Summary
Like Flowers in Sand gets off to a patient start, but there’s plenty of nuance and potential here.
Like Flowers in Sand isn’t in a rush to get anywhere in Episode 1, and you have to respect that. Season 1 of the new weekly K-Drama is slated for twelve hour-long episodes, and that’s plenty of time to get a story fully told. So, what’s the rush? The premiere introduces viewers to the story of Kim Baek-du and the world of ssireum with a deliberate pace and welcome authenticity and depth.
Sure, it might not be immediately gripping in the way that some dramas are, but there’s a story to be told here that is worth waiting for.
Like Flowers in Sand Season 1 Episode 1 Recap
Baek-du is the son of Tae Baek, a ssireum legend, and is himself regarded – or was regarded – as something of a prodigy in the sport. But things aren’t going well. Following his military discharge in 2019, he has been struggling. He has never won a championship, while his rival Lim Dong-seok is amassing them for fun, despite being younger and less experienced and having a less storied pedigree.
What does Baek-du promise while he’s drunk?
Understandably, Baek-du has become disillusioned with wrestling, comfortable with losing, and immune to the criticisms and unwanted tips of those around him. Emboldened by drink, though, he tells former champion Kwak Jin-soo that if he doesn’t win the upcoming tournament, he’ll retire from the sport.
Despite Baek-du having put this pressure on himself while inebriated, he won’t retract it since he believes, in a roundabout way, that it’s the only logical progression of his future.
There are some other details Baek-du can’t recall from his drunken stupor, including how he got home, or indeed a car that passed by him which is subsequently pulled from a river, its driver dead. It isn’t immediately clear what relevance any of this has, but since it’s being shown to us it will doubtlessly matter down the line.
Does Baek-du beat Dong-seok?
Unluckily for Baek-du, he is paired with Dong-seok in the first round of the tournament, having only just revealed to him a handy trade secret. Given the circumstances, Baek-du is almost in mourning for his career before the tournament has even started, and he doesn’t approach the competition in the best of spirits.
This is bad news since the stakes are high. Baek-du’s father is in attendance, as is the Governor, Hong Man-sik. Predictably, things don’t get off to a good start for Baek-du, who loses the first of three rounds rather easily.
But since we need some drama, Baek-du gets some renewed zeal and puts some real effort in, taking the second round by brute force. This makes the third round a tie-breaker, and with both competitors trying their very best to win, it’s a close and hotly-contested affair.
Rocky II-style, the match is more or less even and Baek-du and Dong-seok hit the mat together, at more or less the same time. However, unlike Rocky II, things don’t go the way of our protagonist. The video replay reveals that Baek-du’s elbow touched the mat first. He lost – and just as the crowd were beginning to get behind him. Just as, in fact, he was starting to believe in himself.
It’s a shallow victory for Dong-seok, too, who would have surely liked to win by a clearer margin, and with the crowd on his side.
How does Like Flowers in Sand Season 1 Episode 1 end?
The premiere ends with Baek-du returning him and getting flipped onto his back as soon as he enters. Looking up from the ground, he recognises the girl who tossed him as his childhood friend Du-sik, but she denies it.
What did you think of Like Flowers in Sand Season 1 Episode 1? Let us know in the comments.
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