REVIEW: ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ Volume 2

When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2 transitions this story from the first few episodes’ “springtime” theme to summer. Summer brings the opportunity to take chances and reap the rewards of those moments. But summer isn’t all sunshine. It harks the arrival of storms, reminding us how quickly fortunes can turn. Ae-soon (IU) and Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum) see their fortunes rise but face personal losses that would threaten to break even the most resilient of people. Yet, in the backdrop of summer, they push forward, nevertheless.

Married life suits Ae-soon and Gwan-sik, but the difficulties of establishing stability are hard-won when Gwan-sik is iced out of the entire island’s fishermen, who are all but owned by Sang-gil (Choi Dae-hoon). A petty man through and through, Sang-gil has no problem lashing out at Ae-soon and Gwan-sik, but the young couple find themselves in desperate straits. Seeing her husband slowly succumb to depression, Ae-soon makes the difficult decision to approach her grandmother (Na Moon-hee) for help.

Her grandmother’s help opens the pathway for Gwan-sik to become an independent fisherman, not beholden to Sang-gil for his income. This sets up stability and makes things easier for the family, but none of this could have happened without the help of family and community. The community and how it plays its part in Ae-soon’s life has been an overarching theme since the beginning, but it is the supporting pillars that keep Ae-soon and Gwan-sik going when all else seems lost.

This comes into prominence when an unmistakable tragedy comes crashing down on the family. A series of distractions, one after the other, lead to this massive loss and the strongest performances to date from IU and Park Bo-gum. It is a culmination of efforts between writer Im Sang-choon, director Kim Won-seok, IU, and Park Bo-gum that captures the complex, yet wide range of reactions to the situation. Both actors are equally heartbreaking, with IU embodying shock and denial and Bo-gum finally cracking under the weight of grief.

The importance of community looms large in When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2

The grief rips through everyone in the family and lingers through the decades. But in the immediate aftermath, it is not just the community that comes together to bolster them but also Ae-soon and Gwan-sik, their children. While their loss is great, like all good parents, they pull themselves up and soldier on to try to do what’s right for those who remain.

For Ae-soon, this means trying to make sure her daughter, Geum-myeong (IU), succeeds where she failed. As we transition to Ae-soon (Moon So-Ri) in the 90s, it’s clear that Ae-soon follows in her mother’s footsteps, Kwang-rye (Yeom Hye-ran). She works tirelessly to ensure that her daughter can go to school, whether it’s selling food on the street or, with the support of Gwan-sik (Park Hae-Joon), selling their familial home to ensure Geum-myeong can study abroad.

However, she does make time for her dreams with the encouragement of Gwan-sik and her mother’s haenyeo friends, who are basically family at this point. Seeing Ae-soon succeed in her goals calls back to the wants and dreams of Kwang-rye, with writer Im Sang-choon bringing this thread full circle in When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2. One of the many highs of this series is that it never loses sight of what it hopes to convey, and ultimately, it is the natural cycle of growing up and reflecting back.

This is clear in the flashbacks to the past, from both Ae-soon’s and Geum-myeong’s perspectives, and also in several scenarios in the 90s portion of When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2, where Geum-myeong’s actions are almost a carbon copy of her mother’s. Any parent hopes that when they leave the world, they will be able to impart to their child everything they’ll need to be ready. But this series also brilliantly shows the imperfect nature of parenting, particularly with the onus of responsibility being on the mothers.

Our actions define us and carry ripple effects through time.

Through Ae-soon’s and Geum-myeong’s voiceovers, both dissect the memories of their mothers through time. The ups and downs, the triumphs and heartaches, with both realizing as they age more of an understanding as to why their mothers did the things they did. It’s a natural part of aging to reflect back and learn from the past, but, in particular, what eldest daughter hasn’t reflected back on memories of their moms? Especially when life becomes stressful or confusing.

That’s where When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2 hits me on a personal level. As an eldest daughter hitting the age my mother was when she had two rambunctious children, I oftentimes reflect back and wonder how she managed to survive any of the chaos that comes with adulthood. It’s incredibly relatable when Ae-soon sees her mother in her dreams and imagines whole conversations, wishing that her mother was still around so she can ask for advice. There’s a special bond between daughter and mother, and when it’s separated by distance or the permanence of death, there’s a longing there that never ends.

What also never ends is how actions ripple across time in this series. A wonderful callback to Busan ends up helping Geum-myeong when she lands into trouble. Something Geum-myeong says sparks memories in someone Ae-soon once ran into long ago and treated with absolute kindness. This one kind act had a major impact, coming full circle decades later. It’s a nice moral lesson about the impact of a kind act, where what you put out in the world comes back to you.

If there’s anything to nitpick in When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2, it’s the transition in performance from Park Bo-gum’s Gwan-sik to Park Hae-joon’s Gwan-sik. Bo-gum’s Gwan-sik is more stoic and reserved, with IU’s Ae-soon bringing the talkative energy into the relationship. With the jump to the 90s, Hae-joon’s interpretation seems more animated and talkative comparatively, with a slightly different vibe. It’s not so extreme that it smacks you in the face, but the energy does read differently onscreen.

Now that we’ve tackled spring and summer, fall is next, which may not bode well for this journey-through-life tale. This series has yet to spare rendering tears from its audience, with the performances and writing continuing to knock things out of the park. When Life Gives You Tangerines Volume 2 ultimately continues what its predecessor did in delivering emotionally impactful and heartwarming storytelling that may render this series one of the best of the year.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Episodes 1-8 are streaming now on Netflix, with new episodes releasing weekly.

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