I know you’ve been waiting for this so I’ll get straight down to business. As you probably can tell by my silence, I’m travelling. I should be back home soon to answer posts.
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1. Is Go Haeri a bad guy?
That opening scene had us buzzing. But no, I don’t think Suzy’s character, Go Haeri, is a bad guy.
But Lee Seung Gi’s character, Cha Dalgun, is working for the bad guys. lol.
He joined (“infiltrated” is probably more fitting) a mercenary group. His mission that day was to kill a female target riding in a limo. He didn’t know that his assignment was to assassinate Go Haeri.
To me, there’s a hit job on Haeri because she’s done enough damage to a corrupt individual, group or enterprise that they were willing to pay mercenaries to take her out.
Look: in Episode 1, the terrorist known as Raymon Jacque
thought Dalgun was part of their terrorist group. That’s why he greeted Dalgun with the words, “Wheels turn on their axis.” He was using their group’s “paroles” or passcode, and he expected Dalgun to say the proper greeting. It’s kinda like a “Knock knock joke.” When somebody says, “Knock knock,” you must reply with “Who’s there?” and not make a wisecrack like, “Come in! The door’s open.”
That’s why Raymon didn’t shoot Dalgun right away.
But Dalgun replied, “It’s you. But how did you…?” Raymon realized then that Dalgun was an enemy so he drew his gun.
If Dalgun had been one of the terrorists, their paroles should have gone like this:
Raymon: Wheels turn on their axis.
Dalgun: The earth revolves on its axis.
How do I know this?
It was in the script. hahaha. I’ll show you in a bit.
Later, when Raymon had Lee Seunggi’s neck in a tight grip, he asked him, “Who do you work for?”
He discovered LSG was a victim’s family member when LSG exclaimed, “How are you alive? Everybody on the plane died. How come you are alive?” His eyes widened then in shock.
In Episode 2, the metal that he removed from his chest is the symbolic axis.
An axis is straight line that goes through the core of a spinning object like the earth or the center of a body like a vertebra. But an axis can also mean an alliance between nations to work together. In World War 2, Germany, Italy and Japan formed the Axis which fought and lost against the Allies. I find it amusing that the writer chose to name the mercenary group Axis.
He must have been surprised to find out that DalGun was only a stuntman, and not a fellow assassin or an agent sent out to get him.
He had no idea who Haeri was until he was sent to investigate her after his phone call.
Here he is. He’s probably conferring with Haeri’s colleague, and the other Axis guy, Hoshik.
This guy.
That’s how he knew to wait outside Haeri’s apartment. He was probably looking for Dalgun to get back at him, and Hosik gave him the address to Haeri’s place. Dalgun had called up Hosik to ask him where Haeri lived.
But why do I say that Dalgun joined a mercenary group?
It’s because he’s ignoring this guy.
He was called a monkey, and he ignored the taunts. That’s a sign to me that he was there just to do “a job.”
If he had liked what he was doing or enjoyed the company, he would have shown enthusiasm. Like here:
2. Terrorism or corruption?
According to the story, there are three reasons Flight AKA B357 crashed.
A. The media and families of the victims blame mechanical breakdown.
They believe that the plane built by Dynamic Systems had a technical problem with one of its engines. That’s why Edward Park, the representative from Dynamic Systems, was there to apologize and deal with the grieving families.
Although he was successful in gaining the victims’ confidence, I think there’s something calculating and devious about the way he pacified the victims’ family. He appeased their anger by sharing his own tragic story and pretending to be one of them.
But what concerns me about this plot direction is the big leap in logic.
Normally when there’s a mechanical failure, the first thing that has to be ruled out is airline negligence — which in this kdrama is the AKA company. The transportation investigators have to determine whether pilot error, failed safety inspection, negligent repair and maintenance or some other lapses caused the crash. Then, the airline AKA will be found liable for these failures.
The airplane manufacturer, or Dynamic Systems, becomes responsible for the crash only when it’s proven that there’s a flaw in the design or construction of the plane itself. Now, proving this defective design or construction is a more difficult hurdle for the investigators than proving airline negligence. After all, if Dynamic Systems is at fault here, then other similar planes made by them, with the SAME engine, should be dropping from the sky, too.
So to me, it didn’t make sense that the families of the victims were going after Dynamic Systems instead of AKA. And it didn’t make sense that Dynamic Systems was already assuming responsibility when the investigations haven’t yet concluded.
I thought the writer(s) was blurring the lines here but oh well…
B. Lee Seunggi blames terrorism.
Or rather, his CHARACTER blames terrorists. lol. I keep forgetting his name, Cha Dalgun.
IMO, Dynamic Systems should give Dalgun an annual Christmas gift as a thank you gift. If the company seeks to avoid paying a huge compensation to the victims, then Dalgun has given the company an “out”. The company can shift the blame and say that the airplane crash was caused, not by faulty engine design, but by a wrongful act of a THIRD party, a terrorist group.
Honestly, I thought it was a stretch that he and that terrorist Raymon Jacque happened to be in the same men’s room in the same airport at the same time.
What a coincidence, huh? It’s like a meteorite falling on me as I write this.
But I can understand how Raymon Jacque and the Co-Pilot worked together to bring down the plane.
Co-Pilot was the one who brought the aerosol of freeze spray onboard the plane and stashed it in the lavatory for Raymon Jacque to collect.
I do wonder how big this terrorist network is when even an airport terminal police was there on the spot to kill a colleague who was going to report a plane crash.
And I thought it was also a big coincidence that Haeri’s embassy colleague, Hoshik, happens to be part of the terrorist group.
He seems to be keeping an eye on Haeri. He probably suspected Haeri had something to do with their consul being hauled away by NIS for bribery. And he was also suspicious about her trip to Lisbon around the time that the body of Michael, John and Mark’s vice-president, was discovered.
But he didn’t know then that she was sent there by her NIS superior to confirm the death of Michael.
But I’m pretty sure Haeri didn’t kill Michael. The director is merely trolling us when Haeri said, “suicide with a pistol” as she inspected a gun, then removed a raincoat from her luggage and hung it over a chair.
You see, Haeri isn’t working for counterterrorism in NIS; she’s investigating graft and corruption for NIS.
This can explain why she’s so lax with HER own safety and why she drives that flashy red jeep. She thinks of herself as a whistleblower. She isn’t expecting to be a target herself. If she was a counter-terrorist agent, she would have installed a security system in her apartment and she would NOT be driving around in an open vehicle that can easily be tampered with.
Like, really, director?? She’s supposed to blend in, not ride a moving target.
Hmmm…Hoshik was the one to release Dalgun from prison. He gave his calling card with his bank account number to Dalgun. lol. If I were Hoshik, I’d put a tracker on that calling card or release a spyware on Dalgun’s phone when he transfers 1500 won to a bogus bank account. lol.
C. Corruption
But of course we know that John and Mark (J&M) is behind the plane crash. The director Jessica Lee had her vice president Michael, a former CIA (lololololol), work his criminal contacts.
Their do-or-die (literally) goal is to win the contract to provide the Korean Air Force with the next generation of fighter planes. They’ve already bribed the President but the Defense Minister is opposing the bid. According to the Minister, Dynamic Systems will produce superior F70 aircrafts, in terms of performance and technology, at a much-lower price (say, a trillion won less??).
Jessica wanted to discredit Dynamic Systems to the Korean public. The chosen method was staging a plane crash. For some reason Michael balked at the last moment, and he called Incheon Airport twice to warn them of a plot to crash the plane. But the conspiracy runs deep and the airport terminal police he contacted was killed off, too.
Fortunately, there’s one person who doesn’t believe that Michael’s death was suicidal: Kang JooCheol, a NIS director, who’s been transferred to work in Psychological Intelligence Bureau.
He found Jessica’s answers about Michael suspicious.
I would find that odd, too. Look: a man just died with a gunshot wound. His wife is missing, most likely, in hiding. His girlfriends/mistresses would NOT be the reason for the wife decamping.
But what this guy should quickly figure out from that press conference is that J&M is the primary beneficiary of this plane crash. They have the most to gain so he should start looking into the director and company, especially her remarks at the press conference. Jennifer said, “Avionics are like the head of a plane, and an engine can be compared to the heart. The B357 manufactured by Dynamic Systems had a malfunctioning avionics and its engine exploded. A soldier with a malfunctioning head and heart can never win a battle. That’s all that I will say.”
I think she said a lot. It’s obvious that she couldn’t contain her glee.
Anyway, here’s a bit of trivia, because we’re into trivia.
This “F-X Plan” to buy planes is a take-off on the US Air Force’s $16 billion “T-X Program” to buy new training planes. It was a competition and the major aircraft manufacturers around the world entered. Korea’s only airplane manufacturer, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) teamed up with an American giant, Lockheed Martin, to compete for the project. But a 2017 corruption scandal involving the KAI’s top executives and the company’s fraudulent practice of inflating prices bogged down the Korean company.
Boeing won.
It was announced in Sept 2018. A KAI spokesperson confirmed that the price of Boeing’s was “unbeatably low.”
Now, I’m NOT advocating conspiracy theories here but go ahead and google what happened to Boeing 737 MAX.
It’s interesting when art imitates life.
3. Little details that bug me
I already mentioned my problem with the convoy, didn’t I? I promised not to nitpick anymore and I won’t. But this is a public service announcement. I don’t know about South Korea, but US embassies and consulates do NOT provide legal counsel and representation, nor official translators and interpreters.
If an American citizen finds himself in jail aboard, however, he should ask to be put in touch with the embassy or consulate. The embassy will see that he’s given fair treatment. It will also give him a list of English-speaking attorneys to help him. It’s frightening to be arrested and imprisoned in a foreign land, so the embassy will assist the individual to the best of its abilities, while respecting local laws and legal system.
In other words, Suzy’s and her colleague’s actions in prison are specious.
4. Yea or nay?
I’m staying for a while here but I’m not happy with the writing. The action scenes, like the car chase and the rooftop parkour (which reminded us of “Healer,” right?), are well done. Kudos to Lee Seunggi! And his crying scenes were good, too.
And Suzy did what she had to do.
Her scene at the end, including that flashback of her interviewing for NIS, convinced me that she wasn’t one of the bad guys.
But the plot itself is elementary and many of the major conflicts of the story are flimsy and contrived. I’ll probably continue for two more weeks.
“Wheels turn on their axis.”
Ah so that’s what he said. I think I have a hearing problem as I tried to listen to it a few times but I couldn’t get those words. LOL.
Howdy! Safe travels 🙂 Thank you for this. I got trolled alright. LOL. That’s why I needed your explanation. Anyway, I get the same feeling too like it’s not as exciting as it should be. Maybe my expectations were really high. But I will finish watching it as it is readily available in Netflix. I thought that Kim Ho-Sik guy was a bit off.
Gah…yes I picked up on the abrupt accusations levelled at the Dynamic Systems too, without first having anger vented on the most obvious target (the airline AKA)… it’s like going straight to Boeing BEFORE addressing the airline whose plane crashed? I must admit though, those opening scenes of the plane crash hit close to home. Lost someone I know due to a plane crash. The writing hasn’t impressed me. LSG is valiant in his attempts to be Jason Bourne but the plot just isn’t quite coming together coherently/realistically enough for me to stay invested. My level of interest died with the Nephew…who I actually found was the most interesting character 😂. Another still waters runs deep character…pint sized version.
So the first scene of the first episode (Dalgun sees Haeri getting off the limo and prepares to shoot her) is actually a scene from a future episode, it’s not a flashback? And if Dalgun is not a bad guy then why he’s working with them? Tbh this drama started in a strange way to me cause sometimes I don’t get the order of the scenes.
I was disapointed. They sold us Suzy’s character as badass black op and she’s a black sheep agent nobody wants in Korea… She’s not good in action. Her best point is she speaks 3 languages, but it never works in kdrama when the character has to speak in other language than Korean, it’s rarely credible. She’s not the smartest neiter “No, don’t open this box!”…
But the action scenes are fun to watch! I liked it 🙂
lol. I heard the “wheels turn… on their axis” distinctly because the rapid music suddenly stopped. I knew that it was a code. But I was wondering how should Lee SeungGi reply to that it next time he encounters somebody from that brotherhood of terrorists.
So I’m glad that Episode 2 came and solved my curiosity.
Me? I had problems with Jessica when she said, “Michael, do you know why I made a not good salesman like you…” Who uses that description, “not good”? Call him mediocre, second-rate, shitty, inept or “no good.” I find it amusing that the writer and director had no qualms about depicting the villains as evil. It’s either black or white for them. I don’t think they’re going to “rehab” Jessica’s character like the Hong Sisters did with Capt Firefly.
Yes. The nephew only had a few minutes of screen time but he did well. This is the first time I’ve seen this actor but I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of him from now on.
The opening scene is a flash-forward. 🙂 It’s a scene from the future…whether real or imagined, we don’t know. But it takes place in the future.
My theory: he’s working with them to get the real answers about the plane crash. I suspect that the conspiracy within the government prevents him from finding the truth so he goes through the back channels, that is, the mercenaries who were hired to do the plane crash.
That’s why I said he “infiltrated” the group. As a stuntman, he was skilled, fearless, and daring enough to be an assassin.
Most likely, the assassins/mercenaries have the same goal as he has: to take down and destroy corrupt people and governments through violent means.
But that’s my theory and this is only the first week. I may revise this later on.
Who uses that description, “not good”?
Just give Jessica credit for speaking a lot of English. 😀
I should have heard that but I didn’t 🤦🏻♀️ I did repeat it a few times too. Anyway, the scenes around Morocco are nice.
Don’t know the real name of the nephew Hoon, but he’s a great young boy actor. I like him from WWWSK. 😊
Only three languages? I think she speaks Japanese (didn’t she take down the corrupt ambassador to Japan, too?) and she speaks Arabic. She must speak Portuguese too or at least English because she was sent to Lisbon to confirm the dead body of Michael.
Then, Korean of course.
But yes…that scene with the lingerie box was funny. Why would she hide her passports there? Goodness no!
But this is only the second episode. I’m sure she’s going to develop into that “badass” black op toward the end of this kdrama. Here, she’s still emotional (i.e., watching the video of the nephew got her teary-eyed) so she’ll become tougher and grow a harder shell.
But yes, she wasn’t working with the terrorist group in this episode. Otherwise that Raymon guy wouldn’t have checked out her apartment and tried to kill her if he knew she was one of them.
I’ve to watch What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. I know y’all think it’s fluffy but I want see how she regresses from a capable secretary to a wimpy girl-in-love.
The child actor looks cute, too. He reminds me of that child actor Nam Da Reum who’s a teenager now. He was the Spirit of the Well in Hotel del Luna.
Agree! Hoon is cute! 😍 yes! Nam Da Reum is handsome.
I didn’t mind WWWSK but there’s not a lot of story to it but I did enjoy the kissing scenes 😂
Yes. Park Min Young has good chemistry with her male leads, doesn’t she? And I don’t get tired of watching her kind of bubbliness, like I do with Park Bo Young.
I also watched Lee Seunggi in one of his variety shows to “prepare” me for Vagabond. To me, LSG plays characters who are like him in real life. I find him naturally “hyper” and energetic, so the roles/projects he gravitates to are those that require high-octane performance as well.
Right now, his character seems to over-powering Suzy’s character. He’s driving the story. But later on, I expect them to be more balanced.
I thought of the Boeing 737 Max as well. On my mind because my nephew, a pilot, was grounded because that’s the usual plane he flies here in Canada.
I never thought there was a conspiracy myself about that one, but that Malaysian one that went down just lends itself to conspiracy theories!
Good evening! 🙂
I second that, that Park Min Young always have good chemistry with her male leads. 🙂 I’m actually hoping that her last kdrama, Her Private Life will be picked up by Netflix because I want to watch it. I thought her and KJW were a good pair too. I don’t mind PBY too. 🙂
I’ve only watched LSG in a couple of his dramas, King Two Hearts and the other one with Suzy. He always plays his character very well but I’m not into him like I am into Gong Yoo or Yang Yang or Deng Lun or Yoo Seung Ho. hehehe
Agree, he’s a standout so far in Vagabond. To be honest I’m not a critic of Suzy but there’s so many out there that’s so against her, I’m like, hateful people. LOL! I actually liked her character in Uncontrollably Fond. Sad story but I thought she played her character well there.
Thanks for the detailed analysis. I glanced over the details while watching and just enjoyed the ride. I was sad Shin Sung Rok did not appear at all, I hope he gets at least 10 minute airtime in ep 3 hahaha!
Fyi..’Wheels turn on their axis’ was written in red font on the main poster. I thought it was weird but then I heard it in the drama…so it must be a code or something. I still don’t know why Ragaz aka plane guy said it out loud lol.
I don’t find Ho Shik suspicious. He seems like an unassuming civilian caught in an unsual situation. Heh
Just saw latest stills…incoming……surprise surprise… shower scene… 🙄😂.
PS As for Michael’s death, yeah not buying Suzy being the hit person. Maybe Jessica?
shower scene… 🙄😂
They still need to show his abs? 🤣 Maybe it’s because we haven’t seen LSG’s abs in a long while? He has abs right? I don’t know 🤣 Does he look good in the shower? 🤣
What?! 🤦♀️
Lee Seunggi or that second lead, Shin Sung Rok?
Or Suzy? 😂
“They still need to show his abs?”
Copy that @agdr03
“He has abs right?“
Affirmative. The wheels turn on their axis. Over. 😂
Yeah, I doubt it’s Suzy/Haeri.
Jessica. Or another woman that we haven’t seen yet.
The wheels of the bus go round and round. 🚌
“Affirmative. The wheels turn on their axis.”
Copy that @nrllee 😂
Let’s see how hot his abs are, I mean the shower scene. Over 😂
Yes. Looking forward to Shin Sung Rok. That guy deserves a lead role.
I haven’t seen the poster. I’ll have to check it out. But as I commented earlier, Raymon said it because it was signal that he was with the brotherhood of mercenaries/terrorists and LSG was supposed to have said a COUNTER-signal to confirm that he, too, was one of them.
HoShik is part of the Axis group. I just checked. 🙂 It’s on the relationship chart I posted. I thought he was suspicious because twice he popped up when least expected: he returned to the consul’s office while Suzy was removing the memory card, and he showed up at the pier when Suzy arrived from Portugal.
And he’s typical of many agents — you know, dull, boring, and ordinary. 🙂
Just checked that chart. Maybe Molly is the girl you’re looking for? Or has she shown up and I don’t remember her?
Is Molly missing?
I thought Molly could be the lady in the airport terminal…the one who pricked the airport police/phone operator with poison.
Anyway, whoever she was,she had to be somebody in Europe on the day the flight was leaving Incheon. She/he should be somebody who could intimidate Michael to drink the liquor and to hold the gun to his head. I was surprised the Michael didn’t struggle in the car to get himself out of there.
If it had been somebody as pretty or small as Suzy, wouldn’t he have resisted and fought back? Suzy looked like she could be easily overpowered.
It could also be the Edward Park and his female aide. That assistant looks fierce, too.
I was pretty disappointed in this after watching two episodes like I feel like I have to realllly lower my IQ standards to enjoy this as a flashy entertaining show. I find it entertaining, the actions and emotional scenes worked. But logically – how can any gov intelligence agents explode their identity that easily? lol And how is any party at fault before the investigation is even remotely completed? Why would Dynamic Systems not crazily happy after the main male lead (forgot their names in Eng) found even a hint of possibility that the company is not at fault?
There is a character named Molly? I did not realize this.
I’m with you packmule3, Shin Sung Rok deserves a lead role. He’s named as one of the three leads in this. But I don’t expect him to have much exposure as Suzy and LSG.
Also I don’t know much about Ki Tae Woong except he’s the NIS team lead and he’s from a well-off family. But I’m not sure if he was the lead in 2012 or the current timeline. Not knowing much about his character is making me nervous. Even during the press conference SSR said ‘I’m the NIS team lead. I’m a bit strange about my role. I think it was weird. I was told not to spoil it. I think it was weird. I’m sorry. Anyways my role is a righteous man’…..his description was not helpful at all.hahahahaha!
Oh he said that? That he’s a “righteous” man? Very interesting. I wonder if he meant that he was incorruptible (therefore trustworthy) or that he was a sanctimonious, hypocritical man (therefore untrustworthy). lol.
But I’ve to keep this in mind when his character looks and acts shady. Thanks. That’s good to know.
I know, right?
The writing is so flimsy and unrealistic. That the people rushed to judgment and blamed Dynamic Systems instead of AKA was unrealistic. It was also unrealistic that Dynamic Systems, not AKA, accepted responsibility and their representative was ready to discuss settlements before the completion of the investigation.
It was hard to believe that Dynamic Systems wouldn’t tacitly approve of Lee Seunggi’s interference and secretly investigate, too, the possibility of a terrorist sabotage….although the Edward Park, the negotiator, and his assistant DID exchange looks when LSG came in and started blabbering about a terrorist plot.
It wasn’t believable that an embassy intern (Haeri was an intern) would suddenly be in charge of a major crisis like this. That’s not gonna happen. A crisis team with veteran embassy personnel would have been handling the situation. And didn’t Haeri say that she and her colleague were just “contract workers.”
But it’s still the second episode so hopefully the writer will correct herself.
@nrlee and @agdr03 you should know by now that shower scene (showing minimum 6 packs abs on ripped-lean-muscled lead actor) is a mandatory. It’s a template in kdrama, especially action kdrama. Also it’s the scene where I think I’m tired of this “oh not again”, but then I end up checking it after all 😅😅
I also think about Boeing 737, well the first plane crash happened in my country, and that was just about a year ago, so it’s still very fresh on my memory.
@DEY indeed. It is a well known fact that action men do their best thinking in the shower. When rivulets of water cascade down their well chiselled pecs and abs. Metaphorically stripping away all the non essentials and looking past the smokescreen of inevitable intrigue in the plot line. Absolutely critical in the grand scheme of things. 😂
@packmule3
Oh my god I can’t even name how many things I found unrealistic. Agree on the settlement guy might have something else in his mind but yes! Why is an intern who’s going to leave soon suddenly looks like an super experienced staff who they trust so much to come find her to solve the male lead being in jail problem together?
Also, is that really okay for her to just let a random stranger listening to her conversation with the boss that might contain confidential info to prove her identity as an agent? Is that even allowed? Lol Why does she trust him immediately? Why did she go point a gun at his head (even if there’s no bullets) – isn’t that basically tell the world “here I am an agent who owns a gun”?
Lol yea I hope it improves very quickly for sure lol
@nrllee hmmm.. you’re right!! I just realize how profound shower scenes is, it’s not just a simple fan service, it has purpose and very significant. I remember just few days ago I had this serious deeep conversation with @lovebangwon on twitter, that even good-looking alien from “my love from another star” also had it, it show how important these type of scenes are. I should study more about this, this girl needs to broaden her knowledge after all.. 😜
Oh right, about our alien, since he’s an alien the way he takes shower is a bit different from us human, he showers with towel on. But hey if that’s how alien have their shower who am I to judge?!? 🤷🏼♀️
I’m so OOT 🤣🤣🤣🤣 joesonghabnida packmule 🙇🏼♀️
hahaha. I’m laughing at all your posts on showers. I’ve to look for these stills somewhere and post them separately.
Voila – note the furrowed brow and intense gaze. Clear evidence that he is deep in thought…pondering the whys and wherefores of his predicament.
https://m.imgur.com/P1WAKiV
Hmmm nice shot of the ripped abs and oh the problem his facing needs to be cooled by down by cold/hot water 😂
I just wish his my Oppa so I can do a proper fangirling but his not 😂 Sorry! 🤞🏻