Still 17 - The Past And Present Collide Towards A Happy Ending

Considering that Still 17 was a last year K-Drama so I can watch the shows at my own pace. It's not like this year's K-Drama where it's shown at least once or twice a week so I can do a review, pause, do real stuff, and write. In my case, when a show is finished (hence why I have the tendency to prefer new stuff when they age after a year) - I can watch at my OWN pace. Now, it's time to simply focus oon the past and present colliding.

Seo Ri having been asleep for 13 years is no easy thing. She wakes up at 30 but still 17 mentally. She would take some time to get used to her face. I did find it quite funny when she ran into an old woman and nearly thought she was a Rip Van Winkle. Remember the story where a man slept for too long and awaken very old? Seo Ri awakens with no experience of what it is to grow up. She tries to adjust to a new world. She even doesn't know that mobile phones can connect to the Internet. She was probably too used to the traditional phones back when she was 17.

Later, there's that scene and a potential (but not so-explored) love triangle between Hyung Tae who also had a crush on Seo Ri as a teenager. Most teenage infatuations aren't meant to last but somehow some of them persist longer than expected. Such is Hyung Tae's case when he tries to claim Seo Ri as his own even if there were prettier girls out there. There's also Chan who is attracted to Seo Ri because of the mental age - I just find that weird. Apparently, Woo Jin is only a decade and a few years older than his nephew Chan as shown in the flashbacks. Does Woo Jin have a bigger age gap with his sister? Was he a menopausal baby? 

One scene that had opened a Pandora's Box of sorts is at the Chungah Park Columbarium. It has a very serene feel to it with the chapel and all in the background. A mistaken identity leads to a lot of problems. Woo Jin thought Seo Ri in their younger days is No Su Mi. Later, Seo Ri finds from her admirer Hyung Tae that Su Mi has been long dead. I can't help but understand why Seo Ri goes to the Chungah Park Columbarium in black. Su Mi was not fortunate enough to survive. Seo Ri's tears are there and another revelation (at least on the POV of Woo Jin) is that the girl he loved was not Su Mi but Seo Ri. 

Woo Jin was living in guilt, blaming himself, and unable to go of his so-called lost puppy love. However, it turns out that the girl he liked was not only named Seo Ri but the woman he's been with was her. Woo Jin hugs Seo Ri in tears. I really love that emotional scene. I love how Woo Jin writes that letter and tries to leave. Yet, he reunites with her under the bridge trying to avoid the past, not to cry over spilled milk, and move forward to the future. 

I also love the connections made 13 years ago. It wasn't actually one-sided. We also see the difference between puppy love and adult romance. As I said earlier, high school infatuations are not meant to last, right? Right now, I just watch this TV series and somehow tend to look at one of my many high school crushes (one of them looks like Hye Sun) as just part of growing up. Here, the whole crush starts to grow up on both characters. Seo Ri actually had a crush on Woo Jin knowing who he was. However, Woo Jin always thought Seo Ri's name was Su Mi. The whole flashback thing works rather well. The whole infatuation can, at times, become true love but it's a rare case. 

Somehow, the show just kept the suspense value in 16 hour-long episodes (that is, for Netflix or any Internet TV standards). I do feel sorry to think that Seo Ri has not only lost her best friend but also the uncle who raised her. Like her best friend Su Mi - her uncle has already long gone. One got cremated and the other was buried. She had no opportunity to bid them goodbye to them because they died while she was asleep. Her uncle died of a broken heart out of a bad deal. It really is disheartening indeed even if she didn't wake up as an old woman. 

The ending has most people leave the house. Both Woo Jin and Seo Ri get married off-screen. The only hint they get married is the picture in the house. Jessica stops being a housekeeper and runs her own restaurant. Chan moves away to train to be an athlete and becomes more successful. They do have a reunion dinner though before parting ways in a bittersweet ending. 

Anyway, I'll be continuing with Lingjian Mountain but don't expect episode reviews from that said series either. When I watch at my own pace then just expect random posts since I'm just a nobody blogger.