Second 20s gracefully took its stand – that when it comes to pursuing dreams and love – truly, age does not matter.
When a housewife initially decided to enroll in college, she only has one purpose: to match the intellectual level of her husband who has been asking for a divorce.
Little did she know that this step will lead her to more than intellectual growth – she was in for a full blast transformation.
- Main Cast: Choi Ji Woo | Lee Sang Yoon | Choi Won Young |
- Supporting Cast: Kim Min Jae | Son Na Eun |
- Streaming Site: Netflix
- Thrill/Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- Kdramas of Similar Vibe: I am Legend | Navillera | The Time When We Are Not In Love | Romance is A Bonus Book |
Second 20s Quick Plot Recap
Cha Hyun Suk (Lee Sang Yoon) and Ha No Ra (Choi Ji Woo) are estranged best friends. Eighteen years of no communication, and now they met again, as a professor and as a student.
This surprise reconnection, combined with all the adventures that come from being a secret college student, expanded Ha No Ra’s universe, in more ways than she can imagine.
Second 20s Peak Points
*Spoilers Ahead
No Ra’s Real Taste of Adulthood
Ha No Ra became a wife and a mother at the young age of twenty. Since then, she has devoted her whole life only to her husband and son. This made her extremely docile, and childlike in some ways.
Even her decision to go back to school has stemmed from an attempt to somehow meet the expectation of her husband, who definitely loves to underestimate her. It was extremely rewarding to watch her slowly change, from being naïve and almost martyr-like to being a real adult who can create her own decisions.
The Bucket List Element
A major part of Ha No Ra’s positive change in terms of personality came from the confidence and happiness that she gained as she was able to, little by little, achieve a few things off her bucket list. Most of it (if not all) was courtesy of Cha Hyun Suk, and I do agree with him when he once said that it was almost heartbreaking, how simple her wishes are.
An Unconventional Ending
It was impossible not to root for a college degree for both Ha No Ra and his son, Kim Min Seok (Kim Min Jae). Yet both have decided to honor what they really want to achieve in life, even if it is out of the norm.
Second 20s Series Musings
Choi Ji Woo is an ace! I can’t honestly think of another actress that can perfectly fit Ha No Ra’s character. The rest of the cast is also great, and their stellar portrayals made the series reach its best potential.
Second 20s is light-hearted, yet full of learnings, both for the young and young at heart. At the end of the day, what we all want in life is the same – to live to the fullest according to our own terms. –hyorifeels
A Woman Empowering Story
Sometimes women are blinded by their innate nature to cushion whatever painstaking emotions are thrown at them. They give chances because of their forgiving nature and because they dwell more in the past memories than in the future possibilities. Ha No Ra is a different case because of her functioning support system and because she realized early that she owed it to herself to make and fulfill her own dreams.
Although the romance was languid until the last 2 episodes, I came to embrace the lack of it because the unveiling of the story focused on the heroine’s choices, failures and strength to move on and to put the past behind.
There’s something resonating and encouraging to Ha No Ra’s character that made me stay cheering for her and her story. I’m sure most women who lost their dreams along the way when they were blinded by love and motherly duties would relate to her sweet but tenacious character.
It touches on how intellectual compatibility and sharing the same interest play an integral part in marriage or relationship longevity. Moreover, the strength of a relationship relies on each other’s effort to be each other’s pillar. It is through by supporting each other’s weaknesses and encouraging each other’s passion.
It is a story of every young girl who enjoyed what made her happy at 15… of a lady who braved the consequences of her wrong choices at 19… and of a woman who in the process of falling in love has forgotten that she once had her own dreams.
Second 20s may not be the flashiest drama but it has kept well an evenly tailored story without fusing a lot of negativity in the plot given the infidelity cliche. It is a reminder that you are never too late to set a goal in your life especially if you have regrets about the earlier choices you made when you were young. – abbyinhallyuland
Second 20s Long Plot Roundup
The premise of Second 20s is about a woman, Ha No Ra (Choi Ji Woo), who married young and has lived her life taking care of her son, Kim Min Soo (Kim Min Jae), and husband, Kim Woo Chul (Choi Won Young). After 18 years, Woo Chul proposes a divorce agreement which will be effective as soon as their son enters college citing Ha No Ra’s inability to be on the same intellectual wavelength with him.
Around that time, she learned that she is dying and also chances upon her close friend in high school, who secretly loved her back then. In her goal to match her husband’s intellect, she decides to enter college and lands on the same school where her husband and son are attending.
Her close high school male friend, Cha Hyun Suk (Lee Sang Yoon), a popular theatre producer is also a professor in the university. Ha No Ra has been Cha Hyun Suk’s first love but due to her leaving the country abruptly after high school and not even paying respect to her grandmother when she passed away, Hyun Suk has unresolved grudges towards her.
When Ha No Ra accidentally dropped her diary, Hyun Suk learns that she is dying. He didn’t know that the dying diagnosis was a mistake incurred by No Ra’s doctor and starts working on fulfilling his first love’s bucket list.
Later on, when he realizes that she’s not really dying, no matter how hard he resisted in not caring for her, there’s just an invisible love thread that connects them together. He also uncovers the truth about Ha No Ra’s husband’s affair to the daughter of the university’s chairman who was also the person behind his acceptance as a professor in the university.
Finally realizing the unhappy life, No Ra has been going through, Hyun Suk decides to be his Black Knight again and shields his friend and first love no matter what it takes to Woo Chul’s unfairness.
He urges her to go back to the path she wasn’t able to thread to make herself and her late grandmother proud. Ha No Ra’s kind spirit and self-sacrificing nature have imprisoned her to her husband’s grasp. But when she finally learns the truth about his infidelity, she was painfully liberated from a world she has learned to accept because of love.
Photos: tvN
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