Show Don’t Tell
Episode 4 of Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) Season 2 begins with Ga-Bin’s bombshell about the radio show. As Hae-Ryun remains rattled by this, Si-Eun gets the lunches packed for the kids that day. Hae-Ryun tries to get her to cancel (the show, not the lunches) but she’s having none of it. In fact, after all this build-up, Si-Eun happens to have slipped her disc so she won’t be at the radio show. Hae-Ryun meets with his ex and tells Si-Eun all about Ga-Bin. He claims, and I quote “Ga-Bin is not to blame”. Well… she is? She’s the one you’re having an affair with mate. Anyway, Si-Eun has heard enough and tells him to show off his new trophy girlfriend to everyone. Si-Eun eventually leaves, unable to deal with the bitterness this brings with it. She’s stuck to pick up the pieces while Hae-Ryun gets to galivant away with his hotshot girlfriend. It hardly seems fair, does it? Right, I’m just going to stop here to interject with commentary over the next conversation. Moon-ho talks to Hye-Ryung and justifies Sa-Hyun and Song Won’s actions, likening it to “girl meets boy” and claiming that “men can’t get pregnant on their own.” He also goes on to waffle about more justifications for cheating but I won’t write it out here. It’s frustrating enough to listen to. As a male, I can only apologize on behalf of this absolute buffoon. There is no excuse for Sa-Hyun’s actions. There’s no excuse for Song Won’s actions either to be honest, and the fact both of them are playing this victim card just irks me the wrong way. Hye-Ryung isn’t perfect but she doesn’t deserve this. Thankfully Hye-Ryung tells Moon-Ho to shut his trap and leaves. Elsewhere, Ki-Rim appears alongside Dong-Mi once and does… nothing. He doesn’t even eat ghost biscuits which is really disappointing. He does, however, stare down at Dong-Mi with contempt. While this is going on, our saintly mistress Song-Won sits with her new in-laws and eats food with them. Moon-ho believes everything is okay and feeds this back to a concerned Hye-Ryung. He tells her not to get involved with her now because doing so could push Sa-Hyun into her arms. According to Moon-Ho, “men are especially wired that way”. What an absolute pillock. Ga-Bin’s interview goes well though, and then we’re told about it through Pi-Young’s chat with Si-Eun. Yes, we get it. We’re literally watching it right now, we don’t need to get told this! And then, just in case you missed it, Ga-Bin relays the day to Hae-Ryun and the questions she was asked at the radio show after these instances. After their chat though, Ga-Bin phones the radio station and asks for Si-Eun’s number. When Si-Eun finds out, she’s rattled and unsure what to do. Elsewhere, we catch up with A-Mi, who heads out on a blind date which makes Yu-Shin jealous. He admits to her that he’s jealous and that his feelings for her are growing every day. As the episode closes out, Ga-Bin phones Si-Eun, setting up an epic showdown for next week.
The Episode Review
There’s a little thing in storytelling called show don’t tell. It’s literally one of the first things you learn when you start writing. For those unaware, this simple rule basically relates to character actions. A good story shows us a character’s mood and personality through their actions. A bad story tells us what’s happening. For example, if a character tells us that they’re great at science, listing off all the accomplishments they’ve achieved then it’s unnatural and telling the audience. If, for example, you show someone in a lab, leading a team and spouting scientific mumbo jumbo, the audience sees what’s happening and makes that correlation. Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) doesn’t understand this rule and completely butchers this rule on more than one occasion. Here, we get the radio conversation with Ga-Bin told to us through expository dialogue after and before the event, along with the actual event itself narrated in a way that we know exactly how a character is feeling. It’s unnatural and destroys the flow of the story. But honestly what story is there here? What is the end goal? The mistresses are getting more screen-time than the wives and it’s not even like there’s a goal in mind for this to finish on. And that’s before mentioning Ki-Rim the ghost. The way this narrative tries to frame these mistresses (especially Song-Won) as a tragically misunderstood victim is, quite frankly, disgusting. She knew exactly what she was doing and how Hye-Ryung has been made out to be the culprit here is beyond me. However, the show does have some extra drama this week with the mistresses just starting to seep into the world of our wives and hopefully we’ll see some fiery encounters in the future. To be fair, Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) bows out with an improved episode over yesterday’s but this is still way below par with the other excellent Korean shows.
