Kimsamsoom

I suspect it's the assistant director actually for some reason. His face just doesn't seem as honest.

There is a difference between consistency, and impulse. PD is shown to be a great guy who is super generous, super helpful, and always smiling and etc... But the question is, we don't know if he is consistently like this in real life? Maybe Gongjin just brings out the best in people while they are there, but once they leave, they lose that super helpful community feel that people adopt?

Another example would be June of DOS. In the show so far, he is shown to be as nice as PD, and super polite, is this his real persona?

How people act in vacation, or short trips, is normally not indictment of the type of people they are.

HDS on the other hand, has been helping the village, smiling, and being generous for at least 7 years. That show's consistency. Unfortunately, he's been doing it for so long, that most people take it for granted. Another person, a famous one with money at that, is suddenly being super helpful, that is fresh to the villagers.

I find a lot of what PD do it more of impulse/quirk than anything. It's no different than me going to a friend's house back in HS, and being super polite to my friends parents, but I may not be that polite to my own parents.

it speaks about her lack of maturity, and how her priorities are all wrong.

Why do you think she is working so hard to get Juri's approval? Emotionally, she is very immature.

HDS on the other hand, seems like a person who has seen everything. Doing 20 different jobs will do that to you.

And thematically, it's repeated over and over again, how she feels she can monetize feelings and emotions, how things can be measured by status, power, and wealth.

It's kind of a parallelism to how Seoulites really are in real life. Now just Seoul, even other parts of Asia as well.

Most people in the world belong to different world, whether it be different social statutes, different upbringing, different culture, different personalities, and everything under the sun.

But those differences doesn't mean they should not be together, otherwise our world, and life as we know it would be incredibly elitist, and very secluded and bland.

This is true, especially when it's shown the Hye Jin, who lost her mother decades ago, is still deeply affected by it.

Like I said, hopefully this SML distraction isn't more than just a few episodes, there is still so much character development left to be done for all characters, I want to see some good character development for the remaining characters.

We still need to solve the three Gongjin mysteries!

I prefer that route though, over him having an ex-wife and child. Bad enough ex-wife, adding a cute baby like that, just will split the viewers in half, regarding if he should be single forever, or end up with hye jin. And, they are just milking the whole known each other unknowingly since children angle too much.

It's actually not clear how Hye Jin's mom died... we all assume it's due to some sort of sickness, but what if she was in a car accident, and HDS was indirectly the cause of it, or was a bystander and couldn't save her?

The story can go many places, but tbh, even if they went the cliche route, the rest of the Kdrama is unique and fresh enough that I wouldn't mind. But an ex-wife/child thing would not to be expertfully done to limit the blowback on such a revelation.

And it's already going to get complicated enough with the addition of a SML to the equation, a dead wife/child just adds too much additional complex layers that may turn some people off.

As far as SML though, he seems more of a distraction than an actual threat to be honest.

I believe that Hye Jin's attraction to HDS stems from mostly physical attraction. She, at the moment, doesn't really appreciate who he is to Gongjin, nor does she get why such a qualified person such as he is slumming it in Gongjin. She is attracted to his looks and brain, but not who he is. HDS on the other hand, is clearly attracted more to what she can be, and not who she is right now. He is attracted to the little glimpses of the kind of person she is, rather than the facade she constantly puts up.

In tv shows/movies, many people claim their parent's are both "dead", only to show one of them being alive.

They consider them dead, due to that Mom or Dad not being a nice person, or has abandoned his/her family.

I believe it is HDS himself who says both his parent's passed wasn't it?

I think that HDS has some unresolved issues with Seoul in general. My theory is that his dad is still alive, and he discovers this while he is in Seoul, but his father, similar to Hye Jin, is only concerned with Money/Status, similar to how Hyejin is. It's possible HDS mom is from Gongjin, and the dad is from Seoul, but after he death, the dad just abandons HDS, and HDS has been living with Maternal grandfather this whole time. So whenever he sees Hye Jin being a selfish/vain Seoulite, he is reminded of his father's selfishness, but he starts falling for her, when she shows glimpses of being Gongjin resident, in how she cares for Juri, or helps Gamri.

He seems to show some clear bias on how city life, city people are. So his trepidation on engaging in a relationship with Hye Jin is the fear that she will never be content with Gong jin life, which she verbally says she isn't.

My theory is that it's the mom, and the dad is still alive. Which is why we don't see the picture of the man in that photo, because the dad hasn't been introduced yet. Possibly the dad abandoned HDS after the mom's death.

An ex-wife and child just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think that's what is interesting about this drama. Most kdramas just focuses 90% of the plot/screen time to the ML/FL, leaving most if not all the secondary characters feeling under bakes and lacking.

But with Homcha, not only are the secondary characters shining in their regards, their is enough character development to keep you interested to see how their stories will tie up in the end as well.

Don't worry too much about ratings, and how SK will react to it. It's an amazing show, and all the characters are wonderfully developed. In fact I'm so invested in the following storylines.

I still need to know a little bit more abotu Namsuk, the nosy gossipy neighbor, what is her story?

The policeman and secretary romance is just super cute!

Bora and the little boy

Juri and her dad

Zone Chief/Village chief love triangle

And of course, the many mysteries shrouding the show.

I personally don't feel he is leading her on. You'll notice that whenever there is a slow motion skinship scenes, or when they add that romantic musics, it's always from Hye Jin's point of view, but in reality HDS may be doing these things innocently. I don't believe he is doing these things knowingly or maliciously, it's just out of character.

To be honest, I believe if that is indeed his ex-wife and child, he would have had enough time to grieve. He went to Seoul age 18, took 4-5 years engineering school, and stayed another 5 more years, before returning. That places him around age 28 when he returns. He is approx age 35 at the moment I believe.

That gives him 7-9 years to grieve his ex-wife. I feel the tears, rather than missing his ex-wife could be tears of guilt. Maybe he was not able to save her or etc...

I don't buy the whole ex-wife idea personally, seems like too obvious a red herring, but we will have to see.

It is mentioned he went to SNU

Been so busy, have just finally caught up to the episodes. I am really enjoying the fact that the supporting characters are being fleshed out. It's only 4 episodes, and I feel I already intimately know the backstory/lives of the many supporting characters. I am silently rooting for the cop and Pyo Mi Seon, as well as the Zone and Village Chief romance. Sometimes when I watch a cast that is too big, I tend to forget the other characters, but I feel the script/costume team has done a fantastic job of making each character stand out, aesthetically as well as character wise. And I feel with 12 more episodes to go, we will eventually see more backstory of the many residents in Gong Jin. And the funny thing is, even with so much time given to the supporting characters (scenes where the ML/FL aren't even in the picture), I never felt that the ML and FL lacked scenes. There is just a smoothness in the way the plot of the supporting characters interject with the plot of the ML/FL that is as soothing as the OST.

And what is it with KSM and his bond with Halmoni's, it's super endearing! I feel a little bad though for HDS. It's just the realization that although he treats Halmoni as family, in the end Halmoni still craves the attention of her absentee son. It's a sad reality of growing up. And I really love, that after that scene we get this stark parallel with the Zone/Village chiefs own family. As if, as parents, regardless of separation or not, we do our best for our children, and they spend so much time with us. But as soon as they leave for a different city, it becomes harder to foster that parent-child connection.

Excited to see what the next 2 episodes will show!

I just finished racket boys. It's a weak plot, but they overloaded it on sappy moments. So it's a demo enjoysble watch. Plus I like badminton. So no bonus!

HDS putting many different hats is not an issue. Even now, in smaller towns there are many people doing double/triple duty. But not charging people at the very least, close to market rate, creates an unrealistic fantastical world, where there is rarely a Mr. Hong available. What happens when HDS gets married? Is his family expected to live on his minimum wage hourly rate for laborious and time consuming jobs?

He may not be on the losing end now, as he gets the adequate satisfactions from his actions, but as his life changes, or he and YHJ get's together, won't his identity as Chief Hong, not be seen as selfish?

I feel it's a generational type of difference, rather than a cultural one. A lot of the younger people eventually do get higher standards in terms of career, entertainment, clothes and etc...

And there is really nothing wrong with having those higher standards. Eventually people just grow into these higher standards without even realizing it.

In terms of the patriarchy, that is very common all over the world, but it's extra tough in Asia. Until now, I can't foresee a world, where patriarchal trappings will ever go away, but the concept of what that is certainly evolving. As young men, start gaining higher standards for better things in life, included in those higher standards will be a higher standard for themselves, which includes how they view women.

Oh no, I don't hahaha!

There is a saying, give a man some fish, and feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish, and feed him for life.

I think this really fits this drama. HDS is so busy doing people's jobs for them, selling items for dirt cheap, and covering their inadequacies that these villagers are being allowed to live in a fantastical world, where there is a Chief Hong. What happens when he is no longer there? There is an overdependence on what he offers the village.

And for me, ironically, they call him Chief Hong. Which is normally a leadership role, but his style of leadership, to micromanager to the extreme, where he is doing every single task, is not effective leadership, because all this does is create an environment where the villagers weaknesses are being hidden, and when someone like YHJ comes in, those things are easily exposed. An effective leader, learns to inspire, and guide the village to prosperity. The characterization of a Chief Hong is a not a realistic one, and it worries me what will happen when he decides to marry, and have children? Surely his contributions to the village will be lessened if not nullified, then what now? How will the villagers survive, after experiencing years and years of capability at a very cheap price?

The only other person I feel doing this, which I have dubbed Mini Hong, is the owner of the raw fish restaurant. She and HDS has really taken the role of babying the villagers needs, emotions, and sensibilities. Something that as a parent myself, I would not want to do for my children, as it doesn't properly prepare them.

YHJ's actions, which the villagers reacted heavily to, is actually nothing out of the ordinary. In normal society, what YHJ has said are not out of the ordinary. She is even polite about going about it. But I do get the sense that YHJ is a little bit socially inept. But regardless, the reactions of the villagers does show that they are fairly out of touch. And in this current world, with the internet being so readily available, there is no real excuse.

In some ways, this is great, Gongjin, from the beginning seems like a haven for people running from problems, or not wanting to deal with problems. But is that all Gongjin is supposed to be? An escape from reality? I would hope not. I would like to imagine Gongjin being a village, where people come to heal, learn, and love.

I do feel bad, that even the cafe owner, is planning on sending his daughter away to fashion school. Such is life in these small villages, parent's goal is to send their children away for a better life, while they remain in these villages to fend for themselves. I kind of wish, the show didn't repeatedly remind me of this in the first two episodes, as all it does it makes me feel a little bad, and takes away a little bit of the light atmosphere they are trying to promote.

I think a big chunk of the episodes will be spent on YHJ and HDS's past. I think some time will no doubt be spent on YHJ and LSY's character's past. All in all, looking forward to where the plot takes us.

I feel a little bit differently. The way I see it, the Cafe Owner used to be from Seoul. He probably at one point was a pretty big deal as he said, but some tragic occurrence has led him to the downfall of his career. And as a recurring theme, I feel Gongjin is a place for people to heal, and escape their problems, similar to what YHJ is doing, and in a lesser extent her friend.

So the cafe owner probably feels that YHJ is someone who would kind of understand him, a kindred soul to speak to. Little did he realized that he is probably unrecognizable from his Seoul days, how by living in the village, the culture, simplicity, and innocence of the village has seeped into his personality.

HDS, by helping out at the cafe, and the rest of village, enjoying the cafe owner's mini concerts, has given him some sort of closure on his musical past. But it took YHJ's impromptu ranting to remind him of his failures. As I've said, it's hard to choose which side to root for. Is it better to blindly support a failed dream? Or to tactlessly wake someone from their fantastical reverie, to start accepting responsibilities and move on?