KDRAMALOVE
KOREAN DRAMA REVIEWS
If We Were A Season
우리가 계절이라면
KBS Drama Special (2017) 1 Hour
Teen Romance, Grade: B+
Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA
~~~~~~~~~
우리가 계절이라면
KBS Drama Special (2017) 1 Hour
Teen Romance, Grade: B+
Korean Drama Review by Jill, USA
~~~~~~~~~
When I am in-between longer Korean drama series, I often like to check out the K-drama Specials that feature popular or up-and-coming stars, most of whom I've seen in other works and grown fond of over time. Such was the case with this one hour drama special from 2017, If We Were A Season, featuring two young actors I've admired in the past, Chae Soo Bin (I'm Not A Robot) and Jang Dong Yoon (Solomon's Perjury). They touched my heart here, too, just like in all their other works. It's amazing how many fantastic young actors South Korea can boast of; they no doubt have the best child and teen actors in the entire world. In particular, Dong Yoon wowed me in Solomon's Perjury and in my opinion gave the best performance in it, making me tear up many times, and I vowed to track down other performances of his to admire. This is just one of them.
The Story:
Two high school students born on the same day are basically raised together as brother and sister because they are next-door neighbors and their parents are friendly. In flashbacks we see them playing together as babies and children, but by the time they are in high school there's slightly more friction between them, as they each find their way in the world. Understandable.
Their names are Yoon Hae Rim (Chae Soo Bin) and Uhm Gi Seok (Jang Dong Yoon). They remain precious to each other in subtle, quiet ways, and often communicate through their bedroom windows at night, giving the audience a slight feeling of a Romeo and Juliet story. But will they have a doomed, tragic ending, like that famous Shakespearean couple?
Suddenly one day a handsome transfer student to their high school, from the city of Seoul, named Oh Dong Kyeong (Jinyoung, film Miss Granny and K-Drama Wind-Bell), appears on the scene, and Hae Rim feels attracted to him, though she fights those feelings at first. Will it shake up the close relationship and feelings that Hae Rim and Gi Seok have had for each other all their lives?
Then Hae Rim is even more shaken when she discovers her father (Jung In Gi) is having an affair. Will Hae Rim have the audacity to confront him? What happens to the trust children formerly had in their parents when one is cheating on the other? How can they trust any future person they might fall in love with? Hae Rim begins to doubt herself and her own feelings for both boys.
In my opinion the ending is open to your own personal interpretation. I usually hate open endings, but here it kind of worked, because of the young ages of the characters involved with one another, and the clever way the writer handled the very last scene. Did you know before age 20 how your life would turn out? I surely didn't! If you pay very close attention to one scene in particular, as together Hae Rim and Gi Seok watch the American film When Harry Met Sally, and notice the exact words Hae Rim says to Gi Seok about that film, I think you will have a huge clue as to what will happen to their relationship in the end ... and to me that makes it not really a true open ending. But you'll have to watch and see for yourself. Just click the Play button on the screen to begin the Drama Special - no annoying commercials and no messy screen bugs here. Enjoy.
