I’m still liking this show lots, but I’m starting to feel like our show’s getting a little “crowded” with its latest celebrity chef murder storyline (where both the murderer and the accused get significant screen time) and the appearance of Yoo Jung. Unfortunately as well, I’m not finding Yoo Jung’s character interesting or compelling in anyway, which also makes me wish that we had spent more time on the other characters. Of course it’s still early stages, but she spent most of the episode moping and feebly trying to reconnect with either Ji Wook or Eun Hyuk – which is alright, but I was hoping for there to be more to drive her character ahead than just rebuilding burnt bridges. I don’t hate her, but I don’t sympathise with her either – it’s all just meh at the moment.

And because I didn’t connect with Yoo Jung, I was really hoping we could have spent more time with our other characters. That being said, I liked how we deepened our exploration of Eun Hyuk’s character in this episode and we see the beginnings (the theme of this episode!) of a heartwarming friendly between him and Bong Hee. I really loved the scene where both Bong Hee and Eun Hyuk were in the car, after seeing Ji Wook fetch Yoo Jung home, and Eun Hyuk laughs after Bong Hee tells him that she wishes she were more sick. She responds to him, telling him he doesn’t need to laugh, and so he stops and returns to his contemplative mood. She knows how he’s feeling, and he’s feeling just as unhappy as she is, and she’s telling him that he does not need to pretend or put up a front around her. Eun Hyk confides in Bong Hee earlier, telling her that he’s always laughing and joking, because that’s his own defence mechanism, his way of still allowing himself to be around Ji Wook in spite of all the hurt, remorse, pain and loneliness he feels too. We get scenes of him in his own house – well-furnished, but cold and soulless – and he stares blankly ahead, not knowing what to do, how to feel or what to say and the only thing we see him do is take off his jacket – perhaps symbolic that his defence mechanisms are being worn down too.

Ji Wook and Bong Hee continue to be fun together and while I liked seeing him display some finesse in the courtroom, I enjoyed the scenes of his gentleness even more, especially the one at the start of the episode where he caught Bong Hee’s head as she nodded off  with such tenderness that she just continued to lie on his hand, smiling peacefully and comfortably like as if she’s the happiest woman in the world. When he sees her return from that encounter with the District Attorney with a scar around her neck, he senses something is wrong and he goes to check on her in her room. Even when she chooses not to tell him what happened, he does not insist, because he respects her decision to keep it private, but just asks her tenderly whether she’s alright – twice. There’s such a sweetness in him respecting her boundaries and desire to keep it private. This contrasts of course with Bong Hee’s more outlandish, playful nature where she’s unafraid to ask difficult questions, wear her heart on her sleeve and tell people what they need to know. This is why they are so good for each other.

I’ve spoken before about the directing of this show, but I realise what I appreciate is not just that it’s stylistically beautiful and magical, but that it captures human interactions so well. The directing really reveals that we communicate so much through our body language. There’s a lot of focus on ‘hands’ in this show – tender touches, awkward hugs, firm holds, strangling grips, warm embraces and decisive pushing away. We also get many shots of our characters’ eyes, which reveal so much more than what they say, especially for Ji Wook. He may be denying his feelings with his words, but his eyes say everything. His affection for her was just overflowing in that scene in the rain through his entire facial expression – not just his eyes, but his broad, cheerful smile. I believe that’s the first time we’ve ever seen him smile so happily! I’ve always thought The K2 didn’t give JCW enough opportunity to showcase his excellent acting skills, but he gets plenty of opportunities here and I thought he did very well in the closing scene, where his eyes spoke volumes as he responded to Bong Hee’s confession of love. He wanted to hug her in return, but you could just see that deep hurt and fear in his eyes – echoed also in the voice-over as he talks about beginnings that do not necessarily progress.

As for the murderer storyline, it’s alright at the moment, but I realise we still have big questions that remain unanswered that hopefully we get some light on soon, like – why did the murderer kill Bong Hee’s ex-boyfriend? I’m not sure we got a very clear answer on that. I thought we’d be understanding our murderer a bit more, but right now all we have is him lurking around news broadcasts looking mysterious. I’m all ready now for us to move ahead in that storyline, but there’s just so much I’m wanting from this show now, that it’d be impossible for each episode to fulfill my wishes. Heh. Nonetheless, if I may just have one wish for next week’s episodes, let us have more fun scenes between Ji Wook and Bong Hee’s mums – those two are hilarious!