Motel California: Episodes 1-2

by quirkycase

Motel California gives us a slow-paced story with likeable characters and cozy vibes that suit the season. These premiere episodes are mostly setup that introduce us to our childhood friends turned lovers whose lives take different directions after high school, but they find themselves reconnecting after a decade. While there’s certainly time to dial up the antics, and I have no doubt the small town ajummas will proudly take up that challenge, so far it’s on the contemplative rather than dramatic side.

 
EPISODES 1-2

I had no idea what to expect going into this, but I was pleasantly surprised. I haven’t fallen in love with it yet, but I did enjoy the understated, wintery vibes. The chill soundtrack, unhurried pace, and somewhat subdued style made this feel cozy. I liked the character and story setup in these episodes, so I’m curious to see what happens now that everything is established.

This is primarily a character-driven drama, so let’s start with introductions. Our two leads are childhood friends JI KANG-HEE (Lee Se-young) and CHUN YEON-SOO (Na In-woo). They grew up in a rural town where Kang-hee’s father JI CHUN-PIL (Choi Min-soo) owns the less than lucrative Motel California which served as both family business and home.

Kang-hee is ambitious and ready to get out, but Yeon-soo plans to stay at least in part due to his grandfather. In a fun twist on the usual childhood-friends-to-lovers formula, Kang-hee knows Yeon-soo likes her (and she likes him back), so she propositions him: they should sleep together before she leaves for Seoul for college. She hopes they can be each other’s first. It’s always nice to see a proactive heroine who isn’t afraid to say what she wants.

She’s clearly the more assertive of the two – Yeon-soo is hesitant and self-conscious, but he ends up agreeing despite knowing she’s leaving for good that night. They both have their insecurities, although Kang-hee is the type who would rather die than let it show. For Yeon-soo, it’s his weight and for Kang-hee, it’s her mixed heritage (evidenced by unsettling looking colored contacts). They’ve always found comfort and acceptance in each other, but that’s not enough to keep Kang-hee in their hometown.

So rather than hidden love between best friends, we get a different starting point and history for when they reunite ten years later. Yeon-soo still carries a torch for her and goes to Seoul regularly hoping to run into her like the hopeless romantic he is. Against all odds, he actually spots her at a random café, although he’s so stunned he misses his chance to talk to her. But it’s not like Kang-hee has forgotten him either. She thinks of him often, feeling like a disappointment for her lack of success after “abandoning” him.

In a reversal of fortunes, Yeon-soo is now a veterinarian, keeping the local farm animals healthy. The ambitious Kang-hee is a struggling interior designer turned construction worker after reporting unfair work practices got her blacklisted in the design world. Things turn around when she gets a mentor in designer HWANG JUNG-GOO (Woo Mi-hwa) and meets eccentric rich clients GEUM SEOK-KYUNG (Kim Tae-hyung) and ESTHER PARK (Seo Ye-hwa).

Esther and Seok-kyung are exes who are happily separated and close friends. He’s even gifting her a remodeled home as a wedding gift. They both take a liking to Kang-hee and her unique designs, but Seok-kyung is taken just as much by Kang-hee’s brazenness as her designs. Uh oh, I smell a love triangle brewing.

Back in town, Yeon-soo gets an admirer in YOON NAN-WOO (Choi Hee-jin), a vet hoobae who quickly becomes enamored with him and is already asking around if he’s single. Not that it matters since he’s oblivious to anyone who isn’t Kang-hee. Now we’ve got two love triangles that seem doomed from the start.

What finally brings Yeon-soo back into the town’s orbit is the death of Yeon-soo’s grandfather. While all but her few childhood friends badmouth her for her infamous temper and supposed resemblance to her mother, Yeon-soo hugs her like no time has passed. But it’s quickly clear why she’s stayed away so long. She’s been bullied by adults and children alike since she was little for growing up poor in a motel, being mixed white and Korean, and being a strong-willed girl (which basically means she fights back when she or someone else is attacked).

Kang-hee returns to Seoul immediately after the funeral, but this time keeps in touch with one of her old friends HAN AH-REUM (Lee So-hee). She even calls Yeon-soo to apologize for the scene at the funeral – she got into a fight with one of her old bullies, culminating in Yeon-soo punching the guy – and hears a woman’s voice over the phone. Of course, she assumes he has a girlfriend because men and women don’t speak otherwise, I guess.

Then, we trade one misunderstanding for another. Kang-hee and her dad meet at a hotel every year for their shared birthday. This year, she enlists Seok-kyung’s help as a fake boyfriend to get her dad off her back. When she shows up to the hotel room with Seok-kyung on her arm, who does she find? Yeon-soo, likely hoping to explain that he is very single. Whoops.

Strangely, Yeon-soo recognizes Seok-kyung. We get a flashback of the one time Yeon-soo did meet up with Kang-hee shortly after she’d moved to Seoul. He witnessed her boss yelling at and hitting her. Before he could step in, Seok-kyung had handled it – he’d taken a video of the interaction and pinned the man down. Neither Seok-kyung nor Kang-hee appear to have recognized each other from ten years ago, though. Now, Seok-kyung plays his fake boyfriend role, assuming Yeon-soo is the target of the act. We end as he essentially asks for Kang-hee’s hand by asking Yeon-soo to “transfer ownership,” which yikes (although Kang-hee did use those words to Seok-kyung first when talking about her father).

I hope we don’t go too hard with miscommunication right out of the gate. I like that Kang-hee and Yeon-soo have been honest with each other up to this point, and all the characters have been acting fairly mature (aside from the bullies), so I don’t want that to go out the window for a forced misunderstanding. Given Kang-hee’s directness and no-nonsense manner so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if she just told Yeon-soo the truth about the fake boyfriend bit. Then again, she might choose to go with it if she feels like Yeon-soo wants her to return to their hometown.

To that end, I’m not sure what Yeon-soo thinks is going to happen. Kang-hee made it clear that she can’t live in their hometown and deal with the mistreatment, even though she loves him. And he’s made no mention of leaving, yet he seems insistent that he and Kang-hee will one day be together. How does that work, exactly? They may both be pining for each other, but Kang-hee is also pragmatic and not willing to sacrifice herself for love. I’m not sure how the drama will resolve that dilemma, and there are ways it could go wrong, but I hope we get a thoughtful look at choices, love, and expectations.

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