katie-ay

I’d love to know. I’d have to go back and check but I think that point she was being given a lot of money to buy clothes and look rich enough to be his wife. She also had the $15mil investment, although that would’ve been misappropriation, which doesn’t fit.

I suspected Hyun Jae Hyeon because he was on the phone a lot (esp. because he seemed to know she'd turned herself in as a witness straight away and wanted to prevent the press conference, but there's other explanations for that). He was a bit rogue or connect dots pretty quickly. But also he just seemed to be there for fun and didn't really 'need' the work, and turned up to scuba the lake haha...
Got theories?

Watch it now!! It has high rewatch value. There's so many symbols, foreshadowing/red herrings, repetition, patterns, juxtapositions, character dynamics, tension and growth. There's so much to mesmerise yourself with. The dialogue is so clever, so are the reveals, perspectives and pacing. I think I can see threads to a stunning Season 2. But I wouldn't risk not watching it to wait. Instead, I'd be watching this again when/if Season 2 came out ;).

I'm thinking she didn't want her photo taken because she'd been stealing work colleague's ID badges to get the family discount at the sales? I'm also thinking it may have to do with avoiding the life before she was Mok Ga-hui.

She kind of ran away from her debts, but did it better. She faked her own suicide. She 'died' to her old life and was reborn as Sarah Kim because she knew you had to be born into wealth. Otherwise, she was trapped in her former world.

I'm curious about her saying she would bury her bones there. It could be that she'd die for high fashion, die to be worthy of the handbags. Die to get out of her former life. It makes sense later if she'd said it since it was the place that killed her and made her. I think it's a thread that may be linked if there's a sequel. If not, it's a redherring/foreshadowing device symbolic or possibly literal... The show seems to centre on themes of death, birth and rebirth, even coming out of the waters like a baptism, fire, snow...

I'd love a second season to explore her more. I think there's so many threads to tie together. I also suspect she wasn't the murderer and there's something significant about Hong Seong Sin's appearance in the second retelling and her former life as Eun Jae that she fell in love with and was willing to wait for her inheritance....

As for Kim Mi Jeong, I think she hated her because she felt like Sarah Kim unjustly had what she wanted but because of her bag making skills. She realised how much she was selling a bag she specifically designed and wasn't credited for. She was outraged that she thought she had all the skills, looks and abilities of Sarah Kim, yet couldn't get the dignity and respect. Instead Sarah Kim called her pathetic, insecure and desperate. She said she couldn't be who she was after she'd done everything to tell she could be her. She was outraged, violated and wanted justice. But again, did so through killing someone else, compared to Sarah Kim who sacrificed herself to start her new life.

I've given this some thought and rewatched that episode. Here's what I think:
Initially she had proposed to be compensated for 500 million won, but then after he'd saved her life and told her she hadn't conned him, she decided not to con him.
From what I can work out, burial/memorial trees represent someone's continued lineage and protection of their descendents. By the son giving that tree to him, it's almost saying their family honour, longevity can't be at rest, and is instead in his hands. That's what he desired, not the money, recognition of his power. He initially said it was his only act of kindness because he backed out of being who he was, a loan shark. She questioned that kindness, also questioning if he truly is a loan shark like was hurtfully projected onto him, by showing him that a true loan shark would promise something and not deliver, so that you'd win and it'd cost you nothing but hurt them, because continued misery is better than a ray of hope vanishing. If their relationship was insincere, she would've asked for financial renumeration. Instead, she took symbolic renumeration. It didn't benefit her financially, but just like he saw the real her when her guard was down, she saw the real him.
She thought the greatest misery was a hope being removed. By him saying she didn't con him, he saw her mirror and recognised he was the misery in his own life. He was saying she wasn't a misery in his. She hadn't lost anything from her con. It was also humbling for her because she'd previously wanted to con him. So her hope/desperation and desire was taken from her. His karma was getting a kidney, like she'd got her life back. Her kindness was being a con artist who backed out of being a con artist.
By her cutting down the tree, she's recognising the transaction between them stopped them from being cons/vengeful.
She was out to take vengeance on him and con him, but instead he let her go/saved her life once he recognised himself in the mirror she'd created for him. She mirrored back that change to him, because she too didn't desire fiscal compensation/transaction, she desired dignity and ownership of his past wrongdoing. She wanted a future where people weren't victims to shark loans and loan sharks weren't victim to their own isolation they've created for others.

It was her way of saying she didn't use him. Just like he was saying she didn't con him, and thus saved her life.

By cutting the tree out, without roots, to me it says his old ways can't continue. He has changed. Just like his old life he was dying whilst the tree lived, now he's living and the tree has died. Now his actions should also bring life to others.

Relationships are no longer transactional, they're relational. It happens when we stop projecting stories onto people as loan sharks, con artists or entrepreneurs and seeing them as people by hearing their stories.

I suspect she won't do the ten years. I'm hoping for a sequel!! It'd explain why it's set in 2024. There's so many great threads that could be picked up to complete the series. I even have a growing list of reasons why I suspect she isn't the murderer ;).

Haha... to be honest, I'm still trying to process everything about the show and I'm not 100% sure I'm following what you're saying, so feel free to clarify.
I think they didn't maintain she was Sarah Kim and free to go because she was arrested for the murder of Kim Mi Jeong. If they were wrong they wouldn't be able to arrest her again without new evidence or a new charge. Plus, Park Mu Gyeong instead of a promotion, would then be up for dismissal and the disciplinary committee for unlawful arrest. She could sue them for defamation and making her a victim. At one point with the financial fraud it also could've made it look like he was taking a bribe and corrupted, plus it would've brought ridicule, scrutiny and shame to the police department. So, Mu Gyeong was the one trapped.
Mu Gyeong knew, ‘The only thing that can fill the gaps is the suspect’s statement’. The only way for her to confess was to threaten her with what she was desperate for, Boudoir. So, I theorise she confesses to the crime, not because she did it, but because it was the only way to save Boudoir.
I'm not sure how this is a hole or if I'm following your next point? Didn't the media end up saying Sarah Kim died. This kept the legacy of Boudoir and prevented those who bought it becoming victims of a scam and losing the prestige they bought.

Yes, they already know it’s her and proving it’s her would take direct concrete evidence they can’t find within the hour they have left. Even with a scar she could say she donated it to someone else, had a medical issue etc etc. it wouldn’t ’prove’ it was her without the tissue sample. Showing us the scar was to confirm to the audience she was Sarah Kim who’d crafted this whole scenario.

If he can’t convict her with concrete evidence she can no longer be detained and is free to go. Once she does she’d take on a new identity and disappear. He’d lose the chance to convict her of the crime, even if it’s the wrong person/name and he’d lose the chance of finding out who she really is.

At least that’s how I interested it/what’s made sense to me.

oh my gosh sunrise_dreamer, you're the sweetest and should be cherished. If you're talking to me, or want to be friends, feel free to add me :) I'll happily discuss them with you. I just joined but since COVID I watched 141 K-dramas and stopped counting after that haha... If only I'd reviewed them here!

Yes, I was so disappointed she became the murderer. It was so cold blooded and unnecessary. I'd love a plot twist where she wasn't and it was thugs who she owed money to or were vengeful and it was a case of mistaken identity and she was just covering with another con... after all it didn't really explain how she found out she froze to death... If she dumped her without any phone etc...

I agree with 2busywatching and also think she'd probably have a return strategy, she gave rights over to Jung Yeo Jin when 'Sarah Kim' died and I'd say she has shares or something in another person's name and another identity lined up for herself because everyone knew if they didn't convict her on the spot she'd disappear and find a new identity. She never unpacked her bags. Either way, like Di04, Boudoir was her life, her family, her community, her legacy, because she didn't have anything else.
TBH, I'm surprised she only got 10 years... Either way, if she ends up poor again, she'd find a way out of it again.

I think it's to show that reality is distorted. Focus can be an illusion. We're a bit blurry on the details.

I love this thread you've created ;)
I also think they've purposely left the audience out of knowing whether he was told her name. Although the flash to her being Sarah Kim at the end is probably it, she was the "Sarah Kim" she created and the ''Kim Mi-jeong" who wanted to kill Sarah Kim in order to become "Sarah Kim".
Like '@Why Am I Here', I think she chose Mu Gyeong because he was more desperate to keep his job and be promoted. I think this is why they included his second last scene, not as the promotion, but as a juxtaposition to Hyun Jae Hyeon who wasn't going into higher ranks, but working on patrol because it'd be 'fun'. This was a revelation to Mu Gyeong who worked for recognition and then he goes to Sarah Kim wanting to truly recognise her, the one who pointed this out in him. I'd imagine there'd be a hollowness to his promotion knowing he hadn't truly convicted the true person, yet he still wanted to know.

I think the drama also revealed why she chose him in the first episode when she recognised that he knows everyone has a 'story'. She recognised his desire to reach out. She reciprocated with undermining support by suggesting he wear a navy tie. He reciprocated with undermining support by suggesting she use the crutch on the other side of the broken leg. I think this supports your idea that it's a symbolic rather than strategic alliance. They always knew and saw each other. They both saw the same thing, reality isn't what we interpret or desire, but the facts. Perfection isn't perfect.

Yes! Came here looking to engage after finding it riveting but am disappointed there's so much shade on a series that explores light ;).

I’d like it set in 2010s too, it would make the timeline work neatly for another series. But setting it today actually makes it stronger.
We like to think we wouldn’t fall for a luxury brand that suddenly claims “incredible heritage.” But perception, not paperwork, is pertinent to prestige. When enough influential people signal legitimacy, through association, exclusivity, and access, others follow. Questioning it means questioning them. People want to feel included and accepted.

That’s exactly how Anna Sorokin operated. Social proof did the work. And it'd still work today.

The show isn’t saying we’re stupid. It’s saying we’re human. We rely on socially reinforced signals to function. If we questioned everything, we couldn’t socialise or function. So we accept what appears validated.

Besides, how many people know the .1% / royals themselves to verify? It was that very insecurity triggered the desperation that fuelled the deception. The Korean elites weren’t naïve, they were insecure.

Setting it in 2024 isn’t unrealistic. It’s uncomfortable.

I wonder if it's a licensing issue. But also, appeal, in general Koreans seem to value or understand labels/brands. Personally, as a westerner, 'The Art of Sarah' appeals more to me and seems to fit the thriller expectations than 'Lady Dior' which makes me think more of melodrama than mystery.

I think I'd need to watch it again to figure out the significance of another week, as I'm not sure of the timeline. However, I think in that scene she was testing his character because she ended up choosing him as her interrogator. Does he have compassion? Will he want to know the meaning of my actions? Is he interested in my story, or his own story? Will he go along with a con for justice? Can I affect his behaviour and perceptions? Will I be able to sway him and work with him?

By telling him he'd look better in a navy tie she's reciprocating his gesture and 'helping him out' but by making herself appear like an authority to him, like she knows something he doesn't and can help him advance. He reciprocates by telling her how to convincingly act with a supposedly broken leg. They now know important details about each other. The fact that she later took everything but left his tie for him to find, shows her intentions. I'm not so great at distinguishing colours, but I'd love to know if he always wears a black tie and if she left his black tie, or if he starts wearing navy, or left him a navy tie ;).

Scammers/sellers/interrogators often use a tactic of, if I've given you something, even if it's small (like a drink), human instinct is to create equilibrium in a social setting and they'll want to reciprocate in some way (agree, buy, provide information etc). She used this tactic with Woo Hyo Eun's stocking. Both Park Mu Gyeong and Sarah Kim identify these similarities in each other and are speaking the same language.

I found it hard to watch the scenes in the last episode where the murder was reenacted. It showed the violence and the tussle twice, that wasn't hard, but the implicit smashing of someone's face made me squeamish and look away. The total of it was probably two minutes of the whole show and not watching those parts wouldn't stop you from understanding the series. I don't think the sound effects were overly horrific.

Here's how I interpreted it:
They already knew she was "Sarah Kim". The people who knew it was really her didn't want to convict her because then they'd become victims and would be compromising their elite status. Like with Kang Ji Hwon, she didn't con him, she gave him the materialism he actually loved, pursued and would've killed for. Just like all of them - kidney, friendship, success, handbags, promotion, her name...
Is it really a crime if there aren't victims?
Is it a scam if you get what you want?
Is it really fake if people believe it's true or want it to be real?
If you make it real, does it become real?
Is there justice without truth?
I think the show's intention was to generate subversive epistemological questions, rather than logical questions... It's opening line, 'Truth is like the light, and it blinds us. Conversely, lies are like a beautiful sunset, that makes everything look beautiful' (even though it is the end of light and only darkness once they're caught). In the end their desperation for what they thought was beautiful blinded them to the truth.

I don't know all the legal jargon properly, but here's my summation: it'd be circumstantial evidence since the tissue sample can't verify who received the kidney or why the kidney was removed. I'm not sure what Korea's laws are on testing the patient's kidney to verify. Either way, I don't they had enough time to pull all the evidence before having to release her. If they did release her, she'd become someone else as she was unknown, and they wouldn't find her or have a solved crime/justice. She also refused to talk to anyone else but Park Mu Gyeong because she knew he was desperate enough to keep his job and seek a promotion, or go down with her. So she knew the best way of saving Boudoir and Sarah Kim's legacy was to become Kim Mi Jeong.

He knew she wasn't Kim Mi Jeong, but he wanted the crime solved and the conviction. If he proved she had donated the kidney and was Sarah Kim, she'd lose her brand, he'd lose his chance at knowing who she really was, his case, his job and chance at a promotion.