This recap of Netflix K-Drama series Nevertheless season 1, episode 7, “I Know There’s No Turning Back. Nevertheless”, contains spoilers.
Continuing on from episode 6, the students have a retreat at Dohyeok’s guesthouse and I wish I could say it ended well but alas it did not. Let’s just say that Nabi is back to square one and deserves everything that is coming to her.
Picking up from where the last episode left off, the ‘love’ triangle finally meet — Nabi, Dohyeok and Jaeeon and it wasn’t pretty. It was evident that Dohyeok was trying to ‘one up’ Jaeeon the whole time — though, it wasn’t overt, the vibe was still there. Upon Jaeeon’s arrival, the rest of the students come and Bitna is instantly infatuated with Dohyeok because of his cooking channel on Youtube and his photography skills. Again, we see a brooding bromance between Jaeeon and Gyuhyun — probably because they are both frustrated by Bitna and Nabi which is justified to an extent. But Park Jaeeon’s actions throughout the drama has shown red flags but for some reason Nabi is constantly missing these flags and goes to the wildest lengths possible.
We come to see more of Dohyeok’s personality — from his cooking, photography, creativity and most importantly, his kindness. He makes Nabi laugh and smile but doesn’t excite her. I think this is her problem but it doesn’t mean she can abuse his kindness for her own lack of self worth. Despite this, it’s really nice to see how the rest of the students from Bitna, Sol, Jiwan and more have warmed up to Dohyeok.
In the next scene, they take a trip to the amusement park and it’s funny to see how Nabi got both Dohyeok and Jaeeon in the car together — especially as both of them are interested in her. The car drive was interesting, to say the least. Meanwhile, Gyuhyun’s just there — not ruining the vibe but rightfully upset with how Bitna’s been disregarding his feelings. And of course, Dohyeok’s just taking pictures of everyone and winning prizes at the amusement park — whilst Jaeeon is filling the place with negativity.
Annoyingly whilst waiting for the ferris wheel, it was clear that Dohyeok wanted to sit with Nabi the whole time but he was roped in by their friends to take pictures for them. And of course, the notorious Nabi and Jaeeon end up alone in the ferris wheel. During the ride, Jaeeon is airing his grievances to Nabi about how she failed to call him for his birthday and how it hurt him. Who cares though because I definitely do not. They are both horrible characters that don’t care about how their actions affect other people and I can’t stand it. In the other carriage, Jiwan is scared of heights and I actually felt bad for her, considering how annoying her character is. I think she’s going through things but masks with a smile.
Following the amusement park, we’re back at the guesthouse now and everyone’s eating, drinking and playing games — it gets messy here. Since Bitna is organising these games, there’s always something going on. Dohyeok’s cousin, Doyeon, is invited but only ends up hurting herself in attempts to pursue Jaeeon but he shuts that down with ease during the game. For instance, during the game Dohyeok confesses that Nabi was his first love, Nabi mentions that Dohyeok makes her smile, Bitna confesses that Dohyeok is her ideal type (ruining EVERYTHING), Jaeeon mentions that he wants to kiss her — you get the vibe. In essence, this scene was messy but very necessary to air out what everyone’s feeling.
In fact, Sol and Jiwan — who have been best friends since middle school– confess their feelings for one another. I think this was a major highlight of this episode because it’s been obvious for ages. I still find Jiwan irritating but it was nice to see them together.
Now, the most gut-wrenching and annoying part for me — Dohyeok is planning something at the beach for everyone and it seems as though it was for Nabi, but she doesn’t come. She says she’s tired and stays behind. Instead, everyone else excluding Nabi and Jaeeon go to the celebration. At the beach, they play with fireworks, take pictures and have fun. Well, it isn’t exactly fun for everyone because Gyuhyun breaks up with Bitna — as he should because she wasn’t treating him right and it was a relief to see. Despite them being the couple I was rooting for the most, it’s great to see that at least one of them has self respect and knows when they are being disrespected.
Meanwhile, Nabi and Jaeeon are still in the guesthouse alone. Jaeeon continues his antics, roping naive Nabi back in and having her wrapped around his finger. So, they end up kissing as usual but the most irritating part is that you are kissing Jaeeon in Dohyeok’s house WHILE he was calling your phone, waiting for you to come to the beach. All I’ll say is that this ending has made my dislike for Nabi even stronger because she needs to get a grip and an ounce of integrity. Like most viewers, we just don’t want Dohyeok to get hurt because he’s kind and supportive — Jaeeon isn’t. Nabi even mentioned that Jaeeon has a girlfriend and he said “that’s not the issue.” Personally, I want Nabi’s heart to be broken by Jaeeon at the end of the series and for her to end up single.
Final thoughts on Nevertheless season 1, episode 7
As frustrating as Nevertheless is, it’s an important and realistic drama for people to be mindful of their relationship choices. Knowing when you are being disrespected, knowing when to stand up for yourself and being mindful of how your actions can hurt others. At this point, I wonder where the next three episodes will take us because it’s gotten more messy and I’m here for it.
What did you think of Nevertheless season 1, episode 7? Comment below.
