The thing I loved most about this scene was that Dan-ah was completely disarmed (figuratively and literally) when she saw the painting. It was the first time that she really showed her emotions in front of another person without either fronting it with sarcastic remarks or putting up walls as soon as she says anything that may betray her feelings. Instead she really just inhabits the moment, and you know that smile on her face is sincere because she doesn’t even try to cover it with sarcasm, I think, because she can’t, and that is just lovely.
I also just find it fascinating that Dan-ah is able to so clearly and express herself and her emotions in the context of art, so it makes sense that she would fall for an artist like Young-hwa. She has walls up at all times because she has to protect her heart (again, both figuratively and literally), and they can only come down when she feels entirely safe. If art is what allows her to feel safe, I cannot imagine how hard it is for her to constantly have to hold back who she is – art demands expression, and expression is the one thing Dan-ah denies herself.
That’s a great observation about expression. It was so interesting to me how plain-spoken and open they both were. She point-blank tells him she can “hear” his confession (with the widest smile I’ve seen on her yet), and he cheerfully confirms it with no awkwardness, upon which she is clearly delighted and doesn’t try to hide it. And for those few moments they both just stand there together basking quietly in the glow of it all in a way that felt quite natural.
Everything about how this scene was directed was perfect – from the placement of the actors to the lighting to the way the mood transitioned from soft and quiet to the change in her voice when she answered her call. The look on his face when she left was so heartbreaking.
Bear in mind I haven’t watched the finale yet, but I also admire that she didn’t respond in kind to his declaration of love. It’s not even that I think does not she loves him, but I also think that she knew that if she said something just to reciprocate it wouldn’t be the same. Her actions in that moment, her smile, the honesty in her words, was as good as her telling him that she loved him.
Any declaration from Dan-ah needs to be when she is free to give her heart to him, and it is clear that she cannot do that now. I actually love that this show is setting up the finale to position her ambition against love. I don’t think enough shows do this – show that ambition can be as important as love in a woman’s life. And Dan-ah has picked her lane. It’s not even that she can’t have both, but right now, in this moment, I don’t think she can.
Dan-ah deserves her success and her right to choose (both she and Mi-joo have this in common: their work is very important and personal to them, built into who they are). As you so concisely note:
It’s not even that she can’t have both, but right now, in this moment, I don’t think she can.
Hence her sad eyes in episode 14 and her holding on tight to that borrowed time. It’s never been that her feelings are not real or that they are less than Young-hwa’s, it’s just that she has always had a much better understanding of the situation than he does.
I was surprised by her reaction and it was interesting how she told that it was screaming I love you in to the open and that she would rather to keep it for herself. She had that soft expression. Any other art critic would tell him that he lost his path to go all along the cheesy kitsch way but her reaction was unexpectedly astonishing.
I was actually bracing myself for a sarcastic remark, when it was so clear he put his heart onto that canvas, and I love that she respected his feelings, and also her own, in that moment.
SnarkyJellyfish
February 3, 2021 at 9:19 PM
The thing I loved most about this scene was that Dan-ah was completely disarmed (figuratively and literally) when she saw the painting. It was the first time that she really showed her emotions in front of another person without either fronting it with sarcastic remarks or putting up walls as soon as she says anything that may betray her feelings. Instead she really just inhabits the moment, and you know that smile on her face is sincere because she doesn’t even try to cover it with sarcasm, I think, because she can’t, and that is just lovely.
I also just find it fascinating that Dan-ah is able to so clearly and express herself and her emotions in the context of art, so it makes sense that she would fall for an artist like Young-hwa. She has walls up at all times because she has to protect her heart (again, both figuratively and literally), and they can only come down when she feels entirely safe. If art is what allows her to feel safe, I cannot imagine how hard it is for her to constantly have to hold back who she is – art demands expression, and expression is the one thing Dan-ah denies herself.
OLakes
February 3, 2021 at 11:13 PM
That’s a great observation about expression. It was so interesting to me how plain-spoken and open they both were. She point-blank tells him she can “hear” his confession (with the widest smile I’ve seen on her yet), and he cheerfully confirms it with no awkwardness, upon which she is clearly delighted and doesn’t try to hide it. And for those few moments they both just stand there together basking quietly in the glow of it all in a way that felt quite natural.
SnarkyJellyfish
February 4, 2021 at 9:04 AM
Everything about how this scene was directed was perfect – from the placement of the actors to the lighting to the way the mood transitioned from soft and quiet to the change in her voice when she answered her call. The look on his face when she left was so heartbreaking.
Bear in mind I haven’t watched the finale yet, but I also admire that she didn’t respond in kind to his declaration of love. It’s not even that I think does not she loves him, but I also think that she knew that if she said something just to reciprocate it wouldn’t be the same. Her actions in that moment, her smile, the honesty in her words, was as good as her telling him that she loved him.
Any declaration from Dan-ah needs to be when she is free to give her heart to him, and it is clear that she cannot do that now. I actually love that this show is setting up the finale to position her ambition against love. I don’t think enough shows do this – show that ambition can be as important as love in a woman’s life. And Dan-ah has picked her lane. It’s not even that she can’t have both, but right now, in this moment, I don’t think she can.
OLakes
February 4, 2021 at 1:37 PM
Dan-ah deserves her success and her right to choose (both she and Mi-joo have this in common: their work is very important and personal to them, built into who they are). As you so concisely note:
Hence her sad eyes in episode 14 and her holding on tight to that borrowed time. It’s never been that her feelings are not real or that they are less than Young-hwa’s, it’s just that she has always had a much better understanding of the situation than he does.
BC
February 4, 2021 at 12:09 AM
I was surprised by her reaction and it was interesting how she told that it was screaming I love you in to the open and that she would rather to keep it for herself. She had that soft expression. Any other art critic would tell him that he lost his path to go all along the cheesy kitsch way but her reaction was unexpectedly astonishing.
SnarkyJellyfish
February 4, 2021 at 10:26 AM
I was actually bracing myself for a sarcastic remark, when it was so clear he put his heart onto that canvas, and I love that she respected his feelings, and also her own, in that moment.
diniyuukie
February 4, 2021 at 10:05 AM
❤️❤️❤️