Motel California – K-drama Episode 7 Recap & Review

Episode 7

Episode 7 of Motel California picks back up with Yeon-soo and Kang-hee kissing in her bed. Chun-pil, who learnt of her arrival, comes to her door with food and drinks. Kang-hee takes the tray inside and tells Yeon-soo to hide. She then goes out, where she and Chun-pil are soon joined by Seok-kyung. Chun-pil leaves them alone but Kang-hee’s mind is on Yeon-soo.

Later, she goes back to her room and finds it empty. She gives Yeon-soo a call and they meet on the rooftop. Kang-hee insists that she can still be just friends but Yeon-soo says otherwise. He brings up the past. She reminds him how he broke his promise to go to Seoul with her and he reminds her how she pushed him away. She says they “should stop” and Yeon-soo agrees.

In the morning, Yeon-soo stops talking to Kang-hee and even avoids having lunch in the same restaurant as her. After lunch, Kang-hee goes to the vet clinic and asks if she can have some tea. Even there, Yeon-soo hands her the cup and leaves. Nan-woo points out that he didn’t carry his scarf. When Yeon-soo returns to the motel, he finds a new scarf waiting for him by his door. He leaves it on Kang-hee’s door instead.

When she returns, she confronts him and tells him to keep the scarf she got him. He refuses and she realises that he’s mirroring the incident when she refused the necklace he bought her. He doesn’t disagree.

While Kang-hee is at work, Nan-woo arrives and asks her and Seok-kyung to help the clinic build a house for a donkey. They agree to help but Yeon-soo gives her the cold shoulder the whole time.

When they’re done, Nan-woo asks Kang-hee how she’s so good at this. She says she has plans to build her own house. She even describes a guest room for Yeon-soo and tells him to bring his wife and kids over when it’s done. She later complains to Seok-kyung that Yeon-soo doesn’t remember what she was referring to.

When someone suggests dinner, Kang-hee pretends to have plans with Seok-kyung while Yeon-soo pretends to have plans with Nan-woo and Han-woo. In reality, Yeon-soo sits by a park and reminisces. A flashback shows little Kang-hee drawing a house in the snow, a proper house in comparison to the motel she lives in. She even draws a room for Yeon-soo.  

Later that night, Yeon-soo is drinking at a tent bar when he sees Seok-kyung and Esther arrive. Esther is in some financial trouble and Seok-kyung offers help. He asks if she’s happy with Victor and she doesn’t answer immediately. Yeon-soo suddenly butts in, suspecting Seok-kyung of hurting Kang-hee. Esther reveals she’s pregnant and Yeon-soo’s surprised to learn they’re just friends.

Esther leaves and Yeon-soo and Seok-kyung continue drinking together and end up arguing over who deserves Kang-hee more. In the morning, the two men are shocked to wake up in the same bed. Seok-kyung suggests they be friends. They head to the construction site where Yeon-soo wants to speak with Kang-hee. He tells Kang-hee they should stay friends since he liked seeing Seok-kyung and Esther as good friends.

Sometime later, Nan-woo gets a bouquet of flowers and concert tickets from Yeon-soo for a performance named “Will You Marry Me”. She confesses this to Ah-reum, saying it’s only been a little while since Yeon-soo gave up on his crush on Kang-hee. Ah-reum says that Yeon-soo would only do this if he was sincere.

Ah-reum then brings some food for Seung-eon and they eat together. When she says she’s jealous of how everyone else is dating, he briskly tells her to go on more blind dates.

We then see Yeon-soo confront his mother. Soon-ja is the one who sent Nan-woo the flowers and tickets. She tells Yeon-soo she’s arranged for the proposal at the performance. She wants him to marry so that she can get married again. Meanwhile, Seung-eon buys flowers and waits for Ah-reum outside her workplace but she doesn’t arrive.  

Kang-hee is on her way home and is surprised to see Nan-woo carrying the flowers, even more so to learn they’re from Yeon-soo. She storms back to the motel and sees Seung-eon looking upset with the flowers in hand. He dejectedly gives them to her and when Yeon-soo arrives, she tells them they are from a man.

The next day, Kang-hee and Yeon-soo end up on the same bus to Seoul. They chat a little and Kang-hee ends up sleeping on his shoulder. In return, Yeon-soo asks for a tour of Seoul. On his request, they go see her office and then they head to lunch, every once in a while questioning if it is okay for friends to do this together.

After lunch, she takes him home and proudly shows off her place. She describes how she lived in goshiwons for ten years until she could make it. He tells her she’s done well and hugs her. When he pulls back she asks if it’s okay for friends to kiss. She steps closer to him at the end of Motel California Episode 7.


The Episode Review

Motel California Episode 7 has Kang-hee and Yeon-soo navigate the status of their relationship. The seesawing between them is a bit frustrating, with one wanting more only for the other to suddenly suggest being friends. If we weren’t sure that Kang-hee and Yeon-soo would end up together, this could be a compelling notion.

However, it serves to just drag the story. And along with that, the Nan-woo plotline comes around again. Initially, the fake dating trope portrayed her as nuanced and more than just a sweet, pretty face. But now she seems to be just another wrench in the main lead’s love story. Not to mention, that with the flowers debacle, the story is pretty much just going in a circle.

It’s not all drab because this K-drama is pretty good at building an atmosphere. All the moments between Yeon-soo and Kang-hee use gorgeous, soft, indie movie-esque shots. The soundtrack is lilting and melodious and highlights the tenderness that comes out when they are alone together.

It’s also a delight to watch Yeon-soo stand up to Kang-hee and likewise watch Kang-hee’s exterior melt in front of him. However, the thing that breaks the spell is the story’s frustratingly circular, repetitive motion.

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