Drama Review 'The Man In My House' Episode 7

Does Nan-gil like Na-ri? That's been phrased as the huge dramatic question lately, yet as is often the case, Na-ri instead seems to be projecting her own ambiguous feelings on to Nan-gil. Of course, it helps that Nan-gil's answers are similarly cryptic, implying dramatic changes in Na-ri's personality that neither we nor Nan-gil actually know about because we've only seen Na-ri in a fairly limited context. There's only one way to resolve this problem. By going on a date.

There's surprisingly little actual plot in "The Man In My House". Nan-gil's shadowy criminal overlords are mostly satisfied just doing ominous stuff in the background. Even the vaunted visit from the police ends up not amounting to much because Deok-bong happens to be nearby. I have to admit, if Deok-bong's goal is sabotage he's pretty fantastically bad about it. Every piece of advice the man gives only ever seems to drive Nan-gil and Na-ri closer together.

I've come around some on Deok-bong's character in general because even when the guy's explicitly trying to be a jerk, he's really not very good at it. The genuinely malicious intent simply isn't there and besides, Deok-bong never emotes anyway. With how Deok-bong is stuck between a hyper-emotional sister and business interests that seem to prioritize him being as stoic as possible, well, that does add some dimension to his character, though we're still left with more questions than answers.

Elsewhere Yeo-joo meets Dong-jin's friends, and they are terrible. Well, no, they're not explicitly awful, but look at this way. These guys know Dong-jin ditched his fiancé for one of her co-workers, and there's little evidence they recognize the moral dubiousness of this. We also get a good look at Yeo-joo's man-vision, and ugh, it is just weird how Yeo-joo recognizes flaws and virtues. She judges people on a scale, and insists on thinking in terms of personal slight rather than the whole picture.

That's the main contrast I noted, anyway, with Nan-gil and Na-ri, who have really moved on from the personal slight stage of courtship into remembering the small moments. There's also that small realization both are having on the inside, admitting that their contentiousness is at least partially a matter of mutual attraction. Looked at that way, it's actually a bit of a compliment how from the very beginning, Na-ri saw Nan-gil as a stranger, and still mostly maintained continuity of character upon remembering who he was.

Source:HanCinema