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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Was Pretty" Episode 14

As much as I try to avoid the fact "She Was Pretty" is incredibly repetitive. And yet for this normally irritating flaw the cuteness consistently, constantly makes up for it. I simply cannot get enough of Seong-joon and Hye-jin cheering each other up after a tough day. It's the mutual effort that really gets to me. It starts out with one of them trying to cheer up the other but by the end it's impossible to tell who's improving whose mood because they're both just having so much fun.

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A similar dynamic is at play when Hye-jin meets up with Hyeok. We have seen this same scene time and again since the beginning of the drama. Hyeok is obviously being devious and sneaky somehow, while Hye-jin reluctantly decides to take him at his word. And of course the ending is predictable- another fun day. It's a pity "She Was Pretty" doesn't engage in more obvious product placement, because it would certainly be effective as an advertisement. I'm not counting the watch, since that's very much a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

Speaking of which, that entire parody was quite effective given that the two characters in question are so low-key that I frequently have trouble remembering their names. To be honest I'm not even sure what specifically was being parodied. I suppose a scene that explicitly wildly cliched doesn't really need to be a parody of anything specific but even so. It's the memory of the thing that matters more than what actually happened.

...Which, as per usual, is the narrative thrust of "She Was Pretty" writ large. While literally it's been the recall of memories that makes up the main thematic point, on the more subtle level note how the characters themselves make a deliberate point of creating new memories. When Seong-hoon and Hye-jin are together they're not just recreating the past of their childhood friendship. They're creating new vibrant images that are intended to leave just as much of a lasting impression.

This material is so strong that even the generally anticlimatic nature of the cliffhanger doesn't really bother me so much- although I still don't see how the production team can possibly squeeze another two episodes out of this. Now that the secret identities are revealed, what is there even left to do? Even Ha-ri's story conflict is mostly empty, although that's easy enough to accomplish given how she barely even shows up anymore.

Review by William Schwartz

"She Was Pretty" is directed by Jeong Dae-yoon, written by Jo Seong-hee and features Hwang Jung-eum, Park Seo-joon, Go Joon-hee, Choi Si-won, Yoon Yoo-sun, Seo Jung-yeon and more.

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