I agree with @John L’s list here. Thanks for doing this, John.
Episode 11
*JH offers SR the first taste of fried chicken. References back to when she offered him the first taste of noodles that he made for her when they were in NK.
*JH being angry for SR during the encounter w/ her brother. You can tell JH tried so hard to keep from rushing into the room and protect her woman.
*Reprogramming her home door: SR requesting JH have his prints added to the door. Subtle inference that this is OUR nest now–remember, she is a lavish swallow from SK.
*How insecure SR is when she notices other women notice her man (ie. When he was trying out suits). Not bc she is insecure, but how she wants him to herself.
*Love the way she beams every time JH walks out in a different suit.
*SR beams when the suit worker assumes JH is her husband. SR loves that idea.
*The way SR looks at JH when he holds the door for the mother & baby. Notice the way he looks at the mother & baby when they walk through? They even slowed down the mother walking through the door.
*Elevator scene w/ SR & JH talk about dating. “I have become picky now … Because of you.”
*Dan w/ the hair flip.
*JH asks if he knows SR taste in the car ride. JH “What’s your tastes?” SR “You.” SR “I told you in the beginning that your face is my type. Why you act like you don’t know?” JH *smiles*
*SJ & Dan eating instant noodles. Dan “Why should I say no? I like it.” SJ always seems to maintain his coolness in every situation, but he kind of just looses it while thinking about Dan.
*Dan w/ the sly smile when SJ inferences if she likes him.
*Dan’s mom “It’s happening … No, love.” This only enforces the foreshadowing of SJ & Dan’s romance.
*The gaze SJ & Dan have when Dan picks him up; him looking down at her from the balcony.
*SR being bothered about the comments on the Youtube-esque video of JH holding the door. Especially, the comments of Babe Magnet or GGW. SR explains her insecurity in episode 12 (drinking soju in living room).
*SR wants to be able to hear his voice if JH has to go back to NK suddenly.
*SR installs a location app on JH’s phone so they know where each other is all the time.
*SR smiles when she revisits the video of JH holding the door.
*SR trying to protect JH in the garage.
I’ll add my comment to four of them.
*JH offers SR the first taste of fried chicken. References back to when she offered him the first taste of noodles that he made for her when they were in NK.
Yes, I like the whole contrast. Seir happened to find his house and he dragged her into his house to hide from ChulGang. She asked him to feed her. So while she washed up, he made her noodles FROM SCRATCH.
Conversely, he happened to find her in the middle of a busy street in Gangnam. She brought him home because that was the safest place to be in a city like Seoul where people are wired to the internet plus there are CCTVs in every corner.
Social commentary: The wrath of the knetizens can be as scary as ChulGang.
Her cavernous fridge only contained bottled water, so she ordered chicken to be DELIVERED. Who was it here in this blog who guessed that Seri’s kitchen would be, for all intents and purposes, for display only?
By the way, this is running joke in kdramas. Rich people are obsessive-compulsive and their fridges only contain bottled waters, neatly arranged in rows.
*JH being angry for SR during the encounter w/ her brother. You can tell JH tried so hard to keep from rushing into the room and protect her woman.
I like this scene particularly because Seri was caught lying. She made up a story of happily reuniting with her family, so JH wouldn’t worry about her.
Then her Brother #2’s unannounced visit promptly destroyed her house of lies. Her fake story made her look pitiful.
Had JungHyuk known that her family were unhappy, and even downright hostile, to her reappearance, then he would have been ready to hear about the vile stunt Seri’s brother and sister-in-law did to keep her in North Korea. He wouldn’t have been shocked to discover that her brother would stoop to that level. But since Seri had to paint this picture of a joyful welcome home, he understood that Seri was deeply wounded yet was putting a brave front on.
In a way, Seri was not any different from him. Seri pretended everything was great so he wouldn’t worried.
He too like to pretend that he was fine and wouldn’t admit when he wasn’t.
Seri answered, “I can believe everything else, but not you when you say that you’re fine.”
So yes, he knew then that she really wasn’t fine. ‘
He was angry at her Brother #2 but he was also sad for her. No doubt if he stayed longer, he could protect her from her brother’s scheming. But he couldn’t protect her from her feeling hurt and sad. Those emotions, she had to confront on her own.
That’s why he hugged and patted her back. He reminded her, “But don’t forget that the person you should never forget in your life is not someone you hate but someone you like. While keeping someone you hate in your heart, your heart will be scarred and hurt. It will only be your loss. And I know you hate losing more than anyone else does.”
It’s self-defeating to harbor resentment and to let people she hated live rent-free inside her head.
This reminder was in response to Seri’s pronouncement earlier. Seri told her brother that there were there types of people she would never forget.
One, people who helped her when she was in trouble. Two, people who left her alone when she was in trouble. And three, people who thrust her into trouble, in the first place.
Now, remember when Seri gave JungHyuk three options after they kissed? I said that the correct answer was the unspoken “fourth” choice.
Well, JungHyuk finally wizened up. lol.
Seri said there were three types of people she wouldn’t forget. But he knew that there was actually a FOURTH type of person she shouldn’t forget. And that’s the person she loved. It’s better for Seri to focus on the people she loved than the people she hated.
Like him, 🙂
*Reprogramming her home door: SR requesting JH have his prints added to the door. Subtle inference that this is OUR nest now–remember, she is a lavish swallow from SK.
Yes, I like this imagery of her house as a nest.
Remember his codename is Mountain hawk. And all the men in his squad have bird codenames. Seri was apparently given “swallow.” At least, that’s what Dan’s mom wrote on her wrist when she and that Grumpy soldier had an alcoholic binge.
To me, this is the reverse of that time when he brought her to the front of his green gate and told her to go in. He said, “It’s not like your home is elsewhere. It’s dark outside so lock the door and stay inside.”
It’s not like he had another home elsewhere to go while he was in Seoul. It was winter outside, so he could unlock the door to her place and stay inside.
See what I did there? 🙂
*How insecure SR is when she notices other women notice her man (ie. When he was trying out suits). Not bc she is insecure, but how she wants him to herself.
*Love the way she beams every time JH walks out in a different suit.
*SR beams when the suit worker assumes JH is her husband. SR loves that idea.
The way I see it, the reason she kept on giving him suits to try on was NOT to find the best-looking suit on him, but to find a suit that would down-play his handsome-ness. But it backfired on her because all the suits he tried on looked good on him.
She gave him that brown suit which, the sales lady admit didn’t match a lot of people. He carried it off well.
She gave him the black suit. Black suit usually makes the wearer look too somber like an undertaker or too servile like a butler. But he looked like a model in it.
She changed her mind about finding him drab clothes, when she realized that no matter how good he looked, he had eyes only for her.
*The way SR looks at JH when he holds the door for the mother & baby. Notice the way he looks at the mother & baby when they walk through? They even slowed down the mother walking through the door.
Yes, I saw that, too.
I thought he was being such a gentleman. He opened the doors for the elderly, women, mothers and children, and mothers and infants.
I was half-expecting a person in a wheelchair and a blind person with a dog to walk through that door, too, to complete our civic lesson for the day. lol.
But remember what I said about JungHyuk’s father being a red flag in a relationship.
If I were Seri, I would have all our babies have tracking implants because they’re at high risk for abduction. His dad shouldn’t get a free pass just because he appears to be a hen-pecked husband and a family man. It strains credulity that a man would rise to the level of what? what’s his title again? Director of the General Political Bureau with oversight of the military, with CLEAN hands.
But oh well…I’ve resigned myself that this writer will get away with gaping plotholes and improbable scenarios just because she’s good at raising the emotional stakes. She’s good at writing dialogues that sound romantic and dreamy.
Take for instance ChulGang. He conveniently reappeared as a security guard at Seri’s workplace. Yeahhhh, right. That connection is artificial and created for expedience’s sake, like a deus ex machina — or to be exact, diabolus ex machina.
More tomorrow.
I love John L’s lists. I would add the very brief rainbow that appears when SJ rescues Dan from the restaurant b*s.
My friend who lived in the countryside in France told me that swallows nesting in your property are considered good luck and should always be protected. Perhaps this is a global legend. I wonder why the men gave Seri that particular bird as her symbol?
The return of the swallows means that winter is over. Swallows fly south for winter then return north for the spring so you always want them back; they’re one of the first signs of spring. 🙂
I guess they see her as a sparrow because she’s flying south where she belongs.
I’d rather have swallows in the yard than crows. Ugh. 🙂 Crows are crazy scary especially when I startle them in the morning when I go out for my morning jog. They startle me too when they rise up as a flock and fly away.
Of course, the swallow comes from the South and returns there. (silly me face)
Swallows over crows in the yard. Crows over seagulls in the yard or nesting on the roof. Don’t get me started.
Swallows over crows.
Crows over pigeons. (Nasty bird-poopers, those pigeons.)
Pigeons over seagulls.
I agree. Seagulls only look romantic in kdramas. I know about seagulls because we’ve a beach house. AND they don’t only poop and nest, they steal food, too. Ugh. No boardwalk fry is safe when a seagull is around. They can be aggressive food thieves so we have a water bazooka to shoo them away.
Agree with pigeon ranking. We used to have a setter who could catch the fat wood pigeons on our property, but then pigeons are none too bright.
When we first moved down here, there were seagulls nesting on the roof. ‘Cool. Living biology for the children. How lucky.’ That’s how our thoughts went for the first couple of days. Then the daily screaming flock visits at the crack of dawn and the many months long nesting (even after fledging) drove us bonkers. I like the bazooka idea. They are protected here, though, so must be careful.
There are fine birds here, too. There is never a lack of birdsong when I go out and we hear owls at night.
I think the swallow reference was started by SR herself. If I recall correctly, it was in Ep 2 that she was trying to convince JH why he should help her while she’s stuck in NK. It was based on a korean folktale that aims to teach young children to be kind.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heungbu_and_Nolbu
Good research!
Thanks for sharing, joonminfan!
Thank you, @joonminfan. What a nice story, too. I totally forgot about that in Ep 2. Gosh, SR is clever.
Now that i think about all the scenes when HJ acted like security guard obliged to open the door who exit from the shopping mall are all pictures of his words to SR during their convo..
“i want to stay here” represents that he stood at the door and see what future may bring if he stay with her in the South. As he opened the door,there are passersby that represents what’s inside his heart. It is a picture of young couple;old couples and a couple that carrying their baby which he said “i want to see you grow old”..a simple dream of a normal person but for them it is arduous to try. Sobs this scene😢
A beautiful thought @Kimgil.
Thanks @fern for the compliment. Bydway Our north boy wish needs twins😅 perhaps a thoughts that south n north become one.🤔😅
@Kimgil, Yes. I wondered if something might have happened that evening when they were being so open with each other, but when I looked at it again, they were still sitting at a distance apart; in fact further apart than in the riverside bar in NK and outside of the train.
I liked how they’re no longer hiding their affection in front of the soldiers. RJH holds her hand as soon as he’s done swiping them all away from her group hug. Later when Ju-Meok uses the term Loverboy, there isn’t a protest. Rather, Seri agrees that he knows everything and then feeds RJH a piece of meat. When Seri runs off from crying on the floor in the last bit, Chi Soo motions with the stuffy for RJH to go after her. I loved these little touches.
No pigeons. I’m surrounded by those. Their shit gets into HVAC systems and causes mass allergies and ILD 🙊 Birds belong in their own habitat. But oops. We took that away from them. 😢 It’s the saddest thing. Like I can’t wish for those stupid pigeons to go away coz I’m sitting on some tree that would have been rightfully theirs but we went and had a sky scrapper there.
Also, the masculinization of this entire “hide your pain, say you’re fine” needs to stop in mainstream entertainment. This is a rare kdrama where female lead also does the same but usually it’s a trait reserved for the male- the hero.
Do these people who propagate such ideas of a tough, pain impervious man know that most studies on the brain are conducted on human males / male counterparts of primate or mammal spieces? So when we talk about research on emotions, brain responses to pain, torment or depression, we’re mostly referring to the MALE brain! (It’s too complicated to study females due to estrous cycle – unless explicitly mentioned, studies are default on males). An entire textbook “The emotional brain” is on studies primarily conducted on male gender!😂
It’s about time we start romanticising men and women being honest about their mental and physical status. It will make for healthier, happier society.
“No Seri, how can I be okay? I just crawled for 20 hours in a one man tunnel without rest to enter into your country illegally to save you from being killed by a loose madman of my country” Much more preferable. Not least because Seri has a right to know. She shouldn’t have to keep guessing.
“No Seri, how can I be okay? I just crawled for 20 hours in a one man tunnel without rest to enter into your country illegally to save you from being killed by a loose madman of my country”
Lol @arihsi, I just imagined JH actually saying this in the drama. I would have loved to see SR’s response. Or maybe she’d say “I knew it.”
Even where I am from, men showing emotions is still taboo, although not as restricting as in other countries. While I wouldn’t want the extreme where men were too emotional they forget their roles too, I’m not too fond of the idea that men should always hide their pain. In CLOY, JH “revealed” his pain was when he confronted his father who he had rightly deduced as having kidnapped SR. And SR only found out about how JH was truly tormented because JH’s mom loved to eavesdrop. The only other time was his confession to SR. To me, that scene spoke a lot about pain too, but perhaps on an emotional level.
I love the last scene, when RJH told her that he was grateful that she was born into this world (so her birthday will always be a good day), and be thankful that she’s still breathing. Someone on this forum made a comment that life and love always find ways – I think this is a really touching and applicable comment to Seri and RJH. Imagine a stranger from so faraway can come to love her so deeply and is thankful for her love and all the happiness that it brings (and vice versa).
His words and his love are in stark contrast with her mother, who loathe that she is breathing and whose life has been hell because she was born.
I think Seri is well-aware of this contrast of love in the 2 people she loves the most. That’s why she may find JRH’s words and love even more valuable and appreciated. He and his love touch the very core of her, her belief in why she even exists and hopefully make her value and appreciate her own existence more.
This post and all the comments are very interesting and well-written. I enjoyed reading them all.
Thanks very much everyone.
Every two or 3 years, a truly legendary k-drama is produced. “Legendary” is because such a great k-drama warms my heart, brings tears to my eyes, makes me have more faith in love and in life, dream more, and be immerse in a world full of hopes and dreams, and beaufiful souls, love, and friendships. It also brings a lot of perspectives that make me see life in a more gentle and kinder way.
Crash Landing on you is definitely ranks among my most favorite k-drama, alongside Secret garden, My love from the Star, and My lovely Sam-soon. Despite the ending, I’ll be thankful for all the meaningful moments on the shows so far, and all the emotions they brought to me, and the peace in mind that there’s always love and kindness, no matter where life brings us.
I enjoyed Crash Landing so much more thanks to all the comments and discussions of yours here. Thank you all very much!
@Jerrykid84 – I love what you said about “I think Seri is well-aware of this contrast of love in the 2 people she loves the most. That’s why she may find JRH’s words and love even more valuable and appreciated. He and his love touch the very core of her, her belief in why she even exists and hopefully make her value and appreciate her own existence more.”
The biggest takeaway from this series for me is that everyone goes through personal anguish that is not seen by other people. People see people have the “perfect life,” but that is not always the case (ie. SR is young and wealthy). However, her struggle is finding the love she desperately wants. Marriage is the ultimate form of love; the commitment to be together till the end of time. In SR’s case, love became a transaction of wealth in SK. Vastly different in NK w/ JH. JH sacrificed his personal safety and others to keep her safe. JH never cared that she had money or what he could benefit from being w/ her. JH saw who she was as a person and tried to provide for her (ie. Kidnap episode of where she was trying to stay positive by thinking about the things he did for her). There was also a flashback when SR was hanging in the tree and talking on the walkie talkie in the beginning (ie. she was promising bonuses to her employees). JH was watching her while she talking before he formally approached her. As she was talking, JH realized that she was harmless and uncocked his gun (until he had to be visible and had to draw his gun again). He even showed a smile too. I think that was the beginning of his love affair w/ her.
Another thing that I got meaning from was the Indian proverb that SR was telling JH when they were heading to Pyongyang to have her passport photo taken. “Sometimes in life you take the wrong train and you arrive at the right station.” We all sometimes do not know what we are doing in life, but somehow end up in the right place. SR went to Switzerland to die, but JH ended up saving her life. SR ends up in NK and falling in love. I guess this is the tie in w/ fate.
Anyways, apologizes since this wasn’t entirely about Ep11 or Ep12.