Kathryn_51

Time to revisit the 1st five minutes of the drama which appear to reflect the final climatic battles/breaking points and Bang Tae-seop’s betrayal of Sang-ah. The scenes are still to come but much of the dialogue was already heard in prior episodes. What does it all mean? I don’t know, but I smell a head fake. What writer would telegraph the final end (Tae-seop’s betrayal of Sang-ah) in the 1st few minutes of a drama??

Opening scene
It was a dark and stormy night. . . . . . . . 🤣🤣🤣
### Driving on a lonely road, Bang Tae-seop recalls various events and conversations...
. . . . .trying to kiss Sang-ah [Sang-ah’s voice over: “You just wanted to use me for your grand ambition.”] [Side note: this dialogue was actually in Ep. 4]
. . . . .Yang-mi squeezing his buttocks [Yang-mi: “Do you get it now? This is your last chance. You choose.” [Ep. 9 sneak peek]
### Jeong-won and Sang-ah in various micro scenes [Jeong-won: “Either you or me. . .if this goes any further, it won’t end with someone getting hurt”] (Ep. 9 preview)
### Sang-ah, on the floor sobbing [Bang Tae Seop voice: “I did everything I could to protect you, but maybe I chose the wrong way.”] (said in Ep. 6 and has nothing to do with her sobbing on the floor)
### Tae-seop at cemetery [Yang-mi: “Mr. Bang Tae Seop. What you’re about to do is kill the dead a second time. But once you see this through, you’ll rise all the way to the top, just like you wanted. But in return. . you’ll have to give up the one thing you value most. . . . . .Chu Sang Ah”]
### Sang-ah sitting in interrogation room, her hand, foot bruised, smoking a cigarette, blood stains(?) on clothes. (And as always, if it’s Sang-ah, is it a scene from a film? Fake injuries? Or, actual witness?) [Sang-ah: “Fine. Then I’ll be the one who dies.”]

Then BTS drives a stake into the ground (grave?).

I have a different take. She's trying to seduce him so that he will do what she wants. It's not "Ef me and I'll give you what you want" it's "Do what I want (presumably the grave yard scene) and then you will be at the top with me".

She's been offering herself to him all along and then gets upset when he's loyal to Sang-ah.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I checked into this because of Ji Ju-hoon (someone I know nothing about except I'm enjoying him right now in Climax) and the plot sounded intriguing. But a plot that doesn't tie up the loose ends isn't a plot - it's a shock-mobile. So, hard pass - thanks to your effort to warm other potential viewers. 😊

I'm not saying that BTS is gay (might be bi-sexual?), but it's clear - in Korean subtle nuanced speak, that Kwon is giving up major gay vibes (clothes, no children, the fingernails, etc). Did BTS already know this? Or. . . .did he somehow pick up on it during their first dinner? I will be VERY unhappy if we don't get an answer.

I would like to understand the significance of the diamond brooch that BTS gave to Kwon - to me it was giving off gay vibes.

According to Ju ji-hoon and Ha Ji-won, the "climax" (perhaps climatic scene???) is the last scene and it sounded as if they are both in it.

It's one reason I've believed that when we reach the finale of Bang Tae-seop's "fierce survival battle", Sang-ah will be there. Do they jump off a cliff together: off to jail at the same time? or sitting on the beach on a tropical island sipping cocktails plotting their next comeback (which would be anti-climatic, so probably not. 😊)

Sneak Peek for Episode 9 -

BTS, face bruised, walks up to the door and reminisces about the time he walked through the hotel door and filmed the Mayor. [He has no dialogue in this entire clip].
Yang-mi walks up and all dialogue is by her. “What are you doing if you don’t go in? You're thinking about where you went wrong right now. Don’t come in here then. Don’t use someone else’s dragon card [“credit card”]. Kwon Joong-ho? Don’t hold hands with that life.. . . . . .But Bang Tae-seop was wrong. Not there. The worst choice in your life [was] to marry “abstract Ah” [Sang-ah]. The best choice in my life was to marry Kwon Se-myung. Now do you understand? [She walks to the room door]. It’s your last chance. You choose.” She enters the room and tosses the room key to the hallway floor. BTS stares at the card.

THE END!!! Argghhhh.

https://x.com/Channel_ENA/status/2042392120615375076

The plot is still revolving around the man. Even the relationship with the two women is a sideshow intended to destroy the man. Many viewers came (and they are staying) because of Ji-won, but Ju Ji-hoon plays the main character and the story is about his rise and fall, the choices he has made and the consequences thereof.

Bang Tae-seop is the only character who is actually going through some character development - everyone else is static.

If I remember why I began this drama to begin with it's because Cha Joo young can chew up and spit out every single word - so I put it on my watchlist. I didn't expect character development, but I did expect a roller coaster of battles and a coherent story/plot that made sense in the end.

There have been too many unspoken actions/looks/stares that mean. . . . nothing, as far as I can tell. (those are the times when one needs a voice-over). Sang-ah going barefoot in many scenes - what does it mean?? To me, those barefoot scenes combined with other small tidbits might mean she is a drug addict. But nothing obvious, so I guess we will never know.

When asked in an interview when or how "THE" climax would be seen, Ji-hoon and Ji-won both said in unison "the last scene". So, just one more "shock" I guess??

Time to re-watch the intro - and I mean watch-every-second.

A woman in the spotlight.
Knife dripping with blood into a wine glass
A crown 주영훈 (Ju Ji Hoon)
A spinning wheel with people going up and down stairs [No name or text]
An Eye that blinks shut 하지원 (Ha Ji Won)
A rose that begins to burn 나나 (Nana)
A thorny bush that is electrified(?) 차주영 (Chae Joo Young)
A throne that cracks 오정세 (Oh Jung Se)

Maybe that woman-knife-blood dripping sequence means nothing but I still think it was Sang-ah that initially stabbed OKJ and he would have died even if Park and then the assassin never entered the room. And Bang Tae-seop knows it. 🤣🤣

Well, the reason BTS hired Jeong-won to follow her was because Sang-ah outright lied to him, so there is that, lol.

Thanks for sharing. I don't think you need to put this under a spoiler tag since there aren't any major spoilers in your post.

I drafted up a Character description a couple of weeks ago and finally posted it in the "Recent Discussions" box. It doesn't show up unless you click on "view all". At a minimum, it explains some of the connections between characters.

However, this drama has so many plots/counter-plots and then "totally dropped plots" that it's safe to say that this is a story about ambition and betrayal - wash, rinse, repeat. I've re-watched scenes trying to determine if I missed something important because later episodes seemed to conflict with the prior narrative. If you have specific questions about characters or connections, that might be the best way to help you sort through this jumble.

Thanks for the well-written review and explanation of the good and the bad. PMY is one of my favorite actresses so I was looking forward to it, but paused after episode 3 or 4 and never returned because I didn't care about her character. Or anyone else for that matter. Anyway, you've saved me several hours of my life that could best be used elsewhere. 😊

I can't remember where I read it (and it was just yesterday) but someone referred to an interview, with Ha JI-won where she said something along the lines of "BTS likes Sang-ah, but Sang-ha doesn't like him." I haven't read the original Korean version, but I think the word "like" is probably 좋아해 (pronounced roughly as "jo-ah-hae") which is closer to "have feelings for". Ji-won said the character views BTS as her "comrade".

I'm trying to figure out the significance of that diamond pin. Where did BTS get something so valuable? Was it a gift from the Chairman to Sang-ah? Did Kwon recognize it? Or does the closeted gay see it as a possible token of . . . .whatever from BTS?

They removed some scenes or views to get the rating down.

I agree it was never marketed as any sort of "romance". But ENA has described it as a "love/hate" relationship so @Guts isn't wrong. To the extent the "couple" was marketed, it was promoted as "two against the world".

Their poster states:

You are as you.
I am as I am.

Let's see the end that each of us wants.

For those that care, you should flashback to the scene with Ji-soo, the Chairman and [Chief Prosecutor???] There was a film camera set up. This was in 2016 - "10" years ago.

I’ll bet anything that in Sang-ah’s early days, Oh Kwang-jae made her do private sex scenes for the entertainment of rich clients.

We’ve been told several times that her title as “Madame Lee” was because she arranged “meetings” with young actresses and “members of the elite.” It’s never been clear how or when Yang-mi became involved with the Chairman. Did she have access to all of OKJ’s videos? Once OKJ was killed, did she blackmail the Chairman? We may never know the full story (because this writer doesn’t seem to care about tying up loose ends from the past), but until told otherwise, I’m confident this video is from the past.

It wasn't the hotel room (look at surroundings) and it wasn't Jeong-won. Frankly, I'm getting tired of the writer/director ending an episode with what I will call "false" scenes - they turn out to be non-stories in the next episode. But I guess it gets viewers talking about the drama and speculating. 😁

Explanation below under spoilers tag.