The scene in the garage at the end of
episode 3 was very powerful for me and stuck with me as a high point.
It's one of the few scenes I can tell you off the top of my head
which episode it is from, in fact. As I rewatch it, I think a lot of
the reason is the body language and complex facial expressions of Yoo
Ah In. No wooden faces for him. He stands in the entrance to the
garage, but he's not just standing there. He's off balance, ready to
move, full of potential energy. He looks dangerous to me, like a
commando all psyched up ready to blow up a bridge. But when he walks
up to Hye-won he becomes a little diffident, looks down, and opens
and shuts his mouth without being able to say anything.
She asks him if he grew, and his
expression lightens, he looks uncertain, and he says, “I do think I
changed a bit,” with raised eyebrows and half a smile. When she
asks if he read the book he raises his head higher and looks more
assertive but withdrawn and a little hurt. This expression is hard to
read but it is key because it shows the change in him. He's been
through a lot and has been in hiding, but now he's screwed up his
courage and decided to go fight for a life with her. But the
expression is fleeting because he knows he has to be careful or
she'll blow him off, so he's holding back. She tries to put him in
his place, like he's a child - a student of hers - and questions him,
and he goes back to diffidence. But when she asks, “how was it?”
and makes him think, his mind goes to a painful spot. He goes
through several expressions here; he purses his lips, then wrinkles
his chin and moves his jaw sideways and his voice breaks. He is
honest and admits he had given up but he was swayed. And using only
his eyes he gives her the look of a dead man, because he knows he
wants her but can't have her.
She says she can tell he's struggling
and he gives an obvious lie that he's incredibly fine, grimacing to
keep from breaking down. Then tipping his head up to look down his
nose at her, he grasps at his pride to tell her not to send him
anything again. Now he finds his feet. When she tells him not to lie
to his teacher she can't disconcert him any more. With confidence he
answers, “Yes it's a lie, but it doesn't matter.” His head is
still tipped up and he cracks his jaw; only his eyes show he's
keeping his distance but miserable. She puts her hand on his face for
comfort and he is overcome and lets her at first, but then the corner
of his mouth twitches, and pained, he says, “don't,” because it's
a mixed signal. If she thinks she can pretend there's no attraction
by treating him as a child she shouldn't have touched him, because it
calls forth a response and he decides to cut the pretense and grabs
her in a hug.
His forehead furrows and his eyebrows
angle up as he squeezes her and then lets go and looks at her
searchingly for a moment. This is a really memorable moment, and an
important moment where he, full of kinetic energy, tips over the edge
and gives the rest of the drama its velocity. Right here he gives her
a chance to object if she wants to, but she evidently gives him an “I
want you too” kind of look and he holds her by the neck and kisses
her hard, even when she pushes back a minute later. IMO she got more
than she bargained for and was surprised by the intensity. She didn't
understand what she was stirring up. She gasps once and I don't know
how she could with his full lips pressing so hard, but I bet she got
a wet face because when they break apart, both gasping for breath,
his lips are shiny. And he has a kind of “what was that?”
expression.
The whole scene took only about three
minutes and he went through 17 different identifiable expressions
that I catalogued above; but I watched the whole thing in one go
trying to count all the times he changed expression, and it was at
least 25. If he doesn't get all the acting awards there are this
year, it will be a gross miscarriage of justice. He carries you
through so many nuances of meaning, and it all goes by so fast you
can miss it if you are not paying attention. I can't imagine doing it
on cue, several times, over and over for the camera. With a lot of
actors you would be lucky to get one expression a minute and you
would have gotten 1) Oh, hi. 2) Yes, it's a lie. 3) Don't touch my
face because now I want to kiss you. This drama finished its run in
the middle of May and now it's the middle of September, so that's
four months. Most dramas I watch, I enjoy while I am watching them
but the impression fades away before too long. This is one of the few
that has stayed with me. And a big reason is Yoo Ah In's acting.
