Special Review of Love Rain eps 6-10

I don't know if you've noticed but I was supposed to have this review out last week.  And then I was supposed to have it out yesterday but it has really stumped me.  Doing a review that covers 5 whole episodes has been a challenge for me.  I'm not sure why.  I can tell you that I love this show.  I can also tell you that I am happier reviewing the second 5 episodes than I would have been the first 5.

Like Dongsaeng, I found the first 5 to be slower paced than I am used to in a KDrama.  I loved them for that though.  It truly was like looking back at a simpler time, when life was less hectic, less rushed, when people sat around & talked & sang & really got to know each other.  The first 5 episodes were peaceful.  But they were also very poetically sad.  So it was really hard for me to get through them.  My main goal in life is to avoid the sad.  Life is so filled w/ sad things on it's own that when it comes to entertainment I truly will avoid the sad.  When I want to escape I don't like escaping into more sadness.  I like escaping into romance sure.  I like escaping into comedy definitely, and I'll admit, the youngest sister of 7 (w/ 5 oppas), I LOVE sci-fi /fantasy & action/adventure as well, (yes I am a geek) but never into sad.  Unless I'm going through a hard time & I'm having a hard time allowing myself to let it out or you know, I AM a girl, so IF I'm particularly hormonal I might watch a little sad then too.  ^^

Once you get passed those first 4 episodes the story gets faster, funnier & becomes more like the KDramas I'm accustomed to, more modern.  The way they were filmed, how they were filmed, it really is two completely different versions in one story.

When Dongsaeng ended her review in ep 5 famed photographer Seo Joon, played by Jang Keun Suk, is in a hot spring high up in the mountains in Japan, with Ha Na, played by GG member Yoon Ah.  He's tried out his famous, "Get's all the girls in 3 seconds" line but it didn't work.  Then Ha Na turns his own hook up line on him & it does work, the cold hearted famous photographer has fallen for this slip of a girl in 3 seconds.  He's grabbed a hold of her & is shaken to the core by the simultaneous fluttering in his tummy & heart.  He's not used to this, "This is NOT how this works.  She's supposed to be moved, not me!"  Then he leaned in for a kiss & this is where episode 5 ended & episode 6 started.

Sigh....fangirling squeee in my head.  Jang Keun Suk, normally you do not move this noona either, but for some reason in THIS drama I REALLY "Like" what I'm seeing.  Thank you for being yummy.  In this one there is just something about you.  It was totally missing from "You're Beautiful".  When I watched that one, I  was rooting for Yong Hwa's character, Shin Woo.  But THIS time, it is all JKS/Seo Joon all the way, for me.  What did you do to make the difference?  I'm totally caught in your spell.

Okay got that tummy fluttering under control from that scene now I have to jump into the rest of MY review of Love Rain episodes 6-10...  All AddiKts interested are welcome to come along with me on this journey.  ^_^

Leaning in for an amazingly romantic first kiss when they've just met...

And then again maybe not.
Jo Soo to the rescue.  Now if only he could have come just a few minutes later.
Timing is everything.  

Yes, they were almost about to...and then nothing.  Seo Joon's ever prompt assistant, who oddly enough we find out later goes by the name "assistant", arrives just in the nick of time to stop that first tantalizing kiss.  Honestly?  I knew it was too early, after they met, for such a moment but, I'll admit, never have I ever wanted to see an assistant shot more than I did at just that moment.  Sorry Jo Soo but ya deserve that.  I'll forgive you though cause you are just too cute for words.

So his line didn't work on her but flip that & it worked perfectly on him.  In Episode 6 we see these two butt heads mostly because Seo Joon has fallen for this girl, who is not wealthy, not cool, not fashionable & is not shallow, vapid, vain or greedy.  In other words she's unlike any girl he has heretofore met.  Of course, in his world he really doesn't come across good girls very often.  Because he has fallen for this girl, the first time he has ever fallen for a girl, he has no idea how to act around her.  It must be very scary to fall victim to something you don't put a whole lot of stock into.  So he is fighting his attraction & strong case of "Like" at first sight.

Which means we see the return of the TKJ, once again.  {{translation: Typical Kdrama Jerk}}

Seo Joon cannot relate to her & has no idea how to handle his feelings so he drives her crazy, puts her down, confuses her, hurts, offends & otherwise has her completely lost in the translation of his confused feelings & mind.  It always reminds me of the playground in elementary school.  The boy likes the girl, so he's mean to her.

They get back to the hotel & she gets to wait in one of his shirts, while she waits for the hotel to care for her clothes.  Then he insists on accompanying her to replace her cell phone, the one that fell in the hot springs, when she did.  What if she decides to sue him for the cellphone?  So he goes with her.  They spend the morning together & then head off in their separate directions, making sure to give that last look that says, "Maybe I don't wanna go, this will be the last time I see him/her."  But we know better, don't we AddiKts?  6 episodes do not a good Kdrama make.  Later that night he shows up at her motel to bring her a dress.  She refuses it & just as they are arguing about how much of a jerk he can be, {{A BIG one}}, he gets a phone call.  {{Seriously Jo Soo?!?!  Boy!!!  Ugh & Grrrr....}}  There is a photography shoot emergency.  He tells her he'll be back & to wait for him.  So she stupidly waits for him.  Once they have fixed the photo emergency, Jo Soo shows Seo Joon that "that girl" forgot her ring.  The hotel staff found it in the laundry area, it would seem someone forgot to make sure she got it back.  But it's okay because Seo Joon, remembers when she gave the cellphone clerk her info, where she's staying, of course it helps that he was already there earlier.

Just as they reach the bottom steps leading up, Seo Joon turns around so that he can face Jo Soo, who is teasing him about actually falling in Like for the first time ever & with a girl like her?!?!, this way he has his back to Ha Na, which he hasn't noticed is standing behind him on the porch, & can hear everything he is about to say.  Which includes him telling Jo Soo, that she is not like any of the girls he's dated.  She can't even be compared. She's too simple, too trusting & naive.  So he's just playing around w/ her. At which point she pipes up & tells him off.  You said you can hook me in 3 seconds well...

 She then walks back into the motel & meets her Sunbae, an incredibly good looking man, on whom she is harboring a secret crush.  And he sees she's upset & either had just finished crying or is about to start.  Seo Joon follows her in but he sees the Sunbae with her, walking away towards the elevators, with his arm draped over her shoulders.

Maybe you shouldn't have been embarrassed by your feelings.  

Fast forward 3 months later & she, and her Sunbae-Tae Sung, are looking for a place for her to live in Seoul, closer to the University she attends, which also happens to be the same university, our original characters all went to school in the 70s, & where Seo Joon's dad, In Ha, is now an art professor.   She's, finding it hard to find a suitable place to live for the right price.  Sunbae has to go but he promises to try & talk her mom into letting her stay at home & commuting.  He leaves for his appointment & she heads off back to the arboretum, where she & her mom, live.  Along the way she is handed a flyer on the street.  But it's not just a regular flyer.  Oh no.  This flyer has her face all over it.

 As you can imagine, she is not exactly happy to see her face plastered on fliers, without her permission & being flung into the street & stepped all over by pedestrians.  At first she wants to let it go because she said she would never see him again but eventually she caves in to her anger & does the famous 'turn the car around in the middle of the road' she's so angry.  She finds the address on the business card she got from Seo Joon, 3 months ago, & arrives at the studio.  It's a little confusing because its in the basement of a building & the main floor is a cafe.  The cafe worker helps her figure out where it is & seems delighted by the fact that she is So angry at Seo Joon.  But alas, Seo Joon is not there & so she has to then wait for his arrival.  While waiting she discovers a small house/gardening shack on the side of the main building & goes in to explore.  Stumbling across a sleeping man, hi jinks ensue & she somehow ends up in his lap & screams out.  Seo Joon, Cho Soo & the cafe worker come running & we have this moment.

In episode 7, the issue of her face being on advertisement's without her permission is figured out.  Remember that picture he took of her looking at the Diamond Snow?  Jo Soo was supposed to delete that, but he was so surprised by his boss taking pictures of someone, that is not an actual model, that he just couldn't bring himself to delete it.  Which means that the film they gave the company, who hired them for that concept, was given the picture.  They really liked the innocence on her face & the joy & her so they used that picture.  Meanwhile she blames him & expects him to at least apologize but he never apologizes, or so he says.  She leaves upset because she just can't seem to win with this jerk.  But she doesn't know that after she leaves,  Seo Joon goes to the company to try & get them to recall the fliers, but they refuse.  Instead they say, get her to be our model.  And if you can't we'll go with your competition.  And he really does not want that, especially as the competition is an even bigger womanizer than he is & would totally take advantage of the girl he likes.  So that option is out.  Which leaves only one solution.  He must get her to agree to help him out by being his model.  Yeah good luck with that pal.  


Back at the arboretum, she does not tell her mom or Sunbae what happened that day.  They all sit down to dinner, where Sunbae tries to get mom to agree to the commute.  Mom, however, is adamant, it's too far away to drive regularly.  Ha Na must find a place to live in town.  When Ha Na gets back in the house after her walk w/ Sunbae her mom asks her, "Tell me the truth, the real reason you don't want to go to Seoul is because of Tae Sung, right?"  Which, of course she must adamantly deny.  {{Liar, liar pants on fire}}


We then get to see a reunion w/ a few of our favorite original characters.  It seems Chang Mo has returned & is opening his own version of the old singing cafe hang out.  And it's his grand opening.  And In Ha, Dong Wook, Hye Jung are all there celebrating with him.  Things are not all that great though.  All through the modern day version of this story, we get glimpses of what happened to these guys.  Dong Wook did indeed go on to become a doctor & married & had children of his own.  Hye Jung got her wish.  She & In Ha married.  Yes, Hye Jung & In Ha are Seo Joon's mom & dad.  But it was not a great life.  He never did get over the loss of Yoon Hee.  She left for the states & it was later reported she died.  Of course we know that, that is not true.  Hye Jung has her own successful business, while In Ha is still an artist/professor.  But they divorced when Seo Joon was in college, after a 10 year separation.  With Hye Jung constantly using Seo Joon as a form of bait to keep In Ha in her life.  She hasn't gotten over her first love anymore than he his.  Dysfunction run amok.  


Tonight, however they are pushing all the awkwardness to the side & under the rug, to celebrate Chang Mo's grand opening.

















Which includes a wonderful reunion of their college band, C'est La Vie.  After a few songs, Chang Mo heads back to the bar & has a heart to heart w/ Hye Jung.  While looking for names to invite to the Grand Opening he came across one name in particular that shocked him.  Yoon Hee.  He was planning on telling In Ha but he didn't know whether to tell him in front of everyone or by himself.




Hye Jung tells him, just tell me what it is, telling me is the same as telling In Ha.  Um..this bugged me because if they're divorced then no, no it is so not the same thing.  She has not changed since college.  She is determined to have things her way & be the center of the universe.  To control it all & especially In Ha. You can see the panic on her face when Chang Mo tells her that Yoon Hee is alive & well & back in Korea.



























While Hye Jung is frozen in fear & panic at the thought of In Ha's first love's return, their children are moving forward towards their own relationship. But first we have to catch up with how Ha Na is doing, we find her at the arboretum, working hard.  Sunbae & she are side by side.  And apparently it's obvious to all the other gardeners that she likes Tae Sung.  However, as she overhears, Tae Sung is spoken for, and has been for some time.  She makes her excuses to Tae Sung & runs off, mortified that everyone can tell how much she likes her Sunbae & even more mortified that he overheard the same conversation & that he's already engaged to another girl.  While walking alone Seo Joon arrives.  How fortuitous.  He's there to beg her to be his model.  Which she eventually agrees to, after a small blow up & some tears.  Which brought on something he swore he never does.  An apology.  He apologized for everything he's ever done or said.  Some men can be so easily moved when a woman cries.

And once again we get a glimpse of the grown ups.  In Ha & Seo Joon are summoned home by the maid.  Hye Jung has been drinking.  We are given hints that lead us, the audience, to believe that this is not the first time Hye Jung has been drunk.  Alcoholism is a serious disease & can destroy lives, as it seems it has taken it's toll on this family.  Seo Joon gets there after his dad, finds his mom hooked up to an IV & then gets to hear his mom ask his dad if they can please get back together again.  A desperate attempt by a desperate woman to hold on to something, that honestly was never hers to begin with, to which In Ha apologizes but he can't do that.  I pity her so much all while detesting her inability to move on.  In Ha lost Yoon Hee to circumstances.  Not because she didn't love him back.  Hye Jung was never truly loved by In Ha.

Back to the kids we go.  Its the next day & Ha Na has arrived for her half of the deal, she is going to help Seo Joon out by becoming his model.  But he is still miffed at her, for choosing Sunbae over him, once again so he's ignoring her & giving her the cold shoulder, like a spoiled little boy.  After the shoot, he takes her to talk to her, while they are talking we see two other characters meeting by chance?  By fate?  By destiny?  By coincidence?

 Both sets of characters get caught in the rain.  One hides under an awning together.

 The other passes each other in the street.  In Ha recognizes her but keeps going.  It can't be after all she's dead.

 But he chases her down, he is almost positive it's her.

 And he is right.

What a great cliffhanger ending, right?

In episode 8 there is a lot of going back & forth between the two groups of characters.  So I'm actually going to talk very quickly about just the parents first.  And I'm really only going to touch on them briefly.  It's the constant back & forth that has made this review/recap complicated for me.

In Ha was right.  It was Yoon Hee in the street.  They each call their kids to tell them they aren't going to be able to meet with them after all.  In Ha overhears Yoon Hee call herself mom & looks shocked.  She went on to have a life, including a family even though he was there waiting for her.  But how can he be upset when he too went on with his life?  Okay he sort of went on with his life.  Or at least he tried to...it didn't work out very well, but he did try.

He spends the episode finding out about her, he tells Hye Jung that he saw her & that he intends to be with her.  Hye Jung spills the beans that she knew Yoon Hee was alive & that Yoon Hee lied to him about having a husband.  That he died years ago.  He seeks Yoon Hee out again & again.  Confronting her fear of starting over with him, brings her flowers & finds her at work, at home & anywhere he can.  He isn't going to make the same mistake as last time & let outside influences tear them apart.  He loves her, he never got over her & he wants her.  She however, we find out from Ha Na, accidentally, is keeping a secret from him.  She's trying to stay away from him & keeps pushing him away from her because she is sick, losing her sight.  They make it sound like she may be dying too but I don't know I haven't seen that far ahead yet.

While he is actively pursuing her, his son is following in his father's footsteps.  Only when his father was young he was so shy, Seo Joon is not the least bit shy.  In this episode, he tells Ha Na that he thinks he likes her.  That he sincerely has fallen for her.  She is floored & shocked.  This on the heels of basically being rejected by Sunbae.  He wants to stop everything they've been doing & start over from the beginning.
You can see how much he likes her when she finally gets her chance to be his model.  At first the clothes are not flattering, because his stylist is picking the clothes & not picking them to her style or personality, so she looks uncomfortable.  So they have her pick out her outfits but everyone makes her nervous so she just can't loosen up in front of the camera.  So he kicks everyone out of the photo shoot & just talks to her.  Asking her questions to keep her mind occupied while he takes the shots.  Why did you pick this one?  Was his favorite question...It really worked to loosen her up & get her truly smiling.  I loved his facial expressions for each new outfit.

But my favorite was when after the shoot was over, she was dressed in her regular clothes & he's trying to show that she has no sense of color or style so he goes to take a close up picture of her & realizes she really is very beautiful.

uh...uh...uh...
Very articulate

During all this she runs into Lee Sun Ho, son of Dong Wook, also a dr like his dad, & he runs the cafe above the photo studio.  Sun Ho has remembered that there is a vacant bedroom in the apartment located above the above the cafe.  Right next door to Seo Joon's room, but that part he doesn't mention...till later.  And offers Ha Na to be the gardener of the cafe/studio in exchange for the vacant bedroom.

That night after Seo Joon finds out what Sun Ho has done he heads to Ha Na.  He wants her to live there but he also wants to know if she likes him too.  And that is the end of episode 8.

Episode 9 begins w/ In Ha showing up & meeting with Yoon Hee.  And once again this episode is filled with more of him pursuing & her denying.

So once again I'm going to focus on their children.  Ha Na never does answer Seo Joon whether or not she likes him back.  The next morning she arrives at the cafe bags packed & ready to move in & gets a formal intro to all the guys that work there.

We meet Jo Soo, which apparently is a play on words, as Jo Soo in Korean also means "assistant".

Then there is the waiter in the cafe.

Sorry to say I cannot remember his name.

And then my favorite member of the group.  Seo Joon's photo stylist. Again I don't remember his name either but I love how he calls her "Unnie" instead of  "Noona".   A gay character in a KDrama?  How very forward of them.  Not many KDramas acknowledge the gays.  I was impressed.  I also love how he spritz' her face w/ water & tells her to take care of herself not just the flowers.  

She gets a tour of the place after the introductions are over.  But Sun Ho knows he forgetting to tell her something but he just can't remember what it is.  While checking out her room she spies another room through a sliding door.  It's another bedroom, not just anyone's bedroom.  It's Seo Joon's, which she finds out after tossing his multi colored undies in the air, while inspecting his room, without his permission.

They are, neither of them, exactly excited to find out that they are rooming right next door to each other.  He because she hasn't admitted she likes him & she because he makes her uncomfortable because she does like him but she doesn't trust him.   He leaves w/ Sun Ho's little sister, who is majorly crushing on Seo Joon & is one of those aggressive girls who "oppa" you to death.  It's decided after the big blow up fight, that entertains Sun Ho to no end, that the rest of them need to have a party to celebrate her moving in & new job.

Seo Joon arrives back at the cafe to find them all drinking heavily.  He waits up for her to come to bed so he can talk to her but she is toasted!  He finds her laying in the chair in the hallway & covers her with a blanket. As he is walking away, though, she grabs him by the back of the shirt & pulls him into her lap.

Then drunkenly proceeds to tell him its not that she doesn't like him its that she's scared to like him.  Because he's cool, handsome, smart & she is not in his league, so she doesn't trust him to not hurt her.  She gets mad at him for saying she was faking her innocence earlier & tells him, she's never had a boyfriend although she did love someone they just didn't love her back, ie Sunbae {Tae Sung}.  She also says, "I am innocent I've never been kissed."  Its at this point that she kind of falls asleep & he, being a guy in like, can't help himself.

Stealing kisses from a drunken girl?  tsk tsk tsk

He does try to sneak another one but then she really does pass out.  The next morning she is pretending she can't remember anything.  As he leaves for the day he tells her to be available for a meal that night.  He finishes a photo shoot for his mom's company & then has to talk to this mom.  Which puts him in a bad mood & makes him late for their date.  But eventually he does show up & boy am I glad he did.

She can tell that he is in a bad mood, then he asks her to tell him something funny.  When she's funny she's cute & she totally bewitches him.  She turns around to tell him another joke & he gives her a quick kiss.  She just sits there looking at him & then eventually he tells her that he is going to do it for real this time.  She can avoid it if she wants to & then he does his countdown.  1. 2. 3.

Oh Jang Keun Suk you wouldn't need to count if I were her.  

And of course this the end of episode 9...

And we are once again edging into home plate AddiKts.

Obviously this is where episode 10 picks back up.

After they get back "home" she asks him what happens next?  He says within in this week you have to give me your answer, you have to tell me if you like me & why?  There isn't much of the week left.  But she agrees.  It is at this moment that Sun Ho's little sis butts in.  Loaded down w/ Seo Joon's belongings & demanding that he not stay at the same place as Ha Na.  So he leaves & goes to a hotel, where he discovers a secret.  Tae Sung is not just some guy that works at the arboretum.  He is the Chaebol son to the guy who owns a huge hotel conglomerate which includes the arboretum.  I'm pretty sure Tae Sung wanted that kept secret.  Oops.

After he gets all checked in he & Ha Na start texting each other, then he calls her.  While talking to her, she realizes that she left the milk in the saucepan on the burner of the stove & that its boiling over, she yelps that's she in trouble & tosses her phone off to the side.  She's okay but he doesn't know that & he's all cute & worried about her.  So he rushes back home & then scales the side of the house.  She turned the alarm on before she hopped in the shower & he triggers the alarm.  She comes running out of the bathroom & he gets a nice view of leg...

After which he falls to the ground.  Later she thanks the police for their help & then they go in to the house &  their own rooms & have a nice conversation through the bookshelf.  They're really very cute together.  The next day, they spend the day texting each other & being super cute together.  After he gets back from his photo shoot & she gets back from class & working in the garden there is this super cute moment between them.

And their not alone.  Sun Ho spies them & calls the others over to see them too.

I love that he is so happy for Seo Joon.

These guys are shocked to see that suave cool Seo Joon has fallen for Ha Na.  

During this episode Hye Jung decides to seek out Yoon Hee.  At first it seems like a nice reunion.  But I knew what was really coming.  I'm sure you guys did too.  The real motive for Hye Jung was to tell Yoon Hee that she & In Ha were talking about getting back together just before Yoon Hee arrived.  Not entirely true.  Hye Jung wanted back together but In Ha was not interested & said so, multiple times.  Hye Jung continues that he is stuck in the past & confusing his memories with reality.  That Yoon Hee's presence in confusing him more.  Then she does & says what she did back in college.  She wants Yoon Hee to disappear from their lives again.  She apologizes that she can't be happy to see her old friend.  Yoon Hee of course, being sick, decides this is probably a good idea.  She then seeks out In Ha to tell him, she is going back to the US, that yes she is running away, again.  But she really doesn't want to be with him, because she has had a lonely life & seeing him again gave her hope to not be lonely but she's tired of losing people she loves, her parents, her grandmother, her husband.  She can't put herself through that anymore & so she is leaving.  After that he can't handle that she is leaving so he tries to follow her but she ignores him & in her desire to escape him she steps out into the street w/out seeing that there is a truck coming, he rushes out there pushes her out of the way & gets hit himself.  At the hospital later, he's okay, but she bursts into tears at the thought that he might have died, as she really loves him & throws herself into his arms.  Looks like she won't be able to comply w/ Hye Jung's request after all.

Meanwhile its time for Ha Na to tell Seo Joon her final answer, but Sunbae shows up & almost ruins it all.  They end up in a wicked fight & as Seo Joon is dragging her away from Sunbae he proclaims, "she's mine!"

Eventually it works out & that ring she "lost" in episode 6, that Seo Joon was going to give back to her but ended up insulting & offending her, is given to Seo Joon after she tells him she really Likes him.  She has it's match as well.  It's official they are a "Couple".  Complete w/ "couple rings".

Whew!!  This reviewing of 5 episodes is really difficult.  I had some major favorite moments {{top one being that oh my goodness kiss scene by the fountain}} & some characters I really love & some I really am not a fan of, of course that could change.  This show has the potential to really rock the romance but I have this feeling it will also make me cry.  What will happen when the kids find out about their parents?  What will happen when the parents find out about their kids?  Oh the excitement, oh the anxiety!!

Tune in for the next 5 episodes review from Dongsaeng.  This means that I'll be reviewing the final 5 episodes.  I hope you come back to see what I have to say, that I haven't chased you off with this review.  It was seriously so hard for me to finish this.  Writer's block extraordinaire.  Looking forward to treating myself to my regularly scheduled drama A Gentleman's Dignity as my reward for surviving this review.  {{Giggle}}

Saranghabnida,