[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Kind Words" Episode 7

What I find absolutely amazing about "Kind Words" is that I severely dislike the premise and yet I still am moved to tears by these characters and their situations. The drama has fleshed out the families into people I root for to succeed despite the grievous social crimes they have committed. They deserve their just dues, but I still want them to find personal resolution.

The premise of "Kind Words" is adultery. People commit adultery and must deal with the consequences. What the show explores is how adultery is perceived in Korean culture. Jae-hak's traditional mother sees it as something that happens and something to be ignored, never to be the cause of divorce. Eun-jin's mother hates it, but allows her child to stay married for the sake of the family. Eun-jin's cooking teacher has been divorced twice and is now happily married to her third husband.

It's an interesting exploration because cheating plants seeds of fear and doubt for the rest of a couple's life, but the family unit is considered more important than couple health. Sung-soo can't seem to shake his fear of Eun-jin's secrets. That niggling doubt plagues every interaction, every moment they are together. Eun-jin receives a huge shock that may move her towards the honesty required to salvage her relationship as fully as it can ever be salvaged. I'm invested in her despite her horrific affair because she is a mother, daughter, and sister as well as a wife. She does care for her family and its happiness. I want to see what she chooses to do to protect her family. Will she decide the truth is best? Or will she continue to hide?

Mi-kyeong and Jae-hak are making very halting progression together. For every step forward they take, they also take ten back. The cycle of blame, and hurt, and anger, seems to be never ending, especially with Min-soo fiercely defending his sister. The Min-soo/Mi-kyeong sibling relationship is my favorite of the drama. It is another kind of love that is powerful and that can make people do stupid things; it made Min-soo so a stupid thing. The beauty of the relationship between them is that they always come clean with each other. It's one of the healthiest relationships in the drama besides Min-soo's other relationship, the blooming one with Eun-young.

What is great about Min-soo and Eun-young is that they don't need to date in order to change each other for the better. Park Seo-joon has been stellar as the outwardly stalwart  and inwardly insecure Min-soo. The moment he realized his growing feelings for Eun-young was a wonderful beat; a fine piece of subtle acting. For the couple itself, Min-soo and Eun-young have the power to cause change in each other that will better them for the rest of their lives. Min-soo needs to know he's worth caring about and she needs to realize that a relationship isn't a death sentence. A good relationship can free a soul.

In the end, "Kind Words" is addressing the issues of how human relationships can truly be had, enjoyed and used for betterment despite the fact that people are people and they make terrible, grievous mistakes.

Written by Raine from Raine's Dichotomy

Follow on Twitter @Raine0211

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"Kind Words" is directed by Choi Yeong-hoon and written by Ha Myeong-hee and features Han Hye-jin, Ji Jin-hee, Kim Ji-soo and Lee Sang-woo.