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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Make a Woman Cry" Episode 4

So, Kyeong-cheol (played by In Gyo-jin) is Deok-in's estranged husband. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that he's estranged from his entire family. Deok-in still lives with her relatives by marriage, while Kyeong-cheol has been hanging out with the rich family. Deok-in's new girlfriend, Jin-hee (played by Hann E-seo), is pushing for marriage- a task made inconvenient by the fact that Kyeong-cheol's family refuses to acknowledge that the marriage is over, on account of the fact that they really like Deok-in. And also Jin-hee is Jin-woo's brother.

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I'm embarassed to admit that I didn't have a complete grasp on who all these people were until this episode. Part of it is just the presentation. "Make a Woman Cry" hasn't been terribly clear about which of its characters are actually important- in the official casting lists Kyeong-cheol and Jin-hee are listed as third tier characters even though their actions are the ones that actually drive most of the conflict.

What gives their characters more relevancy this episode is that they actually confront and have conversations with Deok-in. And while it's tempting to describe Jin-hee as being the villainous character here, when we take a step back her motivation is actually pretty reasonable. Just because Kyeong-cheol is too much of a ninny to aggressively end his marriage doesn't mean that Jin-hee should just stand around and take it.

The relationship is also a lot more interesting in light of the fact that "Make a Woman Cry", overall, appears to be a romantic story between Deok-in and Jin-woo, even if there's been relatively little exposition in this regard just yet. That much would also seem to imply that we are supposed to be viewing Kyeong-cheol and Jin-hee as being sympathetic. Deok-in has to move on. But what that means in more tangible terms is as yet unclear. Deok-in's family relies on and supports Deok-in emotionally to the extent that her leaving would be equivalent to losing a close blood relative.

It's an intriguing narrative movement that I could possibly get behind- except I'm still not totally sure how any of this is supposed to relate to the bullying, or Deok-in's occasional moment of hardcore violence. Don't worry- this one is somewhat more subdued, although one would think that by now people in this neighborhood would know better than to push Deok-in's buttons. Still, even if she's physically invulnerable, as the cliffhangers makes all too clear, Deok-in is quite suspectible to emotional attacks.

Review by William Schwartz

"Make a Woman Cry" is directed by Kim Geun-hong and Park Sang-hoon-III, written by Ha Cheong-ok and features Kim Jung-eun, Song Chang-eui, Lee Soon-jae, Ha Hee-ra, Oh Dae-gyu and Lee Tae-ran.

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