In the first volume of four weekly installments, each depicting a season in our leads’ journey. We begin the story with spring, following our leads as they grow up from kids to young adults.
For our leads, spring wasn’t all sunshine and flowers—it was a rough time, and they only had each other to rely on. But their love got them through everything, and they became a family.
Bunny S. watches When Life Gives You Tangerines on Netflix
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When Life Gives You Tangerines Opening Week Story
“Spring is just so short.”
We open our story in reverse with our heroine already in her seventies calling out to her mother as she did as a child. Then, we go back in time to the 60s in Jeju Island, where our story takes place. Our heroine, Oh Ae-sun (later played by Lee Ji-eun/IU), is calling out to her mother (cameo by Yeom Hye-ran), who works as a haenyeo (female diver) for a living and is busy diving in the sea to catch abalones.
As we come to learn, Ae-sun’s father died and her mother got re-married to a good-for-nothing man and gave birth to two kids. Believing it would be better for Ae-sun to live with her father’s family since they can at least put her through school, Ae-sun’s mother left her with them despite Ae-sun’s protests. But learning that they mistreat and starve her and reading the poem Ae-sun wrote about how much she misses her mother, Ae-sun’s mother storms in, declaring she will take Ae-sun. (Ae-sun’s mother has a fiery temper and Ae-sun seems to take after her.)
엄마 하루를 백 환 주고 사고 싶은 딸의 마음. 그런 딸이 애틋한 엄마 마음.
때때로 봄, 때때로 겨울이었던 수만날이 모인 인생 이야기 <폭싹 속았수다>. 지금 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/8Vb9chYXsX
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) March 8, 2025
Having reunited with her mother, Ae-sun is elated. Sadly, this happiness is cut short when Ae-sun’s mother falls terminally sick and has little time left. Before she dies, Ae-sun’s mother cooks some abalones for Ae-sun (Ae-sun used to be jealous of abalones since her mother spent most of the time catching them instead of caring for her.) and urges her to go back to her father’s family once she dies. It is a heart-rending scene and the child actress playing Ae-sun nailed that scene, portraying the grief of a 10-year-old kid listening to her mother’s last words.
Defying her mother’s last will, Ae-sun stays with her stepfather (cameo by Oh Jung-se) and step-siblings. Taking care of her siblings and plowing the field to plant cabbage, Ae-sun barely has time to study. Packing up, Ae-sun threatens to leave home, yet her stepfather appeases her with some bluff about sending Ae-sun to college and helping her become a poet as she wishes. But we can see where this arc is headed.
“I wouldn’t take you even if they hand you over.”
At least, Ae-sun isn’t facing all those hardships on her own. She has a big support system in the shape of her best friend, Yang Gwan-sik (later played by Park Bo-gum) who has stayed by Ae-sun’s side through it all. From always making sure she eats something, to helping her plant the cabbage, to securing her a spot in the market next to his fish stall and selling the cabbage for her while she studies. Gwan-sik basically lives to take care of Ae-sun. And his ultimate goal in life is to marry her.
Years pass and Ae-sun and Gwan-sik are now high schoolers. However, nothing has changed in their dynamics. Ae-sun is as feisty as ever and a sweet Gwan-sik sticks to her and puts up with her temper. In what seems to be a habitual occurrence, Gwan-sik’s grandmother makes a scene and chases after Ae-sun, since she is against their relationship. Gwan-sik holds his grandmother back while Ae-sun runs for her life and bluffs about not liking Gwan-sik and him being the one pursuing her.
But for all her bluff about never marrying a guy from this small island, Ae-sun reciprocates Gwan-sik’s feelings. But the catch is: Gwan-sik is all about showing his love through actions while Ae-sun needs verbal assurance. So, a persistent Ae-sun pushes Gwan-sik and doesn’t back down until she gets a confession out of him.
애순관식 커플 추구미: 노빠꾸
<폭싹 속았수다>, 드디어 내일 공개됩니다. 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/96yDZdRtLt
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) March 6, 2025
Returning home elated, Ae-sun’s happiness is cut short once again after learning his stepfather is getting re-married and the woman wants Ae-sun to move out. Demanding her stepfather to keep his promise and give her tuition money, Ae-sun realizes she was fooled. With her father’s family wanting to suck her dry too, Ae-sun refuses to live like that and goes to the only one who cares about her in the world, Gwan-sik. But they both know he can’t win against his grandmother. So they decide to run away at night.
Since her stepfather won’t give her the money he owes, Ae-sun shall take his wife’s jewelry and clothes to settle the score. Then, she boards a ship with Gwan-sik, pretending to be newlyweds. But funnily enough, their faces scream runaways. Luckily, they manage to get to Busan. But they are robbed blind by the innkeepers on their first night. And when they try to retrieve their belongings, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik are dragged to the police station for being runaways.
As luck would have it, Gwan-sik’s mother happens to be there, looking for her handsome son who got involved with a vixen-like girl and left home. After bailing them out, Gwan-sik’s mother heads to the inn and proudly retrieves the stolen things after getting the innkeeper arrested. Then she drags our leads back to Jeju.
소리가 없다기엔 꽤 목청이 좋은 관식.
애순과 관식의 요망진 봄, <폭싹 속았수다> 지금 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/QDaA3sXbxC
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) March 8, 2025
“Do you think I am a spoiled fish you can get cheap?”
As punishment for eloping, Ae-sun gets expelled from school, yet Gwan-sik only gets suspended. With nowhere to go, Ae-sun crawls back to her father’s family’s house, where she is mistreated and curls in a tiny room. Now, Ae-sun shall either marry Gwan-sik or die as a spinster since the news of their “affair” has spread like wildfire. But Gwan-sik’s family, minus his mother, is against this marriage.
Or so she pretends. Behind Gwan-sik’s back, his mother visits Ae-sun and coaxes her into giving up on Gwan-sik by making it seem Ae-sun is standing in the way of him winning a medal. (Gwan-sik lied to Ae-sun that he only does athletics for free milk and bread. But it turns out he is one of the best four at school.) Ae-sun has always been vocal about her dream of becoming a poet since they were kids, so she feels guilty thinking that Gwan-sik is giving up on his dream for her.
When he drops by her house later, Ae-sun turns Gwan-sik down harshly, claiming she doesn’t need his pity. She can readily marry another man. But Ae-sun’s suitor is an arrogant man (Choi Dae-hoon) in his thirties who got married once and only wants to marry Ae-sun to raise his kids, pretending not to care about her “affair” but rubbing it in Ae-sun’s face. Lamenting her fate, Ae-sun muses in tears that maybe she was born to be a maid, once for her father’s family, then for her step-siblings, and now for her future husband’s family.
When he hears about Ae-sun’s upcoming marriage, Gwan-sik flips out, pleading with her family to let him marry Ae-soon since he is the one who cares about her the most and then intercepting Ae-sun’s “date” with her suitor and dragging her away. Putting a ring on her finger, Gwan-sik proposes to Ae-soon. But instead of telling him the truth or asking him to clarify things, Ae-sun tosses away the ring and goes on with the noble idiocy, claiming that Gwan-sik stands in the way of her happiness.
똑똑하고 잘 떠들고 귀염상 = 오애순
귀염상 애순과 뿌앵 관식의 <폭싹 속았수다>, 지금 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/cgBPtnw5oO
— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) March 9, 2025
Heartbroken, Gwan-sik settles to go to Seoul to participate in the national tournament while Ae-sun succumbs to her fate and goes dress shopping with her suitor. Pleading with her suitor to hire her as a babysitter or housekeeper instead of marrying her, the suitor sneers that he has no reason to do that since Ae-sun will do all that for free after the wedding.
Luckily, Ae-sun doesn’t go through with this ludicrous marriage and runs away before it is too late. Well, it might be too late as Gwan-sik’s ship has already sailed. But trust Ae-sun to run with all her might and scream at the top of her lungs until her voice reaches Gwan-sik, who pleads with the captain to turn around. When he doesn’t comply, Gwan-sik jumps into the water. Turns out he was on the swimming team.
“I don’t want her to set the table. I want her to be the one to flip it.”
In an interesting turn of events, Ae-sun turns out to be pregnant and our leads get married and give birth to a beautiful daughter. Ae-sun might not be able to go to college or become a poet, but she is elated to hold her daughter in her arms. While Gwan-sik gets a golden girl instead of a golden medal. (Ae-sun took the GED a few years later though she has yet to become a poet.)
Our leads were full of hope that they could live happily and raise their daughter to the best of their ability. But the reality dashed those hopes. Ae-sun wakes up by dawn to prepare breakfast and works all day in the kitchen on top of putting up with their overbearing in-laws and their outdated mindset. While Gwan-sik works his fingers to the bone as a fishmonger to put food on the table. Still, they find happiness in little things like defying Gwan-sik’s family and having their sweet daughter ride a tricycle.
Ae-sun might tolerate being a maid for her in-laws, but when it comes to her daughter’s future, Ae-sun will put her foot down and not budge. When Gwan-sik’s family holds a ceremony for Ae-sun’s daughter to become a haenyeo and support the family, Ae-sun vehemently refuses, earning her a slap from Gwan-sik’s mother. Not that Ae-sun will back down. And, as luck would have it, Gwan-sik drops by at that exact moment to see Ae-sun tearing up after getting humiliated at the hands of his mother.
Holding Ae-sun’s hand, Gwan-sik asserts they will move out of that suffocating house and those awful people won’t see Ae-sun again. Renting a room away from Gwan-sik’s family, our leads can finally catch a break. But to make a living in this new village, Gwan-sik swallows his pride and gets a job on a boat owned by Ae-sun’s former suitor.
As one can expect from such a sleazy man, he bullies Gwan-sik and is particularly mean to him, forcing him to work all night with an injured finger and not turning the boat around even when the other fishermen plead with him. Sadly, by the time he visits a physician, it is already too late and Gwan-sik’s finger remains croaked for the rest of his life.
At first, Ae-sun pretended not to know about Gwan-sik working for that man to avoid adding to Gwan-sik’s worries. But she snaps after learning the sleazy man beats Gwan-sik up. Cue: Ae-sun rushing over to teach that sleazy man a lesson, highlighted by a montage of Ae-sun standing up to the bullies picking on Gwan-sik since they were ten.
Hand in hand, Ae-sun and Gwan-sik go home. In a flash forward to the 90s, we see our leads walking hand in hand, still in love as they were in their youth. (The drama played with us about Ae-sun’s husband’s identity but eventually confirmed it is Gwan-sik.) In another scene, we see their daughter, Yang Geum-myeong (also played by Lee Ji-eun/IU), turning out to be a fine lady who also took after her mother. It seems the hard work our leads put into raising her paid off, given how Geum-myeong holds her own and refuses to let anyone mistreat her.
When Life Gives You Tangerines Opening Week Musings
This is one of the few times where we want to cover every single scene (but sadly cannot) because of how gripping the drama is. From engaging story-telling to tight writing to skillful directing to top-notch acting, we like everything about the drama. Lee Ji-eun/IU is on top of her game and Park Bo-gum makes it up to us for the long wait.
A special shout-out to the cinematography team for capturing the beauty of Jeju’s scenery with their lenses and having us relish in the aesthetics. Though we have to say, we got quite blindsided by the dark tone. If things are this dark in spring, how will things turn out in winter?
Another highlight is the dialogue. It is raw and authentic and hits us right in the feels, making us empathize with our leads and feel for their struggles. Further elevating the emotional impact, the scenes are interspersed by Geum-myeong narrating her parents’ story in voiceover where she describes the hardships her parents went through in their youth.
This isn’t a cliche story about childhood lovers getting a happily ever after but a deep and heartfelt story about a girl who was left on her own without a warm place to welcome her and a boy who cared about her more than anyone in the world and made sure to protect her even when he had nothing. The story isn’t about getting us curious about whether Ae-sun and Gwan-sik got married but about tagging along their journey throughout all phases of life.
Ae-sun’s temper might get the best of her at times and make her say hurtful things she doesn’t mean to Gwan-sik but she also stands up for him when anyone bullies him. Likewise, though he is usually the quiet type who doesn’t complain even when people harass him, Gwan-sik makes sure to protect Ae-sun no matter what. If anything, he is the only one who sees through her, and Ae-sun can only be herself and show her vulnerable side when she is with Gwan-sik.
Photos and Videos: Netflix Korea
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