#pilgu

Just finished watching When the Camellia Blooms and bar It's Okay To Not Be Okay, I haven't watched a drama that made me feel so much. I'm finding that I adore watching imperfect characters crawl and fight their way through life, it's just intensely human. The male lead felt like literal sunshine throughout the show, unconditionally shining down on the female lead. Watching him grow to love her beyond her beauty and seeing how unwavering he was despite circumstances was just heartwarming. And the female lead, on paper exactly the type of lead I typically reject (I adore lovable rude bitches) but she grew on me every episode, her trauma scarred her immensely and his sweet words weren't enough (and shouldn't be) to heal her immediately. But they were each other's miracles. She grew because she finally had someone speaking love and comfort into her, he didn't heal her but he was like a defibrillator waking up all her confidence allowing her to grow. 

Then there were the parents, mothers in particular. They were frustrating, overbearing, loving, jagged, selfish, selfless and so many other descriptive words. The majority of the scenes that rendered me speechless and in a pool of my own tears were the ones involving mothers, perhaps because I have a similar love hate relationship with my own. Even the children were given their own time to flourish, Pilgu was a vastly complex character who was such a grown up at times but at the moments that mattered most he was just a child, a little selfish and unyielding. Everything needed to be under his supervision, he was desperately possessive of his mother and her attention. The parent child dynamic was fleshed out and cutting to watch in every episode.

First of all: I wanted to wrote this review since so much time ago, as a girl who never met his biological father, this drama really hit me. And I was really nervous because I watched this drama with tears in my eyes.

I am not a native English speaker, actually I'm studying English so probably you will going to read some mistakes (please forgive me) but I want to write in English because I don't want my mom or my dad understand this (just in case one day they have this review in his hands) but still want to share my experience by watching when camellia Blooms.

Plot

Dong-Baek (Kong Hyo-Jin) is a single mother living in the small town of Ongsan. She runs the bar-restaurant Camellia, while also taking care of her son Pil-Gu (Kim Kang-Hoon). The people of Ongsan frequently gossip about Dong-Baek. She grew up as an orphan, is a single mother and runs a bar where many of the men in Ongsan frequent. Regardless of what the locals may whisper about Dong-Baek, local police officer Hwang Yong-Sik (Kang Ha-Neul) is deeply in love with her. Meanwhile, Dong-Baek's ex-boyfriend Kang Jong-Ryeol (Kim Ji-Suk) suddenly reappears in her life. He is a famous baseball player, that hid their relationship when they dated. While Dong-Baek tries to find happiness, something truly sinister lurks in the background. A serial killer roams Ongsan and Dong-Baek may be a target.

My opinion

When I started to watch this drama the first thing I saw was the opening, I really like that opening. It’s pretty and feels like a lullaby. Calm before storm. And then the most unique a brilliant story started, a beautiful woman who struggle for give a good life to his young son, who it is really worried about his mother.

I don’t have to think a lot, Pil Gu is my favorite character and it is because he is just like me.

First he has warmblood, he is a fighter, he is really passionate and really strong. He don’t want to saw his mother sad so he is trying to protecting her all the time. He is a little kid but he is full of worries and it's a little cruel. 

But also  he is really talented at baseball, He has a little chubby and lovely friend who has the most irritable lady as a mother. And also Pil Gu has a secret desires, having a father is one of them but he don't want to admitid. 

Even when he wants to protect her mother he said a lot of cruel stuffs to her. 

At first Dong Beak is really stupid and passive character but the background it’s really important. She thinks that she has a bad luck with her, so she always accept everything like if she deserves, at the same time she has a good heart, she can’t be bad with no one and that is her curse. And sometimes I got really mad with her for be like “it’s okay I deserve this”.

But i honestly understood that she was insecure and lonely, she has nobody and she is just trying to don't make people angry. she is grateful with others (idk why) 

One of the thing that I hate most it's the way that people in Onsang can't stop bitching and gossip. I wanted to scream "It's not your fucking problem" like all the time. 

But you have to take a look into a Korean culture,for example in my country (Or at Latin America in general) there are a lot of single mothers as popcorn. So i really needed time to understood why being a single mother was so bad and why people on Onsang couldn't stop messing with Dong Beak just for being a single mother.

She was a mother, without a man SOOO WHAT???

When Jong Sik get into the Dong Beak’s Life the things started to change and that it is one of the reasons why I love him a lot. He doesn’t care about her past, he encourage her to be a stronger woman, he doesn’t care about himself, he was really worried for Dong Beak because he knows that inside of her, there was a fire.

He was the funniest character, he is a lucky fool and he plays a good role. He is the good boy, with the biggest heart but don't take him bad, because he never lets people treat him badly or trample him down.

You may think that Jong Sik only cares about Pil Gu because Dong Beak its his mother but it is not in that way, Jong Sik he really cares for Pil Gu. He really want to take care of him and be his model role, even if he knows he will never be his real dad, he want to support him as a real one. That was a beautiful thing, because even when Pil Gu gets mad with him because Jong Sik date with his mother, Jong Sik don't change, he still want to be his family.

As a magic destiny want, the real father appears. Jong Ryeol is famous and has a lot of money but now he is a married guy with a little young daughter. He finds out that he has a son, and he became into a crazy man. First because he never forgot Dong Beak and second because his life with his wife it is horrible, and third because Pil Gu had his talent but his son had to live a poor and chaotic life with his mother. He want to take him away from Dong Beak.

I don’t hate him because he doesn’t know about Pil Gu, and it is not his fault that Dong Beak never told him, she has her reasons and I am in her side. But he entry it’s chaotic and he want Pil Gu at his side, he doesn’t care about if Pil Gu it’s all that Dong Beak has. He tried everything, he even threatened Dong Baek. (Fucking Asshole)

One of the moments that I cried most is when Pilgu finds out that Jong Ryeol is his biological father, he finds out alone. Pil Gu cried and cried a lot, i was heart broken, he needs his mother and she was busy becoming into a strong woman to him.

I admire how Pil Gu doesn't care for the money of his father (one thing that I hate about Kang Jong Ryeol is that he thinks he can resolve everything with money), Pil Gu doesn't care about money, he only want to make happy to his mother. Every desition was always thinking in her.  As I said, he was a really strong boy.

The end of this story was as indicated, like a puzzle everything found its true place. We lost a very iconic character, but his departure had an important meaning in Dong Beak's life.