Thirty-Nine, Ep 3

I like Son Ye-jin as an actress, but I hate the focus on her character in this show.

There is no way these 3 women are equal friends – everything is about Son Ye-jin’s character, Cha Mi-jo. She ALWAYS sits/walks in the middle of the trio; and when they’re at a restaurant, the other two sit together and she’s on another side by herself. ALWAYS in focus. It’s hard to set aside the knowledge that this is a TV show and truly believe the world, with this omnipresent focus.

And now, Ep 3 made one of the other’s terminal illness all about Kim Mi-jo. Mi-jo grappled with the loss, Mi-jo spent days without sharing what she knew with the person actually affected and their families, and then when she’s finally forced to reveal the truth, she does not share the whole of what she knows. Instead she says, “This cannot happen to US. WE are still in our thirties.” No, you’re not the one dying — it is most certainly a loss for you, a dear and beloved friend, nothing less than family, but there is no “WE”.

It’s not a bad show, but the incessant focus on one character — played by a top billed actress — is very off-putting. I prefer my shows where all characters are clearly true individuals in their own right, despite the clear focus on the protagonists. Here, it is obviously not the case.

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    FURTHER SPOILERS—-

    Ep 4 is WORSE? She goes on to COMPLETELY DENY Chan-young the same time to process her own illness that Cha Mi-jo – WHO ISN’T SICK – took. Instead, Mi-jo COMPLETELY DISRESPECTS what Chan-young wants and takes it upon herself to tell Jo-hee & Seon-u.

    Minor improvement in that they at least allow Chan-young to sit in the center of ONE discussion.

    Do like Chan-young a lot. The reveal with Jin-seok was beautifully done. I’ll probably only watch this part of the story.

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      Plus her love story seems very forceful. I can’t believe after all that and their fun clubbing scene, they still ended ep 4 with Mi Jo and Seon Wu. It’s just not working. The show is much more serious for me to feel anything for these two. Kim Jin Seok and Jung Chan Young’s scene was the best this episode. I honestly only like when all three ladies are bickering and having fun like girls do without any mention of guys.

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    @greenfields: Completely agree. Also, ethically, a doctor should have first told Chanyoung about her diagnosis before telling Mijo. And, what was that hideous outfit that Mijo bought Chanyoung? It was just horrific. I was speechless at how ugly it was! What she bought for herself was comparatively much less hideous!

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      That doctor was being completely unethical. If i were Chan-young, I would feel deeply upset and violated. Best friend or not, you don’t just share critical medical information like that. It’s completely against doctor-patient confidentiality. Also no true best friend would buy that outfit for someone they profess to care for, just sayin’.

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    Exactly what I’m feeling. Chan-young and especially Joo-hee are getting shafted by the story. That, on top of the fact that I’m actually more interested in their stories and not Mi-jo’s, makes this a bit irritating to watch.

    And yes that conversation between Jin-seok and Chan-young was beautifully done. Jeon Mi-do and Lee Mu-saeng were ACTING there. I almost shed a tear myself.

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    This!! Exactly what kept bothering me in Ep 3. We spent so much time dealing with her emotions that with the actual person who is going to die. It got worse in Ep 4 when she made the decision for them to spend the rest of the life being happy. no no no.. It’s not your choice to make.
    Unfortunately, I am dropping this. The tone of the show isn’t working for me. Plus, not ready to watch dying people now. But its not a bad drama either. May be I will change my mind next week!

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    All the comments are so on point, from the cancer reveal right down to the dress. I was in disbelief when they bumped into YWJ outside the bar..Seoul is really a small city right 🙄 I feel scammed again, this isn’t a story about a trio of women, it’s all Mijo. Mijo gets to tell her family first, she looks more depressed that the patient herself, she decides to move on and make the best of the time left not Chan Young who’s just going along with her.

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