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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Reply 1994" Episode 19

For the most part we return back to the status quo of "Reply 1994" here, where we see how even though the nineties are almost behind our cast, generally their situation remains unaltered. Everybody's still living in the Seong family boarding house, though we seem to be drawing ever closer to the moment when those days will end. Binggrae and Haitai are constantly easily distracted by their girlfriends. It's cute watching them be the ones to interrupt family gatherings for once, mostly because they've always been hovering in the background.

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The general action and comedy is passable here. Not really the best this drama has to offer, but still pretty good. I like how even though these characters are all in their mid-twenties now, they're still discovering new information about each other that just hasn't come up before. It's what's interesting about the romantic overtures between Na-jeong and Chil Bong-I is how they're still learning new stuff about each other. Granted, Chil Bong-I's been gone for awhile, but...

Well, I'm just not sure I find the prospect of Chil Bong-I being Na-jeong's husband to be that plausible a one at this point. Even with the one episode extension there's just not that much time left to keep this plot thread moving. All we really have to go on here is the time they spend together, and the episode doesn't focus on this until some time in, choosing to spend more energy going into the current conflict between Sam Cheon-po and Yoon-jin. Which is a fun story in itself, to be sure. It's just not as exciting because we already know how they end up.

"Reply 1994" does hit the right note here in terms of balancing the apparent frustrations between Na-jeong and Chil Bong-I. I thought that if anyone was going to cut off the loveline at this point, it would be Chil Bong-I. Na-jeong acts rather surly here and oftentimes it seems like the woman's more trouble than she's worth. But there is a fairly plausible sense that Na-jeong does think of Chil Bong-I more highly now than before, or else she wouldn't be going this far.

As a final note, this episode gets into rather meta-territory with a fairly deliberate reference to the well-regarded 1999 film "Peppermint Candy". The iconic scene we directly see, and indeed, the entire film in general, deals with a full consideration of South Korea's rather dark recent history (relative to 1999). I'm not sure what to make of Na-Jeong's enthusiastic endorsement of the film's message. Somehow I thought she'd be into happier fare. So, just a relevant nineties reference, or an important character clue? Probably the former, but eh, it's worth considering.

Review by William Schwartz

"Reply 1994" is directed by Sin Won-ho and written by Lee Woo-jeong-I and features Go Ara, Sung Dong-il, Lee Il-hwa and Jung Woo.

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