A very brave, unique topic for a Korean drama, Second Shot At Love (2025) delves deeply into an entire family's alcoholic addictions with spellbinding realism, yet still gives us hope for their ultimate healing as well. The cast was terrific, including two of my favorite Korean lead actresses playing sisters, Choi Sooyoung (If You Wish Upon Me, Fanletter Please, My Blooming Days) and Yoon Hee Jo (Nine: Nine Time Travels, The King's Face, Lie To Me), and charismatic male lead Gong Myung (Way Back Love, Individualist Ms. Ji Young) playing Sooyoung's character's love interest. Playing the sisters' parents are the always wonderful character actor Kim Sang Ho (City Hunter, Alice) as the troubled Dad, and Kim Sung Ryoung (Queen Of Ambition, When Life Gives You Tangerines) as the frequently worrying Mom. Sooyoung and Gong Myung had very nice romantic chemistry onscreen, and I liked that it built slowly, sensitively, heightening our anticipation for their eventual confessions of true love.

The drama was written by two ladies Myung Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun, and directed by another lady, Jung Yoo Jung, so we definitely feel a lot of underlying feminist themes in this drama's story. 

The Story:

Beautiful and cheerful Han Geum Ju (Sooyoung) is a ten-year experienced auto technician at busy car company Motors For Humans Hitech Service Center. She is highly regarded by her co-workers for her strong work ethic and mechanical talents, yet she often does have troubles with her rude, impatient male boss at work -- but then so does everyone else to a lesser extent! He just picks on Geum Ju the most because she's the most talented auto tech / mechanic on staff (not to mention the most beautiful!).

To relax after work Geum Ju often meets up with friends and co-workers at local bars and she then drinks soju or beer and laughs half the night away. She is engaged to be married but when she discovers by chance that her fiance has made another woman pregnant she dumps him. Not wanting to admit to her family and friends that he betrayed her she gives the reason for their break-up as her social drinking, which she claims he didn't like. This excuse leaks out to the gossiping townspeople, who are curious as to why her wedding was cancelled, and at one point their gossip becomes so ridiculous that it even makes them falsely think she committed suicide by throwing herself into a local river!

Geum Ju's sister Han Hyun Joo (Yoon Hee Jo) is a single Mom of twins who has had her share of excess drinking problems that have plagued her own love and social life. Eventually she tentatively starts up a new relationship with a handsome younger caring man named Bong Sun Wook (Kang Hyung Suk, Lost), a friend of Geum Ju's, but even though he's bold in approaching her romantically he grows concerned about her drinking habits too. She is slow to commit to him as well.

In addition, both Geum Ju and Hyun Joo's loving but troubled parents have alcohol addictions: overly emotional Dad Han Jung Soo (Kim Sang Ho) and overly protective Mom Kim Gwang Ok (Kim Sung Ryoung). On the outside they look like such a happy family but it's troubling to many around them that the happiness seems to be more evident when they're drinking than when they're sober.

Geum Ju's fortuitous encounter with an old boyfriend who has become a doctor, named Seo Ui Joon (Gong Myung), shakes her up to her core and she begins to realize she is still attracted to him after ten years have gone by since they last saw each other in their school days. He at first is very firm with her: if they are to date at all and possibly have a serious romantic commitment she MUST give up her alcohol addiction! She finally decides to give it a tentative try, but it's not an easy journey. Meanwhile, Doctor Seo Ui Joon has his own family problems, including a distant Mom and a Dad (Ha Sung Kwang) who had gone to prison for inadvertently killing a nurse during a sudden violent tirade.

Time spent at a psychology counseling center called Bochun Health Center with a therapist named Baek Hye Mi (prolific character actress Bae Hae Sun, Numbers, Miss Night And Day, Hotel Del Luna), a mysterious woman who has her own secrets related to Doctor Ui Joon, has mixed healing results for Geum Ju, plus even time spent away at a Buddhist temple doesn't cure the family's alcohol proclivities. (Hey, Han family, how about trying Jesus and a Christian church instead to help with your healing!?). ;)

It even gets to the point that the Mom seems to be suffering from liver failure due to her drinking. At the thought of losing her Mom because of that damn alcohol Geum Ju FINALLY commits to cleaning herself up once and for all, especially so she can possibly help her Mom recover medically from her life-threatening liver issues.

At the end of each episode there are Epilogue Flashbacks which shed light on the secrets and mysteries each character holds within themselves. I am actually not sure these flashback scenes should have been placed in epilogues but rather sewn into the flowing drama itself. I would have understood where the characters were coming from better if these scenes had been included in the drama earlier, not as separate entities.

There are definite delightful surprises in the last episode of Second Shot At Love, a mixture of romanticism and realism. I think the lead actress Sooyoung should win several acting awards for her lustrous performance. In many ways it was the strongest of her acting career to date. She always picks her drama projects carefully, while also continuing her commitment to popular singing K-pop group Girls' Generation. She is a woman of multiple talents and amazing beauty and I definitely look forward to her future acting performances as well.

 

To sum up, if you're a diehard K-drama fan like me, and tired of all the repetitive silly teen romances in K-dramaland, give Second Shot At Love a try for something far more serious and challenging and realistic, but which also contains moments of romance and comedy as well. It also gives alcoholics hope for cures. You can watch this wonderful drama currently at Viki.com HERE. Enjoy!

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