DNA Lover: Episodes 13-14

1 October 1, 2024October 1, 2024

by Dramaddictally

The penultimate week is high on pining and low on plot. Well, unless you’re totally into the serial killer side story that makes no sense. The drama has officially gone off the rails — and that’s saying something for a show that started with the premise that our perfect partner is coded into our DNA.

EPISODES 13-14

Can we use the term “jump the shark” for dramas? Or is that just standard filler fare when we’re pushing toward the final week? We get little in the way of development these episodes, even though there are at least three confessions. And the response to all three is: Can I have more time to think about it? Oof. That’s a “no” on all counts.

Last week our heroine was coming to terms with the fact that her bestie is her real DNA lover. This week, she’s trying to force herself to see the pros of that fact. He’s always been there for her. He protects her at all times. And she knows she’s taken him for granted, even after all he’s done. And yet… her heart doesn’t care what her brain is telling her. She still wants Yeon-woo.

Kang-hoon, though, is ready to fight for So-jin after standing back for so long. On one hand, he wants to respect her boundaries and wait for her to heal before offering a full-blown confession. But on the other, he’s willing to step between Yeon-woo and So-jin for the first time.

And Yeon-woo is mostly moping around, totally changed, uninterested in any other woman, and regretting his breakup with So-jin. This is where Mi-eun sees her chance to step in and ask Yeon-woo if he wants to live together. It doesn’t have to be a serious thing between them, she says, just somebody to come home to. She wants to be by his side whenever he’s lonely. But Yeon-woo only says he’ll give it some thought.

Our leading pair gets to interact when they go on a volunteer trip to the countryside to do some outdoor work. To escape a swarm of bees, they hold hands and run away, which leads to a bee sting and a piggyback ride to the hospital. The highlight of this moment is that Yeon-woo is in a white t-shirt with his sleeves rolled above his shoulders, showing that our firefighter is not the only one with biceps.

While So-jin and Yeon-woo are tasked with dish duty later that night, he asks how it feels to meet her DNA lover. She’s tells him that she’s happy, but then walks away immediately, almost in tears, unable to be near him. Yeon-woo seems to believe her lie and leaves her alone.

That is, until Mi-eun comes over to Yeon-woo’s place and starts asking about their “cohabitation contract.” She wants to go grocery shopping together, make meals, and stream movies — how’s twice a week sound? She’s laying down limits so he won’t feel obligated. But Yeon-woo turns her down because he can’t stop thinking about So-jin.

Mi-eun says she understands how he feels because she only thought of Yeon-woo when she was with other men. At this, Yeon-woo looks shocked (he seems to have just realized she’s in love with him). And Mi-eun asks if it would have mattered if she confessed earlier. But Yeon-woo only looks down and doesn’t answer. Mi-eun is holding back tears and trying to be tough, but it’s clear she’s in pain. She tells him to go to So-jin and confess how he really feels, but if things don’t work out this time either, he should come to her.

And so, Yeon-woo goes to see So-jin at her house and says he thinks he made a mistake. He wants to know if it’s too late. Can he have another chance? (What’s painful and ironic about this is that it’s basically what Mi-eun just said to him. And he turned her down because he doesn’t feel that way about her.)

So-jin says they should go their separate ways. The old her would have accepted him, but not anymore. She has a new idea about what love is now. She used to think it was when your senses went wild for someone. But maybe what she has with Kang-hoon is real love.

Just after she says it, Yeon-woo is about to object and Kang-hoon appears. He tells Yeon-woo to let So-jin go if he loves her. “That’s love too,” he says, pulling So-jin from the front gate and into the house, where he officially confesses. He tells her that he likes her — no, wait, strike that — he loves her. And he won’t make her cry like the other men did. She’s precious to him. “So, please come to me now.”

So-jin looks surprised and moved (but maybe also sad?), and Kang-hoon leans in to kiss her. As he does, she backs up and knocks a plant off the table, which shatters on the ground and disrupts them before it happens. A few minutes later, when he’s scooting out the door, she asks if she can have more time to respond to what he said. Man, does he look discontent. “Give me the answer when I’m the only one in your heart,” he answers. And I feel for both of the unrequited loves we have going on.

All right, so now we’re forced to talk about that plant. Ugh. Remember that priest that’s been hanging around? Well, up to this point we’ve been led to believe he’s a serial killer. His method is to deliver plants to his victim’s houses, and the plants go up in flames when they’re watered (due to a highly technical series of combustibles that are hidden in the soil). But, you know, Kang-hoon is a firefighter, so when the recently delivered plant at So-jin’s house falls off the table and busts, he literally smells that something is off.

Last week I ventured a guess that maybe the priest is Yeon-woo’s long-lost half-brother who was raised in an orphanage. Well, that scenario did not come to fruition this week. But honestly it doesn’t matter because, as it turns out, it’s not even the priest who’s setting the fires. It’s his twin sister.

What? Not only is the priest a side character that I don’t care about, but now he has a twin sister who just appeared out of nowhere? Is the drama aiming to be funny? Because it’s missing the mark.

Anyway, Kang-hoon finds the hideout of the arsonist and assumes it’s the priest. He goes to tell Yeon-woo about what he found, since it means Yeon-woo’s mom didn’t set the fire that killed her husband. Also, it means So-jin is in danger because she received one of these flammable plants too. And right when Kang-hoon is telling Yeon-woo about all this, Yeon-woo receives one as well. Just as the episodes close, So-jin is kidnapped… by the sister?

I really could not care less about any of this. And I was having trouble paying attention even before. My interest is in the dynamics of our love square and, for me, the best scene this week happens when Yeon-woo decides abruptly that he’s quitting his job at the hospital and moving to the U.S.

He meets with Mi-eun to tell her that he’s leaving. He says that he followed her advice to ask So-jin for another chance and was rejected. Since it’s Kang-hoon who’s by So-jin’s side now, he doesn’t want to intervene anymore. He’s decided that giving up on her is the way to prove his love (hence his need to move abroad, of course).

Mi-eun wants to go with him. She says she proves her love by not giving up. “You shook up my philosophy on relationships and changed my life.” But as she’s confessing how deep her feelings are, he stops her and says he doesn’t want to see someone hurt because of him again. “I’m already hurting,” she says.

And Yeon-woo’s reply is devasting: “I want you to be in my life for a long time. You’re the only person and friend that understands me.” Mi-eun replies that it really hurts. And when he leaves, she cries. I find their dynamic unbelievably authentic. And I wish it was housed in another show that knew better what to do with all the interesting ideas it keeps bringing up about the messiness of love relationships.

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1 Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain

October 1, 2024 at 6:47 PM

Awww, @dramaddictally, I feel for you. This sounds painful for you to watch. I hope your next drama is a million times more fun.

I do wonder: when a show goes totally sideways, can the recapper stop torturing themselves, throw a hangout up on the front page, and let those who are still into it chat amongst themselves? Has that ever happened?