K-drama midseason recap: My Liberation Notes – Netflix’s slice-of-life drama is best on TV right now
- Starring Son Suk-ku, Kim Ji-won, Lee Min-ki and Lee El, My Liberation Notes follows relatable, intricate characters trying to find their own personal freedom
- Terrific dialogue and a bounteous array of intimate moments for all the smaller characters in the cast are hallmarks of the Netflix series
This article contains spoilers.
They say it’s always the quiet ones you need to watch out for. Mr Gu (Son Suk-ku), the enigmatic man at the heart of the stimulating slice-of-life drama My Liberation Notes, gave cathartic flight to that adage when he performed a magnificent long jump over a wide ditch to retrieve Mi-jung’s (Kim Ji-won) hat at the end of episode four.
Mi-jung’s dazzled and bewildered family looked on googly-eyed during this magnificent feat that only added to Gu’s already captivating mystery. Mi-jung already knew that there was something special about Gu, who she had earlier ordered to worship her, but for her brother Chang-hee (Lee Min-ki), the display signals the start of a personal transformation.
It begins as hero worship, with Chang-hee marvelling at Gu’s athletic prowess and regressing into a childlike state around him, trying to replicate the jump, bombarding him with questions (none of which the still tight-lipped Gu deigns to answer) and calling him by the honorific older brother, even though they’re probably around the same age.
Chang-hee has been struggling with his work and romantic life. He despises his infuriating co-worker Jeong Ah-reum (Choi Bo-young) at Alpha Retail and this relationship becomes immeasurably worse after she sneakily swipes a convenience store contract from under his nose for her father, even though the ageing manager of the store had offered him first dibs on the location.