I’m responding to @GB’s comments here.
I’ve just watched this Ep 5. Among the things that struck me: yes… you mentioned Chan Sung’s naivete and trusting nature. I shook my head that he takes it on faith that the Ma Go sisters (there are more than 3, they claim so you still don’t get your 3 crones) are telling him the truth and that the herbal tea he drank was safe to drink. I was aghast that he downed the tea then and there without a doubt.
Yes, that herbal tea was suspect. He’s so trusting that the thought didn’t cross his mind that the Crone/clone spiked it. Ma Gosin’s flowers had cast a spell on him to allow him to dream of MW’s past while awake. But this herbal tea could have been hallucinogenic. It caused him to dream while awake.
I was also wondering if that tea has given him a little something extra in his sleeping and dreaming. What we saw was him waiting (for his supposed wedding) and in the instant that he opened the door, he had a very brief dream – a waking dream – of Man Wol in the past as bride. However in the next instant she’s before him in the present and he’s still standing at the door.
So now he’s able to have vivid, brief, waking dreams. A gift from one of the Ma Go sisters?
>>That dream was intriguing but I guess we’ll know in 24 hours what that’s all about. I doubt that she was there to be a bride. It seemed like the red robe was only an outerwear. Underneath it, Manwol was still wearing her ordinary garb.
I was touched by Man Wol’s memory of Yeon Woo, whom she admits is the one who loved her the most. How much she reciprocated that love compared to how she felt about others is not elucidated. He might still be a brother or a friend who intended to take care of her in her old age. He said he didn’t mind giving his years of life to her,… but he never said that he wanted to spend all his life with her. So I don’t see him as a lover, but more a beloved family member or friend.
Yes, the Yeon Woo’s flashback was touching alright. You made a good point there. YW didn’t offer to spend the rest of his life with her. He saw his life as dispensable and he viewed his remaining years like a debit/credit card where he could lend them to her when she needed more life. He didn’t see them as a couple growing old together.
I agree that the ‘lesson’ for this episode is that Man Wol (and possibly softhearted Chan Sung) have to learn to let go. Her full moon is too stuffed with things that she should really unburden herself of or from.
Also, she had to let go of her memories of Yeon Woo.
I felt that this episode did the balance of revealing more about the ghost world, with the tension, the pathos and the hilarity very nicely. I was super entertained and laughed hard at MW’s chagrin that despite her best efforts, CS was still getting himself hitched to the ghost bride, just as despite her efforts to protect him, he returned to Rm 13 to take care of her!!
I thought she was being jealous when she grumbled that he carried the bride ghost while he only offered to cart her away in a wheelbarrow reserved for cabbages.
By the way, did you notice her moon and star earrings, and the moon-and-star necklace? She’s accessorizing her jewelry to match the show. lol.
On the whole, I find MW objectively indifferent to the fate of others. Knowing what may befall does not phase her. While she cannot be considered altogether evil, she’s self-serving in her objectives and unmoved by the plight of others that her actions cause. Another thing that struck me is that no one cares that the Ghost of Rm 13 is now out and about, possibly scaring people into madness. I was thinking for a while that Rm 13 Ghost would provide lots of fodder for other episodes by continually returning to grin her Joker grin at CS.
Same here, I wondered what happened to the Runaway Ghost of Room 13. But we’ll know soon enough in Episode 6.
I like that despite being scared, he went back for Manwol. He thought she was calling him and that she was in trouble. That was manly of him.
This episode was great for giving us more about how CS ticks and also for elucidating more of the lore about ghost marriages (it was also something elaborated on in Master’s Sun). I’m glad to say that I was entertained from the first second to the last.
I expected the wannabe-bride’s story to be linked with the “virgin ghost” story but it wasn’t. But this perspective turned out better.
One thing puzzles me … humans cannot see the Hotel ghosts, but the parents of Su Min’s groom-to-be came to the Hotel and could see and hear Seo Hee explaining the wedding preparations. So the logic of the show is coming a bit loose already?
I know, right? I had to rewatch that, too. It didn’t make sense at all because the bellhop earlier went to the student/intern’s school and HE wasn’t visible to the other students. So yes, the internal logic seems to have broken down.
The only thing I could think of is there are still some weird, unexplained things about that housekeeper that haven’t been disclosed yet. For instance, in Episode 4, she scolded the bellhop for not doing his job right and she threatened him to take the bus to the after world. The word and the tone that the housekeeper used was similar to Manwol. After she left, the bartender and bellhop discussed her crankiness.
Bartender: She’s too much.
Bellhop: Right? How can she tell me to board the bus?
Bartender: Her comment was too harsh. Why are you standing so close to me? Ah! It’ll be 25 days soon.
Bellhop: It’s almost that day already. This year will pass safely, too, right?
Bartender: It should. If the same thing happens that occurred 42 years ago, Mrs. Choi will really be taken to the afterlife.
Perhaps she acquires some of Manwol’s characteristics every 42 years and she becomes visible and audible like her boss? I don’t know.
🙂
I was thinking that she was there possibly after fighting and getting herself cut badly enough to ooze blood, waiting to murder the groom. My guess would be that she was waiting for the captain of the guard.
Just re-watched and something else that popped out … CS was all dressed to go to the Wedding Hall and said to himself: “Okay. Let’s just think that this is a dream. ….” He walks to the door and says: “Alright. I’m just going to have a short dream.” And opens the door to see the waking dream of MW disguised as a bride.
On CS returning to room 13, I thought the dialogue made it clear he didn’t think the threat was real. When MW made it clear to him that the threat was real, his instant reaction was to try and hide behind MW. I saw it more as a case of CS doesn’t (yet) know whenMW is being completely truthful with him and when she’s conning him.
42 years ago … do you think the Hong sisters read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? And the question there was “What is the meaning of life, the universe, everything?” Seems appropriate to this drama.
I like GB’s thought “Maybe it’s only possible for them to see the Staff ghosts in the Hotel, when humans enter it?”
And room 404 has bothered me. The character in episode 3 who is shown to room 404 arrives with a yellow umbrella and there is a brief zoom in on a red book in left hand. Yellow umbrellas always mean something in kdramas, don’t they? The red book has a partially revealed title, “… 의 기억” as in someone’s memory. The partial characters could mean something like “life’s memory” or possibly a travel journal? It seemed to me a bit more than a throw away internet joke. The look on the man’s face was also odd…I remember thinking “hmmm is this guy working for one of those hotel guides?”
And as long as we’re collecting oddities, in the Tiger sequence, there was the little girl who saw the spirit tiger. Which means … shamans are possible, which means we can expect a scene with a shaman who can actually see spirits? Lol…
And the three goddesses, regardless of the “many more” comment, are a reference to the three fates from Greek mythology, right? The yarn tying the ghost to life, and the scissors that cut it … the scissors of Atropos, I think.
Yes, the answer to the meaning of life is 42. But don’t forget that Elvis Presley died of a heart attack at the age of 42 and Robert F Kennedy was assassinated when he was 42. 🙂
Rm 404. Like @GB, I thought it was a joke.
Error code 404 = file not found = a broken/dead link.
Room 404 = guest doesn’t leave the room = body is not found
Plus, you already know about the numeral 4 sounding like death in Korean.
I think he’s getting better than before at reading MW’s deadpan face. It’s MW who’s encountering difficulty in predicting when CS acts out of the ordinary or when he defies her.
Hmmm… @GB’s comment about humans inside the hotel can see ghosts.
But when I think about it further, I think that part of a manager’s job is the ability to recognize dead humans (i.e., ghosts) from comatose/dying. Manager Noh was able to detect right away that Changsung’s dad didn’t belong in the hotel. Just one look at him wandering in the hall, and he knew it. Maybe MW expects CS to differentiate between dead humans and humans at death’s door.
The yellow umbrella? I think the Hong sisters are poking fun at the yellow umbrella trope. In kdramas, lovers are seen under yellow umbrellas. In Hwayugi, however, they used a yellow polka-dotted umbrella as the female lead’s weapon to ward off ghosts. She can see ghosts but once she opens her yellow polka-dotted umbrella, the ghost disappears.
Yes, I thought the three Old Women were the Hong sisters’ equivalent of the Fates in Greek mythology or Hamlet’s three witches. “Double double toil and trouble.” But didn’t @GB say there were more than 3 of them? I haven’t rewatch the epilogue. I’ll do so after subs for Ep 6 come out.
It would be interesting to see why the Hong sisters made three of them.
So maybe he can step in and out of dreamland now by saying the magic word “dreams?”
That would be too funny. 😂
You commented on how intrusive it was for MW to read his dreams. Now, it’s CS who’s being intrusive when he can see MW’s past life, at will, when she doesn’t want CS to have access to her past and to know things about her.
I guess the Old Women evened the playing field.
I got all the 404 bits; it’s the rest of the elements of that scene I didn’t get. I hate it when I know something went whoosh and I have no idea what. Oh well.
Re who can see ghosts… the guests headed to room 404 are able to see the desk clerk/escort to the room. These people are already special cases, so they see ghosts already – and that is how the learned of/found the hotel? Or GB’s scenario? Or…
hey! You’ve come to the right place then? We love to discuss those little details.
Now, that I’ve started to watch Chinese dramas, I can see that kdramas are more detail-oriented. The director and the production team seem to invest an inordinate amount of time, money and energy to capture the essence of the story. So a prop sometimes isn’t merely a prop but a symbol.
Also, unlike Cdramas which can take 50, 60 episodes to unfold, Kdramas are limited to 16 episodes so every scene, every dialogue, every sentence, should move the story forward or contain a character arc or demonstrate a foreshadowing. To me, a well-written kdramas must be tight, meaning there are few scenes that are superfluous (or fan-service). lol.
I disliked “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” because it felt like one long fan service for Park Hyung-sik.
But I also disliked “Mr Sunshine” because it was too full of itself. hahaha. Everything had to be symbolic, grandiose, and representative of SKorea’s struggle for self-identity…as if it’s the only country on earth who struggled for its independence. But I guess if Americans can have “Gone with the Wind,” then SKoreans can have their “Mr Sunshine.” /snark
About the crones … it was the one in pink who when CS asked about them being triplets, said, that there were more of them than that.
About the man who entered Rm 404. It’s always hard to tell whether we are reading too much into a scene or not. Until a yellow umbrella or red covered book reappaears, I’m putting that scene down to just a bit of info that the Mgr needs to know. It seems pretty harsh to me though, that stubborn humans just disappear forever into the void of 404, just because they wanted to stay at the Hotel.
It seems people cannot see/deal with the Hotel Staff ghosts outside the Hotel so far, that’s why the Manager has to be a human being. However, when inside the Hotel, we saw at least 2 instances of people able to see and hear the Staff Ghosts. Let’s see if this logic holds for the rest of the series.
Yes, since the dreams are MW’s real past (seems they are not fabricated or skewered in any way) then poor MW has to suffer the intrusion into her memories. It seems she can remember those scenes with Yeon Woo pretty well.
By the end of Ep 5, she is clear that Ma Go has put CS into her life to make her time start and the tree bloom. Previously she had said that when the flowers bloom on it, she will have to die.
I believe CS has now been given the clues that this is going to happen because of him, what with talk of being his last customer and being sent off by him, and all. Being perceptive, he’ll put 2 and 2 together as usual.
So our conflict now is that he may want to resist making the tree bloom, which means he will go against Ma Go’s instructions. Like the rest of the Hotel staff, he will maybe want to keep the status quo for a longer time.
I’ve no time to watch Ep 6 yet. Catch ya later!
On the three crones, a beanie on DB pointed me to this…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsin_Halmoni
Which is more than I knew of Korean mythology. The yarn and scissors still look like an Atropos reference to me, though.
Cool beans! Thanks. 🙂
@growingbeautifully I noticed you were watching Moments of 18 (on DBeans). Sorry this post has nothing to do with HDL. I was interested because of the female lead (I like her acting), but steered clear because I didn’t want another coming of age saccharin sweet Drama. But from the recap it sounds anything but fluffy. Worth a watch? I might pick it up after I finish one of my existing dramas. I can really only manage 2 at a time.
@nrllee Hi there! Yes, I’m watching A Moment at Eighteen. What I said on DB: “…a great teen slice of life show with all the characters having nowhere to go or grow, rather, except up. Even the parents can do with some growing up … and maybe cute Teacher too.”
It’s far from fluffy, in fact some viewers found bits of it difficult to watch, and found reason for tears. It’s true-to-life with a little bit of lighter moments, but is mainly a thoughtful portrayal of young people dealing with the pressures from parents and other problems. The image they portray on the outside hides their stress and unhappiness … which are manifested in different ways. At the same time we are given reason for hope and much potential in the forging of relationships. It seems to be a well acted, nuanced portrayal of 18-year olds.
Someone was praising the directing and use of camera in showing and expanding our view as to what else was going on, and I agree that more is being shown to us than said, and we have to watch with some attention.
So I recommend watching this show for the care that went into its production, and for the satisfaction that comes from the growth in all the main characters.
Hope you get to catch it later!!😀
@growingbeautifully I didn’t wait. 😂 I went ahead with zero expectations and watched Ep 1. It surprised me. Not the least bit fluffy. I really like it. And for rookies the male leads are holding their own against the more experienced female lead. An hour well spent. Yes to the thoughtful portrayal of life as an 18yo in Seoul. I like how it doesn’t shy away from harsh realities, but it doesn’t make the mistake of overemphasis either – so far it seems to be a nice balance. Much like Dazzling (The Light In Your Eyes), another drama I stumbled upon serendipitously which turned out to be an utter delight.
Do you think this is riding on the SKY Castle wave? You said it was a good drama with focus on the academic rat race of elite families rather than high school romance?
If so, that’s good.
I didn’t tell you during that time that I READ (operative word here) that one of the characters faked her college admission to an American Ivy. I also READ that the character was based on a real incident of a Korean student who faked college acceptances to Harvard and Stanford. If that news article was reliable, then I am familiar with the actual event. I’ve connections to that high school and that “scandal” was very unfortunate. The student left the high school before graduation and went back to SKorea. We were more concerned about her mental well-being than her college prospects (though she will have to re-apply, she can make it to good universities based on grades). She was a smart student but in a school where almost everybody is at near genius-level with excellent work ethics and study habits, it was difficult to stand out.
Yup that scandal was highlighted in Sky Castle.
A Moment At 18 (thanks for correcting me @growingbeautifully) has that premise in the background (naturally so because that’s just the academic climate as is in Korea) but it features more the growth in the different characters. SC is black comedy. This one is not. There are elements of sweetness which is normal in the context of an 18yo student in Korea but not overdone because there’s many elements of gritty harsh realities woven in. And I like that they don’t overplay it either, it’s just there in a matter of fact my sort of way. The male lead is giving me all the Im SiWan vibes from Misaeng. Unlike Cha EunWoo who I didn’t get at all in Gangnam Beauty, this guy Ong somebody (😂 I will get his name soon I hope) has presence and the ability to make the audience empathize. Still a bit raw but genuinely good on the whole. Surprisingly it’s the grown ups who seem to be the ones who need more “growing up” than their astute children. 😮.