ItsAMe

The drama was made by Koreans for Koreans. In Korea, to keep face is very important. Also, being homosexual is still a big stigma in Korea.

Do-han knows exactly that he cannot live as a gay grandson of a chaebol. He knows that his position as a grandson is at risk because the grandfather seems to be the only one who recognises him and his brother as a member of the family. The other family members constantly look for reasons to get rid of him and his brother. He could probably accept the consequences if it were not for his brother. Without a brother, he could simply go back to New York where nobody cares about him being gay.

Marrying somebody of the opposite sex has been a solution for gay people for millenia. If they were lucky, they could at least live a gay life in secret. This is what Do-han tries to do. If he marries his best female friend, the grandfather not just gets a "straight marriage" but he also cannot impose some other woman on him. Do-han's best friend knows his secret and won't be a burden. Also, if he is married, he instantly gets more freedom and could, for example, go to New York where he could continue his gay life.

Him wanting to get married for his own sake is not a secret. He told that Ah-jung, who was single at that point, and she accepted. The fake marriage is not just for his own sake, she will get a lot of money. It's business.

The grandpa knows exactly that the rest of the family will have a reason to get rid of Do-han. They would be able to hurt Do-han. Furthermore, the grandson's already have flaws being the children of a cheater, which makes it difficult for the grandfather to establish them not just within the family but also within his company. He also knows that nobody will accept a gay boss, let alone a gay boss who happens to be the child of a cheater, so Do-han will never be able to work for grandpa's company. As the grandson of a chaebol, Do-han cannot be a in a lesser position because that would make the family look bad, so it's all or nothing. The grandfather's personal feelings aside, he obviously tries to help Do-han. Given that's correct, it explains why he suddenly agreed to let Do-han and Ah-jung marry instead of insisting on Chae-won(?).

In this respect, the drama makes sense to me.

I don't get why Ji-han acts as if he was morally superior while it was actually him trying to pinch his brother's girlfriend who his brother is about to marry. Then he gets upset because Ah-jung didn't tell him about Do-han being gay and about the fake marriage. I find it confusing that nobody disagrees with him except for Do-han who briefly complained.

They do have the budget but it is easier not to pay the nobodies than pay the rich superstar less. It's one of those industries where people can easily be exploited because being an actor or writer is a dream for many people, and many people are willing to do everything to live their dream. The strikes are successful only because the good writers and good actors join. Otherwise, the studios could easily replace everybody if it was just about "some writer" and "some actor". There are probably lots of fans who would happily work for free just to be near their favourite actor.

I'm sure we will get the answers to our questions. If not, that would be bad writing because, as you wrote, the ambiguous scenes were obviously done on purpose and require a dramaturgical denouement.

I think the last scene implied that the romantic relationship between them is about to start.

Personally, I don't care if women are looked down upon. I also (secretly) look down upon men who get into a relationship with a new woman right after their beloved(?) wife died. I know two men in real life who did that, and basically all people around them found that at least "suspicious". The own family is irrelevant in this case because most parents support their children no matter what.

While I don't condemn anybody (given they didn't cheat), I just don't find it romantic if they get into a new relationship "too early". A sudden time skip in the drama would not be the same as a romance growing for multiple episodes. A rushed start for a new love thanks to a time skip would rather feel awkward, in my opinion.

I also think, with the time skip solution, other people would have complained that women were always obliged to accept if some hot guy offers a relationship. Or that women were not allowed to mourn or be single mother for a while but that they had to be ready to resume their role as a "some guy's happy darling" as soon as possible.

No, my arguments are not that it should be mandate for tv shows to promote "healthy eating" or "healthy drinking habits". I wrote that they should show "excessive drinking habits" less. That's a difference.

If you don't understand what I tried to express, here is an analogy: Back in the days, it was relatively normal to rape and hit women in movies/tv shows. It was not a big deal in the media. See, for example, Marnie. If your interpretation of what I wrote was correct, I would have said that all tv shows should now be obliged to show boobs, petting and lovely vanilla sex with all details to teach people a lesson. What I actually wrote was (applied to the analogy) that MLs should hit and rape less.

I usually drink less than 100 ml of alcohol per year. That's about 3.3814 oz but certainly not nothing. I don't care if other people drink more than I but I would if my country suddenly decided that it was fine to shit on a church pew or to run over people as long as you are drunk. I've just found an article from 1998. Back then, if you killed people while DUI, you got 5 years in prison in the WORST case.

In my country, it is encouraged to "do the maths" to legally drive under the influence. I know lots of people who are relatively bad drivers in general and who also drive after 2+ bottles of beer. They often cannot understand that I will not drink any alcohol if I drive, and that I also don't take a ride with a driver who drank. We discuss that every single time.

A few decades ago, it was also normal to see people drinking, then driving or even drinking while driving on TV. Old people still jokingly say that beer was no alcoholic beverage, and they often drink multiple bottles per day from 12 p.m. until they go to bed. Until recently, this typical drinking habit has not been considered a problem, and people thought that alcoholism meant that you are violent, unemployed, homeless, sick and/or disabled due to alcohol.

In Korea, being drunk has been/was a welcome excuse for all types of crimes (rape, killing people, running people over with your car, and so on).

I watched quite a few dramas in which (rich) people drank alcohol, then ordered a substitute driver. This is a good example of what I meant. There is a problem (being drunk, need to go home), and there is a solution (taxi or a substitute driver for one's own car).

For the problem with the excessive drinking with your superiors and/or collegues, you rarely see a solution. When people drink in dramas, the drunkest among them (who often happen to be said superiors) always suggest to go to the next pub, then the scene fades out.

I'm not an US-American, so I usually don't do anything about anything. I also don't feel strong about product placement. US-Americans really need to learn that complaining/discussing on the internet does not mean that people feel the urge to join the infamous cancel culture. If I felt that I could change something, I would priorise more important problems such illegal immigration in my country. If people die early due to alcoholism, alcoholism could be a solution for another important problem that has been known for decades: the pension system. As you can see, I'm not generally against product placement, not even alcohol. ;)

I agree with you. If the ex is indeed innocent, reconciliation would be great.

However, by "stalker ex", I don't mean that the ex entered DH's studio. I meant that he seems to be roaming about in the environment of said studio, and that he approaches DH's family to tell them about DH's secrets. Especially the latter is creepy, in my opinion. If my ex did that after our relationship ended, I wouldn't even want to be friends with him anymore because he could not be trusted.

You are right. The ex very likely suffered as well, and Do-han left him in a vulnerable moment, so I understand his feelings.

However, I don't see that Do-han and his ex can be in a healthy relationship again. At least, it would be unlikely in real life because people tend to be resentful for a very long time. I do hope, though, that they can sort out any misunderstandings and remain friends (or something like that).

I'm looking forward to the remaining episodes to see if you are right regarding the grandfather. :)

No, not the petty stalker ex, please. Do-han seems to be a sweet guy. He deserves happiness, not a toxic relationship. The ex is not the only gay man in Korea.

Why does poor Do-han have to be with the ex-stalker to perform some BL action? He deserves someone better, not some toxic relationship. It's not like the ex-stalker is the only available man in Korea. ^^

Actually, I liked the fact that FL didn't jump onto the first guy who shows interest in her. Her husband got murdered not long ago. In the last episode, she has finally found some peace in her life but she still needs time to heal and to learn how to deal with her mental illness. Also, she told her daughter "a moment ago" that the father is dead. It would be inappropriate to replace the beloved husband with a new love right away.

If you want to watch a drama where a single mother with a child gets a new chance at love, maybe you'll enjoy "Crash Course in Romance".

Gosh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way. I found him so pushy, sometimes even creepy. The whole time, I expected a plot twist revealing him as the/a murderer.

Well, actually, it was some kind of a happy ending. The bad people are in jail or dead. FL still has her dad, her daughter, and a good friend who might become a future love interest. She had suffered for decades because of her bad mental health but she finally got professional help. She finally knows about her flaws (the imaginary friend, for example), and is able to deal with them. She now knows where and how to get help. She doesn't have to waste energy on hiding the fact that she's mentally ill. People around her know that she's mentally ill, still support her, and treat her like before because they see her good personality and her skills, not just her mental illness. And she is finally free instead of controlled and exploited by people such as her former boss.

It is not uncommon to have children travel alone for whatever reason. There are special services like we saw in the drama. However, this has to be organised by the parents. It's not like the child booked her own flight. The stewards also don't hand the child over to some random person. I was able to ignore that part because maybe FL's ex-bff made it somehow work.

What bothered me most was the fact that FL checks social media to figure out that her 7 yo daughter flew back to Korea despite knowing that her daughter would arrive that day, and despite knowing that the evil ex-bff might hurt her daughter.

So true. I was really disappointed because from ep. 1-16 she did everything to get what she wanted. She was rich, powerful, successful, and, as you wrote, basically unstoppable. And then the writers got rid of her within two seconds? That was lazy writing.

Almost all popular dramas I've watched (from thrillers, sageuk to romcoms) feature excessive drinking. As aforementioned, alcoholism is rampant in Korea, and there is a lot of social pressure to join those excessive drinking events.

Promoting excessive drinking in almost all dramas is like promoting binge eating in the USA where obesity is rampant.

If Korea and/or the USA want to address and improve the state of their respective society, they need to feature healthier behaviours in popular media because, in reality, unhealthy behaviour is deemed desireable. Most people cannot think for themselves, and just do what other people around them do or what they feel other people expect then to do. The best place to make things look cool is fiction (dramas, advertising, and so on). Many people love to copy things and behaviours from their favourite fictional source.

The USA already knows that morbid obesity is not a desireable trait, especially since the health care system gets more and more expensive. (This is also true for countries with "free" health care, by the way.)

In Korea, the dangers of alcoholism are still not acknowledged unless the addict becomes violent on a regular basis or cannot work anymore.

If you cannot see the difference between driving an expensive car, sporting an expensive designer bag, and excessive drinking in dramas, well, then I know why you are throwing in words such as "offensive" and "ridiculous" even though my arguments had nothing to do with personal feelings and preferences.

Yes, it is. That's why I don't like to see this behaviour reinforced in dramas. Dramas are fiction anyway, so they don't have to reflect the real world. Korea does not consist of hot, young chaebols waiting for pretty, poor women either.

In my opinion, it's one thing to celebrate something special and drink (too) much alcohol one day, but it's another thing to drink (too much) every single day. I'm not saying that the characters in dramas should never drink and never get drunk but they really don't have to drink every evening or sometimes even at noon. IF they drink, it would be nice if they could stop drinking before getting wasted.

WHAT? I love eating ice cream in winter. It's not uncommon where I live. While I don't drink beer myself, I know lots of people who drink beer throughout the whole year. Germany without beer would not be Germany.

I'd rather see PPL with expensive cars than with alcohol. Alcoholism is rampant in Korea, and drinking way too much is shown as a desireable trait in dramas.

Don't forget the bottled water. ^^

Yes, exactly. "The Veil" is this drama:
https://kisskh.at/680385-black-sun

Both "The Veil" and "Mouse" can be found on Viki. At least in my region.