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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Kind Words" Episode 9

The question posed by episode 9 of "Kind Words" is "Why cheat in the first place if you can't handle the consequences?" To answer it, there are a lot of apologies, a lot of fights and a lot of people trying to come to terms with Eun-jin and Jae-hak's affair. It's not just between them. The affair snakes its nasty arm out into the lives of everyone around them.

What I love about this show isn't the subject matter. That I hate. If asked my personal opinion on what to do in all of these situations, I'd react differently than every person in the show. But what this show does extremely well is character study. That's what makes it bearable. It is able to garner sympathy for wrongdoers in a way that doesn't condone the wrongs, but makes us, the viewers, reflect and hopefully avoid those same wrongs.

This episode saw the fallout of what happens after Eun-jin confesses her sins to her husband and it was eye-opening. Despite the fact that he made the same mistake, the wounds are just as painful and difficult to deal with. His adulterous actions in the past have nothing to do with how he feels now because he trusted her even if he wasn' t trustworthy himself. It's a concept worth considering and exploring because the lessons and insights apply to all kinds of mistakes.

There was a great moment of symbolism when Eun-jin leaves a bandaid out for the cut on Sung-soon's hand, but it is just too little too late. It's a wonderful metaphor for the entire situation. The verbal bandaid, "I'm sorry", is too little too late. What does sorry really mean? It was uttered consistently throughout the episode and was challenged just as consistently by the recipient. It's a hard look into harming someone and what it really takes to repair a relationship. "Sorry" doesn't fix things. It's just a band-aid. Below that band-aid is a wound that aches.

Because we are venturing into the second half of the drama, the stakes have been upped. People are finding out, they are getting hurt and it's time to actually deal with the secrets and the fallout. Those things were systematically avoided before; but no longer.

A sad, beautiful juxtaposition to all of this pain is the budding romance between unknowing starcrossed lovers Min-soo and Eun-young. They have been sucked into the fray and will not leave undamaged. That knowledge that we are privvy to makes their love just that much more bittersweet. The timing of their romance has been so impeccably played.

While the cast of "Kind Words" is strong overall, this episode saw some excellent acting from Go Doo-shim who plays Eun-jin's mother. She poured herself so wholeheartedly into her role as the devastated mother that this reviewer had tears in her eyes. What a wise casting choice she was.

Now the drama will be driven by the need for truth and healing. People will seek it in their own way and err a lot along the way. I foresee a lot of conflict, tears and a desperate struggle to be happy in lieu of the painful wake of breaking a person's trust.

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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.

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