#kdramawomensweek - day 7: so goodbye ➜ yang baek hee (baek hee has returned)
Unlike the usual returnees in k-dramas, Baek Hee Has Returned focuses its entire plot around Baek Hee’s return to her childhood village. As the protagonist, her journey is so interesting, that it fits into several prompts this week.
With Baek Hee’s return to the island, she is more than ever reminded of her “old self”, and with that comes the rumours. Her immediate reaction to this is trying to hide. But as time goes by, and her daughter is met with the stigma of her own past, she is able to reflect and grow. Ultimately, Baek Hee realises through her daughter that she doesn’t need to change for anyone. While trying to protect Ok Hee, she also ends up protecting herself. When Ok Hee tells her she’s sorry, and grateful, Baek Hee says something along the lines of, “After hearing you say that, I feel a little proud of myself.”
Her return to the island marks the opening of old wounds, but it also means healing, and realising that she has always been good enough.