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TvN Drama "Because This Life Is Our First" Lee Min Ki & Jung So Min. *~The END~*


Bella D'Amour

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  • Because This Life Is Our First: Episode 12

 

Love can make one foolish and irrational. It can also be all-consuming and fervent, as our heroine learns as she falls in love for the first time. Sneaking glances and holding hands, our couple is now free to express their feelings, but like the beginning of most relationships, they tread carefully, making sure to keep their emotions in check. Our couple reaches new heights of adorableness this episode, and I can’t stop smiling!

 

 

Episode 12: “Because this is my first time with desireâ€

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Se-hee tells Ji-ho that the kiss at the bus stop wasn’t a real kiss, and leaning in closer, he says that this is how you do it. He kisses Ji-ho, much to her surprise, but when he asks if they need to do it again, she says yes.

They kiss once more, embracing each other, but a phone rings, interrupting them. Ji-ho doesn’t hear the phone, completely immersed in the kiss, so it takes a while for Se-hee to grab her attention. Heh. It’s Mom calling, asking where they are, and Ji-ho hastily tells her that they’re just watching the ocean.

 

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They decide to head back to the house, and Se-hee wonders if she acted too angry with her mother. Ji-ho explains how her dialect makes her sound mad because her voice naturally gets louder, and Se-hee readily agrees since he already analyzed the dialect while making kimchi.

He starts to list off the different pronunciations of words he heard, one of them being “pretty,†and Ji-ho wonders if the ajummas joked about him being pretty. He explains that they asked him if he thought Ji-ho was pretty, and though Ji-ho looks up at him with expectant eyes, wanting to hear how he responded, Se-hee merely smiles and says that they should go.

 

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It’s nighttime, and Ji-ho and Se-hee say their final goodbyes at the door. However, an ajusshi from before stops Se-hee, forcing him one last drink before he leaves. Ji-ho intervenes, grabbing the bowl, and drinks it in one gulp in his stead. Glaring at the husband, she drops to informal speech, and threatens to dunk his son-in-law in a liquor jar if he bothers her husband again. Se-hee steps behind Ji-ho with a triumphant smile plastered on his face.

As Ji-ho’s brother Ji-seok and his wife drive them to the bus station, Ji-seok recalls the last time Ji-ho threatened that same ajusshi when he stole the stray dog Ji-ho was taking care of, saying he’d eat it. In retaliation, she stole his cultivator and threatened to sink it in the ocean if he didn’t return the dog. Looking back at Se-hee, Ji-seok says that once Ji-ho gives her heart to something, it lasts forever, but Se-hee stares out the window with a sad look on his face.

 

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Once they arrive at the station, Ji-ho and Se-hee turn to go, but a bicyclist rides dangerously close to them. Se-hee pulls her in, saving her from a collision, and the two exchange a look before separating. Perceptively, Eun-sol notes how “fresh†they look, almost as if they’re in the beginning stages of dating rather than married.

On the bus, Ji-ho wonders if they should ask to switch seats to sit next to one another, but Se-hee tells her not to, because it would inconvenience the other passenger. Sitting in the front, Ji-ho thinks to herself that all her childhood dramas and movies ended with kisses, and now she realizes why: The real story happens afterwards, but people don’t want to watch the truth since it can be painful and dark.

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/because-this-life-is-our-first-episode-12/

 

 

COMMENTS

The show is spoiling me with two absolutely adorable endings this week! While we usually hear Ji-ho’s inner monologues, this time it was Se-hee’s turn to end the episode as we got to learn more about him and his feelings towards Ji-ho. It’s interesting that the more I watch the show, the less I think Se-hee has changed, and instead, it’s simply that we’re learning more about him. Ji-ho isn’t making him more caring or emotional, it’s just that she’s bringing out these emotions again after he spent years subduing them out of fear. He clearly recognizes his feelings, which makes me ponder his past actions and see them in a new light. It adds something special to those earlier scenes where Se-hee betrayed his feelings, like the one with Ji-ho’s mom or the Bok-nam incident. All this time, as the viewer, I thought Ji-ho was in a one-sided relationship where Se-hee would slowly open up his shell, but in fact, it may never have been one-sided at all.

 

Watching these two oddballs date each other while married and living under the same roof is a riot, and all the sweetness is probably going to give me cavities. They are so adorable, and it’s lovely how they, themselves, recognize how cute the other acts around them. Also, Ji-ho’s continued fantasies (which seem pretty tame, but maybe we’re only getting the TV-friendly versions) are precious, and I love how she just wants to do everything with him but is partially afraid of scaring him away since she thinks he doesn’t quite feel the same way she does. When she tried to hold his hand during their walk, it killed me. In addition, I adore Se-hee’s attempt at a date, and all the little moments that reveal just how much he loves Ji-ho like the way he smiles at her when she isn’t looking or how he peeks behind his shoulder to make sure she’s still there. However, it’s really the moments where Se-hee isn’t trying and just being his (sexy) honest self that really make Ji-ho’s heart flutter (and mine as well). They are just so perfect, and I want them to walk down a flower path for the rest of their lives!

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I’m not usually a fan of first loves coming back because they usually cause unnecessary angst and misunderstandings between the main couple, but in this case, I’m actually interested to see how the creators will handle this seemingly clichéd situation and surprise me. At this point in the show, the creators have proven again and again that they know what they’re doing, with pieces of the story always having a purpose and never haphazardly thrown in without deliberation. Thus, I have no doubt that the introduction of Jung-min will be dealt with in a sensitive manner. I thought it was an interesting touch to have that intimate moment between Ji-ho and Jung-min, since it secretly made me think what the show would be like if they twisted this overused trope and created a super unconventional “second lead†vying for the female’s love. At the very least, I hope they don’t make her character mean even though her breakup scene with Se-hee was heart-wrenchingly ruthless. His teary eyes made me want to reach in and give him a hug.

The other big development this episode was between Ho-rang and Won-seok, who have finally decided to end things. This “end†seemed inevitable as they continued to let their emotions fester and you could see that it was suffocating both of them. I loved how their breakup was done without much histrionics and, overall, was quite a mellow affair. You could feel how tired both of them became after fighting to keep their relationship going for seven years, and I think it was actually this quiet weariness of everything that made their feelings even more relatable and heartbreaking. Though they might love each other, they realize that their ideas of the future misalign, and even if severing ties with someone you’ve given your heart to for so long is probably hard and scary, I think this breakup was necessary for both of them whether or not they come back together later on.

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Edited by FranCella
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  • Because This Life Is Our First: Episode 13thislife13-00017.jpg

 

It’s a difficult episode for many of our characters as we delve deeper into someone’s painful past, someone’s complicated present, and someone’s uncertain future, and learn about the ways in which people retreat, run, or push back against the parts of themselves that they’d rather not face honestly. As always, this show offers some profound words of wisdom and, perhaps more importantly, some compassion for our characters and ultimately for us viewers. Because this life is our first, after all, and no one gets it right all the time.

 

Episode 13: “Because this is my first time visiting your roomâ€

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Se-hee asks Ji-ho if she would like to sleep together, and she accepts.

Meanwhile, Won-seok asks Ho-rang to break up, explaining that he isn’t confident that he can make her happy. He tells her that he’ll stay at Sang-gu’s to give her some space, which leads to her railing at him for asking her to wait five more years to get married, but now suddenly saying that he has no confidence to see through his promise.

With tears welling in his eyes, he screams at her not to wait for him, and asks why she always talks of their seven-year relationship as if she’s the victim.

 

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He says that he gave up on his dreams for the sake of their marriage, and feels suffocated every day because of it. He says that button-down shirts and ties are uncomfortable, then storms out.

Back at the apartment, Se-hee waits for Ji-ho in her room with Cat. Ji-ho returns with some tangerines, and Se-hee remarks that it’s the first time he’s been in her room since their wedding. She says regretfully that she should have cleaned beforehand, but he says that her room is very like her, and smells like her too.

Alarmed, she asks if the room smells, then discreetly sniffs herself. Cute. The conversation kind of peters out awkwardly, until Se-hee picks up a book from her table and reads the title: Going to Room 19.

 

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She explains the plot to him, describing a perfect couple. One day, the wife wanted a space of her own, so the husband made a room solely for her usage. But over time the room became like any other room, with other family members entering and exiting as they pleased.

Therefore, the wife booked a room at a cheap motel without telling anyone, and would occasionally go there for a few hours and do nothing because she felt happy just being in the room.

Se-hee says that the wife was happy because the room was space where she could be perfectly alone. He adds that getting married means that your own time and space disappears. The wife’s happiness of being alone is something that he can understand, and he calls the book a good story.

 

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Ji-ho grows thoughtful and remarks, “I think it’s also a sad story.†She admits that she thought of Se-hee while reading the book, and reminds him of something he had said long ago about not getting married because the only things he could be responsible for are his house, Cat, and himself. Though she understands the logic of his thinking, she asks if living that way gets lonely.

He concedes that he never thought about being lonely. Instead, he thought it would be better to be alone than to involve himself with others.

She recalls something else he said, about one love being enough in a person’s life. Internally, she wonders if that one love he spoke of has already passed for him, and whether love ever start again for him.

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/because-this-life-is-our-first-episode-13/

 

 

COMMENTS

This is probably one of the most emotionally intelligent dramas I’ve seen in a long time. Rare is a show that is so fluent in the language of human emotion, interaction, and self-exploration. It’s funny because often whenever a show has its characters frequently quoting books or dropping wisdom in voiceovers, it can feel very soapbox-like, and needlessly abstract, and characters begin to feel like naive mouthpieces for the writer. But with this show, I think the writing successfully keeps the quotes thematic to the episode, and beautifully weaves its analogy between the three couples as they progress and grow.

 

On that note, the writing is masterfully evocative when painting the emotional landscape of our characters’ feelings and struggles. Like with Ho-rang’s story of the woman and the red coat, the usage of the Room 19 analogy provided so much depth of understanding in describing the various circumstances of each couple. I often feel like I’m watching dear friends go through their struggles, dealing with problems that don’t always have a right and perfect answer despite their best intentions. As a result, at the end of every episode I have this feeling that all I can do for these characters is simply to listen to them and be there for them as they try to work things out, just as I would do for a friend, and maybe learn some things about myself along the way.

I love these characters so much, and while I know it’s important to be critical of their bad choices and cyclical patterns of behavior, I think it’s also important to be kind to them, and in turn, be kind to ourselves for the mistakes we’ve made in our lives. I feel like that’s the real intention of this story, because for all these characters’ flaws and shining successes, it always feels to me like the writer is treating every character with kindness and understanding, and rooting for them to try to be a little better each time. You can’t force a friend to see the error of their ways, but you can be there for them when they’re ready to.

This show does a really good job of capturing the unpredictability of life, and the impossibility of truly ever fully knowing a person to their core, or predicting how they will react to a given situation, but also the importance of letting people surprise you, as Se-hee has done for us again and again. I don’t think I leave nearly enough space in my life to let people (or dramas for that matter) surprise me. It reminds me of something I heard recently of how being cynical and pleasantly surprised is not more sophisticated than being too idealistic and disappointed. In a way, I feel like Ji-ho is teaching me that it’s okay to be idealistic and disappointed even if things don’t work out, or if you make a fool of yourself, because you remain open to letting other people surprise you and enter your life.

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I loved the thought Ji-ho expressed at the end about “nice people coming all at once,†because Jung-min is really a lovely person, and it makes sense that someone as sensitive and careful as Se-hee would fall in love with someone kind and caring. I don’t know why, but I don’t see Jung-min as a threat to Ji-ho and Se-hee’s budding relationship. I feel like Ji-ho’s relationship with Jung-min is a crucial one that will help her return to her dream and become an important career support system that she never had before, and help her become the writer she’s always hoped to be. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe there’s another skeleton in the closet about Se-hee and Jung-min’s past that will come back and shock Ji-ho into letting him go, but I feel like any revelation will only bring them closer, and make them stronger than before. Also, I feel like Ho-rang and Won-seok may have fulfilled the “break-up and come back together†quota for this stage in the drama.

Speaking of, I was surprised to find Ho-rang and Won-seok’s break-up scenes so moving. Because for something so inevitable, these two actors, especially Kim Ga-eun, really nailed it. I don’t find Won-seok’s reasons super compelling outside of context, but I thought it really worked here because knowing Ho-rang, she would try to convince Won-seok that she would be happy without getting married, but ultimately be unhappy. I do miss chipper, and confident Ho-rang, but I’m happy to see her trying to find a way forward and not believing she can manipulate Won-seok into getting her way as she’s done before.

On a final note, Su-ji and Sang-gu are perfection.

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  • Because This Life Is Our First: Episode 14firstlife14-00005a.jpg

 

This episode our hero reflects on his emotions and feelings, realizing just how he feels about his wife. Unbeknownst to him, her words have found their way into his once dry heart, and as the trees around him signal the start of winter, spring has already bloomed inside of him. Words can plant new feelings of love, but they can also leave behind scars that last for years. And while spoken words may die as soon as they reach the ears, they can live on if they’re harbored in the heart.

 

 

Episode 14: “Because this is my first confessionâ€

 

Unable to reach Ji-ho, Se-hee walks around the neighborhood looking for her, and runs into Jung-min. Both freeze, instantly recognizing each other, and from a few feet away, Ji-ho sees their encounter and hides behind a pillar.

Still frozen in mid-stretch, Jung-min stammers out a greeting, and hands Se-hee her business card. They quickly separate, too frazzled to hold a conversation, and Jung-min retreats to the car as Se-hee turns away.

Ji-ho returns to the car once Se-hee is gone, and excuses herself to walk home. Jung-min assumes that her husband is coming to pick her up, and readily lets her leave.

 

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Se-hee puts away Jung-min’s card, and calls Ji-ho again. She answers this time, and tells him that she’s right here. He looks around and sees her right next to him, much to his relief. She apologizes for not answering before, and they walk home together.

Once home, Se-hee makes tea in a thermos, and hands it to Ji-ho to drink throughout the night to soothe her insides after drinking. As they say goodnight, Se-hee asks if she wants to sleep together again tonight. She turns down his offer, explaining how she snores more when she’s tired, and Se-hee watches her retreat to her room.

 

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Ji-ho sits in bed, remembering Jung-min’s story about a painful past, now also recalling Se-hee’s previous explanations of marriage and his wish to live an uneventful life. Meanwhile, Se-hee recalls Ji-ho’s words from the bus, describing Jung-min as a protector.

He calls Ji-ho despite the late hour, and congratulates her on getting a chance to write again. Ji-ho seems to see past his words, and thinks to herself, “This man is torn. He is afraid. He is nervous.â€

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/because-this-life-is-our-first-episode-14/

 

 

COMMENTS

Once again, I’m amazed by the show and how they handle the relationship between Ji-ho and Se-hee. They might be adorable oddballs caught up in a ridiculous situation, but the emotions they feel and the problems they face are neither farcical nor unusual. The potential breakup looming over Ji-ho and Se-hee might have been obvious in some sense, but not for the typical reasons often used in romantic comedies where first loves butt in and cause misunderstandings.

Rather, Jung-min has actually helped strengthen their relationship more than come between them, and instead, the writer has chosen to depict this possible split as a result of Ji-ho coming to terms with reality and realizing the heartache that comes with love. Just like how she viewed her favorite movie with rose-colored glasses—romanticizing the leads’ hasty getaway—in some ways, Ji-ho has fallen in love with Se-hee with no consideration of the repercussions of their relationship. She lives in the moment, which is admirable, but just as she noticed Ben and Elaine’s anxious expressions at the end of The Graduate, she’s starting to see beyond the initial flutters of her first love and experiencing the gamut of emotions, both painful and happy, that inevitably occurs in all relationships.

 

Though it seems Ji-ho is implying a termination of their marriage alongside the contract, it doesn’t necessarily have to mean that she wants to completely break ties with Se-hee. Part of me still hopes that Ji-ho loves Se-hee and will want to pursue a “real†relationship with him, but that could simply be me thinking idealistically because thoughts of Ji-ho and Se-hee no longer being a couple breaks my heart. While I love them both individually, I love them even more as a pair, and can’t think of a world where Ji-ho and Se-hee aren’t together. (Okay, maybe I can think of a situation where they aren’t together, but rainbows and kitties don’t exist in that twisted reality!)

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The theme of this episode was about words and how they can live on in someone’s heart. This was most evident with Se-hee as he lived with Jung-min’s bitter parting words for twelve years, and only recently, he found out that a new set of words had wormed their way into his heart and burrowed a place to stay. He realizes that his newfound feelings aren’t accidental, and it was a lovely to see how Ji-ho’s words affected Se-hee little by little. However, Se-hee hasn’t been as transparent with Ji-ho as she has with him, which is part of the reason why she has no confidence about her place in his heart. She doesn’t understand how much her words have changed him, and as Se-hee narrated at the end of the episode, by the time he realized what was in his heart, his words were too late.

In a different vein, the idea of words and the heart was also displayed in Su-ji’s circumstance with Park. While she acted tough, his remarks and actions lived on in her heart, leaving scars, which was why it was necessary for Su-ji to confront him about his behavior to acknowledge, at least to herself, how much pain he inflicted on her through his words. She took Sang-gu’s advice and sincerely faced the world, though Park trampled on her sincerity in the end. However, this confrontation and resulting disappointment make it clear that Park is intentional in his sexual harassment, and allows Su-ji to accept the fact that he’s not worth her sincerity.

Though I rarely mention it, the directing continues to be wonderful, and there were some particularly pretty scenes this episode. The use of colors, light, and reflections have a narrative purpose, and adds another dimension of nuance to an already brilliant show. With only a week left, it’s time I prepared myself to say goodbye to this drama because I know I’ll need it when next week arrives.

 

Edited by FranCella
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  • Because This Life Is Our First: Episode 15thislife15-00129.jpg

 

Somehow we’ve arrived at the second-to-last episode, and while it feels to me like we got here too fast, in this episode it does begin to feel like we are approaching the ending of a completed story. Though my heart doesn’t want to say goodbye to these characters and this beautifully crafted show, I think I am ready to see what each character has chosen for themselves, and be happy for them regardless of the outcome.

 

 

 

Episode 15: “Because this is my first intermissionâ€

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Ji-ho asks Se-hee to dissolve their contract, and his eyes move immediately down to Cat’s new nametag, which Ji-ho has missed. He repeats her request slowly as a question—his voice wavering slightly—but she doesn’t meet his eyes as she affirms it.

Elsewhere, Young-hyo sees Ho-rang back to Su-ji’s, and the atmosphere between them is friendly as Young-hyo thanks her for a nice time. It seems that she’s also warmed to his silliness, and she bids him farewell with a smile.

Ji-ho and Se-hee reconvene at the dining table, where Ji-ho explains that since her contract with Jung-min’s company will likely go forward, soon she’ll be able to find her own place to live. Thus, there would be no reason to continue with their contractual marriage.

 

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Cat whimpers in the background when Se-hee congratulates Ji-ho on her job, since she will now be able to continue writing. He seems anxious and tells her that they can discuss the specifics later, then gets up to leave.

But before he goes, Ji-ho reminds Se-hee that there was something he wanted to say, and her expression is heartbreakingly sad as she waits for Se-hee to speak. After a beat, Se-hee says that he will take care of the recycling from now on, given that Ji-ho will likely become busier during the week with her job.

Later in her room, Ji-ho remembers her conversation with Se-hee’s father, where she confessed that she married Se-hee because of his house. She explained that they married because their conditions and values matched, and apologized. His father hadn’t thought it such a big deal, and remarked that most people marry for the same reasons, rather than love.

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/because-this-life-is-our-first-episode-15/

 

 

COMMENTS

By the end of episode thirteen, I really didn’t think that Ji-ho and Se-hee would part ways, but perhaps I was blinded by my selfish desire for an ending where Se-hee and Ji-ho spend the rest of their days living their quirky and simple life (all the romantic recycling! And Cat co-parenting!), all while making these unhurried and mundane strides forward in love bit by bit. I was perfectly content with glossing over the fact that Se-hee has been living the last twelve years in reaction to his trauma, and in a totally self-contained way, in hopes of never hurting anyone or being hurt by anyone again. He’d been abiding by Jung-min’s spiteful words born of anger and despair, without addressing how his way of living and thinking and emoting affects Ji-ho and Se-hee’s relationship ability to move forward.

 

Clearly my assumptions prove that I haven’t been paying nearly enough attention to some of the main lessons of this drama, and specifically Se-hee and Ji-ho’s love story. Because people are not self-contained entities, they come with pasts, presents, and futures, and people in their lives, whose feelings are intertwined with theirs in complex and sometimes irreconcilable but deeply felt ways. There’s a pain there in Se-hee’s family that hasn’t been able to heal through the years, even with the good intentions, understanding, and deep love from all sides, and Ji-ho realized for herself that trying to be an ideal daughter-in-law wasn’t going to heal those wounds, but nor should she try to. Because allowing her relationship with Se-hee continue on its old trajectory would likely result in Ji-ho living like Se-hee’s mother and constantly needing to be understanding of Se-hee and making up for his shortcomings and emotional aloofness, without ever forcing him to express himself and be accountable for his own feelings, and for making sure his feelings reach her. I loved those scenes where Ji-ho was patiently and heartbreakingly waiting for him to realize these things for himself, because maybe then she wouldn’t need to leave.

GAH! I don’t know anymore! I just need to know that they end up together! I don’t know if I can handle another scene of someone throwing Cat’s name tag into the trash.

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In all seriousness, my favorite moment in this episode was surprisingly that really short one between Su-ji and her mom when they were in bed and she told her to fly. When she said that she can only be happy when Su-ji is—those words opened the floodgates. It was the same kind of intense, lighting-quick, and bone-deep emotion I felt about Mom’s letter to Se-hee at their wedding, and it was a beautiful moment. I am really going to miss these moments when this show ends.

On that note, another mother-daughter moment I am expecting to make me cry is the one between Ji-ho and her mom. Mom is such a special character that has an amazing way of providing so much perspective in this already rich world, so I always find myself missing her in episodes she isn’t in. I really hope that she rounds out the show with some of her signature wisdom and helps Ji-ho find her way back to Se-hee somehow, or maybe the other way around, because Ji-ho seems to have a clear understand of her feelings, but Se-hee still might need to. I think I would love a final scene with Se-hee and Mom because those two are adorable and seem to really understand each other.

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  • Because This Life Is Our First: Episode 16 (Final)life16-00255.jpg

 

The end is finally here. It’s been a wonderful ride as we navigated life through the eyes of our three couples, learning what it means to love oneself as well as others. At times, the relationships portrayed have caused gnashing of teeth in addition to joyous uproar, and as much as this show has been a romantic comedy, it’s also crossed genre boundaries and been so much more. Now it’s time to say farewell to these lovable characters and hope for the best for each one of them.

 

Episode 16: “Because this life is our firstâ€

Ji-ho watches drunk Se-hee sleep and traces his profile in the air before getting a call from Mom. She rushes to the hospital, and soon, the family welcomes their newest member. Dad wipes away a few tears, and behind them, Ji-seok audibly sobs on the floor.

Mom and Ji-ho coo over the newborn baby, agreeing that this is the greatest gift in life, and Ji-ho suddenly drops the truth to Mom: She’s getting divorced.

Ji-ho asks why Mom isn’t saying anything, but Mom says there isn’t anything to say since Ji-ho never changes her mind once she’s decided something. And besides, she already knows that the decision must have been difficult for Ji-ho, as will be the consequences afterwards.

 

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Ji-ho asks why Mom never divorced Dad back when she was younger, recalling a time when Mom took her and Ji-seok to her parents’ house. Mom smiles, surprised that she still remembers such an old memory, and tells her that both sets of parents disapproved of their marriage.

Though they married for love, it didn’t seem to be enough to weather the hardships they faced later on, since they considered separating. But the day Mom decided to get a divorce, she looked at Dad sleeping and realized that if she broke up with him when they were dating, she would have missed him all her life. Once she realized that, she decided it is was best to just live with him.

 

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Mom advises Ji-ho to take care of her “star pocket,†and Ji-ho gives her a quizzical look. Mom explains that everyone experiences moments that sparkle, and when that happens, it’s important to capture them and save them in your star pocket to help you through the tough times.

Using Mom’s metaphor, Ji-ho says that she’s getting divorced so she won’t lose her star. She says she wants to fill her star pocket with sparkly things, and smiles up at her mother. Mom just replies, “Bullshit.†Pwahaha! She yells at Ji-ho to keep her divorce a secret from her dad for now, and curses her under her breath as she walks away.

 

===Read more: http://www.dramabeans.com/2017/11/because-this-life-is-our-first-episode-16-final/

 

 

 

COMMENTS

It’s a neat bow for a beautiful show that wraps up the main relationships in a way that gives closure as well as room for the future indicating that “happily ever after†isn’t a definite ending but a work in progress. From beginning to end, this show has proven to me that tropes can be subverted, a script can be tight, character development can be logical, and women have a place in dramaland besides being a Candy or generic love interest.

 

Who would have guessed from the premise that this show would be so contemplative and realistic, that the relationships would be so heart-achingly relatable, or that a romantic comedy would be so unafraid to address real life issues concerning family, work, friendship, and love? Though the show wasn’t perfect, and the PPL almost became too meta to be funny, I sincerely thank the creators of this show for bringing something magical to my screen.

The entire cast was absolutely fabulous, from the leads to the tertiary characters (including Cat/Woori), and I cannot praise Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki enough on their stellar performance. It was amazing to see bits of Se-hee that felt so out of character yet still perfectly in character, like the stoic way he acted “cute†to Ji-ho over the phone, and it’s really thanks to Lee Min-ki that Se-hee always felt consistent throughout the show. The subtle changes in expression and mannerism really brought the character to life, and I truly cannot imagine anyone else in the role.'

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I’m glad Ho-rang and Won-seok found each other after realizing what they wanted most in life was each other, flaws and all. It’s touching how the pink sofa continued to act as a metaphor for their relationship—it symbolized their misunderstandings, but was also the place where they came to talk and discuss their future. The elements weathered the couch just as they weathered each other and their relationship, and in the end, Won-seok’s misunderstanding about the sofa perfectly captures how they should move forward as a couple. They need to cherish each other and their battered relationship, and rather than assume that the scratches can’t be fixed, they need to treasure their relationship even more and treat it gently. By having them interact with almost their “ideal†type of partner, both Ho-rang and Won-seok realized that their ideas of perfect weren’t the things that would make them happy. The show didn’t try to patch up their relationship without dealing with the problems that fundamentally drove them apart in the first place, and it’s amazing to see such development from them because as Mom told Ji-ho, relationships are ultimately the same. Nothing is perfect, but it’s those happy moments that propel us forward to make it through the tough times.

Su-ji and Sang-gu mostly dealt with their issues before the ending, which allowed room for the other two, but that doesn’t mean this couple was any less lovely. It was a great choice for the show to have Su-ji propose (and for such a “trivial†reason, reflecting Ji-ho and Se-hee’s relationship but from the opposite development point) and emphasize Sang-gu’s patient and steadfast nature. They balance each other nicely and they’re an adorable couple, and I couldn’t be happier to hear that both their companies are successful!

Lastly, Ji-ho and Se-hee continue to bring me joy, and I was surprised by how invested I had become in their relationship on an emotional level. When Se-hee confessed his feelings to Ji-ho, thinking that everything was a dream, I unexpectedly teared up because I felt his emotions. I understood how scared and confused he must have felt to verbalize those feelings, and seeing them together again made me indescribably happy. Their ending was satisfying, and I’m glad that they found a solution that works for them. They may be unconventional, but that’s their charm. They don’t march to the beat of society’s drum, and instead, have found that love is the force that binds and guides them. Whether that means angering their family or causing others to point their finger, Ji-ho and Se-hee don’t care because they’ve experienced a once-in-a-lifetime chance at love and won’t change it for anything in the world. Though the future isn’t set in stone, we can only wish them luck as they continue living their life for the first time, just like the rest of us.

 

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Edited by FranCella
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Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching??

 

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So, what are we all watching this week?

What kept you reaching for more (or agonizing when there was no more), and what made you want to throw your remote through the screen? Time to weigh in…

 

 

javabeans

  • Because This Life Is Our First: The ending was lovely and true to the series’ thoughtful and slightly oddball spirit, although I’ll admit to not being perfectly satisfied with the way we arrived at our happy conclusion. Ji-ho’s explanation for leaving and then coming back was one of those things that seems perfectly reasonable and logical in a writerly sense, but that I couldn’t understand in my heart, which found it convoluted and more for plot’s sake than organic development. I won’t complain too hard because this series is still one of the dramas I enjoyed most this year, but I can’t fool myself into believing it was perfect.

 

girlfriday

  • Because This Life Is Our First: I struggled to get through the separation portion of the relationship, and it didn’t help matters that the episodes started to get really long. But I was so content with all of our characters and the journey we’d been on with them, and found it poignant that our couple came together initially because a home took priority over everything else in their lives, and by the end, neither of them cared where they slept or where they lived as long as they had each other.

cr

Edited by FranCella
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  • love changed the title to TvN Drama "Because This Life Is Our First" Lee Min Ki & Jung So Min. *~The END~*

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