Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see someone in a phone booth, as in this scene – which is why I had to have it headline our post today. 🤩

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

1. We will be adopting a ZERO SPOILER POLICY for this Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point.

The spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, therefore, please take note that WE WILL NOT BE USING SPOILER TAGS FOR THIS OPEN THREAD. 

ANY AND ALL SPOILERS WILL BE REDACTED to protect first-time viewers in our midst (although, I’d appreciate it if you would save me the trouble of having to redact spoilers, heh 😅).

This includes, but is not limited to, how characters &/or relationships develop, later in the show.

We need to protect the innocent! 😉

SPOILER ZONE

2. HOWEVER!! If you’d like to discuss spoilers from a rewatcher’s point of view, I’ve created a SPOILER ZONE for you, where you can discuss all the spoilers you’d like, without the need for spoiler warnings. You can find it here!

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

My thoughts

Episode 9

Ooh. Innnteresting.

I have to confess, Show had me completely befuddled in the first couple of minutes, this episode, because it’s a scene that we’ve already seen before. I legit wondered if I’d gotten mixed up on which episode I was on, or if the episode had somehow been mislabeled. 😅

It was only after a bit of back and forth, that I decided to just watch a few minutes of this episode, to see if it was possibly the right one.

And of course it was, as you would know by now, if you’re reading these notes. 😁

Show was just getting ready to clue us in on the alternate reality that had taken place, upon the talisman being sliced in half, is all.

I find it a very novel and interesting approach, that in 2012, Hee Jin is the only one who remembers the version of events with Boong Do in it, while everyone else thinks she’s crazy (or sick, or dreaming), because they’d lived through the new and different version of events.

And then in our Joseon timeline, it’s the direct opposite, with Boong Do being the only one who’s lost his memory, while everyone else remembers all the weird oddities around his behavior and movements, during the period when he’d been time traveling.

I can honestly say I haven’t come across another show that treats time travel in a similar way, with the effects being different in different timelines, so this is all very novel.

Additionally, the fact that things are “leaking” through to Boong Do, despite his having lost his memory, indicates that the way these time travel rules are applied, aren’t super strict.

I feel like if he’s able to subconsciously retain fragments of information, like modern phrases, and Queen In-hyun’s posthumous title, this indicates that perhaps the emotional connection that he has with Hee Jin, is strong enough to overcome the physics of these time travel rules?

I’m also happy to say that the contrast in treatment between our two timelines, means that I was entertained by both timelines this episode, albeit in different ways.

In our 2012 timeline, I was amused at the fact that Hee Jin’s alterna-reality is that Dong Min is her boyfriend.

While this Dong Min is much nicer to Hee Jin, I still enjoyed the idea of him being so perplexed at the fact that he’s got an imaginary love rival, thanks to Hee Jin “dreaming” of having met a man by the name of Kim Boong Do. 😁

I actually find it really interesting, that as Hee Jin encounters these bits of new-reality information, she actually gets memories that back up this new reality, while still retaining her original memories of Boong Do.

That seems rather unusual, doesn’t it? I feel like in most time travel stories, you either keep one set of memories or the other; you don’t typically get to keep both.

I’m rationalizing that, similar to Boong Do’s experience, Hee Jin’s emotion connection to Boong Do is helping her to rise above the physics of these time travel rules. At least, in my head, that’s the reason she’s able to retain two sets of memories, when logically, she should only retain one.

I have to say, Yoo In Na’s delivery of Hee Jin’s tears, as she cries over the fact that nobody else remembers Boong Do, is so very believable.

There’s a perfect blend of confusion, heartbreak and plaintiveness about her, as she asks Soo Kyung if Soo Kyung can’t remember Boong Do either. Just really well done, in my view.

Over on Boong Do’s side of things, I enjoyed watching him slowly come around to the idea that he’s forgotten someone very important, and needs to find her again.

Ah! I am also pleased that Show clues us in to the fact that Boong Do’s topknot is a fake one.

So, his hair is still short; his servant had just given him a fake one, so that there wouldn’t be a furore over Boong Do cutting off his hair (a big no-no at the time, as it was considered disrespectful to one’s parents, to whom one is indebted for one’s body).

Once again, Boong Do’s adaptable, analytical mind comes to the rescue.

I mean, yes, there are oddities around him, but I feel like most people would be more dismissive of these oddities, than Boong Do.

I like that he’s open minded enough to consider the possibility, given that it sounds so bizarre that the talisman had led him to a woman whom he’d considered a savior, in a place where he’d learned odd turns of speech, and Queen In-hyun’s posthumous title.

I’m glad that Hee Jin’s convinced herself (mostly) that Boong Do must be real, and even goes to wait for him at the phone booth in the park, at the appointed time of his next visit.

It’s too bad that instead of Boong Do, it’s Dong Min who shows up.

Boong Do still needs to (a) find that talisman, and (b) figure out a way to make it work, now that it’s been sliced into two, so that he can find his way back to Hee Jin, and hopefully recover all his lost memories at the same time.

I.. hope that that’s not too much to ask. 😅

Episode 10

I realize that this pair of episodes was supposed to be our angsty stretch, since our OTP is separated for most of it, but it occurs to me, that this set of episodes was actually not very angsty to watch.

I think that’s a big reason why I liked this show so much, back when I first watched it. The angsty stretch isn’t hard to watch, and I always felt like our story was moving along at a nice pace.

And, it totally doesn’t hurt, that my big ask of Show, to let Boong Do get his talisman back, and figure out how to make it work, and find his way back to Hee Jin, AND get his memories back, is completely fulfilled. Wow. And I thought I might’ve been asking for too much, even.

Nice work, Show. Really nice work. 👏🏻

I think one of the things that really helps to make this separation work, is that each in their own ways, Boong Do and Hee Jin have their minds on each other, and basically refuse to gloss over the past and forget, the way the people around them are saying they should.

Even though Boong Do can’t remember much of anything at all, his instincts tell him to hedge on the marriage that the King wants to bestow on him.

And even though Hee Jin’s been convinced on the surface, by all the arguments that Boong Do had been a dream, she just.. can’t let go of him.

I love that detail, that she keeps tabs on him via the historical records, and gets all peeved, upset and jealous, when she reads that the King had match-made Boong Do with the allegedly very beautiful daughter of the Prime Minister.

I do think that it’s because our OTP continues to cling to each other like this, even when the circumstances dictate that they should do otherwise, it makes their separation so much more bearable.

It helps to buoy the narrative, in a manner of speaking, and for that, I’m grateful. It would’ve been a real drag, if Show had taken a different approach, and had Boong Do happily accept that marriage, for example. 🙈

I also find it amusing that Hee Jin is instinctively so repelled by Dong Min’s nearness, even though, in this alterna-reality, he’s supposed to be her boyfriend.

There’s something quite romantic, isn’t there, in the idea that every cell in Boong Do and Hee Jin, rebels against the reality that they’re being fed?

It somehow gives me a good amount of gratification, to see that Hee Jin’s ready to break up with Dong Min, because she simply can’t bring herself to carry on the charade of a relationship with him any longer.

On that note, I thought I ought to at least mention Soo Kyung, in all of this.

I concede that Soo Kyung comes on rather strong, especially at the part where she threatens to quit being Hee Jin’s manager, if she breaks up with Dong Min right before she’s due to attend that awards show with him.

At the same time, I think it’s only fair to acknowledge that as far as Soo Kyung knows – especially with her altered memories – Hee Jin really is acting very strangely, and it really would be a PR nightmare, if Hee Jin were to break up with Dong Min, after causing a furore by dating him in the first place.

Also, I do think that Show means for Soo Kyung’s behavior to lean funny, rather than aggravating, so there’s that.

That said, I love that Boong Do really does put his life on the line, in order to find his missing memories, AND HE SUCCEEDS!!! HUZZAH!!! 🤩

I’m just so, SO glad that Boong Do gets his memories back, and it’s just so gratifying, to see that signature twinkle come back to his eyes, when he remembers Hee Jin, and how adorable she is, and how much he likes her. 😍

I love that he makes straight for the telephone booth in the park, because that’s where they’d agreed to meet. Aw. Every little bit of evidence that he remembers, and cares, and wants to stand by his word, just makes me melt a bit, y’know?

It’s a bummer that Soo Kyung doesn’t let Hee Jin answer his call, but.. in Soo Kyung’s defense, she can’t actually remember him, even though he’s got his memories back?

And, given the timing of it all, the manager in her can’t afford to let Hee Jin go nuts over Boong Do’s appearance, right before the awards show?

I’m just glad that Boong Do is resourceful enough to figure out where Hee Jin will be, and finds his way there.

I love the idea that they are so hyperaware of each other, that Hee Jin would manage to spot him in the crowd like that.

Eeee!!! The way they lock gazes, with Boong Do giving Hee Jin that warm, affirming blink, just gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies.

It’s like he’s assuring her that he’s there now, and I am so here for it!

Now, going forward, let’s have our OTP share some quality time in 2012, pretty please? 😍