"Answer Me 1988" Episode 8 recap

The various plotlines in this episode don't really coalesce into a good overall theme. If you want to get really technical there are two story points involving a secret boyfriend and a secret girlfriend. Although neither of these are really especially dynamic plot elements, except to the extent that the question is asked, what kind of boyfriend could Bo-ra have that we've never seen much physical evidence of his existence? The answer to that question being, well, not much of a boyfriend at all really.
In all fairness it's not really his fault. Bo-ra is so busy being in control of everything that she doesn't seem to make that much of an effort to see him. That much ends up going predictably badly, although so little serious screen time is dedicated to this plot point I hesitate to discuss it in that much serious detail. The very existence of Bo-ra's boyfriend in the first place appears to mostly be a plot point designed to serve as an obstacle for Seon-woo.
The other not-really-secret significant other has the exact opposite problem- overexposure for a character we've never seen before. Well, in that case it's the scene at the police station that's the real problem, because it just keeps going on and on long after there aren't really any more jokes to tell. Yes, everyone related to this family is very bad at sign language. We get it.
Seong-gyoon's family does go through a serious crisis. Well, not really. The entire point of that plotline is that there isn't actually a serious crisis, one just kind of manifests out of a serious-sounding situation and of course nothing all that bad actually happens. While I can appreciate the basic sentiment "Answer Me 1988" seems to spend an inordinate amount of energy this episode undercutting its own dramatic tension. It's fairly uninspiring stuff considering how subtly effective the Christmas episode was.
The drama's more silly strengths remain mostly intact. Like Hyeri making silly faces and doing silly dances while having an unnaturally peppy attitude. I'm not sure that having the heroine act like a complete goofball really counts as a strength, but then that is the kind of drama "Answer Me 1988" is. The story is at its best when directly addressing the immaturity of the characters and wondering just how we managed to survive being stupid teenagers. Well, that and the music. And the parents. Neither of which were essential strong points here.
Review by William Schwartz
"Answer Me 1988" is directed by Sin Won-ho, written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Seong Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa, Ra Mi-ran, Kim Seong-gyoon, Ryoo Hye-yeong, Hyeri, Ko Kyeong-pyo and Ryu Jun-yeol.

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