Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Thanks for joining in on this group watch of this very special show! ❤️

As I mentioned in my announcement post, these are my notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon.

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

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.

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

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. 

We need to protect the innocent! 😉

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

My thoughts

Episode 4

E4. I’d actually been a little worried when I started this show, that it would only be episodic cases making up our story.

However, that is not the case at all. We do have episodic cases in our story, but Show is clearly also very interested in the trajectories of our key characters, and that, I feel, grounds our story really nicely.

This episode, we get a glimpse of the prejudice that surrounds trauma cleaning, as an industry.

Even though our Move To Heaven crew is at that apartment complex to clean things up and therefore, “make it all go away,” so to speak, they are whispered about, and told to park elsewhere.

It blows my mind, that parents would tell their kids that if they talked to the trauma cleaners, they’d get germs. Ugh. How awful.

And yet, Geu Ru’s so at the ready, with understanding for how the neighbors feel, thanks to Dad having taught him well.

I feel like I’m going to keep saying this all series long; Dad really has given Geu Ru the best education, in terms of every aspect of the business.

Not only does Geu Ru know the ins and outs of how to clean a crime scene of blood, he also understands that people instinctively don’t like it when death occurs in their surroundings.

I’m proud of Geu Ru for keeping all these lessons so close to his heart, and I’m also proud of Dad, for being such a model human being, and imparting that excellence of heart, to his son.

We also get some important backstory around Sang Gu’s childhood, this episode. It gives me chills to realize that his childhood had been such a violent one, and that his father had beaten his mother so brutally, as a matter of habit.

What an awful way to grow up, forced to face the wall while his mother got beaten up.

We also see from the flashback, that Geu Ru’s dad had been there too, as Sang Gu’s hyung, and he’d tried to intervene in order to protect their mother. 😭

I feel even more for Dad now than ever; he’d had a violent childhood too, and yet, he’d grown up to be such a kind, caring and decent man. He’s such a hero, in my eyes.

I can’t help connecting Sang Gu’s violent childhood to his rough and violent tendencies in the present.

Everyone responds different to traumatic events in their childhood, after all. Geu Ru’s dad might have decided to never allow his own family life to be tainted by such violence, but it’s completely possible that Sang Gu would have absorbed that violence as a way of life.

I do feel quite sorry for Sang Gu this episode. He’s had a rough life.

Not only did he grow up with domestic violence, he went to jail because he’d accidentally hurt his opponent more than he’d intended, and now, he’s being blackmailed for money, which I presume has to do with the money that Madam Jung pays for his injured opponent’s long-term care.

While I do feel sorry for the victim in this episode’s case, I don’t quite get the backstory that her fellow teacher shares with Geu Ru and Na Mu.

She’d caught the eye of her eventual killer at the wedding, but if she had been so wary of him for courting her so aggressively, why did she date him at all?

That’s the part that didn’t make sense to me, because it’s not like she’d been duped by his sweet boyfriend act or something.

As far as the story goes, there was no sweet boyfriend act, and she’d been troubled by his attentions right from the beginning. I think it would have made more sense if he’d been sweet and charming to start with, and she’d fallen for those charms, only to realize later, that he was violent.

It’s great that Geu Ru saves the day, by finding the camera that the victim had hidden in her air-con vent. (UGH. That lying, two-faced murderer! I’m glad he gets caught in his lies. 😡)

I just like this idea that Geu Ru’s able to figure out things that other people don’t, because he’s differently abled.

I also appreciate that when Geu Ru wakes up Sang Gu in a panic about the camera, and insists that they go to the crime scene, Sang Gu actually goes with him. This little detail shows that Sang Gu is starting to trust and understand Geu Ru, and I like that.

And, even though Sang Gu’s intervention in that random couple’s fight where the man is physically violent with the woman, is likewise violent, I appreciate the idea that his work at Move To Heaven has changed him enough, that he’s not able to ignore the situation before him.

Also, it’s endearing how Geu Ru insists on tending on the cut on Sang Gu’s arm, when he sees that Sang Gu’s hurt.

With Sang Gu enquiring about selling the house at the realtor’s, I’m surprised that Na Mu doesn’t call Lawyer Oh right away.

I mean, his role as Geu Ru’s guardian is still in its probationary period, isn’t it? And therefore, it shouldn’t be within his rights to sell the house that Geu Ru lives in?

I found it strange that Na Mu doesn’t call Lawyer Oh to complain about this, and I found it even stranger, that she would spy on him instead.

The way she trails him to the underground fight club was difficult to watch. I wouldn’t feel at all comfortable sneaking around a deserted looking building like that, yikes.

How curious, that Sang Gu is, again, not fighting back. Is this a request by Madam Jung, or is this decision not to fight back, his own decision, stemming from the accident that landed him in prison?

Also, what’s going to happen, now that Na Mu knows his secret?

Episode 5

E5. Woof. This was such an affecting episode, which I mean in the best way. It wasn’t a happy story, certainly, since death is one of our main themes in this drama, but it was a very moving one.

First of all, I feel immediately sorry for the doctor who died, even before I learned anything about his story.

His death just seemed like such a needless accident; he’d been trying to diffuse a tense situation, and had gotten sliced into by a scalpel, in what had looked to be a critical vein, since he’d died, even though he’d been in the middle of a hospital, where there were doctors with equipment, who would have been in the best position to save him.

So tragic.

Second of all, I also felt sorry for Geu Ru, in that scene where Na Mu’s mom is all excited and chirpy to see Jun Yeong, and has an entire conversation with Jun Yeong and Na Mu, while Geu Ru just stands there on the sidelines, completely ignored. That wasn’t very nice, I thought.

But, good on Geu Ru for speaking up for himself, and informing Mom that Na Mu doesn’t cook for him when she comes to his house; in fact, she just eats whatever Geu Ru cooks. Way to stun Mom and set the record straight, Geu Ru.

Geu Ru is our MVP once again, this episode, with the way he pieces together what really mattered to Jung Soo Hyun, and what Jung Soo Hyun’s last wish might have been.

The moment we see Soo Hyun’s military father frowningly tell Mom that there will no such thing in their family, I had an inkling that Soo Hyun’s lover, to whom the letter is addressed, was male.

However, that didn’t make the flashbacks to Soo Hyun’s past any less affecting. His story is told with such deftness and with so much emotion.

In that little detail alone, that Soo Hyun had a habit of working on Christmas Day, we already know that Soo Hyun’s been single all this time, since Christmas is traditionally a couple’s sort of holiday, in Korea.

And what a fateful Christmas Day that had turned out to be, since that was the day he’d first laid eyes on his soulmate. The couple’s aspect of Christmas Day, again lends a layer of destiny to Soo Hyun’s first meeting with Ian Park.

Also, while I don’t get the musician’s passion that causes Ian to rant wildly about his cello while his leg is in need of medical attention, I do appreciate how Soo Hyun deals with him firmly, and then looks in on him gently, after he’s been treated and is settled down in hospital room.

The attraction on Soo Hyun’s part is played very well; the look in his eyes, as he gazes at Ian playing the cello for him, is clearly that of someone who is very drawn to the person they are looking at.

Largely because of how this is played, I had no trouble buying into the swift forming and building of their romantic relationship.

At the same time, I also really like the hints that Sang Gu is growing into his place, in Move To Heaven.

It’s in the little things, like how he boasts to Na Mu that he could do as good of a job as Geu Ru, if he tried, and then how he and Na Mu place a bet, to see which of them will be able to figure out the identity of Jung Soo Hyun’s lover.

It’s bickery, yes, but it’s a lot milder and more genial than where we first started, which makes me feel that the relationships are settling and growing in positive ways.

I also like how Sang Gu’s generally more amiable and not rough and brusque like he used to be. Even when he’s trying to get Geu Ru to stop “pestering” Ian Park, he’s more gently naggy than anything else, and I like that.

My favorite thing, though, is when the team finds Ian Park on the hospital rooftop, and gives him the box with Soo Hyun’s things in it.

Ian Park is visibly moved, and I feel like in this moment, Sang Gu is touched too. I feel like he is really beginning to get a sense of the meaning that is inherent in the work that Move To Heaven does.

I really feel for Jung Soo Hyun; he’d been on the cusp of taking his life in his hands, and taking steps to walk his truth and be courageous about being with Ian, only to have his life cut short, just two days before he was due to take his first step.

That’s tragic, honestly.

I’m so glad, though, that Geu Ru’s able to piece together Soo Hyun’s heart’s desire, and identify and find Ian, so that Ian would have that chance to hear and feel Soo Hyun’s heart, even after his death.

It literally feels like Geu Ru has changed Ian’s life with his dedication, and I believe that Ian’s life will never be the same.

That really gives some food for thought, doesn’t it; an act that we do for someone else may be a matter of duty and diligence to us, but to that someone else, it could actually have a deep and lifelong impact. That’s deep.

I love how Show manages Ian’s performance during the concert. I love the detail (so much), that Ian’s wearing both of the couple rings that Soo Hyun had bought for them, one on each finger.

And I love that we see what Ian sees: an image of Soo Hyun sitting in the audience, as Ian plays for him, and speaks his heart to him, telling him how much he appreciates him and how much he will continue to love him, always.

Also, how very meaningful, that the song Ian chooses to play for Soo Hyun, is the song that he’d first played for Soo Hyun, that Christmas Day, when they’d met at the hospital.

Augh. So heartfelt and moving. And, what a nice touch, that we also see Soo Hyun’s mom in the audience, smiling and nodding on her son’s behalf.

I can’t help thinking that none of this would have been possible, if not for Geu Ru.

..Which is why, it’s so poignant to hear Geu Ru say later, that he’s envious of Ian Park, because he’d gotten to hear what his loved one had wanted to tell him, whereas Geu Ru is sure that Dad had much to say to him, and yet, he’d never had a chance to hear it.

Aw. Poor Geu Ru. I’m sure Dad’s told him everything, in the wonderful, caring way that he’s been brought up. I hope he comes to understand that.

Somehow, what Geu Ru says seems to give Sang Gu pause for thought, because the next thing we see, is Sang Gu visiting his comatose opponent in the nursing facility.

All this time, I’ve had the feeling that Sang Gu’s afraid to face the demons of his past, which is probably why he’s never gone to see his comatose opponent all this time, and probably also why he refuses to fight back now, when he has to get in the ring.

While Sang Gu’s words are adversarial, I do think that this is his way of reaching out, and his way of trying to get closure.

Episode 6

E6. This show is really getting to me, and in a very good way. It’s been a rather gradual progression, but it seems to me like the feels are getting more intense as we go, and I’m coming away from this episode, completely moved, all over again.

Before I get into this episode’s client’s arc, I just wanted to touch on the surprising way Sang Gu covers for Na Mu, when Mom comes into Move To Heaven’s storage area in a shocked rage, ready to drag Na Mu back home.

After all the gruffness that we’ve seen from Sang Gu, it’s quite startling to realize that he is capable of speaking politely and giving others a positive, clean-cut impression, as Geu Ru’s uncle. I got a bit of a kick out of that, I have to admit.

Also, with Sang Gu doing this favor for Na Mu, I’m guessing that their relationship will be less rocky, going forward?

Or, at the very least, Na Mu will have to cooperate with Sang Gu more, now that he knows that she could get into serious trouble with Mom, for being involved with Move To Heaven.

This episode, it’s such a sobering, heartachey sort of experience, to witness what it’s like for someone in Kim In Su’s position.

He’s so kind and amiable to everyone he meets, even people who treat him poorly, that my heart goes out to him almost immediately.

It’s hard to fathom that that resident at the apartment complex is so rude to Kim In Su, just because he’s the janitor.

I mean, that scene where Kim In Su’s struggling to lift the heavy golf bag, and the Rude Resident gets annoyed with him for being slow, is really quite aggravating to watch. He literally has no compassion for the old man who’s exerting himself to carry that golf bag.

Ugh. It’s a heavy truth though; there are most certainly people in the world, who are awful in the way Rude Resident is awful.

..Which makes Kim In Su’s serene reaction and general attitude of gratitude all the more special and precious. It’s no wonder that the people who get to know him, appreciate him the way that Min Ji does.

Even the way he informs Sang Gu that smoking is prohibited at the hospital, is so warm and kind, and.. grateful. It’s no wonder even a general grump like Sang Gu can’t find a reason to get angry with him, even though he’s telling Sang Gu not to smoke.

It’s heartbreaking, to realize that Kim In Su had made arrangements ahead of time, for Move To Heaven to clean up his apartment after his death. This means that he’d had a set date in mind, for his and his wife’s suicide.

It’s such a heartachey thing, to imagine how he and his wife must have felt, knowing that they were about to die, not because they particularly wanted to, but because circumstances were such, that death seemed like the best course of action. 😭

It is a silver lining, however, that they were such a loving couple, and that Kim In Su’s wife had been lucid, and therefore, it wasn’t a case of Kim In Su making the decision for her, as Sang Gu had originally thought.

What a bittersweet flashback, when we see them sitting together in that little garden that Kim In Su had made, watching the sunset, while Kim In Su recites this poem, for the both of them:

How beautiful it is

To look at someone from the back

Who confidently knows it’s their time to leave

My love that endured

A season of passion in spring is falling

Blossoms fall everywhere

I am surrounded by the blessings of farewell

And now it’s time to leave

Toward an exuberant forest

And to autumn when trees begin to bear fruit

My youth

Dies like a flower does

That’s so heartbreakingly poignant, isn’t it? Oof. 💔

As the story unfolds, and as we see more of Kim In Su’s life, we start to realize that there was so much more to his life, than we see on the surface.

What a poignant reveal, that Kim In Su’s encounter with Sang Gu, had literally been when he’d been taking his wife home for the last time, before they’d die together. And yet, he’d been so pleasant and kind. 😭

I’m so glad that Geu Ru insists on not burning the box, even though it doesn’t appear that there is anyone left, who would know Kim In Su well enough, to want to receive it.

Because of Geu Ru, the couple’s funeral wake turns into something so much more meaningful. The individual pots of flowers that Kim In Su had lovingly saved, each with its own special significance, makes the space look so personal.

And because of Geu Ru’s amazing memory, he’s able to invite people from the same company where Kim In Su had once been a manager, to come to pay their respects.

It’s so moving to see the old Chairman speak so fondly of Kim In Su, remembering him as a kind manager who’d always been there for him when the Chairman himself had been a newbie.

Even though Sang Gu’s idea of stealing the funeral wreath is not a great one (as Sang Gu is quick to point out), I do think it’s worth noting that Sang Gu does this because he’s finally feeling something for the deceased.

This is a big milestone for the man who’d never wanted anything to do with trauma cleaning to begin with.

Sang Gu’s crush on social worker U Rim is an unexpected and rather amusing bonus, because we’ve never seen Sang Gu getting all self-conscious before, and it is cute and endearing how his ears really are pink, just like Geu Ru says.

How cute, that U Rim sends along that pot of dahlias in response, whose significance is known to be “Happy to know about your heart.” Is she talking about Sang Gu’s heart for their mutual client Kim In Su, or.. is she talking about Sang Gu’s crush on her?

What an unexpected reveal, that Sang Gu’s comatose opponent, is actually his friend.

That’s awful. That must make Sang Gu feel ten times worse, because the person whose life has been ruined, is someone that he knows and cares about. Ack. No wonder Sang Gu seems so fearful of fighting again.

Now, we end the episode with Sang Gu receiving a call that his comatose friend Su Cheol is in critical condition. Is this.. going to be the end, for Su Cheol?

Next Open Thread will be up on: Wednesday, 11 October 2023!