‘Something in the Rain’…A microscopic exploration of a relationship and what makes and breaks it.
Yoon Jin Ah (played by the fantastic Son Ye Jin), is one of the most well-rounded female (lead) character I have seen on (Korean) screen till now. The first ten minutes of the first episode itself is a testament to that. We are introduced to her as she is inspecting one of the coffee stores under her company’s franchisee. She is strict and all the staff stands around in silence either out of fear or respect as the camera pans from afar behind the glass doors. Then right after this, she buys a new pair of dress and shoes before going on for a date with her boyfriend, Gyu Min, (played by Oh Ryong), where he ends the relationship. Soon enough she is out at a bar, with her best friend, Seo Kyung Sun, (a wonderful Jang So Yeon), drinking heavily and pouring her heart out to her.
In this short span itself, we see the various personas of one character — from her strict demure at work to her carefree attitude with Kyung Sun, Jin Ah is made as relatable as possible. Tv shows always tend to make characters fit into a set character trait, but inherently we are different with different people and Jin Ah is no exception to that case.
She is in her mid 30’s, has a good job, is a caring daughter and sister but she is unmarried, meaning, she gets a lot of unsolicited advice from everyone around her, and sometimes this ticks her off, like when Gyu Min dares to have dinner with her parents, after cheating on her, so she wears the most provocative dress she can find, just to embarrass him. Or when she grabs a drink with her disgruntled client after work, to try to get him to rejoin the coffee house chain. Or when she dances to 2NE1’s ‘I am the best’ in the office all by herself at the end of a stressful day. There is even a shot of her on the subway escalator, where you really need to scan the screen to look for her. She might as well be just another face you see on your way to work, but Jin Ah is just tired of keeping up the perfect, well-disciplined act at all times, and this streak of crazy strikes exactly the right chords and doesn’t result in something extremely stupid.
Jung Hae In’s Seo Joon Hee (Jung Hae In in his first lead role) is the simple and collected (at most times) counterpart to the complex Jin Ah. The workplace is a mirror to their different personalities and the age gap; Joon Hee’s office welcomes him with a playful toy gunfight and they even select what to eat for lunch with a game, while Jin Ah’s office is discriminatory towards the women. It is like battlefield she has to survive every day, which is in conjunction with her home life, where even her mother (Kil Hae Yeon), nudges her daughter to get back with her cheating boyfriend, just because he is rich, and a graduate of Seoul University.
However, these differences only complement their relationship and brings out the crazy, passionate love and the deep understanding they have for each other and their families. The cinematography becomes a terrific extension of their relationship.
The whole duration of Jin Ah and Joon Hee’s relationship, until it is disclosed to others, are wide shots, with slow-motion and rarely any dialogues. It is a reflection of the honeymoon phase of their relationship, and we are just observers, sitting afar from them, and watching them, in their small happy bubble. However, once the secret is out, the story is comprised of medium shots, as just like the rest of the characters, we are also in on the secret. Even Jin Ah’s and Joon Hee’s dinner dates become boring. We get much closer shots of them, and we are in on all their conversations.
The core plot if simplified is about an older woman in a relationship with a younger man, but the bigger problem actually is how they have grown up together, so everyone assumes that they are like siblings, so when the relationship is revealed, it comes off as a brutal shock to everyone around them. When Joon Hee takes Jin Ah camping with his friends, who all have younger girlfriends, you keep excepting someone to ask him why he is dating an older woman, but no one does, because it’s not supposed to be a problem.
This is not the first time in a drama that there are two characters who have grown up together, and then eventually fall in love. The whole Reply series hinged on this notion, and we saw it in Pinocchio and Hwarang as well, but except for the initial resistance, the couple does find happiness. In Something in the Rain, there are too many threads attached, and as predicted, each one snaps as Jin Ah and Joon Hee confess about their feelings to others, and it wedges a conflict between both of them too, as they find it difficult to keep themselves and everyone around them happy.
Kil Hae Yeon is unapologetic as the nagging and stubborn mother, who is dead against Jin Ah’s relationship with Joon Hee, and goes to various lengths to break them apart. The show doesn’t apologise for her behaviour, and neither does it grant any sympathy, but there is one moment, where it asks us to look at her from her point of view, even for a very short while. It is when she goes over to Joon Hee’s house in the middle of the night, knowing that Jin Ah is spending the night there. Carla Bruni’s (original by Tammy Wynette) ‘Sometimes its hard to be a woman’/ ‘Stand by your man’, plays in the background, a small nod to the fact that she as a mother feels that she is doing the right thing, and its the people around her who don’t understand.
This same song is played multiple times over different female characters at different points, and even with the same lyrics, it resonates differently to each one, depending on the situation and the character.
The only weak link in the story was the whole sexual harassment subplot that progresses smoothly along with the main storyline, but after spending such a significant time on it, we never get the closure that the show was building up to. On the upside, JTBC is a craving quite a niche with its intricately detailed and realistic melodramas. After Just Between Lovers, this is the second melodrama that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching. They seem to have mastered showcasing the melodrama, with less of the melo and more of the drama.
Something in the Rain is also one of those rare gems that comes along rarely, but when they do, it becomes worth the wait.
