[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Kind Words" Episode 15

"Kind Words" has divulged one of its biggest secrets and the fallout from it is massive, heartbreakingly massive. But that fallout happened in the most potent of ways that good television can deliver: the delayed delivery. To use words from my teenagerhood, "It hurts so good".

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Although this episode required impeccable timing and focused acting from everyone, Park Seo-joon as the anguished Song  Min-soo was the standout. Min-soo is a man who has always battled the odds and gotten very little for it. His meagre happiness has been his relationship with his sister, Mi-kyung, and now his love with the carefree Eun-young. To realize Eun-young's sister is the one he hit with his car and Eun-young's family is the other family involved with the disastrous affair is a multilayered reaction. Seo-joon pulls it off flawlessly. The danger with angst is to overdo it and turn a powerful moment into a cheesy, laughable farse. However, Seo-joon has immaculate line delivery and dramatic timing that makes it hard not to shed tears for.

Han Groo is an excellent foil for him as the innocent, sacrificial lamb in the situation, suffering for the sins of others. What makes her even more pitiable are her flaws. She's a tad selfish and whiny, two traits that be annoying if badly acted. Han Groo makes them endearing.

As for the revelation of the truth, it has been long in coming and the contrived set up of that revelation made me wary. I expected it to be anticlimactic. Instead, each delayed moment was fraught with tension. What made it better was that the tension wasn't prolonged throughout the episode. It was given its screen time and then was interrupted with memories of happier times. That tension release was necessary and allowed for the issues at hand to build afterward without becoming overwhelming.

A favorite aspect of this show is the realizations that the characters have. While they have immature reactions to betrayal, they also act like adults and realize how their actions affect themselves and others. Eun-jin sees how her adultery hurts her sister Eun-young. Seong-soo sees who his cheating pushed Eun-jin away. These are things they never realized before, but will now forever be aware of. Out of their grievous errors comes newer, deeper understanding of loved ones and human relationships.

"Kind Words" has a very family-centered focus and this episode highlighted sibling relationships. Both Eun-jin and Mi-kyung shed tears for the pain their siblings feel and that's beautiful to watch. It's compounded with the fact that they are all caught in web that they can't extricate themselves from and that makes it all the more fun for us to watch - or, all the more tortuous.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

Follow on Twitter @Raine0211

"Kind Words" is directed by Choi Yeong-hoon and written by Ha Myeong-hee and features Han Hye-jin, Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo and Lee Sang-woo.