My friend nearsea in soompi posted me this message over there.
***************************
Dear hii! Sorry, I have been AWOL, also please do know that I do read all your posts from time to time, and congrats on your website! Your takes on the show are funny and hilarious like always lol, also I loved your angry rant about Hwayugi’s ending. 😀 Repressed infatuation LOL, couldn’t have said it better! Hahaha, can’t agree more. I was planning to watch episodes 12-20 of Hwayugi later, but then I saw the ending spoilers and now it goes to my never finish dramas-list.
I am also watching the Great seducer, I honestly don’t know why, this show is okay and all the actors are pretty to look at, so there’s the visual attraction, :D, but apart from that, I don’t know, maybe Woo do hwan is doing the trick? [also pottery, love that plate he made]. Joy’s acting is still pretty green, and yeah Moon Ga young is good, but her character seems like a rip off of Blair, so I’m not sure whom to root for. I also found that part where Si Hyun was hooking up with a classmate’s mother pretty much unnecessary since this seemed more like a forced attempt of making his character look more outrageous, which he’s not. The guy pretty much lives in that den where the three friends hang out all the time. But, I guess I will watch the show since you’re reviewing. 😀 I will try to go to your blog and give reply more regularly from now on [if lethargy doesn’t kill me that is]. But I’m reading all your posts so thought I should let you know, <3.
*****************************
I hope you aren’t the American who’s been clicking on my blog a hundred times. If you are, thanks for being patient.
Yes, please go on watching Great Seducer. If I hold my nose, and pretend not to see the subpar editing work, I can say the plot itself is going so far so good. I know you’re strong enough to get stabbed in the heart with a tragic ending, so go on ahead, watch the kdrama. However, I wouldn’t recommend this to my friends who want a guaranteed Happy Ever After. (Heck! I wouldn’t even recommend this to myself, to be honest.) But right now, I’m a glutton for anything majkang…just so I can rid myself of the trauma left by Hwayugi. (hahaha. Cue in Pink’s “Beautiful Trauma” here.)
I love the pottery imagery, too.
There’s something sensual about pot-throwing. It’s wet clay, and you’re stroking it to mold the lump into an upright form as the wheel hypnotically goes round and round. If the director shoots it right (like in the movie Ghost, for instance), ANY pottery scene can become as sexy and romantic as that whole cello-playing moment of SooJi with SeJoo.
The pottery is also the reason I can rationalize TH’s father AND ShiHyun’s father attraction for TH’s mother attractive. As she stands, I find it unbelievable that two men would find her beautiful. To me, there’s nothing at all in her tired appearance or plain personality that’s worth swooning over. But maybe when she’s working at the wheel, all muddy, sweaty and glowing with creative intensity, then she looks sexy for those two old geezers. hahaha.
And yes, I also like that plate SH decorated.
Frankly, I didn’t like the white ceramic urn displayed in the lobby of the JK building, though. I thought it looked too virginal, with that diagonal line of flowers reminding me of the neckline of a Mandarin cheongsam.
I would have chosen something less conservative, something more avant-garde especially if I wanted to project an image of JK Corp as a company of the future. I wonder thought if her choice of artwork is indicative of the personality of SH’s mom: refined, elegant, but … rather boring and predictable.
As for SH’s flower design on the plate, I liked it. It looked simple but it gave off serenity. It’s obviously not a “designer creation” but an artisan’s craft.
credit: kimp07’s tumblr
But I wouldn’t get indigestion eating off a plate like that. That’s key to me when it comes to picking dinnerware. Will the dinner service give me acid reflux or not? lol.
As for his hook-uo with Kiyoung’s mother, I don’t know, nearsea. I’m not entirely sure that they had sex. Did they say so? The impression I got was they did some heavy breathing necking exercise but it didn’t progress from there.
But it would be funny if he did have sexual relations with Nayoung because Nayoung looks as unappealing as a dead twig.
credit: reddit
Anyway, one of the things I did like about this week’s episode was the fisherman and fish allegory from SeJoo. Yes, I agree SeJoo isn’t as shallow as he pretends to be. Didn’t he say so in Episode 9?
SJ: How can you drink cognac? You’re never serious. Are you sad? Stop pretending.
SJoo: You always say that I’m never serious and treat me like dirt. You wouldn’t befriend me if I was serious. This is how I survive. Just accept me as I am.
Then, he added:
SJoo: Just do whatever you want. That’s who you are. And I’m your damage control. (Meaning, do as you please, because that’s how you normally behave anyway. Self-centered. But don’t worry, I’m right here beside you to pick up the damages.)
The interesting thing is when SJoo tried to be serious with her at the fisherman’s wharf, she didn’t like it and told him to stop.
Here’s their conversation with my annotations.
SJoo: A fisherman once told the bait to catch a fish. But the bait became friends with the fish. The bait thinks, Should it escape the safety of the hook and sink to the floor or…
SJ: What’s this nonsense?
Just so we’re on the same page here: The fisherman is SJ. The bait is SH and the fish is TH. SH is debating whether to end their charade and be friends (or date) with TaeHee for real.
SJoo: Why do you think TaeHee left? (He was ever so tactful!! SJoo didn’t want to accuse her of being spiteful. He didn’t want to get her riled up. So in a roundabout way, he was getting her to admit to meddling last night.)
SJ: How would I know that? (She was in denial here. Of course, she knew why. Didn’t she tell TH at the pool that she could be mean? “I pretend like I don’t know and I don’t understand. Mean and mischievous.” )
SJoo: Say that you really wanted to find out if SiHyun was interested in TaeHee. That’s why you planned this trip to see them together. But you know what? You became the fisherman. What would be the next step? You would have to tell TaeHee that there’s no place for her in our group.
SJoo was letting her know indirectly, that HE knew what she was up to last night when she disappeared. He knew that she would say anything, even lies, to TaeHee in order to make her feel unwanted and leave their villa in a hurry. And he was right. SJ did end up telling TH that she had prior and greater claim over the “fishbait” SH.
SJ: What are you getting at?
SJoo: But you failed. (He was narrating her story for her so she didn’t have to admit to the guilt. lol. She wasn’t able to get rid of TH because SH followed her. She failed because she lost the bait to the fish.) Then what should your last step be?
SJ: That’s not funny. Stop writing a story.
SJoo: What did you tell her in the swimming pool? You can tell me.
SJ: Why are you looking at me like that?
SJoo: Could it be my interest?
SJ: Get lost.
SJoo: Should we catch just one fish? I make mean seafood soup. (He was back to playing dumb.)
SJoo definitely isn’t dumb as he pretends to be. He understands SJ like no other — much better than SH, in fact.
To me, he’s already perceived that the game plan changed without his knowledge. He sensed that SJ was no longer plotting TH’s seduction as a revenge for being dumped by her ex-boyfriend.
However, I don’t think he figured out already that SJ also forced SH to seduce TH as proof that marriage to him wouldn’t be fake.
Remember: SJ dared SH to kiss her and when he hesitated, she told him, “Show me how you feel in a different way. The game you suggested before. The scholarship girl.”
The game SH suggested before = the game he suggested back when they were in 9th grade, and there was a pretty assistant art teacher jealous of SJ. SH suggested making a bet to see who between the two of them would seduce her, despite her having a boyfriend already.
In TH’s case, the motive for seducing her was no longer the original revenge scheme. SH and SJ changed the game plan.
Now, SH was to seduce TH so he could convince SJ to marry him in a “real” not fake marriage. SJ only wanted to marry him in a “real” not fake marriage.
In a way, this new marriage arrangement between SJ and SH parallels the original novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In that story, Valmont was to seduce the girl and the Marquise would reward him with a night in bed, a sexual affair.
In this kdrama, however, when SH told SJ, “Deal! Because what I’ll gain is much more amazing” and he seductively rubbed her lower lips, he was alluding to the reward he would get once he successfully conquered TaeHee.
What was the reward again?
From SJ’s viewpoint, SH’s reward was a “real” marriage with all the passion that it entailed and SHE wanted from a marriage.
But the real reward for SH is that he would gain the upperhand over his dad. According to him, marriage with SJ would be the “joker” card to upset his father’s planned marriage to SJ’s mother. This was the “amazing” benefit he would gain from a real (or fake) marriage with SJ.
The viewers could sense that his seductive act with SJ was only his way of teasing – or toying with SJ. The viewers already knew he couldn’t follow through with a kiss. lol. On two previous occasions, HE failed to seal the “deal” – that is, kiss her. Unlike with TaeHee whom he kissed on the count of three two, he was unable to push himself to kiss SJ.
It’s also important to note that SJ was already showing signs of jealous of TH even way back then. She warned him:
SJ: I’m not asking you to fall in love.
SH: I know. I can’t like anyone else but you.
SJ: Make sure she becomes completely smitten by you.
SH: (sighs) Why does it sound like you’re talking about yourself?
lol. It is a convoluted tale, isn’t it? I’ve explained the revenge plot in my other post if you wish to read that.
So far, this kdrama is borrowing the same plot from the original novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but with a few significant deviations. For instance, there IS no SJoo character in the novel who was part fool, part wise man to psychoanalyze SJ. Also, this kdrama, ShiHyun has no intention of bedding SJ. He doesn’t regard her in that lustful, erotic way.
He definitely isn’t obsessed with her lips like he is with TaeHee’s. lol.
Thus, despite what I told you earlier, nearsea, to prepare yourself for a tragic ending and getting stabbed in the heart, there’s still a sliver of a change that the ending in this kdrama will be altogether satisfactory.
See you later, Alligator. In a while, Crocodile.
Low key though. I AM that American who is clicking on your blog XD
Nonetheless. I don’t normally comment on things cause I am a bystander online who rarely comments and just reads (introvert status), but I wanted to say I am so glad I ran into your comments on Soompi and realtalk- I appreciate your analyses of this series. There is something about this drama (idk if it is the choppy editing plus the gorgeous actors or what) that makes me have to think really hard constantly about it in order to make sense of it, and to understand the characters and plot… Was it meant to be digested in this way that’s forced me to critically think and analyze the film and everything in it, or am I supposed to just take things for face value and take what I get (which is a whole other debate regarding dramas in general). I dunno. Nonetheless, it keeps making me overthink for some reason (I think it really is the choppy editing tbh) and your writing and thoughts have been helpful. Thanks for the creative and helpful insights! I look forward to more 😀 PS: This drama is crack and I regret not waiting till it was completed TT_TT.
Aha! So you’re the one! Thanks for delurking. 😀
My good friend, Staygold, said this kdrama was receiving a lot of flak from netizens, so our self-appointed task is to spread the loovveee with our analyses. It’s hard NOT to fall in love with something you’ve come to understand inside out.
The editing is crappy, but so is the directing. Like do these kids really drive around in those convertibles with the tops down when it’s still winter? I watched SJoo drive Kiyoung home in his yellow convertible with the top down even though it was still winter. Same with SH and his blue convertible when he picked up SJ at the university. I’m shaking my head because, to me, they behave like nouveau riche instead of vieux riche.
The writing could also do with some improvements. For instance, remember when SJ hurt her finger with the broken plate? That scene would have had MORE impact if the writer had told us earlier that as a cellist, her fingers were very precious to her. As it is, we only found in Episode 11, when she was eating dimsun, that she shouldn’t strain her wrist/fingers.
The fact that SJ injured her finger from TH’s bowl, and SH didn’t panic and fuss over the booboo was significant. SH was more concerned about the broken plate and TH’s reaction than about the injury done to SJ’s precious finger. Instead, we were told that SJ’s upset because it was the first time SH had ever shouted at her. lol.
There are more incongruities but I’m going to overlook them right now. For better or for worse, we’re going to bitch over this drama…because that’s the point of this blog, bitchesoverdramas.
Btw, what is realtalk? I’m so clueless with the new apps for social network.
Feel free to share your POV and your comments here, too. Sharing is caring. 🙂
about what nearsea said: “I also found that part where Si Hyun was hooking up with a classmate’s mother pretty much unnecessary since this seemed more like a forced attempt of making his character look more outrageous, which he’s not.” I actually thought him hooking up with the older Na-yoon was to portray him as not at all outrageous but nice (in a weird way but still nice).
Se Joo: “You have a weird, merciful heart.”
SH: “Why? She’s the prettiest”
He’s saying that because he thought she needs to hear it. He’s being kind. The woman needed to feel wanted and he gave that to her. (I don’t think they had sex either, not sure why anyone would think that)
Could it be related to him losing his mother? Is that why he paid attention to this older woman’s feelings? Partly why he’s so nice with the halmonis?
He makes a show out of choosing Na-yoon after he sees the other people at the table bad mouthing her while she’s away. When she returns and she sees another woman in her place, he notices that and tells the woman near him to leave. When others mention Na-yoon is the oldest there he puts an arm around her saying he’s old enough for her. I think he’s being super nice. When they interact again he’s at first annoyed (he was just being kind, so dragging that moment is weird for him) but only for a bit. He’s still courteous with her. I liked all that. Did not find it unnecessary at all.
Yes! I agree. He WAS being nice with Nayoon. And you’re right. That scene gave people the wrong idea that he was just a cad but when you review it, he was being nice to Nayoung by defending her against the ridicule and barbed comments of her associates or so-called friends. That he was often perceived as a cold-hearted jerk is unfortunate. It’s a false narrative.
Strangely enough, TH recognized it too after she stopped relying on reports from well-intentioned folks. He wasn’t altogether bad when I realized that he treated TH’s friend, KiYoung, much better than SeJoo did. He treated KY as a person, not a nuisance. In that car ride to the fashion show, he had all the reason to become annoyed with KY because she spilled the beans about him helping out TH. But instead he courteously said goodbye to her, and willingly posed and smiled when KY asked for a photograph. He wasn’t rude to her like SJ.
It would be funny if SJoo did end up liking KY and marrying her. But for some reason, I keep on seeing references about his future death. Weird. Did you see them, too? I filed them away for now.
oh.. I missed any reference about SeJoo’s future’s death. I’ll pay more attention from now on
I’ll give you one. 😀
That film KYoung gave to SJoo to watch on their weekend together: The hero in that story was given a year to live. 😜 IIRC, the title was “I Give You My First Love.” The synopsis said that the girl was going to love him in spite of (or because of??) the short time they’d have.
I’ll give you another one 😂 …because you’re my friend.
The sister-in-law who looked inside his room and found that he escaped through the window: She muttered that there was a memorial for him to attend. Then she added that next year, it’ll be SJ’s memorial. I know she meant that remark as a joke but it struck me as foreboding.
I’ll keep the others to myself for now. 🙊🙈🙉
lots of thanks 🙂 I feel special now! Anyway, I guess it’s to be expected that there will be death and ruined lives at the end of this show.
It’s in the original story; Valmont dies.
When SJ panicked bec SJoo was kidnapped and she blabbered about mafia or whatever avenging a wife, girlfriend, sister, whatever, that was partly Valmont’s story: death by duel. 💀 😂.
By the end of the series there were just too many goof ups to overlook I guess! 😛
Everyone was so positive in the end. The grandmother forgave her son and her late daughter-in-law for messing with her grandson.
Rich people problems got solved all by themselves. There was no scandal to haunt the JK company or the hospital. Where was the granny when SH was in hospital. I was lost looking for the details that didn’t exist. It just got frustrating towards the end.
Yikes!!! I need a detox. What do I watch next!!