Plot:
Something in the Rain is about a woman in her mid-30s, Jin-ah, who lives with her parents and manages a coffee franchise. She has a terrible boyfriend, who is both boring and abusive. She comes in contact with her best friend’s little brother, Jun-hi, who is now in his 20s. They end up working in the same building and forming a close friendship, which buds into a relationship. This is an against-the-odds love story, with their age difference and the fact they knew each other through childhood. How will they tell their friends and family? This premise was one I absolutely adored and it had so much promise. Warning: spoilers ahead!
Something in the Rain started so well. I’ve never seen a show portray new love this accurately and detailed. The little expressions as you stare over at your crush. The rush of excitement when you receive a text message. The butterflies were tangible from these characters. It was incredible to watch and I found myself happy crying at their new love. I would rewatch the first five episodes just for that fantastic portrayal. But it all goes downhill from there.
And the problem is, it’s not the usual K-drama downhill. Obstacles were bound to come up; that’s what makes a good drama. This was an abyss of crushed hopes and inflamed hatred for the character of Jin-ah. This woman’s choices were infuriating and made me want Jun-hi to dump her ASAP. She didn’t seem to care about his feelings and defied the boundaries that Jun-hi explicitly stated. She was selfish and prideful and would manipulate Jun-hi when he called her out. This made me want to scrap the show because it was incredibly frustrating. She didn’t deserve this man in the slightest. Jun-hi was the only saving value in this show, but I hated watching him get trashed on by the woman he loved. To be honest, I also ended up fast-forwarding through a lot of the second half of the show. Plot: 4/10
The setting didn’t promote any feeling of excitement, and perhaps that was the point. This drama was meant to be in an everyday setting. You have the offices, the coffee shop, and their homes. However, I didn’t feel connected to any certain space. Other dramas have been set in the everyday and have still managed to pull this off well. An example would be Because This is My First Life or Itaewon Class. I didn’t hate the environment to the point where I felt it ruined the show. It was just “meh” overall. Setting: 4/10
Characters:
Jun-hi was an incredible character, despite his flaw of being Jin-ah’s walking mat. I wish he stood up for himself sooner. He excused so many of her poor behaviors. Not that he wouldn’t speak up about them every now and again, but she had no consequence from him for her errors. It took him to the last few episodes to finally draw the line in the sand. Jun-hi was selfless to a fault. He always put her above himself. He’s funny and sweet and brave. Who wouldn’t love him? Characters: 5/10
Jin-ah’s character on the other hand only plummeted. She started sweet and so incredibly relatable. She needed to be broken out of her insecurity and Jun-hi helped that. Unfortunately, Jin-ah swung the pendulum in the opposite direction. She made one selfish choice after another, not looking out for anyone else’s interests—including her best friend and Jun-hi. Her pride, trusting herself above all else, made me dislike her in the highest degree by the end of the show because of how she treated the characters I grew to love.
Age is just a number. I loved this theme because it really is true. It’s a bit taboo to have a large age difference between couples and it comes with its challenges. However, with the right mindset, anything is possible. I think some of this show displayed how not to go about this (i.e. don’t hide it from your BFF and don’t treat the younger person in the relationship like a less mature individual). Yet it did display that Jun-hi’s maturity outgrew Jin-ha. Don’t judge someone just on a number! Theme: 7/10
This OST included almost all English tracks. The track “Stand by Your Man” by Carla Bruni was a bop! I sang along to it every time it came on. Another one that was often played in this drama was “Save The Last Dance for Me” by The Cats. A rendition of “I’ll Stand by You” by Jake Wesley Rogers was also a highlight. Besides that, nothing stood out. OST: 5/10
FINAL:
This show took me through the wringer. So many emotional lows and a few highs from the beginning. It is a drama I would re-watch the first few episodes of and turn it off before it’s ruined. I would recommend it to a friend who has already watched the better ones out there and needs a bit of a twist. I still watched Something in the Rain to the end but did so painfully. There are better romances out there, but few first episodes that are so good in displaying new love. Watch the first five or so episodes and then stop—that’s my advice! FINAL: 5/10
—-E. Boyd
View Comments (31)
Completely agree with everything, I wanted Jun-Hui to break up with Jin-ah by the end. I felt so sorry for him and it annoyed me that Jin-ah was incredibly selfish by the end when Jun-hui gave her everything
Let's be real.. "SOMETHING IN THE RAIN" is very popular and loved by MOST PEOPLE world wide. Not just in Korea
So clearly, the FEW overly judgemental idiots like YOU, is the problem. You got nothing better to do with your life?
Nothing is perfect, and nothing can please everyone. Especially no film or TV series. Something you find great, many others will find it "disappointing" as well. Biased personal opinions.. That's reality
"SOMETHING IN THE RAIN" wasn't perfect either. The main OST theme music should've been better. Most of the lyrics in that main song just doesn't fit. And the writing behind some characters felt extremely stupid and overdone. Along with many Korean "cliches", which is very annoying. "mothers/fathers" or "in laws" being horribly delusional and ignorant Hitlers. That cliche is always too over done in most Korean Tv shows. Feels like a 1980s thing
But SOMETHING IN THE RAIN wasn't disappointing, since everyone only tuned in and watched the show only because the two main characters and Noona romance. Especially since it's Jung Hae In and Son Ye Jin. Their chemistry on and off camera IRL is extremely contagious and powerful
So THAT alone made the show quite fascinating, and excellent. Just having them together like that was worth it, and every scene between THEM made the show worth it. Exceeded expectations, because of their chemistry
It's all about perspective. You can find anything disappointing if you keep on Nit picking and being ignorant or ungrateful. There's too many flaws in everything
Just appreciate the great moments. Hae In and Ye Jin made this show truly great.. That's all that matters
The show just desperately needed a 2nd season. Too many loose ends and waste of character development. Many Korean TV series desperately needed a 2nd season, minimum
Wow is the comment by ‘M’ ridiculous. Don’t be so hateful of an honest review, seems more like you have nothing better to do. Everything in this review was completely on point! Except the ost deserved a 2, not great. Especially when her behavior went completely against the lyrics!
Just because lots of people like something does not mean it’s in good taste, there is a whole load of trash TV out there that says otherwise. Haha!!! A lot of people watched this because of Crash Landing…and most I know we’re disappointed to the max.
She didn’t deserve him, she broke every promise she made, waisted their time, broke his heart immediately after swearing loyalty, and then gets him in the end anyway with no effort on her part. The ending was a flop. It never even showed her standing by him after that. For all we know she cracks and blows him off again the next week. Haha
Wow, that’s silly. Throwing hate speech and calling names? There’s nothing ignorant or nitpicky about noticing the obvious flaws in a bad show. Saying something is a great in spite of all the trash is ridiculous. There are far better shows out there. By your methods any terrible show should be praised and celebrated, trophies for everyone!
Don’t eat the ice cream in spite of the bugs! This show was a bust for lots of people!
Also, tons of people, me included, love that Korean shows don’t have a second season. It’s refreshing to not be stuck with one show for ages! That’s one of the best parts. Don’t try and make K dramas be like American shows.
I really love this drama. I think your opinion is too over. Too much expectation. If you don't like just skip. Bye.
I'm on the second to last episode and I'm pissed. I was getting annoyed with her constantly lying to him and hiding things but I thought she would come around and change for the better. This show makes no sense! She said she couldn't live without her best friend and now she's being so disrespectful. She needs to stay single.
Nah, this review is spot on. Jin-ah treated Jun-hi like trash and I was so done with her. How could anyone enjoy her character by the end? She completely took Jun-hi for granted. Totally agree with Namsandong. Don't say something is good when it obviously cannot compare to other storylines and is poorly written. The best actors in the world couldn't save this plot. And SUPER agree that K-dramas are wonderful because many do not have a second season that ends up worse than the first. Made me hate American dramas because they end up getting ruined later on.
Although I did love certain elements about this series, I did find it incredibly frustrating. Firstly there were too many episodes with Jin-ah’s mother, horrible woman. I couldn’t understand why she moved into an apartment without telling Jun-hi and then he cleared off to the USA. Her character development was such a letdown in those final episodes.
Here’s my perfect ending:::
Six months (??) after he leaves for the US he returns home, and they meet at the airport, as she is on her way to the US to try and salvage her relationship with him. During that six months they have both had time for some serious reflection. She has worked hard, saved money and has grown into a more independent woman. He too has matured and perhaps not so idealistic.
They soon get married and everyone attends their wedding day accept that impossible mother.
They move to that little seaside village, where Jin-ah works at her friend’s cafe and Jun-hi still works as a graphic artist from home but she encourages him to pursue his dream of being an artist.
Time fast forwards to 3 or 4 years later. He has an art exhibition of his works and is highly successful. Her estranged mother attends the exhibition (in disguise) and soon realises the paintings of two (twins) children are her grandchildren.
In the final scenes, Jun-hi, Jin-ah are having a picnic in their backyard with the children, it’s playful and sweet. Her mother turns up, watches them being a beautiful family, until Jin-ah makes eye contact with her. She isn’t that happy to see her but Jun-hi is the catalyst for the path of forgiveness and healing.
The End.
See it should have been about personal growth, through character development and experience. Forgiveness, acceptance and healing.
Jin-Ah made a lot of baffling decisions. She started so sweet, and was always deeply in love with Jun-Hui, but she becomes less willing to adapt or compromise over the course of the show. I believe the changes were due to her character development, from her obedient child to rebellious adult and finally into the woman she is.
Jin- Ah’s decision not to go to the USA with Jun-Hui becomes difficult to understand when she later turns around and leaves everything anyway when HER FRIEND asked her. Why not with the guy who she loves?
At first, I thought she was angry that he made the decision to go without talking to her. Maybe she felt like he was planning to run away from the situation, with or without her, and that made her doubt his sincerity. That his ego had taken all the bashing it could and he was leaving. I also thought maybe she didn’t want him to be abused and disrespected by her family anymore so she decided to end things to prevent him from being hurt anymore.
But in the end, I felt she was just still trying to be the perfect daughter for an impossible to please, overbearing mother who kept her infantalized. Throughout the show, she wavered between obedient child and independent adult. Near the end, she could not rebel enough to leave her mother completely. She had not yet broken away to become her own person.
By the end of the show, though, she had evolved into a mature adult. That adult however turned out to have alot more in common with her mother than I was comfortable with. She too was pigheaded and unmovable. She must have her way and could be remorseless. And Jun-Hui, like her father to her mother, was devoted and eager to let her have her way. They are likely to have a similar marriage in that respect.
Totally agree. Everything you wrote was all on point. Conclusion : Yoon Jin-ah doesnt deserve Seo Joon Hee. She's a constant liar covered herself with customized packaging such as "this is the best for us" - "i dont want to bother you" - "i dont want you to worry about me" - etc etc which all of them turns out become a living hell and gives nothing but highest degree pain for Joon Hee. Joon Hee should get over Jin-ah and find a really kindhearted woman who's willing to give all of her heart for Joon Hee too. Definitely Jin-ah is not capable to be that woman.