Persevere, Gu Hae-ra: Episode 3

by javabeans

I’m helping to play catch-up on this show, which I was happy to do because Persevere, Gu Hae-ra has totally won me over. It’s interesting how this show has some very emotionally heavy moments, then turns around and makes me bust a gut laughing with its comedy. I appreciate the interplay, because a full-on melo isn’t quite what I want, but when it’s undercut with parody and a healthy sense of humor, the angst has the effect of enhancing the emotion, rather than making me feel bombarded with it.

Things really come together in this episode, as the team members are assembled and the long-term conflicts established. I’ll admit to being surprised by Episode 2’s direction, but the show is so good at making its emotions feel honest and in-the-moment. It also keeps things moving so that we don’t drag out things (which is what I feared), instead using them to launch us into the next step of the story.

SONG OF THE DAY

Team Persevere – “힘내” (Be Strong) from the Persevere, Gu Hae-ra OST [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 
EPISODE 3: “I hate you but let’s try again”

A brief opening scene shows Hae-ra running down a street until she comes upon a fight in the alley. One of the guys looks just like Se-chan… but it can’t be him. Can it?

A montage reminds us that Se-chan just died (omg he diiiiiied), and we hear his dying words: “I’m okay. Help Hae-ra first. Please.”

After the funeral, Hae-ra catches a glimpse of the passing stranger with Se-chan’s face. But when she runs after him to make sure, she finds nobody there.

That night, Se-jong returns to the bedroom the twins shared, his mind flashing back to all their times together. The Panic CD was a particular link between them (playing is the song the brothers used to sing together, “Station”)—a scene from high school shows Se-jong, the perfect student, cutting school to see their concert. When a teacher catches them, Se-chan takes the blame and gets thwacked for it.

Then there are more recent memories, like the harsh words he’d said the last time they saw each other. Se-jong sobs in the empty room, and the only thing he can say over and over is “I’m so sorry.”

Hae-ra applies for a leave of absence from school. A teacher urges her to reconsider, understanding that she’s affected by Se-chan’s death but wanting her to finish school. She passes her old Superstar K teammate Woo-ri in the hall but doesn’t even register her.

Woo-ri also applies for a leave of absence, but for a different reason: She gets a job working for Hwangje Entertainment. Her employment is a secret, however, because she’ll be ghosting the vocals for Scarlet. (Guh, so she’s spoiled and untalented?) Woo-ri promises to keep her mouth shut about their arrangement and signs the contract.

In the aftermath of his fight with the trainee bully, Se-jong’s solo debut gets yanked and he’s demoted to backup dancer and trainee. Back to square one for him.

Hae-ra narrates that they’re all people who sometimes make mistakes, and how sometimes the decision you thought was right ends up hurting you. And sometimes you lose something precious and only realize its meaning after it’s gone.

That hits home when she leaves her job as it’s raining and remembers how Se-chan used to pick her up with an umbrella. She crouches right there and bawls her heart out, thinking, “The friend who was the most precious, the life goal that was the most meaningful. In this present where those have disappeared, that realization is the loneliest.”

Then, we’re three years later. November 2013.

Scarlet is the top idol of the day, and Se-jong is a part of her backup entourage. Mom texts in concern, wanting to see him, and suggests that he drop by to see Hae-ra since she’s worried about her. Scarlet is surprised to see him using an old flip phone and offers to buy him a smartphone, which we know he doesn’t want.

Hae-ra fields the same question, but she doesn’t want to upgrade her phone or her number either. Her friend asks if she’s waiting for a certain call.

Scarlet’s van drives past the convenience store where Hae-ra works, and Se-jong asks to stop by. He walks in all full of purpose, but before he can say anything to Hae-ra, Scarlet joins him and links arms. Hae-ra excuses herself.

Se-jong follows her out, but she dismisses his show of concern, saying he’s never worried about other people. She asks accusingly, “Do you even know that tomorrow is Se-chan’s memorial day? You’re selfish down to the bone.” He says she’s going too far, but she says she could say worse: “Now I can’t even stand the sight of you.”

That night, Se-chan’s mother decides to heed the advice of Hae-ra’s mother and let go of Se-chan, rather than living in perpetual grief. She starts putting away his things and tells his photo that she won’t cry for him anymore. That’s when she comes upon his diary, and one entry catches her by surprise.

The next day, Hae-ra and her mother come over and find her sobbing over that diary. Hae-ra reads to see what has her so distraught, and sees the last entry is his bucket list (spurred by hyung’s lighthearted suggestion that he figure out what to do with his life).

1. Make it as a singer and take care of Mom
2. Realize Hae-ra’s wish, make her father’s song number 1
3. Clear up hyung’s misunderstanding
4. Like hyung, be a son Mom can be proud of
5. Make one of hyung’s wishes come true
6. Someday, reunite with the Persevere team friends and become famous as superstars

Hae-ra promises to make his wish come true, and at least there’s one she can get to work on right away. So she goes to Tae-poong and asks him to accept the Persevere team. He almost lets it slip that Se-chan’s contract ruined Super Week for them, but catches himself before outing Se-jong’s secret. He’s skeptical that the teammates will even want to reunite, but Hae-ra promises to do her best, and flatters Tae-poong to convince him, saying that he’s the only one who can take their talents and make them into something good.

Hae-ra’s not sure whether Woo-ri will take her call, so Tae-poong makes the call instead—and gets hung up on because Woo-ri thinks it’s a prank. So he starts singing one of his hits from right there in the cafe, hahaha.

Woo-ri meets them and bawls upon hearing about Se-chan. She says she wishes she could help, but can’t because she’s started working. She does have a lead on tracking down Jang Goon, though, and says they can find him via Huh Gak.

LOL, that turns out to be the name of a restaurant, not the Superstar K2 winner. Jang Goon turns down the suggestion, saying that when they were cut from the show, he cleanly cut his singing dreams from his life. He’s going to pursue reality now. He drives off on a delivery… and the sight of Tae-poong strutting by has him so in awe that he drives into a pole. HA.

Hearing that “Tae-poong hyung” will work with them, Jang Goon offers to think about it. Jang Goon even gets past his germophobia to shake on it—aha, he was a huuuuge Storm fan back in the day.

In a flashback to 2001, we see Storm making a visit to a middle school for a special event. Omg, I love ’90s Tae-poong. Jang Goon gets up for his turn, and performs an angry rendition of a Storm song directed at his bully, who’s known as “Little Tae-poong” because he imitates the star. (Hilariously, the song is a Seo Taiji ripoff; we do know Storm was all about the knock-offs. Doubly hilarious, the bully’s name, Sa Ki-joon, also means Fraud Joon.)

Jang Goon stands up to Little Fraud for being a bully, which turns him into a target. Then after his performance, Tae-poong tells Young Jang Goon that he’s got courage and a great voice. “When you become a famous singer, let’s meet onstage,” Tae-poong tells him.

At Hwangje Entertainment, the trainees are told they will compete against each other for the debut slot: It’ll go to either Se-jong or his antagonizers in the group Impact. Great, as if Se-jong needed more hate directed at him. They have eight hours to prepare.

Omo omo! It turns out that Sa Ki-joon is actually Impact’s leader, which makes perfect sense and is also a hilarious way to tie in what I thought was a throwaway joke. Ki-joon is furious to even have to consider Se-jong a rival, while President Hwang finds sadistic pleasure in pitting his kids against each other to draw out their best efforts. That’s smart, but kinda sadistic.

In the recording studio, Woo-ri sings her heart out, only to have Scarlet cut her off and toss out insults about how she isn’t trying hard enough, and that this is why she’s relegated to singing for other people. Furious, Woo-ri lets Scarlet have it too, calling her a fake who has to buy her voice—and this gets overheard by Sa Ki-joon from the hallway.

Scarlet huffs that Woo-ri’s vocals are a dime a dozen and demands her contract from the manager. Oh please tell me she rips it up herself. That would be too good.

Jang Goon accepts the offer to rejoin Team Persevere, and has also managed to locate Henry via his SNS account. But his latest posting is a “Goodbye Korea” message on his way to the airport, so they race to intercept his exit.

Scarlet fires Woo-ri, yessss. I’m doing a little dance right now. She is so her own worst enemy, it’s not even worth hating her.

Still, it’s crushing to Woo-ri, who just loved having a chance to sing, and she cries as she picks up the ripped contract. The sympathetic producer gives her encouraging words and tells her to finish up the song she was in the middle of recording, so Woo-ri gets back into the booth for a spine-tingling rendition of “Jasmine” (Yoo Sung-eun’s own track from the OST), singing about getting to a point of despair but finding the strength to go on.

Then she gets a text from Hae-ra saying that Jang Goon is onboard and they’re going after Henry, asking Woo-ri again to join. So she takes her taped-together contract to Scarlet, who’s done with her tantrum and ready to take her back. Woo-ri just rips it up again and thanks her for dissolving the contract, stalking off feeling great.

Henry’s mood is (hilariously, dramatically) sad as he heads to the airport, resigning himself to giving up on his dream and going back to being a chef. His taxi driver notices that they’ve picked up a tail, and Tae-poong manages to get him to pull over.

Henry turns them down, saying that all he’s got are emotional scars. Furthermore, he has no friends here and his mother needs him, so he’s going to return to his hometown. Henry continues to the airport, where he takes a seat next to another traveler—it’s variety star Sam Hammington, and they’re both heading to Shanghai. Henry offers to put some of Sam’s excess luggage in his bag, then takes a call from his mother, who’s surprised at his sudden decision to return.

Henry explains wanting to take care of Mom now, and while she’s touched at his maturity, she tells him lovingly to pursue his dreams. If she had the last ten years to do over again, she’d want them to happen the same way for his sake. Henry tells Mom he loves her and hangs up feeling freed.

He assaults Sam in a bro-hug and wishes him a good trip, totally forgetting he has Sam’s stuff in his bag.

Se-jong and the idol trainees perform for the bosses, and Impact is named the winner of the showdown. But President Hwang adds, “You’re Impact, but you have no impact. So Kang Se-jong will be joining Impact.” That was totally your plan from the start, wasn’t it?

Ki-joon wonders cynically if Se-jong made a play for this, or maybe he just has rotten good luck. Se-jong agrees that it sure is rotten.

Team Persevere heads to Twins’ Chicken and Beer, where they toast to their mission. They drink and catch up on each other’s lives, and when drinks spill on Henry and he asks for something from his suitcase, Woo-ri finds Sam’s stash inside—porn. HAHA. Henry’s “That’s not mine” protest is about as convincing as it sounds.

Henry asks what happened to traitor Se-jong, and Woo-ri replies that he’s a trainee preparing for his solo debut. Tae-poong steps out to make a call, and Hae-ra follows him out to return a card he dropped. So she overhears when Tae-poong hears from Se-jong about being forced into Impact.

Tae-poong says he met the Persevere friends today, but doesn’t share the information about Se-chan’s bucket list (Hae-ra requested it be kept a secret from Se-jong, because his mother wanted to spare him the pain of knowing). Hae-ra overhears Tae-poong asking, “How long are you going to let the Persevere kids treat you like a criminal?” He suggests that Se-jong clear the air, and that Se-chan would have wanted that—especially since hyung only did it to take his place.

Oh thank god she finally knows. She’s in a daze as the friends head out for the night, and she reads over the bucket list again. The little things click into place now, including the thing Se-chan wanted to tell her that last day.

Out on the balcony, she sees Se-jong arriving late that night, and ducks when he looks up and sees her. Moments later, he joins her on his adjoining balcony and tosses her his jacket because it’s cold. Her attitude is a lot less hostile now, and she apologizes for speaking harshly the last time. He sees the diary, which she hurriedly hides and says is nothing, and he tells her not to lie because she’s terrible at it.

She returns, “Don’t you have something to tell me? Like a secret?” He says he’s got a lot, but declines to share any. It’s sweet to see their old rapport creep back as he worries about her not eating, then covers up the concern by quipping that skinny girls aren’t attractive and she’s ugly enough already. Okay, put in those words it doesn’t sound sweet, but since we know what he means, his intention comes through.

Se-jong tells her to sleep well and not be sick. She starts to say something, but he’s already gone.

Henry’s currently homeless and penniless, so Hae-ra asks ajumma to put him up temporarily. Once there, he looks around and realizes it’s Se-chan’s old room.

Hae-ra types Se-jong’s number back into her phone, deliberating whether or not to store it. And when she knocks her head against it in frustration, it starts calling, to her alarm. She hangs up in a hurry, only to have Se-jong call right back. It’s adorable how she answers calmly while dying of mortification inside, and she fumbles for an excuse. She seizes on his sweatshirt, grumbling for him to take it back.

I notice she puts on a pretty coat and lipstick to meet him in the street… and then she totally forgets to even bring the sweatshirt with her. Hee. As they head back home to get it (to Sung Shi-kyung’s “Two People”), Hae-ra is keenly aware of their hands being inches apart, then asks him frankly if he’s using the sweatshirt as an excuse to take her home. He turns that around on her, asking if she used it as an excuse to see him, and when she immediately denies it, he says the same for himself. They tuck their hands into their respective pockets, aw boo.

Then Hae-ra stops in the road and faces him, asking if he remembers the drama Autumn Fairy Tale, and that one particular scene. She rises on her tiptoes to place a hand on his shoulder and quotes the line, “Your sin is pardoned.”

She tells him that from this day on she’ll forgive everything, so he doesn’t have to feel sorry to her anymore. She doesn’t explain the reasons, just saying that when you hate someone else, you end up hating yourself. She he should just accept her forgiveness, and forgive her for the mean things she said.

Confused, he feels her forehead for fever. But he doesn’t question it, and they continue walking. She makes sure he’ll come home for his birthday and sends him off with his sweater.

When she returns to her room, she notices the diary is missing and becomes frantic looking for it. She tears apart her room, and then her mom’s van, and sits back in despair for losing it. “Se-chan-ah, I’m sorry,” she thinks. “I must be forgetting you gradually.”

She sits in the car crying to herself, the scene fading into stark black and white while the song playing (Hwayobi’s “How Does It Feel?”) narrates her sadness: How does it feel, after you’ve left my side / Is your beautiful appearance still the same? / Still, the thought of forgetting you / or sending you to the other side of memory / is too painful…

Team Persevere prepares a song and performs it for Tae-poong (Big Mama’s I-will-survive anthem “Rejection”), who imagines adding musicians to fill out the instrumentation. Guitars, strings, brass… and Se-chan, who takes a mic and joins the vocals to sing, “It’s not over yet…”

I love the crash of reality when Tae-poong snaps out of his imagined production to hear what’s actually being produced, which is screechy and raw. Yes, the kids have talent, but they don’t exactly know how to use it yet.

Tae-poong points out that they’re all totally different and they’re lacking a unifying voice. Jang Goon blurts that that was Se-chan’s role before cutting himself off.

As they’re leaving, Henry gets a call to meet a friend and heads off, leaving Hae-ra to continue on her own… where she crosses paths with a familiar face. It’s Se-chan’s doppelganger, who gets pickpocketed in broad daylight by two tough-looking guys. He starts chasing once he realizes he’s been targeted.

The chase zooms by Hae-ra on the street, and she gets a brief glimpse of his face. Stunned, she has to follow.

The doppelganger corners one thief in the street, and a fistfight breaks out. He’s got some impressive moves and pretty easily takes down both thieves. But when he crouches over one to get his wallet back, the other one gets up and starts to attack from behind.

Hae-ra screams out a warning, but the thief goes for his head with a brick. Thud.

 
EPILOGUE

1989. The twins are babies, and their mother coos over them from her room in a center for single mothers. Another woman asks for their names, and then, “Which is your birth son?” Mom looks down at her babies and says, “This one!”

 
COMMENTS

Well, now I see why there were so many throwaway lines about the twins looking dissimilar. So Se-chan had a different twin, huh? That was definitely not the direction I thought this show was going to take, but okay, let’s roll with it. If I get past my surprise at the secret twin concept, this does open up a whole host of narrative opportunities, and I’m interested in seeing how the new guy plays into the triangle with Hae-ra and Se-jong, who appear to be back on track, or at least headed in that direction. Will he pose a complication, and if so, will it be on his own merits or because he reminds them both of Se-chan?

Given how it didn’t seem that Hae-ra would ever love Se-chan the way he hoped, I wonder how the new twin changes things. She’ll likely conflate her feelings for the two—that seems inescapable—and now that she realizes how much Se-chan meant to her, this may feel like a chance to set things to rights. Will Se-jong’s hyung guilt rear its head again and get in the way? We’ll have to see.

I was worried that the misunderstanding about Se-jong’s contract would stretch out for longer, so I was thrilled when Hae-ra found out and extended a hand to him. The misunderstanding demonstrates a bit more noble idiocy than I’d like, but I did think the show made it work emotionally for the characters, showing where they came from. Considering their incredibly tight friendship, perhaps Se-jong felt that being the sole bad guy was worth the alternative, even though the secret may chip away at him slowly and be more painful in the long run.

I wished Se-jong allowed the secret to come out earlier, but once Se-chan died I understood completely why he decided to keep it secret. Part of me wanted him to tell Hae-ra anyway because now they’d need each other more than ever… but I could also see where telling might feel like he’s dishonoring his brother. Oh you’re dead now so it’s okay, you be the bad guy. Of course she’d never feel that way, but that’s the burden he feels as the older brother, the survivor, the one Hae-ra liked all along. There’s a massive amount of guilt and regret in his heart, and that can do funny things to your mind. That’s what I like about the handling of the misunderstanding—even though it may not make logical sense as a solution, it makes total emotional sense.

I also felt for Hae-ra’s side, because while we know that Se-jong was acting to protect his brother, until he explains the truth to her, I’m with Hae-ra and I feel a pinch of satisfaction when she tells him off. His actions are unjustifiable in the version of events he lets everyone believe, and that misunderstanding is his cross to bear—he’s not the victim anymore, but the one keeping it going.

So there was a sweetness, I thought, when Hae-ra likewise doesn’t reveal that she knows the secret. Again, part of me wanted her to let it all out into the open, but I see her reaction as a way of respecting Se-jong’s sacrifice.

But now that the most painful part of the misunderstanding has been cleared up and Team Persevere has been assembled, I look forward to seeing how the underdogs pull together and make it—especially now that we’ve identified a common enemy in Sa Ki-joon (and, on a greater scale, Hwangje as a whole). I just love the Tae-poong character and can’t wait to see his dorky, hilariously braggy self take this team of top-quality but raw ingredients and make something special out of them.

RELATED POSTS

• Persevere, Gu Hae-ra: Episode 2
• Persevere, Gu Hae-ra: Episode 1
• Campus drama Persevere Gu Hae-ra opens with big musical number
• Min Hyo-rin headlines Mnet music drama
• Mnet’s new youth music drama begins casting