The thread is now open. Enjoy the show.
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For the record —
I agree with @Sayaris about the romance between JiOh and Gureum. I find it premature and precipitated. To me, they needed to heal physically and psychologically FIRST before they should have attempted to form a relationship and create a new life together.
And by new life, I meant a child.
How can they possibly take care of this new life when they can’t even take care of themselves? I can’t wrap my head around this plot contrivance.
RESPONSIBLE parenting requires the parents to have a CLUE on how to raise the child given the circumstances they’re in. Did they really think that the child won’t become a pawn in their crazy world when they were both living as fugitives? Hasn’t it dawn on them yet that, once their hiding place is discovered, they’re soldiers in active deployment?
For Gureum to be pregnant at that point in time tells me that she and JiOh were stupid not to take appropriate steps to avoid pregnancy. What the heck? I don’t care how attractive they found each other or how sexually intense the moment was. Their mental ability to discern choices and consequences should have trumped their animal instincts to mate.
No sane person thinks this way: “Assassins are going to kill us any day now. Why don’t we have a baby in the meantime?”
Do you see what I mean when I say the writer forced this romance? I don’t get why he had to ram a sexual subplot into the story when the timing is all wrong. Mature viewers would have been willing to wait till the end for the two leads to get together.
I already dislike this writer’s anti-Catholic bias displayed in that exorcism scene. Now, I dislike him more for employing this pregnancy trope as well as a defenseless baby to expediently move this plot and and possibly set up for Season 2. What I need to see is a connection between JiOh and Gureum because they share common values, outlook, and even friends, in life. Instead, I see them bonding they have a common enemy, have a carnal itch to scratch, and have no friends nor support system but each other in life.
As for this writer, he can’t end this drama with a cloying “love conquers all” finale. After leading us through all this death and destruction, I won’t accept such a trite message. I don’t mind if somebody has to die in the end, as long as it’s not the baby.
Thanks @pkml3. When show had foetuses in jars, expectant mothers being hoodwinked and crazed characters wanting to play god in making their own little ‘monsters’ without success, it was expected that the only surviving ‘monster’ should make one of his own and thumb his nose at his creators.
I gave up watching this as a sci-fi show with a message, to hoping to see the poor, unfairly treated characters get some restitution and a happy relationship along the way.
Kalimera and have a nice month everyone!
@Packmule3 I can understand your frustration.
I was thinking how to respond to this and I decided that I will do it like a historian.
I truly believe that we are witnessing History in this L.U.C.A. universe, which is a very near future possibility.
In mydramalist.com the synopsis says: “LUCA” is based on Charles Darwin’s proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. (LUCA stands for “last universal common ancestor.”)
I truly believe that the writer-nim is writing a story, about Evolution of the Species and the Moral Issues that are arising because of that. Since Charles Darwin’s in Origin implies that the stronger of the species adapt in order to survive.
The Evolution, we – the spectators, are witnessing is not an exelixis that is happening in Nature physically in a long period of time because of unknown data and environmental issues, but it is engineered by Science. So, things are accelerating in a not traditional way.
After taking the above into consideration, I believe that what we are witnessing the story how the Engineered Human / Animal Hybrid Ji Oh will become L.U.C.A. indeed, and how that is the beginning in the Evolution of the Species.
The Bad Guys wanted to engage a battle between Homo Sapiens Sapiens and Homo Sapiens Hybrid and we see exactly that.
Hence, I don’t take the birth of their daughter as something foolish, but as an example of how biology works.
Two people are chased from the bad guys and they stayed together in a deserted place. Of course, they would come closer for many reasons and consequently will start a family.
This is what humanity started to do from the Neolithic ages and whether we like it or not, it is coded in our genes. We can survive if we are belonging a group. The first cell of the society is / was family.
As I have said to @GB, I don’t think that the ending of the season will be good. If someone survives that would definitely be the baby, but I am not that sure about Goo Reum.
Hi @Cleo, it’s true that this show is about the Evolution of the Species and the Moral Issues that come with it and not only that but it brings us face to face with just plain morality. Basically the premise of the baddies (and even the researchers, minions, etc) is that human life and human beings are just objects to be used however needed by the people with money, then abandoned/destroyed when no longer useful.
This is pitted against the premise of JiO that people should not be killed randomly, that people are worth saving and that we should live and let live. If the baddies could just leave him alone, he’d be happy to farm incognito for the rest of his life.
Premise of the crazy scientist: humans are too slow to evolve, therefore crazy science and brainwashed woman can be justifiably utilised to speed up the process. In this show, embryos are ‘human’ when required but just collateral if they are flawed, and viable embryos are bandied about as something to be bargained with.
The morality of how a genetically engineered creature is going to be treated/used. We see this already from how JiO is abused. They will always be labeled ‘monsters’ (compared to less humane humans), and might end up either being treated as useful pets or dangerous adversaries. We will see the latter with JiO from Ep 9 I guess.
Added to all this is the already immoral evilness of all the people behind the L.U.C.A. project. They are so over the top evil, that this erodes the significance of the morality of super-human engineering, because everything that they think and do is so immoral that there’s just no need to think further. LOL.
Show would have done better to have ‘good’, humane people, trying to play god in a nice way, so that we’d be torn by being behind them because they’re nice characters, but not behind their work which is immoral.
Anyway, that’s why the overall feel of this show is that there’s overkill, over the top-ness in violence, in people dying, in chasing and torture and in the evil. It only helps a little in that crazy scientist may be a little ambiguous about wanting JiO to die, and that Yoo Na and Yi Son are not robotic minions… but the rest of the baddies are just flat characters and irredeemable at this stage.
So it’s a relief to me that JiO and Gu Reum had a respite from all that and did things naturally, actually creating new life, away from the toxic city, corrupt police, crazy science, and plain evil. I can’t say I look forward to the next episodes where the violence is likely to mount again, this time with JiO leaving in his wake electrified and burning debris.
@GB,
I think that they magnified the evilness of these people, for us to see their darkness pretty clearly. I agree with you. There are some things that are too gore to watch.
The whole story reminds me of Thucydides “History of the Peloponnesian War” and especially the Melian Dialogue. How the ones who are powerful treat the ones that have no power. This piece is way too powerful. I have read it for an essay.
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7142/7142-h/7142-h.htm)
For me all those people have committed Hubris.
Ate is what happened to them after the miscarriage of their surrogate mothers.
Ji Oh will be their Nemesis.
At some point, their punishment (tisis) will be their downfall.
(https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/hubris-atis-nemesis-tisis-ancient-greece : (ὕβρις → ἄτη → νέμεσις → τίσις)
I am glad that Ji Oh had Goo Reum and vice versa. I am glad that two people who lost everything, found meaning into each other. That is a powerful and hopeful message.
Goo Reum says: “We have nothing. No hope, no future.”
While Ji Oh, thought at the same time, that it is a new beginning for them.
I do hope they will be united once again.
From the Episode 10 preview, tvN posted some minutes ago, Goo Reum is still on the hands of the lunatics and Ji Oh is looking for her.
The baby was not with her on the scene we were showed.
I saw it raw and I coudn’t understand much, but the police officer who was called by Goo Reum when she was at the hospital, will discover that their Captain is corrupted? I think that yes. We shall see.
Bioethics (and ethics of science in general) is a worthy topic. I wish the drama writer gave it a more nuanced and sophisticated treatment. I am still on board for the doomed romance of two lost souls though. I give credit to the actors for keeping me interested.
Oh my. If key characters keep getting killed off at this rate, I am afraid that there would be no one left by the last episode…
Kalimera from my part of the world.
Let’s talk about Episode 9
I had a suspicion last week, but now I think it is valid.
Goo Reum suffers from postpartum depression.
We see her ex-Captain trying to manipulate her to believe that Ji Oh killed her parents, when surprise-surprise the culprit she was trying so hard to find is her kidnapper Kim Cheol-Soo.
The captain has no excuse to do that. Still, he did and then he called Kim Cheol Soo a shitty person? I mean you are working with them, what does that make you?
Kim Cheol Soo got overpowered by Attorney Jung and they wanted him out.
Attorney Jung give us more information about Goo Reum’s dad. He was a researcher that wanted to make healthy cells, so as someone to be a healthy person.
Does that mean that Goo Reum was sick and he tried to make her healthy?
If that is the case, it means that Goo Reum is genetically modified with the ability to heal herself. Does that mean that the regeneration process of her cells is similar to Ji Oh’s?
If my hypothesis is correct then, that is the reason she could complete the pregnancy. If the baby was electrocuting her as well, even though it was not like the implanted fetuses, she was okay because her system regerated itself.
In the meaning time, Ji Oh with the help of his friend Won-Yi were tailing the Officer Kim Yoo-Cheol in order to find info about Goo Reum. Instead they found Goo Reum’s ex team together.
The Officer Kim Yoo-Cheol got suspicious. He even found out that Goo Reum was abducted with her baby, but the Captain was dismissive. Then the police squad saw that Ji Oh was there and they tried to hit him, but got their asses kicked instead.
I really like that Ji Oh is using hand to hand combat, instead of draining himself out with the electrical surges. He caught the Captain and questioned him, he also hit him hard for all that he did to Goo Reum and and took his phone.
Unfortunately, Kim Cheol-Soo instead of resigning, says half truths to Goo Reum about her father and that Ji Oh killed her parents. He also manipulated Ji Oh to believe that Goo Reum was at the Cult Lady’s building and after a fight with Yoo Na, she dies.
Rant Time:
Dear Yi-Son,
You are a moron. Yoo Na tried to save you several times over.
She even told you the truth about how you became a slave to Kim Cheol-Soo, but your only goal was to get that damn arm.
Even in the end, she told you again to leave everyone because they are evil and yet you chose that damn arm instead of her.
So, why did you avenge her death by killing Won-Yi?
You had no right at all.
You didn’t deserve Yoo Na and her sacrifice, you stupid man.
End of Rant
We are left in the part as it was shown in the preview of Episode 10, where the Cult Lady will find out that Kim Cheol-Soo was holding Goo Reum. They will also find out that her baby is Zi Oh’s and that Crazy Scientist – don’t call me “Grandpa” will be very excited. *shudders*
P.S. Our little bundle of joy has the same abilities like her dad.
I also believe whenever she understands that her mom and dad are upset she cries.
@Packmule3,
The coding at the “end of rand” was not correct. Can you please fix the last sentences not to be bold?
Finally this song is out!
Klang – Gone
@Cleo, thanks for saving me the rant. I’m sad for Yoo Na. All I can say is that at least Yi Son ran over out of concern for her and was grieved by her death.
It’s going to be interesting now to know if evil Hwang JA ever gets those embryos. Yoo Na seems to have been the only one who knew where they are. With her gone, I’d love for the whole project to just come crashing down and end Hwang once and for all.
Hey my lovely @GB,
I was sad too, because she was just following orders, until she couldn’t take it any longer.
I am not sympathizing with Yi Son at all. He knew that Kim Cheol-Soo was an outcast, yet he decided to stay by his side because of that damn arm.
So, nope. Killing Won-Yi was a big no no for me.
Also, Won-Yi proved himself to be a true friend for Ji-Oh.
They don’t know where the embryos are, but they will find out that Goo Reum managed to bring to life this little baby girl.
So, we have three possible scenarios :
They will try to experiment on Goo Reum.
They will try to experiment on baby girl.
They will try to catch and experiment on Zi Oh.
In any case, Goo Reum has the baby girl with her electrical surges. Still, she is an infant, but she seems to be in tune with what happens around her.
We shall see.
P.S. The email notifications are not working on this thread.
@Cleo I sometimes have that problem with email notifications too … usually it means I thought I’d clicked on both the Notify me options below, but somehow, I missed one of them. However after I post again and make sure I did click on both options, and that I do get the WordPress confirmation page, then it is OK again.
@GB I will check it that way. I am not on WordPress, but let me check if I got an email to suscribe!
@Cleo, yes that’s right. Sometimes I forget to click on the email to confirm that I’m subscribing, then I don’t get any notifications. I just received one for the Sisyphus Ep 4 Review thread, and I clicked it, so I should be getting notifications after this.
@GB,
As it seems the subscribing was pending. That’s why I didn’t get any notifications… I fixed it! Thanks for your help!
@Cleo, You’re welcome! Are you getting notifications now?
@GB Yes! 😀
I am looking forward to Super Baby electrocuting Creepy Cult leader.
@SnowFlower
You forgot the Crazy Scientist / Grandfather too! *smiles innocently*
He will probably get zapped by Ji Oh.
And Gu Reum will avenge her parents by dispatching Director Kim.
@SnowFlower,
From Episode 10’s preview, Director Kim will be in the hands of Yi-Son and it won’t be pretty. I don’t know if Goo Reum will have the pleasure to avenge her parents.
Kalimera from my part of the world.
What to write about Episode 10?
For me it was a transition to Episodes 11 and 12.
Ji Oh was still looking for Goo Reum.
In the police station, Officer Kim Yoo-Cheol was smarter than his Captain thought. He found evidence that Goo Reum was abducted from the Cult Organization. So, the Captain tried to kill him, then tried to revive him, but the one who saved him was Ji Oh.
In the same time, the Organization took Goo Reum and her baby. Sweet Mother and Father in Law (sic) told Goo Reum how awful as a creature Zi Oh is, in order to make her give access to the genome of her baby.
Manipulation is their way of twisting everything and making the one who is being manipulated crazy in the process. Also, Crazy Scientist is crazier than we believed.
As a result when Ji Oh and Goo Reum finally met, she had a huge meltdown (she has definitely postpartum depression) and shunned him away in an awful way, because they did a “sin”, Ji Oh is a monster, etc.
Yi Son is definitely crazy as well. He still believed Kim’s words and he is in a mission to kill Ji Oh. *face palm*
The fact that Ji Oh is letting himself to be used by the Organization in order to clear Goo Reum’s name and save his family, even though Goo Reum doesn’t want anything with him, led me to the following -possible- conclusions for Episodes 11 + 12.
Yi Son is fighting with Ji Oh. We have seen that Yi Son is after Goo Reum with some minions. So that fight will happen. Yi Son will die, but Ji Oh might be mortally wounded in the process?
Goo Reum is running away with the baby, but she cannot escape from all those who outrun her.
So far, I am deciphering Goo Reum’s behaviour as a mix of postpartum depression, a deep fearb about her baby’s future, especially after she found out that she has powers like her dad. Regrets because her father was in the team who created Ji Oh and confusion what to believe about Ji Oh killing or not her parents.
Still, if she runs away, she will propably die. So, if the starting scene in Episode 1 is a foreshadow, we will see the outcome of that electrical surge the baby girl will create.
Consequently, every time I am thinking what will happen in Episode 12 I end up with an open ending or the death(s) of one or both of our OTP.
P.S. I don’t believe the scenarios I have read that: Ji Oh is dying because of the second round of experiments they did on him on the preview of Episode 11. It doesn’t make sense based on the logic of the Series so far. Ji Oh is created in a way that his cells are regenarating way faster than a human being’s.
I found this article on Soompi :
https://www.soompi.com/article/1456885wpp/kim-rae-won-is-merciless-as-he-searches-for-lee-da-hee-in-l-u-c-a-the-beginning
The part that is important is the following:
The drama’s production team commented, “Gu Reum, who was kidnapped, will face a shocking truth. The relationship between Ji Oh and Gu Reum will fluctuate due to the strong internal war of the villains. The choice they make will be a major stepping stone to an unpredictable ending.”
With episodes 9 and 10 behind me, I must confess to a growing feeling of relief as the story arc moves into the denouement. I’ve found a lot of interest in all the posts on this thread, particularly those which discuss possibilities for a finale/progession for this series. Only two more episodes, and I’m still not at all sure about a prognosis for Ji-Oh’s future, which I consider to be the mark of a good screenwriter.
I did enjoy the moment when Ji-Oh was offered power, but I wasn’t in the least surprised when he refused it. (It reminded me of the moment when Galadriel refuses to take the Ring of Power when Frodo offers it to her in “The Fellowship of the Ring”.) Ji-Oh may be about to change the world for the sake of his child and Go-Reum (with whom I have quite lost patience, although she does appear to be pulling herself out of her depression and irrationality), but as he points out earlier, you don’t handle power by investing it in individuals. He has wise insights, does Ji-Oh. People should listen to him more.
And didn’t Won-Yi make a good ending? It was as heroic as anything you’ll find in any tale of chivalry: “I want you to know that I kept my promise this time. I didn’t sell you out.” I cried over this. More good screenwriting.
For me, the matter of the last universal common ancestor is a bit tricky. I prefer Darwin’s concept of a “primordial form”, a concept which eludes personification, simply because it is so primordial. So to identify Ji-Oh with the idea of a common “ancestor” is an idea which is hard for me to take in. Admittedly, he has been genetically engineered to the extent that he is the only one of his kind, and can stand as a new species, but I can’t see him as “primordial”. The characteristics which belong to Ji-Oh and which Ryu Joong-Kwon wants to duplicate, are there, but as Ji-Oh demonstrates, they can be controlled.
And so we look ahead to the final episodes. All the suggestions and suppositions on this thread are convincing and heavy with potential. I don’t think that Ji-Oh will feel sorry for Yi-Son and will somehow provide him with an arm. Yi-Son has gone too far. Let’s hope he will find some sort of appropriate destruction (collapse under too many injections, perhaps) along with the three egocentric megalomaniacs. Gu-Reum – I don’t know about her. It all depends on what she does, now she has girt herself with her child and is issuing forth to do battle.
Not long to wait.
Poor Ji Oh. I felt so bad for him when Gu Reum rejected him. The scene was well acted. Ji Oh is the sanest person on Creepy Cult Compound. I hope that he does have a plan. And I hope that rogue Detective Choi will be of help.
After reading @Juriel and @SnowFlower’s thoughts and pondering about what the Production team said in that statement above, about “the choice they make…”, If only Ji Oh has a plan and Goo Reum listens to him, then they both have a chance to survive.
“The choice they make” means that they will talk about their situation and decide something together.
The Production Team didn’t say the choices they made, but the choice, that means it is one specific choice.
We shall see. I will try not to be that optimistic.
Kalimera @packmule3!
Can you open the new thread for Episodes 11&12?
Ok. Give me a few minutes. Thanks for the reminder, Cleopatra.
@Packmule3,
You are welcome! 🙂