Sea Urchins
Dinner Mate returns this week, picking up where it left off and adding an extra dimension to this Korean drama as both Do-Hee and Hae-Kyung’s ex’s show up and cause problems. With a good dose of humour and wonderful characterisation between our two lead characters, Dinner Mate continues to produce the goods. Episodes 5 and 6 of Dinner Mate begins with Hae-Kyung and Do-Hee meeting at the fish market but disagreeing over what to eat. Begrudgingly leaving it up to her, Do-Hee decides they should share a rice bowl instead of sea-urchins. The duo head up to the rooftop and enjoy their rice bowls, talking about their lives and what’s led them to this moment. Hae-Kyung convinces her to look up and wish on a star but when she does, takes the opportunity to cheekily eat her rice. Afterward, they head to a restaurant that serves up sea urchins and we learn more about Do-hee’s first love. Hae-Kyung jokes that she has a bad personality before commenting that they’re both destined for misery. “Jerk,” She mutters under her breath and as the duo continues to talk, Do-Hee’s ex-lover Jae-Hyeok arrives. Thanks to some smart editing, he actually arrives 10 minutes after she leaves the restaurant but notices her card she’s left as an IOU for the meal. Outside, Do-Hee and Hae-Kyung part ways, with the former telling him they should never meet again. Meanwhile, Hae-Kyung’s ex No-Eul works the room at the gym, using her friend to figure out who has money and using them to get by. After some drama at 2N Box, Do-Hee heads out and decides to track down Hae-Kyung again. Visiting his office, he finds a slip on his desk about sharing lunch at Moon River 4.30pm and heads out to try and find that restaurant. At the same time, Do-Hee’s ex Jae-Hyeok heads to 2N Box and reveals to A-Young that he wants to get back together with Do-Hee. At Moon River, Hae-Kyung heads in to get a table and while he does, fragmented memories of the past come flooding back painfully as he sees himself sitting, slumped in the chair with a bouquet of flowers on the table. No-Eul sat opposite him and called him boring, going on to reveal she doesn’t think he loves her and breaking up with him. As we cut back to the present, it turns out No-Eul took a reservation under a fake name to see Hae-Kyung again. She tells him she wants to start dating again but Hae-Kyung is not so sure. After excusing himself to use the bathroom, Do-Hee arrives and narrowly misses him when he return. He watches her leave but decides against following after her. Do-Hee however, has her own issues as her Mother happens to be waiting at her apartment thanks to her Father causing issues. Outside the shop, she hands over the bag of food to the homeless man Keanu, and after a hilarious exchange of evil laughter sits in her car. Only, Jae-Hyeok shows up prompting her to hurry away given he never kept in contact. She calls him a scumbag and selfish, pulling away and rejecting his advances. At her wits end, she heads to a restaurant desperate for food after slipping away from him. Unfortunately there are no reservations but Hae-Kyung happens to be there waiting for his date. As he watches her walk away, he makes a decision and chases after Do-Hee down the street, deciding to go for dinner with her instead, which is where the episode ends. With some great humour and charming characterisation for our duo, the inclusion of the two ex lovers showing up is a clever bit of writing to show how far these two have come now. The humour continues to seep through this one and the hilarious laughing segment with Keanu is definitely a highlight of this episode. Alongside that, Dinner Mate continues to serve up some really good acting and the chemistry between the two leads is certainly high. So far so good, let’s hope Dinner Mate can continue to deliver across its season! Published: 02 June 2020 at 09:20 am on TheReviewGeek.com
