First Impressions: Crash Course In Romance

Love is in the equation in this new rom-com when a former national athlete and math instructor keep butting heads and overcome the obstacles of life.

Synopsis

Motherhood comes with its own set of hardships as Nam Haeng-Seon (Jeon Do-Yeon) tries to enrol her daughter into a celebrated math instructor’s course while struggling to operate a banchan (side-dish) shop, and that’s on top of being the prime caretaker of her family. It’s safe to say that romance is but a fleeting dream until the instructor in question, relies on her home-cooked meals to fight a disorder that’s developed as a result of an incident from his past.

Choi Chi-Yeol (Jung Kyung-Ho) is an extremely popular teacher loved by parents and students alike in the world of private education. He has fame and glory, but battles loneliness and psychological trauma which prevents him from forming friendships or love interests until Haeng-Seon comes storming in…literally.

Despite developing a renewed sense of trauma from seeing math formulas and equations in every episode, this latest series from TvN is golden and a great start to a new year of K-dramas. There are so many different components that come together to create a drama that’s not just romance, but about life itself.

Unlike a lot of rom-coms, Crash Course In Romance goes above and beyond to illustrate the layers in Haeng-Seon’s and Choi Chi-Yeol’s lives so that we understand who they are as full fledged adults in their late thirties and forties. Combine this with an array of likeable side characters, budding young romance in high school, and even a murder mystery angle, and you have a show that keeps you entertained and in your seat.

Nam Haeng-Seon

Headstrong, temperamental, and struggling to be the best mother, business owner, and sister she can be. Haeng-Seon has a lot on her plate and at times, her outbursts might seem uncalled for but life has been unfair to her from the start. Haeng-Seon is tough and resilient, and not just because she’s a former athlete. Family ties and the internal drama that comes with being a part of a dysfunctional home, have made her as tough as nails and determined to create a loving household.

I know this is meant to be a romance drama, but the relationship between mother and daughter absolutely wins and it’s one we rarely see onscreen, fleshed out without the child being a hurdle or ‘accessory’ that opposes the main couple. What we get is understanding, a deep friendship, and female bond between the two and I am not sorry if I say it’s the main reason for me tuning in every week. It’s also the most endearing aspect about Haeng-Seon since she’s been taking a lot of her frustration out on the men in her life, whether it’s the male lead or her own brother.

Choi Chi-Yeol

There’s a fine line with being conceited and cold as a result of it, but this is one male lead I’ve sympathised with from the beginning and it has a lot to do with how the drama portrays Chi-Yeol as extremely tenacious and devoted to his profession. He genuinely likes teaching and admires students for their worth instead of the morbid parental politics that goes on amongst the association of mothers who enrol their kids in his classes.

He does have a tendency to toot his own horn, albeit in a comedic way but overall, he’s a major softie inside who just wishes that people wouldn’t use him for their personal gain and that all his energy can be poured into a field where emotions are obsolete and no one gets hurt.

Overall Impressions

I don’t think anyone has anything bad to say about Crash Course In Romance as it offers a bit of everything. It is however, less comedy and more drama with comedic scenes sprung in there from time to time, so if you’re looking for a bucket load of laughs, this might not be the show for you. It’s also more of a slow-burn than a fast paced romance where love is immediately in the air. There are so many divides between our leads, but that’s the beauty of it and I’m curious to see how their dependence on each other will lead to a territory unfamiliar to either one of them.

For a show about formulas, there’s nothing formulaic about Crash Course In Romance. It has plenty of charm and a vibrancy to it that puts you right into a state of emotions as you experience the lives of its characters. So here’s to hoping that it continues to deliver and never loses its appeal!

Release Date: January 14, 2023 (Eng sub available on Netflix)