LA_Drama Fan

That will likely be her next role as the Queen and Wife of King Taejong, a historically tragic character. She was very ambitious but pays a dear price for it.

OMG! He confessed already????? It's only Ep 20!!!! the writer has picked up the pace again!

You're all onto something. They'll have to use a surrogate Father, and that has to be kept ultra-secret from the family to avoid the "not from our bloodline" wrath of Granny. So that means they go to another OBGYN to get it done, and THEY screw it up somehow???? And I'd guess that his old flame and his search for his child somehow figures into this: the timing is too suspect.

I agree with just about everything you said. The best part of the ep, for me, was at the breakfast table with the other women....when after Granny babbling and bad-mouthing TK, she just put her spoon down and everything stopped. And then let that old bat have it. It was really moving.
I've figured all along that the split will come somewhere in the mid-late ep 30 range, and last at least around 5 eps minimum. This would depend on how much happiness they want to give us at the end with the baby.

There has been a time-slip about the time when they changed fathers. That was supposed to be an extended trip abroad, but he was back in the next episode, so I've lost track now of where she is in her pregnancy. But I am looking forward to your next summary tomorrow!

PS - I know where you're coming from, I did long form reviews here for It's Beautiful Now and it got to be exhausting: 1000-2000 words at a crack and I took a couple of days to crank them out. I swore "Never Again!" I don't know how you do it in just a few hours.

Bloomingtide's review was so complete, I have nothing to add except:
- Where was BongMin & her Bullhorn? Granny just broke the agreement by being mean to them. GO BONG MIN!!!!
- Don't trust the previews as far as their short-term future goes.
- That scene on the bridge was so beautifully shot. Just amazing.(reminded me of a similar bridge screen in It's Beautiful Now.) Downtown Seoul is a beautiful city at night. Kudos to the film crew and Dir of Photography.

that's wierd, it posted this comment to the wrong thing. Let me try again. Well, MDL isn't posting replies correctly. Ericka, I was replying to your post on TK not knowing what to do. You are exactly correct.

"Moms to the rescue" indeed. BongMin & InOk have such great chemistry on scene, I don't understand why they are not shown together more. C'mon, writer!

Jesus, that was epic!!!! So far it's was your masterpiece, and I feel like I don't even need to watch the episode. WELL DONE.
Sounds like they're giving us a trial separation? IMO, these 2 won't confess until they are FORCED apart and have to realize how miserable they without each other. So that they can fight whomever separated them (Granny, SJ, JH????) and admit and claim their love. I still think it's way too early in the series for this, but it will happen before the baby is born.
Bad news is, it sounds like a lot of screen time for SJ today....UGH.

Given the character's unpopularity (both here online and with the domestic SK audience) do you think it's deliberate to keep viewers from immediately switching channels, and preserving ratings? Or am I overthinking things while we're twiddling our thumbs waiting for 19?

Interesting trend from this weekend. SeJin is appearing later in the episodes:
Ep 17 - Minute 37
Ep18 - Minute 20 (she had more appearance time in Ep 18, SJAF = .17)

I had this question too, but after re-watching 17 & 18, I think she's also feeling increasing guilt about the situation, especially when she talks with InOk; who doesn't realize her 'helpful' suggestions and praise of them as a couple is pushing YD out.

I think you're both right...the smart money says he wont answer. But I keep thinking that's such a cliche, and this writer seems to disdain them. So why not:
He tells her 'yes, of course I do' and then passes out. She's freaked out, and doesn't know what to do. This continues to the next day, when he wakes up he has no recollection of the conversation and doesn't realize for the balance of the episode why she's treating him so odd...until at the very end when he realizes what he said the night before (that's your cliffhanger ending for Ep 19. )

I keep thinking about how they are going to handle this in the opening of Ep 19. I wish we had a poll option, so we could get a feeling how everyone thinks. I see 3 options:
1-He passes out before he can answer
2-He suddenly sobers up and says "no, of course not"
3-He says 'yes' as he's still drunk and his defenses are down.

I can make a case for all 3...

>>>YM - how did she NOT see those pics of DW in his daughter’s Instagram account? Or did she?

THIS!

Well, that was a mixed bag of an episode.

Thanks again! Too much Sejin!!!
A lifetime of denying that love even exists (or is possible for him) has left him totally unprepared for the onslaught of emotions. My only question is "What is YD's hurry to end things?" I don't believe that it's because she's worried they'll slip again and the secret will be exposed? Maybe I missed something....

This bugs me too. He should be avoiding her at all costs. But instead he stuck her in the Friend Zone. Why????

Yup. From the male perspective, I see TK as a man who was gun-shy around women. And the last thing that kind of guy needs is someone pushing him into a relationship, which is why his previous ones never lasted over 3 mos. We saw it in Ep 1, with Ms. Baek (from Bravo My Live) the newscaster trying to push them along and he revolted. In this case, YD is not pushing him, and in fact the opposite, and this leaves our hero to be punched right between the eyes by love. He never saw it coming, and I still feel he's head over heels for her and doesn't know how to handle the emotions out of fear (of the uncertain for himself, and fear in how she'll react if he confesses his feelings).

To me, this was clear in AJH's excellent (non-verbal) acting in the playground scene. Watch his facial expressions as the conversation begins about her neice (his expression is compassionate), then YD talks about herself (he becomes concerned), and finally about him not being there and her future as a single mom (his face crumbles and he reaches for her). I think he badly wanted to hug her, but is just too scared right now.

On to Ep 18!!!!

I finally got home late this afternoon and rushing to read this was the first thing I did! Thanks again for another epic review!
My takeaways (just watched it):
-When was the last time TK had a full night's sleep? My man must have some serious sleep-deprivation by now.
- I agree, the sound of his pulse near the end was WAYYYY too slow.
- I was yelling at him twice this episode: PUT YOUR ARM AROUND HER SHOULDER, YOU IDIOT, IF SHES SNUGGLING UP TO YOU!
and, STOP HANGING AROUND SEJIN!!! DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WOMEN'S JEALOUSY? So what if she's walking past in the rain? SERVES HER RIGHT!
-SJAF was < .13
This episode left me feeling like I had a big meal that didn't fill me up. I wanted something more. Mind you, this was a huge improvement for a Saturday episode, but something seemed missing. I can't really describe it.

I"m hoping they are misleading us in the previews again, because that would be a great disappointment, for sure.