Extraordinary You – Episodes 25 & 26 Recap & Review

Ha-Roo VS Kyung

Extraordinary You returns this week with another double bill of episodes, this time setting the scene for future drama to occur. While we begin to see more of the love triangle rising up between Kyung, Ha-Roo and Dan-O, a couple of well-placed twists and a consistent pacing keep this episode ticking by as it appears to set up a more dramatic episode to follow tomorrow.

After Dan-O’s troubling vision of her heart problems last time out, we return to Extraordinary You to see our protagonist hugging Ha-Roo before cutting back in time again to see Prince Kyung telling Ha-Roo to remain vigilant. As the story progresses in that time period, we see the start of Ha-Roo and Dan-O’s romance blossom in Trumpet Creeper. Finally understanding what’s happening with the story, Ha-Roo approaches Jimmiche and the two discuss the story repeating itself.

Meanwhile on the stage, Dan-O laments the length of time she’s been in the spotlight as she visits doctors and prepares for her surgery. Outside, she discusses matters with Kyung where she tells him she’s going to need surgery soon. As the scene finally changes back to the shadow, she mentions to Kyung she wants to be friends but as Dan-O outstretches her hand, he steps back as memories of his past haunt him. Dan-O takes this as a sign of rejection though and walks away after calling him mean.

Following Dan-O writing a personal list of things to do once she’s healthy (including eating sausages!), a brief musical montage depicts Ha-Roo and Dan-O meeting and their time together. After Dan-O tells Kyung not to inform Ha-Roo about her medication, we turn back to the scene again as Kyung and Ha-Roo discuss Dan-O and their future.

In the library, Do-Hwa and Dan-O spot Jimmiche hiding the next issue of the comic and after a slightly humorous scene, we cut back to the shadow with Dan-O caught in the middle of Kyung and Ha-Roo’s feud, both of them holding onto Dan-O and fighting over what’s best for her.

Meanwhile, Joo-Da takes a stand against her bullies and threatens Sae-Mi, squaring up to her before locking her and the others in an abandoned room, telling them they need to learn their place. This happens to be a throwback to previous episodes where the reverse happened to her of course. When Kyung’s brother arrives at school, things become more dramatic, culminating in Kyung confronting Ha-Roo and telling him about Dan-O’s surgery. He goes on to mention Trumpet Creeper before leaving and visiting Dan-O. Here he tells her he’ll do everything in his power to stop her from dying while Ha-Roo contemplates just how to save her.

In painting class, Ha-Roo protects Dan-O from stray splashes of water and continues to act over-protective of her throughout the day. As some of the students start to notice, Joo-Da reveals in secret that she remembered Do-Hwa’s voice from before and utters the same statement he said to her the day of the party many episodes ago.

Meanwhile, Kyung and Dan-O discuss her surgery on the stage and as things turn to the shadow, they continue talking, with the former telling her to get the surgery. As she heads back to school and talks to Ha-Roo, he expresses his concerns given the way the past story went, worried she may die. He throws his arms around her and promises to change things, scared of losing her. As they go their separate ways for the evening, Dan-O clasps her hands together and begs the writer to let her live longer while Ha-Roo watches on from afar, heartbroken as he listens to his lover talk to the heavens.

As the shadow turns back to the scene, Dan-O finishes her phone call while wondering when she’ll get the surgery done. As she’s driven off, Kyung heads into the library to try and find the comic. However, instead he finds the portal and the mysterious section of the library that happens to hold memories from Trumpet Creeper. As he holds the flower, he looks on with steely determination as the episode closes out for today.

With plenty of tension brewing between Kyung and Ha-Roo, most of the episode tackles the growing feud between these two. It’s quite the fiery exchange too and during the midway point a lot of this is evident as they fight over Dan-O’s well-being. This, ultimately, comes back to the opening episode as a confident Dan-O would have reveled in this situation. However, here we see a much more concerned and self-reflective Dan-O. Her exaggerated mannerisms still form the crux of her character of course, but ultimately it’s tinged with an element of sadness and fear as the surgery looms ever nearer.

It’s great stuff and something that really helps the characterisation shine this episode. It’s not perfect and at times the pacing does feel like it drags a little, but for the most part there’s enough simmering tensions here to give the impression this one will bubble over into a flurry of tension. Quite what will happen next remains to be seen but for now, Extraordinary You bows out with another decent episode.