Forecasting Love and Weather – K-Drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Localized Heavy Rain

Episode 5 of Forecasting Love and Weather starts with Ha-Kyung racing out the door while Si-Woo receives a call. He’s flustered, telling whoever it is on the phone never to call again and that he can’t help anymore. Who is he talking to? That’s something Ha-Kyung is wondering too when she heads upstairs to pick up her USB which she left behind.

However, Si-Woo drives Ha-Kyung to work but on the way, he receives a call from Yu-Jin, which he’s quick to brush off. While they’re driving together, Ha-Kyung wants to be dropped off to avoid making a big scene at work but in the car next to them happens to be Shin Seok-Ho.

Ha-kyung tries to make excuses for why they’re together but he actually doesn’t seem to be that bothered.

Meanwhile, Ki-Jun and Yu-Jin start their day by bickering with one another. The former is angry at her for lying and soon leaves, intent on cleaning up the mess she caused with her newspaper report.

However, there are bigger problems going on at the forecasting center. Thanks to unusually high temperatures, there’s a good deal of instability within the atmosphere. Specifically, the clouds seem to be hinting toward a large surge of localized heavy rain. Senior Um is late to the meeting though but when he shows up, Director General Go takes him aside to talk.

Go is concerned about his flustered demeanor and asks what’s going on at home. Um smiles thinly and shrugs it off but it’s clear things aren’t going great.

We’ve seen across the previous episodes that everything is very tense but when Um leaves, he heads out drinking by himself. The workers gossip over Um’s behaviour, chalking it up to not being promoted. Of course, the truth is hidden from them.

That afternoon, Si-Woo is confronted by Ki-Jun, who calls him out for talking to the press. He reminds him that all of this needs to go through the Office of Spokesperson first. Si-Woo bites back and claims the issue happened because of internal miscommunication and suggests he come to the Situation room and monitor everything in real-time instead.

Ki-Jun believes that Si-Woo’s hostility and attitude – not to mention being Yu-Jin’s ex – is all a ploy to make him jealous. He believes Ha-Kyung is not over him but a swift kick to the shin is enough to stop that nonsense. When she heads back inside, she takes Si-Woo aside and looks set to scold him… until Si-Woo leans forward and hugs her (in private of course!)

Ha-kyung eventually admits that she’s not angry with Si-Woo but actually annoyed that she missed the weather front. While these two patch up their differences, Ki-Jun is still hot under the collar and tries to make amends with Yu-Jin, being all nice to her at lunch but obviously hiding a more rattled edge, given what happened with Si-Woo.

However, they’re interrupted by a phone call coming in, confirming about a rain echo in Seoul. Apparently it’s become more severe and the cloud patterns seem to reinforce this. In fact, a rumble of thunder outside paves way for heavy rain to torrentially fall across the region.

Given this has come out of nowhere, and the KMA have failed to report it, the office begins to receive a whole litany of calls about the rain.

Um blames himself for this and as Ha-Kyung begins reprimanding him, Su-Jin and Seok-Ho both speak up. After all, they’ve been going over 10 years worth of data and they remind her that had they been checking the radar instead, they may not have missed it.

Ha-Kyung’s brash attitude and stiff upper lip eventually sees Su-Jin leave, while the rest of the team are left fractured and conflicted.

The Director General brings Um and Ha-Kyung into his office where they discuss the devastation caused by the rain. Not only have there been power cuts and localized flooding, there are also 2 workers that have gone missing too. Um takes responsibility but Ha-Kyung is furious, pointing out that it’s not his place to speak up – she’s the one to blame.

Meanwhile, Si-Woo speaks to Su-Jin and gently reminds her that Ha-Kyung’s decision was one made with the best interests of the people. After all, analyzing all this data would have helped them come to a more rational and accurate prediction. It’s just a shame that the heavy rain has interfered with that.

The thing is, Ha-Kyung’s orders aren’t a problem. The real issue here comes from Ha-Kyung’s confidence – or lack thereof. That’s something one of the workers, Myung-Joo, is quick to point out to their Director later on that afternoon. She also hands over a USB with all the data she’s asked for, encouraging her to look into this and also reflect on what she’s said.

Myung-Joo picks up her kids from school and meets her husband. He wants to take his technical exam again but that means taking a year off from work. The thing is, in doing that it’s going to put a massive strain on their finances so she’s going to have to think this over.

That night, the search gets underway for the 2 missing people. Both Um and Ha-Kyung show up at the emergency area, both unable to sleep. Thankfully, the two workers are found rather sharply, prompting them both to head out for some food.

On the way, Ha-Kyung realizes that Um has left home given all of his belongings are in the backseat. She also learns he’s lost motivation too, somewhere along the line, and he’s stuck in a rut.

Si-Woo tries in vain to get through to Ha-Kyung but between rings, he continues to receive a call from that strange number. Holding his head in frustration, he rushes outside and withdraws a whole stack of cash.

Si-Woo puts the cash inside an envelope and heads to a motel. On his way out, he runs into Ha-Kyung who happens to be with a very drunk Um by his side. Another heavy rain downpour interrupts them both, as the episode comes to a close.

The Episode Review

So what is going on with Si-Woo and who is he giving money to? This is a big point of contention and it’ll be interesting to see exactly what’s going on with this. I’m sure we’ll see more in the coming episodes.

Si-Woo and Ha-Kyung continue to exude great chemistry together, while the doofus that is Ki-Jun continues to play up the comedy relief, albeit with a tinge of arrogance and intended unlikability. There’s a good deal of levity about this and it works really well to offset some of the more dramatic moments of the episode.

One such example is Ha-Kyung’s attitude toward her Director duties, and the other workers are quite right – she doesn’t sound that authoritative or sure when giving out orders, which in turn reflects badly on the team as they remain unsure whether they’re doing the right thing.

The ending here leaves things on an ominous cliffhanger, leaving the door wide open for where this one may go next.