Forecasting Love and Weather: Episode 3 & 4

 

Episode 3: In Between Seasons

 

“The time between season is ambiguous. You aren’t sure whether you should wear thick or thin clothes. You hesitate between eating something hot or something cold. So, at times, I’m confused whether this inexplicable feeling is sadness about letting go of the passing season or excitement for the new season. What’s clear is that summer is coming”

 

Si-woo’ monologue gives us a preview that our main characters are adjusting to the new season. We start of with how Si-woo and. Ha-kyung handled the morning after. Si-woo tried to play it cool and faced it head on but ultimately is quite lost too when left by himself. Ha-kyun on the other hand decided to run away, unlike Si-woo, Ha-kyung ended up becoming a mess – she was late for work and was unprepared for her morning meeting. Yu-jin on the other hand, is somehow enjoying her new life. Ki-jun has prepared breakfast for her and all she has to do now is eat it. Another character given emphasis to is Mr. Eum who is gettinng a cold treatment from his family, ever since he arrived Mr. Eum hasn’t received any welcoming gesture.

 

Si-woo starts sneezing at work and gets his workmates’ attention. He was asked whether last night was cold for him and he answers, “No. It was hot” as he recalls his night with Ha-Kyung. Ha-Kyung indirectly asks Mr. Eum to cover for her but despite being told twice Mr. Eum didn’t budge at all giving his workmates a bad impression of him.

 

Ha-kyung and her team along with the rest of KMA (Korean Meteorologic Administration, I presume) are faced with a dilemma on whether to lower the strong wind warning which has been preventing the fisher-folks from sailing and thus causing problem with their livelihood. Si-woo and Senior Eum started to have another disagreement again but Ha-kyung decided to go with Senior Eum’s point. 

 

After the meeting, Yu-jin bumps into Si-woo again and confronts him whether he is purposely is working at HQ just to annoy her and Si-woo answers that he ought to do well in his job because “I lost you while chasing my dream” which Yu-jin refutes implying that it wasn’t because he neglected her that they broke up but because of another reason. The two couldn’t end their argument because Yu-jin’s co-worker arrived and interrupted them.

 

Ki-jun and his team has been receiving a lot of complains, so his senior tries to find a leeway by asking Ha-kyung’s team to give a time frame as to how the strong winds will last but Ha-kyung won’t do so. Ki-jun takes it as an act to mess him up. But our boy Si-woo speaks up and tells Ki-jun off, the argument gets heated and Ha-kyung steps in, Ki-jun assumed that Ha-kyung would side with him but she tells him to leave instead. Ki-jun leaves and everyone was impressed and satisfied with what happened.

 

Si-woo notices that Ha-kyung was having a fever and gave her some medicine. Ha-kyung tries to reject the offer feeling awkward around Si-woo but Si-woo coolly tells her not to worry because he wouldn’t ask her out leaving Ha-kyung speechless.

 

Later that day, Ha-kyung’s mom and sister bumps into an acquaintance who tried to offer congratulatory money for Ha-Kyung’s marriage, Eomma struggles to tell her that the wedding was called off. The acquaintance tried to get more details and tactlessly talked about Eomma’s daughter which riled her up, good thing Tae-kyung was there to stop Eomma.

 

As the work day ends, Ha-kyung tried to get an apology from Senior Eum but he reasoned that there was no direct order from her for him to take over and he didn’t want to overstep her authority, with that in mind Ha-kyung then orders that Senior Eum should cover for her whenever the need arises. She then gets a warning from Tae-kyung not go home just yet because is Eomma is upset, coincidentally Ha-kyung receives a message from her buyer.

 

On another end, we see Senior Eum having a difficult time with his daughter, his wife tried to mediate but the daughter reasons that she is also trying to adjust. Meanwhile, Ki-jun comes home to a messy apartment, tired and stressed Ki-jun started cleaning up. Yu-jin later comes home and sees him cleaning up and reasoned that she was too busy to clean up. We get a glimpse of Ki-jun getting irritated and Yu-jin recalling how Si-woo used to treat her.

 

Going back to Ha-kyung, her buyer turns out to be Si-woo and so the deal was immediately called off. Si-woo however ends up helping Ha-kyung in selling her appliances which made Ha-kyung owing him some dinner. Their dinner was interrupted as their co-workers walk in the restaurant that they were eating at. Ha-kyung managed to escape without being spotted and Si-woo followed a few moments after. Si-woo then confronts Ha-kyung if she has feelings for him, to which Ha-kyung denies unconvincingly. Si-woo prods further to asking her out making Ha-kyung question Si-woo’s statement that he wouldn’t date her. Si-woo then explains that he wouldn’t ask him out if only he has feelings. The episode then ends with Si-woo asking, “So, what are we?”

 

Episode 4: Visibility

 

The episode starts with a flashback of what Si-woo’s first job was – to measure visibility. It is then showed that for Ha-kyung, the two of them are just senior and junior at work and that she’d rather regret and ignore their feelings because she will never date a colleague again.

 

A multiple collision accident due to the low visibility makes Ha-Kyung rush to work and they discuss what safety measures they should do to prevent such accident. During the meeting, some senior members gossip about how competitive Ha-kyung is and how it is better that she did not get married to Ki-jun for she deserves a better man, Ki-jun overhears all these appears to be sullen and hurt. Yu-jin on the other hand was assigned to report on the recent accident and investigate further as to why Korea does not issue fog warnings.

 

Si-woo gets interrogated by his teammates whether he is dating or not and Ha-kyung is obviously uncomfortable with it. Ha-kyung orders Si-woo to do some unnecessary task to stir away from the topic.

 

Ki-jun gets reprimanded by his senior about his work and unknowingly Yu-jin hears all these. Yu-jin tries to comfort him but he says it was nothing and asks Yu-jin what she was there for but instead of getting help from each other they end up arguing. Ha-kyung continues to give Si-woo some warning as his senior but we see our boy Si-woo not even budging and continues to break Ha-kyung’s walls.

 

On the other hand, Eomma tries to register Ha-kyung for some matchmaking services without Ha-kyung’s knowledg but ends up getting flabbergasted when Ha-kyung gets a low score. Of course our Eomma blows up but she sits down after getting an explanation, determined to marry off her daughter.

 

As Ha-kyung heads home she  happened to share the elevator with Yu-jin who asked for her help regarding the fog issue, unfortunately Yu-jin used Ha-kyung’s words in a way that KMA’s image is dirtied. We get a glimpse of Ki-jun reminiscing how Ha-kyung helps him out whenever he gets into a slump and he discovers Yu-jin’s relationship with Si-woo. We also see Senior Eum getting into an argument with his wife and daughter as he tries to get into their lives again.

 

Ha-kyung stalks Si-woo’s social media account and accidentally video calls him, in her embarrassment she gives him a research assignment instead which would turn out to be helpful when Yu-jin’s report blows up. Yu-jin is confronted by Ha-kyung and Ki-jun apologizes in her stead. Yu-jin is unapologetic and Ki-jun warns her that Ha-kyung is not someone she should mess with. As counter measure, Ha-kyung gets assigned to writing an article to clean up KMA’s image. She gets Si-woo’s help and we see them cozy together which then is explained by a flashback of what actually happened after Si-woo’s confession – Ha-kyung actually accepted the confession and the two of them are actually dating already.

 

“Visibility is the maximum distance that can be seen with the naked eye. But depending on the environment, this distance can easily be blocked from view. It can be narrowed. And it can be distorted. At times, we may encounter bad weather such as thick fog, yellow dust, rain or snow. But through these moments, we learn something, that the best way to narrow our visibility is mustering the courage to step closer to each other”

 

My thoughts:

 

In episode 3, we see are characters either starting, letting go or adjusting to the “new season” - the new season in work, relationship and family. At the end of episode 2 it seemed like Si-woo was totally nonchalant about him sleeping with Ha-kyung but boy we are so wrong. Si-woo actually panicked and could not believe what happened which is cute. He seemed like a boy who finally hit the jackpot. In contrast to Si-woo, Ha-kyung turned into a mess which comedically was misunderstood by her family, thinking that she is still mulling over her called off marriage. 

 

Adding to Ha-kyung’s problem was Senior Eum who did not start the meeting despite being told so, I guess it irked me too but hearing his explanation made sense. We can see the disappointment in Ha-kyung whenever people from other departments recognize Senior Eum more than her, which can be very stressful especially in a society where women are still being looked down on despite how successful she is. I’d like to connect this to Eomma’s predicament where she has to shield her daughters from the acid remarks of society. You see, not much would’ve been said even if Ha-kyung’s marriage was called off if she was a male which is quite unfair since in the series Ha-kyung was cheated on so she does not deserve people’s nasty opinion of her. That acquaintance in the supermarket was out of line and i’d really like to see her get a beating from Eomma.

 

Going back to Senior Eum, I really pity this guy and his family. All of them have to adjust to each other. He doesn’t know how to live with his 14-year old daughter and his daughter doesn’t know how to live with a father. You see them overstepping each other’s privacy and communicating to children at his daughter’s age is really hard, all the more that the two of them have never built a relationship to begin with. Senior Eum is trying his hardest though and that is commendable.

 

With our married couple, Yu-jin and Ki-jun at the start of the episode you see them to be having a rosy and sweet relationship but later in the episode we see them having troubles. Of course, the honeymoon phase eventually fades away but what’s worrisome is them comparing their current partner with their exes. Both also assume that their exes are still not over them which is really conceited of them. It was really satisfying when SI-woo confronted both Yu-jin and Ki-jun on separate instances.  It was refreshing how he placed Yu-jin in her place, that the world does not revolve around her and that for Si-woo there are other more important things. And boy Si-woo made me swoon when he told Ki-jun off, though I’m pretty sure Ha-kyung could’ve handled Ki-jun, but even a strong woman needs a man at times too just to not make her feel that she’s fighting alone

 

At the end of the episode Si-woo bravely but indirectly confesses his feeling for Ha-kyung, he is facing the new season head on (Tirador ka talaga, Song Kang). But Ha-kyung is not as brave as our Si-woo which disappointed me. But in episode 4, we witness Ha-kyung getting all flustered because of Si-woo. I assumed Ha-kyung was trying to stand her ground when she started giving him taxing tasks that were unreasonable at times. But then again, our boy just really won’t back down. You can feel the tension between them and it makes me just wanna tell them to just kiss, you know?

 

The married couple continues to get into each other’s bad side. Obviously, Ki-jun is on the difficult end. Had he married Ha-kyung he’d always get looked down for being less successful than Ha-kyung but marrying Yu-jin wasn’t all rosy and pink, Yu-jin is childish and very conceited. Yu-jin likes being treated like a princess and Ki-jun is getting tired of it. We see though that despite the difficulties, Ki-jun is trying to be understanding maybe because he truly loves Yu-jin or maybe because he just sticking to his decision.

 

If in episode 3 I was inclined to pitying Mr. Eum, in episode 4 I understood his wife and daughter’s point of view. It is understandable that both his daughter and wife are upset and it is really sad that both sides have fair and sensible points as to how they feel. I just really hope they could work out their family and be happy together soon.

 

Yu-jin is the real pain in the ass in this episode. She did not only try to mess with Ha-kyung but she was also unapologetic with what she did and that really irks me – people who do you wrong and think that they did nothing wrong. Ki-jun seem like a better person in this episode when he apologized to Ha-kyung. But anyways, because of Yu-jin’s write up Ha-kyung and Si-woo had a chance to work together which I guess turned out for the better.

 

I like how I was made to believe that Si-woo was rejected and that Ha-kyung seemed to be putting a wall between them to push Si-woo away but turns out our boy wasn’t rejected and that Ha-kyung was doing all those just so their relationship won’t be discovered. It was a total relief that we won’ have to go through the push-and-pull drama of two people who obviously like each other but won’t get into a relationship because of circumstances. But since they got into a relationship early in the series, I’m expecting a rollercoaster events that would test their relationship.

 

 

My take home thoughts on both episodes is that at some point all of us have to accept the changes in our lives. We might find it difficult at times but ultimately we have no choice to accept it and move along. Holding on to things and being indecisive of what to do sometimes causes problem not only to one person but could also affect everyone. It would boil down on our perception of things. If our perception of things is negative and too narrow then we won’t see the beauty and the bigger picture.

 

 

How about you, what are your thoughts?