Kathryn_51

"there was no indication that he was a Kang (bio)"

Are you talking about Tae Min or Tae Ho😂😂? There is no hint that either one of them might not be a bio Kang - their parentage/heritage is simply presented as fact. Hmmmmmmm. . . . now that I think about it, just why did Tae Ho's parents send him off the USA?? Maybe HE is not a Kang!🤣

Dragon Mom's reason for the 3-year imprisonment of Grandmama is different than her fear of Kang Tae Ho. I could write another lengthy post on that as well, but basically, after Tae Ho's parents died in the accident, there was a battle w/in TaeSan Group for who would take over the Chairmanship. Grandmother was totally opposed to her eldest son and she apparently had the votes/influence to stop him. So, that's why she had to be removed.

At some point, the company needed to have a Chairman and it took 3 years before enough people (again, not clear if it was shareholders or Board of Directors) to vote in Kang Jin Bun. Even then, many were unhappy about the vote.

Something to keep in mind: Grandmama didn't want her son to be Chairman, but he's a mere figurehead at this point. She is happy that Tae Min is running the company - she has never threatened to go public with whatever she knows about prior scandals or even her imprisonment - she has threatened to go to Tae Min and that is Dragon Mom's biggest fear at this point. 😉

I don't think it has anything to do with the accident, Yes, there has been innuendo that she was involved, but I think that's just writer playing games (red herrings) with the viewers.

For @angelwg

Part 2: Moving forward, exactly what does Dragon Mom fear from Kang Tae Ho?

All of this was explained in the first few episodes, an article that I will link to later and the KBS website character descriptions.

The episodes. When TM left prison, his father told him that Tae Ho had returned and wondered “why now” when Dad had just been elected Chairman – which was clearly not a unanimous decision by the “shareholders”. In other conversations: the plan was to elevate TM to the Vice-Chairmanship soon; TH “saw his father become vice chair in his late ‘30s. . you can’t see TH as ‘standing alone’’ That is, there were a number of shareholders/Directors (unclear) who were Kang Jun Bun (TH father) loyalists. These were all warnings to TM – you must deliver or people loyal to TH’s father will look to him as a potential Vice Chairman/successor. TM delivered. A speech to employees that was very well received throughout the company. Stock price increased immediately A financial turn-around within months of him taking over.

Artticle; I’m going to cherry-pick (favorable to TM) from this Article , but you might enjoy reading the whole thing because both actors talk about their characters and how they enjoy working with each other: https://www.starnewskorea.com/stview.php?no=2023090509592449810'
“Kang Tae-min', the third generation of chaebol who has both humanity and courtesy, as Tae-ho's cousin.
“Kang Tae-ho', a talented man who completed a master's degree in business administration at the Ivy League in the United States.. . . returns to Korea. Because there is a truth that must be revealed. However, he hides his true intentions. (Deceitful little pr**k,😂)

The Big Takeaway Sentence: “Therefore, for the position of successor to the group, competition between the two is inevitable. “

The coming chaebol battle between Kang Tae Min and Kang Tae Ho has been fore-shadowed, fore-ordained, planned, predicted from the very first week. And that is why Dragon Mom wants Kang Tae Ho “gone” (jail, back to the US, whatever).

This is for @angelwg, answering some questions from earlier comments. Will be separated into multiple posts.

@angelwg: "If TM was the heir by birth, why would the evil cow want to off the grandma and TH. That is my question. If grandma knows that the evil cow killed her second son and DIL, why did she cover up the investigation? Stock price? Maybe we will get to know more as the story progresses. Hope the writers give out a valid and satisfying explanation for the same."

First things first, Let’s take a step back and look at your statement that she wants to ‘off the grandma and TH.” Has Dragon Mom ever planned or even ordered a killing? No. if she had wanted to kill Grandmama, she could have done so in the last 3 years. She throws around threats, but never once has executed a plan. In order to keep Grandmama controlled, she threatened Kang Tae ho – who was thousands of miles away. But the moment Tae Ho appeared in Korea, she didn’t try to eliminate him. Her plan was to frame him for an internal crime whereby he would be sent to jail or. . . . as was planned at one time for her and hubby. . . exiled away from Taesan Group/elite society.

In Episode 11, at the river w/Yeom, she said “We need to put an end to the era of Choi Myeong Hui who once controlled. . . the great Taesan. . . I’ll go crazy.’

Crazy she is, and Yeom knows it, but he clearly had no desire to kill Grandmama. Then he came up with a plan – actually a damn good plan. Evil, but good.

She wants them out of her life and she doesn’t care much about how it happens – but she has never taken the step of actually “offing’ them, to use your term. And it has zero to do with TM’s birthright as heir.

You, the viewer thinks TM's mom wants to kill TH and Grandmama because the writer has structured the dialogue (and used an actress who does Crazy Lady on Steroids) to hint at it. She is violent, scheming, cruel, corrupt, heartless - but when one steps back and looks at what was really said and done, she's' not a killer. Yet. Maybe by the end of the drama, she will attempt to kill someone in a fit of rage, but I think it more likely she will dissolve into a pathetic, gibbering, insane psycho and it will be off to the villa for the rest of her life. The question for you - the viewer - if that is the end result, will you be satisfied? Or, will you think you have been conned?

I'll try to prepare answers to your other questions later today/tomorrow before the Saturday episode.

@angelwg; "I think that grandma knew about the dangers of TH being close to the evil cow and what she could do to destroy his life and I think that is her reasoning for wanting TH far away from Taesan."

Yes, you and I are watching the same show. 😊 Dragon Mom (that's a name someone used over on Dramabeans) told Grandmama (when imprisoned in the villa) that if she didn't stay put, that somehow she (Dragon Mom) could reach Tae Ho while sitting on a sunny beach. Too late - thanks to grandmama's telling TH to stay away (!!), she provided the catalyst for TH's return.

Now that I think about it, Grandmama is pretty stupid with these phone calls. None of them seem to achieve the desired result.

@bloomingtide "I had high hopes at the beginning that she would help HS into self realization of her situation, and bond with her before Taeho could but nope nothing. "

i know you had high hopes that Grandmama's role would quickly intersect with Hyo Shim and Tae Ho. I never believed that - I always assumed we would get many near misses but, after all, every good drama needs some villains to create conflict - conflict that will last until the end (or at least Episode 48). Truthfully, I have always envisioned some big corporate shareholder/board of directors show-down with TaeMin and Taeho - and grandmother walks in to clean it all up. 😊

They stopped wondering about her identity in (checks notes) in Episode 14 when Madame Seo visited and claimed to be her daughter - the daughter of "Chae Geum Ja".

Although writers have changed some of the backstory, as far as we currently know, Grandma wants Tae Ho back in the good ole' USA - she doesn't want him near Taesan Group. That's why she fainted in the hospital - when she saw Tae Ho on television. And she told Madame Seo to work with unknown allies to get him to return to the USA.

According to recent episodes, Mi-rim left the law firm 3 years ago (I could have sworn they said 3 months previously). It's never been clear if she actually practiced law for 10 full years or if attended law school/passed the bar on 1st try/practiced for 10 years. Writers are rather sloppy about dates.

I have answers for all of your questions, but it would be a long post. The short answer is: I read the original articles (based on press releases), the character descriptions on the KBS site., and I take pretty good notes of certain dialogue. If you are really interested, i'll write it up in a new post and we can discuss it there.

It's still Tuesday where I live, so here is some Tuesday Trivia (haters, don't bother):

1. Although rarely mentioned, the full name of Attorney/Aspiring Actress is Jeong Mi Rim. At one point, Grandmama Choi told Madame Seo to contact "attorney JEONG". Coincidence? Maybe all attorneys in Korea are named Jeong??

2. According to the KBS website, the character of Lee Phillip has an "unexpected talent". I have no idea what it may be, but here's a lovely music video that features the young actor Lee Ju Won: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iZyquKcpzg

3. Finally, actress Im Ju Eun is the on the January cover of magazine "Woman Chosun" [or Woman Joseon}. Photo and interview here: https://woman.chosun.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=113574

Enjoy. 😃

😂I need to have a bloomingtide de-coder ring so I can decipher when you are stating a "wild guess" and what you believe to be "fact".

OF COURSE Tae Ho shouldn't be trying to challenge Tae Min - he never wanted to lead Taesan Group, he doesn't care about his "legacy", he has relied his entire life on "charm" and it's not enough to manage a 600 Billion Dollar conglomerate w/36 subsidiaries. My God, he took a few days of vacation right before the winter launch - forcing his team to do the heavy lifting.

January 2, 2024: Tae Min is the heir by birth. Not a wild guess. If I am wrong, I will admit it.

Once again, you and I are not watching the same show 🤣🤣🤣

* Tae ho being "the true heir" - where the hell did that come from???Tae Ho's father was grooming Tae Min to be the heir, not Tae Ho. Time to stop that fantasy @bloomingtide. Tae Min is the eldest grandson and the heir.
* Grandmama trusts Tae Min - she had "faith, expectations and beliefs in her eldest grandson. And she felt bad for the responsibility [he] had to carry." She wants Tae Min to be the chairman, not Tae Ho.
* It was GRANDMAMA who covered up the investigation!!! It was GRANDMAMA's right-hand man who hauled the car away, with the dash cam. (Did you even watch that scene?) [Hint: I might be incorrect, but as best I can recall, every time they show the accident/car blowing up - it is Grandmama's memory or nightmare. Was she there???? But they have changed some of the backstory, so it may be irrelevant]
* Grandmama never wanted to throw her son and DIL into jail - she was planning their exile. And she definitely did not want him to be the chairman
* The battle for Taesan Group has been promised from the very, very first episode and it is just now coming into focus. And the result? Tae Ho may believe that he is getting revenge against TM's family, but it is his beloved Grandmother that was involved. But we must slog through another 20 episodes to learn the final story.

The End. 😎

I edited my comment - about the same time you were replying. You should at least watch the sub dialogue with HaJun and Uee - they did this with each couple. Have no idea what they said.

Here's the link to the complete list of nominees and winners (in bold font). I'll give the Viki release a try when I have time. i skimmed through some of the You Tube videos (unsubbed) and it look like each "couple" was "interviewed' by the MCs - so you will probably at least enjoy watching the discussion with Ha jun and Uee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_KBS_Drama_Awards

Appearances can be deceiving - I still think there is a better than 50% chance that Yeom is actually on grandmother's side. But I believe that partly because of early articles that stated he was working with Madame Seo and it's possible writers have re-written the plot. Or, the articles were wrong. The "facts" regarding the Daegwallyeong Pass accident have definitely changed.

Hyo Jun continues to be selfish, but i'm glad it is Mi-rim that is shaking him up and not Hyo Shim's absence (although that was the catalyst). Some real mini heart flutters today and deep down Mi-rim missed him for personal reasons. (and yes, I know the preview is misleading).

Well, not quite. my post was confusing. Uee was "Top Excellence" Actress - that is, best of all actresses, regardless of genre (daytime, serial, mini-series, etc.)

Ha Jun shared the "Excellence Actor in a Serial/long form Drama" with Ji Seung-hyun (Korea-Khitan War).]

Not sure about the "best couple" award - looks like five different couples (including the King and his military advisor in "Korea-Khitan War") were all "winners".

Actually, I find these individual network awards to be rather nonsenical, but they are big for ratings. Viki will have these awards w/subs in a couple of days.😀

Happy New Year to you as well. ✨🎉🎆

Young Tak and Kim Yu Ha (child singer Park Ga-on) singing at "Go Your Own Way" at the KBS Drama Awards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUXxINQG80I

Uee won "Best actress' (top Excellence) award at the KBS 2023 Drama Awards. Video of her acceptance (un-subbed).

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=kbs%20drama%20awards%202023&mid=DD61E1EF5296F9658B03DD61E1EF5296F9658B03&ajaxhist=0

I'm rewatching the raw video of the Hyo jun/ mi-rim scenes again. They both have great comedic timing. Looking forward to re-watch again with the subs.

We got more insight today (ep 28) as to Hyo juns back story and why the She-Witch mother guilted him into following HER dreams - of course using Hyo Shim to do it. Shes psycho. I hope both moms end up locked up in the villa at the end -- they can cry together about all they did "for the children".

UN-official?? 😂😂

The writing team is a bit sloppy about dates, but I take notes whenever something specific is mentioned.

I think HS is 34 years old. Hyo Shim was 9 years old/4th grade when Dad disappeared. He disappeared 25 years ago. Based on the clothes that they were wearing at Dad's birthday party, hyo jun was in junior high and hyo Seong was in high school. There have been other unspecific references - hyo Shim couldn't do certain things in school because of whatever was going on with her older brothers which also may or not mean anything other than a general timeline.

However, at Dad's birthday party, Hyo Do was clearly a toddler sitting in mom's lap - and yet in one episode, someone said he was 32 years old. Definite glitch - maybe the sub was incorrect.

If Hyo Jun has been studying to be a lawyer for 10 years, (and if he was working in film after college for a few years before that), I've assumed (also because of the school uniforms) that he is 36-38ish.

Re: Tae Ho. Uh, I don't pay too much attention when he babbles on about his pity-party life, I'm afraid. 🤣🤣 HOWEVER, my notes say the following: (1) Tae Ho is a few years younger than his father was when he became Vice Chairman; (2) his father became Vice Chairman before he was 40. So, i've figured that TH was 36ish. i know he was sent to the US when he was in 5th grade (correct?) - but if they ever mentioned how many years ago that was, I wasn't watching that scene.

😎