“Summer Strike” (아무것도 하고 싶지 않아)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
May 6, 2023

☆☆☆☆
Lee Yeo-reun (played by Kim Seol-hyun)
Ahn Dae-beom (played by Im Si-wan)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Summer Strike” is one of those K-dramas that I started, was meh about, and then returned to a few months later and binged the heck out of the rest of the show. The premiere episode was strong, focusing on a young office worker whose good nature is taken advantage of both at work and in her long-term relationship with a man who doesn’t want her anymore.

But after that, the next few episodes falter, as Yeo-reun decides to sell her belongings, relocates from Seoul to a small town, and moves into a former billiard parlor — which resembles a filthy crack house more than anything else. But since a murder had occurred there years ago, the rent is dirt cheap. So she signs the lease and acclimates herself to life in the small town, where her biggest concern is what book she’ll read at the local library (where she is one of a handful of patrons).

There, she meets Dae-beom, one of the two librarians. It soon becomes clear that he is a math genius who should be working in Seoul, rather than this small village where everyone knows each other and is in each other’s business. Dae-beom has his own inner demons to deal with, but he is a gentle soul who goes out of his way to help anyone who needs it.

Through the course of a dozen episodes, Yeo-run will be harassed and threatened, there will be a murder committed by someone trying to hide a previous homicide, and Yeon-reun and Dae-beom will enjoy one of the most slow burning and sweet flirtations that’s built on trust more than any romantic overtures.

The subplot I could’ve done (or wish had been handled differently) revolves around an abusive father who beats his daughter so badly she’s hospitalized. And yet, everyone tells her to forgive him because, after all, he’s her father. They lay the onus on a high school student to be the bigger person, when she’s literally just an underage child. When the creatives began to spin a narrative about how he became an alcoholic after he lost his job and … and … Just. No. There is no excuse ever for beating your child.

Airdates: Twelve 50-minute episodes aired from November 21 to December 27, 2022 on Genie TV in South Korea. I watched this on Viki.

Fun Facts: I thought it was a coincidence that Im’s character in “Summer Strike” is a runner, just as he was in the series “Run On.” And maybe it is. But in the upcoming film “Road to Boston” (보스턴), Im will portray a Korean athlete competing in the 1947 Boston International Marathon — the first since World War II. (It’s set to release in South Korea during the Chuseok holiday this September.)

Spoiler alert: As a teenager, Moo-chul (Park Ji-hoon) was a bully who accidentally killed Dae-beom’s sister. The only witness was Geun-ho (Kim Yo-han), who has the mental capability of a 10 year-old child. But because he is big and sometimes aggressive when he gets excited, he is accused by the locals of being the murderer. In present day, Moo-chul is a police officer and his father (Kim Hak-sun) is the town’s realtor. Together, they covered up his crime and also kill one of the town’s beloved residents to hide their secret. I usually am pretty good at guessing who the murderer is, but these two seemingly kind characters had me fooled.

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