Crash Course in Romance follows a celebrity maths tutor and a working-class woman falling into an unlikely case of love but the surrounding characters and circumstances prevent their love from blooming.
Haeng-Seon runs a banchan shop and takes care of her niece Hae-e, but the relationship between the two has been that of a mother and a daughter. She also takes care of her neurodivergent brother Jae-Woo.
Choi Chi-Yeol is a celebrity maths tutor who works constantly, which has taken an adverse effect on his body and health. He can’t eat anything properly but when he takes a shot with the food brought from Haeng-Seon’s shop, he can eat it without a problem.
After a misunderstanding and a little rift between the two, Chi-Yeol and Haeng-Seon keep running into each other as the former can’t help but go back for her food again and again, in different disguises. She eventually recognizes him and lashes out at him.
However, when she learns that this guy is none other than the teacher whose classes she so desperately wishes to get her daughter enrolled in, her attitude toward him changes. However, due to the powerful and wealthy moms of other students end up getting Hae-e kicked out of a special program, following which she’s also unfairly kicked out of the academy.
Chi-Yeol can’t stand this and starts giving Hae-e private tuition as his playful dynamic with Haeng-Seon begins to turn romantic. However, when other moms find this out, there’s another uproar about this.
Meanwhile, a hooded killer keeps murdering people who have ever had something to do with Chi-Yeol. When Hae-e notices how Haeng-Seon has to suffer in her potential relationship with Chi-Yeol because of her, she reveals to the teacher and the world, the true nature of her relationship with Haeng-Seon.
Chi-Yeol and Haeng-Seon start dating but later on, Hae-e becomes a victim of kidnapping, following which she gets into an accident and falls into a coma. The real culprit behind it turns out to be Chi-Yeol’s manager, who he manages to stop before he can hurt Hae-e further.
Hae-e recovers and goes on to perform greatly in her studies, while Haeng-Seon and Chi-Yeol, now engaged, get ready for marriage.
Performances
Crash Course in Romance has a great ensemble of onscreen talent, all of whom deliver fine performances, albeit some are undoubtedly finer than others.
While the veteran Jeon Do-Yeon is sublime even when she’s over-the-top and explosive, Jung Kyung-Ho somehow brings a realistic fervor to his character, who can be really quirky at times.
In fact, both of the leads do some of the finest work in the show, lending their characters an impressive level of authenticity that comes about in such an effortless way it seems almost too easy.
While Shin Jae-Ha doesn’t get to pull out all the stoppers until his very last moments of screentime, he plays his character with panache, and through the innocent exterior that his subtle, simple, and sweet face presents, he’s able to do a lot portraying the vulnerability and the tortured child that’s buried deep within him.
Rooh Yoon-Seo and Lee Chae-Min, who play characters with similar intensities, do so brilliantly and show real talent in the more emotional and somber scenes in the show.
Positives
Crash Course in Romance deals with several themes and tones, and when it’s dealing with the saccharine stuff that is the romance between the two leads, it becomes like any comfort watch.
However, the show also deals, quite prominently, with grave issues that plague society, especially in Asian countries where education has become a business unrivaled in yearly revenue and the students are constantly crushed under the burden of expectations their parents have for them.
Even the more dramatic storylines and characters have to do with the issue of education and the parents’ obsession with it. There’s a really great commentary in works here, on the crime that the parents commit when they seek to live and achieve their dreams vicariously through their children, depriving them of their freedom and joy in the process.
The rom-com is also quite funny when it wants to be, and most of the quirk comes from the more physical aspects of the actors’ performances.
Negatives
The fact that the show covers a number of themes, and subjects, and in the process, contends with a varied set of tones and emotions, it can all come off as a bit crammed-in and a bit too busy.
Following different storylines is not always worth it, which can’t be truer in the case of Jae-Woo and Yeong-Ju’s romantic subplot, which could have been done away with without affecting the larger narrative.
Verdict
A sweet little treat that’s sparsely garnished with serious subject matters and grim subplots, Crash Course in Romance is quirky, warm, and fun in ways that feel refreshing.
Benefitting from a talented cast, the show portrays an accurate image of the cut-throat world that the education sector has turned into, while also dealing with the adorable idiosyncrasies of the lovers at the center of the story.
Also Read: Crash Course in Romance season 1 episode 16 recap, review & ending explained
