I couldn't wait to finally see season two of this series! And I finally did, just a bit after seeing Ode to Joy season 2, because again, I
wanted a light-hearted girly TV fix. And again, this series was so very well done, and
certainly deeper than your usual chick flick series! Luv it!
“Miracles don’t happen to everyone who works hard.”
~ Yoon Jin-myung, Episode 9.
The Rundown
Behind
the name: Also known as "Age of Youth"
Country: South Korea, 2017
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age
Network: JTBC
Director: Lee Tae-Gon
Writer:
Park Yeon-Sun
Cast: Han Ye-Ri (as Yoon
Jin-Myung), Hwa Young (as Kang Yi-Na), Han
Seung-Yeon (as (Jung
Ye-Eun), Park Eun-Bin (as Song Ji-Won), Ji Woo (as Yoo Eun-Jae) and Jo-Eun (as Choi Ara)
Compare to: Age of Youth, Ode to Joy
Hate it or Love
it? Love it! Very Much!
Synopsis in a Sentence: Five girls share their lives in a house called
“Belle Époque,” and they get even deeper into each other’s secrets—a reformed
sugar baby works to straighten our her life and become independent, another
girl tries to get over the trauma of abuse; one girl works to get over her
first real breakup, another is working to live her dream after a hard life, while
the perpetual liar gets caught up in her own web of lies—which one of their
secrets will get the best of them?
On Writing: The Plot
The plot is—again, amazing! From episode one we are
re-introduced to the fun and depth and simple complexity of this extremely
layered story that marries comedy with tragedy with the awkwardness of youth
and growing up.
This season tackles the aftermath of suffering from
emotional and physical abuse, the struggles of a newly divorced family and the
abandonment of a father, the heartbreak of breakups, and the trials of being
known as “the girl who cried wolf.”
The writing is so well done its enviable! The
scriptwriters and story developers are truly, truly talented and the star of
the entire production, really. It is very rare to see stories like this told
almost so perfectly, it deserves all the accolades possible!
A very, very well done and written story! Kudos to the
writers!
(4.5/5)
On Acting: The Cast
This season, we are introduced to a new
character, Jo Eun, played by Choi Ara and honestly, for a bland, rude,
character, Choi plays it quite well. The character seems to have been cast well;
it might have been hard to infuse with a cast already so in-tune with their own
chemistry, but Jo Eun plugs in quite well, so no complaints here!
It is so sad that Park Hye-Soo, no longer plays Yoo Eun-Jae in the series, because we miss her
the entire season. This time, Ji-Woo plays Eun-Jae’s character, but just comes
across as creepy and deranged—quite honestly, there seems to be a casting
mismatch here. It’s amazing how an actor gives life to a character and we
certainly appreciate Park’s work throughout the first season even more!
Han Seung-Yeon, plays Jung Ye-Eun, the formerly “Boyfriend-Obsessed,” and had-it-all,
lost-it-all girl working to recover from the abuse of her last relationship. We
feel for her and can honestly say that Han is a fabulous actress with the range
of character she displays through this character. She actually comes from the
girl group, Kara, where she was the
lead singer, and in this series, she proves she is a triple-threat star! A job
well done!
We are so
glad to see, Han
Ye-Ri’s character overcome her struggles
from the first season, and she defines Yoon Jin-Myung
in the series. Her story inspires us not to give up on life! A fabulous,
fabulous job!
We get to
know Hwa Young’s character more deeply through Song Ji-Won’s portrayal of her
in the series. Hwa is not “The Awkward Loner,” any more, but she is “The Girl
Who Cried Wolf” in this series. We get to see more depth and complexity and
even brilliance from Ji-Won, and Hwa plays it to the T! A fabulous job!
This
season, we miss Kang Yi-Na, “The Hot One,” still played by Park Eun-Bin apparently, due to a “scandal” in Korea. We’re unsure of the
fine details, but it seems quite evident that the producers want her on,
because she makes quite a few appearances throughout the series, and she brings
in a ray of sunshine with her unto the screen! Certainly hoping to see her in
the next season!
Of
course, the series is cast well, but honestly, there is an apparent fail in the
casting of Yoo Eun-Jae’s character, unfortunately, and the new character
doesn’t quite blend in. Other than that, a great cast!
(3.5/5)
On Production: The Creativity
The production
will almost certainly always be the star of this series. The the script, cast
and series play out in fabulous fashion through the production and it’s
absolutely beautiful to watch!
The interplay
between drama and comedy and real-life is artful and deep and enlightening. If
you thought production couldn’t do that, you need to watch this series!
(4.5/5)
On Resolution: The
Conclusion
Since the first season, it’s always sad to reach the end,
but this time, we get blessed with two additional episodes, so we have 14 in
total! This is great, except that one of the final episodes seemed like a
”filler,” while the actual final episode seemed rushed—almost cut and edited to
the end even. We experience some “jumps” in the story, which don’t quite flow
together, and are left speculating whether this is due to production budgets or
low viewer ratings. In any case, it could have been done better, but it doesn’t
sully the overall delivery of the series, and we are certainly crossing our
fingers for season 3!
(4/5)
The Verdict: A fun,
meaningful watch! Even for the guys!
Overall Score = 16.5/20
Watch Hello My Twenties, Season 2:
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