Full of profound lessons, the mirthful lives of three single women in Thirty, Nine prove how the idea of belongingness can be realized with true friends!
Powered by a stellar cast, the series articulately delves into life apprehensions and romance perspectives involving single people on the cusp of hitting their 40’s.
abbyinhallyuland watches Thirty, Nine on Netflix
Opening Week Rating:
abbyinhallyuland watches Thirty Nine on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03| 04| 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | Final Episode + Series Review |
Thirty, Nine Opening Week Story
Friends since they were 18; Cha Mi-jo (Son Ye Jin), Jung Chan-young (Jeon Mi Do) and Jang Joo-hee (Kim Ji Hyun) know each other like the back of their hands.
“We’re 39 years old. We met at 18 and now we’re at an age where getting a massage feels amazing.”
They enjoy doing things together and their deep friendship is family-like. They can be brutally honest in chiding each other’s misgivings, but still, support each other’s happiness just the same.
20 years of friendship later, Mi-jo announces going on a sabbatical to learn golf. Before that though, she meets Kim Seon-woo (Yeon Woo Jin), who is coincidentally the dermatologist that will be taking her place in the dermatology clinic.
Seon-woo visited the orphanage where Mi-jo was initially raised. When she left her watch, he was asked by the orphanage manager to bring it to her.
“What makes him so great that you’re sacrificing your 30’s for him?!”
Adding to her concern is her long-running pep talk with Chan-young who is having a discreet special relationship with a married man and also her friend Kim Jin-seok (Lee Mu Saeng).
Jin-seok and Chan-young have a mutual love for each other. However, the former married another woman when he got her impregnated. Finally deciding to let him go, she straightforwardly declares to end their vague and sad relationship once and for all.
“We may be turning 40 soon, but we’re not emotionless.”
However, Jin-seok thinks otherwise and wants to keep her by his side. Thus, making it hard for Chan-young.
Meanwhile, Joo-hee, who works as a cosmetic shop manager, sees a potential flame when a new restaurant opened in a neighborhood. She first encountered Park Hyun-joon (Lee Tae Hwan) at a night when she was tipsy and was ogling at the new restaurant about to open.
They later engage in quick hellos as she asked him if he knows where the old restaurant owner moved. Dragging her besties to the restaurant after a medical checkup, her high hopes reach the bottom right away upon seeing a young woman that is seemingly in a relationship with Hyun-joon.
“We chose not to get married. It was by choice.”
Acclimatizing to their new work setup, Seon-woo and Mi-jo have broken the awkwardness of their one-night-stand. At the welcome party for Seon-woo, he drunkenly confessed his feelings for her and realized too late that he should have done better.
When the results of the medical exam came out, Mi-jo’s world crashed with a harrowing reality of her best friend Chan-young succumbing to stage 4 cancer. Without anything and no one to blame, she rushes to Jin-seok’s office admonishing him for something that he is not yet aware of.
Bawling in grief, she slumps on the floor, Seon-woo who happens to be there as well comforts her by laying his warm hand on her cold hand.
Thirty, Nine Opening Week Musings
Not wasting time to intertwine the lives of the six main characters, Thirty Nine settles right away to its soothing vibe, clever screenplay and resonating messages.
It particularly delves on its unique concept of “womance” between three friends with deeply entrenched love, solidified through the years of sharing each other’s life.
Brimming with conversation scenes, you can feel the writing eloquence of Thirty Nine. It has a truly genuine and insightful approach to concerns of women, in particular, those in their 30’s.
Vibrantly showing a picture of friendship that viewers can totally relate to, much laud is to given to the actors who are acting so naturally, it feels like they are not in an imaginary world.
Notably, the lessons can extend to different age ranges of women and even men. Bringing the premiere week to amusing highs owing to the superb character immersions of the lead actors, it also vaunted a poignant moment that would be one of the driving points in the subsequent episodes.
Clear on its trajectory, the series previews the emotional reality that will be tackled by the three friends who are about to face the toughest problem they had as lifetime friends.
Celebrate friendship and romance every Wednesday and Thursday in Thirty Nine on JTBC. International fans can watch it on Netflix!
Photos: JTBC
[wpedon id=”2271″ align=”center”]
