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Cheer Up: Episodes 13-14

Rules are made to be broken for our Theia team as they continue on their college journey. Hearts are worn on the sleeve this week, with left-and-right love connections breeding jealousy, rivalry, and heartbreak — not to mention a possible murder.

 
EPISODES 13-14 WEECAP

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14 Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

We left off last week with Hae-yi locked inside a smoked-filled hospital room as Jin-il made his menacing way toward the door. As we open this time, Jin-il actually saves Hae-yi from the fire as Sun-ja looks on. The rest of the team watches as Jin-il carries Hae-yi to safety on his back, and everyone calls him a hero.

After this Jekyll and Hyde routine, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for us to think Jin-il was carrying out a plan. Unfortunately, the show paints him as a standard crazy with no real motive except his nutsness. We learn that he once had an unrequited crush on Yoo-min (which she never knew about) and started rumors about her when he found out she was dating someone else. He then became fixated on the team’s no dating rule, and has been going about trying to punish those who break it. This is how Yoo-min and Hae-yi became his targets.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

After a short hospital stay, Hae-yi is fine. But Jung-woo and Cho-hee just can’t understand how so many accidents are happening lately. Jung-woo (again) vows to take better care of the team. At a planning meeting with the Theia captains and sunbaes, there’s an open discussion about Jung-woo dating Hae-yi and most everyone at the table quickly decides that it’s archaic to disallow inter-team dating. Screw the rule we spent half the show fighting for!

The only person not okay with this change is Jin-il. He says that Jung-woo broke the rules and if you let people break one rule, they’ll go around breaking them all. There’s a general consensus that he needs to chill and the sacred no dating rule dissolves into dust.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

Now that everyone’s allowed to date in the open, man are these college kids ready to bask in it. Sun-ja gives Min-jae a makeover (a.k.a. takes off his glasses and trades in his athletic wear) and the two officially start flirting. Sweetheart Yong-il tells Cho-hee she’s too precious to date all these guys who hurt her — and after some serious thought, Cho-hee decides to stop dating for a while (which is not at all the outcome Yong-il had in mind). And Jung-woo dials up the cuteness now that he has no reason to hide it.

Last week, during hospital hide-and-seek, Jung-woo overheard a conversation where Sun-ho mentions to Hae-yi their kiss in Busan. This is news to Jung-woo obviously and his jealously starts to show. In the practice room, he walks in on Hae-yi and Sun-ho comparing their muscles (totally flirting) and Jung-woo’s eyes shoot daggers. Not wanting to seem uncool, he leaves, acting unbothered.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14 Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

Hae-yi’s brush with death affords her some time off from all her part-time jobs, which she uses to ask Jung-woo on a movie date. To her surprise, he’s already bought tickets to a musical she wanted to see. He notes that he couldn’t afford the good seats, but Hae-yi says they’re perfect. He pets her hair, literally purring as he asks if she likes the gift. (What is happening to me right now? He is a catch. Why can’t this be the whole drama?!)

Lest anyone get too happy (especially the viewers), discord is on the horizon. First, the night of Hae-yi’s theater date with Jung-woo, Sun-ho’s mom passes out from overdrinking after her husband asks for a divorce. It’s evidently more serious than a simple drunken sleep and she has to go to the hospital. Sun-ho calls Hae-yi, asking to speak to her mom, who he wants to go to the hospital with him. For some reason, Hae-yi goes too, and cancels the date with Jung-woo — giving him no explanation why.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

Worried about her, Jung-woo walks by Hae-yi’s house later, only to find her and Sun-ho arriving there together. Hae-yi’s mom has told the kids to go home for the night while she stays with Jin-hee at the hospital. The plan is for Sun-ho to sleep over, since he doesn’t want to be alone. Sun-ho sleeps in Jae-yi’s room (these two are getting to be friends) and he and Hae-yi go to campus together in the morning — running into Jung-woo and not saying anything about why they’re together.

Jung-woo is clearly uncomfortable but doesn’t ask any questions. Luckily, he’s standing there with Ha-jin — his ex-girlfriend and captain of the Hokyung cheer squad (Yay! She’s back!). When Hae-yi asks Ha-jin why she’s there, she responds, “To hit on Jung-woo.” (I love her.) She then asks if Sun-ho and Hae-yi are dating. Hae-yi brushes it off, saying no and going into her class. It doesn’t make Jung-woo feel much better, but he later tells Hae-yi that he trusts her, even if she can’t tell him why she was with Sun-ho that day. She says it’s not her business to tell.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

Later on, after an awkward dinner at Hae-yi’s house that included both Sun-ho and Jung-woo, the two boys decide to bury the hatchet. Sun-ho says he’ll give up on Hae-yi since she seems happy with Jung-woo. (Thanks for the concession, Sun-ho. As if you had a chance.) But with this rivalry behind us, a new one is manufactured as the Yonhee and Hokyung cheer teams compete in front of a camera. The teams will be on TV and the show wants to dig up a love triangle. (Please, I just finished covering Love is for Suckers. Don’t give me more of this!)

The TV crew pushes Jung-woo and Ha-jin together for close shots, turning Hae-yi into the jealous one. They then pair Ha-jin and Hae-yi against each other for the athletic contests. Finally, they corner Hae-yi and ask for an interview, where they start to pry into her personal life. Isn’t she jealous that her boyfriend’s ex is the rival team’s captain? How about the fact that his ex is rich? Hae-yi answers that she respects Ha-jin, but she’s not worried because there are people who love her for who she is.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

Jung-woo and Ha-jin are both there to hear Hae-yi’s answer and Jung-woo is so proud, he has to look at the floor to contain his smile. Ha-jin can’t believe how much Jung-woo has changed since she dated him. He and Hae-yi are bursting with happiness, which is new for Jung-woo.

In the background of all this, Jin-il has gotten into a fight with one of the Theia sunbaes and stabbed him almost to death. It seems he’s alive for now, just in a coma. Oddly, after the stabbing, Jin-il is the one who called the emergency services. He cries and freaks out, making it seem murder is just one step too far for him. (But, isn’t he trying to murder Hae-yi? Didn’t he try to kill Yoo-min?) Jin-il’s crazy mind makes him think that Hae-yi is at fault for the stabbing, because if it weren’t for her he wouldn’t be doing any of this.

To close out the episodes, we see Hae-yi thinking back to 2019 (when the story takes place) and saying that if she wasn’t so happy, it wouldn’t have hurt so bad. We then see her break up with Jung-woo.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

This is a moment where if I still had remotes in my home they would be thrown at the screen. This show only has a few really good things going for it and watching Jung-woo in boyfriend mode is right at the top of that list. Now, I’m guessing Jin-il is threatening Jung-woo in some way and that is why Hae-yi is breaking up with him. Still, the drama’s worst aspect is this inane killer plot. Using the part no one cares about to break up the part everyone is watching for is just bad for business.

Aside from that ending, a few noteworthy things happened this week. I love that the moms are finally becoming true friends. They’re not just getting together to drink or try to use each other — they’re actually leaning on each other for support. Also, Sun-ja and Hae-yi mended their friendship without any fanfare, both apologizing for their behaviors. As much as this drama wants to be suspenseful — tuning up the points of disconnect — it’s always been at its best in the moments when people are coming together.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

I also can’t get over how much I’m liking Bae In-hyuk in his transformation here. Every drama I’ve seen him in, he gets stuck in the same stilted demeanor he started this role with. But the second half of this drama has opened up his inner dorkiness and brought out a whole new sense of charming.

My dream for next week would just be a collage of the new and improved Jung-woo, calling forth all his adorbs facial expressions for Hae-yi, while Yong-il continues to follow Cho-hee around, and Jae-yi and Ha-jin make random appearances being their cool selves. It’s a lot to ask since it wouldn’t really make sense. But then again, there’s a large swath of this show in need of some serious explanation.

Cheer Up Episodes 13-14

 
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Jung Woo continues to be adorable, the rest of this drama continues to not be.

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I guess it’s good they decided to do away with the rule cos i don’t think that adorable inner dorkiness can be contained much longer!

Question: is that really what cheering is like in Korea?

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@dramaddictally for the weecap. The thriller element of this show is so unnecessary. I honestly thought it would end with the near miss as he doesn’t want to deal with a death and the hassle of covering his tracks. I am hoping failing to attend lectures etc will lead to the parents finding out their son is in hospital and that this raises suspicion of why Junil said he was travelling and how a man in a coma is sending texts.

Re the break up my theory is that the random health check has revealed Haeyi’s mum has a terminal illness and therefore Haeyi is back in parentified child mode and ceases the cheer squad because she needs to focus on her earning potential to sort her brother’s education and her mum’s healthcare bills. The Nobel idiot phase means she can’t explain this so they can find away to keep dating as she needs to sacrifice her joy of dating and being young and free because it’s selfish and her family need her now.

The year bit was confusing as I thought it was always set in the past so I didn’t know what kind of time jump they were trying to convey as that whole reflective montage and life being unfair monologue felt like a preview until it was made clear it was still part of this episode.

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@dramaddictally sorry the ‘thank you’ part was missing

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I agree with your analysis of the why of the break-up. I went u-oh as soon as I saw the mom going in for a medical check-up. Seems we’ll get another idiotic and unnecessary break-up 😏

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Yes, total red flag with the mom's health checkup. I also thought that could be a reason for the breakup but it makes even less sense to me in that case why she wouldn't reveal the reason for the breakup to Jung-woo. At least in the case of a deadly threat, she can't tell him because it would put them both in danger. (I know, I'm expecting too much.)

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Exactly, in dramaland the logic is on another level to real life. I am watching a Chinese Drama called Since I met U and they had a mentor give a mentee the best explanation I have heard for why Nobel Idiocy is not an effective strategy to deploy in any situation. I love that it was just a normal conversation between two characters in a romance drama about the trope that only exists in romance dramas.

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What happened to this drama the last couple weeks? Why are they manufacturing drama for the sake of drama? I’m about this close to dropping it all.

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I agree @dramaddictally. Why can't the whole drama be Bae In Hyuk being an adorable dork.

I could not care less about Jin-il and his reasons. He is absolutely nuts. Also the big dating rule that was an issue since episode 1 is gone in smoke in a few seconds. Imagine that.

I want to like this show because of my growing fondness for Jung Woo. Hopefully the writer will not screw it up too bad.

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"(What is happening to me right now? He is a catch. Why can’t this be the whole drama?!)" Thank you, @dramaddictally, this is the sentiment of us all. If episodes 15 and 16 don't give me enough Bae Inhyuk being the cutest dork ever, this will go down as an absolute turkey of 2022. He is the ONLY thing worth watching here.

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I think the writer has forgotten about the title Cheer Up. There is nothing cheering up in this drama... The mystery is boring, the villain is boring and stupid, the cheering part look all the same, the love story is boring....

I really don't care about the main couple. I'm more interested by the other ones, they will really making exploding the rule of dating.

I really want to see Sun-Ho and his mother findind happiness far from the father... I liked how Sun-Ho didn't want to give up his brother-in-law.

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***just threw an imaginary mobile phone at the wall*** I don't have the budget to buy a new phone). This is it, I am out. I am not cheered.

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Why are there 4 too many episodes filled with awfulness? (Bae In Huk adoreableness excluded). One should not feel the level of annoyance I felt at the end of these episodes. Literally in it for the bean now.

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I dropped this last week and am just reading the weecaps now.
"The teams will be on TV and the show wants to dig up a love triangle. (Please, I just finished covering Love is for Suckers. Don’t give me more of this!)" That gave me a good laugh @dramaddictally, you poor thing. I've only heard bad things about LiS, so between that and Cheer Up, you really deserve some kind of award!

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😂 Thanks for sharing my pain! @ayrulent I will tell @missvictrix that we need end-of-year prizes for covering simultaneous bad dramas. Lol. (Hmm, she might win all the prizes though.)

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That’s a great idea ranking the worst dramas because it is subjective you can base it on the stress of trying to write a balanced piece for the future beanie that will love the show. Depending on how many of the allocated dramas a contributor had to take as a hit for the team they are allocated points and the person with highest points goes up a beanie level.

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*sigh* Another drama I'm dropping. I made it as far as Episode 13 and was bored out of my mind. It should have finished at 12 episodes.

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I think the reason why hae yi is breaking up with him is because her mom has a terminal illness after going for a check up paid by sun ho’s mom. Hae yi experienced a lot of happiness in her life that she’s thinking it’s too much happiness that she doesnt deserve it anymore so she is breaking up with him.

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I continue to enjoy the show. It's still very cute and funny, with incredibly violent outbursts of pure evil from our villain. Honestly, I would just prefer the worst punishment on the show would be getting kicked off the cheer team for dating a fellow member. And the rest could be fluffy bunny cute stuff the rest of the show. Oh, incidentally, I think Hae Yi wants to break up because Mom's medical exam found something super serious.

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