Maestra – Strings of Truth: Episodes 3-4

by mistyisles

Hold onto your sheet music, folks — we’re veering sharply into makjang territory as a betrayal rocks our heroine’s world and long-kept secrets teeter on the edge of discovery. But she’s far from down for the count, because as long as she’s upright and breathing, nothing is going to come between this conductor and her music.

EPISODES 3-4

After a lengthy review of last week’s events, we jump back for a closer look at Pil’s affair with French horn player LEE AH-JIN (Lee Shi-won). Pil had promised to break things off with Se-eum, only to leave Ah-jin hanging once Se-eum actually got back in town. Hence, it was Ah-jin who, out of jealousy, lured Se-eum to witness the stairwell makeout session. Also worth noting is that Jung-jae knows about the affair, which is why he tried to sabotage both the orchestra concert and Se-eum’s marriage. To spare her the heartbreak, he claims. (Still doesn’t make him any less controlling, I say.)

In the aftermath, Se-eum ignores Pil’s panicked attempts to explain, as well as Jung-jae’s unhelpful attempts at consolation, and wanders off to drink her sorrows away. Jung-jae finds her later anyway and puts her up in a hotel for the night. She is not grateful.

In the morning, Se-eum returns home, where Pil has been anxiously waiting. He launches into his explanation, somehow managing to both own up to his “mistake” and blame his infidelity on her because “she never visited and he was lonely.” Then he hammers the nail in his own coffin by pointing to her past relationship with Jung-jae as if it’s proof that she was also going behind his back.

To Ah-jin’s dismay, Se-eum pulls herself together and doesn’t even miss a day of work. When Ah-jin hints that Se-eum should quit for their mutual comfort, Se-eum tells her to leave her personal life at home and avoid giving Se-eum a (professional) reason to kick her out.

But trouble is still afoot, because oboist KIM BONG-JU (Jin Ho-eun) also saw Pil and Ah-jin in the stairwell, and he leaks the photos he took online in exchange for a supply of drugs (apparently a common practice for him). The ensuing scandal engulfs not only the involved parties but the entire Han River Orchestra, to the point that Jung-jae has to promise his company’s executives that he’ll personally cover the cost of damages.

So Se-eum takes matters into her own hands. In a televised interview, she declares the photos fake and expresses unshakable trust in Pil as a partner in both life and music. What’s more, she announces that her orchestra is set to perform his newest composition in their very next concert.

This is news to Pil, considering Jung-jae has just fired him for failing to write any new music over the past few years. He’s in a slump, and having his affair exposed certainly isn’t making the music flow any easier. But while Se-eum has accepted the end of her marriage, she’s not going to let anything ruin her orchestra, so she shows up at Pil’s home to help him finish the piece. They pull multiple all-nighters to do it, but in the end, they have a finished piece and Pil has a renewed appreciation for what a great thing they had together.

That’s when Ah-jin arrives and slaps an ultrasound photo down in front of Se-eum, demanding that Pil decide between them right here and now. Se-eum musters a flat, “Congrats. You always wanted a baby.” And Pil drags Ah-jin outside to ask for time to think about it. Which is in itself an answer.

Se-eum resumes rehearsals with the new piece, minus Ah-jin and Bong-ju, the latter of which was kidnapped by Jung-jae’s minions for publicizing the scandal. Jung-jae hits Bong-ju right where it hurts — he reports him to his assemblyman father, who promptly locks Bong-ju in his room so he can’t cause any more trouble.

Just as Se-eum settles into a new groove of pretending everything is fine, her car gets T-boned by none other than Ah-jin. Everyone, unborn child included, survives the crash, but Se-eum’s arm is broken. Still, only her father is able to convince her to stay in the hospital and recuperate. Se-eum is determined to conduct the new piece during the concert itself, but requests that the conductor she replaced fill in for her in the meantime, since the musicians already know and trust him.

Pil learns belatedly about Ah-jin’s involvement, and tells her they’re through — the most he’ll give her from now on is child support. Ah-jin insists the accident was caused by failed brakes… which turns out to be true, if you interpret “failed” as meaning “deliberately cut.” She points the detective to Se-eum as a possible culprit, but there’s no evidence to support or disprove the claim.

Meanwhile, Se-eum’s father gently tries to convince her to undergo blood tests while she’s hospitalized. Her mother, it turns out, has a hereditary disease that causes deterioration of memory and motor skills. Se-eum prefers not to know if she’s inherited the condition until and unless it renders her completely unable to work.

Her refusal of tests pings Jung-jae’s radar, since she did the same back when they were dating. It doesn’t take him long to find Se-eum’s mother and learn all about her condition — and he decides to confront her about it right when she’s about to step onstage for the concert.

There’s a lot to unpack here. I’m guessing Se-eum’s mother tried to kill her in a warped attempt at “saving” her from this terrible disease. Which, when combined with Jung-jae’s attempts at solving problems for her (usually against her will), could make for an interesting conversation about what it really means to have someone’s best interests in mind.

At the same time, this potentially unavoidable fate explains Se-eum’s laser focus on making the absolute most of her career while she can. And, while I’m not sure she’s let herself think this far in advance, it also makes losing her faith in her husband that much more devastating in the long run. Now that I think about it, though, I’m curious if she sees the “beautiful tragedy” depicted in their “Sunflower” piece as a metaphor for their relationship or for her career. Or both.

On that note, this week did a great job of showing why Se-eum and Pil made such a great team in the first place — and how right Se-eum was when she called Pil a coward who gives up at the first sign of difficulty. If he does intend to win Se-eum back, he’ll have to do a lot of growing in that department.

 
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