True Desire
Episode 5 of Remarriage & Desires starts with Hye-Seung meeting Hyung-Ju and preparing to tutor his son. However, she overhears Hyung-Ju on the phone to Yoo-Hui after, as she tries to organize a meet. Hye-Seung naturally decides to get in the middle of all this. Seok-Jin doesn’t think it’s such a good idea and tells Hye-Seung as much that night, urging her to drop this and focus on herself. Hye-Seung refuses though, given their history. That’s probably just as well, as Yoo-Hui starts to weave her web of deceit, telling Hyung-Ju that Hye-Seung is deceptive and only interested in money. Hyung-Ju confronts his new tutor inside, asking what her plan is, but for Hye-Seung she shrugs off his advances and tells him she’s only there to tutor Jun-Ho. There is no ulterior motive. Hye-Seung promises that once Jun-Ho’s exams are over, they won’t be seeing each other again. As she heads home, Yoo-Hui follows and cuts her off on the road. Yoo-Hui promises to sue Hye-Seung if she continues down this road. Meanwhile, the merger between the two gaming companies goes ahead, much to the disdain of the board who aren’t exactly thrilled with this partnership. Mi-Jin’s mum isn’t happy either, given Yoo-Sun is playing the “long game” with her daughter’s love life. However, the time has arrived to make a move and that comes from grooming Mi-Jin into the perfect match for Hyung-Ju, specifically in sharing common interests and hobbies. Rex organize for Hyung-Ju and Mi-Jin to meet down at the International Circuit for an afternoon of driving and hanging out. It seems to go well, while Yoo-Hui is left high and dry. Mi-Jin is riding a wave of success and heads home, telling her mum that she believes she has a chance with Hyung-Ju now. Hye-Seung continues her tutoring in the middle of all this and manages to bring Jun-Ho up to a level where he’s achieving top marks in his exams. Given her promise to Hyung-Ju, now that the exams are finished, Hye-Seung leaves the house. However, Jun-Ho is not happy about this outcome and tells Hyung-Ju as much that night, pointing out that she’s the only one who “gets him”. Hyung-Ju realizes the error of his ways, especially when he combines that with an earlier chat involving Seok-Jin, who opens up and admits that Hye-Seung is a dedicated mother and didn’t go to the masquerade ball with the intention of finding a husband. Hye-Seung heads home and immediately finds herself in trouble. She receives a call from her landlord, telling her she needs to move out. This is all a part of Yoo-Hui’s plan to force Hye-Seung into submission. She’s the only one who can undo this but Hye-Seung refuses to go down without a fight. She knows she could lose everything but this time, she’s not giving in until she wins. Hye-Seung is invited back to see Hyung-Ju, who encourages her to tutor Jun-Ho again. Although she agrees, Hye-Seung also reveals what she was going to say at the party – noticeably missing out that Yoo-Hui is the guilty party. Because of the threats this lawyer has made, Hyung-Ju intends to wait and strike when Yoo-Hu is at her happiest. After picking up Jun-Ho and taking him home, Hye-Seung and Yoo-Hui end up face to face once more.
The Episode Review
We are in full-on makjang territory now and the show is big on soapy drama and dramatic spikes in tension. The show is certainly an enjoyable watch but it’s also held back by all the usual tropes of this genre, including the obligatory threats and long, drawn-out stares. There’s no evil Chairman in this though, which I guess is at least a plus, but as I said before, this one feels a little too tepid to be compared with series like Penthouse – and doesn’t have much thematically to say about class or romance like Sky Castle. This is likely to find an audience but the drama itself is pretty formulaic and there isn’t a whole lot of originality with this one. With the final 3 episodes the longest of the show, let’s hope things pick up from here.
