Our Blues: Episodes 13-14

by lovepark

Relationships are hard, and people are complicated. Even the best of friends can hurt each other, and the sweetest partners can break hearts. Though it may be easier to pretend everything is all right in the moment, our characters learn that if they want a healthy relationship with the ones they love, then sometimes difficult conversations are necessary to heal wounds and grow.

EPISODES 13-14 WEECAP: Mi-ran & Eun-hee; Young-ok, Jung-joon & Young-hee

Mi-ran’s short visit to Jeju stirs up Eun-hee’s bottled feelings, but instead of addressing these issues, she continues playing the part of the loyal friend. Unaware of their growing rift, Mi-ran tidies up Eun-hee’s house in the morning and casually flips through her diary since she believes there are no secrets between them. At first, the entries are nothing more than mundane sales logs, but Mi-ran sits in shock when she reads the latest page where Eun-hee describes her as a selfish, two-faced brat.

When Eun-hee comes home from work, Mi-ran greets her friend with a smile, and Eun-hee goes along with the ruse despite her frustrations. Later that day, as Mi-ran helps Eun-hee get ready for their class reunion, Mi-ran asks if she ever hurt her. Eun-hee lies about being fine, so Mi-ran tells her that she loves her and drops the topic.

At the party, Mi-ran and Eun-hee recreate their high school dance routine, but the guys intervene and push Eun-hee out of the way. Resigning to the sidelines, Eun-hee grabs a drink by herself, and Myung-bo’s wife joins her to badmouth Mi-ran for looking down on all of them.

Mi-ran steps out to buy some learning materials for Ok-dong and finds Myung-bo drinking alone at a park. While she keeps him company, Myung-bo admits to Mi-ran that he is going to divorce his wife. As a divorcee, she advises him to talk things out first, so Myung-bo shows her the bruises and scratches on his body as well as his broken toenails. He tells Mi-ran that his wife has delusional jealousy and has been physically abusing him for years.

Mi-ran comforts her crying friend, and in that moment, Myung-bo’s wife witnesses them together and grabs Mi-ran’s hair. When Eun-hee comes out to check on them, she immediately jumps in the fight and hits Mi-ran on the back to stop her. Enraged, Mi-ran twists around and slaps her friend across the face. Clutching her cheek, Eun-hee stares back speechless, but Mi-ran walks away.

At home, the two friends sit at the table — both sides fueled with unspoken grievances — and their emotions clash. Eun-hee blames Mi-ran for earlier and distrusts her explanation of Myung-bo’s situation. Feeling betrayed, Mi-ran repeats what she read in Eun-hee’s diary and tells her that her words hurt her because they came from the person who knows her the best.

Mi-ran asks again why Eun-hee is mad at her, but her friend refuses to talk about the past. Lashing out, Mi-ran calls her disloyal and gives her a chance to cut ties with her. When Eun-hee stays silent, Mi-ran offers to do it for her and leaves the house.

Once Mi-ran is gone, Eun-hee realizes how much she has misunderstood her friend, and the things she once saw as Mi-ran’s blessings were her own assumptions. Instead of the town star, Mi-ran was a passing breeze, and Eun-hee notices how little Mi-ran truly has. She sees the traces of her friend left behind in her house and decides to go to Seoul to confront her.

Eun-hee visits Mi-ran’s shop as a guest, and while getting a massage, she finally tells her about the incident from last year. She thought Mi-ran only considered her as a pushover and a maid, so Mi-ran corrects her: she was never her maid, but she does think she is a pushover. Explaining her comment, Mi-ran says that everyone in her life is embarrassed of her for being divorced, and the only person who makes her comfortable is Eun-hee.

Eun-hee asks why she is a disloyal friend then, and Mi-ran says that Eun-hee should have been honest with her if she was loyal. They both realize how much the other means to them, and as Mi-ran massages her back, Eun-hee grasps the depth of her confession. Even with a family, husbands, and a daughter — things Eun-hee does not have — the only person who truly knew her was Eun-hee. Likewise, Mi-ran fills that same hole in Eun-hee’s life, and the two friends reaffirm their friendship.

While there are bigger issues in their relationship that still need to be discussed, they are clearly headed in the right direction, and the show makes it clear that both Eun-hee and Mi-ran want to fix their friendship. It’s true that Mi-ran can be selfish and inconsiderate, but she is also generous with Eun-hee, not just materially but also emotionally.

Mi-ran was hurt after reading the diary, but her first response was to understand Eun-hee’s feelings and make amends. She never questions or belittles Eun-hee’s emotions, and only grew frustrated with her when she refused to address their problem. Mi-ran wants to apologize for hurting her because she knows how immature she can be at times, and her ability to love wholeheartedly is what makes her a good friend to Eun-hee despite her faults.

Though I think Eun-hee had every right to be mad at her friend after the prank, it seems that her anger also stemmed from jealousy. Decades of people comparing them as the princess and the maid caused a lot of resentment to pile up. It wasn’t until she heard how everyone really saw Mi-ran that Eun-hee realized that they weren’t so different after all. Even though Mi-ran looked carefree and beloved, she was also lonely and misunderstood.

In essence, Eun-hee was hurt by Mi-ran’s words more than the prank itself because she thought her friend looked down on their friendship. She started to think Mi-ran saw her as a maid like everyone else, and instead of communicating her feelings, she built a wall around herself to avoid more heartache. She only saw the error of her way when she learned that no one really understands Mi-ran the way she does, and it reminded her of the fact that they are friends no matter what others might think.

I’m glad that out of all the stories, these two got the clearest happy ending. Friendships are rarely the focus of stories, especially between adults, so it was nice to see a complex portrayal of one between two women that did not revolve around men. From beginning to end, this arc was about Eun-hee and Mi-ran; and even if the road ahead has a few bumps, I think this time they’ll be able to navigate it better together.

Saying goodbye to Mi-ran, the show returns to Young-ok and Jung-joon’s story… with a new face added to the mix: Young-hee, her twin sister who has Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Young-hee currently lives in a home with others like herself, and it’s been two years since Young-ok has seen her.

Young-ok tries her best to push her sister out of her life as she enjoys her budding relationship with Jung-joon and gets closer to the other haenyeos after sharing her secret. Things seem to be looking up for her until she receives a text from Young-hee’s caretaker, explaining how Young-hee needs to stay with her while they renovate the house for a week.

Unable to hide her sister from Jung-joon, Young-ok breaks up with him before they can meet, but Jung-joon does not take the news well and thinks she is pushing him away because he mentioned marriage. Exasperated, Young-ok allows him to follow her to the airport where she picks up Young-hee, and Jung-joon is shocked to see her.

On their way home, Young-ok stops for a bathroom break for her sister and reluctantly introduces her to the others. Though some of them fail to hide their surprise, Choon-hee and the vocal haenyeo (the one who wanted Young-ok gone the most) stand up for her and make sure no one says anything bad about her sister.

Jung-joon comes by to talk with Young-ok again and reintroduces himself to Young-hee properly this time. Leaving her sister with the others for a moment, Young-ok takes Jung-joon aside for a private chat and tells him that their relationship is no longer fun. He tells her that he will not bring up marriage again but explains how life cannot always be “fun.”

He does not understand why they have to break up when they still love each other, but Young-ok says that all her past boyfriends were like him at first. However, they got tired of her and Young-hee, and Young-ok refuses to be hurt again like before. She thinks he should run away while he still can, but Jung-joon grabs her hand and refuses to let go. He tells her that she underestimated him and will prove to her how much he loves her.

The omnibus format may not be for everyone, but personally, I love the way the show highlights the various stories and lives of its characters every week. There’s more opportunity to explore side characters this way and give them depth because the audience gets to see different aspects to them as they interact with new groups of people.

For example, Myung-bo could have been another background friend, but the show gives him a story and highlights the fact that anyone can be a victim of abuse. The vocal haenyeo is not just an unreasonable antagonist but an understanding grandmother with an autistic granddaughter. It’s because of characters like them that the world of Our Blues feels lived-in.

I’m looking forward to Young-hee’s introduction to the story, and I trust the show to handle the topic of disabilities with care. There were already a few subtle hints from the show depicting the struggles of people with disabilities and their families in a society that is often unaccommodating, and I don’t think they will vilify Young-ok or Young-hee for the sake of drama. Hopefully, things will work out for the sisters, and maybe Young-ok can finally find a place she can call home.

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Our Blues: Episodes 13-14