Summary
My Liberation Notes continues the focus of the previous episode in a somber chapter that finds Mr. Gu at a personal crossroads.
This recap of My Liberation Notes season 1, episode 10 contains spoilers.
The ninth episode of My Liberation Notes was very much about Mr. Gu, and he continues to be the primary focus here in the tenth, as the hour opens with his past – his exhaustion, his frustration – and then catches back up to his present, where he isn’t much better. Drunk, stumbling, morose, Mi-jeong saving him from wild dogs seems like delaying the inevitable to him. He’s due what’s coming to him, he thinks.
My Liberation Notes season 1, episode 10 recap
Smartly, this episode doesn’t overwhelmingly focus on this plotline at the expense of others. So, we see more of Chang-hee’s hostility towards A-reum, which he’s working on, and his burgeoning belief that Gu is a rich man fallen from grace. And we get to see Gi-jeong meeting up with Tae-hun, which backfires rather considerably
But Gu remains the defining thread. He’s at a personal crossroads, having been beaten down by guilt and pressure, tired of that feeling of running from a tireless past. His relationship with Mi-jeong is suffering, obviously. But his relationship with himself isn’t going much better. He has no idea what he wants, where he wants to be, or whether he even can be anything other than what he is right now.
Perspective is a funny old thing. The success and privilege that a flash car represents to one person might not even be detectable by another. We want different things, see different ways of getting them, and what truly matters is always debatable. But we always have to live with ourselves. Mi-jeong’s words about dating assholes ricochet around Mr. Gu’s head as the episode comes to a close – is that how he sees himself? Just another ill-advised decision in a long line?
We understand that Mr. Gu is wallowing in guilt, and we know that he has attributed a kind of guardian angel status to Mi-jeong, his inadvertent savior. This somber hour reflects on that, while a few notes of levity – mostly courtesy of Chang-hee – are able to puncture the cloud of confusion and contemplation that lays heavily over the rest of the installment. My Liberation Notes continues to quietly impress.
You can stream My Liberation Notes season 1, episode 10 exclusively on Netflix.
