REVIEW: ‘Motel California’ Episodes 7-8

Viki’s Motel California Episodes 7-8 continue the one-step forward, two-step back pattern that’s permeated the entire series. It proves vexing, but there is more progress being made in the relationship between Ji Kang-hee (Lee Se-young) and Chun Yeon-soo (Na In-woo). Under the guise of friendship, the two are trying to navigate what it means to be friends and how their changing needs over the years have shifted things. “We’re friends, after all,” but what if friendship is no longer enough?

Episode 7 starts off with hilarity as Ji Chun-pil (Choi Min-soo), overjoyed that his daughter has returned back to the motel, decides to surprise her with juice. Unfortunately for his timing, she’s busy making out with Yeon-soo and hilarity ensues. It’s a race to avoid getting caught that culminates in a rooftop discussion later that night, where things don’t go entirely to plan. Kang-hee continues her push/pull pattern of behaviour, and, despite Yeon-soo pointing out the flaws in her logic, she refuses to budge.

“Every time I reached out to you, you pushed me off a cliff,” Yeon-soo spits out, and therein lies Kang-hee’s consistent issue in Motel California. To those who have wronged her, she pulls away and desires the chase and the power. But now, with her need to push Yeon-soo away yet again, he’s done and, for a limited time in Motel California Episode 7, he maintains his distance. This change in behavior leaves Kang-hee scrambling to try to get scraps of affection and understand how friendship works once a line has been crossed.

While Kang-hee is trying to figure things out, Yeon-soo is also privately struggling. “Back then, a friend was all I needed. And it was nice not having to confess. It’s good because we [didn’t] have to part ways and because we can see each other [all the time],” Yeon-soo sadly reflects. He keeps trying to convince himself that it is better to part ways. But a chance meeting with Geum Seok-kyeong (Kim Tae-hyeong) has both men drinking their feelings and giving us the actors’ most comedic performances to date.

Motel California Episodes 7-8 deliver the ups and downs that come with friendship.

For Seok-kyeong, Motel California Episodes 7-8 is a culmination of him wanting more from Kang-hee and still not wholly realizing that he will always be second fiddle. He realizes more and more that Yeon-soo is his rival for Kang-hee’s affection, and it creates a healthy sort of rivalry. It circles back to the theme of friendship, and when is it the right time to take the next step or back away. Seok-kyeong finds himself ready to make the next step, even if all evidence points to the inevitable rejection in future episodes.

After seeing how Seok-kyeong and Esther Park (Seo Ye-hwa) have maintained a friendship, Yeon-soo proposes to Kang-hee that they try to stay friends. If it worked for those two, it might work for Yeon-soo and Kang-hee. But a trip to Seoul between Motel California Episodes 7-8 challenges their resolve, something that even the most dense viewer could have figured out. Despite their attempts to stay friends, they seem destined to be something more.

But the looming villain of the series has other plans for the couple. Motel California Episodes 7-8 highlight how far Yeon-soo’s mother, Soo-ji (Ji Su-won), will go to make sure Kang-hee’s life is miserable, even if it means also making her own son’s life worse. Obsessed with the notion of her son marrying someone she approves of, in Episode 7, Soo-ji sends Yoon Nan-woo (Choi Hee-jin) concert tickets and flowers under Yeon-soo’s name. Her hope? To encourage her son to propose to Nan-woo.

It seems harmless at first, but previous episodes have highlighted how inherently selfish Soo-ji is, and revelations in Episode 8 show the extent of her narcissism. Nan-woo gets her hopes up due to the flowers, and Yeon-soo is placed in the horrible position of rejecting her. But this ruins Soo-ji’s plans, and she immediately casts the blame on Kang-hee, who she’s determined will steal him away “just like her mother.” And the truth of her longstanding vendetta comes out.

The transition from friends to something more may finally be on the horizon after Motel California Episodes 7-8.

Soo-ji can only see Kang-hee’s mother in her. After Kang-hee’s mother and Yeon-soo’s father had an affair, Soo-ji spiraled. Everyone was to blame for her unhappiness, especially Kang-hee, whose presence only reminded Soo-ji of the love she lost. And so, despite the fact that Kang-hee lost her mother in the process and that she endured similar levels of pain to Soo-ji, Soo-ji determined that Kang-hee had to atone for her mother’s sins. And the woman’s spite proves to be the cruelest weapon of all.

Soo-ji lashes out at Yeon-soo and at Chun-pil, both of whom have been there to assume responsibility and pick up the pieces that Soo-ji has left behind. Soo-ji’s actions to have Kang-hee’s construction project suspended ultimately backfire, causing both Yeon-soo and Chun-pil to take her to task and stand their ground against the bitter and immature woman. For Chun-pil, it’s bottled-up resentment for how Soo-ji has refused to treat his child with empathy. For Yeon-soo, it’s the fact that he’s sacrificed so much to make his mother happy, and it’s never been enough.

And this sacrifice culminates in the decision that he’s been toying with all throughout Motel California Episodes 7-8. Can Yeon-soo and Kang-hee really be more than friends? Or do they need to separate for good? While Kang-hee bears many similarities to his mother, there’s still time for the young woman to change and grow from her insecurities and fears. His mother? Not so much. While there’s no definitive answer from Motel California Episodes 7-8 on how to transition from friendship to romance, Yeon-soo arrives at some kind of answer.

The thing about relationships, especially ones as complicated as Yeon-soo’s and Kang-hee’s, is that there is no easy answer on how to navigate transitions. There’s a lot of depth and history that muddies the waters, and that’s something Motel California Episodes 7-8 manages to build on from its previous episodes. As frustrating as it may be to watch as a viewer, people are constantly evolving, and that has an impact on relationships.

As it stands now, Motel California Episodes 7-8 pushes things along, even if its characters fall into similar patterns yet again. But, with Yeon-soo turning a new leaf and pushing back against his mother’s wishes, we may see this will they/won’t they couple move forward with their lives. And if not, I may actively reach through my screen and punch them.

Motel California Episodes 1-8 are streaming now, exclusively on Viki, with new episodes airing every Friday and Saturday through February.