More respect for this screenwriter. The underlying theme of respect for women's career choices and aspirations (whatever they might be) is a key to understanding these characters in a non-dogmatic way. Each one in a brilliantly nuanced way works through various aspects of this dramatic nexus, from the acknowledgement of changes in the arranged marriage trope (usually performed by older women) to undercutting the high-school take on sexuality trope.
I couldnt (?) go through them all, but here's two. The ML obviously weighs changes caused by her health but also her lack of a support network in the USA, and her decision is to return to SK and find a new career, even tho it means facing her mom's fury. Her mom is living happily bec of her success in raising a successful daughter, and her stubbornness is a sign of her strength of character, a traditional trope, altho pretty heavy for a western audience. Her character arc as she adjusts to the new family reality is one of the mostheartbreaking if looked at this way. Take a look at all the others....
I dropped my take on this into my review but no one else seems to feel the same..I usually write on viki where out of tens of thousands of writers usually I can hear a kindred soul or two, so I will try again to stir the pot.
? by couldn't I mean I dont like to bloviate and prefer to invite parallel play.