frangirl
cornelia street
This review may contain spoilers
just four flawed women trying to figure out what they want out of life and love
The series is an anthology, which means that it features four different stories about four different women who don't interact throughout the show. (It comprises 8 episodes with 2 episodes for each story.) But this doesn't mean these stories are entirely separated though, because there's one element you can find in all four stories that will confirm that these four women all live in the same timeline and setting. I'm going to talk about each of the four stories one by one, before I talk about it as a whole.
1st story (Eps. 1-2) #23: If I could describe #23's story in one word after watching the others' stories, it would be: VIBRANT. The first two episodes really have a fun, more youthful quality to it, with our heroine being in college and her story starting with her proudly sharing to the audience (that's us) how she managed to place herself in a *secret* "polyamorous" relationship with three men. But she suddenly finds herself in a situation where she's forced to admit to herself the reason why she was doing it and what she was trying to compensate for in exchange. Anyway, this was a fun little story, and while the topic is a little daring (a young woman? dating three men at the same time? without their knowledge?? controversial!!), I think this was the lightest of the four.
2nd story (Eps. 3-4) #29: This was slightly toned down than the first one, with #29 contemplating on running away from her incoming wedding and her awkward fiancé, who she finds she has become too comfortable with. But what really is she running away from? That's what her story of self-discovery is focused on. Our heroine might seem a little fickle, and honestly even I got a little frustrated, but watching her figure it all out was satisfying to watch. I was a little bored in the beginning (I think because I was a little hung up on how much I liked the first story), but by the second half the pace started picking up and got better.
3rd story (Eps. 5-6) #35: The third story takes a dark turn, that it almost felt like it came from a whole different show. (TW: blood, suicide) This was so much more intense than the first two, with #35 going through bouts of insomnia, some PTSD, and occasional panic attacks. She falls in love with a man who she thinks is too good and too kind, not knowing he was carrying a heavy amount of guilt in his heart and dragging some emotional baggage in the form of his wife, whom he is separated from but still legally married to. This was a little hard to watch, but the story was engaging and I honestly can't not pay attention when all that crazy stuff was happening on screen. I found the ending a little too quiet though, especially after the climax crescendoed (I don't think that's a word?) so hard, so the resolution just kinda made me go, "That's it?"
4th story (Eps. 7-8) #42: Seeing as the second half of the series stuck on more mature themes, #42's story is focused on infidelity and trust between a married couple. I liked the questions that were raised here: When is it considered cheating? Is it justifiable to cheat on your spouse if they cheated on you too? Can a couple ever heal from a trust broken between them? Watching an uneventful couple break their routines and lose their cool is uncomfortable for me as a viewer and the way they dealt with things didn't make things easier for either of them. It made me wonder who really was at fault here... Was one person to blame? Or were they both responsible for the cracks in their relationship? It made me, someone in her early-20s, question these things, so I guess I could say that it had quite an impact on me.
As a whole, I think it had solid performances from the four female leads, their love interests were also great as support. I also have to commend Kim Young Ah, who played Ji Sung, the one constant in all four stories. I loved how my perception of her as a viewer changes in every story. It's almost as if we see her character in the eyes of our female leads, making Ji Sung quite the complicated character and arguably the most flawed among those featured on the series.
There's the thing with the cinematography too, with #23's episodes being bright and vibrant, then #29's being slightly more muted, followed by the darker tones of #35's story, and finally, #42's having a gloomier filter. I think this is to signify that each and every person in this world are going through different situations-- we all belong in one show, but we're the main character of our own stories.
1st story (Eps. 1-2) #23: If I could describe #23's story in one word after watching the others' stories, it would be: VIBRANT. The first two episodes really have a fun, more youthful quality to it, with our heroine being in college and her story starting with her proudly sharing to the audience (that's us) how she managed to place herself in a *secret* "polyamorous" relationship with three men. But she suddenly finds herself in a situation where she's forced to admit to herself the reason why she was doing it and what she was trying to compensate for in exchange. Anyway, this was a fun little story, and while the topic is a little daring (a young woman? dating three men at the same time? without their knowledge?? controversial!!), I think this was the lightest of the four.
2nd story (Eps. 3-4) #29: This was slightly toned down than the first one, with #29 contemplating on running away from her incoming wedding and her awkward fiancé, who she finds she has become too comfortable with. But what really is she running away from? That's what her story of self-discovery is focused on. Our heroine might seem a little fickle, and honestly even I got a little frustrated, but watching her figure it all out was satisfying to watch. I was a little bored in the beginning (I think because I was a little hung up on how much I liked the first story), but by the second half the pace started picking up and got better.
3rd story (Eps. 5-6) #35: The third story takes a dark turn, that it almost felt like it came from a whole different show. (TW: blood, suicide) This was so much more intense than the first two, with #35 going through bouts of insomnia, some PTSD, and occasional panic attacks. She falls in love with a man who she thinks is too good and too kind, not knowing he was carrying a heavy amount of guilt in his heart and dragging some emotional baggage in the form of his wife, whom he is separated from but still legally married to. This was a little hard to watch, but the story was engaging and I honestly can't not pay attention when all that crazy stuff was happening on screen. I found the ending a little too quiet though, especially after the climax crescendoed (I don't think that's a word?) so hard, so the resolution just kinda made me go, "That's it?"
4th story (Eps. 7-8) #42: Seeing as the second half of the series stuck on more mature themes, #42's story is focused on infidelity and trust between a married couple. I liked the questions that were raised here: When is it considered cheating? Is it justifiable to cheat on your spouse if they cheated on you too? Can a couple ever heal from a trust broken between them? Watching an uneventful couple break their routines and lose their cool is uncomfortable for me as a viewer and the way they dealt with things didn't make things easier for either of them. It made me wonder who really was at fault here... Was one person to blame? Or were they both responsible for the cracks in their relationship? It made me, someone in her early-20s, question these things, so I guess I could say that it had quite an impact on me.
As a whole, I think it had solid performances from the four female leads, their love interests were also great as support. I also have to commend Kim Young Ah, who played Ji Sung, the one constant in all four stories. I loved how my perception of her as a viewer changes in every story. It's almost as if we see her character in the eyes of our female leads, making Ji Sung quite the complicated character and arguably the most flawed among those featured on the series.
There's the thing with the cinematography too, with #23's episodes being bright and vibrant, then #29's being slightly more muted, followed by the darker tones of #35's story, and finally, #42's having a gloomier filter. I think this is to signify that each and every person in this world are going through different situations-- we all belong in one show, but we're the main character of our own stories.
Was this review helpful to you?
