In the fifth episode of Twenty Five Twenty One, Hee-do achieves one big pillar of success that makes everyone around her proud. Almost everyone.
Recap
The fifth episode of ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ starts with Yi-jin walking Hee-do back to her home, with the memories of their duel being reminisced by them. It would perhaps become a core memory for them.
Hee-do crushes the national tournament through the help of calm but strong words of the coach. Her performance at the finals makes even her estranged mother proud, and she gets accepted in the NTC i.e. the National Training Centre. Though the sweet moment between mother and daughter doesn’t last long as her mum reprimands her for her photo that she put in the media.
Meanwhile, Yi-jin decides to leave Seoul when his own younger brother is targeted by his father’s creditors at his school. Without telling anyone, he moves to a distant town- breaking many hearts (Hee-do and Yurim). Hee-do gets heartbroken as she wishes to celebrate her success with him, but she continues to try communicating with him.
Yurim turns out to be Hee-do’s roommate at NTC, and their relationship seems to get more civil if not better. Also, Yurim gives Hee-do Yi-jin’s number; in return, she makes her promise that she would convey her any updates from Yi-jin. What’s the probability of two teenage girls bonding over their common crush?
Hee-do begins her training at NTC, with her excelling within three months. As an upcoming genius, she seems to pose a threat for Yurim, whom she has already defeated once. All this, while pining for the thing she has with Yi-jin, missing his presence and the fun they had together. She continues to listen to his radio podcast of early days, and soon, starts exchanging messages with him on his pager number.
The relationship between Ji-Woong and Yurim seems to get better, especially after she ignored him when she was worried about Yi-jin, as they reveal harmless secrets about themselves that they never meant to.
Yi-jin starts working in the fish market, distraught by the stench of rotten fish. He gets upset when he realizes that his younger brother was feeding lies to his new classmate, in an attempt to get new friends. He even proceeds to ignore Yi-jin when he spots him working at the fish market. They have a sad conversation, where the younger brother admits that he has stopped looking up to Yi-jin as a role model.
While returning from his work one night, Yi-jin spots Hee-do on television. She has bagged the third position at another tournament and feels quite proud of her. He hurries to listen to the message that she has left him- while also letting her know how happy he was to see her- through another message. He is taken back to the night they had fun with the water cooler. Hee-do is shown doing the same.
Review
- The coach is a strong character written so well, she continues to get better each episode. Her mere charisma and her ability to offer calming words to others (especially Hee-do) makes her more and more likeable to the viewers.
- The section of the episode five of ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ that purely focused on the Hee-do’s national tournament would definitely be the highlight, with her final duel being really nail-biting to the audience.
- Again, it seemed a bit unrealistic as Hee-do turned out to be Yurim’s roomie, the second lead. Their interaction when Hee-do asked Yurim for Yi-jin’s pager number was borderline wholesome.
- Yi-jin and Hee-do’s desperate attempts to communicate in this episode of ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ would make any lover’s heart bleed with longing. The romantic trope was well played here.
Rating: 4/5
Also Read: Twenty Five Twenty One season 1 episode 2 recap & review