Summary
Romance in the House approaches its halfway point with another decent but unspectacular episode, though it’s moving in the right direction.
Episode 5 brings Romance in the House very close to its midpoint, and it feels like the plot is still beginning to pick up. I’m on record being down about this show, which has seemed confused since the beginning about the tone and even genre it wants to operate in, but I do, in fairness, think these issues are lessening. The comedy is still there, that’s for sure, but more intriguing plot machinations and nuanced characterizations are starting to take centre stage.
I’m still interested in the Moo-jin/Mi-rae relationship above and beyond anything else, which is probably by design, but there’s just enough going on here to keep viewers satisfied – provided they didn’t tap out already from the abundance of ill-fitting shenanigans that have bogged things down.
Once Upon A Time
Episode 4 of Romance in the House ended with Mi-rae at her wit’s end over her father’s return and its implications, but Episode 5 begins with a flashback to a happier time. This is obviously a gimmick that the show is keen on employing to communicate to the audience that this was once a happy family; we’ve had scenes of Moo-jin and Mi-rae in a more innocent time, and here we see Moo-jin’s marriage to Ae-yeon.
It’s funny how a promise can mean so much at the time but be so easily broken. Ae-yeon wanted reassurances that they’d love each other forever. And perhaps they still do. But the marriage didn’t go quite like that, and Moo-jin’s obsessions and irresponsibility broke the family apart. As if to emphasize the point, in the present day he’s talking to his ex-lover, Jeong-in, whom he met in Thailand after leaving his family behind in Korea.
It’s Time To Move On
Moo-jin continues his efforts to woo Ae-yeon throughout Episode 5, to mixed effect. He does manage to convince her to go to dinner with him, but she’s not receptive to his claims that he’s a different man now and that Ae-yeon is the only woman for him. You can tell in how she chastises Moo-jin about spending money that his financial mismanagement in the past has left long-lasting scars.
Ae-yeon’s rejection upsets Moo-jin, especially the part that he has no place in the family. But it’s easy to see where Ae-yeon is coming from. Later, she tells Mi-rae that it was her who gave her the strength to divorce Moo-jin in the first place. The nosy neighbours aren’t convinced, but Ae-yeon is adamant that she really does want Moo-jin to move on and find someone else.
When Ae-yeon invites in a very drunk Jeong-in and finds a photo of her and Moo-jin, though, it stirs something inside her. She feels betrayed. When she confronts him about it towards the end of the episode, he naturally asks if he’s jealous, interpreting this as evidence that Ae-yeon still wants him.
There’s Another Kid In This Family
It’s easy to forget that Mi-rae isn’t Ae-yeon’s only child – there’s also Hyeon-jae, whom everyone seems to just forget about. But Moo-jin’s return has had a pretty profound effect on the kid, who has been bunking school, and plans to drop out and start a business.
Mi-rae, naturally, blames Moo-jin for instilling these weird ambitions in Hyeon-jae, and she cautions him that while he’s busy trying to make amends and be father of the year, he needs to take responsibility for his son.
This isn’t something that can’t be solved with grand financial gestures. It requires attentiveness and understanding and actual love, which Moo-jin might not be capable of. I’m leaning towards the idea that he is perhaps not quite as bad as we’re being led to believe, and I think there’s more to be revealed about his relationship with Jeong-in, but that’s for later. If he wants to truly make amends in the meantime, he’s going to have his work cut out.
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