REVIEW: ‘Motel California’ Episodes 1-2

Viki’s Motel California Episodes 1-2 bring the complexities of first crushes, friendships, and trauma to the forefront from the get-go. After a sudden departure of a resident baddie leaves behind a trail of broken hearts, wounded egos, and gossiping townsfolk, things almost seem normal for the small town that hosts the titular ‘Motel California.’ However, the death of a loved one opens up a can of emotions for all and sets our two main characters down the bumpy path of reconciliation and potential love.

Motel California Episode 1 starts with a complicated goodbye and introduces us to Ji Kang-hee (Lee Se-young) and her childhood friend, Chun Yeon-soo (Na In-woo). It’s 2013, and now that she’s 20, Kang-hee sets her sights on leaving her small countryside town. The more mild-mannered Yeon-soo is unable to tell her not to leave, preferring to avoid conflict and stay silent. They share a moment of intimacy, one that appears to mean more to Yeon-soo than to Kang-hee, and the young woman takes off. What’s left unspoken lingers in the air.

That doesn’t stop Yeon-soo from trying to find Kang-hee or get answers. Despite her clear efforts to push everyone out, her father, Ji Chun-pil (Choi Min-soo), maintains contact, something Yeon-soo and his friends are fully aware of. While his attempts to find Kang-hee result in more hurt feelings, you can’t help but admire the young man. Even though he constantly freezes, Yeon-soo’s earnestness in finding his friend and crush is adorable. Na In-woo was a good choice in casting for Yeon-soo, despite the fatsuit worn in the character’s younger days.

Kang-hee is not wholly likable in Motel California Episodes 1-2.

Speaking of the fatsuit, I humbly beg casting agents, creatives, or whoever is in charge of this repeated faux pas, please stop using fat suits. I don’t care how well-blended the face makeup is. Fat people move differently than someone in a fatsuit, especially where you can tell what is padding. It is 2025, and South Korea has fat adult actors and entertainers. If you can manage to cast child actors appropriately, as is seen in Motel California, you can also cast fat adult actors. So, ends my rant.

Through scene snippets in Motel California Episodes 1-2, the passage of time shows how Yeon-soo has changed, but the feelings for Kang-hee still linger. A trip to Seoul and a near run-in with Kang-hee has him jumping in his seat, but he is doomed for disappointment. It isn’t until the death of his grandfather that the wounded loverboy is able to see her again, but it is a reluctant homecoming for the young woman, and it becomes painfully clear why at the wake.

Through Kang-hee’s mannerisms and what others say around her in Motel California Episodes 1-2, she is looked down upon. If it’s not due to her mixed-race heritage, it’s due to her lack of prestige in education, upbringing, etc. Basically, Kang-hee is not wanted around. This clearly shapes her prior to the opening scenes but also continues to shape her a decade after Kang-hee has left her small town. And the fatigue of constantly fighting to prove herself is catching up to her. After ten years of busting her butt, though, she’s finally starting to see a glimmer of hope.

Her honesty in the workplace draws the attention of interior designer Hwang Jung-woo (Woo Mi-hwa), who gets her an internship within her company. Jung-woo constantly advocates for Kang-hee, and the young woman’s frankness opens further doors. While her direct superior, Mr. Mok (Jo Sang-ki), takes issue with her, his lack of preparation and care for a client and Kang-hee’s honesty lands her work with hotel heir Geum Seok-kyeong (Kim Tae-hyeong) and a friendship with Esther Park (Seo Ye-hwa).

The funeral serves as a pivotal point for Kang-hee, even if it is a harsh homecoming. Despite how much she still cares for Yeon-soo and how influential he’s been in keeping her going throughout the years, Kang-hee only focuses on herself. She is prideful, stubborn, and rash. With the townspeople treating her like some she-demon (as brilliantly exhibited by some creative edits at the end of Episode 1), she can’t help reinforcing the image.

The selfishness carries over in her treatment of Yeon-soo, and he doesn’t necessarily help matters with how little backbone he has. Actor Na plays him with such timid sweetness that even when Yeon-soo finally thinks he’s pushed back a bit against Kang-hee, it’s a cute moment that belies how far the man has to grow up. The best thing that could have happened to Yeon-soo was Kang-hee leaving, but her selfishness and immaturity and Yeon-soo’s naive nature of the situation make an already toxic codependent situation worse. No wonder he struggles to forget her.

Unfortunately, by the end of Motel California Episode 2, Kang-hee again wounds Yeon-soo. This time, by accident. Miscommunication abounds when Kang-hee uses Seok-kyeong to try to get her father to back off of her. But instead of finding her father waiting for her at their usual hotel room for holiday festivities, she finds Yeon-soo. With Seok-kyeong very much interested in Kang-hee, it is a taut love triangle situation. And we’re only two episodes in.

Romance won’t be easy for our main characters in Motel California.

Motel California Episodes 1-2 establishes how messy this cast of characters will be. It’s clear from the jump that Kang-hee and Yeon-soo are incredibly flawed, with almost a gender reversal in terms of their personalities and career paths. While it hasn’t been explored yet, through exposition as well as Lee Se-young’s performance, Kang-hee has a lot of hurt in her that she hasn’t yet addressed. Instead, it’s shaped her to be defensive, hard, and selfish, making for a fascinating, albeit unlikable, character to watch.

Yeon-soo is easily sympathetic, but his inability to stand up for himself or speak up allows Kang-hee to take him for granted. She expects her “Teddy Bear,” as she calls him throughout the two episodes, to remain constant. But, with the miscommunication surrounding her relationship with her client, will Yeon-soo finally be pushed to move on? The cliffhanger at the end of Episode 2 presents that as a possibility. Regardless, with such a complicated pairing of characters, Motel California fascinates and the messiness is enough to hook viewers to stick around.

Motel California Episodes 1-2 is not your typical romantic Kdrama. The two main characters so far are incredibly flawed, and both have a lot of work to do if they aim to reconcile by the end of the series. It is their complicated backgrounds and relationships, not so much the romance yet, that prompts me to want to stick around. Sometimes romance isn’t easy. People certainly aren’t. And this romance reflects that.

Motel California Episodes 1-2 are streaming now, exclusively on Viki, with new episodes airing every Friday and Saturday through January and February.