Review notes were previously posted on Letterboxd, on a private list with watched K-dramas. I deleted the list so will publish the notes here.
My Liberation Notes (2022)
Watched 25 - 31 May 2022 — 16 episodes (DRAMACOOL)
*I really loved this, but I must have loved it much more than I thought I did because I can’t stop thinking about it since I finished it.
*From the same writer as My Mister, I had high hopes for this slice-of-life series about unhappy people who liberate themselves from their past struggles. In the same league as My Mister, it’s a very good drama with well-written characters, good performances, beautiful cinematography and also a great OST again. I especially love the song My Spring.
*Son Suk-ku as Mr. Gu, trying to follow Mi Jung’s (Kim Ji-won) 5-minutes-happy-rule: "I try to be happy for just five minutes a day. So I try to gather up moments of excitement in four and seven-second chunks, to fill five minutes a day. But I haven’t even been able to gather one second today."
*Love the silent moments and the slow pace.
*There’s a lot of drinking and eating again.
*Love Kim Ji-won and Son Suk-ku together and they have great chemistry! They were my favourite people and I was eagerly waiting for their scenes together.
*I loved the scene where they finally meet again after a long time of separation. Son Suk-ku is an alcoholic and a bit of a gangster, but he’s also so adorable and cute.
*I was dreading the ending a bit because I was afraid something bad would happen to Mr. Gu and that it wouldn’t end well. But fortunately the scene at the club wasn’t as violent as I thought it would be, and there were no guns and knives involved, just fist fights, and luckily Mr. Gu didn’t kill anyone and wasn’t badly hurt himself. He wakes up in the morning ready to confront his demons. When he leaves the house with a bag full of money, my first thought was that he was going away and start a new life somewhere else. But reading about the ending online I now believe he’s taking the money to the old man. There’s a significant scene where he buys a bottle of liquor and drops a 500 won coin on the ground, where it rolls to the edge of a drain without falling in. A clear sign that his luck is changing for the better. He then leaves the bottle besides a homeless person. Things also take a positive turn for Kim Ji-won as Mi Jung (I love her character) as she gets closure with her ex and starts feeling lovable again. Like My Mister it has an open and satisfying ending, full of hope, and I like to believe the leads get their happy and romantic ending.
*While filled with emotional heartfelt moments, this drama didn’t make me bawl my eyes out. In fact, I didn’t even really cry, though there were scenes where I had a hard time fighting back tears. Especially when the mother died. (I was watching some of the last episodes while working from home so had to restrain myself from crying.)