Yumi’s Cells 2: Episode 1

by missvictrix

Yumi’s Cells is back for season 2, and you’ll hear no complaints from me. Our intermission is over, and it’s time to get back to our heroine where we left her: in the aftermath of her breakup, trying to put the pieces together again.

EPISODE 1 WEECAP

I will admit I was a teensy bit nervous about how Yumi’s Cells would handle its second season. I dislike seasons, and the completeness of K-dramas is one of my favorite things about them. That’s why, when Episode 1 opened up and I saw that we were picking up right where we left off — all of my worries faded away. I realized (and I don’t know why I didn’t sooner) that what we’re really dealing with here is a 28-episode drama, not two 14-episode seasons. At least that’s how I’m going to think about it.

As such, we pick up right where we left off: the super sad breakup of KIM YUMI (Kim Go-eun) and GOO WOONG (Ahn Bo-hyun). Just like the first time I saw it, I felt the hurt in the air, as well as this slightly cheated feeling. As we walk through the breakup again with Yumi, the entire scene is faded to black and white around her, and it creates this surreal feeling that’s just perfect for what she’s going through in that moment. Yumi turns to watch Woong walk away, but he doesn’t even look back. Oof. That hurt even more the second time around.

I didn’t expect to spend as much time as we did in the aftermath of Yumi’s breakup, but I’m glad we did. It gave us a closure that we didn’t get last season — and despite the sadness and loneliness that Yumi’s experiencing, her cells, as ever, bring it all to life with a delightful — yet poignant — lightness.

Yumi’s cells have to withstand the crazy storm of her emotions, and they’re desperate to bring her back to normal. Though they think she’s fine when she’s at work, faking normality, at home in the evenings she’s listless and can’t sleep.

Each cell has a different idea for a solution, and they try to bring Yumi back to herself with shopping, which fails, and a late-night movie, which also fails. Their next idea is alcohol, so our depressed heroine chugs back several beers. But the cells didn’t read the possible side effect: singing sad songs haha.

Yumi does just this, getting out her guitar and singing her heart out in the middle of the night. This is the moment where I remembered what this drama does so well: making us laugh with the comedy and wit of the cells and the commentary they provide, but at the same time, hitting us in the feels.

Yumi continues to relive her memories with Woong and mope about — stalking him on social and over-analyzing his caption or facial expression or even status message (#relatable). But while he seems perfect fine, smiling and sporting a new haircut, we see behind the scenes, and he’s just as broken as Yumi is.

I started season 2 all mentally prepared to move on to a new love interest (Jinyoung train, here I come!), but all the reminiscing on the romance with Woong made me genuinely miss them and their story. ~~Is Yumi~~ Are we going to be able to move on?

The answer is yes. Because just when I was beginning to doubt that I could, YOO BOBBY (Jinyoung) pops back into our story and gives Yumi encouragement. And then he lends her a novel. And that’s all it takes; I have officially joined the Bobby fan club with Yumi’s cells. Bring on the Bobby lightsticks!

I loved his character last season (despite being all for the Yumi+Woong coupling), and the connection he had with Yumi seemed to run deeper than what she had with Woong. I’m excited to see how their story plays out — and surprisingly, the drama doesn’t make us wait long.

Yumi might think that Bobby is into the cute office flake RUBY (Lee Yubi), but we can tell a mile away that he’s into her, and seeking her out in little ways. And one by one, this builds up their common ground and familiarity with each other.

Meanwhile in the cell village, there’s a secret Bobby fan club going on, but it’s easy to miss, what with all the fandoms in Yumi’s past (including a hilarious Gong Yoo and SHINee one — ah, meta!). The best part is that Yumi’s guard cell is the secret president of the tiny Bobby fan club. But it doesn’t stay tiny — or secret — for long, and we even get a onscreen counter as his fan club members increase by the second each time he interacts with Yumi.

They’re both into the same ska band, and Bobby asks her to join him for their outdoor performance. She’s being all skittish and confused (again #relatable), and Bobby turns up the swoon. It’s just enough swoon, too — he’s not pushy, but direct. As he tells her later that night after they have a blast at the performance, she has a terrible poker face and he can read her reactions quite easily. That he uses this knowledge to make her more comfortable is the thing that I love most about him.

However, even knowing that Yumi is still all scattered and sad, he ends their night together by asking him to date her. It’s a quintessential K-drama cliffhanger. Yumi’s shock is palpable, but it makes her all the more lovable. And Bobby has never been more appealing IMHO. It’s a bit fast, but we know he’s liked her for a long time, sooo… time will tell. Or the next episode, at any rate.

All in all, starting season 2 was like picking up a favorite book and remembering all of the things you loved about it. I’m super happy with the continuity in the storytelling, which removes any of my reservations, and if the story continues the way it’s begun, I’m going to enjoy this all the way through.

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Yumi’s Cells 2: Episode 1