Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! I sure hope you guys have the appetite for more dramatic tension and more twists, because Show doesn’t seem to have run out of either, this pair of episodes. 😱
Here are our usual ground rules, before we begin:
1. Please don’t post spoilers in the Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point. I repeat: no spoilers for future episodes please!
We have quite a few first-time viewers among us, and we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.
2. Discussions on this thread don’t have to close when newer threads open, just so you know! But as we progress through our group watch, please keep the discussions clear of spoilers from future episodes, so that future readers coming to this thread won’t be accidentally spoiled. Does that make sense?
Without further ado, here are my reactions to this pair of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️
My thoughts
Episode 15
Dang. What an episode of reveals and twists! I love how Show dangles me on the edge of my seat so effortlessly and so deliberately; how does Show manage to feel so breathlessly exciting, even though it never feels like Show’s in a hurry?
Also, just look at that handsome sleeping dragon. 🤩
He feels so powerful, even when he’s not awake.
The most satisfying thing for me, is seeing how completely lost everyone at Cheong A is, without Pil Joo there to fix everything. Even Grandpa Chairman is antsy and eager for Pil Joo to recover, so that Cheong A can benefit from Pil Joo’s expert guidance.
And then there’s how Mal Ran, who’s always so controlled and coiffed, loses her cool in front of a sleeping Pil Joo, because she just can’t stand that he’s not there to help her. I feel so gratified on Pil Joo’s behalf, that Cheong A’s “dog” as he’s disparagingly known, is actually so precious to the vultures of Cheong A.
At the same time, the tension ramps up, as both Mo Hyun and Boo Cheon come to separate hypotheses about Pil Joo, while he sleeps.
Mo Hyun’s getting enough circumstantial evidence, from the way Pil Joo shields her with his own body during the crash, to the realization that he’d been the one who had been part of the bird-watching group, to start to piece together the idea that he’s the one who had saved her and taken care of her when she’d been drunk, and he’s the one whose loving presence she’d felt.
Ooh. That’s significant indeed.
And then there’s Boo Cheon, who’s intrigued enough by his sister’s passing remark about Pil Joo getting a blood sample taken at around the time of his own accident 5 years ago, that he’d start to wonder if there’s a chance that the sample Pil Joo had said he’d switched with Boo Cheon’s, for the DNA test, had actually been his own. Eep. 😬
On top of all this, the relationship between Boo Cheon and Mo Hyun continues to grow more distant, even though Boo Cheon continues to say sweet and comforting things to her, like how it’s not her fault that Pil Joo’s in a coma.
I can’t blame Mo Hyun, though, since, along with her growing conviction that Pil Joo was the one who’d loved her, goes the growing suspicion that Boo Cheon had lied to her, in order to falsely win her heart.
I can’t blame Boo Cheon for growing uneasy. That flashback, when Mo Hyun’s in a stretcher and being loaded onto an ambulance, says everything. Even though she’s shocked and hurt, the only thing she asks him, as she grasps his arm, is what happened to Pil Joo.
It does say something about Boo Cheon, though, that despite how this must have hit him in the heart in a big way, he still chooses to put himself in danger, by driving the car that was assigned to Mo Hyun, into an accident.
His whole intention around that, is to demonstrate to Mal Ran that she shouldn’t try to harm Mo Hyun.
And the fact that he did this, in a moment when his confidence is shaken because Mo Hyun only seems to care about Pil Joo, says a lot.
I can understand Boo Cheon’s desire to rebuild his relationship with Mo Hyun, but it really does seem like it’s too little, too late, for him.
I can’t help but notice that when Boo Cheon moves to hug Mo Hyun and thanks her for staying with him at Mooshimwon, Mo Hyun says in voiceover that the only reason she’s able to hold on, is because she cannot allow Mal Ran, who’s in the wrong, to win this battle.
Mo Hyun’s fighting instincts have definitely been awakened, and I do agree with you guys, that this isn’t revenge per se, but more like the other side of the coin; Mo Hyun wants to fight for the justice that she feels her family is due.
It feels like the truth is closing in on Pil Joo, and while that makes me nervous for him, it also feels like the moment Pil Joo wakes up, his personal power completely takes over.
I love, love, love this shot of Pil Joo, getting dressed and readying himself for battle. His every move feels so deliberate; like his restraint is the only thing that’s keeping his coiled panther potency in check.
What a catalyst Pil Joo’s return to Mooshimwon turns out to be. It seems that everyone has a reaction to Pil Joo’s comeback.
While it may seem rather reckless of Mo Hyun to rush to approach Pil Joo the way she does, I realize that this is in keeping with her characterization.
We’ve always known Mo Hyun to be a romantic, who’s willing to stake her life on something or someone, when she’s convinced that it’s meant to be.
Now that she’s come to a tentative conclusion that Pil Joo is the man who loves her, I can believe that she would waste no time in confirming her suspicions. And I would believe that she would take some risks too, in order to do so.
I’m not at all surprised that she would face Pil Joo so openly, with emotional, tear-filled eyes, even though Boo Cheon and Mal Ran are nearby.
I love that Pil Joo’s first order of business, is to dismantle the Strategy Team, and remove President Jang from his position, while positioning everything as a way of helping Cheong A Group gain favor from the new ruling party.
Dang, that’s shrewd. He gets what he wants, while allowing Grandpa Chairman and Mal Ran to think that he’s acting completely in their interests.
It kinda makes me wonder whether Pil Joo had already woken up from his coma, but had spent a bit of extra time at the hospital in order to consider his options.
We’re not told if this is the case, plus, I’d happily accept that Pil Joo doesn’t actually need extra time to come up with his counterattack because he’s simply that brilliant, heh.
Pil Joo makes it abundantly clear, though, that this is completely personal, in the way he takes ex-President Jang aside to threaten him, very pleasantly, that the next time he attempts to harm Pil Joo, Yeo Cheon’s life will be in danger.
Ex-President Jang genially laughs it off, saying the life and death are fated, but it’s obvious from his expression afterwards, that he is not at all amused.
And that pleases me, honestly. 😏
I also feel some twisted satisfaction from the way Mal Ran breathily embraces Pil Joo and tells him that she’d been so scared in Mooshimwon without him; that it had been such a dark place without his presence.
The dream that Mal Ran describes, where she’d been in a car, and Pil Joo had come out of Mooshimwon to greet her, could be interpreted differently than what Mal Ran thinks, though. She sees it as a good omen, confirming that Pil Joo will always be at Mooshimwon to assist her.
However, the truth is, Pil Joo is of Jang blood, while she isn’t.
The fact that, in the dream, he’s the one who comes out of the house, while Mal Ran is in a car, seems to indicate that he’s the one who belongs at Mooshimwon, while she’s the visitor. That good omen that Mal Ran is grateful for, in this moment, is probably not such a good omen for her, after all.
As we wrap up this episode, two key developments make it feel like the tension in our story is ramping up even more.
First, that Boo Cheon receives the results of a DNA test that he’s run, confirming the familial relationship between the two subjects.
Clearly, this is about his suspicions around Pil Joo’s identity. It must be such a world-tilting moment for Boo Cheon, to realize that Pil Joo is actually his half-brother. 🤯
I am not sure what Boo Cheon plans to do with this information, but I’m certainly curious to find out.
Second, there’s how Mo Hyun seeks out Pil Joo and asks him, pointblank, if he’s the man who had carried her on his back, the day that she’d been drunk.
I am stunned, actually, when Pil Joo admits that he’d once had feelings for her, even though he now says that that’s in the past.
I suppose Pil Joo realized that he wouldn’t be able to convince her that he’d never had feelings for her, given the strong vibes that Mo Hyun had picked up from him, before.
I have to say, I’m very impressed with Jang Hyuk’s delivery of this scene. Pil Joo’s expression is studiously impassive, but his eyes, progressively glistening with tears, say everything that his words don’t; that he still loves Mo Hyun, even though he can’t and won’t admit it.
And to amplify the tension even further, we have Mal Ran walking in on this scene.
She clearly senses the unusual vibe between Mo Hyun and Pil Joo, and I feel like I need to feel afraid for Mo Hyun’s safety again, because that glare, as elegant as it is, is one that shoots daggers. 😬
Episode 16
Pil Joo’s true identity is starting to cause some ripples in our story world, and it’s thoroughly absorbing, breathlessly tense stuff. 🤫
Credit to Jang Seung Jo’s delivery; I really feel like there are many different layers at play, as Boo Cheon processes the truth, that Pil Joo is actually his father’s son.
I feel like there’s a sense of betrayal, because Pil Joo’s lied to him all these years, while he’s placed his full trust in Pil Joo. I also feel like there’s disbelief, like Boo Cheon is struggling to accept reality.
I also feel like there’s grief, because Boo Cheon feels that he needs to put down this relationship with Pil Joo, which he’d engaged in from his heart, without holding back. There’s also fear in his eyes, like he suddenly feels unsafe with Pil Joo, for the first time in his life.
Kudos to Jang Seung Jo; as Boo Cheon’s thoughts swirl, I literally thought to myself, “He looks like he’s about to throw up” – and that’s exactly what Boo Cheon does.
I thought this very difficult scene, full of warring emotions, was really well done.
The way Mal Ran lays down the law with Mo Hyun, telling her that she should not visit the annex on her own anymore, definitely feels like more than a simple case of a strict mother-in-law concerned with decorum.
Mal Ran’s jealous lover instincts are definitely picking up on the pregnant pauses burgeoning with unspoken meaning, between Mo Hyun and Pil Joo, and given Mal Ran’s track record for getting rid of perceived obstacles in her path, I’m starting to feel a little anxious for Mo Hyun’s safety.
The fact that Mal Ran even tells Pil Joo what she’d once said to Boo Cheon – that he had to marry Mo Hyun, even if Pil Joo slept with her every night – makes me think that this connection between Pil Joo and Mo Hyun bothers Mal Ran more than she’d like to let on.
At the same time, we’ve seen that she’s somewhat helpless, when it comes to Pil Joo. She clearly needs Pil Joo more than he needs her, and I think her relief at having him back after his accident and subsequent coma, is making her more desperate; hence the words that spell out what she fears might happen between Pil Joo and Mo Hyun.
The apple and soju scene between Pil Joo and Boo Cheon is really well done as well. With the realization of Pil Joo’s identity fresh on his mind, I’m quite surprised that Boo Cheon is this quick to take some kind of action.
And in his words and actions during this scene, it’s clear that he’s looking to assert himself as much as possible, without actually revealing what he knows.
The whole dance around the knife, with each of them taking turns to slice off a piece of apple with the knife, and then feed it to the other person, is so full of tension.
I almost feel like Boo Cheon’s toying with the idea of stabbing Pil Joo now, just like he’d stabbed that other guy back when he and Pil Joo had just met.
The way Boo Cheon states with such deliberateness, that becoming Cheong A’s Chairman is no longer his mother’s dream and Pil Joo’s goal, but his own dream and goal, makes me feel like he’s gathering all the steel within him that he can muster, because he anticipates a fight with Pil Joo in the future – and is choosing to warn him now, that he won’t be easily messed with.
I mean, given that we’ve seen how formidable Pil Joo is, this does come across like a kitten trying to intimidate a tiger, but the very fact that Boo Cheon is even trying to make a stand for himself, is worth something, I feel.
We are not told whether Pil Joo is cognizant of what’s going on with Boo Cheon and his weirdly tangential conversation this evening, but I can’t help thinking that Pil Joo, being as sharp as he is, wouldn’t miss the hints that Boo Cheon’s dropping.
I’m a little surprised that Boo Cheon, who’s always been such a mama’s boy, would even specifically tell Mal Ran to stop interfering in his marriage, and that he and Mo Hyun will take care of the issue of when to have children.
I feel like he’s working to embrace a more independent, self-sufficient way of living, not just in relation to Pil Joo, but in general. It’s rather refreshing to see, although I have to admit that I don’t have that much confidence in Boo Cheon’s ability to actually pull it off.
With all of this going on, in Boo Cheon’s mind, it’s unsurprising that he would start to at least attempt to put down some barriers between him and Pil Joo.
That scene, where he tells Manager Lee not to tell Pil Joo about their latest product development milestones, feels significant, like it’s the first time he’s drawing a line between himself and Pil Joo.
Too bad for Boo Cheon, that Pil Joo’s not about to be deterred by his withholding of information, and simply gets the information that he needs, on his own.
Boo Cheon’s forced laugh, as he concedes defeat before the mighty Pil Joo, is such a great contrast to Pil Joo’s completely unflappable countenance.
Again, like a flummoxed kitten, before an unperturbed tiger.
That scene where Grandpa Chairman tells Ms. Han exactly how dangerous it would have been, to adopt Pil Joo, because he would take over the Jangs if he’s kept any closer, is clearly a foreshadowing of things to come.
To Grandpa Chairman, it’s a good thing that he didn’t adopt Pil Joo, but he has no idea that he won’t need to, because of Pil Joo’s bloodline.
I can’t wait to see Grandpa Chairman’s face, when he comes to learn of Pil Joo’s identity, and realizes exactly the kind of threat Pil Joo poses to the whole of Cheong A. 😏
Trust Pil Joo to be one step ahead of Boo Cheon, having moved Congressman Na back to his own home, before Boo Cheon even takes it into his head to search the country house.
While I’m glad that Mo Hyun picked up on the fact that Boo Cheon was tailing her, and didn’t bring the doctor to her family home as planned, I can’t help wondering why she hadn’t changed her destination while driving, so that she could have thrown Boo Cheon even farther off the scent.
Of course, the reason Show lets Mo Hyun go to the house, and allows Boo Cheon to barge in, is to toy with us as viewers, but since the logical possibility is there, I just thought I’d put it out there.
I love it any time we get to see Jang Hyuk showcase his fight skillz, and I was not disappointed with how Pil Joo casually walks up to the guarded hotel room where Seo Won is being put up, and takes down every single guard, with a simple rolled-up magazine as his weapon of choice.
The casual, sharp, controlled badassery is fantastic, and I lap it all up with stars in my eyes. 🤩
It’s quite a surprising choice, I feel, that Pil Joo doesn’t threaten Seo Won when he finally meets her, but simply gives her time and space, in a different location, to consider her decision.
It’s moments like these that make me feel like Pil Joo is a lot more compassionate than he lets on. He may present things to Seo Won to influence her decision, but in the end, he’s making it her choice, and I’m sure that’s something that comes from him, rather than from Mal Ran or Boo Cheon.
What a huge development, that Mo Hyun would piece together the fact that Pil Joo is actually Jang Eun Cheon, and would confront him about it.
Woah. 🤯 I certainly didn’t see that coming – at least, not so soon.
I’m rather surprised that she’d seen Pil Joo offer memorial rites for his namesake back in Gapyeong, because this is pretty huge, and yet, we haven’t seen Mo Hyun let on that she’d discovered anything amiss, about Pil Joo’s identity.
Of course, Housekeeper Go’s explanation of the origins of the necklace is a huge clue as well, which is the key that helps Mo Hyun piece everything together.
I do think that as Mo Hyun returns the necklace to Pil Joo, her words to him, addressing him as Jang Eun Cheon, are not a statement of fact, as much as they are a means to test him, to see how he responds. I am so curious to see how Pil Joo chooses to respond.
Will he surprise us by being honest with Mo Hyun yet again, and if so, how will this affect his plans for revenge? 😱
Hey everyone! Just wanted to check in and say that I’m here and still doing the group watch! I’m just a bit slower (maybe about a week late) coz of real life. But I’m still loving this show! It’s so well done in every way. I don’t have anything particularly intelligent to add but I too am wondering about the Jang Eun Cheong thing seeing that it’s so hard for Seo Won to get the Jang name for her son. Hope we will find out!
I’m watching episodes 17-18 now, and it strikes me that I still don’t know how Show will end, or even what would be satisfying to me. 🤔 Usually, at this point in a drama I’m hoping for something specific, preparing myself for a likely, but unhappy, conclusion, or just waiting for the obvious to happen. The range of resolutions to MF still feels wide open. There’s really something impressive about that after all of this storytelling. Like. 👍🏼
Leslie, you’ve nailed what has been the most impressive aspect of the show for me, as well. I’d might as well admit here that I’m not quite the audience for this drama (as seems to be the case for most who’ve made it this far in the group watch), but I similarly don’t know where we’re going and I am curious. So good on show.
@Leslie: Yes, I am kind of befuddled as well, particularly after the end of ep. 18, which (unsurprisingly) has another momentous event, one that I was expecting at some point, just not so soon (if that makes sense, after you’ve seen it).
I have always been expecting for a show this “dark” that the end point would probably also be dark, but I’ve been hoping for “bittersweet” at least, rather than full-on “nihilistic.” But I’m having a bit of a hard time envisioning what Show will craft for the ending, or really what I’m hoping for.
It really is hard to ration these episodes to two a week! So far I’m staying strong, but it’s haaard.
@Trent, the struggle is real indeed!
💯
Eek, you all, knowing the ending makes me itch to discuss 🤐 I’ll just agree that Money Flower, and Piljoo especially, are all kinds of shades of dark that it does make it hard to know what we should hope for in the ending – other than perhaps Grandpa Chairman and Mal Ran somehow falling flat on their faces.
Well, I did say that Jang Hyuk is so compelling to watch on screen, even when he is asleep. Pil Joo in a coma did look like a sleeping dragon indeed. Everybody else was truly lost without him. It was revealing to see how Pil Joo’s coma impacted the people around him.
Jang Seung Jo is brilliantly impressive as Boo Cheon. It is difficult to like this character, and yet his misguided and ineffective attempts at independence managed to produce a strange mix of pity, sadness, and a tiny bit of admiration in me.
I am also happy that Mo Hyeon continues to grow as a character. I cannot say that she has the upper hand in her interactions with Mal Ran, but she is definitely holding her own, and that’s saying a lot.
Nope. No option to edit my last comment.
Present! ✋
Squeeeeeee, breathlessly exciting indeed, kfangurl! Egads, every episode is chockful of twists and turns but I have to say, episode 15 has for me been the most sharply tense one yet, from Grandpa Chairman anxiously awaiting Piljoo to wake up, to Yeocheon outwitting a foundering Mal Ran, to Mohyeon piecing together who actually is in love with her, to Bucheon – eek – realising Piljoo may actually have used his own DNA, Jang DNA, to protect his non-Jang blood. And then, sigh-oh-sigh, Piljoo waking up and basically taking charge of everything as though he’d just been resting and not almost dead. Yes to your excellent screen-grab choices, him dressing as unruffled as a dragon about to face-off a herd of sheep was just so beautifully done. I squealed the whole way through 😍
And in no way did episode 16 flag. Woah. 🤯 Mal Ran lecturing Mohyeon and Piljoo about not being alone together was pretty desperate, I thought – and did you notice how she talked about only wives bringing their husbands water and then the scene ended with Piljoo going to get his own water. I thought that was kind of sad for Piljoo but also kind of like two fingers to Mal Ran. Uncle President trying to one-up Piljoo is always enjoyable; I like that he’s pretty smart (they are related after all) but never quite smart enough. I wondered how much he knows about Mal Ran (and what she did to the mistress and two sons) as he certainly grasped how hard it’s been for Seowon. I know I’m not supposed to be on his side, but I do find I quite often appreciate Uncle President’s astuteness.
And call me a downright fool, but I do so feel sorry for Bucheon. As you say, kfangurl, he is a kitten facing a tiger. Ooh, do you think Piljoo always sleeps dressed?! Like a curled up panther ready for action at a moment’s notice. The apple scene was super-awkward-tense and I tend to find their relationship broadly fascinating and appalling – the absolute sickening control Piljoo has had over Bucheon to the point of grooming. I know I’m one of the few, but really, Bucheon hasn’t ever stood a chance against his own mother or Piljoo. Sharing an apple a little like sharing temptation, no? Sharing the fall, only Bucheon seems a thousand times more vulnerable than Piljoo – despite him being the one having been in a coma.
On the coma, he recovered fast 😆 Enough to kick several guards asses with only a rolled up magazine! Oh, like you kfangurl, how I love panther-prowling Jang Hyuk in slick motion 😍 Screen-grabs and photos, though often very pleasing, never do him justice. He is movement and expression from the tips of his lovely hair to every fibre in his perfectly proportioned body (who says 176cm-ish is short anyway?!)
Will Piljoo confess all to Mohyeon? Oh, please yes. I felt so bad that when he woke from his coma, the only hug he got was an unwelcome one from Mal Ran, coiling about him like a viper ready to strike. Please, please, Mohyeon, hurry up and hug that beautiful wretched man!
I think Bucheon is supposed to be pitiful but. I don’t see him as quite the helpless victim. He has had a lot of privilege and advantages that, for example, Piljoo never had. And he has made many many wrong choices on his very own. The reason he is not “saving” himself from this mess is precisely because of his own greed, laziness and selfishness. He had ways out. We may argue that he was “groomed” but really? Piljoo was not much older than him and he is not a witch or magical being that hypnotized him. There comes a time in a person’s life when they have to take responsibility for their own life choices and stop blaming others, even if their parents failed them, even if the world failed them. He needs to grow a pair.
I did say call me a fool 😆
Sorry, I got carried away 🤣 My point was, you are not a fool, I believe he is meant to be pitiful, so it’s understandable to feel sorry for him but he is also meant to be frustrating so its understandable to want to smack him. Jang Seung Jo doing an amazing job with the role 👏
For now, I’ll just say kfangurl you have The Best screen shots. Perfectly matched to your comments. Brava. I, too, loved the shot of Pil Joo standing in front of the striped window, back to us, readying himself for his next gambit. Power at a glance.
Are we sure Jang Hyuk is not quite 5’8″? What great, er, proportions. 😅
A couple more follow-up thoughts.
Yet again we see that K-dramas are entirely too fond of comas as plot devices (I’m pretty sure doctor fans of K-dramas have long since thrown up their hands in despair), but hey, I’ll forgive it as well since it allows so much…shall we say…plot flexibility. In this case, it gets Pil-joo off the stage for a bit and lets the other characters have some time for unfettered plotting, and also gets a bunch of them to realize how much they are riding his coattails to keep them on top. Like KFG, I love that grandpa chairman line to the effect that if they didn’t have Pil-joo on a leash, he would just eat the rest of the Jang family crew up, no sweat.
It does lead me to speculate why exactly grandpa chairman would be resistant to Pil-joo in the driver’s seat (formally, rather than behind the scenes) once his true identity as Eun-cheon is known. Right now, he gives a convincing (at least, convincing given grandpa’s prejudices) explanation that he could not accept him as an adopted member of the clan, because he still wouldn’t be a true member of the bloodline. But as Eun-cheon, that objection is removed. He is a member of the bloodline. Is it rather that grandpa also doesn’t accept illegitimacy? I mean, okay, I guess, but dropping back to our feudal court analogy, many a monarch in search of the most suitable line of succession has legitimized an initially illegitimate heir with the stroke of a pen. And what’s the deal with Pil-joo and his brother? Show consistently refers to him (when his secret identity is being discussed) as Jang Eun-cheon. So did his father the chairman manage to get the family name formally passed on to his two sons? Seeing the difficulty that Boo-cheon and Seo-won run into getting Seo-won’s son to be given the Jang name, makes me wonder what the formal arrangement was for Pil-joo and his brother? I suppose we will find out.
I don’t want to make Pil-joo out as more noble or “good” than he is–this is a ruthless, cutthroat dude, willing to engage in long-term planning and clear-eyed infliction of violence in service of utter destruction of his avowed enemies–but I do think he has harbored a concealed decency and concern for certain others that has been a consistent through-line in his characterization. With Mo-hyun most obviously, but also, he could (and according to Mal-ran, should) have wiped out Seo-won at any time. But he’s really refrained, up to and including actually protecting her life and interests at key points. The most recent being this latest episode, when her public testimony in an interview with the press presents a clear and present danger to Pil-joo’s faction. As he tells her, he feels that perhaps her announced (via Jang Sung-man) intention to give an interview was arrived at “not entirely free of coercion”, i.e. she feels some pressure, implied or otherwise, to do it. And he just wants to free her to make that choice without pressure. That’s not the action of a one-dimensional villain, I don’t think. (And yes, his efficient passage through Jang Sung-man’s bully boys like a one-man buzz saw was awesome. The shade of Dae-gil rides again!).
Well. Like I said, that last five minutes of episode 16 had me slack-jawed with appreciation. I had just been speculating that the pieces were being laid out for Mo-hyun to make the leap and figure out Pil-joo’s identity, but I did not anticipate it coming together like that. I feel like the belated reveal that she had overheard his private mourning rite, and admission that he had only assumed the name of Kang Pil-joo, was a bit of a cheat on Show’s part, but I’m willing to forgive it, since the casual, entirely coincidental reveal by the long-time family servant that she recognized that very locket as the one the late Chairman was given by his father (grandpa honorary chairman) was such a great stunner. Of course, the servant just assumes it was passed on by him to his son Boo-cheon, which is why Mo-hyun has it. It was indeed passed on to his son–and Pil-joo unknowingly slips the final confirmation piece into place when Mo-hyun offers it up to him and he calmly (and truthfully) says “yes, my father gave me this. Thank you, Mo-hyun” What a masterstroke. And she just calmly looks back at him and responds “not at all, Mr. Jang Eun-cheon.” Reader, I screamed a wee scream. Gah. I love it so much.
(just tangentially, what is it with necklaces and inadvertent identity reveals. I am about ready to declare this an official K-drama mini-trope. Just to name recent examples where I’ve seen it, there’s this, then it comes up in Prison Playbook and also I Am Not A Robot).
We’re at the two-thirds point, and I have to admit, I honestly don’t know where Show is going to take us. What is the end game here? Please please please, Show, keep on as you’ve been keeping on. Nail that landing!
Sorry this is slightly late, everyone! Somehow, WordPress failed to post, even though I had this scheduled to publish at our usual time! 😝
@kfangurl – I’ve been steadily having issues – It no longer gives me the option to edit; the “like” button comes and goes like an apparition.
@Beez, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been having issues! As an experiment, I’ve just deactivated, then re-activated the comment editing plug-in; I wonder if it makes a difference for you? I can still see the option to edit, on my end.
As for the disappearing “like” button, I can check with WordPress, but they may require you to contact them directly, if it’s something that only you are experiencing.. 😝
@beez I ended up logging in on my laptop rather than from my phone. For some reason, WordPress stopped letting me ‘like’ from my (admittedly fairly elderly) phone and then every time I commented, it wanted me to relog in. A few comments got swallowed up that way. But all runs perfectly on my laptop – just means I have to be home to comment and like comments. Which also means I end up rambling as typing is much easier on a keyboard!
@Ele Nash – LIKE (But I’m too lazy to pull out my laptop.)
@kfangurl – thanks for your efforts. I’ve seen one other person mention the phantom “like” button but it’s not a huge deal. I find a way to let people know if they’ve posted something awesome.