[Drama Recap] Make A Woman Cry: Episode 22

Deok-in's attempt to get a clear explanation of Jin-woo's behavior doesn't go that well. Part of the issue is just that Jin-woo doesn't want to tell her what's really going on, so he simply tells Deok-in about his emotional state instead.

This isn't really much more helpful- just because Jin-woo wants to see her even though he doesn't actually want to see her just means...what exactly? Other plot points are a bit easy to decode. Deok-in's mother is still a generally unpleasant person when she's not making a specific effort to act friendly. It's a fitting irony, really- when Deok-in's mother wasn't around, Deok-in felt bad about acting so mean. And now that Deok-in's mother is back, Deok-in can barely hold back her contempt. This reconciliation is looking to be a worse and worse idea all the time- and let us recall, that it was Jin-woo's idea to start out with. Bok-rye's attitude comes off a bit strange in this broader context. She was practically throwing hissy fits over the divorce plot- and yet she overaccomodates Deok-in's mother, and generally just refuses to stop being polite.

Maybe it's an age thing. The characterization in "Let the Girl Cry" has never needed to be particularly consistent. I'm sure we all know at least one person who acts like this in real life, after all. More straightforward drama is attained through Eun-soo, who appears to be gunning for the role of villain. It's hard to imagine that Eun-soo only reluctantly joined up with this household. Eun-soo seems to revile in just acting really mean to people, and I can't come up with any particularly good reason for this save for sheer spite. At least Kang-cheol had a clearly defined motive. There's not too much meaty material to dissect this episode, because "Let the Girl Cry" appears to be stalling when it comes to genuinely shattering revelations that have serious potential to upend the story.

The more I think about it the less convincing I find Jin-woo as a partner. The guy might be nice, but his tendencies towward conflict avoidance are getting to be rather severely unsatisfying- it's easy to see why Yoon-seo expends so much energy just trying to get a rile out of his father. And the very brief trip to the countryside that's noted mainly by a lack of a proper shave really just emphasizes how Jin-woo confuses self-reflection with character development.

 Review by William Schwartz