REVIEW: The Third Charm
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Re-watch value: 1out of 5 stars
Synopsis
*partially taken from DramaList*
The Third Charm tells the 12-year love story of how two young people with completely different personalities manage to find each other again. From the tender age of 20 to 27 years old, and then to the matured age of 32, will they find love for the third time?
At 20 years old, On Joon Yeong (Seo Kang-Joon from Are You Human Too?) is a nerdy, smart university student who wears plain clothes, plain glasses, and doesn't obsess over fashion. He plans everything in his day meticulously, grows frustrated easily, overthinks things, and is very sensitive. With the guidance of his friends, he takes part in a blind date where he meets Lee Yeong Jae.
Lee Yeong Jae (Esom) is also 20 years old, doesn't attend universit,y and instead works as an assistant hairdresser. Lee Yeong Jae has had a difficult life and is an orphan who looks up immensely to her brother, Lee Soo Jae, a barista. She is honest, hardworking, and somewhat daring: the complete opposite to Oh Joon Yeong. Her dream is to become rich, though she would rather get there by her own perseverance. One day, her friend takes her to a blind date group with university students. At the meeting, she encounters Joon Yeong and goes on a date with him. From there, at 20 years old, their love story begins.
Rambling
*beware of spoilers*
It's been an epically long time since I last wrote a review, and that's simply because my sister has since moved into my condo, and when we watch things together on the big TV in the family room, it never includes my foreign dramas!
In turn, it took forever and a day to finish The Third Charm. I stopped around episode 7 or 8, and then picked it up a couple weeks ago and didn't stop watching until the end. Unfortunately, I can't say that I liked this one.
Basically, our main couple Joon-yeong and Yeong-jae break up inside episode 10, and the show took a turn for the worse. It ended up fizzling out, and the subtle promise of seeing them get back together is never realized. There's no payoff whatsoever. I mistakenly thought that the title of the series (The Third Charm) was an homage to the saying "the third time is the charm," but their 3rd encounter doesn't culminate in them rekindling their love. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Problems started as early as in episode 2. We get a flashback of Joon-yeong meeting and briefly dating Yeong-jae (as in like 2 days of dating), but in the present day, he has a super sour reaction to seeing her in the club. She was a total bitch to him before, and she really had no reason for devastating him like that. She took all her anger, trauma, and frustration out on him for no good reason. She was embarrassed at her situation, probably thought her brother's crippled condition was a "reality check" for her, and this overarching inferiority complex was (how I perceived) why she derailed the relationship and completely trampled all over his earnest feelings.
Speaking of Yeong-jae's older brother. His story had the best arch of any character's! (Save for his eventual wife, Baej Joo-ran, who developed what I guess is stage 3 ovarian cancer and presumably beat it.) He literally starts from the bottom and ends up on top, hustling through seriously low points (losing the ability to walk) to realizing his newfound dream of being a screenwriter and then getting super famous as a writer. Episode 7 had me teared up as he tried to peddle his script out in the entertainment field, struggling to find the words with his touch of aphasia.
Joon-yeong and Yeong-jae's 2nd "charm" was odd. They started out quite in love, but then it somehow blew up in their faces? During episode 9, I noticed that at times their beautiful moments overwhelmed each of them. With the bittersweet vibe and their low-key chemistry, it made for a stimulating, memorable feeling. The way they'd look at each other had such meaning. It felt like they were trying so hard to appreciate one another and soak in each moment.
They visit a remote island for volunteer work (Yeong-jae cuts the locals' hair with her hair studio coworkers), and as Joon-yeong is by himself trying to fix a sweet old man's busted radio while everyone else enjoys BBQ outside, he starts crying, saying he "will fix it to how it used to be." Clearly this had double meaning, referencing their own relationship. He can't fix their apparent incompatibility and growing distance.
Episode 10 featured a tense phone call between them. Chit cat and nothing of substance discussed. It was inexplicably sad to see them just going through the motions, knowing that they can't keep it up for long. Neither one of them in the wrong. It's as if he stays the same and she is changing? How she is changing is still baffling to me. Maybe he felt he was holding her back?
When she finally cuts him loose, it was like a weight was lifted off the entire show. He built his life around her; even his career was casually suggested by her during their 1st "charm." So he quit being a successful detective. But he still can't hate her. He just loves her that fiercely.
Now, I was already getting Temperature of Love vibes because our female lead did him wrong TWICE. (And he'll still come back for more!) But then he proceeds to "find himself" in Europe and attends culinary school in Portugal and the resemblance was complete.
I quite liked the entire "meanwhile" sequence. We don't see at all what Yeong-jae is up to during their years-long separation. We only see Joon-yeong backpacking through Spain and Europe, experiencing some much-needed freedom, and then hitting rock bottom when he rolls into a small-town restaurant in remote Portugal, bruised and starving. His eureka moment is when the kindly restaurant owner/server brings him a second hot plate of stew without him asking. He just knew what he needed and served him like family. Boom! The Inception of his own one-table restaurant.
Anyway, fast forward to episode 14. Which absolutely wrecked me. Amidst Joo-ran discovering she has cancer, chopping off her hair, and Soo-jae belatedly finding out Joo-ran's been undergoing chemo treatment, we finally get the full story from a severely depressed and suicidal Yeong-jae: her precious daughter died in a tragic car crash in Portugal, where she was living at the same time as Joon-yeong was attending culinary school. Her marriage went up in flames because she just couldn't cope with the loss. Ho-chul ends up blaming her for their daughter's death in a moment of weakness. It was powerful and sobering to understand why she was so shut off and unable to return to her old, happy self. Episode 15 was the nail in the coffin for me. They once again show Yeong-jae sitting on the floor in her bare apartment in front of the TV but then cut to the TV screen...she's been watching home videos the entire time. No wonder she can't move on! She had been torturing herself all alone.
I thought it was very different for this K-drama to take the basic premise of lovers finding each other again and turning it on its head in such a way. Will they even get back together? She's a different person now and so is he. Can she open her heart to Joon-yeong again?
The answer depends on how you view the last episode. Joo-ran marries wheelchair-bound Soo-jae, and a slightly less sad-looking Yeong-jae officiates. The closing shot is of our leading couple walking down a paved path after the wedding, not hand-in-hand, but just side by side, speaking about how they've been. Yeong-jae bought the neighborhood hair salon she used to work at in her early 20s, complaining that she made the decision rashly, and Joon-yeong is moving to New York for a lucrative chef position. No promise that they will get together. No knowing look between them. Just a couple of longtime friends, erstwhile lovers catching up.
I personally didn't like the ending. The show took me on a melodramatic roller coaster and all I got in return was a platonic friendship. Any skinship or kissing that made my heart flutter disappeared halfway through the show. I was emotionally stunned.
If you want to torture yourself like our leading lady, then by all means, watch this show. Otherwise, try another, calmer drama!
Did you watch The Third Charm? Tell me what you thought in the comments below!
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