Deserving of its hype, Love Next Door endeared with its unassuming introduction that would hook you easily, especially if you are confronting slumps and crossroads.
Serving pragmatic lessons on social issues prevalent in the modern world, the series presented relatable characters to give us doses of good times.
abbyinhallyuland watches Love Next Door on Netflix
Opening Week Rating:
Love Next Door Opening Week Story
At 34, Bae Seuk-ryu (Jung So Min) finds herself back in Korea after working at a prestigious US company. This would not sit well with her mother who looks forward to all the good things she can achieve because she has worked for it all her life.
Seuk-ryu’s mom constantly flaunts her achievements to her closest Ajumma friends from high school.
While exploring the changes in the neighborhood she grew up in, she encounters Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae In) in front of his soon-to-open business. Her bestie, Jung Mo-eum (Kim Ji Eun) who picked her up from the airport had to leave for work that’s why she wandered in solitary.
“You made two important life decisions. Only a doll would be left undamaged by that.”
Hiding inside a big box after she bickered with Seung-hyo, when she spotted their family members, Seuk-ryu eventually went home. She also reveals to him that she called off her wedding and left her US job unaware that her mother overheard her concerns.
Using Seung-hyo as her shield, neighborhood chaos erupted pushing Seuk-ryu to run for her life with him. After finding a spot to cool down, Seung-hyo advises her she does not have much route to have so just accept her mother’s wrath as early as she can.
The news of Seuk-ryu’s plight spread like wildfire and her mom is taking it the hardest because of how high she has put her on the pedestal. Eventually, it culminates in Seung-hyo’s business opening where she experienced firsthand her mother telling lies to save face from her classmates.
“Does she think her daughter’s success makes up for her failures?”
Confronting her mother of how weary she was of her achievement-driven life, she left the house and was easily found by Seung-hyo who later coaxed her not to cushion her pain with laughter.
The next day, she goes out to look for a job all day. Reaching home, she was surprised to see her old room revamped by Seung-hyo as commissioned by her mother. She also gets a princess treatment by getting her favorite food she dearly missed.
Basking in happiness for her new room, she called Seung-hyo when she noticed the starry ceiling reminiscent of what she had in her teenage years. To her surprise, she discovers Seung-hyo is also back in their house making them literally living next door.
Love Next Door Opening Week Musings
A lot went charming and addicting in the opening week of Love Next Door. Although brimming with the rom-com ingredients K-Drama fans are familiar with; the relatable moments made the series worth waiting for its weekly doses.
The good old neighborhood vibe thriving in fun shenanigans and vibrant characters mirror situations we can sympathize with because we have similar stories or know someone who experienced the same.
For its opening salvo, we were given a taste of the joys and pains typical adults experience in their lives. Building careers, keeping relationships and living up to family’s expectations. It’s hard not to feel Seok-ryu’s quiet emotional distress for someone who has gone through the same path.
Her journey of “resting from living an exhausting life” is quite a simple plot to navigate. Interestingly, what she will experience along the way with her friends and family makes this drama pitch worth taking a chance at.
Powered by an amazing cast, the therapeutic power of Love Next Door appears ready to shed light on social issues in an empathetic way.
Seok-ryu voiced out her frustrations with how she has lived her life to become successful in pleasing her mom. Unknown to her, her competitiveness led her to be let go by the company because of her inability to work with a team. Of course, we would also expect more details on her relationship with her ex-groom-to-be.
But honestly, we can’t wait for the love to blossom between Seok-ryu and Seung-hyo.
The emotionally packed life lesson on how parents should not achieve their dreams from their children speaks truthfully of this disheartening truth often happening in society. We can’t wait to have more of these pep talks in the next episodes.
Consequently, spotlights on the supporting characters’ motivations would be unraveled along the way.
More than the romance we signed up for, Love Next Door is set to bring nostalgia to a different level and reassures us there’s no other way to heal but with the presence of people who genuinely love us in a place or feeling we can call home.
