Summary
A modest opener buoyed by smile-raising moments and likable characters.
This recap of Our Blues season 1, episode 1, “Han-su and Eun-hui 1”, contains spoilers.
We start with the morning routine of Park Jung-joon, who appears to live in a bus, somewhat isolated from the rest of the seaside city he resides in. Then, we move on to a young woman sleeping in a house, while Jung Eun-hui cooks to the sound of music. The latter runs a fish market, and we see her begin to drive to an auction, rice balls safely stored, in her modest sized van.
As she passes through her route, she throws some food towards Jung-joon, who passes her in a car. Then, we skip towards a sprinting handcart wheeler, Bang Ho-sik, who is providing ice during a bustling day of trade at the fish auction. As we then continue through the bidding process, we see our protagonists secure their necessary items, ready to serve at the market.
Our Blues season 1, episode 1 recap
https://youtu.be/tc6TReonc84
A little later, a group of older women are picked up by Lee Young-ok, who is taking them out to sea. The group are going scuba diving, aided by captain Jung-joon. However, Young-ok isn’t particularly popular, and one member even wants her kicked out of the ship simply for having a fairly flirtatious nature. Still, Jung-joon is considering dating her, and asks his friend for his opinion, which isn’t exactly a high one.
While the group dive in search of abalones, we see the fish market rife with merchants and buyers. We also witness Eun-hui’s stubborn nature when it comes to bartering, as she repeatedly rejects a customer’s plea for cheaper fish, before she strikes a slightly cut-price deal.
At that point, we move towards a story titled ‘Han-su and Eun-hui 1’, and watch as SS Bank employees hand out flyers to those emerging from the train stations. One of the workers is Choi Han-su, a hardworking employee who goes from streets, to doors, all in the hopes of selling the company’s services. As it turns out, he’s the branch manager, but the salaryman appears to be in financial distress, finding himself disappointed by a friend who cannot lend him money. That doesn’t stop some investment advice, though, before Han-su politely asks if they can talk another time, as he is preparing for a transfer. Shortly after, the manager has to quell an angry customer who wishes to argue over his 20 million won investment losses, and we see that the departing worker is rather astute in his calming tactics.
Struggling in his home life, Han-su is moaned at by his younger brother over the living situation of his mother. The sibling dislikes the minimal cash sent over to the household, as well as the fact that he has to look after their parent in spite of being younger. Then, Han-su video calls his wife as they discuss the poor finances in their own life, and he struggles to come to terms with his family’s hardships overseas in the US. Instead, he focuses more on their daughter, Bo-ram, and whether there is a potential solution for her golfing yips.
After preparing his new apartment in Jeju, ready for a fresh start, Han-su watches out the window as Eun-hui and a car driver argue over a collision. The market runner finds herself frustrated when called a tramp in this confrontation, with subsequent threats to the egotistical man including doing jump rope with his intestines, and stretching out his prostate “like a clothesline.” Ultimately, the two part clumsily when others begin to intervene, and a bloodied up Ho-sik tries to stall the perpetrator as he tries to flee. Meanwhile, some high school students watch on and discuss the ongoings, while a couple of townspeople reroute ensuing traffic.
Now at the harbour, a sleeping Lee Dong-seok is woken up by the incessant sound of vehicle horns, urging him to get moving. He’s an unenthusiastic businessman, who records his announcement of goods with minimal energy. Elsewhere, Eun-hui and Han-su reconnect for the first time in over 20 years by chance during some road trouble.
Following on from his initiation at the SS Bank branch he has been transferred to, Han-su navigates through the client list, moving through stalls while greeting people. There is one nugget here, that Eun-hui is a rich VVIP client with plenty of cash, and five shops to her name. It impresses a curious Han-su, who even goes as far as to enquire about her marriage status (we discover there is history between the two in the past). But he is also set a cynical goal, to rope Eun-hui into an investment opportunity when the two meet at a school reunion.
After a meeting with his sister on her farm goes anything but well, Han-su still goes to text his sibling requesting a hefty loan. That is until he realises his mistake, deleting the draft only to solemnly poke around at his food. While he settles to watch footage of his daughter play golf, he receives a message from a happy Eun-hui, who can’t wait to see her “first love” again. Looking out the window at one of the many buildings his former partner owns, Han-su wonders about what he’s been doing with his own life, and confesses his jealousy.
Next, there’s a heartwarming flashback of Eun-hui and Han-su’s meeting as friends when the former was carrying a pig on the bus, and the latter defended her from tormenting bullies. In the present, the rich businessperson further remembers those days, as well as their unlikely, unique bonding on a field trip to Mokpo. Concurrently, Han-su is doing the same type of reminiscing to himself, while he shines his shoes ready for a reconvening at the school reunion. As the bank worker closes his curtains following one more flashback which shows the mutual romantic feelings between the two, the episode ends.
You can stream Our Blues season 1, episode 1, “Han-su and Eun-hui 1”, exclusively on Netflix.
