"Answer Me 1988" Episode 12 recap

The theme this episode is love- nothing too excessive. As usual "Answer Me 1988" is focused on the subtle nuances of living in a close community, and this manifests best in the exploration of the relationship between So-ra and Seon-woo. It needs to be noted, once again, that this romance has a fairly unusual dynamic because these two literally grew up together. For them, dating isn't really a "get-to-know-you" thing because they already know each other.
And what do they know? So-ra knows that Seon-woo is a doting, kind, considerate older brother who is completely aghast at the idea of breaking promises, however accidentally. And Seon-woo knows that So-ra is the boss. Her word is law. It's not just a matter of So-ra being bossy, because mean as she is, So-ra is a very just and fair older sister. She's perfectly willing to trade favors, and I like how Seon-woo gets his reward just as soon as he acquiesces to her demand for relatively limited contact.
That's what love is presented as in "Answer Me 1994"- trust. Seon-woo is upset about what he learns regarding his mother, and opens his heart out to So-ra. She explains this much better than I ever could, but the gist of it is that we don't want the people we love to worry about us. Seon-yeong has to make tough choices for her son and daughter, but that's all right. She can stomach the indignity, because that's the power of love.
There's tenderness in that sentiment which is really strong. Time and again this episode we get scenes where one character has a tough time and just confides. Then the other person says, you know, I'm here, you can talk to me, you can cry if you need to, that's fine, I won't judge you. We will be OK. This really does do a lot to put serious life problems in major perspective. A little emotional support goes a long way, and makes it easier to focus on the smaller moments in life.
I think a lot of the success of "Answer Me 1988" has been the way the writing has eschewed theatrics for subtle moments of understanding like this. Writer Lee Woo-jeong-I is even willing to ignore "guess-the-husband" plot point, the closest the drama has to a real conflict, if it means that we see the male friends in Deok-seon's life as being genuine heartfelt friends rather than suitors. Because really, who needs romance when you can have someone to talk to after a really hard day?
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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