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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Reply 1994" Episode 7

Summer continues in 1994 as characters continue to find ways to beat the heat. I'm not an expert, but I'm going to guess that air conditioning was not yet a universal thing during this time in South Korea, given the schemes characters resort to in order to stay cool. A heat wave can bring about that kind of madness- that a person is willing to look completely ridiculous just as long as they feel well-aerated.

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Well, except for Yoon-jin anyway. She never cared about appearances in the first place. This episode cements her place, in my mind, as being the drama's best character, simply because she has such great agency. When Yoon-jin wants something done, she does it. If she doesn't feel like talking, then she won't. This sense of attitude coupled with her small size makes Yoon-jin a lot of fun to watch- it's a simple contrast, but still funny.

Regarding the drama's actual storyline- this time around the mystery of Na-jeong's future husband is wrapped around two specific men in the household, one of whom is Rubbish. The drama continues to make Rubbish look like a less than ideal romantic partner, and Na-jeong seems to be tiring of him quickly. He puts her in a terribly awkward situation and then fails to appreciate just how bad he's miscalculated what was going on.

The clear reaction shots are what this drama does best- an important part of being a college-age you is this doing dumb, obviously contrived stuff and then failing to realize that other people are smart enough to understand the true motivation. It does wonders for the nostalgia that these characters, even at their very worst, are still not horrible people and would rather accept a moment of mild embarassment than just deciding other people don't matter.

Which might be why I like Yoon-jin so much- the edge her character has is the closest thing this drama has to generating actual conflict. I like a cute hour of nostalgia as much as the next guy, but every once in awhile something has to happen with some sort of personal stake attached. The heat wave was an opportunity for that, but for the most part the drama played it safe. Granted, this is probably true to life to some extent. Regardless, while "Reply 1994" is breezy and fun as usual, it still doesn't seem to be shooting for much higher goals than just being a nostalgic retrospective of an era now lost to time.

Review by William Schwartz

"Reply 1994" is directed by Sin Won-ho and written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Go Ara, Sung Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa and Jung Woo.

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