Summary
Episode 11 does little to calm the heartbreaks, bringing moments of elation and moments of deep sadness as the k-drama series starts to reach its natural end.
This recap of the Netflix k-drama series Navillera season 1, episode 11 contains spoilers.
Well, last week, I predicted that we’d witness a calmer chapter, and how wrong was I. This k-drama wants to reduce our hearts to a smothering mess until the very end.
Navillera episode 11 begins with Deok-chul returning home with his sons. Hae-nam waits for him and helps her husband inside. The truth is out about his Alzheimer’s disease is now known. As soon as they sit down, Deok-chul apologizes. Hae-nam asks Deok-chul if he remembers a specific day — the day he retired, and she was waiting outside for him. They credited each other for their hard work. In the present day, Hae-nam expresses how she felt proud that she had taken half the credit for her husband’s forty years of service, so she tells him to achieve what he dreams of in ballet. This was a sweet moment between the couple, highlighting the strength of marriage in a world where divorce rates are extremely high.
Family meeting
Word spreads fast through the family regarding Deok-chul’s condition, but Seong-san suggests they go about their lives like normal for him. Eun-ho believes it should be up to her grandfather to decide where he lives, rather than them all having a separate meeting about it without him. Later on, Eun-ho and Chae-rok meet. Chae-rok apologizes that he never told her about her grandfather’s condition, but Eun-ho apologizes that he had to look after her grandfather — she recognizes that he must have struggled and thanks him.
Getting on with it
But while much of this story is heartbreaking, what’s heartwarming is Deok-chul’s tenacity to continue to achieve his dreams.
The next day, Deok-chul goes for a jog and reruns his memory of the day before. He bumps into Ho-beom, and they work out together — Deok-chul asks him about soccer and tells him to start sooner rather than later. At the studio, Chae-rok asks Deok-chul to promise that he will text him every twenty minutes on the way home. Chae-rok promises to recognize Deok-chul even if he doesn’t recognize him in a sweet moment between the pair.
Prepping for an audition
Seong-gwan continues to record his documentary while Deok-chul trains. Chae-rok wants them to check out the other ballet company where his audition will be. Chae-rok thinks it will be good to practice in the same studio he will be auditioning. After practicing, Chae-rok tells Deok-chul that he’s forming into a ballerina, and the small bruises do not seem to bother him anymore. The story has managed to platform Deok-chul’s rise in the ballet world in a beautiful way — there’s an intimacy in how he dances.
A financial mishap
At work, Seong-san is still in a lot of trouble due to a financial setback. Seong-san has to face the conversation at home with his wife and daughter. At home, Deok-chul sees in the paper about a bank’s mismanaged funds scandal and knows it’s about his son Seong-san. He wants to help his son and tries contacting him — he doesn’t show up at the studio for his audition which worries Chae-rok and Seong-gwan.
Deok-chul heads to the bank to see his son — Seong-san meets him outside, and his father gives him a gift. Flashbacks show Deok-chul telling Seong-san that he can follow his dreams as he’s his father. The gift is pitching gloves for baseball. In the present day, Deok-chul tells Seong-san that he’s still his Fielder and he can throw the ball at him as much as he wants.
After clarity with his wife and father, Seong-san takes partial responsibility for the mismanaged funds at the bank and quits; he tells his boss that he will tell the truth to the auditors and investigators.
The audition
Navillera episode 11 brings the most important part of the chapter, as Deok-chul convinces judges that he has what it takes. The series has been waiting for this since the start.
Auditions continue, and Chae-rok asks if Deok-chul can have more time to show up. But there’s no need to worry as Deok-chul turns up and shows his routine to the judges. They are impressed and score him. The judges choose Deok-chul to be part of an upcoming gala, and everyone congratulates him. He’s elated and emotional.
A chance for Deok-chul and Chae-rok to dance together
Chae-rok learns that his father has apologized to Ho-beom and others for the way he behaved. Later on, Ki Seung-joo asks Chae-rok and Deok-chul if they’d like to dance at the gala together as it wouldn’t conflict with Chae-rok’s competition. He wants him to be able to show what he has on the stage. Deok-chul is hesitant, as he doesn’t want to impact Chae-rok’s training, but Chae-rok insists. We can already sense a beautiful routine between them coming up in the finale — we hope.
Rejecting the nursing home and Chae-rok asks his father to watch the Ballet Gala
Deok-chul gets a phone call from a nursing home, and they ask him if he’d like to be admitted, but he states he has something to do first and that he isn’t ready. Meanwhile, Chae-rok gives his father a ticket to the Ballet Gala and tells him he can come if he likes. He wants him to come and for his father to be there for him from now.
The ending
A day before the gala, Chae-rok meets Ho-beom and wishes him well with his soccer try-outs. Before he leaves, Ho-beom ponders on whether to watch the gala. As Deok-chul makes it home, he starts to forget things again. A police car finds him and asks where he lives. Hae-nam can hear him outside the house with the police. Deok-chul tells Hae-nam that he can’t find his way back home — he was sat outside his house.
When he heads inside, Deok-chul tells his wife Hae-nam that he’s unwell and that it’s going to get worse. He apologizes. They both cry together on the couch.
The next day is the gala. Deok-chul wakes up, and he doesn’t recognize his wife in the most heartbreaking moment so far.
Navillera episode 11 does little to calm the heartbreaks, bringing moments of elation and moments of deep sadness as the k-drama series starts to reach its natural end.
