This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Nevertheless season 1, episode 8, “I Know It’s A Lie. Nevertheless”, contains spoilers.
I never knew a drama could stress me out how Nevertheless does. Are we going back to square one with the butterflies? Will Nabi get some self-esteem? Will she take accountability (surprise, she did, but it’s the bare minimum)? Will Dohyeok respect himself? Who knows? I feel like this episode was necessary to bring everything to light, all the tensions and for once, Nabi was honest with herself until I saw the preview.
Nevertheless season 1, episode 8 recap
At the end of the previous episode, we see everyone at the beach having fun with the fireworks, meanwhile, Nabi and Jaeeon were in Dohyeok’s house. In the beginning, Nabi leaves Jaeeon and bumps into Dohyeok. He has flowers behind his back and Nabi finally comes into reality and lets him down gently. She emphasises how great of a person Dohyeok is and importantly points out that she’s not ready for a relationship. She literally mentions that she ran away from Seoul and came back to her hometown because of Jaeeon, she needed to get away from him. Importantly, she doesn’t lead him on either — he asks for a hug and she refuses. She’s still an annoying character but I’m happy that she’s moving on in this direction to avoid hurting him. He’s only going to hurt himself more by continuously pursuing her.
Upon reflection, it’s so great to see how she takes accountability and has been honest with herself. But the annoying thing is that Dohyeok had flowers, he prepared everything for her but of course, she’s entitled to how she feels. She shouldn’t force herself to be with him if she doesn’t want to. As nice as Dohyeok is, he should just stop pursuing her seeing as she let him down.
After this scene, Jaeeon’s obnoxious self asks Dohyeok if Nabi got home safe, seeing the untouched bouquet of flowers and we see a bit of tension between the both of them. But Dohyeok’s demeanour towards Jaeeon is interesting because he’s treating Jaeeon as if he was Nabi’s ex that hurt her… boy, is he wrong. I get the sentiment but he’s very wrong, just like Jaeeon was for teasing him in this particular scene.
On her way back to Seoul, Dohyeok gives her some food on the coach and as he gets off, he instantly calls her and emphasises that he can’t give up on her so easily. Whilst it’s nice that he’s being honest with his feelings, he needs to move on as she explicitly stated that she is not ready. Essentially, he gives her an ultimatum by mentioning he can’t move on until she is with another person or explicitly tells him that she will never like him.
As for my initial favourite couple, Bitna and Gyuhyun, let’s just say that the ship might have sunk. All of a sudden, they are going back to being friends — or so they think. Gyuhyun is being honest with himself and mentions that he cannot just be her friend and so they officially break it off.
In the upcoming scenes, Bitna is constantly jittery thinking Gyuhyun is calling or texting her but he doesn’t and I love that. He made it clear and hasn’t budged. As much as I love Bitna, it was necessary. I guess this is why sometimes the friends to lovers trope can be annoying because it’s like you break up and can’t expect things to be the same prior to the relationship. Meanwhile, I’m no longer a second lead stan because Dohyeok is infatuated with a childhood Nabi and not necessarily grown up Nabi. I say this because he emphasises how she was his first love… when they were young but she’s obviously changed.
Whilst Bitna is playing games, one of her ex links meets her and he basically preaches to her about the importance of communication in a relationship. Meanwhile, in an art class, Jaeeon ends up being the muse and constantly stares Nabi down throughout that scene. It was such an annoying scene because he (and the viewers) know that Nabi is still infatuated with him in some way.
The ending
But, when Nabi and Jaeeon were at the gallery — he mentioned that he saw a girl (Nabi) there and felt like it was love at first sight. As cliche as it is, it’s not surprising considering where the drama might be headed. I really don’t want them together though because it’s important to highlight that sometimes there’s not always going to be a redemption arc, people might just be toxic because they are. What’s even more annoying is we are back at square one because they are back in that alleyway and Jaeeon asks if she wants to see his butterflies — just like the first episode.
One of the most exciting scenes for some viewers is when Sol confesses to Jiwan about her feelings. Personally, I find Jiwan annoying because of how she treated Sol in the beginning so it didn’t mean much to me but it was nice that some people seemed happy in the drama.
Ultimately, we have two episodes left and knowing Korean dramas, it could end in the most unexpected of ways! As long as there’s no redemption arc, I’ll be happy. These dramas are paramount in representing the toxic behaviours in relationships, especially when you are in university. So, I would rate this episode as a 5/5 because it filled the gaps — no matter how annoying I found it. I’m just invested in Bitna and Gyuhyun, to be honest.
What did you think of Nevertheless season 1, episode 8? Comment below.
