He Who Dances Must Pay The Piper
Episode 10 of “Thirty Nine” begins with the shop owner uploading a video of Mi-Jo and the girls smashing her shop window in order to drum up publicity for her store and show what a heartwarming cause this was. The video has amassed over a million views so far and the women are starting to be spotted in the streets. ..
Chan-Young arrives on set for her movie shoot, but finds that there’s a whole big display for her, set up by Jin-Seok and the girls, wishing her luck.
Chan-Young is embarrassed, feeling like she only has a small role in the film and believing it’s too much. This embarrassment is only exacerbated when lead actor Si-Wan arrives and both Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee gain autographs. As they part ways, Si-Wan hugs her goodbye and admits he’s happy they got to work together. ..
The movie is set to come out next summer, which seems like a big thing to note. If the meeting between Jin-Seok and Chan-Young’s parents is anything to go by, it seems like they may have something important planned.
Jin-Seok, a high school student in Korea, is heartbroken after his ex-girlfriend breaks up with him. She tells him she’s moving to England with her new boyfriend, Ju-Won. Jin-Seok is devastated and feels like he’s losing his only friend. ..
Mi-Jo gives So-Won words of wisdom, pointing out the talents she had both before and after her divorce. Jin-Seok reflects on his changing future with Ju-Won. He’s worried about his son. Chan-Young arrives to see the kid though, handing over a book about him being reunited with his father eventually. ..
Mi-Jo is approached by a strange man who happens to know her birth mother. He’s pretty shifty and claims that Gyeong-Suk owes him something (it’s money, as we later find out.) After pointing out that Mi-Jo has a lot of allies, with Seon-u and Mi-Hyeon covering for her, he promises to see her again.
Mi-Hyeon is concerned and confronts both Chan-Young and Joo-Hee about what’s happening. It’s here that they reveal the truth about Mi-Jo visiting her biological mum in prison.
Mi-Hyeon curses and leaves. When she does, Mi-Jo speaks to her adoptive mother about visiting Gyeong-Suk in prison. Mi-Hyeon admits that she knew where the woman was all this time too and apologizes for keeping it from her. Mi-Hyeon however, had no idea, hence her reaction.
The strange man, Gyeong-Suk, is owed money by Gyeong-Suk but she’s sent the guy Mi-Ho’s way realizing that she can probably pay him off, given her business. As she sits with Seon-U and goes over her options, the pair eventually head out for food together. He bemoans not being able to do more but promises to be by her side until “death do us part.” ..
Joo-Hee heads home and hears her mother on the phone to someone, talking angrily and demanding that “she not get in touch with her again” as that’s the only way she can repent.
Joo-Hee immediately heads to see Mi-Jo, telling her that she’s worried and admitting she’s concerned. Mi-Jo reassures her that her mother did nothing wrong, and eventually opens up about how she’s really feeling. This is something we’ve known for a while as we’ve been watching. ..
Joo-Hee is a third wheel who is an afterthought compared to Chan-Young and Mi-Jo’s close ties.
It’s been a while since the best moment in this show happened, and Mi-Jo is definitely taken aback by the way her friend feels.Apparently she’s got it wrong (and so have millions of viewers too I guess). Joo-Hee admits that she’s scared that when Chan-Young leaves them, the relationship between Joo-Hee and Mi-Jo will sever completely.
Chan-Young shows up at the memorial hall with Jin-Seok, admitting that she can’t see the other ladies without nearly crying, given what’s going on between them. Eventually he agrees to go with her and as the pair hold hands, they head inside.
Chan-Young and Mi-0Jo head over to Joo-Hee’s place, where they end up talking to her mum. She reflects warmly on the time Mi-Jo first came to the snack bar. Even back then she could see the similarities between her and her birth mother.
Mi-Jo thanks the woman for keeping all of this to herself for so long, going on to say how many fond memories the three were able to make together. It’s a beautiful statement and after, Joo-Hee thanks her for the kind words.
Chan-Young and Mi-Jo leave together after Joo-Hee expresses concerns about being left behind. ..
After Mi-Jo returns to see her birth mother in prison, she plans to clean up the mess she’s apparently caused. She believes that she is the root cause of everything. ..
The Episode Review
The only thing that makes this episode worth watching is the reveal of the identity of the killer, but even that feels like a let-down after such a strong opener.
Joo-hee’s concerns are completely brushed aside at the end, despite her pointing out how she feels like a third wheel. So literally, in the next scene we see Chan-Young and Mi-Jo leaving Joo-hee’s place together. It just feels like a cruel sense of irony and it’s something we’ve all been saying for weeks on end that this show needs to address… and they haven’t. ..
Thirty Nine feels like it’s torn between allowing Chan-Young to row as a person and doubling down on Mi-Jo being the main character, which I suspect is because of the star power she has. ..
The show has been really poor and despite the series doing well ratings-wise, it’s certainly not a series to remember.
