'Private Lives' Episode 14: Forget Jeong-hwan and Joo-eun, Edward Kim and Bok-gi's love story is enticing
'Private Lives' Episode 14 shows why Edward Kim and Bok-gi make for a more enticing couple and lead characters than the lead female and male characters Joo-eun and Jeong-hwan. At the beginning of the show, fans had expected Joo-eun and Jeong-hwan's chemistry to be similar to a Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Something that was alluring, mysterious, and even sensuous. However, all that we have seen at the moment is a pale version of a couple on the wrong side of the law. One betrayed by the system he had once belonged to and another who chose to put herself on the wrong side of the law.
Instead, all the enticing moments come from a couple we did not expect to feel for in the show. That is Jeong-hwan's enemy Edward Kim and his longtime partner Bok-gi who is now seeking revenge from Edward for abandoning her with all the money that the two of them had made. Bok-gi had all this while made it seem as if Edward was nothing but a savior and a partner that she was physically intimate with because it was convenient. However, it seems that she is emotionally invested in a relationship without realizing how Edward had used her from the beginning and that is why she now uses Presidential candidate Yoo Byung-jun to taunt and tease Edward.
All of this takes on a whole new meaning now because she confronted Edward and expressed her true feelings to him. Not so much in words but by expressing how she is surprised to see him working with a man who was the reason behind his parent's death. Their conversation, and that kiss that Bok-gi planted at the end of their conversation -- as if to tell Edward that this is the last bit of consideration that she can show him -- has more chemistry than all of the scenes featuring Jeong-hwan and Joo-eun.
Beyond that, we also believe that it is Edward and Bok-gi who control the direction of the plot more than anyone else. From Bok-gi joining Byung-jun's campaign to Edward rooting for this man's victory in contradiction to Jeong-hwan and Joo-eun who are hoping for Kwon Hyuk-jang's victory. Keeping with this, Edward ends up planning a trap for Mr. Kwon and for Jeong-hwan and Jeong-hwan does the same for Byung-jun and GK's Innovation Vision Room.
One believes that leading the public to believe that Mr. Kwon was bribed earlier in his career will bring his approval ratings down, while the latter decides to use this to bring out the truth about Director Choi's death and that of GK's Innovation Vision Room. However, who will be caught in whose trap is something that the episode doesn't reveal. Sure, Jeong-hwan believed that he had a hidden card to play, but at the end of the episode, it was hinted that his hidden card was not so hidden after all. So the finale week will show us whose bet will win.
'Private Lives' airs on JTBC on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 pm KST and can be streamed on Netflix outside of South Korea.