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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Modern Farmer" Episode 13

The cliffhanger turned out to be a bit misleading- that was an artificial conflict and it looks like pretty much everyone involved knew it too. Once that's settled it's on the new storylines this week. The big event right now, surprisingly enough, actually involves music. This is really the most direct opportunity that the band members have had to use their trained skills in a helpful way. Although initially at least they're mostly just being the ones rude enough to state explicitly what's already obvious to everyone else in the room- that no one in the farm community has any musical ability at all.

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It will probably be some time before we get a real payoff to that plot point, so in the meantime let's just enjoy the jokes to the running subplots. For example, what to make of the snails that appear like magic every time there's heavy rain in a green area? Well, the answer to that question is pretty obvious. But as experienced as the band has gotten in the farming department, they're still just clueless enough to wring out a few laughs from a a faux tragedy.

Lovelines across the board are doing pretty well. For those of you wondering why Gi-joon was being so brusque about the prospect of dating a foreigner, this episode provides a pretty good explanation. The attachment to their homeland is both inconvenient and expensive. It can also be forced into something long-term at a moment's notice, given that marriage is the easiest way to prevent deportation. "Modern Farmer" doesn't get into anything that extreme just yet, but the tone's the right kind of absurdity that this is definitely a potential issue.

As for Han-cheol, he inevitably and clumsily discovers the truth about the secret lesbians. We all knew this was going to happen sooner or later- the humor in "Modern Farmer", as usually, in how ridiculously and embarassingly the characters are going to go about achieving the destruction of their silly assumptions. Overall this makes for a pretty strong episode. Lots of comedic strength with lots of focus on set-up.

Only one genuinely unclear mystery remains, and that's how the loveline between the main four characters is going to shake out. The main obstacle to this is the fact that Lee Hong-ki doesn't seem to have any chemistry at all with either of his co-actresses. I'm actually kind of wanting him to not end up with anyone. This isn't because I dislike him, but rather that he just seems much better as a platonic friend than a romantic partner. Well, seeing how all that shakes out should be interesting at least.

Review by William Schwartz

"Modern Farmer" is directed by Oh Jin-seok, written by Kim Ki-ho and features Lee Hong-ki, Lee Hanee, Lee Si-eon, Park Min-woo, Kwak Dong-yeon and Lee Han-wi.

 

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