This show might look like your usual romance flick at first glance dreamy looks, soft lighting, IU and Park Bo Gum staring at each other like they invented love but nah, it’s way more than that. Think of the times you fell in love for first time, the time your parents put everything in line for you, the good times, the times you disrespected them and cried in secret, the time you did everything in your power so that they can live with their head held high. That’s what this show is. It will unlock the memory bank that you probably decided to never open, it would be subjective if its a good thing or bad.
When Life Gives You Tangerines (or You Have Done Well whichever title you’re using), takes us back to the 1950s–60s Jeju Island, but somehow, the stuff it talks about? Still hits hard today. The class divide, the family pressure, growing up with almost nothing and still being told to dream big it’s all there. Doesn’t matter if it’s in old school Jeju dialect or modern Seoul pain’s pain.
IU as Ae-sun? She’s unfiltered, stubborn, poetic in her own chaotic way. Park Bo Gum as Gwan-sik is the complete opposite quiet, loyal to a fault, almost like a rock. Together? They’re this unlikely, unspoken bond that keeps dragging itself forward even when life tries to crush them both. These two carry the whole emotional weight without ever overdoing it. It’s raw, awkward, and feels real.
Director Kim Won-seok (Misaeng, My Mister) knows how to handle slow burn storytelling, and he does it again here but yeah, the timeline jumps around a lot. From past to future to flashbacks inside flashbacks. Sometimes it’s the kids talking, sometimes it’s grown up versions, sometimes it’s their children. It takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, you see why it’s done that way to show you how every little decision in youth shapes everything after.
Also, full credit to the supporting cast: Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon play the older versions of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik, and honestly, they just add to the whole thing instead of feeling like weird replacements. The transition between timelines actually works, especially when you start picking up on how their expressions echo the younger versions.
This isn’t a binge and forget series. It’s one of those that makes you pause after every episode and just sit. Like damn, this one stirred something. Which episode hits hardest? That totally depends on what you’ve been through and what you connect with but its certainly a journey you go through. But it will hit. Somewhere.
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