October 21, 2022

Our Take: A slice-of-life masterpiece that heals your soul

*Spoilers Ahead

The Premise

Blue is a color that evokes feelings of calmness and serenity but can also create feelings of sadness and aloofness. In "Our Blues," the complex meaning of blue gets used to tell stories of lamentations, longing, friendships, unhealed wounds, desperation, and love.

Our Blues is an omnibus-style drama that follows the lives of a community of colleagues, friends, and families living in the same neighborhood on Jeju Island. The show does not have a straightforward storyline. Instead, it is a composition of individual stories interwoven together that details each character's experiences, including their disappointments, pains, and fears, as well as their journey toward healing and transformation.

In an interview, Lee Byung Hun discusses how "People say every soul has a scar. This drama shows those scars and those scarred people. Living life means trying to forget those scars, trying to overcome them. People with wounds and how they overcome those scars will be manifested in the drama in a touching way and impart hope to the viewers."

As we learn about each character's struggles and relationships, we also see glimmers of what is possible in their future and how they overcome their pasts. At a time when I was going through a great deal of uncertainty, watching their stories gave me space and the courage to be more self-aware and proactive in building a life for myself.

Jung Eun Hui and Choi Han Soo

The first few episodes tell the story of Eun Hui (Lee Jung Eun), the wealthiest fish trader in the neighborhood, and her first love, Han Su (Cha Seung Won), a manager at a local bank branch. They dated in high school but drifted apart after he moved to Seoul and started a family. When he returns to Jeju Island, they reminisce on their past, financial issues, friendships, and family burdens.

One of the most powerful scenes in their story is their confrontation at the hotel. Eun Hui finds out Han Su was being friendly with her to try to coax her into lending him money. When she asks him why he lied to her, Han Su tells her he knows what it's like to have nothing to dream about. He didn't ask her for money from the start because she looked like she didn't have any joy in her life. Everything in her life revolved around working and making money to support her younger siblings.

Watching this scene unravel reminded me of struggles I've been grappling with for a long time. As the daughter of immigrants, there is a lot of pressure to prove that your family's sacrifices were worth it. But, finding the balance between putting your family first and pursuing my definition of success is very difficult to navigate.

Bang Yeong Ju and Jung Hyeon

Yeong Ju (Roh Yoon Seo) and Hyeon (Bae Hyun Sung) are high school students who live in the same apartment complex and have been friends since childhood. They've been secretly dating and plan to go to Seoul together for college. But their plans get complicated when they find out Yeong Ju is pregnant.

Their story explores teen pregnancy, family support, and financial struggles. From their fathers' perspectives, Ho Shik (Choi Young Joon) and In Gwon (Park Ji Hwan) dedicated their lives to ensuring that their children would have promising futures. But, a looming pregnancy threatens to derail everything they've worked for.

As both families clash, we see a very emotional fight scene between the father-son duo, In Gwon and Hyeon. In a moment of anger, Hyeon tells his father that he's an embarrassment to him and refuses to be his son anymore. Shocked, In Gwon tearfully replies that all he has ever wanted was to be a father Hyeon would be proud of, and he's never done anything shameful in front of him. He tells Hyeon that he's always been proud of him and wants the best for him.

Growing up poor, everything was a struggle, and there were many moments when I felt embarrassed about my background. But, as I've grown older, I've realized that these hardships have made our family resilient and tenacious. We've learned to work hard, persevere, and fight for a better future for ourselves and others.

Min Seon Ah and Lee Dong Seok

After hitting rock bottom, Seon Ah (Shin Min Ah) returns to Jeju Island, where she meets her first love, Dong Seok (Lee Byun Hun), whom she had abandoned years ago. As they slowly reconnect, they find solace in each other and help each other overcome the hurt they've been carrying all these years.

Seon Ah has been dealing with depression for a long time, and its darkness negatively affects her family, especially her son. While she wants to be a good mother to him, her depression causes her to neglect him and put him in unsafe situations. As she struggles to manage her depression and loses custody of her son, Dong Seok stays by her side and refuses to give up on her.

Meanwhile, Dong Seok's childhood trauma limits his personal growth and forces him to move around constantly without a place to call home. He frequently lashes out at his friends and family and fears putting his roots down because he can't imagine what a happy future looks like.

As teenagers, Seon Ah and Dong Seok felt abandoned by their families and never got the closure they needed to move on from the past. But, their trust and familiarity in each other empower them to find the strength and courage to seek a more hopeful future.

Bang Ho Shik and Jung In Gwon

Ho Shik and In Gwon are brothers from different mothers who were there for each other through thick and thin. But, at some point, they drifted apart and became resentful of each other. With their children's lives intertwined, they realize they eventually have to reconcile and put their bitter rivalry behind them.

As they slowly mend their relationship, we see flashbacks of their memories together and what eventually led to their fallout. When In Gwon tries to hand Ho Seok a stack of money to pay for Yeong Ju's abortion, it triggers a traumatizing moment from the past.

Back when Ho Shik was a gambling addict, he used his daughter to ask In Gwon for money. Tired of dealing with Ho Shik's gambling problems, In Gwon asks him if he's ashamed of using his daughter to beg for money. Hearing the ugly truth cut Ho Shik to the core and led him to turn his life around while also shunning In Gwon from his life out of humiliation.

After getting into a fight out of a fit of rage and landing in the police station, Ho Shik finally tells In Gwon why their relationship soured. Through these raw, emotionally charged moments, they heal the decades of bad blood between each other, and there are hopes for happier days ahead for them.

Jung Eun Hui and Go Mi Ran

Eun Hui and Mi Ran (Uhm Jung Hwa) have been best friends since childhood, but the dynamics of their relationship have always seemed unbalanced from an outsider's perspective. When Mi Ran returns to town, everyone except Ho Shik calls her the princess and Eun Hui her maid.

In flashbacks, we learn that Eun Hui loved Mi Ran and saw her as a trustworthy and reliable friend who helped her attend high school and get her GED. To show her loyalty and gratitude, she stands by Mi Ran through all her weddings, childbirth, and divorces despite how mean-spirited Mi Ran is to her sometimes. Rather than confronting Mi Ran for pulling pranks on her and taking their friendship for granted, Eun Hui's resentment towards her grows as she tries to bury these feelings for loyalty's sake.

When Mi Ran accidentally finds out how Eun Hui feels about her, she's shocked and tries to make amends. From Mi Ran's perspective, she's always been generous and gives her love freely, but recognizes that she can also be inconsiderate and selfish sometimes. She sees Eun Hui's sacrifices as a given for their long-standing friendship and thinks of her as the only person she feels truly comfortable with.

After confronting each other, they realize how important their friendship is. They work through all their misunderstandings and remind each other that what other people say about their friendship doesn't matter as long as they are happy.

As adults, friendships become harder to maintain, and sometimes misunderstandings never get resolved. So, it was nice to see the complex portrayal of Eun Hui and Mi Ran's friendship and their commitment to navigating the ups and downs together.

Lee Young Ok, Park Jung Joon, and Lee Young Hee

Young Ok (Han Ji Min) comes to Jeju Island to become a haenyeo and meets Jung Joon (Kim Woo Bin), the ship's captain that takes the haenyeos out to sea. Due to misunderstandings between Young Ok and the other haenyeos, she gets outcasted and nasty rumors circulate about her upbringing and life outside of Jeju.

Despite the gossip, Jung Joon chooses to believe in Young Ok and love her for who she is, flaws and all. As they grow closer, Young Ok slowly opens up to Jung Joon about her vulnerabilities and complicated past. It's later revealed that her secret is her twin sister, Young Hee (Jung Eun Hye), who has Down Syndrome.

When Jung Joon meets Young Hee for the first time, he is shocked and doesn't know how to react as he's never interacted with someone with Down Syndrome before Young Hee. But, he later apologizes to both sisters and tells Young Ok that he is committed to their relationship and willing to accept and embrace her and her sister.

The haenyeos and everyone else in the neighborhood also embrace Young Ok and Young Hee. Through their interactions, we learn about their complicated sisterhood while Jung Joon strikes a friendship with Young Hee.

I especially loved how they portrayed Young Hee as a multi-dimensional person with struggles and dreams. One of my favorite scenes is when Young Ok is alone in Jung Joon's van and sees Young Hee's artwork for the first time. She breaks down and cries when she realizes how much her sister loves her and how lonely Young Hee must have been all those years. Her sister has also been making sacrifices to give her space to live her own life.

Hyun Choon Hee and Son Eun Ki

When Eun Ki's (Gi So Yoo) father gets into a deadly car accident, her mother sends her to Jeju Island to live with her grandmother, Choon Hee (Go Doo Shim), temporarily to make ends meet. Given the unfamiliar environment and her dad's condition, Eun Ki struggles with adjusting to life with her grandmother and frequently cries from frustration.

Despite their differences, Eun Ki and Choon Hee try to adapt to life together and bridge the gap between each other. But Choon Hee eventually finds out that her youngest son has been hospitalized and is in critical condition. As she grapples with this devastating knowledge and potentially having to pull him off of life support, we learn that she sees herself as cursed due to the deaths in her family.

As Choon Hee, Eun Ki, and everyone else wait for good news, a storm rages through the night. Desperate for a miracle, Choon Hee and her friends convince the local sailors to grant Eun Ki's wish to see a hundred moons, as her father had promised her. Once they climb to the top of the hill, one by one, the sailors' boats light up and fill the sea with moons. And together, they pray for his health and recovery (which later comes true).

What moved me to tears about this arc was how everyone came together during one of Choon Hee's darkest moments without hesitation and seeing how much she had touched other people's lives. Creating a hundred moons was an unforgettable and spectacular scene for Eun Ki, but it would not have been possible without the concerted efforts of all the people trying their best to be there for Choon Hee's family.

Kang Ok Dong and Lee Dong Seok

The series ends by exploring the mother/son relationship between Ok Dong (Kim Hye Ja) and Dong Seok, an arc that has been an ongoing point of contention throughout the show. After getting diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ok Dong spends her remaining days trying to repair her strained relationship with Dong Seok.

In flashbacks, we learn about the death of Dong Seok's father and sister early on, why Ok Dong remarried, and what led Dong Seok to resent her over the years. From Ok Dong's perspective, she did her best to provide for her son by making sure he had food and shelter growing up. But, from Dong Seok's perspective, she chose comfort over his happiness.

As they set out on their first and final trip together to prepare for his step-father's memorial, Dong Seok eventually spills his heart out to her and asks all the burning questions he's kept to himself for years. Despite his volatile and angry temperament, all he's wanted his entire life was for his mother to love him and acknowledge his pain. While Ok Dong never apologizes or tells Dong Seok she loves him, she admits her failures as a mom and her regrets for not extending her hand to him earlier.

Shortly after their trip, Ok Dong passes away peacefully in her sleep. When Dong Seok finds her, he cradles her and cries, realizing that all he's wanted was reconciliation. Even though they had a lot of remorse, Ok Dong was able to spend her last days happily with Dong Seok, while Dong Seok was able to move on with his life and find closure.

Final Thoughts

While we all know that communication is key to maintaining successful relationships and friendships, it's not always easy to confront people we cherish and lay out our inner thoughts in the open. Through each story, the drama emphasizes the power of confrontation and self-realization. By facing our pain and sadness head-on and being vulnerable with others, we give ourselves space to move on from our past and heal our scars.

Regardless of how silly or childish we think our emotions may be, it is important to process them, good and bad, and reach out to people closest to us to clear up misunderstandings and find closure. In doing so, we can experience the full spectrum of life with our loved ones, from the tumultuous moments to all the joys and growing pains.

While Our Blues may not be for everyone due to its slow pace, I highly recommend giving it a chance. I found it to be a beautiful, profoundly healing, and heartwarming show that evoked all sorts of emotions in me. It made me determined to stay resilient despite what life throws at me and root for everyone, myself included, to seek happiness and hope.