Melting Me Softly – Episode 3 (5&6) Recap & Review

https://youtu.be/0am8Rks9Q68

Thawing Ice

Melting Me Softly returns this week with a decent episode where we see both protagonists slowly realising how much they’ve missed and how it has affected their families. While Dong-Chan and Mi-Ran finally reunite, they’re also faced with their ex-partners which promises to conjure up plenty of drama for the episodes to come.

The episode itself starts where it left off, with both our protagonists finding out about the 20 year jump. Dong-Chan asks Hong-Seok and Hyun-Ki where Ha-Young is; they reply that she’s the news bureau chief. Mi-Ran finds herself overwhelmed too, when she sees all the changes and new technologies around her. As Mi-Ran’s family try to find her in her old campus, Nam-Tae rushes outside, blowing his whistle. Recognising the sound, she finds him and they have an emotional reunion. As she collapses from all the emotion, he offers her a piggyback, just like she used to do for him when he was little.

Back at the hospital, Dong-Chan’s mother attacks Hyun-Ki, accusing him of not looking for her son. After the commotion, Dong-Chan asks his old colleagues where Mi-Ran is now, while catching him up on certain events from the past 20 years. After finding Mi-Ran’s old address, Dong-Chan heads there but finds it empty. His family takes him home but unlike Mi-Ran’s family, his have not been doing well as his brother and sister have been wasting their fortune away. They now own a restaurant and it’s there that he realises his father passed away during his absence.

Mi-Ran’s parents take her to their new home which is a lot bigger than their last. When Mi-Ran asks how they’re able to afford such a place, they explain that it was all thanks to the money she made during the experiment. They also show off her room, with all of her possessions which they kept since she disappeared. Meanwhile, Mi-Ran’s ex-boyfriend, Byeong-Sim, is having trouble in his marriage with Young-Sum. He tells her that he wonders how well Mi-Ran is doing in America and it’s here we learn she blames Mi-Ran for their problems.

Hyun-Ki and Hong-Seok continue to panic that people will find out what they did. They decide to try keeping Dong-Chan quiet whilst finding Mi-Ran.
While Dong-Chan’s sister thinks that her brother was involved in a cloning experiment, Mi-Ran reads Nam-Tae’s diary and cries when she realises how much he missed her. During lunch, Mi-Ran tells her family that she’s determined to go back to school.

Dong-Chan reads texts that Ha-Young left him all those years ago. He then heads to the old lab and finds Ki-Beom, who finally gives him some answers. He explains that the professor’s car exploded, and he remained in a coma for 20 years. They decided to fake his death as they believed someone is after him and didn’t want to put him in anymore danger.

This prompts Dong-Chan to decide to visit the broadcasting station to see Ha-Young. They meet in the coffee shop and he tells her how he should have listened and not done the experiment. She berates him for it but goes on to admit she’s grateful he’s still alive. Meanwhile at the lab, Ki-Beom speaks to the other scientist about the hypothermia issue both candidates will be facing. He shows him that, during the original experiment, the dolphin died but the professor managed to make a medicine to regulate their body temperature.

Mi-Ran arrives at the station soon after and sees Dong-Chan, slapping him and demanding that he give her the last 20 years of her life back. After explaining to her why this happened, they both commiserate over how much they’ve missed during those 20 years. Determined to remain positive, Dong-Chang tells her that it’s quite extraordinary to be the first humans to go through that experiment.

Hyun-Ki bursts into Hong-Seok’s office soon after to tell him about Mi-Ran, causing them to panic even more. Dong-Chan then arrives, asking for a job, but when they tell him they don’t know where he could work, he threatens to go to another station. While having breakfast with his family, Dong-Chan witnesses first-hand how his family struggled during his absence; his mum gave up on life, his brother was too busy to look after his daughter and his sister has become an alcoholic.

The episode then ends with both protagonists coming face to face with their ex-partners. Ha-Young tells Dong-Chan she’s free to meet on Friday while Mi-Ran sees Byeong-Sim and slowly walks towards him.

Melting Me Softly’s latest episode certainly offers improved drama here, concentrating much more on the present and with noticably less flashbacks. There’s an interesting contrast between both Mi-Ran and Dong-Chan’s families too, as the former became successful while the latter just completely fell apart, all the while missing their children.

Hyun-Ki and Hong-Seok remain the comedic duo and share some funny moments together although Dong-Ju’s character can be a little over the top at times. Mi-Ran’s reunion with Nam-Tae was quite emotional to watch as well and seeing him carry her was a really nice touch.

Melting Me Softly has been a bit of a slow burn so far but with both candidates now reunited, hopefully this thaws some of the thick, unforgiving ice and paves way for a warmer drama to follow. With potential issues surrounding their body temperature and the mystery of the people responsible for the professor’s attempted murder, let’s hope Melting Me Softly can build on this promising work going forward.