By: @jerrykuvira
When I look back to the dramas that aired this year, it is fraught with mostly displeasure, betrayals, and disappointments. But there were a select few dramas that made the first quarter of the year a not-an-entirely salty experience (i.e., Recipe for Farewell and Agency). In salty year I also found sweetness, I found reminders, and I found lessons which I’d love to share.
1. A lesson in love and loss (Recipe for Farewell)
When Recipe for Farewell began airing, I expected the best, and it gave me more. For a drama that is centered around the moments before the final goodbye, it gave a lesson: in times of need, we can step up and be the kind of person people need us to be. And that was exactly what Kang Chang-wook did. From a man who was teetering on divorce, he became a man whose bond with his wife strengthened in her final moments. From a man who had no kitchen knowledge, he became a man who had in-depth knowledge of nutritious and delicious food. And that provided me a lesson in love and in loss.
2. A reminder in playing corporate ball (Agency)
Of all the corporate dramas I watched this year, Agency taught me a lot. One of the reminders was what gift to get for those who have it all — just like Go Ah-in was wondering what exactly to give to the VC Group chairman that would leave an impact. When she went for getting him cream buns, I knew she had made the right choice – it was something he liked, but his social status prevented him from enjoying freely. It was something that wouldn’t make him feel like he had to repay the gift, but he definitely knows he is going to reciprocate.
6. A lesson in communication (Strangers Again)
Some irreconcilable differences would not be so irreconcilable if only the couples had communicated. While Go Eun-beom and Oh Ha-ra had different tastes, I felt they’d have been more in sync with each other if they had voiced how much their choices mattered to them instead of keeping mum. If you know your significant other doesn’t like something which you can’t give up, discuss it in detail instead waiting for the other to yield or want out. Even when they both stopped being Strangers Again, they went back to being strangers again — because this time, they only mentioned the problem, they didn’t talk the problem through.