Nevertheless is off to quite the start. It doesn’t feel much like your typical K-drama at all. Silly hijinks and grumpy heroes are replaced with a story that’s already knee-deep in a lot of mature topics, and is pretty frank about the sexual attraction between our leads.

Episode 1 of Nevertheless begins with snow falling and a woman carrying red roses through the streets. She makes her way to an art exhibit where she marvels at a beautiful statue called Nabi.

Our rather innocent-hearted heroine, narrating about the joys of being in love only to be utterly humiliated by her artist boyfriend moments later. An intimate moment between the two has become the subject of his latest sculpture, and is in the middle of his exhibit for everyone to stare at.

As she looks at this statue, she eventually turns and walks away. It turns out her name is Na-Bi. Her pained expression and thee reason she’s walked away soon becomes clear.

We then cut across to see Na-Bi’s world come crashing down. Her boyfriend Hyeon-U has been cheating on her. When he finally shows up at the bar after she watched him flirting and getting cozy with another girl, she curses him out and ends their relationship.

We don’t have to know anything about Na-bi at this point — we feel for her automatically, and our reaction is as visceral as hers. I was curious about the sort of drama Nevertheless would be, and particularly what Han So-hee’s performance would be like. She does not disappoint. This opening scene is really well-done, and we see Na-bi go from eager art student in love, to a young woman who’s been stripped ***** (literally and figuratively) for the whole world to see.

It’s a strong way to start a drama because it’s so off-putting, and so quickly puts us in Na-bi’s camp. But even beyond the story, it’s the way the story is told that makes it so effective, and that’s mostly to do with the filmmaking.

As Na-bi sees the sculpture, talks to her boyfriend, and later breaks up with him, we never get a full shot of his face. Instead we see fragments of his facial expressions, and hers, in such a way that the exchanges feel incredibly intimate — but also so up-close that they overwhelm. We can’t get perspective on the scene because of the lack of wide shots, and likewise, Na-bi can’t get proper perspective either, locked in this moment of horror.

After this galling moment, we back up a bit and get a better sense of our heroine. She’s a student at an art school, and her work seems to be mostly in clay sculpting. The backdrop of the art school is a lot of fun, edgy of course, and full of characters that we’ll get to know more of later. For now, the main sense is that Na-bi is well-liked, but seems to be struggling a bit with her classes. She dreams of studying in Paris, but she doesn’t measure up just yet. Her break-up, understandably, has flattened her spirits, but she doesn’t have much time to mope.

As fate would have it, she’s sitting alone at a bar when a guy walks in, and touches her shoulder in greeting. It’s PARK JAE-UN, but she doesn’t know his name yet, or anything about him really. There’s an immediate attraction in the air, despite the initial misunderstanding, and over the course of the night they talk, drink, flirt, throw darts, and the like. And no matter what is happening, Jae-un is at awesome level 10.

Here the drama again uses its earlier tactic of really close-up and detail-oriented shots as we watch the two interact at the bar that night. Jae-un’s hand on Na-bi’s shoulder. His finger gently tapping her temple. His mouth blowing on her arm as he draws a tattoo on her. The corner of his smile. The butterfly tattoo on the back of his neck. That glance he gives her when he turns up his gaze at her. It’s a bit exhausting to take in all these moments with such intense proximity, but it’s also really effective because it puts us right inside that moment with Na-bi, and it turns up the heat.

But who is this Park Jae-un anyway, and why is he hitting on her so hard? He seems utterly taken with her, and charmed by her innocence, but can we trust this guy? He seems to either know he’s swoony as hell and no one can deny him, or he’s genuinely tractor-beamed to Na-bi. Not sure which yet, or maybe it’s both.

The two part before things can escalate (and after many near-kisses), because Na-bi hears him on the phone, ostensibly with another woman. She tries to forget him, but over the next few days she keeps “seeing” him on campus – they clearly had a high voltage connection that’s hard to forget.

Then things get interesting. One of Na-bi’s friends convinces her to join them for drinks instead of pull her all-nighter in the studio, and who is there but Jae-un? As it turns out, he’s also a student at their school — and one that’s been asking around about her. Na-bi is halfway between swooning and ready to hide in her shell, but boy, Jae-un is a pro.

Even at a crowded table with a bunch of loud, drunk college students, he manages to cultivate this sense of intimacy with her, whether it’s through meaningful glances, whispered side conversations, or wordlessly passing her the snack he saw she wanted. One can’t help but liken them to a gazelle and a cheetah, already engaged in this complicated dance. That dance continues through the rest of the episode, and most likely through the rest of the drama.

The day of her break-up, a suave stranger shows up and sits with her at the bar. “There’s no such thing as fate” indeed! He thinks her name is So-Ri and completely mistakes her for someone else. Only, fireworks clearly spark when they lock eyes.

He eventually cancels on his blind date, intending to stay with Na-Bi for the night instead. The two hit it off too, with talk of Jae-Eon’s butterfly tattoo and playing virtual darts.

This encounter sticks with Na-Bi, as she recalls further moments together throughout the episode. Cut around this though is Na-Bi’s intent to try and move on and forget her unfaithful ex.

An inked marking of a butterfly on her forearm helps. Or, well, it does to begin with. During her date she decided to leave after overhearing Jae-Eon on a call with someone, telling them he misses them.

Na-Bi finds herself caught up on this, which she carries with her back at the studio, Her and Yun-Sol are tasked with raising their GDP scores but have very different ways of going about it. While the latter continues to drink and have a good time, Na-Bi gets stuck in to her work and tries to find inspiration.

That inspiration eventually appears that evening when Na-Bi heads out and learns Jae-Eon is the new junior on the team. He specifically asked for her to show and drink as well. Those drinks then turn to games and laughter.

The pair keep their feelings in-check though, at least until the topic of cheating comes up. Na-Bi is visibly uncomfortable and Jae-Eon takes the opportunity to encourage her to join him in ditching the group. They intend to ditch the group and pick up where they left off from their last encounter.

Now, it’s worth bearing in mind that Jae-Eon is pretty touchy-feely, taking all the opportunities he can to touch Na-Bi. In Western culture this is, of course, normal flirting behaviour. In reserved Korea however, it’s pretty taboo.

Na-bi is already in over her head — that’s easy to see. She is completely overpowered by Jae-un (not that I can blame her), and as she tries to piece together who he is, each detail she discovers only pulls her in closer.

For instance, the metal sculpture that captivated her so utterly was actually his work. Also, there’s the detail that he’s fixated with butterflies. This works two-fold (or maybe even three-fold) in the story. It gives Jae-un a reason to use some flirty wordplay (Na-bi’s name literally means “butterfly”), it gives them both a symbol that connects them — and it also works on a metaphorical level too. Na-bi is surely the same delicate creature as the real butterflies he keeps at his apartment — one is left to wonder if he appreciates the fragility of these creatures and wants to protect them, or if he just likes knowing that he can tease them and then tear them apart. (Can you tell I don’t trust him at all?)

I might be wary of Jae-un at this point, and squarely on Na-bi’s side, but that’s not to say the attraction and flirtation isn’t mutual and reciprocated — it surely is. And while it’s sexy and exciting, there’s also this sense of danger to it, and unwritten questions about what will happen between them as this story plays out.

All in all it was a bold first episode that did what it intended — whether it’s one’s cup of tea is another question. I’m invested enough to see how this plays out, I just have to remind myself that the drama is being quite clear: it’s not going to be our typical drama, whether that’s in content, tone, mood, or any of it. If I don’t expect from it what I usually expect from my dramas, I think I can enjoy Nevertheless for what it is. But when it’s over, you’ll still find me sneaking back to the more sweet, innocent, and heart-filled dramas that brought me to dramaland in the first place.

After their evening together though, Na-Bi finds herself thinking about him a lot. “What am I doing?” She sighs.

You know that feeling when you get those butterflies and nervous energy, desperate to see your crush and hopefully strike up a conversation? Well, Na-Bi is experiencing that here, and doing an excellent job portraying it too.

She heads up to the smoking terrace in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Jae-Eon at the workshop across the way. She even constantly checks her phone and group messages too. This comes at the expense of neglecting her sculpting work though.

Well, that evening Jae-Eon stays late with Na-Bi and after some light flirting, winds up sketching while she does the intimate sculpting work on her piece. Afterwards, in the dead of night, thee two exchange numbers while the petals fall from the trees above. The pair get on really well but as Jae-Eon leans forward to give her a kiss, the episode comes to a close.

The chemistry between our two leads is fantastic too, which helps a lot to really allow fireworks to fly between them. It’s still early days of course but Nevertheless is turning into a real romantic scorcher. The one-episode-a-week is going to be absolutely excruciating to wait for off the back of this.

Still, that ending sets everything up nicely for the season ahead.

Episode 2 of Nevertheless begins with Na-Bi contemplating whether Jae-Eon is the real deal or not. She’s warned by Bit-Na that Jae-Eon is a player, which certainly unsettles her. Well, after rocking the boat the two are left alone at lunch.

While everything (and everyone) is telling our heroine that she should keep a distance from her new suitor, she can’t seem to deny her attraction. Or rather, she fights with herself against that attraction the entire episode, in a string of push-and-pull scenarios that feel alarmingly realistic.

The cherry blossom kiss that seemed about to happen at the end of our episode last week was interrupted by the ever-poorly-timed phone call, and Na-bi and Jae-un part without a kiss, but with heaps more tension between them.

Granting him his wish, Ja-Eon takes Na-Bi into a nightclub for them to hang out. However, she’s taken aback by the volume level. He eventually encourages her to dance with him though, as the pair stare into one another’s eyes.

Things soon go awry though when Jae-Eon heads outside for a cigarette. A girl wearing leather appears and seems to know Jae-Eon quite well. She even has a butterfly tattoo on her wrist. It certainly makes Na-Bi feel uncomfortable. According to Jae-Eon, they went to the same academy but don’t have much history.

Still reeling over what she was told earlier on in the episode, Na-Bi eventually decides to part ways with him and head home.

In the studio, Na-Bi has her picture taken by Bit-Na. Midway through shooting though, Jae-Eon suddenly comes bounding in and fusses over her, asking if she’s okay. He quickly encourages her to head out and eat, holding Na-Bi’s hand and deciding they should eat together. He also sends numerous messages to her. When I say numerous I mean an absolutely relentless barrage of text messages.

As we venture into more of the story, we see more of Na-bi and Jae-un’s classmates, and the drama feels more full with this body of characters taking up more space in the story. Na-bi’s closest friend is OH BIT-NA, an edgy girl with a haircut I can’t decide if I love or hate.

But is this girl really a good friend? She spends the first half of the episode trying to convince Na-bi that Jae-un is a player and she should stay away… but then when she sees/feels what is between them when they’re together, she seems to change her course and is playfully encouraging.

Poor Na-bi doesn’t really need the encouragement, because she’s overpowered by Jae-un at every turn, even when she knows better. Their chemistry is ridiculous and while Jae-un has a lot of question marks hovering around him, it’s not hard to see why Na-bi can’t seem to keep her head on straight around him.

Jae-un’s marked interest was one thing, but his propensity to touch Na-bi is another thing entirely, and it’s as if each time she falls deeper under his spell. In fact, there has probably been more skinship in this drama than in all of our 2021 drama combined — and that’s thanks to all the shoulder touching, head patting, lip brushing, waist holding, and more. And let’s not forget when Jae-un takes Na-bi’s wrists and gently pulls her arms around his neck.

But I’m torn on Jae-un. While I can see the awesomeness for sure, and feel it at times, too, I’m also losing patience for him. In real life, he would have gotten an elbow in the stomach at this point. He’s all games — the meaningful glances and skinship and phone calls and inordinate attention don’t feel like a guy who’s smitten, but one who has set a master plan in motion. And the fact that Na-bi half notices this makes it all the more disturbing.

Na-bi goes back and forth all episode long between melting in his presence, and trying to distance herself and ice him out, even just a little bit. This happens on repeat, in a way that’s not at all repetitive, but instead incredibly true to life on how it works when you’re neck-deep in a crush and trying to decide what the other person is really feeling. The drama’s strongest example of this is about halfway through the episode, when Na-bi has a racy dream (hello 19 rating) where Jae-un turns up at her door and the two go at it in intimate detail.

Nabi wakes up late after dreaming about her and Jae-eon being intimate. She sees her phone with a lot of missed calls from the same man she just had a racy dream with, and realizes that she is late for her class. 

Nabi attends the afternoon class because she missed the morning one. She feels uncomfortable because she has a zit and feels like it’s the start of her period. Jae-eon also attends that class, and he confronts Nabi that she suddenly acts cold towards him. 

Bit-na appears to be busy playing games, missing Nabi’s texts to her about bringing pads. While presenting her report in front of the class, Nabi feels uncomfortable because of her period and leaves the class right away after her report.