Next Time On… Tomorrow season 1, episodes 15 & 16

Tomorrow delivered two very solid episodes this week, using real-life history to inform two poignant stories, one the long-awaited exploration of Ryeon’s background and relationship with Jung-gil. With the finale right around the corner, the show is firing on all cylinders, and Tomorrow season 1, episodes 15 and 16 show all the signs of closing this effort out with a real bang. Here’s where we’re up, as per my own most recent recaps:

Episode 13: Colonial occupation is pretty fertile territory for harrowing stories, and “Spring” allows the brutality of the era to do a lot of heavy lifting. Against this backdrop the episode spins a moving yarn about solidarity, as we see Jeong-mun’s interpretation of Yun-I as an almost angelic ray of hope within the darkness. She talked Jeong-mun out of suicide. She retained her positivity even with a broken arm and bought the other girls time to escape even at great physical cost to herself.

Episode 14: This is… bleak, obviously. But it’s a more stirring and mature picture of trauma and loss than many of the previous episodes have been able to manage, and like yesterday’s episode, it uses the historical context to powerful effect. And the fact that this backstory is long-awaited, revealing a lot about two characters we’re very familiar with, only adds to the episode’s value.