Spoiler Warning: If you haven’t watched Netflix’s ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ and are planning on doing so, this article may contain spoilers.
Directed by Cha Young-hoon and written by Seon Yeong, the 2022 K-drama ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ (Korean: 기상청 사람들: 사내연애 잔혹사 편) depicts the life and love of two young adults working for the Korean Meteorological Administration. Their love story, just as in most K-dramas, does not fall within the realms of the ordinary. Complicated childhoods, past trauma, and a love rectangle (yes, a rectangle) all come to challenge our notions of romantic relationships in this drama series.
Admittedly, for most of us, our interest lies in watching Song Kang (playing Lee Si-woo) on screen. However, as with most K-dramas, you eventually get sucked into the characters’ world, becoming fully invested in the plot, despite acknowledging, deep down, that they are often cheesy and -let’s face it- cringe-worthy.
Ignoring the layers of intellect hidden behind this-seemingly- corny TV series, however, would be doing it great injustice.
Forecasting Love and Weather is flooded with witty and powerful symbolisms, drawing parallels between weather phenomena and the intricate nature of human relationships. The series successfully maintains climate and weather as the central theme, without always explicitly discussing how it ties to the characters and their dynamics, but by maintaining it as a constant, implicit “background noise”. From localised heavy rains to migratory anticyclones, the unpredictable nature of weather is entangled with the unpredictable nature of love.
This drama series, though often romanticising reality, does not fail to portray truths of adult love. Unlike many other cinematic productions, this drama does not ignore the fact that love during adulthood is messy. It touches upon how all adults carry a past, baggage which cannot be erased or disposed of when entering a new relationship. It shows how a “grown-up love” entails bringing together two people with their own, unique backstories, childhood trauma and scars, and how this can often lead to conflict — like two clouds colliding.
Though it may not be a cinematic masterpiece, the series certainly has a way of captivating its audience. Whether to keep an eye out for hidden meanings, or to simply enjoy the nostalgia evoked by that familiar blooming love, Forecasting Love and Weather is a series worth binge-watching.
