Summary
Yeon-su and Ung continue to work through their issues in “Life Is Beautiful”, but some late bad news complicates everything.
This recap of Our Beloved Summer season 1, episode 14, “Life Is Beautiful”, contains spoilers.
All throughout Our Beloved Summer, the reason behind Yeon-su breaking up with Ung many years prior has lingered as one of the major remaining mysteries – yesterday’s episode even made a cliff-hanger out of it. In “Life Is Beautiful”, though, Ung decides that he isn’t particularly bothered, and that if Yeon-su wants to tell him that she will when she feels like it. Since he’s so adept at waiting around at this point, he’s fine with that.
Our Beloved Summer season 1, episode 14 recap
Whether or not he’s right to be okay with this is probably going to divide people. In the obligatory opening flashbacks, we see some of Yeon-su’s difficult, parentless past, and learn that a personal financial crisis was at least something to do with her decision to ditch Ung, but she doesn’t relate the whole truth to him back in the present day where we left things.
The idea, though, is to present Yeon-su as someone who needs Ung, especially since she’s the person least likely to admit that. This sentiment is echoed by her grandmother. In “Life Is Beautiful” we get to see the conversation she had with Ung, in which she insists that stays with Yeon-su for a long time. As we later learn, she has a good reason for this.
In the meantime, though, we check in on those on the periphery of Ung and Yeon-su’s relationship, especially NJ and Ji-ung, who find themselves together once again, in what I suppose is the kind of relationship playoffs. But the focus is really on Yeon-su and Ung as they continue to work out their lingering issues and open up to one another.
It seems very much like they’re going to need each other too, since Our Beloved Summer once again delivers a few closing blows before it departs. Yeon-su, for instance, discovers that her grandmother is looking at retirement homes to move into, and the next morning tries to essentially force her to stay in what is a crushing scene overall. Ung also seems to be looking at French architecture schools, and Ji-ung’s mother seems to be dying. It’s a triple-threat of terrible news to tide us over until next week’s finale.
You can stream Our Beloved Summer season 1, episode 14, “Life Is Beautiful”, exclusively on Netflix.
