'Was it Love' Episode 11: Noh Ae-jeong realizes all that she believed about Dae-o was false, led on by Ryu Jin
'Was it Love' Episode 11 highlights the flaws in Noh Ae-jeong (Song Ji-hyo) as she decided to believe just about everything she saw without hearing Dae-o's (Son Ho-jun) side of the story. Even when she saw some woman kiss Dae-o, she assumed that he was cheating on her. She did not pause to wonder if the man that she fell in love with had a reason to cheat, if he did, why and shouldn't she confront him about what she saw instead of judging without checking further? However, Ae-jeong believes that her feelings are the most genuine and pure and so she decides to bury her worries in alcohol with Ryu Jin.
Also, turns out, she did not have a one night stand with Ryu Jin that night. He had just passed out after getting sloshed and doesn't remember anything at all. Based on just the note that Ae-jeong had left, which stated that they should forget something ever happened that night, he assumes that something did happen between them and that something is sex. At this point in the show, it really feels like the only victim here is Dae-o. He was always honest with Ae-jeong about needing to concentrate on work, on things that are productive because he was going through something in his personal life. To add to this, a man that he had considered his best friend -- Ryu Jin -- betrayed him and deleted Ae-jeong's last messages to Dae-o. He claims it's in Ae-jeong's best interest, but that is hard to believe at this point.
He also did not cheat on her, and had instead disciplined the girl who came on to him, and had tried to seduce him. The fact that this girl is none other than Joo Ah-rin has not struck Dae-o yet, but all the misunderstandings are clarified one after another after the confrontation between Ryu Jin, Dae-oh and Ae-jeong.
Dae-oh is also heartbroken that he did not know about Ha-nee and had missed some important and irreplaceable moments of her life. He also realizes how much pain Ha-nee must have been in to have grown up without a father. All of this because of Ae-jeong misunderstanding Dae-o and refusing to talk to him face to face. What is shocking further is the way she treats her misunderstanding, and keeping Dae-o away from his daughter, so lightly. She tells him that neither of them is at fault as it was all a misunderstanding, and this really makes us wonder what the show really wants to portray at this point.
It is great that Ae-jeong has done a brilliant job of being a single working mother and we are not faulting that. However, to portray her as shallow enough to keep her daughter away from her father because of a misunderstanding comes off as contradictory. Ae-jeong doesn't have the conviction to stand by her belief that keeping her daughter away was the right decision, and even wonders if she made a mistake. If the show was going to portray this line of thought, shouldn't her misunderstanding have been received with more gravitas?
The episode ends with Jennifer Song, Ryu Jin's agency CEO releasing news that speculates that Ryu Jin could have a daughter out of wedlock who is in middle school. Dae-o and Ae-jeong receive alerts while they are clearing the air, and Ha-nee, on the other hand, sees all of it blow up in her face in front of her classmates. Where will she go now and will she agree to receive help from Dae-o? After all, she has had a fight with her friend Dong-chan and has no one to confess her struggle.
New episodes of 'Was it Love?' will air on JTBC at 9.30 pm on Wednesdays and Thursday and will be available to stream on Netflix.