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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Make a Woman Cry" Episode 13

It's another episode mostly focused on the rich family. I didn't dislike this one as much as usual, though. I'm not really sure it's because I actually care about what the rich family is doing so much as it is I'm just used enough to their antics by now that there's not much apparent point to complaining. I do somewhat empathize with Hyeon-seo, who's stubbornly taken sick mainly because his mom's such a jerk.

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Oddly enough I think Eun-soo is mostly right about this not being a jealoisy issue. Contrary to what the family believes, Hyo-jeong isn't the person actually promoting the changes in Hyeon-seo. Kyeong-tae is the one responsible for that. And it's easy to see why- his appearance at the rich family's home late in the episode is fun mainly because Kyeong-tae actually knows what fun is. He knows how to make a good impression. That might not sound like much but in a humorless household like this one that's a pretty big deal.

Elsewhere plot movement is only piecemeal. Jin-woo's confession last episode took place in a context that seemed like it was just contextual. But to Jin-woo's credit, he does not back down on this point. This is all especially sweet because Deok-in is in fact a somewhat scary person, so Jin-woo being cautious when the situation has calmed down would be perfectly justifiable. But the simple fact of the matter is that Deok-in and Jin-woo both are too old to be playing childish games like that.

This is not necessarily a good thing. By the end of the episode Jin-woo has made another apparent gesture of kindness. What Jin-woo fails to realize is that, as a reasonably high ranked ex-police officer, Deok-in could have easily found this information herself if that was what she wanted to do. It looks like we're sidling up to one of the drama's more uncomfortable plot points- why Deok-in has continued to live with her in-laws even after the disintegration of the marriage.

I don't know what to make of all these plot points just yet- although that's part of the design of family dramas like this, is to just take sympathetic, appealing characters and stretch out their problems for as long as possible. This isn't a bad thing, naturally. It's just that at times I'm hoping for a bit more than Kyeong-cheol acting somewhat petulant and whiny when it comes to the central conflict.

Review by William Schwartz

"Make a Woman Cry" is directed by Kim Geun-hong and Park Sang-hoon-III, written by Ha Cheong-ok and features Kim Jung-eun, Song Chang-eui, Lee Soon-jae, Ha Hee-ra, Oh Dae-gyu and Lee Tae-ran.

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