LA_Drama Fan

As the YouTube clips for 30 were horrifying, I'm just gonna ignore that one for awhile and let's concentrate on Ep 29, shall we?

Just like last Saturday, this was another 'setup' episode for big events for our main couple. But that doesn't mean there weren't some sweet and noteworthy scenes. So I'll put my baseball hat on and present in some sort of descending order my hits and misses:

GRAND SLAM:
The opening scene, as usual, picks up from the prior episode's last few minutes. In this case, we get the emotional scene with TK on the FetusFone and hugging YD's belly. However, this time, instead of the soft background music in 29, here it is remixed and we get their love theme, with the full orchestral treatment. And THAT was the icing on top. This entire opening, from his talking to Real, to their pillow talk and holding hands in bed was PERFECT. Aside from the campground opening where she confessed her feelings to him, this may have been the best opening of any episode. If you don't tear up watching this, see your doctor. It was beautiful.

HOME RUN:
A haggard and frazzled DW is exhausted from working a second part-time job on the night shift at a delivery center. He nearly collapses at home and a frightened SK calls YM for help. YM (who doesn't lose her job as she and her boss clear the air about her feelings for DW) goes to their house and cares for him and calms a worried SK. That evening, when he awakes, he manages to find a few working synapses in his brain and he's touched by what he sees in disbelief: YM & SK sleeping together as Mother and Daughter would. If not for the TK/YD opening scene, this would have been the sweetest moment in a long time. Frankly, they could have dwelled on them sleeping together longer and panned back to the 3 of them in his room. This goes on, with having to deal with his folks not finding her at the house, which would have been easily explained anyways, but it's Dramaland. He thanks her for being his friend, and the look she gives him in return could melt the ice caps....I almost thought she would hold his cheek and kiss him lightly, but one thing at a time......Their day ends sweetly with his driving her home in YD's (?) van and her happiness that it's like a date, right? And she revels in his embarrassment (their conversation was really good). This scene was well played by our young actors.

TRIPLE:
HW & the Pharmacist meet briefly for about 2 minutes to follow up on InOk's finding them in the park the night before. He awkwardly explains that it's OK and his MIL knows what's going on. She's been ahead of the curve the whole time and it kills me that they make such a nice couple all for naught (it seems). He tells her that with her help, he's been able to clarify his relationship with his wife. Although depressing, this was an important scene for these 2 characters and deeply touching.

DOUBLE: For TK/YD, after the unproductive luncheon with Granny, and InOk's bringing some reality to her hurried attempts to reverse years of mistreatment and frigidity between the two, TK returns home. In the study, while he's trying to decompress, she comes in and for the first time (?) intitiates a hug with him and apologizes for trying to force a reconciliation with Granny. Best thing about this scene for me, was that they were totally honest with each other and communicated openly.

HIT BY PITCH, TAKE FIRST BASE:
JM & InOk have it out in her room. Interesting to see these 2 veteran actresses and alpha-female characters stare down each other at the beginning, and the continued change in InOk's character here is interesting to watch. Typically for JM, all she cares about is her job and she begs InOk to be able to keep it and confesses everything that is going on. InOk, slightly mollified, basically says, "I'll get back to you".

POP FLY OUT: Before the scene above, HW & JM go to have lunch with InOk to try to explain things but she checkmates them by bringing CS along. Thus nothing of significance happens and we waste precious minutes of airtime.

STRUCK OUT LOOKING:
The disgustingly satisfied SJ, finding that she actually has a plan that works, exults in her 'accomplishment' in starting to tear TK/YD apart. So she startles even her mother by being in a good mood and making a late night dinner; the only thing missing for her was champagne. Writers...couldn't you at least put a few E.coli bacterium in some of that food to give her some badly-needed food poisoning????

I've never FF'd thru one of these eps so much before. sigh........
And what pisses me off, is that we know it was inevitable, etc but STILL seeing those 2 so exultant (SJ with her Victory Dinner) grinds my gears. (No spoilers, please!!!)

Thank goodness for YM/DW for keeping me sane.

I'll have to re-watch it fully and post my findings tomorrow.

So I'll throw this out there (and just playing Devil's Advocate):
what if the actor playing ChanSik backed out really because he saw how dumb the character would turn out to be? Not only a spineless Mamas-boy, but a sucker too?

After reading the posts here, maybe I should pretend this episode doesn't exist? I'm too scared to read your summary, for that matter!!!
THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS
THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS!

It's the midweek doldrums here, that's all (although King, The Land & See you in my 19th life do intrigue me - but one Kdrama at a time, please). After Tuesday, things quiet down until Saturday morning, since most of us have gotten it out of our system LOL. I was going to post something about the dumb things the writers have done lately, but it just came off as bitchy, so never mind.
Anxiously waiting for my weekend routine tomorrow!

Thank you both. Was it ever discussed in the show then? I'm guessing not.

Wasn't it mentioned earlier in the series (or maybe it was here?) that KS could just have the wife declared legally dead since she's been missing for so long? That would eliminate the need for him to be divorced. I know, that weenie would never do that, but I think that was an option?

The reason I ask is that I wondered if at some point, the Government would step in and do it anyways, since they can't have someone be alive 'forever'. I'm not really sure how that works, but I think something like that would have to happen as they can't have a liability for old-age benefits (pension/ social security (or whatever passes for it in SK) on the books forever?

Sher, seriously? They EXTENDED this mess???? They should be shortening it! Does this mean they are still writing episodes on the fly ? Sounds like it. Surely there was a storyboard or outline at least of where the main events in the series were SUPPOSED to occur. I only want to see 2 things, KBS: MR meets her Dad and the Runaway Wife re-appears. At this point, I really lost interest in the empty-headed MR & punching-bag KS.

Oppa!

I was thinking more if she was a bad person (a la Hee) that she would want some Gong $$$ to make her go away and not claim parental rights to SK...if the law works that way in SK.

LOL. I'll check back next week. I swear, if they do something dumb, like throw all the drama in the last 2 weeks of the series, that writer should be BANNED.

OMG. Sher, I don't know how you put up with it!

Hi everyone, the show must be near 2/3 done now....did the Missing Mrs show up yet? Lurking in the shadows, maybe?

Well, it occurred to me.....what if SK's missing mom shows up later to torpedo the DW/YM ship as it starts to sail? I hope they don't go that route, I'm already ticked about Hee and the Pharma lady.

And to add regarding the Pharmacist. Her situation parallels InOks: single mom trying to raise a young son. I wonder at InOk's reaction if she finds out about this? Not sure they will go in that direction. Pharma lady clearly needs a man in her life (they showed the shutter scene for a reason). Hopefully they don't write her out.

So, Ep 28's theme seemed to be "Messages, both Mixed and Clear"

Let's start with the Elephant in the Room: Her getting in the car with JH. It's been discussed to death here and it's pretty universal everyone isn't happy about that decision. My real issue with her decision is that she did this right after telling TK she wouldn't see him alone. And not only that, she doesn't tell him about it. And then she finally realizes that it's wrong and has him drop her at a taxi stand. Think about the mixed messages sent in that scene! Writers, there were better ways to handle whatever you wanted to do. This makes YD look confused at best, and stupid at worst.

Then the Pharmacist: Well, so much for that romance. She was always a few steps ahead of HW and to her credit, handled it well with him. I'm sorry her character was used solely (at this point) as a means to drive him back to that shrew. Clear message here indeed, and gently delivered. She does/did care about him. What a shame.

DW/YM and The Great Sprint: As her jealousy gets the better of her she literally drags him away from her boss (goodbye, career) to a local park and then trips. And like the doofus he is, he just stands staring at her lying on the ground like his tiny brain froze (note the reactions of the people on the park bench behind them). I was yelling at the TV "GO HELP HER YOU IDIOT". They finally use this opportunity to explain their feelings about each other at least. Messages were clear here, but the situation was mixed at best.

And finally InOk and The Fury : This is being discussed at length below. I too was stunned at her visceral reaction to the JM/HW contract and behavior. And of course, what does this portend for our leads when their lie is exposed. Is this to warn us (and them) it's best to 'fess up before InOk discovers on her own? What struck me is that for years it seems that JM has not accepted InOk as her mother-figure. JM has disregarded her input and frankly disrespected her as well. I wonder if this has colored InOk's reaction and anger as this High and Mighty Stepdaughter who looked down on her with disdain has now been caught in the wrong and it's her turn get angry? It's the only thing I can think of that would cause such an extreme reaction. And frankly, what good does having her quit do? Is she supposed to be a stay-at-home wife like SJ? There was no mixed message here - it was loud and clear: Quit or Get Fired! I guess we'll find out more in 29 when they have it out at home.

SJAF EP 28= .154. she pretty much disappeared after the first 15 mins

Well, it's Kissing Monday, so here we go again with "where are the smooches?"

Their first kiss.....
Maybe this is wishful thinking, I dunno at this point.

They’ve given us a few really emotionally loaded scenes lately (he confesses to her; she confesses her feelings to him at the campground; she tells him how she blames herself for his treatment; he talks to Real and hugs her belly) and yet, no kiss; not even a peck on the cheek.

So, here’s what I think (and I’m probably wrong):
That kiss, when it happens, is now being set up as a major event for them. Something BIG is going to be needed to trigger it at this point. And sparks are gonna FLY (would be cute to see a summer fireworks background when they do, and I know, “cliché, cliché”.) Half the members of this board are probably going to scream, LOL.

Given how secretly emotional both of these people are, I don’t see how she will leave him after that. NO WAY. That kiss will seal the deal and their fates together. So it’s got to happen just before the 3-month deadline is up (I’m not sure where we are as far as how many weeks are left for them….BT or Ape419 can tell us). Whether or not it happens in private or in front of JH/SJ is no longer important: the lease contract will be tossed and the marriage certificate will be signed (they could even make that one scene). They are together forever, no matter what doofus plan SJ comes up with.

That's a shame, he's a staple in Historical Dramas, and a great actor.

Thoughts on Ep 27 (I know, I'm late to the party):

This one struck me as "the setup"...no real big movement anywhere but it seems like they are setting the stage for something. I'll skip the leads here, since BT has given us an in-depth analysis of them already and focus on what struck me.

This Ep was the story of 3 women:
YuMyeong
Pharmacist Han MiYeon
Hee

YM - We now see her growing acceptance of the idea that it's OK to date a man with a child, which she began to wonder about in Ep 26. Her jealousy of her boss's intent to date DW is starting to eat at her and her unhappiness is growing, as she begins to realize that DW might be the right guy for her. The cherry on top for us viewers was her discussion with YD in the taxi. GO YM!!!!

Pharmacist Han - She had a busy episode with discussions with HW and JM no less. She brings a certain reality to HW vis-a-vis what divorce is really like. I know she gets some hate here, but I like her honesty with him and she's a much better person for him than his competitive/jealous/angry workaholic wife. Her approach is open and believable as is her curiosity about the contract he signed. Yes, it's regrettable that a child is involved here, but I also think HW is not the kind of person to do anything to cause harm to the boy. GO Mi-YEON!!!

Hee - Words can't describe my disappointment with her. How nice would it have been that fate reunited Uncle with his first love? This could have been such a sweet and happy love story. Instead, we begin to see her for what she is (but NOT why she is) in planning her scam with SooJung and Uncle. Uncle, (and maybe this is payback for his own shady backstory), has thrown caution to the wind and she's using his feelings for her own nefarious needs. GO AWAY HEE!!!!

Oh, and did anyone else wonder why SooJung had an outfit that perfectly fit YD, when they are two vastly different sizes?

On to Ep 28 tonight!

There was something going on in the past with her and her junior at work, before the marriage. But they haven't gone into it yet.