Tell Me That You Love Me 2023 K Drama Episode 5-6

Dec 14, 2023

We might as well get it out of the way and start with SONG SEO-KYUNG (Kim Ji-hyun). She’s the new director of the art museum where all our characters are now working. But we’ve heard her name before. She’s the woman who was caught in the fire that haunts Jin-woo’s past. The good news is: she didn’t die in the fire, as I’d feared. The bad news is: it looks like she’s still in love with Jin-woo.

In flashback, we learn that Seo-kyung and Jin-woo fell in love at university, where they were both in the art department. Seo-kyung was assigned to be Jin-woo’s interpreter during classes. It was her job to take notes for him — and she was already comfortable with sign language because her father is deaf also. She was the first person to treat Jin-woo like he was “normal” (in his words) by being friendly but also teasing him, instead of being overly kind or wary around him.

Tell Me That You Love Me: Episodes 5-6

We see their first kiss and young Jin-woo is adorable. (Hey! It’s the peach farmer from Once Upon a Small Town! Nice to see you again, Baek Sung-chul.). But Seo-kyung has an issue (yet to be clarified). She keeps hearing someone whistling in a menacing way, even when it seems that no one is there. We see her in present day, terrified in a parking lot, hearing whistling when footsteps are behind her. And then we see her in college, hearing it repeatedly, and even pulling back from Jin-woo’s kiss because of it.

When the two reunite for the first time in decades, Mo-eun is also there. Seo-kyung approaches casually, asking how Jin-woo has been, and he’s got panic and pain all over his face. Mo-eun observes it all and understands there’s something powerful between these two. When she asks how they know each other, Seo-kyung says they’re friends and Jin-woo simply nods in agreement, so caught off guard by seeing this long-lost woman.

But our leads are still pressing along in finding their way to each other and so far Seo-kyung hasn’t presented a real threat. She looks unhappy when she sees Jin-woo and Mo-eun together — and offers to help Mo-eun with sign language (which feels like she’s trying to butt her way between them), but we’ll have to see how that develops. As of now, Mo-eun is doing just fine on her own — so fine, in fact, that we end our episodes with a confession.

To give the setup, we have two deaf characters, both who communicate in sign language, and two hearing characters, only one of whom really knows enough sign language to understand and translate. Ki-hyun acts as the go-between, speaking and signing, so everyone can understand each other. The atmosphere is jovial and light, but it’s also one of the most complex scenes I’ve ever seen in regard to how communication happens when one person doesn’t know the language of the others (and this is true for not knowing a spoken language as well).

So-hee signs. Ki-hyun says out loud what she’s signing. Mo-eun looks between So-hee’s face and Ki-hyun’s to show she’s paying attention to both speaker and translator. At the same time, Jin-woo watches Mo-eun as she tries to understand and integrate with his friends — in a group where she is the outsider instead of him. We see his feelings brewing here as she attempts to gain access to his world.

But on top of that, we have the actual content of what’s being said. So-hee’s parents are not deaf but don’t know much sign language, so she can’t communicate with them well. Ki-hyun has to translate between her and her parents, including when she’s saying something negative about him – a fact that makes everyone at the table laugh.

Tell Me That You Love Me 2023 K Drama Episode 5-6

Oh this scene! I want them together so badly! This is a story where I would be satisfied to just see their mundane daily life together as a couple. Her at his studio. Him at her plays. All the ways they’d try to communicate — and all their little flubs amidst all their tenderness. I’m not even the one in the relationship and I’m imagining their future. No wonder she’s confessing already!

Also, the direction is astounding. I’m in love with our hero and that’s thanks to the flipping back and forth between being in his shoes and being in our heroine’s shoes as she sees him. There’s so much empathy flying around. And I love our heroine too. She’s open and curious and brave. If any pair deserves happiness together, it’s these two. Please Drama, give it to them so I can be happy too!

Tell Me That You Love Me 2023 K Drama Episode 5-6

Tags: #Tell Me That You Love Me 2023; #Tell Me You Love Me; #사랑한다고 말해줘; #Recap; #Revew; #Dramacoo; #Dramanice; #Jung Woo Sung; #Shin Hyun Been; #Kim Ji Hyun;

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