Summary
A lighter episode that favors plot progression over anything else.
This recap of the K-Drama Netflix series Twenty-Five Twenty-One season 1, episode 6 contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One season 1, episode 6 recap
We begin with Yi-hyun’s story of the brotherly argument regaled on Wanseung’s private radio show, with the advice from the presenter being that he should apologise for his actions. In the meantime, Yi-jin has taken his mother to an Internet cafe so she can communicate with her husband, and the two technical divorcees share a dramatically emotional conversation together. Later on, the mother and son have a warm conversation about what true success is, which is said to be finding someone who completes you. At that point, Yi-jin decides it’s time to head back to Seoul, and start over again. When he does leave, we see that he wishes to become a journalist, as well as that his brother had written a note explaining that the thing that has changed since their family became bankrupt was that he no longer listened to music. As such, he’s given a music player, along with a stern instruction to give up smoking, and an apology.
Five months later, Yi-jin is a trainee reporter, desperately looking for a landline to report the news from. He does find one, at the unfortunate location of a pet salon, which in turn makes for a tense, borderline farcical reporting of a tragedy. It’s a learning curve for the rookie though, who realises that if he walked just a little further, he’d have stumbled upon a quiet bookstore. Staring at the window, he then sees that Full House volume 15 has been released.
At high school, Hee-do and Seung-wan catch up with each other, discussing Yi-jin and the former’s hopes of him re-appearing. They then head to class, with Ji-woong excited to see the bronze medalist purely because it means Yu-rim will also be in attendance. Following that is a humorous mid-term exam taking scene, before the class discrepancy between the two fencing protagonists is further established with the school bags they own.
At the national team gym, the coach begrudges Yu-rim for losing to Hee-do, upset at her continuous practice defeats. He warns her about slipping up in the Asian Games, which upsets the eavesdropping competitor. Back at the dorm, the two argue over what was said, Hee-do truthfully stating that while she has studied Yu-rim to a tee, her rival refuses to because of her stubbornness in admitting that Hee-do is on the rise. It’s an emotional confrontation at first, but one that quickly escalates into a petty cat fight.
After we see that Yi-jin will be joining the sports desk for Asian Games coverage, we soon see three broadcasters squabble over broadcasting rights. Unsurprisingly, after a rock-paper-scissors fail Yi-jin and co. end up “stuck” with the fencing finals, which excites the upstart but enrages the editor. So, the trainee requests that he is allowed to tell the stories of Hee-do and Yu-rim to the nation, and can cover the fencing himself.
Elsewhere, Jae-kyung and coach Yang talk about a potential commentary role for the “face of fencing,” where it’s also established that Hee-do’s mother had covered the high school coach’s bribe controversy on the news eight years ago. That’s why their relationship is fractured, and the brittle discussion afterwards does little to repair the animosity.
As labour union’s protest on the streets, Yi-jin covers the ongoings for UBS, learning how cameras work, and fantasising about potentially having some notoriety himself. Whilst picturing a scene from a rooftop, the trainee journalist spots Hee-do amongst the crowd, and rushes to find her. In the middle of the march, they meet, frozen still at first, walking emotionally towards each other shortly thereafter. They anxiously talk, and Full House volume 15 is exchanged amidst apologies and a proper catch up. A little later, Yi-jin follows Hee-do to a restaurant, where he meets her boyfriend Jung Ho-jin (a fellow fencer who was earlier spotted on the plane with the bronze medalist). It’s an awkward, comedically cringeworthy meeting, one which shocks present day Min-chae as she reads her mother’s diary, in addition to Yi-jin when he discovers the two have only been together for three days, but appear to have matching key rings and pet names.
However, when Yo-jin leaves to go to the bathroom, it’s Yi-jin and Hee-do who share a love-filled conversation, even if the two don’t quite know it. They talk about everything, the most heartwarming discussion point being the fact that they missed each other deeply, and only cared about each other in between the clustered crowd of protestors.
As Yi-jin reports on the fencing, he silently cheers as Hee-do advances to the final, whilst Yu-rim appears to have finally studied her foe. Following the match, and a snide shoulder bump, the two finalists argue once more over their impending rivalry and potential dream shattering. Elsewhere, Yi-jin fills his editor in on the day’s events, semi-befriending a foreign journalist in the meantime.
At the finals, it’s established that Hee-do’s bag has been taken, with her trusted blue sword now gone too. It upsets the athlete, who leaves in search of her equipment. Concurrently, Yu-rim and Yi-jin reconnect during their supposed interview, with the gold medalist taking issue over his disappearance, and the fact that Hee-do didn’t tell her that he was safe.
The ending
After finding her equipment, Hee-do has to experience delays courtesy of a slow-moving train. Fortunately though, Yi-jin discovers these delays due to a colleague being stuck on the same route, and chases after his friend to collect her. He manages to do just that, motivating an anxious Hee-do in the process, and opening up a closed road to ensure a smooth delivery to the venue. There is a nugget of information gifted during this uplifting scene though, that Ho-jin and Hee-do had split up, and that Yi-jin seems to be content upon hearing this news. There, Hee-do also seems to gather that the reporter may just have feelings for her.
At the arrival gate, Hee-do vows to win the gold medal, entering the venue with palpable confidence. Then, at the beginning of the match, a silence falls on everything but the equipment, and the episode ends.
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