See You in My 19th Life season 1 episode 2 recap & review

Open Go TV / June 19, 2023 / Reviews

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In the second episode of See You in My 19th Life, Ji-eum convinces Seo-ha to hire her, and Seo-ha remembers where he has met her before. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

As Seo-ha is not sure whether he should hire Ji-eum or not, she gives him an alternative — she asks him to date her. She also tells him that they have met before and that he must remember where and when on his own.

Ae-gyeong asks Ji-eum to tell Seo-ha that she is Ju-won. It has always been easy for Ji-eum to decide who should know her secret and who should not, but she cannot decide if she should tell Seo-ha, as she cannot think objectively when it comes to him.

Seo-ha has not fully recovered from the accident. He still cannot sit in the backseat of the car. He also avoids meeting Ju-won’s sister, Cho-won, who is an adult now and likes Seo-ha.

When Seo-ha gets overwhelmed by all the loud noises on the street that bring back the memories of the accident, Ji-eum comes to his rescue. She holds his hand and makes him run as if someone is chasing them.

She only stops when his panic subsides and then tells him that she made him run because he looked bored. When she thinks he cannot hear her, she admits that she knows what it feels like to have a panic attack and that running helps her deal with it.

However, Seo-ha can hear her. Ji-eum then talks about her 10th life, which makes Seo-ha ask her if she is a pathological liar. In response, she asks him to marry her, a question that a young Seo-ha had asked Ju-won. Ji-eum tells him that this is a hint that will help him figure out where and when they have met before.

The next day, she goes to meet Seo-ha again. There, she runs into Ji-seok, the man who has been trying to recruit her for a long time. Ji-seok is also Cho-won’s friend.

Ji-seok manhandles her and then tries to pick a fight with Seo-ha. Ji-eum not only defends herself but also Seo-ha in a way that makes everyone think of her as a strange woman.

Ji-eum keeps convincing Seo-ha to hire her, and he cannot understand her motives. Despite her strange behavior, he agrees to hire her when she gives him a sketch of the hotel lobby as it used to be when his mother managed the hotel.

She also tells him that she will be by his side whenever he needs help. Ju-won had once said the same words to him. Ji-eum then witnesses Seo-ha blacklisting the son of Ms. Jang, the woman who manages the hotel right now.

In her past life, Ji-eum saw Ms. Jang and Seo-ha’s father too close for it to be considered appropriate. Ms. Jang used to work with Seo-ha’s mother, and while Seo-ha is polite to her, he makes it clear that he is going to change things here, whether she likes it or not.

Ji-eum gets to see Cho-won when she comes to meet Seo-ha, who continues avoiding her. Ji-eum also starts working with the strategic planning team, and Cho-won asks her to slip her file in with the others, as she wishes to apply for the position of landscaping artist, but she knows Seo-ha will not even consider her.

Seo-ha’s assistant, Ha Do-yun, is also suspicious of Ji-eum. She admits to him that she has an ulterior motive, but she does not wish to harm Seo-ha.

Seo-ha suddenly remembers meeting Ji-eum when she was a child. One day, when he was upset and she was following him, she saved him from construction workers by making him run. She also asked him to marry her and tended to his wounds.

Seo-ha still has Ji-eum’s handkerchief. Seo-ha calls Ji-eum and asks her to meet him. He returns her handkerchief to her and tells her that he remembers her. He also thinks about her when he is alone.

Ms. Jang complains to Seo-ha’s father about the changes that he is making at the hotel. His father plans to transfer him in a year, so he asks Ms. Jang to tolerate him till then. He also asks Ha Do-yun to keep Seo-ha in check and pays him to do that, but Ha Do-yun refuses to accept the money.

Seo-ha plans to visit Ju-won’s grave, but he wants it to be a secret, so he calls Ji-eum to take him there. In all her other lives, she could only feel her own pain, but for the first time, she witnesses the pain of those she left behind.

Review

Ju-won and Ji-eum are the same people, but the show still manages to make them seem different. While Ju-won was more sensible, Ji-eum is as weird as they come.
Furthermore, Ji-eum’s weirdness makes her an endearing character. One can never guess what she might do next, and that certainly makes the episode more entertaining.
The concept of reincarnation does not seem to be too complicated as of now. However, in this episode, the show uses it to explore an interesting idea: Ji-eum gets to witness others mourning her death, something that common people do not have the power to do.