This recap of Nevertheless season 1, episode 3 contains spoilers.
Just like last week’s episode, Nabi took the title of naive Nabi yet again! Constantly missing the red flags or choosing to ignore them! Judging by the preview for episode 4, she just might grow out of the nickname.
Jae-eon, being the guy he is, didn’t contact Nabi after the games night and of course since she had some minor feelings for him, she felt a bit sour — rightfully so, but my sympathy is limited for her because she knew what she would be getting into. She literally left an emotionally manipulative relationship and now someone else has taken an interest in her. Now, it’s clear her emotions are muddled and it’s almost as if the drama is foreshadowing something deeper. Her thoughts are represented in the scenes as if she is speaking in the past tense or narrating her story to her younger self about her situationship.
After Nabi’s games night, Sol and Jiwan are in a cafe but what’s important to note is the person who serves their food is an extremely important character, but you don’t realize it until the preview and unless you read the webtoon! The producers weaved this particular character in quite neatly and it’s going to be a shock to the system.
I feel like episode 3 gave viewers more context to the secondary characters too because it’s very easy to focus just on Nabi and Jae-eon. But instead, we see the dynamics between Sol and Jiwan as friends. Though I find Jiwan incredibly annoying and always in someone’s business, I think it comes from a sense of insecurity that she could be losing her best friend. Sol is one of the most laidback characters — she just cares about her art and her friends, unlike Nabi. Whereas Jiwan likes to know everything about anything and anybody, making her character insufferable.
Due to Sol’s nonchalant attitude, she and Joo Hyuk go out to eat and she attempts to pay him back for spilling coffee on him in the first episode, but he refuses. Long story short, they kind of hit it off and we see Jiwan’s jealousy through the screen when she sees Sol and Joo Hyuk at the bus stop. The most annoying thing is that Jiwan will constantly go on dates but will lose it when Sol hangs out with other people.
In their sculpture class, their professor is giving them a speech on the connection between art and dating — essentially, she is scolding her students for not having ‘love lives’ and how it affects their art. “Dating is the best way to get inspiration for art.” As she says this, the camera swoops to Nabi, Bitna and Nam Kyuhyun (Bitna’s ‘best friend’). It’s clear that they are more than friends. In essence, their professor reminds them to find their inspirations and perhaps love might be one of them.
The most sickening of all — Jae-eon picks up a special somebody at the airport… all whilst ignoring Nabi’s text messages. We come to learn that he meets Seol-a but the audience hasn’t been introduced to her fully — it’s obvious that she is probably an ex-girlfriend though. As always Nabi gets herself hurt when she sees Seol-a and Jae-eon linking arms and talking, questioning her self-worth and everything. Down bad as usual but she can’t seem to block out Jae-eon.
Whilst Seol-a and Jae-eon are talking, Seol-a realizes that he still uses his butterfly lighter and asks how his butterflies are doing. As viewers, it can be difficult to tell if the butterflies are real or a metaphor for something else. Though, I predict that the motif for butterflies relates to their childhood and how they both grew up. He mentions that he will set his butterflies free one day and I can’t help but think it’s a metaphor for his feelings. Seol-a probes him and teases that “he’s found a new butterfly, even her name is Nabi” and alludes that perhaps his butterflies are his flings? Nonetheless, the introduction of Seol-a will surely tip the balance (or lack thereof) of the drama.
Eventually Nabi confronts Jae-eon for his poor communication after he interrupted her conversation. Though Twitter thought it was a powerful move, it really wasn’t considering that he ends up staying over at her house.
One of the most exciting parts of Nevertheless episode 3 was the flea market seeing the whole sculpture department together and finally getting to see the relationship between Bitna and Nam Kyuhyun. Bit-na is a bit wilder and though Nam Kyuhyun is more quiet and reserved, it’s clear that there are sparks between them as he constantly looks out for her. In fact, that same night, she does end up inebriated on the side of the road and he comes to her rescue. I am pretty sure many viewers are rooting for this couple because they finally kiss. But will Bitna remember this is the question that needs answering.
Nabi also tries to relieve herself from Jae-eon by hanging out with the freshman, Eun-ha and it’s quite sad because he essentially uses her as a rebound until his first love interest gives him attention. Despite Nabi’s hurt, she leaves the flea market — probably as a way to save face because Jae-eon was watching the whole interaction.
The same evening Jae-eon freaks out and calls the emergency services because he thought something bad must have happened to Nabi when her phone died. Luckily, she came back in time before her door was forced open by the authorities. It was a nice moment to see how he may have cared for her. But it’s weird in reality because he always appears to be around her house at the most convenient of times. With that, he ends up staying the night and much much more.
With 7 episodes remaining, it will be interesting to see how these friendships and relationships remain with the potential international exchanges and the treatment of Nabi. As always, my wish for Nabi is for her to get self-worth, self-esteem and self-respect because Jae-eon is one of the most frustrating characters. Amidst all the mess, we know to keep an eye out on the server from episode 3 because he might shake the whole show and I, for one, look forward to it.
