The Feels...Past and Present

This episode was like one big fruit salad of emotions. It starts out pretty intense, with Se-ri's life hanging in the balance. Lo and behold, Jung Hyuk arrives as a knight in shining armor (or rather, his military apparel and a fancy Jaguar sedan).Jung Hyuk has to come up with an identity and alibi for Se-Ri on-the-spot, which he does. It leaves the women of the village with a strange blend of jealousy and curiosity for this strange woman in their community.As much as Jung Hyuk tries to come off as unreadable, it is very apparent at this point that he has developed a soft spot for Se-Ri.Yoon Se-Ri and Jung Hyuk exchange some silly banter regarding their impending breakup story, which shows that even seemingly invincible Se-Ri has a reputation she lives up to. And when the women in the village downsize her worth, she feels a need to prove them wrong before she leaves.We get a glimpse into the past life of Jung Hyuk, the life he had lived before his brother Moo-Hyuk was murdered. And it seems pretty clear who was behind it all. But it is sad to see someone ( old friend of Moo-Hyuk?) ended up playing a part in his death. It would appear Jung Hyuk gave up his dream of pursuing a career in music and took on the sibling role of joining the North Korean military after his brother's death. What of the song Jung-Hyuk composed for his brother? Will Se-Ri hear it in his place?I shouldn't be so quick to judge a character, but something about Seo Dan already rubs me the wrong way. And Seung-Joon...with his mouth and attitude he could very well create his own death wish!There were several scenes in this episode that spoke to my heart. One being the enacted romantic scene between Se-Ri and Jung-Hyuk, intended to be seen by the women in the village. The jealousy on the military wives' faces was so thick, and was down-right laughable.The scene with the beggar kid and his little sister had me choking on my own tears. And something about watching Jung-Hyuk exchange pleasant words to a tomato plant gave me a fuzzy, happy feeling.Despite it being just a brief amount of time, a clear connection has been built between Se-Ri and Jung-Hyuk. Even when Jung-Hyuk answered with silence to Se-Ri' s questioning and rambling...we know what she had to say has imprinted on him. I am curious to see how the two of them will get themselves out of the pickle they are in. I am hoping Se-Ri will still have more time to bond and connect with Jung-Hyuk's colleagues, and maybe even some of the people in the village.

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Unique Relationships In the Works

In this episode, we got to delve a little bit more into the past histories of Yoon Se-Ri and Ri Jeong-Hyeok in little bites. Little glimpses give us ideas as to things that might have happened, while still keeping that overall element of mystery. Despite what seems to be a love-hate relationship (similar to the one we have towards our siblings) growing between Yoon Se-Ri and Ri Jeong-Hyeok's troops...we also start to see a genuine curiosity and friendliness growing between them. Meanwhile, Ri Jeong-Hyeok shows that underneath that seemingly stiff military persona lies a bit of tenderness and compassion.One of my favorite things in this episode was getting a peek into the lives of the military families living in the small North Korean village. Despite their less-than-ideal and at times seemingly impoverished living conditions, they take it in stride and take pleasure in the simpler things in life. Each person has their own quirks and vices, which keeps things interesting and comical.As we see more and more of Yoon Seri's life being pieced together, the more our heart goes out to her. The overall selfishness of her family is truly sickening. It truly makes me wonder what was Yoon Se-Ri's breaking point...what made her decide to disown her own family and essentially break apart from them. Only time will tell.

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