Kim Hee-seon did it. Despite opposition and vigilance from those around her, she passed the second round of reemployment interviews for a home shopping host in one go, bringing a thrilling smile to living rooms.
TV CHOSUN Monday-Tuesday miniseries "Because there is no next life" (writer Shin E-won, director Kim Jeong-min, produced by TM E Group·First Man Studio·MegaPhone) episode 2 showed Kim Hee-seon starting a real "mom-40s battle" facing reality. Fully immersed as Jo Na-jung, who breaks a six-year career gap to challenge reemployment, she drew praise of "as expected, Kim Hee-seon" with realistic emotional acting that combined laughter and tears, desperation and urgency.
Na-jung, whose desire to work again grew stronger, found courage from her friends' encouragement but faced higher walls of reality. She was frustrated after receiving a string of rejection texts from the document screening stage, and even a shocking offer to work unpaid was refused. Na-jung's complex emotions, alternating between giving up and resolve, pierced viewers' hearts and drew their support.
Notably, her former workplace, Sweet Home Shopping's reemployment program for those escaping career breaks, caught attention. She passed the first round as an experienced hire, but Na-jung's path was not smooth. Opposition from her husband Won-bin (Yoon Bak), the sneer of an enemy classmate Mi-suk (Han Ji-hye) who she met again as a competitor in the interview room, and the jeer of junior Ye-na (Ko Won-hee) who was not fond of her. "We studied the same, but after marriage I'm the only one stuck," "the misery of being pushed aside" — Na-jung's line, which poured out her accumulated grievances toward Won-bin, moved viewers.
Despite that, Na-jung got back up. Especially in the scene where she practiced for the interview alone in front of the bathroom mirror, changing her vocal tone, it added a symbolic resonance of Na-jung returning to herself, not as a mother or wife.
The climax of episode 2 was unquestionably the interview scene. On the blind test stage, at the moment she transformed back into a home shopping host, Kim Hee-seon delicately expressed Na-jung's mix of longing, tremor, tension and professionalism.
Through this episode, Kim Hee-seon expanded her acting range once again by capturing in detail the emotions of all mothers confronting reality, beyond a simple "career-interrupted mom character." Her deep acting, with all emotions naturally connected, increased the drama's immersion. As viewers poured out support for Na-jung, who has officially started reemployment, anticipation rises for the moment of her comeback that Na-jung will unleash in the next episode.
"Because there is no next life" airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. on TV CHOSUN and is also streaming on Netflix.
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