'In Your Radiant Season' signaled the start of "In Your Radiant Season" fever from its first broadcast, building emotionally rich storytelling and layered mysteries.
On the 20th, the first episode of MBC's new Friday-Saturday drama In Your Radiant Season (planning Namgung Seong-woo, script Jo Seong-hee, directed by Jeong Sang-hee and Kim Young-jae) opened with a tightly woven sequence showing how Song Ha-ran (Lee Sung-kyoung) and Seon Woo-chan (Chae Jong Hyeop), who had been separated by a blast in Boston years earlier, crossed seven years to confront each other, creating a film-like immersion. That day's ratings recorded 4.4% nationwide and 4.4% in the Seoul metropolitan area according to Nielsen Korea, placing it first among Friday-Saturday dramas from the premiere. In particular, the ending scene in which Song Ha-ran accuses Seon Woo-chan of being a stalker and it is revealed that the boyfriend she shared daily life with seven years ago was Kang Hyeok-chan (Kwon Do Hyoung) sent the instant nationwide rating to a peak of 5.4% on Nielsen Korea and marked a radiant start.
That broadcast began with the past of a bright, lovely Song Ha-ran (Lee Sung-kyoung) and Seon Woo-chan (Chae Jong Hyeop), who had been studying in Boston. The two, sharing small daily moments through online chats, gave off a mood markedly different from ordinary couples and left a subtle tension. On a short break, Ha-ran went to Boston without notice, but the massive explosion that occurred just before they were to meet up shattered their lives completely.
Seven years later in Seoul. Kim Na-na (Lee Mi-Sook), appearing at a glamorous lookbook shoot, dominated the set with explosive charisma and reinforced the status of Nana Atelier. Meanwhile, Song Ha-ran, who had grown into the head designer, was focused on work with strict control of her emotions and kept her distance from others, unlike her previously lively self. Lee Sung-kyoung contrasted the vivacious 20-something Ha-ran with the cold, hardened present Ha-ran to convincingly portray the character's transformation.
At the same time, Seon Woo-chan, now a supervisor at Can Animation Studio, returned to Korea for a collaboration project. Unlike his shadowed past, Chan's brighter change immediately drew attention. Yet the old scars on his body recalled traces of the accident seven years ago and added a weighty seriousness to the narrative.
Song Ha-ran and Seon Woo-chan's fateful reunion began at an art museum. When Chan spotted Ha-ran, he froze as if electrocuted. Overcome by feelings he could not believe, Chan chased after the disappearing Ha-ran, and instinctively shouted her name during a dangerous moment when a safety fence at a construction site threatened to fall.
At the collaboration meeting the two officially faced each other again. Ha-ran's composed greeting, "Nice to meet you. I am head designer Song Ha-ran," starkly revealed the seven-year gap between them. Chae Jong Hyeop left a deep impression by conveying turmoil, confusion and the suppression of emotion through his eyes without speaking.
In addition, Song Ha-ran became embroiled in a stalking incident and faced another source of anxiety. With secretly taken photos circulating, she learned through news coverage that the person who had shouted her name at the construction site was Seon Woo-chan. This led Ha-ran to begin suspecting Chan of being a stalker, since he had known her before the official meeting.
Meanwhile, Chan, having met Ha-ran again, realized he had not fully escaped the nightmare of the accident seven years ago. The more the remnants of fire and explosion and fragments of memory tied to Ha-ran crossed, the deeper his confusion grew. In the end he decided he would leave again after finishing this collaboration project.
At the same time, the past tragedy that befell the Nana family was revealed. Kim Na-na (Lee Mi-Sook), who lost a child 13 years ago, and Song Ha-ran, who lost her parents and then her boyfriend, left a bittersweet aftertaste. The presence of Song Ha-young (Han Ji-hyun) and Song Ha-dam (Oh Yeju), who lovingly care for granddaughter Ha-ran and grandmother Kim Na-na, showed the tender family affection of "Nana House."
Unable to watch her granddaughter's isolation any longer, Kim Na-na arranged a blind date with Yoon Po-to (Yoon Bak) in an attempt to change Song Ha-ran. Reluctantly, Ha-ran went to the hotel blind date, but there she found Seon Woo-chan and events unfolded differently than expected. Unable to postpone questions raised by the construction-site accident and the stalking incident any longer, Ha-ran stormed out, grabbed Chan and demanded, "Since when did you know me? Tell me. What exactly are you hiding?" But Chan, tangled in complex emotions, could not give an answer.
As tension peaked at the end of the broadcast, the shocking revelation came with the love confession "I love you, Kang Hyeok-chan" — it turned out that the person Ha-ran had been chatting with seven years ago was not her boyfriend Kang Hyeok-chan (Kwon Do Hyoung) but his roommate Seon Woo-chan. The mystery ending that shook living rooms hinted at layers behind the accident seven years ago and secret stories between the two, heightening curiosity about future developments.
Viewers who watched the broadcast reacted enthusiastically: "Why is Lee Sung-kyoung so pretty. It's fun to watch the styling," "I understand why Ha-ran closed her heart," "Chan became a completely different person after the accident," "I'm so curious about the hidden backstory between the two," "Lee Sung-kyoung and Chae Jong Hyeop's faces look great together," "Writer Jo Seong-hee, I've been waiting. I love this kind of humor," "Han Ji-hyun and Oh Yeju are so cute," "I love the way the narrative is built like fitting puzzle pieces," "Sunwoo Jung-a's OST grabs my heart," "You can feel the care put into each scene. Praise for the directing details," "At the end when Ha-ran says 'I love you, Kang Hyeok-chan' I got chills. I liked the ending."
From the first broadcast, In Your Radiant Season put its sweeping narrative and dense relationships front and center, opening the curtain on a "radiant romance" with Lee Sung-kyoung and Chae Jong Hyeop's emotionally rich performances, the weighty presence of Lee Mi-Sook and Kang Sukwoo, direction that symbolically expressed characters' inner lives through seasonal imagery, and sensuous editing that moved between past and present. Attention is focused on which direction the relationship between Song Ha-ran and Seon Woo-chan, who met across seven years, will take.
[photo] MBC broadcast capture of In Your Radiant Season
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