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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Lover" Episode 4

There's more format tweaking this time- perhaps it was just my imagination but all the jokes this time seemed to take place in the context of longer, more drawn-out scenes. Additionally, the conceit about everything happening over the course of a single day is gone. What's more, the voiceover by Choi Yeo-jin, at least, has gotten even more reflective. The concept of unmarried couples living together is now to some extent treated with serious dramatic weight. With condom jokes.

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OK, OK, there's not actually that many condom jokes this time. Misunderstandings do abound, though, as do portraits of sweaty men. Sadly there's not that much female gaze to be found here, although there does seem to be more of an emphasis on women's issues. Like, what to do in case of a makeup crisis? Jin-nyeo inevitably manages to find the worst possible solution- not the best way to present yourself to guest stars.

Oh right, there's explicit guest stars now. Their names run by the bottom of the screen and everything. It's times like this I can't help but be reminded that "The Lover" is actually some kind of weird promotional tool. You have most likely noticed by now that everytime music plays director Kim Tae-eun-III helpfully lets us know the title of the songs, and even the lyrics. Well, it's good music so I have no complaint on that score.

The blend of comedy, with music, with the occasional bit of reflection is enough to make "The Lover" a fairly strong production, even if it's obviously a cheap one. But then that's just life really- a cheap production where things don't normally work out as well as we'd like to them. Do-si does not appear to be good parent material- does it really matter though, as long as everyone learns their lesson? That lesson being to not bully children.

Overall "The Lover" seems content to just let us come to our own conclusions regarding those questions. In this way the drama's actually surprisingly inoffensive given the apparently serious subject matter. It's almost as if the production team itself is deciding to take a step back from the amibitiousness of its own idea, correctly realizing that by design every unmarried couple lives in a totally different situation. And you know, that's OK. We don't expect all married couples to fit into the same narrow categories, so why should the unmarried ones be any different?

Review by William Schwartz

"The Lover" is directed by Kim Tae-eun-III, written by Kim Min-seok-II and features Oh Jung-se, Ryu Hyun-kyung, Jung Joon-young, Choi Yeo-jin, Park Jong-hwan, Ha Eun-seol, Terada Takuya and Lee Jae-joon.

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