Recap Korean Drama "Navillera" Episode 2

Episode 2 of Navillera begins with Chae-Rok shocked that he’ll be teaching Deok-Chool how to dance. Well, Mr Ki gives him an ultimatum and tells Chae-Rok that if he doesn’t do this then he’ll just have to leave. Eventually, Chae-Rok agrees to teach the enthusastic old man.

Back home, Deok-Chool sets to work learning the difficult task he’s been given to undertake. He needs to stay on his tiptoes for 60 seconds. Only, he immediately realizes he may well be out of his depth. His wife, Hae-Nam, has difficulty getting through to her children and eventually calls Deok-Cheol out of his room for food. Only, she finds him on the floor sweating and out of breath.

Deok-Chool is determined to follow this task through though, lifting (see: dropping) 5kg weights and going out for a run.

Chae-Rok’s father meanwhile, finds himself by the shore. He watches the waves crash lazily against the beach as he eventually sighs, standing up and walking up the coastline. This brings him to a shabby school where he’s serving time as a guidance counselor. Mu-Yeong is asked about his son too, but he’s silent and simply smiles painfully.

Elsewhere, Chae-Rok awakens in his dark apartment to write out encouraging post-it notes to himself. Chae-Rok eventually heads out for the day and learns more about Mr Ki and the hardships he endured in the past.

Deok-Chool greets Seong-Gwan and catches up with the man – but not before getting some exercise on the outdoor machines. They snap photos together and have a good time. After, Deok-Chool heads home and greets Seong-San, who happens to have showed up at the house. It’s a brief visit though, and one that sees him absolutely adamant he’s not taking seaweed soup back with him.

As the days tick by, Deok-Chool manages to perfect his stance after working hard all week. The big day arrives and both Chae-Rok and Seung-Joo watch as Deok-Chool  holds then stance for a minute. During these 60 seconds, we catch glimpses of this courageous man’s past, specifically how he worked as a mailman. Even then he proved his superior wrong.

Time ticks by and Dook-Cheol completes his task. Chae-Rok is shocked while Seung-Joo excitedly calls So-Ri to tell her all about the accomplishment. She, however, hangs up on him.

Chae-Rok takes Deok-Chool out for coffee where he greets Chae-Rok with honorifics. This gets a fair amount of awkward looks from all in attendance of course. Well, Deok-Chool is determined to get on stage and perform Swan Lake, messaging Chae-Rok after and letting him know this is his dream.

The pair eventually get to training but are soon interrupted by the need to go out for something to eat. While they do, Deok-Chool acts like Chae-Rok’s manager and writes down everything he gets up to. He calls Chae-Rok a great dancer and eventually heads to the orthopedics with him. The notes continue, including several regarding Chae-Rok’s bathroom woes.

In the morning, Deok-Chool finds himself sore and struggling to walk. However, he does muster up enough energy to ring Chae-Rok and let him know this is his wake-up call. In fact, this wake-up call manifests itself in more training – this time with Chae-Rok teaching Deok-Chool the correct posture.

Afterwards, Deok-Chool offers Chae-Rok a lift to work in Bungbung, his old car. When he refuses, Deok-Chool hands over some plum tea to see him off. Only, Eun-Ho happens to be inside the café already. She doesn’t see him though and continues to go about her job.

That evening, Eun-Ho is shouted at by a rude man inside the restaurant who eventually throws a napkin at her. Chae-Rok gets involved and forces him to leave. The management are actually happy with this strong stance too, as it seems like work may be getting a bit easier for them all now.

Well, Chae-Rok lays into Eun-Ho afterwards, berating her for being such a pushover and encouraging the girl not to make things so hard for them in the future.

Days tick by and Chae-Rok finds himself doing a delivery job on Saturday to help out. Ho-Beom happens to be there and he berates Chae-Rok for living so well.

Deok-Chool is there too, and he refuses to let him do the deliveries because of his promising ballet career. Instead, Deok-Chool decides to fill in for him and completes all the deliveries in record time. The final one seems him at the billiard hall with Ho-Beom. The thug refuses to pay up though and instead confronts Chae-Rok, holding him by the scruff of the neck and promising that he’s dead meat. Only, Deok-Chool shows up and see this take place.

The Episode Review

Navillera changes tone slightly for this follow-up, showcasing some comedy to lighten the mood from yesterday’s sombre tone. This works pretty well, especially as Deok-Chool and Chae-Rok start working together.

Seeing Deok-Chool determined to soar and make it as a ballet dancer is really inspirational and I’d imagine this will be just what Chae-Rok needs to find that passion to start dancing again.

On top of that, the show continues to weave this interesting Father/son dynamic between the two with the cheeky honorifics joke working well alongside this. There’s clearly going to be lots of drama to come and I’d imagine there may even be a final performance with Deok-Chool doing Swan Lake. I’d guess we’ll have to get the tissues ready for that if it comes to pass!