Terms of Endearment

"Terms of Endearment", otherwise also known as "Conditions of Love" - I consider this one of the better Korean drama productions that I've watched. A bit long, 44 VCDs, but worth the time. Besides the main plot, there are many sub-plots. Example, there is the sub-plot of the big sister Kang Gum-pah (Chae Si Ra) and her husband, Jin Jung-han (Lee Jong Wong). Then there are the other characters such as Ae-ri's parents (Jang Yong and Yoon Mi Ra) and her aunty (Lee Bo Hee) (on one hand) and the brother (Noh Gwang-tek) (Son Hyun Joo) and uncle (Jung Han Yong) of Yun-tek (on the other) which provided comic relief to the show.

The stories are contemporary in nature and speak of the times we are living now. Marriage problems, extra-marital affairs, the rebelliousness and angst of youth, the psychological effects of childhood experiences carried through to youth and adulthood, and of beauty and cosmetic surgery.

Synopsis of story

(1) Kang Un-pah (Han Ga In), because of lack of maternal love in her childhood days, resorted to seeking love from Jung Sung-ki (Park Yong Woo). Her first love in fact was Noh Yun-tek (Ji Sung) but when Yun-tek went to serve his military stint she left him for Sung-ki.

(2) When Yun-tek came out of the army he went seeking for Un-pah but the stubborn Un-pah would not accept him. She got pregnant by Sung-ki and they arranged to get married. However, Sung-ki ran off on the wedding day.

(3) Yun-tek continued to be a good friend of Un-pah and by way of protecting her, he tried to shelter her past relationship with Sung-ki from other people.

(4) In the meantime the rich Ae-ri (Cho Yeo Jung) falls in love with Yun-tek. Because Ae-ri comes to know about Un-pah's past, she threatens Yun-tek with this knowledge so he would stay with her.

(5) As fate would have it, Un-pah meets Ae-ri's brother, Nah Jang-soo (Song Il Kook). Jang-soo loved Un-pah much and they got married. However, their happy stage of affairs turned for the worst when Jang-soo also found out about Un-pah's past.

(6) Another main sub-plot involved Un-pah's oldest sister, Kang Gum-pah (Chae Si Rae) and her husband, Jin Jung-han (Lee Jong Wong). Their marriage is on the rocks and both succumbed to extra-marital affairs.

So as not to spoil the show for you, I will not say much about the story. Suffice to say, I like Ji-Sung (as Yun-tek) of course (he's sooooo good-looking!) but I grew to like Song Il Kook (as Nah Jang-soo) so much so that I was cheering him on to get Un-pah's hand in the end.

The show has its flaws though. To me, the relationship between Ae-ri's father and his sister (Ae-ri's auntie) seems a bit odd. They're far too close as brother and sister in the light that Ae-re's mother is still alive. Like the characters themselves said so in the show, they (brother and sister) appear as if they're a married couple. She sticks to her brother far too much. Perhaps it is true that in Korean culture, siblings are very close (pardon my ignorance because I'm not Korean nor do I know much of Korean culture).

Also, Yun-tak's self-giving to protect Ga-in's past is okay to some extent but I wonder if he truly loves Ga-in as much as he thought so. It seems impossible that he is able to leave her and go for further studies with Ae-ri and afterwards not even follow up about her well-being. If he really wishes her well, he would have found out (or Ae-ri would, since Jang-soo is her brother) that Ga-in and Jang-soo went their separate ways soon after their departure for further studies. Had he known this, what would he have done? Return home quickly to help sort things out between Un-pah and Jang-soo? This aspect was left dangling perhaps because it would have prolonged the story and the ending would have been difficult.

Then there is the sub-plot of Ga-in's middle sister, Kang Jin-pah (Kim So Hee), and her marriage to Yun-tak's brother, Noh Gwang-tek (Son Hyun Joo). Jin-pah is a lawyer and Gwang-tek is a driving instructor/driver. Again, this seems an unlikely match in today's society. The getting together of Jin-pah and Yun-tek's brother also took a turn too fast. How or what they see in each other was not developed in the show. Given that Jin-pah is a "mind your own business" type of person, it is unlikely that she would want Yun-tek's brother who appears rough and uncool. Having said this, I must say the character of Gwang-tek does have a streak of comedy and goodness in him.

Despite the flaws I still rate this show a 4.5 because at least it does not end like the usual soapies that Korean movies are noted for. Last but not least, there is Ji-Sung. He's so good-looking (I know, I mentioned it earlier but I have to mention it again). Then there is Song Il Kook whom I grew to like. He loves much and is such a forgiving character - what a man!