English Dub Review: True Beauty “Stop lying to yourself”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After seeing Suho together with Sujin, Jugyeong finds herself avoiding him at all costs.  The second mission also calls for her attention, and Jugyeong gets help from no other than Seojun.

Our Take:

Just when you thought everything was going well for Jugyeong, that bitch Sujin is around to screw everything up.  That’s what happened at the end of last week’s episode, where Jugyeong caught Sujin hugging Suho.  Convinced that Sujin and Suho might be in a relationship, Jugyeong decided to stay away from Suho to avoid getting involved.  Of course, this could be Sujin’s latest plot to knock Jugyeong out of the competition after being beaten by her in the dance mission.  What the hell is wrong with taking a loss like a mature and responsible human being?  However, upon watching the episode, it turns out there’s more to Sujin than what we’re led to believe.

The actual reason for Sujin’s immature behavior is that she’s been abused by her alcoholic mother, resulting in Suho comforting her.  They say that a parent’s behavior can affect their child, resulting in them becoming bullies to hide their actual pain.  Unfortunately, Jugyeong was left unaware of the situation, as she spent almost the entire episode avoiding Suho in comical ways.  There’s also the matter of the competition’s second mission, in which Jugyeong must stylize her school uniform in a gorgeous yet somehow kinky way.  However, Jugyeong accidentally left her bag behind while running from Suho, leaving Sujin to steal her outfit and claim it as her own.  Thankfully, Jugyeong came up with a good backup plan just in time to submit her stylized boy’s uniform.

The episode, in general, wants me to feel bad for Sujin due to her abusive mother.  But after what she did to stay ahead of the competition, I hoped she and her mother would get some well-deserved karma sooner or later.  Aside from the comedy overshadowing the drama, I can admit that True Beauty has been doing a decent job of getting me attached to its characters, especially regarding topics like bullying and abuse.  Its storytelling beats may not land as hard as it wanted to, but I can tell you this. Sujin’s drunk mother needs some serious help.