Episode 1 of The Practical Guide to Love begins with an introduction to Ui-yeong. She's looking for love and waiting for that chance encounter with that special someone. She heads out for a blind date with a guy called Tae-seop, hoping that this could be the start of a beautiful romance.
Before we find out if it will be, we cut back 1 month earlier. Ui-yeong lives with her mum, who has all but given up on Ui-yeong getting married, believing she's "anti-relationship." You see, Ui-yeong has been so wrapped up in her work that her last relationship was 4 months ago… at least that's what Ui-yeong thinks. In reality, it's been 4 years!
Ui-yeong works as an assistant manager for a purchasing team at a hotel called The Hills too. She's constantly thrown in the deep end by the General Manager, who decides to tell Ui-yeong at the last second that they need to add a Dish of the Day (Fish and Chips) to the menu for the UK ambassador, who's arriving at the hotel.
Ui-yeong is tenacious, and she's also quite resourceful too, which we see when she intercepts a shipment of cod and relocates it to her hotel to save the day.
Her colleague, Hyun-min, works alongside her and tries to convince Ui-yeong to get involved in some cheeky blind dates. Ui-yeong is loathe to do so though, convinced that she already has someone interested in her – Kang Do-hyun.
He was a year below Ui-yeong in college, and after graduating, he became a lawyer. A few months ago he joined the hotel as their in-house counsel, so they've been working in close proximity ever since.
He's charming and constantly catches her off-guard, throwing compliments her way and flirting. He even outright tells her she's pretty. Do-hyun has definitely turned his life around, now driving a decent red car compared to in the past, when he used to have a red bike. He was more socially awkward back then too but also hopelessly in love with Ui-yeong.
He even propositioned her with a bouquet of flowers, begging her to be with him. However, Ui-yeong was not ready. Given she was fighting to survive school and work, she rejected the proposal and left him heartbroken.
Back in the present, Ui-yeong is still the same super-busy woman but she's definitely turning a little, contemplating whether she'd even have the time to date. Given how close her and Do-hyun have become over time, it gets her thinking whether this could be the start of something big.
However, it seems everybody is getting in on the act with Ui-yeong's dating life! Eun Jung-suk, the hotel manager, questions Ui-yeong's love life and wants to set her up on a blind date.
Ui-yeong refuses but she has a great chance to naturally get closer to Do-hyun next. With a Purchasing team inspection coming up in Boseong, the pair end up going together. Ui-yeong decides to take a leap of faith and even gets herself all dressed up ahead of time too.
At Boseong, the group split into two teams to go and check the area, where Do-hyun intentionally teams up with Ui-yeong to spend more time with her. It's the oldest tea-growing region in Korea and there are numerous tea leaves as far as the eye can see.
That evening, Do-hyun asks to see Ui-yeong on her own and Hyun-min teases her, believing Do-hyun is going to ask her out again.
As they sit together, alone, Do-hyun explains that he's over what happened in the past between them. He asks Ui-yeong about office dating and explains he's going to confess to Sae-byeok, a colleague at work. He really likes her and has done for a while. He's been finding any excuse to get near her and the Purchasing Trip was the perfect chance to do that.
Ui-yeong is actually really pissed and shocked that his love has changed that much. In fact, that night when Hyun-min boldly asks him about his dating, he brings up how Ui-yeong is good but he likes someone else.
After his confession to Sae-byeok, Ui-yeong spirals and rushes out into the tea fields. The owner finds her and helps patch up her cut arm where she's fallen.
As she sits and reflects on what's happened, Ui-yeong suddenly starts crying. She believes the best days of her life have passed her by and she's left with very little to show for it. She was banking on dating Do-hyun, picking up where they left off in the past, but that ship has seemingly sailed now.
After composing herself, the morning is frosty with Do-hyun as she starts to resent him. She calls him out for touching her wrist and getting too casual. The thing is, all of this comes back to these blind dates.
Ui-yeong is constantly reminded by all those around her that a blind date is the most "reliable way" to find someone outside of dating apps.
Ui-yeong does eventually agree to go and speaks to the General Manager in the morning, asking him to set up this date. That's how the meet with Tae-seop begins, and we're right back to the beginning of the episode.
It's a surprising set-up but the pair seem to get on quite well. Well, that is until Tae-seop immediately jumps in and explains he eventually wants to get married.
The Episode Review
The Practical Guide to Love gets off to a pretty decent start here with an interesting set-up and an exploration of love in the modern world. We're not going the route of sleazy dating apps though but instead, centering this around blind dates.
These can obviously go either way, and it seems like Tae-seop may be a good match for Ui-yeong… even if he is eyeing marriage already!
The drama involving Do-hyun is nicely implemented into this though, especially as it shows how people can change over time and they're not necessarily the same people we meet earlier in life. Ui-yeong took all of that for granted and now she's left scrambling. But is this blind date just something she's doing out of necessity to fit in? Or is she genuinely looking to find a partner?
This is something that the show will hopefully explore over time, and there's definitely some awkward moments here too. Seeing Do-hyun proposition Sae-byeok, right in front of Ui-yeong, is super awkward.
However, these little moments of levity are just what this romantic K-drama needs to prevent it slipping into melodramatic waters. Lets hope the episodes ahead continue the good work done here.
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