In one of the better shorthands I ve ever seen to delineate the modern day, "Twenty Five Twenty One" opens with an omnipresent mask wearing covid-screening ahead of a dance competition. We see an entrant decide not to bother upon concluding that she can t possibly win. Flashback to 1998 and the IMF austerity days. Hee-do (played by Kim Tae-ri) is a passionate high school fencer whose program has just collapsed- and is willing to do whatever it takes to continue her sport, Full House, Twenty Five Twenty One, Bona, Choi Hyun-wook, Jung Ji-hyun, Kim Hye-eun, Kim Tae-ri, Kwon Do-eun, Lee Joo-myung, Nam Joo-hyuk, Seo Jae-hee
We learned early in the first episode of "Thirty Nine" that one of the lead characters would die. I had assumed that this would be the drama s endpoint, but by the end of the second episode we already know that Chan-yeong is the unfortunately fated lead , from some vague yet serious medical condition. We also know that for some unclear reason Mi-jo s immediate response is to blame Jin-seok (played by Lee Moo-saeng), with whom Chan-yeong has been having some kind of emotional affair?, Thirty Nine, Jeon Mi-do, Kim Ji-hyun-II, Kim Sang-ho-III, Lee Moo-saeng, Lee Tae-hwan, Son Ye-jin, Yeon Woo-jin, Yoo Yeong-ah
Mi-jo (played by Son Ye-jin) is the thirty-nine year old director of a dermatology clinic. This is in Korean age mind you. Going by international age, they re all either thirty-seven or thirty-eight, depending on when their birthday is. Anyway Mi-jo is going on sabbatical soon, but mostly just hangs out with her best friends Chan-yeong (played by Jeon Mi-do) and Joo-hee (played by Kim Ji-hyun-II) who are also thirty-nine, Bad and Crazy, Thirty Nine, Jeon Mi-do, Kang Mal-geum, Kim Ji-hyun-II, Kim Sang-ho-III, Lee Dong-wook, Lee Moo-saeng, Lee Tae-hwan, Son Ye-jin, Yeon Woo-jin, Yoo Yeong-ah
A new conflict is introduced in the final episode of "Our Beloved Summer" but this isn t at all surprising. It s just the same old pattern at this point, where backstory has to be constructed out of nowhere to facilitate a new plot because screenwriter Lee Na-eun-I so quickly lost interest in all of the preceding ones. In this case, Woong and Yeon-soo are left pondering career choices and whether they want to separate to make those dreams happen, Our Beloved Summer, Ahn Dong-goo, Choi Wooshik, Kim Da-mi, Kim Sung-cheol, Kim Yoon-jin-I, Lee Na-eun-I, Park Won-sang, Roh Jeong-eui
The final episode of "Bad and Crazy" opens with some fairly dynamic zaniness. Inspector Ryoo tries, and mostly fails, to brute force his way out of the mental institution. But eventually he sheds this buffoonish plan for a more devious one involving drugs and blackmail. Five months later, he s finally executed this plan, even anticipating that the surprisingly murderous Doctor Hong (played by Kim Sun-hwa-I) would just try to have him assassinated, Bad and Crazy, Cha Hak-yeon, Han Ji-eun, Kang Ae-shim, Kim Dae-gon, Kim Sae-bom, Kim Sun-hwa-I, Lee Dong-wook, Wi Ha-joon, Yoo Seon-dong