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Late Bloomer
I started Twenty Again thinking that it was going to be your typical rom-com drama, but it turned out to be much more than just a jerk of a male lead and a lost heroine. It tells a powerful narrative about relationships and personal growth through the eyes of our heroine Ha No Ra (Choi Ji Woo) — a soft-spoken, stay-home housewife and mom who’s extremely under-appreciated by her family. As No Ra goes through mid-life crisis and mistakenly believes that she only has six months to live, she resolves to go back to school and enjoy the college life that she never got a chance to experience before. As such, our story builds upon the variety of situations that No Ra faces in a completely foreign environment. Twenty Again is a unique and magical drama in the sense that it doesn’t present us with dramatic scenes of hilarity or love affair. But what comedic or romantic scenes we were given are both heartfelt and well-thought-out.
The comedy and romance scenes are heartfelt and well-thought-out.
Episodes 1-4 Review
During the crucial opening episodes, we’re introduced to the key characters and the context of their daily lives. The first three episodes are easy to follow along, and adds just the right amount of amusement and emotional moments to keep me invested. We’re quickly made acquainted with the deeper reasons of No Ra’s desire in going back to school — she wants to fulfill the dreams for herself and her grandma, who worked hard all her life to take care of No Ra.
What I like about this setup is that No Ra originally wanted to become educated so she can be on par intellectually with her husband, who’s a university professor. But along the way, she learns to do it for herself; not because she needs to prove herself to others, but because she wants to live the sort of life she gave up on when she became pregnant with her son, Kim Min Soo (Kim Min Jae), during high school. Not wanting to create more conflict within the family, No Ra hides the fact that she goes to the same school as her son and her husband, and leads a difficult double life.
But little does No Ra realize that her husband, Kim Woo Chul (Choi Won Young), has been having an affair with a colleague of his and is dying to divorce her as soon as Min Soo gets into college. Woo Chul is someone who likes to be in control, and cares a lot about social status. It’s evident through his strict hands-on approach with the universities and majors that he’s laid out for his son.
Min Soo on the other hand, goes along with it because he respects his dad, but acts like a brat to his mom and expects her to butt out of his business. I genuinely hope these two men in No Ra’s life will redeem themselves at some point, or else I won’t stop feeling horrible about No Ra sufferings through the loveless family she’s stuck with.
Last but not least, let’s take a look at our male lead, Cha Hyun Suk (Lee Sang Yoon). He went to high school with No Ra and is shocked to meet her twenty years later — as his student. At first, Hyun Suk seems to be rude and standoffish to No Ra, but we soon learn that she was his first love, and that he still has feelings for her to an extent. Hyun Suk is the first to find out about No Ra’s illness, and mistakes it to be the truth.
What bothers me about his character is that he’s perfectly comfortable being a jerk to No Ra, until he thinks she’s dying, then his tune suddenly changes. He shouldn’t have had to wait until such a drastic life-changing event to treat her like a normal person. I understand that he may have been hurt by their friendship in the past, but as an adult, he should have been able to let that go long ago. Hyun Suk begins to take more interest in No Ra and treats her better after the fact, so I’m hoping he’ll slowly turn around to be a better person in the episodes to come.
Episodes 5-7 Review
The next few episodes of Twenty Again are great for in-depth character development and relationship building. We’re able to see No Ra grow stronger as an individual, regaining control of her life, living in the moment, and even making new friends. Thanks to Hyun Suk’s misunderstanding of her health condition, he goes out of his way to help No Ra fulfill her “before-I-die” bucket list. It’s adorable that even though he’s been bitter about how their friendship suddenly ended in high school, he tediously plans to take her to the movies, buy her street food, and throw a high school reunion party for her.
As a result, No Ra is finally enjoying every moment of her life and realizes what she’s been missing out on. We see No Ra rekindle her old passion for dancing and even joins a dance team to pursue it further. She also begins to establish friendship with two of her classmates who were originally uncomfortable with her presence. I’m so glad that she’s able to make friends as I was worried about her from being shunned for too long. No Ra doesn’t feel an ounce of regret for living life at large, even when Woo Chul grills her about her late night returns and “crazy” actions. But just when we think No Ra’s life is going well, she finally catches her husband having an affair.
In contrast to my genuine empathy towards No Ra, Woo Chul only brings me annoyance. He starts to get jealous that No Ra has a life outside of him now, and even tells No Ra he’ll stop the divorce if she stays out of school. Thankfully, she disagrees.
There’s just one minor detraction for me during this section of the drama. Because I have trouble warming up to some of the characters, a number of scenes go by slowly for my taste. The best example of this is the focus around Min Soo and his girlfriend Oh Hye Mi (Son Na Eun) relationship that I think could have been done without. I get that it’s supposed to gives us a different perspective of what Min Soo is like — kind, loyal, and affectionate — emotions that he doesn’t express towards No Ra. But I find myself wanting to fast forward through scenes with them because his girlfriend is too demanding of his attention, knowing full well that he can’t give it to her 24/7 because of his father’s rules.
Episodes 8-11 Review
These episodes of Twenty Again present such great emotional depth among the characters that it’s hard to say anything negative about them. Min Soo ultimately finds his parents’ premeditated divorce contract and confronts them about it. He yells at his dad about his inability to communicate with his mom, and his lack of attempt at it. But the most touching scene has to be when Min Soo tightly hugs his mom as he apologizes for ignoring her all these years, and making her feel lonely when she needed him the most. It’s both heartwarming and comforting to watch. I’m really glad Twenty Again showed this side of Min Soo; it helped make him a more well-rounded character beyond just the irksome shallow scenes of him and his girlfriend.
On the other hand, Hyun Suk and No Ra’s relationship also evolve further. Thanks to her new found freedom away from her husband, No Ra ends up spending more time working and hanging out with Hyun Suk. Little by little she starts to realize all the kind things he has done for her and how he has positively affected her confidence in convincing her to dance again on stage.
I’m delighted that it dials back the romance in favor of No Ra’s journey of self-discovery.
While Hyun Suk sinks deeper into his emotional attachment to No Ra, No Ra also discovers a hint of potential feelings for her old friend. I like that the romance isn’t the focal point of the drama and pushed as heavy-handedly as it is in other dramas. As much as I love an affectionate romance, I’m delighted that Twenty Again chose to dial it back in favor of No Ra’s journey of self-discovery.
Episodes 12-14 Review
The episodes that follow are meant to lead us towards a resolution, so they are a bit slower, but still sweet. No Ra lingers on the past, specifically the fact that when her grandma passed away, it was Woo Chul who wouldn’t let her attend the funeral. She finally breaks free of Woo Chul, and refuses to take his half-assed apologies any longer. I’m ecstatic to see the rebirth of a whole new No Ra with endless possible directions that the drama could take her.
I’m ecstatic to see the rebirth of a whole new No Ra.
It’s also adorable to see how No Ra gets flustered and acts cute around Hyun Suk, something she’s never been able to express with Woo Chul. I’m glad the show is wrapping up towards a direction like this, although it could have gotten to here faster.
Episodes 15-16 Review
Twenty Again wraps up nicely, tying up all loose ends and giving us a nice resolution of where our characters end up. No Ra gets custody of Min Soo, who drops out of college to travel the world and volunteer so he can follow his heart and enjoy life. Woo Chul is still dating the woman he was having an affair with, but transferred to teach at another university. Meanwhile, Hyun Suk and No Ra share their only kiss during the last episode. I love that it wasn’t rushed, but rather, the entire drama has been a slow build up to it in a sensible way.
What I cherish about Twenty Again is that it focuses on the growth of an older lady, who has resigned to live a complacent life as a housewife, busy hiding her own dreams to match the pace of her husband and son. She wanted so much more in life, but her circumstances shackled her down. Twenty Again is so much more than just a casual rom-com. It’s ultimately an inspiring story about Ha No Ra’s life, and how she uncovers what she wants out of it for herself. We learn about relationships, second chances, and what it means to live life all through her eyes. And it’s been a beautiful odyssey through and through. I sincerely hope to see more meaningful dramas like this in the future.
- 10.6KShares
- 10.6KShares