Lee Eun-O
Episode 10 of Lovestruck in the City begins with Eun-O returning to pick up her surfboard. This is apparently a recurring incident too, given she’s returned numerous times to try and get it back. Only, the worker there is having none of it, especially given he’s going surfing with his girlfriend that weekend. Eventually though she manages to get it back after a heartfelt speech about her past. Well, she literally takes this surfboard and stuffs it in a storage cupboard, covering it with a sheet. Meanwhile, Jae-Won reflects on what happened and curses his luck that this girl, this completely different person, didn’t embrace him like Seon-A did in the past. Kyeung-Jin shows up though and learns the truth about Seon-A being a different person but doesn’t quite clock that it’s Eun-O. When he leaves, Jae-Won decides to lie to himself and remember that Summer differently; he and Eun-O were together and broke up on the beach after being in love. Jae-Won also leaves a video message for Eun-O apologizing for throwing the cameras and shouting. Tellingly, Eun-O is not sorry. She’s instead decided to dance and annoy Kang-Geon while he’s trying to write. She even antagonizes him into cooking for her. With Eun-O out of work, she begins talking to herself and calling herself an idiot. At the same time, Jae-Won’s work project in the mountains takes a turn for the worst when Eun-O’s ex boyfriend shows up. Completely unprofessionally, Rin-I arrives too and tells his girlfriend that her boyfriend was having an affair. This eventually ends with Rin-I dumping coke over everything and everyone while Kyeung-Jin lands a punch. Back in the office, Jae-Won realizes that Rin-I and Kyeung-Jun both know who Eun-O is. Cursing his luck, he believes that his friends have been lying to him. As he rings through to the number, Jae-Won manages to get hold of Eun-O but hears that she’s with a guy and thinks the worst.
The Episode Review
The female characters in this show have so far been portrayed really poorly. First up there’s Eun-O who’s lied and deceived Jae-Won all this time. Even worse, she sold her surfboard only to have second thoughts. After bringing it back, she stuffed it in the cupboard and threw a white sheet over it, almost signifying something she wants to keep for herself but not bring herself to remember. At least, that’s the interpretation here. And let’s talk about those rings too. If they really meant that much to Eun-O, she would have either stopped Jae-Won from throwing them in the stream or at least done something to make him understand her issues. Instead, she remains silent and then takes the ring for herself later that evening. In fact, in her “grief” she takes out her frustrations on Kang Geon, dancing with loud music and eating all the pizza while selfishly ignoring Kang Geon’s feelings. This adds up to a character who’s incredibly difficult to warm to – and justifying her actions on the basis she was cheated on 3 months before. This is why she was at the surfing shack all that time. Unfortunately these bad vibes extend to Rin-I too, who’s completely psychotic in the face of Eun-O’s ex and mentions his new girlfriend. The way she sprayed coke everywhere while Kyeung-Jin punched the client is completely inappropriate – especially at work – and I wouldn’t be surprised if they sued the company after that. With every passing week, Lovestruck In The City is becoming an unlikable drama but hopefully the rest of the episodes can pull things back to those promising highs early on. This one definitely has potential but right now it’s a far cry from the lofty heights it could be.
