When the Weather Is Fine

This drama is still and poetic. It is a slow, warm and exquisite story that lands in your heart. This is not for binging, it is simply to thoughtful and profound. It gives perspective On ordinary life and at the same time it tells us about the extraordinary people that fill this life and their destiny. Beutiful.

Though it mainly takes place in winter, WTWIF is like a caressing summer breeze. Be still; let it flow over & around you. It's about loneliness & togetherness, as well as pain & healing. One could say that a theme of the show is to 'Come In From The Cold.' Tied into that is what is required to come in from figurative cold: Expressing our feelings. Family & loved ones should know about us, about me, about you. Those that take their feelings to the grave remain in frigid, gloomy isolation.

The words "warm" & "cold," along w/ their variations, are ubiquitous in this series. The concepts of warm & cold are visually represented over & over again, via the weather, beverage choices, characters, blankets, coats, or shoes. They weren't stingy w/ it.

The director wasn't stingy w/ quality craft or scattered embers radiating like beautiful glowing gems. For example, ep3 lays out an allegory for the show during book club. In 'The Legend Of The Silver Fox's Eyebrow,' the fox lends his eyebrow to a person who cannot find a real human. Looking thru the eyebrow reveals the true nature of a person. There were pigs, weasels, & rats, but no genuine humans were found. Imagine the fear & isolation that must follow such a non-discovery. In ep15, Mok Hae-won ("Hwon" played by Park Min Young from Her Private Life-8) expresses her version of this tale.

WTWIF has a unique vibe, like the feel of an indie film (except for Hui's scenes). The soundtrack is extended silence w/ a drizzle of subdued chords. The cadence is slow for 14 eps, & eps15-16 aren't necessarily fast paced, but they are jammed packed. The series seems to be moving at the pace of Eun-seob (ES - Seo Kang Joon from Cheese in the Trap-7.7): Plodding, but steady. Around ep7 we're given reason to wonder what the rest of the show could be? By ep15, what came to mind was: Is it almost over already?!😥 What's even happened since ep7?? Charming small town life has happened, along w/ the subdued every day conflicts that don't seem like high drama but for the one living them out.

Speaking of small town life, what's really special about Jang-woo (Lee Jae Wook of Extraordinary You) is that he understands himself & what he wants. It enables him to be content, which is the #1 ingredient for happiness. He chose his hometown over the glamor of Seoul, as he u/s the value of simplicity. We know he's smart, but he is also the /wisest/ of them all & the #1 pillar in the show.

Another delight is Hui, ES's sister (played by Kim Hwan Hee from The Wailing-8.8) who is full of life & J😁Y. She's simply happiness on a bicycle. Her energy is boundless. Her exuberance cannot be squelched. She also can't be stopped, the targets of her affection are learning. While we can't rely on Hui's logic... {If everyone at school hates me, he should be the one that likes me. Hwon: Is that how it works? Hui: of course it is!}... but, perhaps we could benefit from one of Hui's mantras: "That hurts my pride. It really hurts my pride. It hurts my pride SO MUCH!!" Get it out. Expel it! Then move on.

Genetics & the concept of family are touched on - mostly implied, but at times overtly. ES's uncle talks about what's in the family blood. He states it can't be denied, & pushes hard for ES to go away w/ him. This sets up the direct comparison of ES's family to Hwon's family.

Several of the townspeople take delight in belittling ES, b/c they've passed judgment, calling his parents hobos. His adopted mother (Nam Ki Ae from Confessio) is having none of that. She protests when they dispatch ES to rescue people lost in the mountain, claiming they care nothing about him or whether he's in danger. Another time, she declares that she's decided to love ES /more/ to avoid any perception of playing favorites. Her motherly love for ES is absolute, & she never hesitates to express it. She's pillar #2.

There's mirroring, especially between Hwon, Mom, & Aunt. Hwon mirrors both of them & they mirror e/o. Metaphors blanket WTWIF. When ES takes Hwon to her childhood home, she acknowledges that she heard it had fallen into ruin - a metaphor for the family. It continues through Mom, who informs that she fixed the house up "well," & sold it "well." That fix-up process has begun for their family too. Images link characters. Hwon is connected to mom & aunt via lollipops & sunglasses. They don the sunglasses to hide hurt. Lollipops are most likely self-comfort - having something sweet when life turns bitter.

Hwon is drawn to ES like a weary traveler to a cozy seat by the hot coals. ES is always wrapping a coat, blanket, or his arms around her & she can't get enough of it. After the miserable truth about her family history is exposed to Hwon, she runs away to be alone w/ her thoughts. ES finds her on a bench & wraps his coat around her as the camera pans down to a small heater. He holds her. ♨Warmth. Such comforting warmth🔥. If one thinks about it, warmth is simple. Coldness is complicated. 🔳Simplifying🔲 is another theme of the show. Think: Jang-woo.

The Maze Of Sisterfield... The topic of domestic violence is addressed. We witness a woman, days away from death on a hospital bed, who has bruises from a recent beating. In typical fashion, she lies about it. These women exist in a harsh climate that yields no space for compassion or pity; only cold condescension. It's a commentary on the collective, not on the women as individuals.

Severe, or continuous pain can change a person. Like forgetting how a person looked when young, a soul in chronic pain can forget what it's like to be well. After awhile, many that suffer long-standing pain struggle w/ even desiring to be healed: They can no longer visualize it. I've witnessed this. One cannot have a goal that s/he cannot comprehend, perceive, or are too frozen solid to carry out. The ones that love Hwon are unable to communicate it. They genuinely don't think they deserve it. They are icicles lined up next to e/o that never come together. When the weather is fine, they must melt to combine as water; then they can flow together.

Mom was trying to protect everyone, but she ended up isolating them all for a very long time. Her motivation was love, but she failed to express it. Hwon rightly told her: "If we're family, we should share the pain together." Bo-yeong muses that no relationship is flawless, but we can eat on a table that has a crack. Over time, stress cracks are bound to form in relationships (as long as they aren't forming Overtime!). We hurt, apologize, forgive & move on. That's how we need to live. Everyone needs to find their space in which to thaw & breathe.

Hopefully, Aunt & Crybaby will find their space. How STUBBORN can a person be, especially when it's to h/h detriment? The show tells us that some people never let go of the white-knuckled grip they have on their emotions. Aunt is self censured, w/ ice cold resolve to carry out the sentence she's required of herself: Denied love & marriage, denied medical treatment & pain relief, shaded from the world & most human interactions. She treats Crybaby like she treats herself. If she is going to deny herself & live in misery, then Crybaby will just have to accept it. He is more special to her than she will acknowledge. If she lets him go for good, she'll regret it.

Aunt shows evidence of defrost when she implores Mom to write a letter to Hwon. Aunt warns that Mom's motivations will remain a secret forever if not explained. Communication must begin. Then healing is sure to follow.

The director, Han Ji Seung of Mistress, dedicates extended screen time to celebrate the arrival of spring. Hwon can tell it's getting warmer, she says, b/c her breath is fogging up only half the distance as before. The rain starts. Thunder rumbles. Vivid green buds cover the trees. Everybody is talking about the beautiful weather. Spring will welcome hope & simple triumphs.

Oh Dear, I've called this series a poem. We learned the difference between poetry & prose from #2-Unicorn. Did I already forget?

Okay, review:

In the simplest terms, prose is everyday writing. It covers all the different types of writing one reads daily, from blogs, to articles, to novels.

Poetry adds artistic style to writing. It's all about vivid imagery & rhythm. It works to make you feel something, or to drive a point home. Poetry writers select their structure, rhyme scheme, pattern, & words w/ the purpose of arousing emotion.

Nope, it's a poem.

Quotes:

Warmth🔥: It's when my cold hand touches your cold hand and we both become warm. It's when loneliness meets loneliness and becomes cozy. It's when sadness meets sadness and becomes happiness. It's when cold breeze meets cold breeze and becomes soft snow. That is Warmth.

Make a choice(☑◻: If you cannot just love, you cannot just give your heart, you can just give up on the happiness you would gain from loving.

Happiness and unhappiness are like the sides of a coin. If you don't become happy, there is no reason to become unhappy. If you don't possess you cannot lose, you can just disappear from that certain person's sight forever.

I also did a spoiler review.

😌

It's obvious what's makes a heart heal - kindness, compassion, forgiveness, trust, warmth & love. It's all there.

It's a warm show with spectacular cinematography, well laid out screenplay, Touching background scores, Good Acting & beautiful chemistry. Still enjoying it would depend on individuals taste & preferences, yet I suggest you give it a try for yourselves.

-1 bcz I feel a little pace to the plot would have been good.

This show is slow. While I like drama that takes its time to fully develop its characters and storyline, I still find this a little too slow for my liking. Yet, somehow I was never bored and I wanted to find out more as each key character gets closer to others... That the story takes place in a bookstore with no customers, in the countryside near a small town during winter, with almost no dramatic actions to speak of other than a slow reveal of the backstory of each of the main characters probably tell us something. That life can be simple, banal or boring. But it can also be sad, beautiful, heartbreaking or heartwarming. It's really up to each person to decide what you want in life, how actively you want to achieve that goal, how you allow it to affect your happiness if the goal is not achieved. The goal may be as typical as finding love or as banal as being content with your simple life.

The winter countryside scenery is beautiful but filmed in a very understated way which I find brings out the mood of this show. There are a few surprises or twists in the story but they are not the real focus or the highlights. What keeps us interested are the relationships between the characters and the emotional journeys they go through. In this respect, the ending is a good fit with the mood of the story. I like it that the show starts in winter and ends at the imminent arrival of spring. Life goes on and hope is in the air...

I enjoyed this show very much despite its slow pace. The experience is a little like reading a book in a quiet corner, in your own rythme, sipping a coffee and taking the time to contemplate here and there.

This show is definitely not for everyone. I had enough patience and interest to start this and it was all worth it. No unnecessary dialogues at all in this show! There was silence with meaning every time and it was felt very deep. It shows the reality of life we have. There is no action and drama and adventure in our lives. We all have simple lives with simple problems. Yet, this show showed such little emotions so beautifully. Shyness, reading books, forgiveness, expectations, love, family, past, regrets, memories and crushes. These are our lives and this show shows how beautiful our life can get. This show will probably be one of the few shows that have inspired me to change my life. I encourage everyone who are searching meaning and who think simple life ain't much fun to watch it. You never know, what change it might bring in you!