Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 7

by javabeans

The playing field gets a shake-up and the dynamics get turned all upside-down and around, in a fun way that makes for some significant character movement. I love to see the orchestra coming to the fore and becoming, rather than an albatross around your neck to drag you down, something shiny and exciting on its own merits. It’s called special for a reason! Furthermore, when you’re the hero who always gets everything, it’s a little jarring to be confronted with not having it all—or more to the point, to get what you wanted only to see that maybe it’s not what you wanted after all.

SONG OF THE DAY

Leonard Bernstein – “Mambo” from West Side Story [ Download ]

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LESSON 7 RECAP

Yoo-jin bristles to see the new guy, Yoon-hoo, paying attention to Nae-il, which brings out his inner caveman as he pulls her to himself. Yoon-hoo explains that he’s auditing classes here while on break from Juilliard, and watches Yoo-jin’s display of jealousy with amusement. The scoring for this moment is particularly apropos, with Prokofiev’s famous Montagues-versus-Capulets piece marking the tension, all bombast and machismo. Although let’s be honest here; it’s mostly a one-sided thing, even if Yoo-jin won’t admit it.

Nae-il marvels that this is the first time Yoo-jin has hugged her, which puts Yoo-jin in the awkward position of protesting that it totally wasn’t a hug while not wanting to back away entirely—since, you know, he was proving a point to New Guy. But New Guy has his number, sizing up the situation accurately—he guesses that they’re not dating, though he recognizes that things just got harder for himself (and his interest in Nae-il).

Teacher Do steers Yoon-hoo toward joining the A Orchestra, frowning when Yoon-hoo expresses interest in the maestro’s special orchestra instead. He has heard that Maestro Streseman and Yoo-jin will be performing for the upcoming Classical Night concert, and assumes that the S Orchestra will be chosen to accompany. Teacher Do implies otherwise.

Yoo-jin announces to his members that they’ll be accompanying his concerto—aw, so he did pick the S Orchestra after all? I was afraid he’d waffle when it came time to put his own playing on the line, but he just tells them to do a proper job of it and lets them squee at the idea of performing at a televised event.

Nae-il has spent all night thinking about Yoo-jin’s hug and has come to the conclusion that he was jealous of Yoon-hoo giving her attention. Yoo-jin argues, of course, but she’s totally right so there’s really no way he’s convincing about it.

Streseman gives Yoo-jin a shock by declaring that they’ll be performing with the A Orchestra instead, and that the news has already gone out to the press. Yoo-jin argues to use the S Orchestra, but Streseman points out that it’s different when you’re conducting musicians who are skilled. Aw, sad. Not that he’s wrong about which is the safer bet, but I sure hope this is another lesson-test, because otherwise Streseman is just talking out of both sides of his mouth. Not that I hold him to high standards of reason anyway.

Not knowing this, our central S Orchestra crew celebrates at Dad’s restaurant. Nae-il wonders what’s taking Yoo-jin so long to join them, not seeing that he’s watching from the window wearing a long face. Aw, now that’s positively Dickensian. Heaving a sigh, he moves on without making his presence known.

Yoo-jin’s mother she can’t get a hold of Yoo-jin on the phone, so she drops by his place directly, ostensibly to drop off some health drinks but really just to be a typical nosy mom. She notes with interest a memo on his fridge, listing Nae-il’s requested menu items for the week. Cute.

Mom asks knowingly if he has a girlfriend, and says it’s good to see him making friends with his peers and pursuing conducting. She asks if he still finds his S Orchestra friends annoying, and he smiles, “A little.” Thinking of how they invited themselves in and nagged his ear off the last time, he amends, “Well, they’re not so annoying.”

She says they seem like good people who genuinely care about him, and he agrees that they’re all sincere people, able to show their truth on the outside. Mom says not everyone lives bottling everything up on the inside like he does. He explains, “It’s because if you receive that sincerity, you have to return it in kind. I thought there wouldn’t be time to return it, since I’d be leaving for overseas. I didn’t know this trauma would be so long-lasting. So I didn’t accept it. But this time I ended up accepting it, without knowing it.”

Yoo-jin appeals to Streseman again about switching to the S Orchestra, adding that without either of them, the orchestra might just dissolve. Streseman is unconcerned by that prospect and tells him to think rationally about whether the S Orchestra is truly up for the task. Yoo-jin doesn’t hesitate for a second as he makes his decision: If he can’t perform with the S Orchestra, he will withdraw from the concert.

Streseman accepts this decision readily, to Teacher Do’s alarm. This merits another call to the faculty chairwoman, and they are more convinced than ever that they must be rid of Streseman.

Teacher Do can’t persuade Yoo-jin to change his mind, so he takes a more effective, if dirty, approach: blackmail. If Yoo-jin refuses to perform with the A Orchestra, Teacher Do will make sure his S buddies suffer accordingly. Using their poor showing at the recent music festival as ammunition, he threatens to push for dissolution of the orchestra… unless Yoo-jin complies, of course, in which case he will generously give up those plans. Oh you dick.

Il-lac, Mini Min-hee, and Su-min are still hopped up on excitement over the prospect of performing, and the spiteful A Orchestra members rather enjoy telling them the truth. *Pop* goes the bursting bubble.

Nae-il is surprised to see Yoon-hoo joining her for class, and wonders at the coincidences bringing them together. He merely asks, “Are they really coincidences?” Nae-il gets a call from Il-lac informing her of the A Orchestra situation, and she’s so alarmed she dashes right out of the room as class is about to begin. Yoon-hoo, clearly only in this class for her, excuses himself as well.

Nae-il races straight to the rehearsal hall, where Yoo-jin joins them after spending the afternoon mulling over his dilemma. The members wait hopefully for a denial, but Yoo-jin confirms the rumors as true and calls the earlier announcement his mistake. I so wish he’d defend himself more, but he does the cool/noble thing by taking the blame for the misunderstanding in the most blanket way (and thus without explanation for any motives). He says that the A Orchestra is the obvious choice and lets them think the worst of him.

He reminds them that he’s not even their official conductor, and is merely a student. The dismayed members clamor for Yoo-jin to reconsider and not abandon them, but Il-lac surprises them by roaring at everyone to cut it out. Perhaps he’s the most hurt by what he sees as Yoo-jin’s betrayal, and he instructs the orchestra not to cling to someone who doesn’t want them, asking Yoo-jin to leave. Yoo-jin tells him on his way out that they earned the applause at the end-of-term performance entirely on their own merits.

Nae-il chases him out to plead with him to stay, and half-threatens to become his enemy because she’s going to stick with the S Orchestra as its mascot. It’s cute and a little heart-pinching when Nae-il overestimates her importance like that (that he would stay just because she asked), though I also appreciate that childlike simplicity about her.

The S Orchestra members start packing up their things to head home, but Il-lac tries to prevent their departure by insisting that they’re not done for. He reminds them that they’ve got him as leader, but that doesn’t mean much to the members, who scoff that now they really are only bottom-rung students.

That evening, Il-lac waits outside Yoo-jin’s apartment to intercept him, pleading with him to change his mind. It’s so sad watching him try all sorts of different angles, from bargaining to begging to threatening, and seeing that Yoo-jin feels terrible for hurting his friends. But because he’s that guy who bottles things up inside, he just clings to his gruff exterior, saying that the decision is made.

A flicker of emotion does cross Yoo-jin’s face when Il-lac refers to himself as bottom-rate—like he doesn’t believe that of Il-lac—but he’s got a stern facade to maintain. Il-lac appeals to him as best friend, and Yoo-jin says that the BFF status only goes one way, because Il-lac isn’t his bestie. Aw, sad. He keeps his composure while Il-lac threatens to erase him from his phone, while Il-lac regrets hitting delete almost instantly. Boys, just say I love you and make up!

Yoo-jin pauses in front of Nae-il’s door, though he decides against ringing her bell. He heads inside his apartment… and finds Nae-il already there, waiting for him to cook her dinner. I love that he’s clearly relieved even if he doesn’t know how to show it, and she explains that even if they’re warring outside, they’re still in “love mode” inside, like they’re spouses who’ve had a spat. And then he makes her a steak dinner, so I guess maybe he does know how to show it, even if it’s totally roundabout and indirect.

Yoo-jin rehearses for his piano concerto with Streseman, who critiques his performance as boring. He guesses that Yoo-jin’s never worked to seduce anyone—he’s probably never needed to. Streseman enacts a bizarre upper-body wriggle to demonstrate his point, which doesn’t come across at all, leaving Yoo-jin to wonder whether he’s imitating a snake.

Streseman draws the difference between a CD recording and a live performance, the latter of which should appeal to the audience with more than just the sound of the music. He instructs Yoo-jin to put more passion into his performance, and to work to draw the audience’s gazes and steal their hearts.

As Yoo-jin leaves his practice, he finds himself walking the wrong way to A Orchestra’s rehearsals, as concertmistress Shi-won notices. He realizes his error and explains that the route to the S Orchestra hall had become a habit.

The S Orchestra members are dealt a blow upon finding that their rehearsal space has been closed off with a “DO NOT ENTER” sign by Teacher Do, who sniffs at their impending dissolution. He tells the students that they’ve got no talent and should look to their futures, taking the wind out of their already flagging sails.

The members slump in front of the closed doors, wanting to ignore the sign but fearing that disobedience would just hasten their disbandment. Nae-il sighs in disappointment since she wanted to do a costume orchestra performance, an idea the others react to enthusiastically… if not for the problem of having no money, no conductor, and no space.

Which is when new guy Yoon-hoo arrives and pulls the sign off himself, here to join the S Orchestra. In a flashback we see him declaring those intentions to Teacher Do and being heavily discouraged, but those haven’t stopped him from coming anyway.

The members are simultaneously excited at Yoon-hoo’s arrival and suspicious that he’d really want to join them, with his reputation and talent. It’s cute that they’re trying to act cool to his face while squeeing amongst themselves, given that Yoon-hoo can totally see the squeeing from his seat a few feet away. Il-lac asks for an entrance audition, which is almost going too far—the other members don’t want to play too hard to get—but Yoon-hoo is happy to comply, busting out his cello to wow them with a lovely Bach solo.

The members enthusiastically accept Yoon-hoo into the fold, not noticing how he looks rattled as he clenches a shaking fist behind his instrument. Ah, so something’s wrong with his hand, which explains why he’s taken a detour off the fast track to fame and glory. Adorably, Il-lac is slinging his arm around Yoon-hoo in no time, calling him a forever friend.

Now the orchestra needs a conductor, and they sigh wistfully that they wish one would drop down from heaven. Which is perfect entrance timing for Seung-oh, recently of the A Orchestra, who declares that he’s got some time on his hands and volunteers his services. Well, he may be petty and pompous, but he IS a talented conductor—heck, he’s a conductor, period—so they’re happy to accept him. Seung-oh, meanwhile, gives the S orchestra credit for coming a long way from their bottom-rate reputations.

Streseman and Mina talk about his plans for the students, and wait, don’t tune out yet! I know their scenes are a smashing bore, but to look at the glass as half-full, getting out all the exposition in their scenes helps keep the other scenes light on exposition, and more loaded with fun. It appears that Streseman is perhaps indeed a twisted genius (as opposed to just twisted), since he mentions the kids needing to learn things for themselves. So there’s a method to his madness, although that doesn’t mean he’s not mad.

Streseman asks Mina to listen to his performance, not as teacher but as herself, because he’s imbued the performance with all the feelings he couldn’t express to her before. The loaded words have Mina flustered, and she quickly excuses herself. “I can’t push it off any longer,” Streseman notes.

Nae-il has picked up a part-time gig playing the piano at Mom’s cafe—although I suppose it might be more accurate to say that nosy Mom has finagled Nae-il into a job there to keep her in her orbit. While Nae-il plays, Do-kyung drops by for another friendly chat with Mom. She knows Mom enough to guess that she employed Nae-il for other reasons, and Mom admits that she was curious about her. She finds Nae-il cute, and Do-kyung’s smile fades as Mom adds that Yoo-jin seems to think so too.

Min-hee notices Do-kyung’s arrival too, taking this as more proof that Do-kyung is dating the boss’s son. Since they still don’t know who that son is, Nae-il finds this news a relief, since it’s a little anxiety-provoking to have Yoo-jin’s ex hanging around him.

At school, Yoon-hoo catches Nae-il lurking suspiciously, and she confides that she’s avoiding Teacher Ahn. Even though her love of playing the piano hasn’t cooled, she isn’t up to lessons right now. Her mind flashes back to the scary master class experience, which dredges up all sorts of old, painful feelings.

Yoon-hoo reads her mood correctly and offers that there was a time he hated the cello too. She says he plays well now, and he says that it’s because he met someone—a pianist he wants to play with. He says encouragingly that if she’ll be ready to return to lessons when she meets someone who does that for her.

While Yoo-jin continues practices with the A Orchestra, the members of the S Orchestra also proceed with their rehearsals. Yoon-hoo is particularly attentive to his fellow players, giving them encouragement and tips.

Streseman is finally ready to reveal to Teacher Do the identity of the piano student he’s been looking for—the one he’d heard playing a rendition of Beethoven’s “Eroica.” Teacher Do is both shocked and dismayed to learn that it’s Nae-il, and even sounds wounded as he asks, “Do you hate me so much?” Ha. To burst your bubble like this?

On his way home, armed with dinner ingredients for Nae-il, Yoo-jin encounters the S Orchestra crew, who are still angry with him for his abandonment. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Nae-il walks with Yoon-hoo, even if she is ready to go running for Yoo-jin right away. Il-lac holds her back and says he’s the guy who left because he didn’t want them, and leads the miffed crew past Yoo-jin.

Poor Yoo-jin, who takes their scorn silently and then tosses away his groceries. Nae-il knocks on his door later to no response, and puzzles over his absence. She gets to work on a new sewing project, wondering all night long where he’s disappeared to. Turns out he’s at school, furiously practicing his concerto, looking caught up in the fierce emotion.

The school’s fall festival rolls around, and my, my, doesn’t the S Orchestra look spiffy. They’re dressed up in period costume, all smart suits and swing years flair. But things don’t look good for conductor Seung-oh, who’s ashen-faced in the bathroom, throwing up his lunch.

Yoon-hoo finds him and guesses that he’s dealing with a bout of stage fright. Seung-oh insists that he won’t choke like last time, but he’s shaking like a leaf and then moans that he can’t do it. Yoon-hoo tells him kindly that it’s okay, but Seung-oh asks what’ll happen to their performance.

The S Orchestra is in a festive mood until they get the last-minute notice that Seung-oh is sick and had to go to the hospital. Nae-il decides to shoot Yoo-jin a last-minute plea for help, hoping that he’ll pinch-hit the conducting duties. But Yoo-jin gets the message while he’s in a rehearsal studio busily preparing for his own performance, and sighs, “What am I supposed to do about it?”

Nae-il waits anxiously outside expecting his arrival while the clock winds down to showtime. And despite the circumstances Yoo-jin can’t completely put the S Orchestra emergency out of his mind, worrying it over until he finally hurries out of his own rehearsal with the A Orchestra to join his friends.

He arrives to find the rehearsal space is empty, though, and wonders incredulously if they mean to proceed without a conductor. He heads for the concert hall next.

Yoo-jin arrives in the auditorium just as the music begins, with Nae-il standing on the darkened stage illuminated by a single spotlight, as she plays a melodica. It’s an unexpectedly funny sight, and the audience laughs as she plays a jazzy solo rendition of Bernstein’s “Mambo” from West Side Story.

She wraps up her introduction, and then the lights turn on… to reveal Yoon-hoo on the conductor’s stand? Omo, that’s a turn I didn’t expect, but one that gets me excited. He’s good, too, leading the S Orchestra skillfully, with an attitude of competence mixed with utter fun—oh, this is great. The players get into the mambo mood, waving their bows to the tune and spinning their cellos in between beats, while Nae-il dances in front of the stage. The musicians even rise in unison to shout out the “Mambo!” line, and the audience catches the infectious mood.

Yoo-jin watches intently, and realizes, “They’re good. It’s not just that these guys are playing well—they’re perfectly in sync. They can’t have had any time to practice that. Is this even possible?”

The performance is a resounding success, earning a standing ovation and a round of “Bravo”s from Maestro Streseman himself. Yoo-jin asks in shock what Streseman is doing here right before their concert, which is a question that gets turned right back around on him. The maestro adds that Yoon-hoo knows how to captivate a person’s heart—perhaps a pointed reminder of Yoo-jin’s own task at hand.

With that, he suggests that they head off to their own concert. Watching Yoon-hoo at the front of the stage shaking Nae-il’s hand, Yoo-jin notes, “It was splendid. But only to this point—today’s star is me.”

 
COMMENTS

Ha, does somebody have a problem with sharing? I don’t actually interpret Yoo-jin’s last line in the most obvious way, which sounds like a stingy way to give praise. To the contrary, one of my favorite things about Yoo-jin’s character is the way he’s able to give credit where it’s due; sometimes you see these cold “perfect” characters and expect that they’re so exacting that they can’t have things any way but the one way they want it. A lot of heroes fitting that archetype are that way, which isn’t always a negative thing since it can be fun in its own right. But Yoo-jin’s journey is in learning to open himself up, both emotionally and musically, and to learn how to harness people’s talents to their best effect, even if that means putting aside his own ideas of perfection. What I hope for is that Yoo-jin takes the lesson Streseman is (most likely) dishing out, which is to apply the passion he sees in the S Orchestra into his technically perfect Grieg concerto.

I had no idea they were building up Yoon-hoo to be Yoo-jin’s rival in this way—I thought he’d just be unrequited love triangle guy—but about two seconds after the lights turned on and revealed him in the conductor’s place, I had that moment of excited realization when things clicked into place. It makes total sense in retrospect but I didn’t see it telegraphed miles in advance, so I’m very satisfied with the handling of it. They’ve shown Yoon-hoo guiding the orchestra members with a warm, supportive style, and we know that his cello career has a limited lifespan, so conducting feels like a natural progression for him. I suppose that’s what his bucket list is for—to him, playing the cello has been his life, and that life has been given a terminal diagnosis.

So here’s a way for him to discover a new path, which just makes him a hundred times more interesting as a character in his own right, and not just the guy who’s brought in to be the requisite K-drama rival. I’d frankly be perfectly happy if he ended up not a love rival at all but merely another member of the gang, growing and bonding with the rest of them.

I really enjoyed the swapping of places in this episode, with Yoo-jin making something of a “return” to what people might consider his rightful place—in perfect control of his playing, performing with the technically gifted elite. But Streseman hasn’t put him there to undo the work of the past six episodes, and it’s nifty to see how much Yoo-jin has visibly changed in such a short time that now he seems out of place with the A Orchestra. I appreciate that Yoo-jin can show his talent in the best light with the most skilled students supporting him, but now it’s his burden to find the feeling from within himself instead of drawing it out of others. It’s a different skill set, but just as important to learn.

This musical plot point coincides with his realizations of his personal flaws, as we see in his conversation with his mother. I love that when he’s talking about his S Orchestra friends, despite clearly finding their heart-on-their-sleeves attitude alien and befuddling, he doesn’t dismiss it as weak or wrong; he sees the value in that. Now, if only he could actually exhibit a bit more of that expressiveness (suffering in silence: aggggghhhh!), but maybe that’ll be his next assignment.

Best of all is the way that the S Orchestra has evolved from being this dead weight burden to something whose worth is becoming evident to outsiders. Nae-il grumps that her true rival for Yoo-jin’s attention isn’t another woman but the maestro; it’s a similar dynamic flip with Yoo-jin and the orchestra. The orchestra isn’t chasing Yoo-jin in a one-sided appeal anymore; now he’s the one longing to work with them and feeling cut off. I really enjoyed watching as that balance slowly shifted, and while it’s not always obvious at the outset where the episode is heading thematically, by the end I usually find myself pleased with the effect.

This is actually one of the big assets of the show which, if considered on the flipside, is also perhaps one of its flaws. I do find Cantabile Tomorrow in general to be a bit meandering—not just pleasantly slice-of-life, but in a way that actually lacks focus. I have zero problems with Cantabile being a story with loose plotting, and I find the breezy sensibility refreshing. That’s different from feeling like it’s not quite sure where it’s going for some stretches of time, which causes me fidget in my seat and makes my brain threaten to wander, before the plot snaps back into focus and gets to the point.

But what has consistently sucked me back in despite that is the drama’s overall effect—the sense that the plot is building toward genuine moments of growth and reflection, and that even if the small movements sometimes lose their way, there is an overall trajectory taking us somewhere. And that the somewhere is a place I want to travel with the show. So there are definitely lapses that do mar the overall flow of the show, and I don’t want to pretend that they don’t exist. It’s just that when I step back after every episode, the feeling of warmth and goodwill consistently outpaces my antsiness, and make up for the messy bits. The show’s kind of like the S Orchestra that way—sloppy but lovable. An unintentional synchronicity, perhaps, but one that works to its benefit.

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• Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 6
• Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 5
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• Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 3
• Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 2
• Cantabile Tomorrow: Classical music song list
• Cantabile Tomorrow: Episode 1