Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Thanks for joining us for this fated commemorative group watch of Winter Sonata! I hope you’re enjoying Trent’s notes; I know I am! 🤩
Huge, HUGE thanks to Trent, who had yet another extremely hectic week, and YET AGAIN, still managed to get these notes out on time for us. You’re our MVP, Trent! ❤️
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 Trent’s reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️
Trent’s thoughts
Episode 7
So, things are a little bit whip-lashy this episode, as certain people’s attitudes (looking at you, Min-hyung) undergo some major readjusting…
In our opening scene this episode, we have transitioned from last episode’s accident-in-progress (a stack of falling lumber about to take out our boy Min-hyung) to a scene of an ambulance racing to the emergency room.
Yu-jin is wheeled into the hospital, with a still-hale Min-hyung running after the gurney.
Cut to a discontented-looking Sang-hyuk moping around his hotel room; he perks up when the doorbell rings, but it’s just a rather exercised Chae-rin, who after determining that Sang-hyuk hasn’t heard from either Yu-jin or Min-hyung, rushes off without bothering to tell him anything.
Just then, Sang-hyuk fields a call from Min-hyung.
Back at the ER, Min-hyung and Jeong-ah are waiting anxiously in the hallway when Sang-hyuk and Chae-rin come rushing in.
Min-hyung is all, I’m sorry, it’s because of me that Yu-jin got hurt… the doctor says it’s not critical but she’s still unconscious.
Sang-hyuk gets all up in Min-hyung’s grill, until just then a nurse steps out asking if any of Yu-jin’s family are here. Sang-hyuk is like, yo! fiancé counts, right? (apparently it does?).
Standing at Yu-jin’s bedside, Jeong-ah tells Sang-hyuk that he’s getting it all wrong–Yu-jin ended up hurt because she pushed Min-hyung out of the way, not because Min-hyung intentionally did anything to harm her.
Just then, Yu-jin starts to come around. She recognizes Jeong-ah, then of course the first thing on her mind is to ask if “he’s alright?”
Naturally, Sang-hyuk, standing behind Jeong-ah, is not particularly thrilled to hear this expression of concern for THAT DUDE from his hunny-bunny.
Meanwhile, Min-hyung is lurking around outside the ER entrance, being all broody and pensive and stuff.
Chae-rin rolls up and is all, well, Yu-jin is awake and lookin’ great, so guess we can leave now! Min-hyung throws her a dismissive look and heads in to see for himself.
Back at Yu-jin’s bedside, Chae-rin gets to act all chipper, telling Yu-jin to get better soon and thanks so much for saving Min-hyung.
We learn that Yu-jin will apparently be fine with a few days’ rest.
Min-hyung apologizes and expresses his thanks to Yu-jin; he says he can get a caregiver for her if Sang-hyuk has to go back to work. Sang-hyuk is all, butt out, my man, we can take care of ourselves just fine, thank you.
Min-hyung and Chae-rin are on their way out when Sang-hyuk calls Min-hyung back.
He apologizes for losing his cool earlier, then tells Min-hyung not to assume that Yu-jin got hurt because of him specifically–she didn’t do it for him in particular (in other words, it could have been anyone, and good-hearted Yu-jin would still have leapt into action. I dunno, it may even be true, but it’s kind of telling that Sang-hyuk is so focused on getting that message across to what he now clearly sees as a budding rival).
Back at Min-hyung’s room at the resort, Chae-rin is in a bit of an anxious, placatory mode, asking if Min-hyung wants to go to dinner.
But no, Min-hyung is not having it, and he proceeds to take Chae-rin to the metaphorical woodshed over how she’s lied to him about various things, starting with l’affaire Kang Jun-sang.
Caught more or less red-handed, Chae-rin gets an “Oh, shit, busted!” look on her face, before admitting that she lied, and then trying to still push the “Yu-jin didn’t really like Jun-sang, she only acted like it because she saw how much we liked each other” line 🤮.
Well, it took Min-hyung awhile to figure out the lay of the land, but he eventually did, and now Min-hyung just ain’t having it; he’s like, I don’t believe you, I can tell Yu-jin has been genuinely moved due to meeting me, and she’s not faking anything.
Pushed to the wall, Chae-rin falls back on the ol’ tried’n’true fountain of tears approach, with a liberal helping of “he was my first love, too, you know!” and “I was so afraid of losing you to her,” and “…but, I love you.” (Oh, well, okay then! All is fair in love and war, n’est-ce pas? 😒)
Min-hyung is unmoved; he’s like, okay, but really, even so, how could you do your friend so dirty? (excellent point, good sir!)
Then he’s basically “we need to take some time apart,” which is a clear prelude to “we’re going to break up.”
(What is that I see on yonder wall? Why yes, I do believe it is HANDWRITING. Steel yourself, Oh Chae-rin, hard times they are a’ comin’…)
(And just to observe for the record, our friend Min-hyung Ssi has been more than a bit sus here in his opening episodes on our stage—occasionally cold, trespass-y on the boundaries, kind of @$$holish here and there—but it turns out that he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree), and now that he’s been clued in to Chae-rin’s duplicity, he seems to be taking the opportunity for an honest reassessment and (it is to be hoped) a readjustment of his behavior).
Back at the hospital, Sang-hyuk is finally working himself into an “I feel wronged” posture with Yu-jin—he’s like, you went and got yourself hurt to save Jun-sang, right?
And Yu-jin (whose affect at this point is kinda like, “great, as if dealing with this damn tasteless hospital mush weren’t trial enough, now I have to placate this jamoke…”) is all, well, I didn’t want him to get hurt, even if he’s not Jun-sang.
Sang-hyuk is like, pffff, you don’t even try to deny it. I hate it when you’re so darn honest! What you’re really saying is that you aren’t over Jun-sang at all!
(And I’m a bit confused, because it seems like Sang-hyuk is clearly misunderstanding her at least somewhat (unless the subs are a bit off?), because it sounds to me like Yu-jin is saying it wasn’t because he had any link to Jun-sang? Either way, Sang-hyuk is clearly getting more and more wound up about the Ghost of Jun-sang 👻. So welcome to the club, I guess? It’s clearly got Yu-jin in something of a sweat)
Well, eventually Yu-jin is all better and ready to leave the hospital and head back on site.
She opens the hospital room door, to find Min-hyung there with a vase of flowers to thank her.
Min-hyung goes to drive them back to the resort, but first diverts to a park where they sit down for a talk; he has the grace to apologize to her for being rude to her for so long, and say that he’s gotten her all wrong.
He tells her that he didn’t actually know there was another person who looked like him, so he thought she was just making up that story.
Since he’s all demonstrating empathy and openness, Yu-jin also opens up to talk about what she was thinking and feeling, being around Min-hyung and wanting him to be Jun-sang.
Min-hyung asks what Jun-sang was like, and how the two of them are different. Then Min-hyung holds out his hand and “introduces” himself and proposes that they start over again on a new foot, to which Yu-jin agrees.
(And I just have to interject that this is a very pleasant, friendly, empathetic, meeting-of-two-minds (and hearts?) sort of interaction we have here, which on the one hand is great, and definitely welcome and necessary if we are in fact going to have a believable reforging of our OTP (or something like it, given the continuing Jun-sang/Min-hyung mystery), but then on the other hand, hoo-boy are there complications looming just under the placid surface…the biggest and most obvious being tied to that lil ring Yu-jin is toting around on her finger, yes? 💍)
Anyway, back at the resort, Min-hyung and Yu-jin, accompanied by minion and Jeong-ah, ride the air tram up the mountain to the restaurant building at the summit to look over renovation possibilities there.
Minion notices that Min-hyung is blowing off Chae-rin’s calls, and observes that it must have something to do with Yu-jin. He can’t resist snarking to Min-hyung that he does realize she’s engaged, right?
Back in Seoul, Chae-rin hunts down Sang-hyuk at his radio station, where she sounds the alarm loud and clear.
She’s like, what is wrong with you? And then tells him get his sh*t together and hurry up and marry Yu-jin already.
Pressed by Sang-hyuk as to what her deal is all of a sudden, Chae-rin falls back on her usual MO, i.e. liberally freelancing with the truth (although ironically, she’s not too far wrong this time).
She outright implies to Sang-hyuk that she’s going to lose Min-hyung to Yu-jin if Sang-hyuk doesn’t stir his stumps and get a move on.
Cut to the next scene, where Sang-hyuk is in a stake-holder meeting at his radio station to discuss where they should hold the next iteration of their “special on-site concert series.”
Sang-hyuk, of course, suggests that they hold it at a ski resort this time…and he just happens to know the perfect one (he even admits it’s because his fiancée is working there). So they take his suggestion, and decide to set up a concert there.
And then Sang-hyuk goes home to his parents, where he announces that he and Yu-jin are going to get married as soon as possible (to be clear, he has not as yet mentioned all this to Yu-jin. Not that her opinion matters or anything, right Sang-hyuk? 😠😲).
Sang-hyuk’s mother, who as we have established, doesn’t much care for Yu-jin, and still hasn’t forgiven her for standing them up at the engagement ceremony, is opposed to actual imminent, rather than comfortably theoretical, wedding plans, but Sang-hyuk is pretty firm.
Back at the resort, Min-hyung and Yu-jin are taking a stroll and chatting.
Min-hyung sees a photo of Yu-jin and Sang-hyuk and asks her what she likes about her fiancé. Yu-jin runs through a laundry list of why he’s a “good person,” and she feels comfortable with him.
So then Min-hyung asks what she most liked about Jun-sang.
She mentions that they didn’t know each other for a long time, but they went on a date to a lake near her hometown, where they built snowmen in their first snow and so forth.
Then Jeong-ah comes hustling up to say they’ve just heard that Yu-jin’s mother has collapsed or something 😱.
Of course, Min-hyung insists on driving Yu-jin home, on the pretext that her car she’s driving won’t handle the wintery roads very well.
They arrive at her old home (in Chuncheon), to find that mom has already been checked out by the doctor and is basically fine.
So Yu-jin goes into the room to meet with mom, who naturally has to play propriety cop 👮♀️, and tell Yu-jin she shouldn’t have come with a guy, and be sure not to tell Sang-hyuk about it.
Mom pays a lot of lip service to “just wanting her to be happy,” but what that really means is making sure Yu-jin is sucking up sufficiently to her future mother-in-law and making sure she doesn’t queer the pitch with Sang-hyuk.
(Mom is clearly also buying into the class assumptions here, it seems like…).
Meanwhile, Yu-jin’s younger sister, who is an older teenager now (around 18-ish?), hangs out with Min-hyung, whom she of course recognizes (having met Jun-sang when she was younger, remember).
This gives Min-hyung a chance to pump younger sister for more information, in particular about “the lake” nearby that Yu-jin used to visit (Danger, Will Robinson!!).
So then when they leave, rather than heading directly back to the resort, Min-hyung drives him and Yu-jin out to Namiseom instead.
As soon as Yu-jin (who has been lost in thought) recognizes the location, she’s all like, uh…can we go somewhere else?
And he’s like, what? But…it’s really pretty here, I like it! (…and dude…I can sort of see what you’re thinking, but Yu-jin definitely has a sad painful look on her face, and maybe this isn’t that sensitive to her needs and feelings, you know?)
Anyway, they make it out to the island, where they stroll around the same pathways from ten years ago, and Yu-jin experiences Big Sad and sheds some tears 😭.
Yu-jin eventually regains her equilibrium, and then asks Min-hyung why he brought her out here.
He’s like, you told me you didn’t have many things to remember him by, and she’s all, we should go back.
Then Min-hyung kind of pushes her on whether she is going to stay stuck in her sadness, locked away with her memories and closed off to love, when there’s warm and beautiful places like this one.
And…he probably has a point? It maybe seems kind of insensitive of Min-hyung to push like this (not to mention more than a little bit self-serving if, as seems obvious, he is quickly developing feelings for Yu-jin), but he’s also not wrong.
Is there a way to heal your heart, Yu-jin, so you don’t settle for the dubious comfort of a stable but passionless marriage with Sang-hyuk, and slide through life with a whole suite of feelings permanently numbed?
And I’ll also give show its due: it is a beautiful location; the languid romantic string music is effective; Min-hyung is a very handsome dude who is currently exerting his not-inconsiderable powers to be agreeable and empathetic; and Yu-jin does the whole Our Lady of Sorrowful but Beautiful Aspect particularly well.
So it’s a very nice tableau, no lie. You can practically see Min-hyung falling for her. And then they head back to the resort and call it a night.
Next day, Min-hyung is back up at the top of the mountain with his minion, mostly out of it and lost in thought.
They’re in a storage room where there’s an old piano, and Min-hyung reaffirms that he can’t play the piano at all…but then he starts idly plinking at the keys, and then all of a sudden he’s playing a song, and it’s “First Time,” the one that Jun-sang played for Yu-jin back in the day (which experience of course Min-hyung doesn’t know about).
And then Min-hyung shrugs it off with a laugh and is all, I think I must be a genius, hahah!
So, yeah 😮.
Up until this point, seven episodes in, show has been playing it very straightforward: Jun-sang died, Min-hyung is just a dude who coincidentally looks exactly like him.
And there hasn’t been any hint of Min-hyung concealing anything, he hasn’t really said or confirmed a single thing about his past or background, and he has seemed genuinely surprised and taken aback to find people believing he looks just like this dead guy Kang Jun-sang.
To be clear, I never really bought the “Jun-sang really died” story. It was too abrupt, with no follow-up or detail provided for such a foundational event.
BUT! Until show showed its hand, so to speak, I’ve been willing to just go with it, and take it at face value, assuming that the narrative twist, whatever it was, would eventually arrive.
And this spontaneous tune on the piano is like the first inkling that…something is awry with the whole cover story, and there is, somehow, a Jun-sang/Min-hyung equivalency lurking, waiting to be revealed 🤔. Hmmm.
Anyway. Sang-hyuk, Chae-rin, Jin-sook, and Yong-gook all load up the car for an expedition up to the resort (which Sang-hyuk is nominally passing off as a “site visit” for the coming outdoor concert event).
Meanwhile, Min-hyung and Yu-jin head back up to the summit lodge at the top of the mountain via the tram again.
They walk around (YES! Just the two of them!), share meaningful glances and a beautiful sunset (with, of course, a slow piano accompaniment).
Then, we find out the high winds on the mountain have shut down the air tram, and Min-hyung and Yu-jin are stuck up there all alone…just as Sang-hyuk and the crew are arriving at the base resort.
Min-hyung and Yu-jin build a fire in the fireplace, and Min-hyung asks Yu-jin if she’s uncomfortable around him (the answer is clearly yes, if only because she is definitely considering the impropriety of being alone with a guy at night while engaged to a different guy).
Min-hyung dozes off, and Yu-jin comes over to sit down, and then reaches over and takes off his glasses.
He wakes up, and then bluntly confronts Yu-jin, asking her just how long she’s going to go on thinking of a dead man? If he were still alive, would you still be in love?
At this point, Yu-jin is firmly in “you shut your big stupid mouth!” mode, but nope, he is not done yet: Is it love, or are you just obsessed with his memory?
It’s none of your business, Yu-jin says; No, I have to tell you, he responds, this isn’t love that makes you continue thinking about Jun-sang, it’s obsession, regret, and self-pity.
Stop it, she says. He takes her by the arms: wake up and face reality. He’s dead. Please stop it! Why are you doing this to me?! she yells.
BECAUSE I LIKE YOU. …then… I…I love you.💖 [record scratch] huh?! Say whaaa…?!
So, uh, yeah, that happened? Which, okay, clearly he was headed that direction, but…still seems a bit abrupt. Not to mention, that was a pretty intense conversation?
Also, it’s about time we start excavating the mystery of Mr. Lee Min-hyung’s priors, and get to the bottom of Just What Exactly Happened to Jun-sang. Right?
Also^2, Sang-hyuk and Oh Chae-rin (🦊!) are not going to take this lying down, you can just bet. No sir!
Also^3, who knows what the Sam Hill our Yu-jin is going to do in response to this confession?
Episode 8
Alrighty, so things are definitely heating right up in Fated Love Land 💞. Let’s check in with the kids, see what they’ve been up to since the curtain rang down on last episode, shall we?
So after that fateful, intense, but also somewhat out of the blue confession from Min-hyung, Yu-jin goes running out into the blowy, snowy night on top of the mountain.
Meanwhile, Sang-hyuk is having a bit of a freak-out down at the base of the mountain.
Informed by minion that the tram operator says no chance of getting up the mountain in these winds—but don’t worry, Yu-jin is with Min-hyung so she’ll be fine! (yes, I’m sure Sang-hyuk finds that super-comforting to contemplate, thank you minion! 😲)—Sang-hyuk tries to set out on foot to climb the mountain, until Yong-gook grabs him and (literally) slaps some sense into him.
Eventually, Min-hyung heads out into the blustery night to look for Yu-jin.
He can’t find her (of course), but when he goes back in the lodge, he sees that she has come back inside and fallen asleep in front of the fire. He covers her with his coat and goes to sleep in another corner.
Next morning, the two of them wander outside in the beautiful fluffy new snow to talk.
Min-hyung’s opening gambit is basically, I’m not going to apologize, I know I hurt your feelings, but I wanted to say it and I don’t regret it (which…is a bit self-centered? But also maybe depends a bit on whether he’s referring to the getting in Yu-jin’s face about her Jun-sang fixation, or to his love confession?)
Yu-jin’s face actually opens up a bit, and she’s like, you know, I often wondered what Jun-sang would look like if he had lived to be our age, and I’m grateful to be able to see that through you, but I don’t have any other feelings for you and I’m sorry if I led you to believe otherwise.
And Min-hyung is like, did you ever like me even for a moment, as Min-hyung, not Jun-sang?
And she’s like, newp, sorry. And he’s all, well, what about Sang-hyuk? Who do you love now?! (and look, dude, I know this is all emotionally intense and everything–for us, too, and we’re only watching it!–but just because you went and threw out an unsolicited love confession doesn’t give you license to poke and prod her sensitive and private psychic wounds. Just sayin’).
Well, Yu-jin very much doesn’t want to answer that question directly, and they’re staring each other down, and Yu-jin’s like, let me go!
And then Sang-hyuk (who has just arrived on the scene, along with Chae-rin, via the freshly reopened air tram) pops up and is all, UNHAND her you knave! That’s my fiancée you’re so rudely manhandling! (So then of course, Sang-hyuk has to manhandle her instead, grabbing her arm and hauling her away so she doesn’t get any more Min-hyung cooties 🙄).
Then Min-hyung says to Yu-jin, you didn’t answer me: who do you love? And Sang-hyuk is all, what the hell business is that of yours? To which Min-hyung replies, I love her.
(At this effusion, Yu-jin’s facial expression is like a perfect study in “g-td-mmit, if you insist on being all crazy-cakes, can’t you at least keep it on the QT?” 🤐 I feel ya’, Yu-jin…).
Naturally, that provokes Sang-hyuk to grab Min-hyung and get in his face, and there’s a bit of 🐮💩 male posturing, while Yu-jin is all, c’mon guys, chill–Sang-hyuk, let’s go.
Sang-hyuk delivers his ultimatum: don’t ever go near Yu-jin, I won’t allow it! and then grabs Yu-jin’s arm (modified wrist-grab! 😣) and hauls her back towards the lodge.
Chae-rin has been watching this contretemps from a distance, so then later, back in Min-hyung’s room, she’s waiting for Min-hyung when he comes in.
Chae-rin starts out trying to act all wronged and offended (and I mean, it’s Chae-rin, right, so I’m not naturally disposed to be particularly sympathetic to her tales of oppression…but I am forced to admit that she kind of has a point, technically. If you’re in an acknowledged boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, you kind of owe it to your partner to wind up the affair before you go confessing your love to someone else. At least, that’s what I was taught in Relationships 101…).
Chae-rin moves right into telling Min-hyung he’s just confused, asking him how he can do this, how he can possibly think he loves Yu-jin, followed by “is that all I mean to you? How can you do this to me?”
Min-hyung is like, we are all of us prone to moments of irrationality when the heart flies where it will, but…I do know that once my heart has flown to someone, I can’t call it to return.
Chae-rin is all, STOP! I don’t want to hear anymore! We can talk later. And Min-hyung just quietly says, “I think you and I are over.”
(And look, YES, it is the right thing to do—should have been done earlier, but better late than never—but dangit, show, here you’ve gone and got me feeling at least fleetingly sorry for Chae-rin. Quick, Chae-rin! Go do something reprehensible so I can regain my equilibrium!)
Meanwhile, Sang-hyuk is industriously going through Yu-jin’s closet and tossing everything on the bed and then throwing her stuff in her suitcase.
And Yu-jin is all, dude, what the hell are you doing? He’s like, I can’t let you stay here, we’re going back to Seoul. Just pack up what you need and have Jeong-ah send the rest.
Yu-jin is like,wait, you know how much this project means to me, I can’t just cut and run.
So then Sang-hyuk starts saying it’s kind of her fault, too, why else would Min-hyung say stuff like that…with an ugly undercurrent of “if you weren’t being such a loose hussy, throwing out signals to lead him on, this would have never happened,” which I am very much not here for, Sang-hyuk you retrograde dinosaur.
We shift to the resort parking lot, where Sang-hyuk is trying to physically shove Yu-jin in the car, while she remonstrates with him, asking if he doesn’t believe her that there’s nothing going on (I mean, nothing on her side; just because this dude is broadcasting right out loud that he loves her is not her problem, right?).
And Sang-hyuk is all, no I don’t believe you. If there’s nothing going on, why didn’t you answer him when he asked you who you love? What is the answer, then? (tellingly, Yu-jin doesn’t say anything in response this time, either).
Sang-hyuk finally gets in the car and drives off alone, leaving Yu-jin standing there by herself.
Of course, Min-hyung has just appeared over to the side of the parking lot, so then Yu-jin strides up to him and says, you ask me who I love? The one I need to love is Sang-hyuk. (I mean, there’s the crucial distinction right there; she needs to be seen as loving him, whether she actually does or not. C’mon Yu-jin, just make a clean break, it will hurt and be messy, but at this point, this relationship with Sang-hyuk isn’t doing anyone any good).
Yu-jin goes back to the room where Jin-sook and Yong-gook are hanging out, and Chae-rin has just stormed in as well looking for Yu-jin, so when Yu-jin walks in, Chae-rin strides up and fetches her a slap, and tells Yu-jin she will never ever let Min-hyung go, and she won’t let Yu-jin take him like she took Jun-sang. (…thank you, Chae-rin, can always count on you to come through and relieve me of needing to feel sympathy for you!).
Yu-jin keeps trying to reach Sang-hyuk, but he’s got his sulky on, big time, and keeps ignoring her calls, so she just leaves him apologetic voice messages.
That evening, while Yu-jin is out strolling in thought, Min-hyung intercepts her and asks if they can talk.
They go sit at a (deserted) bar, where he tells Yu-jin that he’s told Chae-rin that they’re done, and then he apologizes for dumping his feelings all over her, and not realizing that in making himself feel better by expressing that he loves her, he was making it hard on her, and also making things hard for her with Sang-hyuk.
He says he’ll try to be more chill about it now, and hopes she’ll be able to just treat him “normally.” 🤔.
Later, he gives her a ride to the bus terminal, and tells her to just go see Sang-hyuk without calling him first, that way he’ll be happy to see her. And he tells her to come back to the project with a smile.
So Yu-jin goes to Sang-hyuk’s work, and he’s acting all wounded and standoffish, even as she’s apologetic and conciliatory.
He’s like, did you think I’d be happy to see you if you just showed up without warning? Do you think I’d just smile as if nothing had happened; nope, not going to be all accommodating like that any more. If you hurt me, why can’t I hurt you back, huh? 😠.
Yu-jin rallies and is all, how about let’s go get dinner together, and Sang-hyuk is like, nah, I have to go to work, bye.
And dude, I get it, it’s hard to do the right thing when you’re feelings are hurt, but…really, you’re acting like a big baby, and kinda stupid to boot 🤪.
If ya girl is wavering already, then “punishing” her with some modified silent treatment like this is maybe a wee bit of a tactical error? Just a thought.
(Later we do get a montage of Sang-hyuk getting drunk at the bar by himself and then walking around feeling sorry for himself, until he finally leaves an apologetic voice message for Yu-jin).
Anyway, Yu-jin takes the bus back to the resort, and of course runs into Min-hyung and they sit down for coffee, and she’s all kind of lying about Sang-hyuk’s reactions (he was glad to see me and wanted to have dinner!) to excuse his bad behavior.
So then Min-hyung asks her if there’s anything he can do for her.
Yu-jin asks him why he’s being nice to her, and he’s like, you do remember I like you, right? But that aside, I know you don’t feel the same way, so all I can do is offer to help you do whatever you wish.
Then Min-hyung leads her out to the foot of the mountain where the snow-making machine is blowing, and tells her, you want to cry, right? Well, this is the perfect place, where no one can see or hear you, and you can have a good cry, as much and as long as you want, and then you’ll feel better. And so she does…
Min-hyung goes back to Seoul for work, and Chae-rin walks into his office all ready to call him on the carpet for not contacting her, but she switches tacks when she sees that that’s not going to get her anywhere.
She asks if he still wants to break up, and he’s like, yeah, sorry, not feelin’ it, boo. So she asks him how he could be this cruel?
Then (back hug alert!) she begs him, says she’ll do anything he wants, just let her stay together with him anyway, even though he doesn’t love her, and he’s like, nah, don’t think so, and so she leaves.
But do not count our vulpine mistress out! She may be down, but she’s still capable of mischief!
Back at her boutique, we can see the mischief-plotting wheels turning in her head; just then Jin-sook comes in with a package sent by Yu-jin’s mother for Sang-hyuk’s mother’s birthday. Aha!
Next thing we know, Chae-rin has headed over to Sang-hyuk’s house to give mother a birthday gift, but her real purpose is clearly to bend mother’s ear (recall that mother really doesn’t like Yu-jin) and tattle to her with all the gossip about how Yu-jin is off working with Chae-rin’s boyfriend at the ski resort, and thereby creating mucho anxiety for beloved baby boy Sang-hyuk.
Ah, our Chae-rin (🦊!), always there to spread malice and pain.
Back at the resort, Yu-jin is getting ready to head back to Seoul in order to attend (soon to be) mother-in-law’s birthday celebration.
Min-hyung has offered to drive her to the bus terminal once again, but when she goes to answer the doorbell, it’s Sang-hyuk, who has driven up to get her. He’s worked through his sulkiness and is all apologetic, and so is she, so on the surface at least they are reconciled.
Of course they get to mother’s house, and mother is being kind of a pill; even meaner toward Yu-jin than usual.
She kicks Yu-jin out of the kitchen and won’t let her help get the food ready, and then later she starts asking Yu-jin if she’s really going to marry Sang-hyuk, and where she’s working, and with whom, and if there’s anything to these scurrilous rumors about taking up with other men? 😯
At which point Sang-hyuk jumps in and demands to know who told her all this nonsense.
Mother tells Sang-hyuk he’s a fool (harsh but fair!), and he starts yelling again, demanding to know why mother hates Yu-jin so much…at which mother fetches him a slap and demands to know why he has to like her so much, and if all these rumors about Yu-jin are true.
So then Sang-hyuk leaves, dragging Yu-jin out with him. So that went well…
Sang-hyuk drives them out to the river side, where he sits on the hood and broods for awhile.
Yu-jin eventually gets out and is like, c’mon, let’s go back to your house, you need to apologize to your mom.
Sang-hyuk has other things on his mind, though, and he’s all, what is Min-hyung to you? why do I have to keep hearing about you and him from other people? Do you like him? TELL ME!
And of course Yu-jin can’t really answer him (the way she looks down all evasive-like is practically a confession in itself).
So they get back in the car, and after a bit Yu-jin is like, wait a sec, this isn’t the road home, where are we going?
And Sang-hyuk is like, we aren’t going home, I’m not letting you go tonight. (and not gonna lie, it’s like, pretty ominous sounding… 😲).
Then they pull up at a hotel, and Yu-jin is like, don’t do this, Sang-hyuk, it isn’t right. And Sang-hyuk is all, you spent a night in a cabin with Mr. Lee Min-hyung, so why can’t you stay with me? Let’s go.
Yu-jin’s phone starts to ring, and he grabs it and says, I don’t want anyone to bother us, let’s just think about each other.
Then we cut to Sang-hyuk and Yu-jin in a hotel room, and Sang-hyuk is drinking a beer, and Yu-jin’s face is broadcasting loud and clear “I really don’t want to be here!”.
Sang-hyuk is like, you can sleep on the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch. Yu-jin is all, is this really necessary, and he’s like, yes.
So then Yu-jin gets up and goes into the bathroom to… collect her thoughts? Get a solid door between them?
And Yu-jin’s phone—which, recall, Sang-hyuk had taken from her earlier—rings, and Sang-hyuk answers it. It is Min-hyung, who identifies himself and asks where she is and how she’s doing? OOPS. 😬.
Sang-hyuk is like, what are you doing calling her…just as Yu-jin comes out of the bathroom and is like, what are you doing?! She goes over to him and tries to grab the phone, and Sang-hyuk is all, what? You don’t want him to know we’re together? Yu-jin is all, we’ll talk later.
So Sang-hyuk grabs her and forcefully kisses her, then pushes her down on the bed, with him on top of her.
Not gonna lie, folks, it looks very much like we’re going to be getting our sexual assault on, there’s a very rapey vibe here, as Yu-jin screams for him to stop it and he pulls off her scarf and goes for her coat 😱.
BUT! Cut to a shot of the hotel corridor, and then of Yu-jin running down it while shrugging her coat back on.
She runs out the front door of the hotel, flags down a taxi, and drives away. Just ahead of Sang-hyuk, who runs out after her, and is now projecting a very pronounced “Boromir on the slopes of Amon Hen after Frodo flees with the Ring” aura (“‘What have I done? Frodo, Frodo!’ he called. ‘Come back! A madness took me, but it has passed. Come back!’”) 😞.
Well, Yu-jin ends up sitting by the side of an empty fountain at a plaza somewhere, and then Min-hyung calls her again, and she’s all in tears, and he’s like, where are you, and she’s like, I don’t know where I am…and Min-hyung (who is standing out at the foot of the mountain at the resort) is all, stay right there, I’LL COME FIND YOU! 🤨.
And then Min-hyung goes booking down the mountain, and cut to a scene of him pulling up to the plaza where Yu-jin is sitting…
… and C’MON, SHOW. I mean, I can mostly take the heavy-handed symbolism sprinkled liberally throughout the show, because fated love 💞 and all, but this is way before ubiquitous commercial GPS and tracking apps, even if they would have mutually shared locations, and are we meant to believe he just homed in on her primary spiritual essence or something? OKAY, THEN!
So Min-hyung approaches, and they stare intently at each other until he moves forward and embraces her, and I’m all ready for the freeze frame, let fall the curtain…
…but then, suddenly we cut to the airport arrival lane, and a woman is walking in, and wait a minute… is that Jun-sang’s mother? (who we have only seen very briefly in eps. 1 and 2), and she calls someone on her phone and is like, I just arrived; how is Jun-sang doing? 😲
NOW freeze frame, draw curtain.
And well, we KNEW something hinky was up with the whole “Jun-sang is DEAD” sitch, so it’s ABOUT TIME, is all I can say. Looks like shenanigans are back on the menu, boys!
The night was black and the night was blue
And around the corner, an ice-wagon flew
A bump was hit and Lordy somebody screamed
You should have heard just what I seen –
Now, who do you love?
Late to the party as usual, so all of the good comments have been made, but still wanna second/third/fourth just how great this write-up was. If only Trent was on the writer’s shoulder 21 years ago to simply whisper, “you know, you can change one line and there will be no mystery to these two finding each other at the roundabout.” But alas.
For about five minutes, I was feeling bad about Sang-hyuk (who is soon about to lose the “h” in his name) having to deal with Yu-jin’s non-response to Bo Diddley’s question (italics, above) as posed by one Lee “Piano Man” Min-hyung, but that’s gone after that disgusting nonsense in the hotel room. Now, pace yourselves if you must, but I’ve got plenty of bile to go the distance on this one.
On a more cutesy note, anyone else notice a possibly budding romance between Yu-jin’s roommate and vet boy?
Finally, I have learned that, in the absence of a verifiably dead body, there is nearly a 92% chance that the supposedly dead character is not dead but off-screen studying chiropracty or writing poetry or something (like, I don’t know, architecture or scarf collecting). At least we know from the miraculous piano playing that LMH doesn’t suffer from muscle amnesia.
So the arrival of birth mom is not a surprise, although the “how” … I have no idea. Already late on this week’s episodes, so gotta go find out.
Guys, there’s no way I can get talked into watching this show that seems to be the exact opposite of the shows that I normally watch, but I just wanted to comment or rather ask you, what was that think with male haircuts in the 00s in Korea. I mean, how did people go around with this kind of hair and be even considered attractive?
(And not only Korea, judging by my own husband’s university photos …)
I’m here to report that Mom’s read this week’s notes and enjoyed them very well, as usual. 😁 And, she’s VERY much in agreement with Trent, that if your girlfriend’s not that into you, giving her the silent treatment is just not the very smart thing to do. 😁
Mom’s question (in general, not to Trent specifically), is why Chae Rin thinks it a good idea to go tattle on Yu Jin to Sang Hyuk’s mom? Wouldn’t that make Sang Hyuk’s mom even more against Sang Hyuk’s relationship with Yu Jin?
(Mom is unconvinced by the idea that Chae Rin did this as reverse psychology, so that Sang Hyuk’s mom’s intense dislike for Yu Jin would galvanize him into marrying Yu Jin quickly.)
ALSO. Mom has a theory that one reason Sang Hyuk’s mom dislikes Yu Jin and her mom so much, might be because she suspects that her husband may have a special interest in Yu Jin’s mom, given how much attention he pays to Yu Jin’s father’s memorial, over the years.
I agree with your mom, KFG. We still don’t know what happened between Jun Sang’s mom and her two male high school friends. I am seriously questioning the paternity not only of Jun Sang, but also if Yu Jin and Sang Hyuk.
That’s a great insight about concealed motives for Sang-hyuk’s mother’s dislike. There’s a lot we still don’t know, but just from hints we do have, I’d say there’s a really good chance that she does have some issues or negative feelings about her husband and Yu-jin’s family.
Re: Chae-rin running off to tattle, yeah it does look like Chae-rin’s normally keen tactical acumen is breaking down a bit. I honestly do think that Chae-rin just enjoys meddling and is perfectly capable of being spiteful for her own amusement.
Alternatively, maybe she just espouses the Littlefinger credo: “chaos is a ladder.” If she can stir things up, get people agitated, maybe it will create an angle she can seize and take advantage of?
ep 7:
The starting-over-afresh scene is really my favorite one so far. And perhaps, will continue to be! KFG’s perfectly captured screenshot of the two leads smiling innocently & sheepishly makes my heart warm! For once, we witness a glimpse into why women across Asia might be going feral for this man, Min-Hyung, aside from the fact that he’s played by BYJ. Apologizing is a big green-flag for me. A big-fat check.✅
I know he’s trying to be all sweet, and it would have been sweet had it been any other dude, with any other face. It was especially evident, how Min-Hyung’s empathetic self aside, he can also be massively clueless. WHY do you have to take her to the lake spot? WHY do you want this woman to not be stuck in the past and get over her dead-lover? 💔 The writers know *very well* how to toy with our hearts. Never knew Min-Hyung trying to be ‘nice‘ to Yu-Jin is going to hurt me this way. Dude, just stop, please. It’s not making it easy for any of us, and much less, for Yu-Jin!😭
ep 8:
No of course, Min-Hyung…. she doesn’t love you. While you spent the last 6 eps discovering what a (sad but) beautiful human Yu-JIn is, you’ve been nothing but an ass to her for more than half that duration. You do not expect to tell someone that their love is nothing but obsession for a dead guy, and self-pity (even thought that might be true), and hope that they’ll magically be in love with you the next morning. 😒 And even if she was, it would probably be because you’re the doppelganger, and not because she cultivated her feelings for you over a single night. I don’t think Min-Hyung, you’re prepared for that scenario, eh?
Ngl, more than Min-Hyung’s early confession, I felt more satisfied seeing the second leads lose their shit over their partners being stuck in the snowstorm! 🤣😝
I have this niggling suspicion that Yu-Jin somehow blames herself for Jun-Sang’s accident & death. Which is why she does the things she does. From jumping in to save Min-Hyung, to being willing to enter a loveless matrimony with a guy she knows she has ZERO chances of falling in love with. It’s her way of punishing herself. Which is why she’ll continue to reject Min-Hyung’s affection too. While silently choking up on her tears, every time she gets a good glance at his face.😭 She might also be masochistically sticking around Min-Hyung, in an effort not to forget Jun-Sang. But it’s clear as day she does not treat him as the substitute! 🤔I love the subtle mirroring show does too. A teenage Yu-Jin’s bubbliness was infectious enough for a somber Jun-Sang to have caught the bug. And now, the martyr-like, melancholy Yu-Jin regains a bit of her old-self being around sunshine-personified that is Min-Hyung! 🥰 It’s a lovely touch!
‘retrograde dinosaur’ 🤣💀 Gems like this is why I keep coming back to relive the pain of these episodes, all over again! Teach us your ways, Trent-sensei! ^^
As if the piano-playing wasn’t a shocker, we have Piano-Mom dropping more bombs. Are we finally wrapping up the ‘doppelganger‘ angst arc, heading towards… ‘maybe Jun-Sang isn’t really dead‘ chapter? 🤯🤯 I’m not prepared. Maybe I should have checked the MDL tags, just to be sure! 🙈
Ooh, that’s an interesting thought, that part of Yu-jin’s motivation is a need to punish herself. I think there might be something to that… Wonder how conscious it is? I mean, I doubt it’s as explicit as “three more strokes of self flagellation before bed!”, but it may be a more unformed “this is what I deserve” feeling?
Yu Jin honey, why don’t you hop on the first train to Busan and escape this emotional torment? I know, there might be zombies on the train, but let’s face it: would you rather remain with a possessive boyfriend and his abusive mother?
What do I hear? Are you rejecting my advice? I guess there is no snow in Busan. OK then, stay in Seoul and shed more tears. The good news is that Min Hyung IS Jun Sang, so sooner or later the truth will be revealed. But will the reveal bring more tears?
Snow Flower — 😂🤣😆 Now I have this unholy image of a tearful Yu-jin getting chowed on by ravening zombies! There’s a genre crossover that the world may not be ready for just yet…
Yes, adding zombies can spice up any genre.
I have been waiting patiently to find out more about what happened to Jun Sang, and we are getting there!
Based on his movements which seem to betray no sense of intellect or intent, I am starting to think that Sang-hyuk is a zombie.
Snow Flower – 🤣😂😅🤣😂😅
Trent – this is so very well written. Reading these has become my weekly delight. It brings me the greatest joy and pleasure! Thank you so much for doing these write ups. There are so many faves this week! So many wonderful words Trent! 👏👏👏😘😘😘
E7
Right out of the box, Sang Hyuk is overreacting to Yu Jin being in the hospital while Chae Rin puts on an Oscar worthy performance of concern. Fangurl gets an Oscar 🏆 for that photo of Sang Hyuk giving Min Hyung the Maloik (evil eye)!
Min Hyung acts like he is responsible for her getting hurt. It is but one of the many nutty guilt trip scenarios in this drama. Yu Jin feels guilty for not loving Sang Hyuk and Min Hyung feels guilty because Yu Jin saved him. Heck, even I feel guilty for binging this twice and re-watching a third time for this GW.
Watching his conversation with Yu Jin in the hospital room, I am starting to feel like Sang Hyun is starting to push the limits with Yu Jin. Part of me (a tiny part, mind you) feels sorry for him that he cannot accept what is right in front of his face.
At the same time it looks like Min Hung is going through some changes and doing his own “change your attitude” adjustment with Chae Rin and 🦊 is not a happy camper. He has earned bonus points for doing this much better than I ever could. And just like that, Min Hyung is singing “I can See Clearly Now (that Chae Rin’s gone [at least for the time being])”.
I think Min Hyung has an easygoing way about him and he is firm when he needs to be, without getting angry. Min Hung apologizing to Yu Jin on the park bench made me happy, not going to lie. Cue the Spinners’ Golden Oldie: Could It Be I’m Falling In Love?
Why is Sang Hyuk planning something at the ski resort? Why, oh why are you pushing this? Mom Kim Sang Hyuk is still against the marriage which gives me a little hope.
I cannot wrap my head around why Yu Jin’s mom is running the bases for Sang Hyuk. Doesn’t anyone care about Yu Jin feels right now? Does Yu Kin care how she feels right now?
Yes, the piano let me know that Min Hyung was not putting on an ‘act’ all the time while knowing he is really Jun Sang. He is genuinely surprised he can play. Also – for the record – I bet you $100 that Kwon Hae Hyo is actually smoking that cigarette.
Why are all these people going to the resort knowing that they may not be exactly welcomed there? What happened to call first? Oh wait, no one does that in this drama…😖😖
The old “stuck together for the night” trope while the rest of the crew show up unannounced, setting Sang Hyuk’s brain into overdrive. Looking at Min Hyung’s profile in front of the fire I have to say that he is one handsome man. And – he says he loves her. 💑 Oh dear!
My personal faves (so many this week – just so darn good!):
· What is that I see on yonder wall? Why yes, I do believe it is HANDWRITING. Steel yourself, Oh Chae-rin, hard times they are a’ comin’…
· “Danger Will Robinson” – It is so good that I had to leave a photo…
· “Our Lady of Sorrowful but Beautiful Aspect”
· “you shut your big stupid mouth!”
· “He’s dead.” – No Trent, I am dead from laughing so hard
Super word Spotting: jamoke – stupid person, fool. Now this Trent, I have not heard in ages
Super British informal Expression sighting: queer the pitch – to upset someone’s plans
E8
The snow machines are on full blast and everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Oh the angst! Passions are burning! 🔥🔥🔥
Morning has come and Min Hyung loves Yu Jin. Yu Jin – gasp! – tells Min Hyung she has no feelings for him. I am so confused right now. 😣 Sang Hyuk and Chae RIn are practicing their 40 yard dash to the sight. Aaaannnddd – Sang Hyuk is way, way, way out of line here.
Why is Chae Rin trying to lay a guilt trip on Min Hyung when he has already nicely told her to bug off? He is stoic and I find this quite attractive. 💖 In the meantime Sang Hyuk is doing a ‘death by guilt trip’ on Yu Jin and Yu Jin is the “Queen of De Nile”and telling the world Sang Hyuk is her choice. Let’s not forget Chae Rin, who is WAY out of line with her slap. 💥🤦♀️
Time Out – let’s talk here Yu Jin – OK so you still love Jun Sang. You like Sang Hyuk as a friend but he is El Wacko right now and bordering on obsession, not a healthy thing in a fiancée. Then you have Min Hyung who, for the most part, is rationally talking to you adult to adult. He drives you to a bus station, buys you a ticket and sets you free to make your own decision. Also – trying to be nice to El Wacko won;t make him rational. Got it Yu Jin? 🤦♀️
Ugh – looks like you did not listen to me Yu Jin, 🤦♀️ and you are apologizing 😖 to the man who is behaving irrationally towards you? There is more manipulation going on here from Sang Hyuk than at a Chiropractor’s conference.
What the heck is with this concert at the ski resort? I have a very, very, very bad feeling about this. 😳😳😳😮😮😮😣😣😣
Chae Rin trys her attempt at blaming Min Hyung for her situation. Not going well, is it Chae Rin? Hell hath no fury like a 🦊 scorned.
Again – no one calls anyone to announce they are coming (this part personally drives me nuts 🤦♀️) and a contrite (yeah, right) Sang Hyuk just shows up to pick up Yu Jin for the familial visit. For the record here, I am with ‘Camp Mrs. Kim’ and the heck with this marriage. This is so auuukward. Here comes the slap and I am here for it! Boom! 💥🧨💣
Ugh – more guilt trips raining down on Yu Jin’s head from Sang Hyuk. I am getting sick of these unhealthy actions. Yu Jim, girlfriend, open your dang mouth! Sang Hyuk has absolutely no consideration for you right now. Kidnapped to a hotel room, Yu Jin looks so uninterested in sexual relations – but – she always has. Dang you Sang Hyuk, why do you totally disrespect Yu Jin and answer her phone? Sang Hyuk is a menace and it is down to attempted rape.
FINALLY! Yu Jin runs away. 🤦♀️ To quote Monty Python – Run away Yu Jin, run away!!!! 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
Min Hyung to the rescue using his Super Duper Yu Jin radar! Go Min Hyung! Go! Fighting!
Here comes Piano Mom and she drops a BOMB! 💣 Now, this, is a cliffhanger!
My personal faves:
· “UNHAND her you knave!”
· “🐮💩 male posturing”
· “A madness took me, but it has passed.” I am literally LMAO. I am snort laughing.
Super descriptive word Spotting:
· hussy – a woman adulterer. adulteress, fornicatress, loose woman, strumpet, trollop, slut, or, as the nuns in my Catholic School would say “You are a bold and brazen hussy!”
· hinky – something that is suspicious in a way that causes unease or fear
UPDATE: Min Hyung’s individual scarf count after 8 episodes – 15!
Bravo Trent! Just bravo!
phl1rxd — You know, I totally respect that you are all aboard the Hatin’ on Sang-hyuk train 🚄🚅🚆, and truth be told, I would like to join you, but I also feel a need to kind of pace myself, because I have a nasty sneaking feeling that he’s going to get worse.. (“Worse than ATTEMPTED RAPE?!” “Okay, point, but still…maybe? probably? …yes, yes, worse. YIKES”)
And you know, everyone is so keen to jump on poor Yu-jin for her sad obsession with some dead dude (except not really dead, of course, but she doesn’t know that, so doesn’t count), but you are right to point out Sang-hyuk’s “near obsession”…seems to me that he was pretty sus even back in high school days, when he was cool-ish as long as the friendship bond between he and Yu-jin was primary and unquestioned, but as soon as a genuine romantic threat hove into view, he was already looking jealous and possessive. A certain level of feeling threatened at the appearance of a rival is probably normal and natural? But I also think he’s heading way past that, right?
Here we are eight episodes in, and even setting aside that whole gross power play with the hotel (just dragging her there, attempted assault aside, was a clear effort to control her and “mark” her as his), he’s demonstrating more and more fixation on her, an absolute unwillingness to step back and reconsider the foundation of their relationship in the face of her apparent wavering commitment. It’s feeling very unhealthy, and the alarm klaxons, they are starting to blare…
Trent – Yes, I am unabashedly in the anti-Sang Hyuk clique. I am in ‘de house’ with Mom Kim. I have to laugh at the “pace myself”. Hmm…I definitely see your point. 🧐🤔 LOL!!
Truth be told he did have one good moment and that was in E5 where he and Yu Jin were walking down the street and talking, and he jumped up on a small fence (that seems to be a thing in this drama – jumping up on things whilst walking and talking) and actually said some nice, decent things.
He lost me completely in E6. How can I trust a man who does surprise visits? I hate surprise visits. Then he really lost me in E7 with the scene in the hospital and then in E8 with the Yu Jin arm grabs and the inane “Now I shall kidnap you and have forced sex with you.”. Even if I made it past my first misgivings about his character, that hotel fiasco, the physical pushing and pulling and the guilt trip manipulations were so over the line for me that I do not know if I can ever cross back over. Yeh Trent – he has headed way past acceptable for me.
Padmé said it best: “You’re going down a path I can’t follow!” Note that this is my daughter’s favorite line when she and son in law have a tiff. 😄
Klaxon – an electric horn or a similar loud warning device
What a stellar week Trent! You keep hitting home runs with these posts. ⚾⚾⚾ Thank God we can all laugh together. I love going on these crazy rides with you! 🤪😵🤯
phl1rxd — oh, I am right there with you on “he has crossed the line and he’s probably unable to ever cross back.” That much is a given.
I’m just feeling like Thanksgiving dinner, you know: if you cram down too much turkey and gravy and mashed taters, ain’t no room left for pie! You gotta leave room for pie, right🥧🥧🥧?
If I get all my hatin’ on Sang-hyuk out now, what do I have left for whatever manipulative, controlling, crazy-@$$ b*llsh*t he comes up with next?
Trent – 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I dread to think of how much worse it could get, but I can judge that with the number of my arm and hand signals that happen spontaneously. 😉😉 Right now I am at some hand and arm movements. Let’s see how much worse it gets… I will keep you posted.
Oh, and we are presently at 15 Min Hyung individual, not duplicated scarves! 🧣🧣🧣 I do not even own 5 scarves. 😄 However Trent, I am becoming a master at the ‘Wrap and Twist’. I bet you did not know that each style has their own special name did ya? Video to come…
Blessings to you on your dissertation below to Fangurl! I applaud you on the psychological theories!
@phl1rxd, I have a small collection of scarves, so I am always looking for creative ways to wear them. Looking forward to a scarftastic video!
@phl1rxd Thank you for the Oscar! I couldn’t resist capturing that stink-eye face; it was too petulantly good! 😂
Trent! Another fantastic set of notes – thank you sooo much, for making the time, and getting these out, despite another hectic week! You truly are our MVP! 🤩🤩
This week, I am extremely entertained by your descriptions – well, technically, cheeky paraphrasing, hee – of everyone’s reactions and words. I definitely giggled more than a few times! 😁😁
And then I absolutely laughed out loud, at your reaction, to when Min Hyung finds Yu Jin, even though she has no idea where she is. 😂😂😂 He just.. instinctively knowwwsss where to find his Wheel of Fortune Girl. 😂
This episode, I was not surprised, but still quite perplexed, at how Yu Jin’s a helpless doll being pushed around and manhandled by 2 men. I know this is Classic Melo Protocol, but I suppose, 21 years later, dramas have come some way, for me to find this so much more jarring, than when I’d first watched this show, back in the day.
If this were a modern drama, I would fully expect – ok, well, hope – that our female lead would be able to show more agency, and preferably, kick one or both men to the curb, because, honestly, neither man behaves all that well, this set of episodes.
Sang Hyuk is planning their wedding WITHOUT TELLING YU JIN, UGH. Not to mention how he’s acting all manipulative AND RAPEY. (On that note, I just wanted to say that Sang Hyuk’s apology voice message never gets sent. He says all the drunken sorry things, then deletes the thing, instead of sending it, so Yu Jin never gets to hear it.)
And Min Hyung is being all selfish, confessing his feelings without caring that it makes her uncomfortable, as long as it makes HIM more comfortable. 🙄 That did not earn him any brownie points with me, but ok, he apologizes, which, fine. But then, he’s really very nosy and inappropriate in sticking his nose into Yu Jin’s business, when he’s technically her business associate and not even really a friend, so that’s not super cool either, actually.
But, ok, ok, this is Classic Melo, and we gotta roll with it. 😅
Can I just say, though, that even though the hug at the end is probably supposed to be swoony in some way, I am bugged by how Yu Jin’s more like some lifeless rag doll that Min Hyung pulls into his arms. I mean, look at how her head rolls to the side like her neck’s broken? 🙈
BUTTTTT. I believe we are supposed to excuse all of that, because – TA DAAA~ – he IS Jun Sang, risen from the dead, as Show reveals at the end. Yu Jin’s FATED LOVE! 😅😅
Oh Fangurl – I did not realize that he deleted that message! I totally missed the bus on that one. I am laughing at “look at how her head rolls to the side like her neck’s broken?” That is hysterical Fangurl. Yu Jin really needs to run away, doesn’t she?
People in this drama need to pick up the phone and tell people they are coming to visit. This “unannounced” action is driving me crazy. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ That is one of my Golden Rules. Always call first! 😅🤣😂
You and me both…I missed that he deleted the message, too! That’s it! Take his one-half brownie point back off the board!
I have no excuse after 3 watches – Yikes!
Issss FAAAATE!! 💞💕💖
Very very important issue you focus on, I think. I really believe the issue of Yu-jin’s agency is central to the story, and I suspect likely to become even more salient as we move forward.
It seems to me like there’s just a big wodge of complicated stuff going on…a lot of it is probably cultural? about which I am only marginally qualified to comment. But I’m sure she’s feeling (or more likely is not even consciously aware of) the cultural conditioning she’s operating under. WHICH, I hasten to add, before I get taken to task, is not determinative, and does not and should not rob her entirely of her agency. It’s just…a channel and constraint on how she acts in the world.
And then of course we have the writers’ thumb(s) on the scale; she may kick against circumstance and upbringing, but what hope does she have against the writers’ pen? But that’s…not her issue, it’s a meta-issue, so kind of dumb to fret about in the context of a discussion of her agency as a character (I’m thinking aloud here, or at least the written equivalent, and criticizing myself here to be clear).
So recasting it as an issue of fate, which whether we believe in it or swallow it, at least is a constraint or factor that is internal to the narrative itself. Fate it seems to me is not interesting if it entirely subsumes free will; so most dramas that deal with it (in my experience) show the protagonists fighting its dictates, or asserting themselves in the face of fate, even if they ultimately lose to it. I need to be more attentive to the interplay of our characters’ agency and the hand of fate.
Yu-jin…I think we see a Yu-jin that is often carefree and light-hearted and does her best to be optimistic and put a good spin on things, but then she gets sucked into this whole THING, and she’s sad and weighted down and can’t escape, and the light-hearted carefree Yu-jin appears less and less. I do think that her recurring resolution to put Jun-sang behind her and just face life as it is, is in some sense her attempt to assert control and exercise agency over her life…she just keeps getting thwarted in her resolution.
And yes, as you point out, she is pushed around and manipulated by the dudes in these episodes, but I do want to at least sort of stick up for her–she does protest, she does argue, she doesn’t take everything just lying down. She could absolutely be more assertive and outspoken, even if it required her to be abrasive and unpleasant, but I don’t think she was entirely hopeless (or helpless) here. And to be fair, she’s facing a lot of intensity in these two episodes.
But I will be keeping an eye out for the issue of Yu-jin’s agency, definitely, because I think it’s going to become more and more important.
That’s true, that Yu Jin does fight back and protest; it’s just tha t most of the time, the people around her kind of pretend that she’s not fighting back or protesting, which must be really frustrating for her, to say the least.
I’m glad that she did fight back at the most important juncture, which was to wrench herself out of Sang Hyuk’s rapey arms and race out of that hotel!
Maybe that’s why she’s like a limp rag doll with a broken neck by the time Min Hyung gets to her? Coz she’d used up all her energy in that single burst of asserting her personal agency, which must have felt like some kind of superhuman effort to her?
Also, that’s an interesting angle, of free will vs. FATE; I’m curious to see what using this lens throws up, in future episodes!
Oh, word, yeah it must be super-frustrating to be Yu-jin amongst all these GUYS who just won’t listen!
And I think you’re spot on: even setting aside the physical aspect (think about it, what an absolute adrenaline jolt, fight or flight for real, from fighting off an actual assault, and then that whole shaky post-adrenaline stage where you’re just exhausted), it must be just emotionally wrenching, just exhausting mentally. One thing the show (and Choi Ji-woo) does do well is show how wrung out Yu-jin is, sitting slumped over and in tears at the plaza. She just doesn’t have a whole lot left in the tank, so it’s not too surprising that she’s not exactly falling into Min-hyung’s embrace.