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| Image: Cultura |
Dong-Baek is a single mother living in the small town of Ongsan. She runs the bar-restaurant Camellia, while also taking care of her son Pil-Gu. The people of Ongsan frequently gossip about Dong-Baek. She grew up as an orphan, is a single mother and runs a bar where many of the men in Ongsan frequent. Regardless of what the locals may whisper about Dong-Baek, local police officer Hwang Yong-Sik is deeply in love with her. Meanwhile, Dong-Baek's ex-boyfriend Kang Jong-Ryeol suddenly reappears in her life. He is a famous baseball player, that hid their relationship when they dated. While Dong-Baek tries to find happiness, something truly sinister lurks in the background. A serial killer roams Ongsan and Dong-Baek may be a target.
To be honest, When the Camellia Blooms is part of the KCKC Class at Bangtan Academy. Since the story is a little bit slow-paced for me, I have difficulties finishing it off.
Dongbaek and The Ongsan Town
When The Camellia Blooms tells the story about Dongbaek (Kong Hyo-jin), an orphan who is also a single mother. She decided to move to Ongsan--a fictional town here. Boldly, Dongbaek also decided to open a bar called Camellia.
Well, life is always hard for Dongbaek. When she was a kid, her mother abandoned her. Then, she has to raise her son on her own since she broke up with his boyfriend. Living by herself and also getting a lot of mistreatment--because of the stereotype regarding a single mother, has affected Dongbaek's life very much. She tends to be a shy and quiet person. She is also, what should I say, not confident at all.
Thankfully, Yongsik (Kang Ha-neul) succeeds to make Dongabek's life more lively. His bright character has made Dongbaek could see her life differently. She is no longer a timid person with a dull personality, but she became a great and cool woman in the end.
My Thought
As I said before, this k-drama is a little bit hard for me to watch. One thing that I despise from the very start is Dongbaek's timid personality. As the main lead character, I just feel she should stand out more and be tough. I am aware of her trauma and all of her conditions, but her attitude in the first episodes has made me irritated. To some extent, she reminds me of Nabi from Nevertheless.
Aside from this k-drama being one of the materials at KCKC Class, I bear to watch it because I want to know the real identity of Joker. As you know, a detective or crime series is my cup of tea. If there's no Joker case, I don't think I will continue to watch this.
Anyway, if I could spill a spoiler, I managed to know Joker's identity from the very state. Well, to be fair, I have a strong gut that the sink-man (I don't know his name as Heung-sik before), is suspicious. Then, I am glad that I was right.
The family story
Not gonna lie, most of the side stories in this drama are related to the family relationship among Ongsan People. Start from Dongbaek with his son Pilgu (Kim Kang-hoon) and also her mother who suddenly appeared, Dongabek with her ex-boyfriend, Kang Jong-ryul (Kim Ji-seok), Yong-sik with his mother, Hyang-mi with his brother, Gyu-tae with his wife, Ja-young, and also Jong-ryul with his wife, Jessica.
It will sound complicated since each of them has its problems. But, what I like the most about this drama, the writer succeeds to give a solution for each character.
Conclusion
At first, I thought I will only give 5-6 stars for When the Camellia Blooms. But, the more I watched the entire episode, I happened to love the story.
Therefore, I would like to give 7 out of 10 stars for them.
