Restless, Unstable
Episode 7 of Do You Like Brahms is all about the drama and boy does this episode deliver! Between the fractured relationships and home truths being revealed, this series is really starting to pile on the melodrama now. We begin the day before lectures start. Song-A looks affectionately at the CD cover left by Joon-Young. Joon-Young offers up his services to play music for the Foundation despite being on his sabbatical. Given what’s happened with his Mother, he needs the cash. After Ji-Won’s performance, he learns that it’ll be difficult to fill a hall even if they manage to succeed. On the back of this, Joon-Young approaches Tae-Jin and asks for his help. He’s going to enter the Tchaikovsky competition but needs some guidance to do so. This catches us up to last week’s episode as Song-A admits that she likes Joon-Young. Not long after, they sit together and Song-A tells him that the accident involving Jung-Kyung wasn’t his fault. Right now isn’t a great time for him to get in a relationship though but he asks her to wait for him. Thankfully, she agrees to do just that. Heading back inside, Tae-Jin convinces Joon-Young to play songs he’s good at. After all, competitions are all about scoring big with judges and he convinces the boy to play to his strengths. At the same time, Jung-Hee coaches Song-A and gives her the number for her “friend’s daughter” to synchronize her violin with. With both of our leads starting a new chapter in life, Joon-Young and Song-A start to grow closer together. As they eat ice-cream she jokingly tells him about her shoelaces coming undone. In the movies the man always does it up which starts the chain reaction for love. Looking him square in the eye, she vehemently declines to fall for him. Elsewhere, Hyun-Ho and Jung-Kyung both compete for the same position at University. She’s less than enthused about it though. Even worse, she’s pretty cold toward him and eventually admits that she’s in love with Joon-Young. Joon-Young shows up and tries to break the fight up but the damage has been done. When he asks whether he likes Jung-Kyung, he can’t answer. Poor Song-A finishes washing her hands but finds the piano trio talking loudly in the rehearsal hall. There, Jung-Kyung reveals that Joon-Young loves her. As Hyun-Ho walks away, Song-A stands listening to this entire fight play out. Joon-Young races after her and the two talk outside. She wants to know if there’s any space for her in what’s happening but Joon-Young’s silence speaks for itself. As she walks away, all of our characters struggle with the ramifications of what’s just taken place. At the hospital, Director Nah awakens to find a worried I-Young sitting before her. Joon-Young’s sabbatical means his management rights are being taken away leaving him in quite the bind. Later that evening, Song-A heads back home but receives an earful from her sister. Retreating to her room, her Father arrives and speaks to her. She mentions waiting for someone and asks for his advice. He simply tells her to follow what makes her happiest. She’s not the only one asking for Fatherly advice. Jung-Kyung admits to her Father that she broke up with Hyun-Ho. Deciding to try and make amends, she heads up and speaks to Hyun-Ho outside his house. She apologises to him for lying about Joon-Young. It’s too late though and given the hurtful things she said, he tells her to leave and never come back again. Elsewhere, rumours circulate in the music hall that Song-A and Joon-Young are dating. Given what Tae-Jin told him about distractions, he quickly quells any doubts right in front of her. He tells I-Young they’re not dating and Song-A immediately looks deflated. Even worse, Song-A is given the opportunity for a private lesson… with Jung-Kyung. When I-Young leaves, Song-A admits that him dismissing the rumour deflated her. Midway through talking, Jung-Kyung arrives and picks up Song-A for her lesson. She also asks Joon-Young to play for her but he refuses.
The Episode Review
If there’s one thing Do You Like Brahms excels with, it’s the acting. The entire show does a fantastic job building up to the heart-felt scenes between the characters. The high points of this series really come thick and fast here as emotions spill over. Hyun-Ho’s voice breaking slightly when he tells Jung-Kyung not to come back is brilliantly done. You can really feel his aching heart breaking after telling the love of his life never to come back. And it serves Jung-Kyung right. If there’s one unlikable character here it comes from her. She’s so difficult to warm to and despite her slight redemption in telling Hyun-ho the truth, she’s pretty manipulative too. She seems like the sort of girl who prefers the chase rather than the end result and I hope Joon-Young sees sense and doesn’t date her. Poor Song-A too. Having to hear what transpired in the hall couldn’t have been easy but she plays the hopeless romantic angle perfectly. Quite what will happen next remains to be seen but this one is really starting to heat up now.
