Jaeeon and Nabi Working Together (29 August 21)

Do you ever just pause to think that Park Jae Eon was about to walk out of Yoo Na Bi’s life but when he heard about the ruined sculpture, he didn’t hesitate to come back and help. Despite his own hurt, he loved her through the pain. 


I’m rewatching the Finale now and, God, this scene. He was about to go, never to appear in front of her again, just as she demanded from him during their fight in the pouring rain. He was ready to let go. But one phone call from Yun Sol and he comes back.


He’s not even sure she would want his help. All he knows is she’s probably hurting and in a lot of distress. He couldn’t leave knowing he could possibly do something to “fix it.” But he’s not just talking about the sculpture is he?


He desperately wants to fix them but he knows he can’t, not until Na Bi lets him in. So he helps her heal through the only language they share — art. Artists know best that there is a certain kind of beauty borne from pain and we see that in their sequence scenes.


For her, she’s still reeling from this incident. But instead of shutting him out and being adamant about them never talking again, she miraculously lets him in. Na Bi can be stubborn. But in this instance, she sees that he means well. Fix it they will.


For days that they worked in the sculpture, they explicitly set aside their feelings to focus on the work at hand. But some things can never be hidden — in the longing glances, the twitching fingers reaching for the other, the heart that is breaking and mending.


It was so important to show this as a parallel to the scenes in Episode 6, where they also used their art to bridge the tension from their first fight. When all else fails, their art speaks their deepest truths about themselves and each other.


It reflects in their art too. Did you notice that we never got to see Jae Eon’s final sculpture, the one he was working on since Ep1? Then Na Bi’s sculpture was broken. They had to make a whole new one. Together. Are you seeing the symbolism?


And look at what they can create together. Jae Eon’s ragged wings, ready to spread despite its sparse feathers that can cause him to fall. Na Bi’s rising form from the broken pieces of her past self. Heartbreaking. Healing.


Just like growth. Love. Life.


herlittledramas

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nabi’s Sculptures and Growth (20 January 22)

Image
I found myself going back to Ep 2 and 3 -- episodes so pregnant with subtext, I'm itching to write about them. This scene in particular spoke about the gap between JE and Nabi at this time, the sculpture representing Nabi's internal struggle that comes between them.  Between them was the sculpture of a woman, bare and vulnerable, rough and seemingly unfinished. Its body facing towards Nabi's direction, like a symbol that Nabi needed to face her biggest nemesis -- her own self -- before she can finally close the gap between them. Nevertheless, towards the end, Nabi was able to conquer herself and bridge the gap between her and JE, the sculpture no longer between them but behind them, its wings spread wide open as if about to fly.  The room no longer blanketed with the shadows of doubt and hesitancy but rather illuminated by certainty. Because at last, they were able to realize that what keeps on leading them back to each other has always been what they have kept denying them...
Read more

Sex and Agency I (23 December 21)

Image
Not only did this show that it was ok for a girl to have a sex dream, it was good because she was so clearly pleasured. Coming from a relationship where she had to pleasure someone else at the risk of her own enjoyment and safety, this is what NB longs for. But more than that, what she longs for becomes reality. And lying in his arms after, she finds herself thinking, it was good. Her wonder causes you to think that perhaps it was never really that good before. And then you realise that while  JE barges in and corners her for a kiss in her dream, in reality he was about consent, about waiting for the go ahead, about stopping to check if he could continue. Ep 2 is good in its own, but even better in light of Ep 3. doramaticbites
Read more

Sex and Agency II (23 December 21)

Image
Exactly. In my draft analysis of Nabi’s dialogue, I had the same notes about Nabi’s line post coitus “But it was so good.” For the audience to have been given this bit of information is an implication that the sex must not have been good with her ex. Something that makes absolute sense because Nabi's ex couldn’t be bothered about her happiness both in and out of the bedroom.  In this scene, he did not give her the liberty to choose whether or not she wanted the condom -- he manipulated her into not using one. Nabi actually and finally enjoying sex (with JE) to the point of looking forward to it the day after the first (fixing her hair, buying beer, thinking about sex and feeling dejected when JE said he came to study) was a major step towards reclaiming her agency. "Let's just sleep." "Already?" "Yes." "Already?" "Yes. I'm sleepy." Two layers of meaning/subtext of "Already?" being asked twice: Nabi wanting to be in...
Read more