K-drama midseason recap: Run On – Netflix romantic series is still finding its feet
- Ki Seon-gyeom continues to juggle his hopes of becoming a sports agent, family problems, and his on-off love affair with the beautiful Oh Mi-joo
- But it’s the budding romance between cool agency head Dan-a and boyish art student Yeong-hwa that will keep the series’ fans hooked
This article contains spoilers of the show.
The film references in Run On have been few and far between, but one of them got an all-important callback: Ki Seon-gyeom (Im Si-wan), who we know has no interest in films, finally sits down to watch Jerry Maguire in a library. He does not like it of course, but that is beside the point, because it symbolises his intent to become a sports agent.
So, halfway into Run On, Seon-gyeom finally has a goal. Characters in romantic dramas do not necessarily need goals beyond romantic fulfilment, but in stories that are as drawn-out as this one is, it can help to ground things a bit and give the many other characters something to play off of.
True to form, Seon-gyeom’s career calling does not exactly blast off the starting line. It would have been unreasonable to expect it to become a driving element of the series, but it’s a start. It finally allows the aloof character to go after things and act on his principles, rather than just stand on them.
Beyond getting former track mate Kim Woo-sik (Lee Jeong-ha) back on his feet, Seon-gyeom has finally taken a more assertive role in the cold war between him and his father (Park Yeong-gyu), which erupts into a full-blown conflagration after he grabs his pro golfer sister Eun-bi (Ryu Abel) from the putting green, where she is putting on a brave face as she entertains daddy’s high-powered golf buddies.
When his father retaliates by targeting his friend Oh Mi-joo (Shin Se-kyung), Seon-gyeom grows some spine. This is the motive we’ve been waiting for, a purpose for his character. Watching Im playing cute and endearing is all well and good, but it’s a relief to see his character care about something, even if it’s within a tired rich family/political corruption subplot.
Run On preview: Netflix romantic K-drama lacks logic or charm
We know he already cares about Mi-joo, and the pair finally became an item after spending a huge amount of time together, first when Seon-gyeom lived with her, and then when he joined her in the countryside, where she worked a temp gig as a translator.
They’ve had various tiffs over the course of the series, including one that arises when Seon-gyeom does not text Mi-joo after staying over at Yeong-hwa’s (Kang Tae-oh) place. Mi-joo gets mad and stays that way for a while, long past the point she herself recognises that she overreacted.
All this does is draw out the inevitable, which finally happens in episode 10, when Mi-joo and Seon-gyeom become an official item. Yet the flare-up with Seon-gyeom’s dad brings things to a head for the pair, who sort of break up at the end of episode 12. Mi-joo says she is worried and she does not want to be disappointed.
The episode finishes with her saying: “I value myself more than anyone else, so I want to give up. You said I could make a mistake.”
Given how generous and supportive Seon-gyeom has been up until now, this comes off as selfish behaviour. Granted, Mi-joo is trying to shield herself from pain, but this is not the first time she has pushed Seon-gyeom away or been unfair to him. We can be fairly sure they’ll end up together when the show ends next month, but knowing how little she has sacrificed so far, would that be a satisfying conclusion?
But enough about the lead couple, because let’s be honest, by far the most compelling part of Run On has been the secondary romantic coupling between cool agency head Dan-a (Choi Soo-young) and the boyish art student Yeong-hwa.
There’s an undeniable spark between the pair, and no matter how coolly Dan-a acts towards Yeong-hwa (she still calls him a “kid” – or “student” in Korean) and no matter how cheeky he is to her, you want this relationship to come to fruition. It’s no surprise, then, that the highlight of the show comes when they finally share a slow motion kiss at the end of episode 11.
This leads into the next episode, a riotous sequence that sees Yeong-hwa become a whimpering child after being confused by Dan-a’s kiss. Though embarrassed, she takes it upon herself to soothe him. She offers to drive him home and ask if he has eaten. Cut to the next scene, and Yeong-hwa is now happily munching away on fried chicken in a restaurant, glibly asking if he can help himself to the second drumstick.
As we approach the finish line, we’ll see how Seon-gyeom and Mi-joo get over their last setback, how Seon-gyeom deals with his father, and if he becomes a full-blown agent. But all eyes may well be on the real prize – Dan-a and the “kid”.
Run On is streaming on Netflix.
