K-Drama Reaction: Be Melodramatic

What I like most about Be Melodramatic was that it does not only mirror the reality of struggling in your 30s, but also it shows a different perspective of the “what ifs” of life. It has a certain way of telling a story by means of what would you NOT do in times of crisis. What would you rather not risk yourself into.

In this week’s episodes, we took a peek at the relationship of Jin-joo and Hwan-dong as a young couple who started as college crushes which led to a disastrous love affair. I loved how it was Jin-joo who took that dreaded first step to introducing herself to Hwan-dong. She liked him, and she thought he liked her back. Their honeymoon phase was just like the rest of us, too: cute and clingy. But as the famous quote by Elie Wiesel goes, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” Jin-joo said they were aware of their incompatible preferences and personalities, which often led to petty fights or even longer arguments. And as they shied away from their early 20s, the emotional drift surfaced without them even recognizing the red flags. They thought they loved each other so much that the fights would not lead to really breaking up, and then their countless mini breakups became routinary. They thought their foundation was strong enough that the bumps in the road are just like that – bumps. But what makes a seemingly unbreakable seven-year relationship fall apart? It’s the indifference that built up through those times of neglect.

But as this realization unfolded before me, Jin-joo suddenly taught me something about break-ups. When all of us thought that being indifferent could make us think that we never really loved that person, the reality still stands. As Jin-joo said, love may change but the truth does not. Once in her life, she loved Hwan-dong. She was happy. She cared. It was love.

Speaking of Jin-joo, I love how she is re-calibrating her life back from that painful relationship. Now that she has met Beom-soo, I doubt that there will ever be a sad day in her life again. Beom-soo cracks me up! But I admit that presentation before the bosses had me cringing! I never imagined that this tough director who thinks highly of himself would one day show a vulnerable (and really funny) side of him. Who knew that his weakness would be presenting a slideshow of his new drama project before the higher ups??? Thank God Jin-joo was there to save the day (and punch him out of the room, literally).

What I also liked about this episode was how Jin-joo faced the adversity with such absurdity. When Beom-soo was ready to seize the day and plan their strategy to get the approval of the executives, Jin-joo stood firm that they did nothing. Sometimes, the best thing we can do about a difficult situation is to really just do nothing. Don’t move. Sit still. And that’s what they did. At the end of the day, the problem is dealt with without them really exhausting themselves.

Eun-jung’s relationship with So-min is slowly improving this week. Our heroine cast our actress for her new documentary. And as she spends time with So-min, she learns that she is in fact a good person. Also, I can see So-min as one of the key factors in Eun-jung’s road to full recovery. This unexpected partnership will result into a beautiful friendship between two very different women.

I feel really bad for Jae-hoon. He is trapped in a toxic relationship with Ha-yoon. I knew what he said to Han-joo about Ha-yoon and her “cousin” were all white lies, but I could not help but hope that what he said was indeed true. It was painful to see Jae-hoon lying to Han-joo so that she would not be torn anymore about what to do with Ha-yoon’s apparent infidelity. And Ha-yoon, girl, how dare not let go of Jae-hoon when you’re out there clubbing every night, kissing any random man, and spending the night with him at a hotel. Leave some dignity for yourself.

I also hope that the drama would show more of the Han-joo and Jae-hoon’s hoobae-sunbae platonic relationship. As much as I want them to end up together, I don’t want them to jump right into the love stuff just yet. I enjoy Han-joo being the ever dependable noona, and Jae-hoon being the cheerful dongsaeng. They look cute together even when they are consoling each other.