I really just wanted to praise how well Nevertheless was able to represent a lesbian couple, specifically in a country where that representation isn’t as common. They were able to portray the relationship in a way that wasn’t fetishising, nor exaggerated for drama, yet was still engaging. Without it needing to be said, you can tell Sol is closeted and is having a hard time finding her boundaries with Jiwan, whereas Jiwan hasn’t considered the possibility of being in love with Sol, yet is in fact in love with her. You walk through their relationship slowly, issues of communication and boundaries, mixed messages, before finally Sol confesses. And Jiwan acts as anyone would in that situation. She doesn’t know yet, why would she, so she thinks about it. She then realised her issue is not that Sol is a girl, but she’s scared of losing her if something goes wrong. It’s just treated like a normal relationship. Even more so when all the other characters find out about them and there’s no shock, there’s no “I knew she was gay”. They just are. They’re just a couple. Heck the acceptance of them is even more chill than the acceptance of all the straight couples LMAO.
One reason I’m writing this is I was thinking of another lesbian show I watched, everything sucks. This show does focus on a lesbian character named Kate as she tries to find herself. While it is set in America, it’s set before gay rights were truly established. Maybe it’s because the show was cut too short, but the relationship between Kate and Emaline seems rushed and forced. There isn’t any natural progression it goes from 1 to 10 very quickly, especially considering Emaline was a homophobic bully towards Kate. Another problem I have with the show is that there is a male character who has a crush on Emaline, who is shown to be heartbroken when he walks in on Kate and Emaline together. It really bothers me how a scene that was suppose to be emotional and sweet for the wlw couple instead made you feel sympathy towards the guy who can’t get the girl. I thought Nevertheless was going to go down this root, as a guy did have a crush on Sol. He does confess and she does reject, but the exchange is very mature, and he simply respects and understands that Sol doesn’t reciprocate. Yes it’s still slightly annoying that we had to end up with a heartbroken man at all, but at least it’s handled normally, and if anything you’re more worried about Sol because she’s 1. Just come out to her best friend and 2. Is waiting for said best friend’s response to whether she loves her back.
So yes, Nevertheless had no Soljiwan kiss. And yes it was centered on a straight couple. But the thing is, considering the fact being gay in the media in Korea is still not embraced at all, the fact they got to exist at all is already great to me. And the fact they not only existed but existed in both a respectful and interesting way is just… the creator and the actresses did an amazing job. They really deserve all the love they got for those parts, and I hope more dramas both Korean and elsewhere can follow in their example