I finally finished Just Between Lovers, so it’s time to look back and see whether or not the show fulfilled my hopes and dreams. (Spoiler alert: It did, in so many lovely ways.)
Kang-doo is not an asshole to Moon-soo. He could be prickly and blunt and sometimes said things she needed to hear but didn’t want to, but otherwise he spent the rest of the show making heart eyes at her and convinced he wasn’t good enough for her. Kang-doo never talked shit about her job or her trauma or her family or her, and it’s so easy to fall head-over-heels for a guy who is head-over-heels in love with someone else. As Moon-soo said, he was always on her side, and that’s something I will forever be happy about.
Kang-doo actually has something of substance to offer Moon-soo. It only took a few episodes to realize that Kang-doo was entirely willing to do his fair share of the emotional labor in their relationship, and it was wonderful. He cared about her and wanted her to be happy, just as much as she wanted him to be happy. Kang-doo proved himself worthy of Moon-soo’s love, and I felt like they were an evenly matched couple.
Moon-soo gets to have relationships with other women. Her mother was a major (and frequently negative) force in her life, but it was usually clear that they loved one another. On top of that, Moon-soo’s friend, Wan-jin, was always ready to fight people for her and to encourage Moon-soo to do this whole love and dating thing. We even got a cute, almost-mentorship between her and So-mi, though that should have been fleshed out much more.
Moon-soo is respected at her work. Except for that one team lead who insinuated she was getting her jobs based on sex appeal as opposed to talent, everyone in the office respected Moon-soo and her abilities. And Moon-soo shut down that team lead quite easily, so that was refreshing. I’m extremely happy that she was able to flex her design muscles with the memorial park.
So what did you think? Did Just Between Lovers fulfill your expectations? Let me know!
