Something in the Rain

March 30, 2018

Yoon Jin-ah (Son Ye-jin) runs into Seo Joon-hee (Jung Hae-in), her best friend's younger brother she hasn't seen in years. He has grown up. She notices. The Yeonnam-dong neighbourhood establishes the drama's world.

March 30, 2018

The Yeonnam-dong streets and cafés where their relationship begins to develop — the specific geography of a Seoul neighbourhood becoming the map of a relationship.

April 6, 2018

Joon-hee's sister — Jin-ah's best friend — and the social complication their feelings create.

April 6, 2018

Joon-hee's feelings for Jin-ah — direct, uncomplicated by social performance — stated.

April 13, 2018

Jin-ah's resistance — the age difference, the best friend's brother dynamic, the office gossip — and why it slowly dissolves.

April 13, 2018

A rain scene in the Mapo café streets that is the drama's most iconic image — the title's visual statement.

April 20, 2018

Jin-ah's professional world — the office sexism she has normalised — contrasted with Joon-hee's straightforward respect.

April 20, 2018

Jin-ah and Joon-hee's relationship at its warmest — before the social pressure begins to apply itself seriously.

April 27, 2018

Both mothers' reactions to the relationship — the drama's sharpest social critique.

April 27, 2018

Jin-ah's first capitulation to social pressure — the drama's most frustrating episode for its audience, and its most honest.

May 4, 2018

Joon-hee's response to Jin-ah's withdrawal — his determination contrasted with her conditioning.

May 4, 2018

A return to the Yeonnam-dong streets — the drama's central location used for its most emotionally concentrated scene.

May 11, 2018

Jin-ah's workplace response to the relationship's exposure.

May 11, 2018

Joon-hee's ultimatum — his clarity about what he wants and his refusal to pretend otherwise.

May 18, 2018

Jin-ah's final choice — between social conformity and her own happiness. The drama's most contested episode.

May 18, 2018

The finale. A romance whose social realism divided viewers — some finding Jin-ah's capitulations frustrating, others finding them truthful. Son Ye-jin's most grounded performance of the decade.