K.D. Wagner

Steam Hardware The Steam Hardware family officially expands in early 2026.

Announcing: New @steampowered.com Hardware, coming in 2026:

Steam Controller
Steam Machine
Steam Frame. 

Watch our jazzy announcement video and wishlist now: steampowered.com/hardware

Perhaps it was my fault for watching this so soon after JYB's last drama, Our Movie, which had excellent lead chemistry and is one of my too kdramas of the year.

I started struggling when the show moved to the village, dropped it after episode 5 or 6. I wasn't buying the romance that was being set up between the leads. I wasn't getting any chemistry there.

YouTube video by JYP Entertainment ITZY "TUNNEL VISION" M/V

youtu.be/piSq8IioghU?...
#itzy

Jun-Seo tells his mother that he has his own scars and trauma from how she treated Ah-jin. He tells Ah-jin that he will do anything for her, short of murder, but I am left to wonder whether that pledge will hold true after the way Ah-jin used him in this episode. We shall see.

I am curious to see where Jun-seo's character goes from here. I fear that Ah-jin is too damaged from the scars of her past to ever become a "good" person, no matter how much support Jun-seo gives her.

This "unfinished business" being her father's continued existence. Now, with that problem removed, Ah-jin should be ready to proceed.

I expect that the next episode will see Ah-jin begin to transition into the acting career we see teased in the show's opening credits. When the agent appears again in this episode, Ah-jin is more receptive to the idea of signing on, but tells the agent that she needs to wrap up unfinished business.

The episode ends with Ah-jin in a state of delirious exaltation at the success of her gambit: her father, the one weakness holding her back, is dead by another man's hand, as we can anticipate that she will contrive to cast aside that man so as to leave no loose ends.

It is unclear whether he was calling to confront her about framing him for the attack on her "stalker," or whether he is still under her spell and is simply impatient to place himself at her disposal once more.

We see Jeon-su, now released from jail (unclear as to why, given that he was still the prime suspect in an assault case), rushing to Ah-jin's place after his calls go ignored.

Jeong-ho finds the baseball bat that Ah-jin placed outside her door, and when the crucial moment arrives, Jeong-ho uses it to strike a killing blow (presumably, though Ah-jin's dad's death is not confirmed by the end of the episode).

When Jeong-ho arrives, the scene has been expertly set. During their fight, Ah-jin has turned off the only light bulb in the apartment - the only light in the room when Jeong-ho arrives is provided by the lightning striking outside.

The look Ah-jin's father in that moment is at turns fearful, gleeful, and even regretful, as if a small part of her, perhaps the girl who wished she had a loving father like other girls', is crying for what is about to happen to her father.

There is a good bit of facial acting from KYJ after she gives her father a duffle bag that he thinks is filled with money, but which actually contains cut up newspapers.

When Ah-jin's father comes to collect money from Ah-jin, she has him put on the same hat as her stalker; rather, the person her co-workers believe is her stalker.

He pulls back, however, and in observing his refusal to kill, Ah-jin decides that Jun-Seo is unfit for purpose. She betrays Jun-Seo to the police, as the viewer is left to wonder if this act will be enough to remove the beam from Jun-Seo's eyes with regard to Ah-jin's true feelings towards him.

Jun-Seo, enraged by Ah-jin's father's promise to hound his daughter for the rest of her life, seizes a large brick, raises it above his head, and is prepared to bring it down on the head of Ah-jin's father.

In order to test his fitness as a weapon, Ah-jin sets Jun-Seo to spy on her father. When he father catches Jun-Seo, he chases him down and a fight ensues. Jun-Seo gains the upper hand and chokes Ah-jin's father into unconsciousness.

In this episode, we see Ah-jin shying away from taking a direct hand against her enemies. We saw this in the first episode with how she dealt with her school bully/rival, and here in episode III she sets out to test Jun-Seo's suitability as a weapon against her father.

The readiness of these men to believe that Ah-jin is in danger, and that they can "save" her from it, acts as a sort of social commentary on the willingness of men in general to cast themselves as the hero who will save the princess from the metaphorical dragon of society.

This includes making herself up to appear battered and trashing her apartment and blaming in on a break-in. Jeong-ho, like young Jung-seo in the flashback from the previous episode, falls for Ah-jin's ploy.

Ah-jin plays upon these protective instincts of Jeong-ho's by creating a scenario where she is the victim of a violent stalker.

Jun-Seo comes across as brother looking out for his younger sister, while Jeong-ho feels more like a father figure.

One of the things I find interesting about Ah-jin's relationships with these men is that they are driven, not by lust, but by a desire to protect Ah-jin.

As this episode begins, we see that Ah-jin has taken a job at a cafe, where she has attracted the crude admiration of young men on social media, and the more tempered regard of her co-workers, especially that of her boss. Meanwhile, Jun-seo remains attached to her like a shadow.

This episode places Ah-jin and Jun-Seo's relationship front and center, while also placing a new character, Ah-jin's cafe owner boss (Choi Jeong-ho, played by Kim Ji-hoon, who I last saw in a supporting role in Love to Hate You) in her web.

Dear X - Episode III (spoiler review)
#kdrama #dearx

I hope to finish the last two episodes of the initial four episode drop over the weekend.

When the agent asks about Ah-jin's refusal, Ah-jin does not answer. Based on what is implied in other parts of episode II, I can guess as to why Ah-jin wants to avoid going in front of a camera.