pomegranate

“no particular reason (like Eun Seob straight up ignoring the confession for days)”

Got to expand on this point. Out of all the cliche Kdrama moments where the leads don’t communicate, misunderstand or prolong their unhappiness by avoiding each other this was one of the rare times I understood it and agreed with the character’s reasoning.

He’s been keeping up a wall between himself and all his relationships his entire life, even with his openly affectionate and loving family that he also loves and cares about and is loyal to in return.

In one of his later voiceovers to Hye Won which come from his private blog postings, he mentions how he developed a phobia of all the happiness in the world after becoming an orphan overnight and then being unexpectedly saved by strangers instead of having to face the misery that awaited him after losing his family and shelter as a lone child in the woods away from civilisation.

His father and uncle’s lifestyle and beliefs had been ingrained in him as a child. (The legend of the boy and wolf’s the silver eyelash that they discuss in the book club). They were cynical men who distrusted society and everyone in the world and preferred to live like lone wolves in the middle of the vast and dark woods.

This outlook of the world greatly affected Im Eun Seob’s character development even though he did not really agree with them, they placed a doubt in his mindset which ultimately leads to him initially rejecting Hye Won’s confession.

Despite having loved her quietly from afar for years, he never expected anything to come of his feelings or for them to ever have a chance at being as close as they became. He was well aware of the kind of person he was and also the baggage he carried. Like how he left his family and didn’t contact them for 3 years after graduation whilst he took care of his dying biological mother. When his uncle taunts him about blood relations being stronger, his continued politeness with his adopted parents and that Eun Seob is destined to be alone like his father, Eun Seob isn’t able to confidently reject the man’s opinion even though he has no intention of leaving his adopted family or Hye Won behind.

So his character has serious abandonment issues- but they go both ways. He is equally afraid of turning out like his father/uncle and hurting people who care about him as he is of losing the people he loves. And in this context it makes sense that he pulls away from Hye Won’s confession instead diving straight into a relationship with her. But he does still love her and his feelings for her are greater than his insecurities so in that emotionally charged moment at the mountain peak where they’re both vulnerable and she’s walking away hurt, he goes for it and makes a move.

I think I had some similar issues when watching this drama for the first time, especially coming from watching dark thrillers and fast paced dramas before this. So for much of this drama I was busy trying to figure out the mysteries and character motivations and somewhat expecting things to either turn darker or more cliche with the little hints of trauma or the typical Kdrama female second lead and male second lead making cameos threatening to break the progress of the main couple. This didn’t go the formulaic way thankfully.

I found the storytelling a little disjointed and random which is one of the reasons contributing to my distraction. But it is based on a novel (which I would love to read if there’s an English translation or e-Book version) and the repetitive imagery/scenes, voiceovers, analogies, and disjointed feel in the drama is very novel like in hindsight and gives me a better appreciation for the way it was filmed.

The second watch or simply revisiting scenes on Youtube is much more smoother, after acquiring a deeper understanding of the characters. (The commentary subtitles JTBC put on the clips is also hilarious, though most don’t have English translation so you got to either know some Korean or find your own translator).

Regarding the scene where the leads discuss why the ML calls the aunt Noona (that’s not the same as first name):

Basically the FL’s aunt is old enough to be their mother and him specifically calling her Noona/Noonim (older sister) when he refers to other women the aunts age as Imo/Imonim (aunt) is an intriguing quirk and questions the nature or intimacy of their relationship.

The ML tells her that the FL’s aunt specially asked to be referred to as Noona (we actually get to see this moment in one of the flashbacks later). Which means he’s not doing it out of his own volition, and finds it awkward himself but respects her wishes enough to not argue or complain against her request or let her know he is uncomfortable with it. The FL is immediately sorry on behalf of her aunt and for interrogating him about this topic and bringing it up. He awkwardly insists he likes it and is perfectly fine with calling her aunt Noona but she calls out his white lie.

It’s just supposed to be a funny scene. No one is actually mad at anyone here. The name situation with the aunt is basically you know when women (or men) sometimes like to act younger than they actually are and insist people around them treat them as such? It’s like asking a young child to refer to a 30+ year old as brother or sister instead of uncle or aunt, because the full grown adult isn’t ready to admit that they are no longer young and or part of the youth generation.
Honorifics and the way different people address each other in Korea is much more important and a lifelong concern so even though the ML is an adult now in the drama, the analogy I make is still relevant. This coupled with the fact that Noona and Oppa are also terms to used to refer to people you can consider as dating potentials and not just people you are close with and give the same respect as siblings.

PS. I think there is some tea or coffee company listed as one of the drama’s sponsors. The hot drink scenes in the drama are also used as an analogy - like people handing out something warm & comforting to characters that are feeling cold. Similar to how the FL’s house is frozen and broken like her heart when she arrives.

But the FL here isn’t inexperienced? That’s obvious from the way she teases the ML in their interactions

The main characters in this drama are not yet 30 either, they’re 27/26 and only the ML has no dating history, but that’s literally his character- a lonely boy afraid of happiness but nurses a lifelong crush on the FL

Business Proposal is literally the clichest of cliches. It’s almost a parody because it has some sense of self-awareness but not really because the plot still progresses on the well known and outlined path anyway.

I don’t know what kind of comparison you were trying to make but that drama is no high quality project.

Same here. I regrettably discovered him too late even though he’s been on the edge of my radar for years.

He’s been a decent actor since his debut despite the awkwardness in his early projects and unsuitable characters. Unlike blank faced idols/visual relying actors/actors who I consider poor at acting he has always tried to use his facial muscles and emote with his eyes. And improved incredibly over the years with each project.
(His eyes really tell you everything.)

I like what I see of his real life personality too (from his debut days to present)- he just answers questions so sincerely and takes negative comments without whine or argument even though they can and do affect him and appears to have a very warm personality.

He has a different taste, more Western leaning, from the kind of the dramas that trend with the Korean audience or the average international Kdrama viewers who mostly look for easy entertainment and gratification.

The plot of The Third Charm, which he mentions he does not regret working in, appears similar to the movie Before Sunset - his favourite movie from his favourite actor Ethan Hawke.

It’s not the kind of storyline I agree with, but it is a reality for some people. The American movie did well, the Kdrama not because well, Kdrama viewers don’t really like non-happy endings or one-sided break ups with innocent hurt parties. (I mean the fact that CITT did not have a picture perfect ending for either shippers of ML or SL with the FL is one of the biggest reasons contributing to its controversies and general dislike of the drama. Like ML/PHJ fans would have been tamed fine if they simply got to see his happy ever after romance with Hong Seol, regardless of other issues with his character).

Apart from tackling new genres/challenges every project, most of SKJ’s characters or the plots he is attracted seem to do some exploration of human nature and behaviour - the psychological aspect of Watcher, just about everything in When the weather is fine, and even if I detest Human-Robot romantic relationships, Are You Human Too did raise some deep questions. And regardless of the lack of depth and plot in Entourage I’m sure he had fun playing the role of an actor as an actor himself.

I reckon the kind of scripts he’s generally offered cater more to his looks and ‘image’ than his talents and versatility. The money grabbing, cliche romcoms and trending fast paced plots. The kind of run of the mill scripts that are chugged out every year by the dozens. Good scripts are hard to come by, and harder to be casted in because better known talent or more connected agencies grab them up first. Then how they are directed can either enhance them or break them.

He does deserve better scripts and also deserves better reception. (Really his management needs to work hard to pick out his post-military project, and casting directors need to look at his skills first and looks second). It’s likely that one role as a lead character that satisfies both his preferences and the domestic audience will shoot him up to the top actors spot and give him more choices and better reception for future works. (Because whatever trends with the Korean audience is also going to be accepted by the international audience. The opposite happens sometimes - like with the sci-fi AYHT which was better received internationally than domestically but not really the other way around.)

Drunk driving, reckless driving, retaliatory driving, drowsy driving— stubbornly driving in these states when you can take a break or switch drivers - there’s no point trying to defend these because you are putting not only your own but the life of your passengers and other people on road at risk. And at the end of the day the responsibility lies on the driver in the case of an accident - no matter the situations that build up to that event. If you’re behind the wheel, you simply have to know when your body needs to take a break.

You just got to accept it, learn from it and move on.

Min Woo apologised for his stubborn moment. And thankfully they reached their destination safely. But the show’s PD took advantage of the incident for noise marketing instead of trying to control the situation.

Anyway, at the moment Park Min Woo is still recovering from a serious motorcycle accident a few years ago so best wishes for his health.

Park Chan Yeol was in the other team and other car during the driving incident. I assume you meant Seo Kang Joon who offered to take over the driving- which he eventually did.

And Hong Soo Hyun- the eldest in that malfunctioning car had said to have been in a car accident before (during filming for her one of her dramas), so she was tense about being in a car at all, let alone one that seemed to have various unexpected problems.

The biggest issue with this show in general is the editing and the PDs who are sabotaging their own show by over-dramatising events and editing manipulatively to fit certain reactions from different situations onto others. So we cannot be certain how much good or bad sport the other members were about the situation. (Hong Soo Hyun did attempt to make conversation to keep Min Woo alert behind the driving seat, and Park Bom offered to massage his shoulders- which Min Woo rejected).

It is true the other team did not help with the non-AC struggle in the second car but the situation itself was also not their fault. (The faulty car is entirely the production team’s responsibility and I only hope they did not deliberately hand over a malfunctioning vehicle to the cast just to get their reactions from it and more dramatic content for the show).

Min Woo was stubborn though. It was understandable that he wanted to take responsibility for the driving for as long as possible with the only other real driver in the car being Kang Joon who had only got his license earlier that year. (Ga Yeon who was asleep for most of the ride did not have a licence yet, Hong Soo Hyun as I mentioned had been in an accident previously and wanted to go by bus or something, let alone asking her to drive the truck, and Park Bom only had a license in name but hadn’t driven in years.)

But safety is indeed first priority when you’re behind the wheel and if you’re feeling sleepy and your alertness level has gone down a lot then you do need to stop and take a break no matter what, because accidents happen in split seconds- particularly when driving at high speeds on long highways. And Min Woo’s stubbornness could have led to an accident if his co-pilot Kang Joon hadn’t noticed and woken him up gently in time. Which is why Min Woo apologised to the members.

Drunk driving, reckless driving, retaliatory driving, drowsy driving - there’s no point trying to defend any of these because you are putting not only your own but the life of your passengers and other people on road at risk.

I really love your review comments here and appreciate you for explaining the differences between psychopath and sociopath which people use interchangeably to suit their narrative.

You gave a good character study of both the main leads. Particularly Hong Seol/Female lead through which we see the drama.

Production problems aside, the webtoon is still not that different from the drama’s main plot considering it features a pushover female lead that eventually gets together with and knowingly chooses to shield a psychopath male lead.

I don’t think reading the webtoon can make these characters or their relationship redeemable. Even if you feel less harshly against them, the core of the plot remains the same.

I considered them both to be psychopathic characters and highly toxic to their romantic partners.

Unfortunately both dramas give the message that their actions are perfectly acceptable as they are and that the key to their therapy is a relationship(??!!?). Switching the focus and responsibility of their behaviour from the troubled characters on to the romantic partners who are now somehow the ones responsible for accepting these psychos and controlling their destructive behaviour.

Seo Ye Ji was better dressed though, I’ll give her that.
She also had more demanding presence than PHJ’s creepy stalker vibe peeping at you from the shadows.

Just got to correct some information, this film was released only 3 months after Seo Kang Joon’s debut. With his most acting experience only being a minor role in the drama The Suspicious Housekeeper.

Though he appeared briefly as an extra in the background in the drama To the Beautiful You 2012, a year before, he was still under training (from June 2012) with his talent agency (Fantagio) as an actor idol at the time.