Summary
Episode 1 feels energetic and full of life — there’s a certain charm to it that comes across in the premiere and it has promise from here on in.
This recap of Netflix K-drama series Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol episode 1 contains significant spoilers.
We’ll be recapping this weekly — check out the archive.
The opening
It’s rare for Netflix to release two weekly K-Drama series’ on the same week on the same days, but it looks like this market is strengthening in the streaming arena, despite limited productions, which is looking good for the genre.
Episode 1 begins with a narration, describing different pianists — it then describes how in 1997, Gu Ra-ra was born and her mother died a few days after. She had a rich music sensibility which her father sensed from a young age and got her a piano teacher name Gong Mi-suk — her father was wealthy, luckily, as she didn’t pick it up the keys immediately. In 2001, Ra-ra entered her first piano competition — she kept hitting the same notes: “do do sol sol la la sol” as she was too nervous to do the next phase. Her father got up and clapped which encouraged her and from here, she became a good pianist.
She wants different aspirations
But Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol episode 1 shows how Ra-ra was only really doing piano to please, rather than an ambition.
Later in life, she is still doing competitions as a pianist but with confidence and flair and her father smiling at her. Ra-ra tells her teacher afterwards that she now quits the piano after 20 years after making her father smile at graduation. She wants different aspirations and hugs her teacher tight. Afterwards, she feels freer — getting her nails done and taking her dog for a walk through the city. She’s living a wealthy life with father’s money.
Introducing Bang Jeong-nam and Eun-seok
When Ra-ra gets home, her father asks if she wants to get married which makes her nearly spit out her ginger tea — the scene then flits to a character named Bang Jeong-nam, Ra-ra’s fiance. He meets Eun-seok, who appears to be a doctor. He describes to Bang Jeong-nam how flowers bloom. Eun-seok tells him that he’s getting married.
A near-death experience
A man finishing on a construction site is nearly run over by a scooter. As the scooter crashes, he catches the flowers — the rider asks the man to deliver the flowers himself to the wedding as a favour.
Introducing Sunwoo Jun
And then here is the “love at first sight” moment…
The wedding is here and Eun-seok knows Ra-ra. She seems poised but waiting for her father to arrive which makes her anxious. The construction site worker arrives to deliver the flowers. When he sees Ra-ra he is momentarily tranced looking at her in her white dress. The character is named Sunwoo Jun. She tells him to not get close as he looks filthy from work but he is so curious about her and he gets closer. She ends up hitting him and giving him a bloody nose. Blood gets on her dress. Sunwoo Jun tells her not to cry or it will make it worse. He finds ways to clean her dress. She thanks him before getting married.
The ceremony and the tragic event
Sunwoo Jun says “No” as she walks off to get married. Regardless, the ceremony starts. The father isn’t there because he’s late. As the father arrives, he gets a call from Mr Kang — he asks the man to help him this one time. When he puts the phone down, her father has a heart attack. Ja-yeong is alerted of the news and she is suddenly worried about her son Bang Jeong-nam — she grabs him from the front of the ceremony and runs outside with him.
This was a rather selfish moment as the mother was only thinking about wealth, not her son’s relationship.
Death and the sudden responsibility of finance and legal matters
Going from a wealthy daughter to taking on family matters is too much of a stretch for our lead character at the start — episode 1 shows that in times of grieving, she’s also out of her depth.
Ra-ra is suddenly alerted that her father has collapsed. She rushes to the hospital. The doctor tries everything to save him but he flatlines. Ra-ra is devastated, sobbing over him with her wedding dress on. Afterwards, Ra-ra is made aware that business has been bad for a while; the house is up for auction and creditors will be chasing her. Her lawyer recommends not going to the funeral and laying low for a while — he gives her money to survive on as everything else has been taken. He wishes her the best.
Two characters having a bad day
Ra-ra returns home and comforts herself with her dog. Meanwhile, Sunwoo Jun seems to be in trouble with two men trying to get into his apartment. He manages to flee. Meanwhile, at home, Ra-ra cries and plays the piano and she sees her father giving her encouragement — she’s finding a way to say goodbye.
Meanwhile, Bang Jeong-nam has gone on the honeymoon without Ra-ra and she cannot get in touch with him. Ra-ra is arranging a new apartment lease. She’s asked for the deposit and lease and she pays for it all in cash. She settles in with her dog Mimi. On the first night, Ra-ra is a little spooked by noises from neighbours so sleeps with the light on.
Scamming
And like we saw in Record of Youth with Hye-jun’s brother, Ra-ra is also at the short end of a scamming scenario.
The next day, people visit Ra-ra’s apartment looking to have a viewing — she’s been scammed. The landlord didn’t sign anything at all. She was lowballed on a nice apartment that was meant to be cheap. Ra-ra tries to go to the police and to tell them that the estate agent didn’t seem like a scammer. She’s now homeless and she doesn’t know how to deal with administrative and legal matters.
The ending
The next day, Ra-ra visits her father’s grave and calls herself stupid for being scammed. Things are getting so desperate for the character that she begins to eat her dog treats to only realise that they taste disgusting. Ra-ra talks to herself and says she misses her father and sings “do do sol sol la la sol”. Suddenly, she has a lightbulb moment and she wonders who owns the Instagram account dodosolsollalasol and thinks they will know her father, so heads to the location based on an image on their account.
As she drives to her location, Mimi starts throwing up. She crashes into a cyclist and then crashes her car. It was Sunwoo Jun on the bike and he rushes over to the car to help her — Ra-ra is unconscious; her head is on the wheel with blood dripping down her head.
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol episode 1 feels energetic and full of life — there’s a certain charm to it that comes across in the premiere and it has promise from here on in.
Pianist songbook
- Ms Im disapproves of Ra-ra’s new lifestyle since quitting piano.
- Eun-seok quits the hospital — the director is annoyed and hurt that he is leaving.
- It appears Sunwoo’s mother is the one trying to find her son and sending men to his place.
