When the Weather is Fine (2020)

Quick Take: When the Weather is Fine (2020), starring Park Min-young and  Seo Kang-joon.  9.0/10.  16 episodes 63 min.

Synopsis:   Sweet romance complicated by a lot of guilty secrets. Although her school years there were miserable, Mok Hae-won returns to her home town after losing her job in Seoul.   A handsome but taciturn bookstore owner gradually opens his heart to her.  The central theme involves What It Means To Be Family -- which turns out to be trickier than you think, when murder is involved.

Review:   When the Weather is Fine is a departure for the usually bubbly Park Min-young; she is mostly sad and serious in this one.  Sao Kang-joon plays Im Eun-soeb, the romantic lead.  Outstanding performance by Moon Jeon-he as Mok Hae-won’s eccentric aunt, who plays a central role in the drama’s central mystery.   Nice secondary couple; the girl is Yang Hae-ji, the same actress who played Bit-na in Nevertheless.   Comic relief is provided by Im Eun-soeb’s younger sister, a middle schooler who goes after the boys she likes with amazing unselfconsciousness.

This is my 5th drama with the always-delightful Park Min-young (the others are Sungkyunkwon Scandal, Healer, Secretary Kim, and Her Private Life). It's my first with Seo Kang-joon, known for Cheese in the Trap and Are You Human, Too?  He is also a member of the group 5urprise, about which I know nothing. 

Recommended.

Rewatchable - 4, Compelling - 4, Plot/ Story/Writing - 9,  Acting/Casting - 10, Production - 10,  Bonus - 3.  Bonus points for plot twists.

Notes:

Seo Kang-joon

trained to become an idol before his acting debut in 2012. His breakthrough role was in Cheese in the Trap (2016). Other major roles include Are You Human, Too? (2018) and Grid (2022). He also sings. Of course he does.