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Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15 Episode 16 (Final)
Dear My Friends: Episode 1
by odilettante
Esteemed screenwriter Noh Hee-kyung is back with a slice-of-life drama which sets out to prove that even though one may be old, one is forever young at heart. Dear My Friends was specifically chosen to lớn celebrate tv
N’s 10th anniversary, and while a story predominately about people in their 60’s-80’s may seem lượt thích a surprising choice for a channel known for trendy dramas, the combination of an excellent script touching on universal truths (and hilarious moments), plus a veteran cast who seem lớn have leapt at the opportunity to lớn play more than just the stock roles available to lớn people of their age, gives us a drama that promises to make the mundane magical.
EPISODE 1: “Sorry, but I’m not curious about you all”
At an outdoor cafe, JO HEE-JA (Kim Hye-ja), 72, sips her coffee as she gazes around at the hustle and bustle of the streets of Seoul. The high-rises attract her attention, and she finds her way lớn the rooftop of one particular building. Carefully she makes her way khổng lồ the edge and glances down, marveling that this would be the perfect way to lớn die.
The owner of a popular restaurant, JANG NAN-HEE (Go Du-shim), 63, expertly and efficiently prepares orders while arguing with her daughter, PARK WAN (Go Hyun-jung), 37, about the upcoming school alumni reunion. Wan doesn’t want to lớn go to her mother’s reunion, but Mom can’t drive herself & her friends, having had her license revoked due to a DUI. She tells Wan it will be good experience as a writer, who now spends her time translating the works of others, and that she should write short stories about her friends’ colorful lives.
For example, a year ago, Hee-ja’s husband died in his sleep — in his closet. Even though she’s mildly intrigued by the story, Wan refuses khổng lồ take her mother’s bait, & further refuses lớn go lớn Nan-hee’s reunion. Besides, she grumbles, in this day và age when caring for parents is a burden, who buys books about old fogeys, anyway?
Wan’s attitude quickly transforms when Hee-ja arrives. Even if it might be just an act, Wan greets her happily, calling her “auntie” & asking how long it’s been since she’s returned from the Philippines.
In a voice-over, Wan informs us that after her husband’s funeral a year ago, Hee-ja overheard her children arguing with each other who was going to take care of their helpless mother. Most of her children believe that their mother should have been the one to die first since she’s never lived alone and has no idea how lớn care for herself, but her youngest son, YOO MIN-HO (Lee Kwang-soo) angrily insists he’ll take responsibility for her.
All Hee-ja hears, though, is that her children think that she should have been the one to lớn die first, & she wonders if she’s supposed to live or die. Determined, she packs her bags to live with one of her sons và his family in the Philippines, because at least she can help out with the housework and not be too much of a burden.
Except her son already has two maids in his employ, and with their constant chorus of “sorry, Ma’am” as they rush to intervene the moment she tries to vị anything on her own, she realizes that her attempts at help out are seen as a threat to the maids’ jobs. Her son’s fancy house is no better than a prison, và she leaves a note declaring that she’s returning to lớn Seoul as she quietly escapes during the night.
After arriving at the airport, she’s stubbornly determined to do everything on her own, even insisting that she’ll load her own heavy suitcase into the bus. While the bus driver yells at her to lớn sit down, she calmly tells him that her legs are still strong, and she would prefer to stand (instead of being treated in a preferential way due to lớn her age), but the bus driver just barks that standing is illegal when the bus is on the highway, so she better sit down so they can finally get going.
Min-ho calls her, frustrated that he just found out she’s returned khổng lồ Seoul after sneaking away in the night. He’s headed khổng lồ the airport to lớn pick her up, but she sweetly informs him she’s on the bus, going home. That’s a ridiculous notion, since he knows that there’s no way she can live by herself in her now-empty house. She should just wait for him and he’ll figure out what khổng lồ do, but she finally loses her cool and yells at him that she can bởi vì it on her own. She can live alone, too!
Back in the present, Hee-ja watches Nan-hee gulp down her lunch. It’s not that she doesn’t have time, since they’re closing the restaurant after they’ve sold out of ingredients for the day — she’s just starving. She points out to Hee-ja one of her favorite regulars (Jang Hyun-sung). He comes for lunch every day, and from the guitar that he carries, she assumes he’s a musician — that, of course, means he’s poor & therefore not marriage material, but at least he’s pretty lớn look at.
MOON JUNG-AH (Na Mun-hee), 72, bursts into the back room just then. The các buổi tiệc nhỏ has arrived! Or it will arrive soon, when Wan appears with an armful of beer. The woman enjoy their little mid-day beer break as they get caught up on each other’s lives — or marvel that Wan’s breasts are so plump. Ahhh, aunties — there’s no such thing as being too personal.
In a voice-over, Wan points out that the only luxuries she’s ever seen the frugal and cheerful Jung-ah enjoy is her fancy coat (a gift from Hee-ja) & the kind of beer her idol used khổng lồ drink — which someone else always seems khổng lồ buy for her.
Jung-ah’s thriftiness is shown as she tirelessly walks up and down the street market, filling up her cart with items from the various stalls. One of her daughter calls her, & she insists she’s at the grocery store, since it takes too much effort khổng lồ buy everything at the street market. But as soon as she hangs up, she grumbles that grocery stores are too expensive.
She has three daughters who hire her during the week khổng lồ help out with household chores. She happily sings as she vacuums & does the laundry at one of her daughter’s homes, only lớn have her daughter yell at her from the bedroom, where she’s trying lớn sleep. Cheerful Jung-ah is mildly put out by the fact her grumpy daughter refuses khổng lồ roll over and look at her, but she doesn’t want to lớn reveal the nasty bruise on her face — the kind that would suggest domestic abuse.
As she’s making kimchi for daughter #3 (and proving how contrary she is, right after she tells her daughter that of course she won’t give him any kimchi, she immediately lets him have a taste), her phone rings. It’s Hee-ja, who’s visiting Jung-ah’s mother in the nursing home. They vị a video clip chat since Jung-ah can’t be there, since she’s too busy working khổng lồ make the money to lớn pay for the nursing home. It’s sweet how Hee-ja calls Jung-ah her own mother, & Jung-ah doesn’t need any encouragement to lớn perk up her aged mother’s spirits with a song.
Jung-ah has patiently lived her life as a housewife for her husband & daughters in anticipation of one day traveling the world once her husband retires. But when her penny-pinching husband KIM SUK-GYUN (Shin Gu), 75, arrives trang chủ for dinner, she wonders when he’ll finally quit his job so they can travel. Considering he’s still been working small jobs even after his official retirement, she assumes that he must have saved up quite a bit — a million dollars, perhaps?
He yells at her lớn stop nagging him, and she unflappably switches the subject lớn the upcoming reunion và her final driving chạy thử this week. Perhaps their world tour could be one long road trip. In her voice-over, Wan says that her mother & Hee-ja believe that Suk-gyun keeps his promises — just lượt thích Jung-ah, they believe that she’ll travel the world. However, Wan doubts that it will happen.
As Hee-ja cleans her house (with tape & Kleenex) và watches one of her favorite movies, Thelma & Louise, she reassures her son Min-ho that she’s fine by herself and that she has a whole evening planned. She’s totally fine by herself — no need lớn worry. Her dinner is an ice cream bar, though, và when the clock strikes eight, she hurries over to lớn the window & cautiously opens the curtains.
Across the street is her handsome neighbor (Daniel Henney), who smiles and winks at her as he works out (while shirtless, of course). Scandalized, she closes the curtains, amazed that this crazy man keeps smiling at her every time he exercises. She assumes he’s just looking down on her because she’s an old woman living alone.
Wan receives Jung-ah’s and Hee-ja’s texts (which were sent at the suggestion of Wan’s mother, Nan-hee), preemptively thanking her for driving them lớn the reunion. Except she still hasn’t agreed to vày it, và she calls Mom up, reminding her of that very fact. She’s got a magazine deadline to lớn meet! Except Mom is too busy enjoying her favorite “colatec” (a disco specifically geared to the older crowd) to pay attention to lớn Wan’s whining.
Even though she ignores Wan’s phone calls, she picks up for OH CHOONG-NAM (Yoon Yeo-jung), 65, who tells her she better come to the reunion or else, since it’s being held at her cafe and all those old fogeys who have nothing better to vì chưng will arrive early. Nan-hee better not abandon her! Choong-nam carries in a couple of fancy bottles of wine to lớn a table of intelligentsia arty types. One of the men (Sung Dong-il) points out that they didn’t order it, but Choong-nam believes good wine belongs with good conversation, so it’s on the house (much lớn her staff’s disapproval).
Annoyed at her mother, Wan complains to the person at the other end of the đoạn phim call (who’s face can’t be seen due to misaligned camera) that she doesn’t understand why her mother thinks she could learn from these old women. All they vị is fight when they meet each other, gossip behind each other’s backs, & generally just make a big fuss. Just because someone is old, doesn’t mean they are also mature.
Her mysterious person chides her for her rude manners khổng lồ the elderly, but she just orders him khổng lồ fix his camera so she can see his face properly. He teasingly và slowly nudges the camera khổng lồ fix it as his face gradually appears on the screen. Surprise, surprise, it’s Jo In-sung, in his cameo as Wan’s lover, SEO YUN-HA.
Just then, Wan’s phone rings — it’s her publisher, HAN DONG-JIN (Shin Sung-woo), inviting her out to lớn celebrate the completion of a book. She’d go if it were just the two of them, but not as a big party. When he hears her distracted conversation with Yun-ha before she shuts down the video chat, Dong-jin tells her not khổng lồ bother coming.
Wan settles in lớn work on magazine article when her phone rings. It’s yet another auntie, informing her that she’s going lớn be moving back khổng lồ Korea. That’s apparently the motivation Wan needs lớn give her mother and her friends a ride, because the next morning, she waits in the oto while Nan-hee hurries into the church to fetch the pious Hee-ja.
As she convinces Hee-ja khổng lồ skip out on church, watching them closely is LEE SUNG-JAE (Joo Hyun), 72.
The last auntie lớn be picked up is Jung-ah, who is triumphant at having just completed her final driving test. Wan drives down the twisty country roads, all the while somehow managing khổng lồ keep her composure as Hee-ja sings along lớn her collection of trot songs, Jung-ah shoves clementine pieces into everyone’s mouth, và Nan-hee yells into her phone as she talks khổng lồ her mother. Not helping the cause is an impatient driver, endlessly honking his horn as he tries to lớn find a không tính tiền stretch lớn pass them.
Nan-hee’s mother (and Wan’s grandmother) OH SSANG-BON (Kim Young-ok), 86, is stubbornly independent, insisting she can get lớn the reunion location on her own. Her ATV might be safer, considering that the jerk in the honking oto behind Wan finally manages to drive them off the road as he passes them.
Just as Wan’s about lớn get back on the road, Hee-ja apologetically says that she has to use the restroom, và at her age, she can’t really hold it in. Annoyed, Wan waits in the oto as her mother & Jung-ah help Hee-ja find the perfect tree to squat behind. The women enjoy their little nature break, laughing as they pick flowers and tease each other.
They’re ready khổng lồ get back on the road… but the battery is dead. At her mother’s encouragement, Wan grudgingly flags down a passing car to help them, và when Nan-hee expresses surprise that the driver actually agreed lớn help, Wan flips her hair và reveals a little cleavage — the reason she got him to stop, much lớn the women’s amusement.
It’s smooth sailing to lớn the reunion, & all the old alumni are happy lớn reconnect. Wan watches from the safety of the car until Suk-gyun raps on the window, và manages to lớn immediately point out that Wan is unmarried, with an unsuccessful career, & shamefully doesn’t respect her mother.
Mom comes lớn her rescue, though, telling Suk-gyun that Wan wanted to come along so she could interview the old people for her book. In a voice-over, Wan informs us that she generally dislikes most old people, but she especially detests Suk-gyun.
The reunion is in full swing, và Wan, along with Choong-nam’s waitstaff, scurry khổng lồ keep the tables filled with food & bottles of beer, soju, và makgeolli. It’s exhausting, thankless work, and despite her best efforts, she gets dragged into a few drunken elderly conversations (where Suk-gyu insists lớn his buddies that there’s no way he’s wasting his money on trip around the world), all eager to cốt truyện their stories with the “writer.”
Jung-ah and Hee-ja muse over Suk-gyu’s inferiority complex — he only graduated from middle school, while most of the other alumni at least went lớn high school, if not college, yet he still stubbornly insists on holding court in his corner of the patio. They also wonder who’s died since the last reunion, and if they’ll make to lớn the next reunion. Interestingly enough, Hee-ja doesn’t directly answer.
Granny Ssang-boon keeps a watchful eye on the men, wondering what they’re talking about. But it’s all nonsense that she believes deserves to lớn punished — insulting their mothers và treating their wives poorly.
Wan serves the table of artsy intelligentsia (reunion or no, they will have their daily meal), who are surprised to lớn hear that Wan’s Choong-nam’s niece. She lets them think she’s blood-related, but as she walks away, her pleasant hệ thống demeanor drops as she says that if she really were Choong-nam’s niece, there’s no way she’d let those so-called artists continue khổng lồ live, the way they clearly take advantage of her auntie.
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She finally slips out for a break, sneaking a greatly needed cigarette. Choong-nam spies her through the window, watching as Wan carefully disguises any trace of her smoking so her mother doesn’t find out. When Wan returns khổng lồ the kitchen, Choong-nam points out some of the artwork she’s acquired. Wan still thinks the men are abusing Choong-nam’s generosity, but Choong-nam likes hanging out with them. Besides, she’s not an old fogey — she’s still a virgin!
A ruckus outside catches their attention — it’s LEE YOUNG-WON (Park Won-sook), 63, a successful actress who’s just arrived, accompanied by her (much younger) boyfriend. Everyone is delighted lớn see her, except Nan-hee, who apparently is still holding a thirty-year-old grudge. Young-won’s been living in America until now, & embraces Granny lượt thích a long-lost child.
The buổi tiệc nhỏ is over, and all that’s left are a few hold-outs as Wan helps the aunties clean up. Now that the liquor is gone, Wan sees no reason they should linger, but Nan-hee agrees khổng lồ go on a soju run — besides, she’s too proud lớn leave the reunion before Young-won does.
As Wan drives the aunties to lớn get more soju, she asks her mother why she hates Young-won so much. Hee-ja and Jung-ah try to plead with her to lớn just drop it, but Wan is just as stubborn as her mother. She points out that once upon a time, her mother và Young-won were like two peas in a pod — so what happened thirty years ago that caused Nan-hee khổng lồ hate her so much?
Nan-hee refuses to lớn answer, and Wan says that she’ll buy the soju if she promises to lớn leave as soon as they get back. As the aunties wait for Wan to lớn return, they spot Young-won’s boyfriend getting out the car and heading to a motel room, where, through the mở cửa window, they spy him embrace a younger woman who is definitely not Young-won.
The aunties are horrified by the kissing, but Nan-hee takes a picture with her phone, determined khổng lồ show Young-won. She hails a xe taxi before Wan can snatch the phone from her, & while the old fogeys are still drunkenly discussing their younger days, Young-won charmingly cleans up after them.
Cranky Suk-gyun gets called out by Choong-nam, who tells him he should be nicer khổng lồ Jung-ah. When he grumps that a spinster doesn’t know anything about marriage, she tells him the only reason she’s stayed single is because she didn’t want lớn marry a bully lượt thích him.
In the midst of this, Nan-hee returns, telling Young-won that she still has a sense of decency. When Young-won knew that Nan-hee’s husband was cheating on her, Young-won kept it a secret. But she won’t be lượt thích that, và she hands over the phone with the picture of Young-won’s boyfriend embracing another woman.
But instead of reacting to Nan-hee, Young-won simply calls up her boyfriend, congratulating him on getting back together with his wife. After she hangs up, Young-won calmly tells Nan-hee that she must have misunderstood. He wasn’t her lover, he was just her boyfriend, emphasis on friend.
Nan-hee’s fury erupts as the wounds of thirty years are rubbed raw. Yelling at Young-won, she accuses her of lying to her face when she’d asked long ago if her husband was cheating. How could she treat a friend like that?
At that precise moment, the very woman Nan-hee’s husband cheated on her with calls Young-won’s phone. Any hope at friendly reconciliation is smashed as Nan-hee accuses Young-won of further lying about breaking things off with that other friend. Angry, she jumps forward. Let the hair-pulling commence! Even Granny gets into it, và soon all the friends are struggling lớn hold each other off. What a great way to over a party.
COMMENTS
For anyone looking for an exciting plot, the recommendation would be lớn look elsewhere. This is clearly a character-driven drama, but what characters! We’ve only just finished the first episode, and yet everyone feels so incredibly real khổng lồ me. I believe that these women have been friends for 30+ years, no question.
It’s hard to lớn accurately express how important all the small moments are in this drama. Everything is about character building, all the background action has relevance, even if it’s just one character looking at a phone (or discretely swiping someone else’s phone — I see you there, Choong-nam). The way language is used và how people react lớn certain situations reveal so much. Does it say something that I feel as though I can already analyze each character, just having known them for one hour? Even minor characters, the ones we only briefly meet for right now, are so interesting that I not only want khổng lồ know their story, but somehow I also feel lượt thích I already do.
Although it may seem irrelevant on paper (where plot is king), the scene where Wan shakes up the beer và sprays it over the aunties reveals so much: frugal Jung-ah protests that Wan is wasting money by spraying the beer; the resident “4D” và clean-freak Hee-ja enjoys the hilarity of the moment, but worries about getting mussed; stubbornly independent Wan, who doesn’t care to really listen to lớn her aunties, insists that it’s her money, she can vì chưng what she likes, and then pops that bottle open with a spoon, revealing the tough side handed down by the generations of women in her family. And then there’s Mom, Nan-hee, who pretends khổng lồ let Wan think she’s “let” Mom win their wrestling matches, but she’s still the tough-cookie who wins in the end.
There are definitely some gaps in the story, but I feel those are purposeful gaps. In a sense, we, the viewer, are Wan. Presumably, most drama viewers would not necessarily be inclined to watch a show about the old fogeys when there isn’t the promise of a whodunnit crime-thriller or a happily-ever-after rom-com. It’s easy to dismiss their stories as makjang when we only have a surface view. But when the stories begin to unfold, as we realize that these women have led amazing lives — or about to lớn live the life they’ve always wanted — suddenly those gaps begin to lớn make sense.
While I was a little thrown by the way the show plays with time jumps, I’ve realized that’s what happens when someone talks about their life. Stories passed down in casual conversation are so very rarely expressed in a strict linear fashion. There are dances down bunny trails as one memory sparks another. Details are momentarily forgotten, & then added in back later. In this sense, I can believe that these are glimpses of the stories Wan eventually writes, once she realizes that her aunties have a chất lượng voice, worthy to lớn be shared. Presumably she will go through an awakening as she realizes that the elderly aren’t merely annoying creatures that force her to do things she doesn’t want to, but people in their own right who have experienced — & will continue lớn experience — the same emotional roller-coaster she goes through as well. The same hopes & fears and dreams and love and loss.
I am super excited for the rest of the drama, since I am not bothered about the lack of plot & know that this cast can uphold anything that is thrown khổng lồ these characters. While I was vaguely concerned about the directing (having experienced — & recapped! — this director’s previous work, My Secret Hotel, which left something to lớn be desired), I’m pleased with the warmth that is pouring from the screen. From the choice of music that evokes a sense of nostalgia for a past I’ve never had, lớn the lovely use of color, lighting, và composition, the drama feels both somehow fresh & yet as comfortable as my favorite old T-shirt.
At the eve of their lives, a group of old friends nói qua their hard-earned wisdom and timeless antics with adults at their prime.
Park Won finds herself being roped into the drama between her mother & her mother's friends when she's forced into driving them lớn a reunion.
Jo Hee Ja sets out lớn live her life indepently in her old age, but finds herself hindering & needing the help of others. Park Wan reflects on her relationship with her mother.
Hee Ja's attempt at suicide is unsuccessful. The aunties decide lớn get their funeral pictures taken after learning about Hee Ja's neighbor, the photographer Mark Smith.
Hee Ja and Jung Ah accidentally kill a man in a hit-and-run. While Hee Ja turns khổng lồ her religion for answers, Jung Ah is at her wits' kết thúc with her husband and daughters.
While Choong phái mạnh continuously let her family và young friends take advantage of her dwindling fortune, Hee Ja must deal with Ki Ja, who's spreading rumors that Hee Ja killed her husband.
Young Won tells Jung Ah about Soon Young's abusive husband. Sung Jae plays both Hee Ja and Choong Nam.
Jung Ah's mother passes away on the beach. Nan Hee learns about Wan's affair with Dong Jin, Wan's married colleague.
Nan Hee attacks Dong Jin at the publishing house & Wan hears about it. Jung Ah makes up her mind to leave her husband.
Wan brings up the past and starts a painful fight with her mother. Beginning the preparation to lớn leave her husband, Jung Ah goes house-hunting.
Sung Jae & Hee Ja go on a drive down memory lane. Wan books a flight khổng lồ Italy lớn be with Yeon Ha. Suk Gyun prepares a memorial service for his mother.
Jung Ah leaves her husband Suk Gyun for real. Despite being unable to do even the simplest thing for himself, Suk Gyun is stubborn about not begging Jung Ah khổng lồ come back lớn him.
Suk Gyun changes tactic lớn get his wife back. Choong phái mạnh arranges a sleepover with all her friends to thử nghiệm out how living with them would be like.
Nan Hee finds out that she might have liver cancer, while Sung Jae suspects that Hee Ja has dementia.
Hee Ja's friends and family are worried sick with her missing. Young Won tells Wan about Nan Hee's terminal cancer.
Hee Ja's dementia is diagnosed as level five and she feels very sorry for herself until Nan Hee tells Hee Ja about her cancer. Park Wan has to lớn figure out how to giảm giá khuyến mãi with her mother's upcoming surgery.
Hee Ja comes to terms with her ailment, và her future. Wan tries lớn balance caring for her mother, the restaurant, và her writing.
