Here, in the US, the President gives an address to the citizens, in the beginning of the year, about the state of affairs in the nation. He talks about the issues facing the citizens and offers solutions to the problems. This is known as the “State of the Union” address.

As you know, I don’t aspire to become president. But I am the Uber-Bitch of this blog so I’m giving fellow Flower Gardeners the state of our canoe.

Why a canoe?

This was a joke started by…I believe it was @hafunohane. We aren’t big enough to have a shipper’s ship like the Jang-JW and IJ-Songhwa behemoths. So we’re in a canoe.

And that’s fine. Certainly, paddling upstream can be a struggle at times, like when the WG harass us on social media or we have no one to talk with. But it’s better to move slowly but steadily to our destination than to cruise on a big ship. It’s good to be the underdog.

Why?

Well, for one, we’re not trying to defend the existence of our couple. The Jang’s fans are.

For example, when this new doctor, Kang Soye, enters the fray, you can take it to the bank that Jang’s fans will gang up on her because she’s a potential poacher. lol. We don’t have to worry about that. We can sit back and relax.

Meanwhile, our girl Songhwa can focus on her purpose and her choice rather than defend her title as winner of the JW’s heart sweepstakes. Do not forget what I said: this drama is about Songhwa’s choice. She’s the titular “Wise Doctor” of the story. She gets what she wants in the end.

And for another, as underdogs, we have the opportunity to study and pore over everything.

You see, the weakness of the frontrunners in this shipping frenzy is that they prematurely assumed that they’d win the race. They don’t get that for this director and writer team, reversal is the spice of life.

It makes the story more fascinating when they can reveal something that they’ve cleverly hidden under the viewers’ noses since the start. They love it when everything in the story is turned on its head. Just like when Songhwa came out of nowhere and coolly struck out the runaway abuser that Jang had recklessly been chasing all around the hospital.

Gifs from BulmaGoku. Thanks!!

credit: BulmaGoku

Last year, before the Episode 12 was televised, my final words on the Open Thread were a reminder that there were two more seasons to go, and we were only finishing the first lap. I attached the gif of Marg Simpson, “Easy, easy. Stick with the plan. Slow and steady wins the race.”

Before Season 2 began, we learned that this season is last one planned. Then, when the premier showed last Thursday, the writer gifted us with a few things to make our canoe sturdier.

Let’s me list five for now. 

1. Songhwa removed Capt Ahn.

Songhwa had deftly removed him from her list of admirers but recommending a transfer to another hospital for him as a wise career move.

2. Songhwa resolved to become a “villain” in the hospital.

Now, we know how Songhwa added “villain” to her vocabulary. @nrllee reminded me that it was IJ who translated it for Songhwa while the gang was outside in the courtyard in Season 1. IJ said that “villain” meant a hardworking person.

Taken in that context, she’s definitely a hardworking villain…errr…doctor who drives back and forth Seoul and the hospital in Sokcho. Ironically enough, IJ complained that she was driving herself too hard and offered to talk to the administration.

Wellll…he was the one who put in her mind that a villain is hardworking, making “villain” sound like a virtuous person.

There are at least two other interpretations of “villain.” One is the the opposite of a “geezer.” She told her two doctors (don’t tell me to remember their names because I won’t) that she didn’t want to become a geezer, she wanted to be a “villain.” Now, a geezer is somebody old and cranky, who nags young ones to do better and work harder because life was tougher when he was their age. Songhwa didn’t want to be that sort of person because of geezers are tiresome company. Instead, she wanted to be a villain.

To me, then, her impression of a villain is somebody cool and hip, somebody that a geezer wasn’t. Buying her new car was part of her new “villain” image.

And she got the appropriate reaction from the guys, didn’t she?

However, the funny thing was her SUV showed what a geezer she actually was. For instance,

a. She didn’t like the plastic wrapping removed.
b. She didn’t know how to use the back-up camera and display monitor. There was no need for her to turn around (less stress on her neck) and look back since there was camera. All she had to do was watch the display screen.

On a sidenote: @Miracle23 reminded me that Songhwa drove like nobody’s business. Yes! I remember that in Episode 4, she said that she was the Queen of Parking. And that if she ever quit her day job, she’d work as a chauffeur. From my experience, it takes older people (geezers, lol) to trust and adjust to the new back-up camera, lane assist technology, and voice activation command.

c. SH teased her about using the Bluetooth speaker.

So her “villain” rehabilitation failed. She was definitely a geezer.

Lastly, the most ordinary definition of a villain is a bad person.

All Flower Gardeners instantly recognize this as an inside joke from ShinLee. Songhwa was going to be the dark horse, the upset-win, the underdog. To the shippers of Jang and JW, Songhwa will become their worst nightmare. They will hate her for “stealing” JW from their girl.

3. Songhwa made a move.

You see, all this time, Songhwa had been a goody-two shoes, waiting patiently, or should I say passively?

I wrote in the now-password-protected post that theme of the finale of Season 1 was “waiting.” If you rewatch that episode, scene after scene after scene, we were shown different people waiting.

Let me list them so if ever you rewatch that episode, you’ll remember what I wrote:

The newlywed couple who’ll wait for a year so the husband can have a transplant, the dad of the deaf child, the expectant mothers, the expectant mom whose baby died in utero, the mom of the grown-up son who brought his baby clothes, Songhwa’s brain dead patient, Captain Ahn’s grateful patient who waited for him to arrive, Songhwa’s resident who waited to confess to SeonBin, IkJun who passed the time reading and learning sign language, SH who didn’t want MinHa to wait for him, the twin doctor who waited all this time to know the identity of the doctor who inspired her and her brother to become doctors, Capt. Ahn who waited in vain for SongHwa to return his affections, Dr. Do who admitted that he always waited for the right answer to come to him, Jwan who left IkSung waiting on a phone call from him, Uju waiting for his dad to come home, IkJun waiting for an answer to his proposal, Minhwa waiting for SH to change his mind, Jwan waiting for Iksun to come back…and Songhwa.

The individual who did NOT wait in this episode was Jang. To borrow from Choi Taec’s words, she made a “scene” by barging in JW’s room and pleading, “Please stay by my side instead of God’s.”

In that episode, the Queen of Waiting was Songhwa. She’s always been waiting…

In Ep 10, she waited for JW to finish surgery so she could heat up the risotto and feed him. The hot food hit the spot. She wanted to broach the topic of his leaving for the priesthood, but he interrupted her, telling her, “Later, I’ll tell you everything later on.” He asked her to wait. Later, in Ep 12, when she found out about JW staying (she was the first, mind you), JW told her not to tell the other guys anything yet because he had to tell somebody else first (that was Rosa). In effect, he asked her to wait again.

Love means to wait. I don’t need to quote that Corinthians passage, right? Love is patient, love is kind….

And Songhwa waited. When JW finally changed his mind about the priesthood, Songhwa knew that the things were shifting. There’s the “wind of change.”

To me, that OST “The Wind is Blowing” featured last season applied to all of them. Of course, the song is regarded as JW’s song because his face was featured on the title track. But I think all of them were changing, varying their tune a bit just like in the Canon.

For Songhwa, the big change in her was her relocation to Sokcho. But new vehicle was also another physical manifestation of her change.

Remember their first band practice in Episode 1 last Season, when she playfully threw a shoe at IJ, and JWan ran with it? She’d also burped in IJ’s face during the practice. She was clowning around with them. Well, in this episode, she changed. In this episode’s car scene, she’d become the voice of an adult.

IJ: It’s raining a lot. Let’s wait for that truck to move. No need to rush. We’ll just watch the rain.
Songhwa: All right.
JWan: Did you pick the car?
Songhwa: Yesterday. I bought it with my own money. (turning around to answer JWan)
IJ: Obviously. Who buys a car with someone else’s money.

IJ missed the point. Songhwa was celebrating her car purchase because a car purchase signified her agency, that is, she was capable of making her own choice, and acting independently. And the fact that she could purchase it with her own money emboldens her. In both the literal and metaphorical sense, she could determine her own path; she could make her move.

IJ: (unwraps the car) You’re not the type to leave these things on, are you?
Songhwa: (smacks his hand) Yes, I am! My gosh! I bought the car yesterday. Why take this off?

Two points:

a. he was rude to remove the plastic wrap without asking her permission.
b. how could he not know Songhwa’s personality? And he wanted to be her boyfriend?

IJ: You have to take it off eventually.

lol. When somebody tells you that he/she’s upset about something you did, you should apologize right away. But what did IkJun do? He invalidated her feelings by making her sound unreasonable.

IJ: Hey, the hazard lights. Let’s move the car a little.

Instinctively, Songhwa followed him: she turned to backup the car. But she stopped and noticed IkJun’s smug face. She knew why he told her to move the car. He DISTRACTED her to stop her from scolding him.

Songhwa: Seriously did you have to do that? (moving the car)

Then JW spoke.

JW: Songhwa.
Songhwa: Huh?
JW: Why do I always have to sit here?
JWan: Jeez, he’s at it again.
Songhwa: (giving a tight-lipped smile)

I think she was commiserating but couldn’t do anything about the situation. Then, IJ interrupted, and distracted her again.

IJ: Hey, keep your eyes on the screen. Right here. It shows you everything you need to see.
Songhwa: My gosh, you’re right!
IJ: (successfully distracting Songhwa) This has been around for a long time.
JW: (not willing to let topic go) Lee Ikjun, you sit here. Sit in the middle for a change.
IJ: No. The seat warmer is on now.

Heated front car seats are a common feature of these cars. Not the back seats.

JW: You never sit in the middle. These guys have sat in the middle once at least. But you, never. For me, this is the third time in a row.
JWan: Jeez, that creepy jerk. Is he a pervert or a genius?

Songhwa: We’ll go now.

Songhwa: Ahn Jeong-won, can we go now?
JW: Yes.
SH: Mom? What should I eat for dinner? My friends and I will order in. Should I have kalguksu or fried chicken? How many chickens?
JWan: You guys drive me nuts.
IJ: I have to say, Uju is much more mature than these guys. (rolling down the window)

Songhwa immediately rolled up the window. And glared at him. It’s crazy that he would think himself superior than the rest when in reality, he was the worst. All the other guys were just childish. But he was childish AND inconsiderate AND selfish to boot.

He frantically wiped the window to make her smile.

Songhwa: Oh my goodness.

My take on this:  This car scene reminds me of a mom driving a van with kids.

JWan would be that finicky son who thought everybody had germs so they should stay away from him. SH would be a timid son worrying if they’d get to their destination safely. IJ would be that hyper son getting on everybody’s nerves because he hogged the video game control. And JW would be the mom’s favorite child, designated to be the peacemaker of the group. Of course, like any well-behaved child, whenever he felt put upon, he broke down in a fit.

To me, JW is Songhwa’s favorite. He has a petname. If Songhwa’s moniker for IkJun was “goofball,” then Songhwa’s affectionate term for JW was “eolin-i” or child.

This is what @nrllee posted:

She said “Ahn JeongWon 어린이, can we go now?” I believe 어린이 is a term of endearment, it translates to “child” or “little one”. Aww…❤️🙂

People who watched Reply 1988 would see the similarity between Deoksun and JW.

Deoksun bitterly complained about being overlooked in her family. One time, there was carbon monoxide poisoning in her home, and her parents carried the eldest and youngest children out to safety. They forgot Deoksun and left her behind. lol.

Another time, Deoksun had to give up egg for breakfast for her younger sibling. Then another time, she had to give up the coveted chicken leg.

Deoksun resembled JW in this sense. They both felt that they had to fight with others for their share of attention and love. In Reply 1988, Deoksun was fighting for her parents’ attention. In this drama, I think JW was fighting for Songhwa’s.

Songhwa knew that JW had reason to be upset, and she wanted to make up for his grievance by driving them back. I think he would’ve gotten the front seat on the ride home had he accepted Songhwa’s offer.

JW: We’re off.
Songhwa: I’ll drive you guys home. I said, I can drive you home.
JW: It’s okay. We can take a cab. Just drive IkJun home.

But I’m guessing that JW already assumed that IJ would get preferential treatment once again so he opted out and took the taxi with JWan.

Note: he was already putting on his scarf when he told Songhwa they were leaving. Songhwa was still putting on her coat. I suspect that he was making a quick getaway.

Do you see why I think he rejected Songhwa’s offer out of pique?

4. Songhwa rejected IkJun.

I don’t want to flog a dead horse, so I’ll keep this short.

If you’ve been following this blog since last season, then his rejection should come as no surprise to you. IkJun wasn’t Songhwa’s type. Being the wise doctor that she was, she knew they would kill each other even before the ink was dry on their wedding certificate. His antics made her laugh, but his personality and tastes were incompatible to hers.

That’s why I said that IkJun’s proposal was wasted effort. He had no chance of succeeding.

But fine! He needed to get it off his chest, so he deflected in an awkward “I have this friend…” hypothetical scenario. Let’s recall his proposal in Episode 12 last season.

Songhwa: Hey. Seriously, what brings you all the way here? Shouldn’t you have left by now?
IJ: Gosh, it’s so nice here. I came here because I’d like your advice on something. I still have about five hours. Listen up, okay?
Songhwa: (nodding)
IJ: I have a friend (pause) whom I’ve known for a long time. But I started to like her.
Songhwa: (eyes rolling away as she realizes this was about her)
IJ: (turning around but not facing her) If I tell her how I feel, things might a little awkward. But if I chicken out again (pause) and not tell her, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.

Here, we get the sense that he wanted a do-over of his missed opportunity back in college. But viewers mustn’t forget that his interest in her is also self-serving. He wanted her because she would make a convenient mother for his son Uju.

Songhwa: (frozen)
IJ: What should I do? (looks at her)
Songhwa: (turns away and looks down)
IJ: (putting both hands on her shoulder) Take your time You can answer when I’m back. Bye.

This was around December 5th. Songhwa stalled her reply to IJ for a month. But she was forced to give her answer after their awkward silence in the car on the way home from band practice.

She opted to meet him in his office. Surely you know what that meant, right? She didn’t want him to drop by at her house because it would make it harder for her to get him out. The office was a neutral spot. I believe I mentioned this to you in Episode 1 last Season when JWan dropped the office of Songhwa’s then boyfriend to warn him to confess to cheating on Songhwa. The office was a neutral spot.

Here, Songhwa was fending of IkJun by insisting that they meet in his office.

IJ: I’ll come to you.
Songhwa: Stay in your office.

Then, when she arrived, she didn’t want to make her visit look like a friendly visit.

IJ: Take a seat.
Songhwa: It’s okay. I’ll keep it short and get going. (pause) I want to give you my answer.
IJ: Answer to what?

lol. He was pretending here. Of course, he knew what Songhwa was going to tell him.

Songhwa: The question you asked me in Sokcho. (taking a deep breath) Don’t tell her how you feel. I don’t think you should tell her how you feel about her. You said you’ve known her for a long time. If you tell her things will get really awkward. “I want to stay best friends. I want things to stay the way they are now.” She’ll probably say that. If I were you…(shaking her head)…I wouldn’t tell her.

She cringed.

Songhwa: Don’t ask me for advice on stuff like this. I’m off.

And with those pithy words, this ship sank.

I’m repeating myself out here: AWKWARD is Songhwa’s favorite word whenever she rejects a guy.

In fact, I could have written Songhwa’s rejection of IkJun because that’s exactly what I said when they had breakfast together. I said she was avoiding telling him, “Don’t do this, IJ. Don’t be awkward. Come on now. We’re friends. Let’s change topic.”

So…if you’re looking for the guy Songhwa really likes, then look for someone she doesn’t feel awkward with. Someone she could nonchalantly ask to marry without skipping a beat.

5. But what about JW? He’s already dating Jang.

Slow and steady, folks. Slow and steady.

Just like I expected Songhwa to reject IkJun, I expected JW’s relationship with Jang to fail.

Look: JW’s personality is easy to understand because we can see a pattern to his blow-ups. He bottles up his feelings, he blows up, then calms down again. It’s kinda like…hmm…Canon Rock, the music that they were playing.

Let’s look at the incidents when he lost his cool.

The latest one was about the car. He’d been bottling up his resentment that IJ never sat in the middle row of the backseat. Then, of all of a sudden, he blew up.

What was his trigger point? Or who set him? Many would say it was IK. But I say, it was Songhwa.

It was Songhwa’s new car, and he felt that Songhwa should have done something or spoken out to ensure he had a better spot. After all, didn’t he give up his front passenger seat for SongHwa before?

He had two other known incidents when he had a temper tantrum. In Episode 4, when they were at the karaoke place in college.

JWan cut short Songhwa’s turn. JW took the control from JWan, but as he was looking for his song, JWan wrested the karaoke control from him.

JW: Hey, it’s my turn!
JWan: I requested something. Give me a second.
JW: (hyperventilating, lol) Listen. It should be me, SeokHyeong, IJ, Juwan, then Songhwa. So it’s my turn.
JWan: Are you actually keeping count? Are you some kind of pervert?

Who set him off here? Many would say it was JWan. But I blame Songhwa again as the root cause. lol. JWan stole Songhwa’s turn, and now he was stealing his turn. JWan had stolen *two* turns in a row. Stealing two turns established a pattern.

In the same way, JW gave JWan the stinkeye whenever JWan ate the beef cut that he reserved for Songhwa. Although JW was cutting for everybody anyway, JWan was directly “stealing” from Songhwa’s share. lol.

Then the third incident JW had a temper tantrum was during the famous kalguksu dinner in Episode 2. He just blew his top.

Waitress: How many bowls of rice would you like?
Songhwa: (eagerly asking JWan) Two?
JWan: Just one.

Songhwa didn’t notice that JW had raised his hand for 5 bowls. Then, he turned to observe her while she continued to consult JWan. He looked down at his bowl.

Songhwa: (asking JWan) Two will be too many, right?
JWan: Yes. I’m getting full.
Songhwa: (giving their order to the waitress) Just one, please!

JW slammed the table with his palm.

JWan: Gosh.
JW: (over-riding Songhwa’s order) We want five. Please stir-fry five bowls of rice.
IJ: I knew Jeongwon would get this angry.
Songhwa: (asking JW this time) Hey, aren’t you full?
JW: (upset with Songhwa) Ya!

He was about to protest, but IJ cut in and explained the situation for him. JW just shook his head in exasperation and continued eating.

IJ: (telling the oblivious Songhwa) He didn’t eat much. And us, too (point to him and SH). We just started eating. Guys, no one would eat that fast even during a war. Why eat so quickly?
JWan: Okay. Why are you getting so worked up? Order five servings.
JW: You are so self-centered.

Comments:

1. Songhwa had the good sense to keep silent and not talk back like JWan. She recognized that she got carried away, and knew that JW had reason to be angry. To me, she was apologetic, in the same way that she was apologetic when JW had to sit in the middle rowin her car.

2. JW would bottle up his feelings, explode in a childish way, then regain sanity afterwards. After he made his anger known, however, this incident never repeated.

That’s how I expect his relationship with Jang to go. He repressed his feelings for so long that when Jang knocked on his door and begged him to “pick her, instead of God,”

he reacted in a very uncharacteristic manner. He basically imploded. lol. That’s why he’s been acting like a giddy teenager instead of a full-grown man.

But I expect him to regain sanity and get over what he’s feeling for Jang.

Dating is part of his narrative arc so he could fulfil the lyrics in “Introduce Me to a Good Person.”

So, there you go. There are definitely more than five reasons why our canoe is holding up but I’m getting tired…and I’m sure you’ve figured them out already. Flower Gardeners shouldn’t be worried. Our canoe may be small but we’re in good shape to finish strong. Just keep paddling.