet.
 

Episode Evaluations:  Sadly, I'm back to not caring what happens. It takes a lot of work for a show to get me 100% uninvested in the outcome of anything, but To The Beautiful You has managed to do just that, through the combination of a clueless heroine, a waffling hero, a lack of realistic emotions, and a slow-as-maple-syrup plot.

But yanno, the show is very pretty.


2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It's needlessly confusing: Jaehee is a girl at an all-boys school. Taejoon and Eungyul both like her, but Taejoon knows she's a girl and Eungyul thinks she's a boy (until just now). Jaehee likes Taejoon but can't tell him. And there are 25 side characters who don't get enough screentime. Plot in a nutshell!

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