Early Access: When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-2 – The Fangirl Verdict
Hi everyone!
Thanks for enjoying my episode 1-2 notes on Undercover High School!
Today I’m sharing an excerpt of my episode 1-4 notes on When Life Gives You Tangerines, because I am loving it even more than I’d expected to, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? ????
I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the notes covering episodes 3-4, as well as the rest of the discussions! ❤️
Episode notes: Excerpt of E1-4
My friends. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it literally took me less than 2 minutes, to feel in my bones, that this would be good.
Now, 4 episodes in, I still feel the same way – just that by now, I’ve got 4 episodes’ worth of evidence, to back up that gut feeling. ????
I loved these first 4 episodes, and feel fully invested in the journey of our characters, and I both want this show to move faster and slower, at the same time – which is basically how I tend to feel, when I love a show a great deal, and want to watch more episodes of it, but also, don’t actually want the end to come. ????
Off the top of my head, I feel like this show reminds me a fair deal, of a handful of other shows, like Our Blues, Jeongnyeon, Pachinko and even Oshin.
It’s the various similar elements that jump out at me, that lead me to make the comparison.
In Our Blues (and in Welcome to Samdalri too, to some extent), we had the focus on the haenyeo, and what it means to be one; the dangers, the hardship and the community.
In Jeongnyeon, we had the tension between mother and daughter, where Mother’s lived a hard life and vehemently doesn’t want Daughter to follow in her footsteps.
And in Pachinko, we’ve got the intersplicing of timelines, where we see younger and older actors playing the same characters, as we move between moments in the past and the present.
And then there’s Oshin, which had been about one woman’s life, and her journey to lift herself and her family from poverty – which is also the vibe that I’m getting here.
All of these elements are coming together really well for me, and altogether, Show is serving up a story that is engaging, poignant and heartfelt, and quite universally accessible, I feel.
I have to say, easily one of my favorite arcs is the mother-daughter relationship, which we delve into, in episode 1.
And before I get into that, I just have to gush about Kim Tae Yeon, who plays young Ae Sun; girl is just so natural and amazing! ????????
She imparts an effortless depth and nuance to her delivery, that make me fully believe that this is young Ae Sun, full of complicated feelings about her life, and just as full, at the same time, with dreams for a better and brighter future – and not knowing how to reconcile the two. ????
And of course, there’s Yeom Hye Ran, who is always amazing; she made Mom so raw and angry, yet so full of pride and love for her daughter. I loved her, so much.
Mom does the thing that mothers do; she pushes her own body to the edge without hesitation, if only to give her children a little more and a little better.
And, I can’t blame her for her anger, either; she’s suffered so much in the past, and continues to suffer so much in the present, with nothing much to show for it.
She still lives in poverty and uncertainty, and feels helpless because she can’t give her children the kind of life that she feels they deserve.
Mom is gruff about pushing Ae Sun to live with her father’s family, but it quickly becomes clear why she’d do that; it’s because her father’s family is better off, and would be able to afford to send Ae Sun to school.
Oh, but when Mom’s heart is triggered, her big Mama Bear energy comes out right away, and I love how, when she reads Ae Sun’s prize-winning poem, she brings croakers to Ae Sun’s father’s family home – and then when she sees that they’re not treating Ae Sun well, she marches right over, kicks up a big ol’ fuss, and takes Ae Sun with her.
Mom’s very gruff and rough a lot of the time, but the pride that she has in Ae Sun, and the hopes that she has for her, become clearer and clearer to see, and I soon got the idea, that Ae Sun really is Mom’s pride and joy. ????
It’s because of Ae Sun that Mom decides to quit smoking, and it’s also because of Ae Sun, that Mom borrows that pearl necklace, so that she can visit Ae Sun’s teacher, to try to put in a good word for Ae Sun, because of how unfairly Ae Sun had lost the class president position.
The way Ae Sun tries her best to sound upbeat about being vice-president, and pretend not to mind, is so poignant to see.
This is such a display of love and consideration, from both mother and daughter. ????
I was gutted to learn, time skip later, that Mom was sick, and didn’t have much time to live.
That scene where Ae Sun sits by the sea and screams and cries on her mother’s behalf, is just heartbreaking. ????
Another scene which broke my heart even more, is the one where Mom wakes Ae Sun up to cook her abalones, and talk with her, giving her life advice, as well as telling Ae Sun to run away to her father’s family once Mom was gone, because they’d be able to pay for Ae Sun’s school expenses.
Afterwards, we see Mom singing Ae Sun to sleep. ????
Everything’s just extra poignant, because it’s clear to see that Mom knew that her time was almost up, and wanted to spend some special quality time with Ae Sun. ????
And then, of course the heartbreak only gets greater, when Mom actually passes away.
I was quite blindsided to learn that Mom had only been 29 years old, when she’d passed. What a short, difficult life she’d led, and what is even more poignant, is the knowledge that Mom’s experience hadn’t been that out of the ordinary, for the times. ????
Through it all, I’m glad that Gwan Sik’s there, for Ae Sun.
The relationship between Ae Sun and Gwan Sik truly is the other big highlight of our story.
I find it supremely endearing, that Gwan Sik’s only ever had eyes for Ae Sun, from the time they were children, and that he’s always kept special treats of food, just for her – that’s definitely his language of love, and it’s adorable. ????
Even though Gwan Sik is just a couple of years older than Ae Sun, he’s really just a kid as much as she is, and yet, I feel heartened that during the toughest times in Ae Sun’s life, Gwan Sik’s always been there for her.
Even when Ae Sun had cried for her mother, Gwan Sik had been with her, and brought her meat, and told her, in his awkward, matter-of-fact way, that she’d be hungry if she cries. ????
And then he’s there, as Ae Sun mourns her mother, and in all the days afterward.
He helps her plow that field, and harvest those cabbages, and he even helps her sell them, with her little cabbage stall set up next to his fish stall.
..And this feels about as apt a time as any, to say that I am also very much enjoying IU and Park Bo Gum in the roles of Ae Sun and Gwan Sik; they are both very excellent. ????
This isn’t the kind of romance that we typically see in kdramas, where the OTP relationship takes centerstage, and we spend episode upon episode teasing out the OTP relationship, and waiting for the minting of the OTP relationship.
No, in this case, stuff happens a whole lot faster, and it all lands as very earthy and unvarnished – but I still find it very engaging heart-tugging.
I just love how steadfast and loyal Gwan Sik is; his devotion to Ae Sun truly seems unshakable, no matter what comes their way.
And Ae Sun might talk big about not wanting Gwan Sik even if his family gave him to her, but underneath that big talk, she really does like Gwan Sik.
Why else would she walk with her hand in his pocket as a matter of habit, and why else would she put on lip gloss – just so that she’d always be ready for kisses? ????
And how about that first kiss? It’s so clumsy and ardent, the way they freeze and lock lips in that field of flowers; it’s just all very awkwardly adorable. ????????
When Ae Sun suddenly finds her life situation changed, with her stepfather remarrying, and her father’s family unwelcoming, I honestly love the way Gwan Sik is willing to leave everything behind, to run away with her, so that they can make a new life for themselves in Busan.
Yes, it’s foolish and naive, that they would think this would work out without any issues, but that largeness of their hopes, dreams and love, is really endearing.
I also find it sweetly touching, that even though they have nothing much, and don’t really know what the future holds, Gwan Sik does his very best to protect Ae Sun, and provide for her. ????
*This show is being covered on the VVIP Early Access (US$20) Tier on Patreon*
To view episode 1-4 notes in full on Patreon, along with everyone’s comments, you can go here!
You can find my Patreon page here, and for all future episode notes for this show you can click here.
Episodes 5-8 notes will be out early next week! I hope you’ll consider joining us!
It’ll be a way to have fun, and support me at the same time? ????❤️
PS: For more information on what the Patreon experience is like, you might like to check out my Patreon update post for March, which you can find here!
