[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Adult Trainee" Episode 5

OK, so episode four was not the end of the story of Yoo-ra, the passive-aggressive girl fuming after her breakup, and Nam-ho, the gruff soccer player who lives next door. Why this story specifically of the three in the "Adult Trainee" omnibus needed an extra episode is unclear to me. It has by far the most generic plotline. But whatever editing should have been managed in the first two episodes, the third is a dramatic improvement where pretty much all the interesting stuff happens.

Advertisement

When we last left off, Yoo-ra and Nam-ho were sharing a fairly passionate and spontaneous kiss well out of sight of the classmates Yoo-ra has been attempting to fool for the sake of her own pride. Nam-ho then breaks off and runs off without explanation, leaving Yoo-ra feeling pretty bewildered. So naturally, she attempts to consult random sources to try and solve the mystery of Nam-ho's seemingly inexplicable behavior.

Yoo-ra is oddly endearing here, annoying as her lovey-dovey attitude might have been last episode, because she's confused and humbled. Yoo-ra repeatedly speaks and acts in riddles, and over the course of the conclusion Yoo-ra finally understands that this is a lousy way to live her life. Every other character is constantly interpeting Yoo-ra's attitude as being more hostile than it actually is precisely because she's always defensively and preemptively trying to guard her pride.

And Nam-ho, as we come to learn, isn't really that much different. In one great scene we actually see him crying. Despite Yoo-ra being present at this scene and witnessing this response, in the past rendition of the flashback, all of that context had been flippantly tossed aside so Yoo-ra could very superficially conclude that Nam-ho didn't like her. In reality Nam-ho's whole perception of the correct way to interact with Yoo-ra has been heavily influenced by her own brusque behavior.

There's a lot of growing up here. Or even adult training, if that's how you want to look at it. The story, for all its cliches, actually makes a very nice contrast with Jae-min's masturbation abstention in the first episode. To date all four of our leads have had radically different interests and personalities, clearly indicating there's no one size fits all approach for how to properly do teen romance. About the only constant we've seen is that girls like romantic gestures- but only from boys they like, and figuring out who likes who is the hard part.

Review by William Schwartz

___________

"Adult Trainee" is directed by Jeong Hyeong-geon, Yoo Hak-chan, written by Bang So-min, Jin Yoon-joo, Kim Hyun-min, and features Ryoo Ui-hyun, MIYEON, Jo Yoo-jung, Ryeoun, Kwon Young-eun, Kim Min-gi-I. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/11/12~Now airing, Fri on TVING.

 

Watch on OnDemandKorea