The thread is now open for spoilers and discussions.
Gifs from gongjinsaram’s tumblr
Although I haven’t watched this episode, based on his wooden expression, I think he’s bluntly lecturing her again about her substandard social skills (because that’s what he always does with her). Then, he closes his eyes and flashes his dimples because nobody’s more aware than he is (well, perhaps the director, lol) of the power of his sugary smiles to melt hearts.
When he works those dimples, an otherwise unpleasant truth can be made pleasant.
BTW, have you watched this drama on ultra hi-def TV? I burst out laughing when I saw how red his lips were. I think the make-up artist should go easy or choose a more natural color.
Enjoy the show!
Hiiiii, finally had time to actually be online again.
Just finished watching it and in my opinion, they went overboard with all the lovey-dovey scenes. felt like I was rewatching some hosp playlist scenes 🤦♀️
This episode has been the most fun!!!! I hope HomeCha continues to be a light and refreshing drama til the end.
@CheekyChu, I agree!!! Fingers crossed this will continue to be a lighthearted, feel-good show!
I love that they resolved the love triangle quickly too! And all 3 handled it quite well and maturely and kindly.
I also love how we hear the writer’s thoughts sometimes through the characters — the writer’s thoughts on triangles and overthinking, for example. Even the way they edit by placing scenes at the very end to make viewers curious and give the episode a twist.
HJ’s physicality bothered me, but I guess that was necessary to the plot to get the neighborhood involved. Anyway, it was pretty obvious early on that everyone already knew, but how the show executed the reveal was heartwarming just the same. 😊 I like this show for the supporting cast a little more than the main couple.
Was DS assigned in Russia, you guys think? Was he a Korean spy? (I wonder if his many skills and talents were needed for what he used to do.)
@packmule3, on smiling, his smiling was addressed in this episode. 😅 iIRC, Seong Hyeon and DS were bickering and SH told DS not to smile too much, and DS said that he was just naturally like that, he wondered why everyone kept talking about that.
I like that this show is self aware. 😅
Oh and one last thing. I like Seong Hyeon. I hope the show shows us SH finding his happily ever after with Writer Wang.
PS on @packmule’s gif, I dont watch it on HD. Oh my. 😳
@pandamilktea I like how they all handled their relationships and breakups well, from HyeJin and Dusik’s confession (like the kiss wasn’t enough and that DS has to articulate it too), to HJ’s closure with her past with SH, to SH’s acceptance of her rejection, even to DS and SH’s relationship. No kidnappings/evil plans from the SML, no fistfights, no crying and shouting matches.
Luv the Gongjin villagers and how they pranked our OTP. Even I was pleasantly surprised. Funny when NamSook was also hitting Dusk so hard when they were being separated.
Note to @packmule3, K drama make-up artists seem to overly lipstick the men and not fill in the lips of a lot of the women. And when women apply lipstick I’ve noticed that most times it’s to the bottom lip with the requisite lip smack. For a country with a huge beauty industry so much of the show make up just seems weird to my western eyes. The red lips on men can be a turn off, but then I look at the men’s magazine spreads and like the kpop groups, in a country that has gay issues, the men seem very feminized. It’s a Korean conundrum.
When I started watching K Dramas I found the whole makeup thing distracting but I can now generally ignore it. I sometimes play a game with myself by counting the red lipped men in a drama. I also see think that a lot of the bigger stars like Hyun Bin and Gong Yoo get better makeup.
Lastly Korean technology has brought us major advances in HDTV and that means ultraclear picture quality. You would think that being able to see every in pore on actors’ faces would revolutionize how they do make up.
To whomever was collecting the Start-Up meta, did you see DS knitting?
Yes, this episode was pretty treacly and a bit goofy, but it made me smile. –Except for Seong Hyeon’s heart break. The right person for him could have been HJ, but neither of them did anything about it in all the years they could have. Instead he has someone who really likes him now. He knows she cares for him, but not beyond that. If this were a panto, the audience would be shouting, ‘She’s right behind you!’
I got chills when Gam-ri said that she had no more wishes.
@Packmule3, I have noticed red lips on men in Kdramas, and my friend who lived and taught in South Korea for three years says men there do wear lipstick. Her words: “Pinkish, mostly lip color but more so. Performers, maybe upscale retail. Not usually everyday use.” Augmented lip color on men could be a cultural difference that may look odd to non-South-Korean viewers. I’ve been bothered by another thing I’ve noticed watching dramas, which I suppose I can attribute to high-definition TV, is that actor’s faces may be a different color than their neck, ears, hands, etc. thanks to pancake makeup.
Episode 11 was cutesy, but I found HJ’s behavior brutish and annoying. If she likes Du Sik so much, hurting him should not be her first reaction when cornered. As another beloved character in a less-beloved Kdrama once said, you can make a mistake once, but learn from it and don’t make the mistake again. There should never have been a second–much less third and fourth–incident where HJ, in trying to save face, physically abused DS. Writernim, that kind of behavior is not comic, it is toxic. And while you’re at it, Writernim, it is not acceptable for women to habitually slap people on the arms and shoulders, just as it wouldn’t be accepted for a man to “affectionately” slap a woman. I don’t care if the wrongness of it is acknowledged by people complaining about Nam Suk, or Director Ji complaining about Writer Wang. Just stop. Don’t perpetuate the stereotype.
For the most part, I grinned while watching Episode 11. A couple being cuddly is fine by me. Human touch improves health: mental, emotional, and physical. I’d be suspicious of a couple newly in love that didn’t crave physical intimacy. Two people in the beginning stage of love have racing hormones, to be sure, but there are many non-sexual ways of touching that help bond the couple. One thing I dislike about Kdramas: in trying to depict people being chaste while romance blooms, even the simplest human touch is sexualized.
Trouble for our OTP is foreshadowed. While alone in Du Sik’s house (Wasn’t it presumptuous of HJ to enter when he wasn’t there?), HJ started to pull out the book that holds the photo of woman and child which made DS cry. And then HJ wanted DS to promise there wouldn’t be secrets between them. That, again, is presumptuous of HJ. There are things in people’s pasts that are on a need-to-know basis and don’t necessarily have to be shared. Learning about your partner takes time in a relationship: couples don’t know everything about each other the moment they decide to get together. I’ve been married to my husband 42 years, and knew him for three years before we got hitched, and I just recently learned that he learned how to knit in his youth. Sensitive matters that do have consequence in a relationship need emotional intimacy and trust to be strengthened so empathy and understanding have a chance to mature.
Like @Welmaris, I did not like the physical abuse. It seemed funny at first but physically hurting a person, be it for subterfuge or something else, more so if it’s a person you love is never acceptable. It was also kind of “manipulative” that the writers have a woman doing the hitting so it may seem more funny or light. But imagine if this is the guy doing it for the same purpose and it will be viewed with a different lens (and with more frowns).
Noting that aside, I like the relationship reveal with the Gongjin community. Great idea to also separate them and stop the violence as well as literally applying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” to them. Also proves that the gossip lady can keep a secret. I had an inkling when the cellphone is missing that folks already know about it.
The most touching scene in this episode (and for me, in the entire show so far) is Hye Jin and SH’s conversation on her answer to his confession. Well delivered by both and the flashbacks made it a very emotional scene. My heartstrings were tugged and I was a bit teary eyed. I like that SH is also a good guy and Hye Jin’s choice is really because she loves Chief Hong and not comparing both guys to see who is lacking or better.
@Fern, yes to Start Up meta! Chief Hong crocheting (close enough to knitting) at Bora’s store, probably continuing what the pregnant lady was making. I almost missed that. LOL!!!
Was the ex-husband jealous of HG possibly dating? And it’s only now that he is wondering why she divorced him? I think her reason is because she thinks he never loved her and she didn’t want to settle anymore. I am not sure if I’ll like a reconciliation as their end game.
@Pandamilktea – I agree with you that this show is self aware and can poke fun on its own drama. It’s as if the writers were lurking and reading our comments and then adding some riposte in the script. That’s also why finding the Start Up meta is fun in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way.
I wonder what tonight will bring. Last night was so happy; feels like the calm before the storm. I hope that their love and the village’s support will be more than enough to tide them through their trials.
I am going to make a plot prediction. We’ve been told the roads in and out town can be cut off by bad weather. We’ve had DS involve HJ in treating Ju Ri’s sprained ankle, even though HJ isn’t a medical doctor, because HJ is more qualified than anyone else. And we’ve got a heavily pregnant woman in Gongjin. My prediction is that after HJ and DS are driven apart by whatever Show uses to shake up their relationship and add plot tension, HJ and DS will reunite when they work together to deliver the shopkeeper’s baby during a weather crisis.
@Welmaris, oooh. That seems very likely. I actually don’t mind the predictability of the show. I’m enjoying the ride. Because even the most mundane ones have been made meaningful ie the shyness after the kiss, their lovveydovey honeymoon phase, the gossip and trolling and love from the Gongjin tribe, even the best friend’s support!
@Janey, @Welmaris, yup, I was bothered by HJ’s physical abuse, too. (Though as I said earlier, maybe the plot needed it because the neighbors had to intervene and separate them from each other? Anyway, still, NOT EXCUSABLE.) And also, and this is just my personal opinion, I also couldn’t stand HJ’s clinginess. 😖 I have never been a clingy girlfriend and I have a mild distate for clingy people. 😅🙃 I salute Du Sik for not breaking up with her after everything she did. 😅
Good prediction, @Welmaris! Yup, I am also expecting that the shopkeeper giving birth will be a part of the story.
@Janey, on the reconciliation of the ex-husband and wife, yes. So far, I still don’t see the ex-husband’s good traits. I was hoping the ex-wife would actually date the guy mentioned by her friend, lol. (Of course, that won’t happen.)
Hi Everyone! I just realised that it was Ep 11 I watched but I was commenting on the wrong thread LOL.
Any way … what a lot of violence we got Heheheheh! Poor DS. Yes I too felt it was sweetness overload… too much fluff in one episode makes me anxious about what we’ll have tonight. Still, at least this is one episode we can re-watch with silly grins on our faces.
I applaud boyfriends who put up with so much just to honour or respect the wishes of girlfriend to keep their relationship a secret. I felt, of course, that HJ went too far. The villagers’ ruse to get them desperate to be together (and to possibly force them to come clean about their couple status) certainly worked 100%. How they could even think that their open lovey-doveyness could ever go unnoticed, when DS repeatedly said there was no way to hide it, is just the drama making them look foolish, for the fun of them being outed and outing themselves anyway.
So it seems that both HJ and Seong Hyeon were aware that they could have had something going on between them even 14 years earlier, but neither wanted to act on this. I suppose they were just not in the right head space for the commitment. If HJ had met SH again first before spending as much time as she’d done with DS, SH would have likely won the girl.
@Fern @Janey yes this show seems determined to undo the damage that Startup did to DSH’s character there. Crocheting now as opposed to knitting! And together with this, I like how Seong Hyeon admits to being fond of DS, regardless of their being rivals. He’s an honest guy. I loled when he said to DS to stop smiling or he’d grow on him. This is great meta, … it’s precisely what Show has been doing to us. DS or KSH has been made to smile a lot so that he grows on all who see his face, after we’ve been dissing him in Startup!
I do like that Show has brought to the fore that DS and HJ had met each other in their childhoods and youth, and that both discover this only as adults, and not that they knew it from some amazing intuition. It was interesting that they didn’t make a big deal about it being fated. DS called it coincidence, but HJ didn’t like that because it sounded less romantic LOL. However they settled on the fact that they managed to find each other again. So the fated to be together trope wasn’t overly emphasised which was nice.
I like @Welmaris’ guess-work on the conflict and the dramatic rescue that DS and HJ will accomplish together. This seems to be just the kind of feel-good Show to make that sort of scenario the proof that the OTP are perfect together, as they both continue DS’s work of serving the community.
@Janey and @GrowingBeautifully, I wouldn’t be surprised if writers read the BoD blogs. HP2 seemed almost a reaction to things written here. Every point that was raised seemed to get shot down, but I realise that sounds a bit paranoid. But I think if they read this blog, they read others as well. As well as DS’s hair flick and his smile, there was a mention of HJ’s wide shoulders. It wasn’t mentioned here, and they don’t seem wide until it was mentioned and when I see her next to Gam-ri, whose shoulders are very narrow.
I agree with everyone who said HJ’s violent reactions were unrealistic and over the top. It wasn’t necessary to the plot. Who would do that? The same effect could have been done with words.
Yes, there has to be a big conflict of some sort now, but I’m okay with that to bring them closer.
I would like to see SH in a role that gets him the girl. Shallow, I admit. 😊
@Growing Beautifully, how are you?
My Dear @Fern, how nice of you to ask! I’m terrific, thanks! Despite sudden, over the weekend increased restrictions due to Covid, we still had a Spirit-filled, inspiring and ‘eye-opening’ retreat. We managed face-to-face for most of the retreat and only had to move to doing the rest online at the end. The most important thing was what the retreatants took away with them, which was the assurance of the love of God, that they are not alone and that there’s so much to be inspired by in our faith. A blessed, uplifting experience!
How about yourself? How’s Autumn looking? Any photos up on Slack? I need time to go check!
My theory on why HJ resorted to violence, was because she was the guilty party who kept wanting to get close to DS (and touch him!). Because she kept coming so close to him, her embarrassment and guilt at being found touching him, became ‘close contact violence’ to justify why she was so near him. Just saying it in words wouldn’t have done because she could not justify being right up next to his face and talking to him LOL. That’s why she bruised the poor guy so much. Naughty girl!!!
Today’s heavier than yday. The ending’s nice and clearly they love each other. But the teaser’s got a sense of foreboding. Could it be that DuSik had an affair with his Hyung’s wife that’s why he feels so guilty about it? You don’t just buy clothes for anyone, you know.
On a lighter side, funny DuSik wearing net undershirt. 😛
Will just replay yday’ s ep and restock on good vibes in prep for next week’s angst.
It was another very sweet lovey-dovey episode but with the introduction of something in the past that DS is still hiding.
I do find HJ rather insecure. She does cross the line from time to time in inserting herself into DS’s privacy, but at least she does respect that he does not always want to tell her about his past. Ingredients for the upcoming angst, I believe.
It looks like Gongjin is a place with men who say they are or who really are dense. Geum Cheol get beaten by his wife for saying the wrong thing, Officer Eun Cheol admits to being slow and of course Yeong Guk never figured out why Hwa Jeong wanted a divorce, except in this episode, when finally the penny dropped for him. That’s saying a lot, since the inferences were indirect.
Show is possibly setting up a reunion of sorts for this divorced couple, and I’m guessing many of us have mixed feelings about that.
@GB, I’m one of those having mixed feelings. Hwa Jeong is usually the sensible one, but how she lost it that night showed a diff side of her. I still don’t see what YG’s charms are. But she still does love him with how she continues to looks out after him. So if only for her, okay, then let them get back together.
Re HJ’s insecurity, IDK if DuSik’s her first real relationship. She might have gone on dates, but I guess she was still hung up on Seong Hyun then so she didn’t feel as needy or clingy. With DS, it was different that she was had to confess to him right away, something she didn’t do w SH before. Her insecurities also show up with how she splurges on things she didn’t have growing up. But on the whole she’s still good. She tries to reflect on her errors. She makes amends right away. She knows when to work her aegyo, and when to not push it like when DS was awfully quite after meeting an old friend.
I haven’t watched ep. 12 yet; I was getting HP2 flashbacks with cringey behavior coming from grown adults. A little too saccharine, and no need to hide relationship through abuse. It wasn’t funny either.
Haven’t watched 12 yet either. I didn’t find the possessive scenes as c offensive as the WG stuff and seeing that the whole town knew what was going on, I figure the treacle will only last one episode. They have five episodes to create relationship conflicts/miscommunication and to reveal all the character secrets. Lots of work ahead that I hope isn’t rushed.
I have been wanting to comment on the violence thread, the hitting, punishment in K Dramas. It is jarring to those of us with certain regional sensibilities but seems to be everyday accepted behavior elsewhere including Korea. I’m a four year fan of K Dramas and have seen enough to know this regularly occurs. To me examples are school bullies, the water throw, especially with women, hair pulling, corporal punishment, domestic abuse and free range children. As a former mandated reporter I ran into cultural differences, especially related to what would appear to be child abuse and neglect. It was not unusual for immigrant families to leave younger children in the care of older siblings(9 to 12 hear olds) and to corporal punish. These families and those in certain religious communities saw nothing wrong with these behaviors. Spanking was accepted..And in lots of school districts around the US, teachers still use the paddle to discipline. So when I watch our dramas I am mindful of cultural differences, no matter how disconcerting they appear to me.
@Cheeky Chu, I thought that Hwa-jeong was normally a logical person, but on the eve of the inside-out socks, she had just overheard her husband Young-guk drunkenly say how he married out of expediency, but his first love moved away so he married Hwa-jeong out of pity; that marriage is just boring; that he can’t understand his friend’s marriage that was based on love. “Love, my ass. Marriage is all about staying together out of attachment.” We see Hwa-jeong outside, the umbrella she had for herself dropped on the ground lying open and upside down, while the one she brought for Young-guk is clutched in her hand. Her friend Cheon-jae was speaking of a married love so precious that he will never get over it in his life, while her husband replies about his lack of attachment and interest in his own marriage. I can totally understand HJ’s shock and chagrin. It must have felt like a burning knife to her.
Despite all of this and despite her arguments with him about nearly everything, she is still taking care of him surreptitiously. It took outsiders, Young-guk’s co-worker and Cheon-jae to make him discover what caused his marriage to break up.
@OAL, very good point. Thanks for the reminder. I am reminded of the truth in your post because I was raised by Asian parents, and so some of the KDrama scenes of parents interacting with their children may be more familiar and relatable to me, than perhaps to someone with a completely different upbringing and cultural background.
For example, the parents/children in Reply 1988 hit very close to home for me and my friends and my cousins — the characters there were our parents, our siblings, us when we were young. But I would understand if someone from a completely different background would be shocked at , say, Sung Dong Il disciplining his children (whether lightly, like with Deok Sun/No Eul , or seriously, with Bora), or at Bora’s Eldest-Sister vibe.
So yeah, so while I am not familiar/comfortable with HJ’s treatment of DS (Episode 11), I have to remember to account for cultural differences. Obviously, there should still be a floor that no cultural difference should excuse, but to be fair HJ’s treatment of DS is still very, very far from that universal, grossly criminal floor.
Did you mean that head butt in Ep 11? 🙅♀️
I don’t know why that writer had to write that scene and expect us to find it funny. It’s like that incident in HP2 when Rosa smacked Dir Ju on the nose while he was drinking from a cup. Nope. 👎 If it’s violent and mean-spirited, it’s not funny,
The writer(s) should be called out so next time, he/she’ll know that it’s not funny.
Just think: if Chief Hong were to head-butt HJ or if Dir Ju smacked Rosa while she was praying her rosary, should we excuse their violence as just cultural, too? Nice try. But it won’t fly because we know it’s wrong.
@packmule3, Good point but beauty/humor/horrir/exclusive is in the eye of the beholder and what is either cruel or gross 9r not acceptable doesn’t always translate well between countries, cultures, ethnicities. And the treatment of women is always controversial. Some would say that chivalry really was a way to keep women in their place. How long were women chattel in so many societies. So violence against women was considered just fine I agree that head butts and any other violence to men or women would never sit well. However, I do believe that from a different cultural point of view the reversal shown here might be considered funny. I also wonder that because this stuff is featured in this drama, why did it pass Network standards? I doubt that we’d resolve this issue but I think the discussion is important and I’m glad we’re having it.
Reply 1988…
Aside from Sung Dong Il allowing Bora to terrorize the whole family, the use of toilet paper in lieu of paper napkins, as well as the mom mixing spaghetti sauce in the pasta with her bare hands, grossed me out. 😂
Any theories on who is the woman is in the photo? Who went shopping with him for a suit? At the least, she could be the wife of a very good friend (the one who died). I don’t know if the show will be bold as to make them have an affair. Clothes shopping is a couple thing apparently.
Maybe only the friend died. And she is still alive, living in Seoul. That is why he moved back to Gongjin.
@packmule3, I know Americans who use toilet paper as paper for everything-tissues, napkins, paper towels. They figure v it’s economical and c less expensive than the o ther forms of paper. It usn’t uncommon. My take is that it’s fine if the tp has not been previously used for the purpose it 2as intended.
Until recently I have seen lots if people mixing all manner of food with their bare hands. For example, making meatballs, hamburgers, tossing salad,kneading dough, even separating eggs. If you watch cooking shows you’ll see a lot of questionable food hygiene. One would hope that at the very o east, these people would wash their hands. That’s why they now make food handling gloves.
And we also have sharing food via chopsticks. My Dad would go crazy if anyone used a utensil to taste food from his plate. Different strokes…
Yes, the treatment of women.
I think Thai TV — lakorn? — is good with tearjerkers, but the way the writers make viewers empathize with the heroine is to make her suffer 1001 abuses. Slapping, hurling verbal abuses, rape/forced seduction, kidnapping, gaslighting, parading the mistress, and so on.
I can see why it may seem cathartic when the guy and his family finally fall in love with her, but I’m often left questioning whether the guy’s love is even worth it.
What also bothers me is the kind of mindset the young viewers acquire from constant exposure to this kind of drama. They’ll become accustomed to this kind of angsty, dramatic life.
That’s why it’s important for us to say no, and point out that many romantic scenes and relationships that they see in dramas may actually present the wrong picture and expectation of love. I hate to burst bubbles but I wouldn’t be a bitch if I just went along with what the show is demonstrating without pointing out the obvious flaws.
Yes! The chopsticks touching the main dish! 😂😂
Now that you mentioned it, @Old American Lady.
The whole food sharing in HP2 is “weird” to my Caucasian sensibilities because there were no serving spoons or serving chopsticks.
No. I can honestly say I haven’t seen toilet paper on the dining table. I’ve used kitchen paper towels as napkins — like when eating crabs and spare ribs because you’re eating with your hands and paper towels are bigger than napkins.
But no to toilet paper. 🙅♀️
I guess, when you’re totally out of napkins, Kleenex tissues can be used. But they’re too flimsy, and too small.
But this is funny because my grandmother would look down on me for using PAPER napkin at my dining table. For her, it had to be cloth napkins. And gosh, she gave me and my brothers a hard time if we didn’t finish the food on our plate. She would delay the next course till we were all done. So stressing when you have all eyes on your peas and carrots.
Re: Reply 1988, I was AGHAST when I saw that spaghetti scene. AGHAST!!!!!!! 😱😱🤣🤣🤣
I agree with @OAL. Humor can be regionally relative, and HJ’s actions aside — tangentially, the first slap on the face was already a huge no no for me, so the kicking on the shin and the headbutt were just red flags upon red flags — maybe the general double standard is acceptable / funny to the regional audience. Perhaps the double standard is acceptable in that a man hitting a woman may be “more” wrong and unacceptable because in there, there is a more obvious abuse of power (that has long been tilted in favor of men), and of physical strength, whereas the reverse is more culturally acceptable. ????
(Me, personally, I don’t subscribe to such double standards. No to violence! And gender equality! 🙂)
But anyway these are great thoughts to ponder. 🙂
Not much happened in the past 2 episodes, but for some reason I am not annoyed too much. We did get some hints about Chief Hong’s past, so hopefully we will find more in the next episodes. Until then, I will be drooling over the scenery and HJ’s dresses…
I wonder if meeting HJ parents is included in the long list of things HJ wants to do with DS. This is Asian culture. I am guessing DS past include him spending time abroad and may be a foreigner (Russian) girlfriend or wife who died.
I have finally seen Episode 12 and my primary thought is Hwa Jeong 👏 deserves 👏 better 👏!!! 💔😭😤 I suppose this will be the turning point for Yeong Guk, and from hereon he will make amends and prove to HJ that he loved her and still loves her more than she knows yadda yadda. But I couldn’t care less if HJ remains single and independent, or, better, if she ends up with someone else who is intelligent and sensitive enough to love and value her as she deserves right off the bat. Hmph.
Also, personally I find Seong Hyeon and Eun Cheol way much cuter and attractive than Du Sik. I’m not sure how much the actual actors’ appeal come into play. There is a certain… intelligence (?) and manliness (?) in the former two that, for some reason, I don’t immediately get in DS/KSH, no matter how much the show tells me that DS is a genius, a skilled fighter, practically perfect in every way. 🤷♀️ Also, I still find HJ too clingy, but fine, I understand that maybe I’m just a cranky ahjumma, and HJ’s aegyoo works for others. Haha.
Anyway, the villagers are still so charming.
Also, the writers have now laid the basis for the shopkeeper’s giving-birth plot. 🙂
@hazuar Good point! HJ should actually plan a visit to her parents, to make the official introduction of DS as her boyfriend. I think her father would like a bit more formality in the proceedings, since he was aggrieved at DS for his panmal. As for DS’s parents, HJ could also make a visit to the place where they are buried.
I do believe Show has given several clues that DS might have been abroad. My fave guess is that he was assigned there for top secret work. Since he keeps having dreams of either a bloody hand on him or of not having the right to be happy, his guilt could be tied to violence and death?
Separate thought. This episode we see that Hwa Jeong likely gave up her chance to appear on the TV show to Yeong Guk. DS was stunned that she called out Yeong Guk’s name, which means it clearly wasn’t his name that had been drawn from the box.
Yeong Guk appears in so many ways to be immature. It’s sad that his ex-wife ‘gives in’ to him like she would to a child to ‘make him happy’. At the moment only DS is aware of this.
I surmise that in their marriage, she found herself mothering both her husband and her son. Yeong Guk had never grown up to understand how to take the initiative in giving love for no other reason than because he loved, or in treasuring his wife and marriage.
@Packmule3, when I visited South Korea a couple years ago, pre-pandemic, I saw rolls of toilet paper hanging on walls and posts in casual restaurants, so using toilet paper as napkins is part of South Korean culture.
@Snowflower, I’m getting a retro vibe from some of the clothing worn by the main characters: full-skirt, tight waisted dresses (like the 1950s), men’s slacks that are high waisted and loose fitting (again, 1950s influence).
That one top DS modeled in the clothing store–a revealing black webby number–what a hoot! But it was probably haute couture, right?! I can imagine Gong Yoo posing in it, serious faced, in a Vogue Magazine spread. But wear it in public? Nope! Not unless you’re a rock musician or idol group member onstage.
I agree to both @GB, Hwa Jeong gave her place to Yeong Guk for the tv appearance. Dusik’s facial expression gave it away.
I can understand when she initiated the divorce and even then YG didn’t have a clue as to why, just shows that he is really not into the whole understanding of marriage.
I’m totally turned off by the physical abuse too by HY, slap, kick and head butt. That’s just wrong. 🙅🏻♀️ I was happy to see them get together but then she did those. 😟 I do find her clingy as well, I mean why can’t they do 50 from her and 50 from DS of things to do as a couple?
I’m liking Miseon and Eunchul. I think they’re cute together. 😊
@Welmaris, it’s Valentino which V wore just the other night at TMA. I saw a picture of V and KSH wearing it in one picture but I can’t find it now. 😁 credit to owner
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUhVjL7D0xq/?utm_medium=copy_link
Here’s a better picture, V and Jimin wore it. CTO!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUheGsGtKPp/?utm_medium=copy_link
@agdr03 I agree about finding HJ in girlfriend mode quite irritating. (In fact i can’t stand it whether it’s the guy or the girl who keeps wanting their own way). She’s made out to be desperate for attention and demanding, and the guy must keep giving in or she’d pout or use emotional blackmail.
It is not love but childish dating behaviour (with tiresome aegyo), a desire to exert some kind of power over the other, which kdramas seem to portray as normal. (I recall the annoying couple in You Are My Spring). They seem to like one or the other of the couple to be cute, demanding and childish, while the other half bends over backwards to please.
@GrowingBeautifully, you have said it just right. HJ is basically acting giddy, like a teenager in love – a teenager with a large bank account. I don’t mind the list if it were a ‘wish’ list rather than a ticking-off exercise. It doesn’t seem realistic to me for her to have such a huge personality switch, and I don’t like that DS gives in to her so easily – it almost seems like he is patronising her at times. At the clothing store I was hoping he would say, ‘If you want to buy me some clothing, could I show you something I have always wanted to have?’ Maybe his wish list was the hand made box and the gazebo on the beach – much more personal in my opinion.
@Old American Lady, once when I asked for a tissue for a runny nose, the person came back with some TP and said, ‘Long Kleenex.’ I thought it was brilliant. You do what you have to sometimes.
Yes, regarding hands in food, I was surprised when a college housemate mixed everything with her hands, but she said she learned it from part-time jobs in restaurants.
I also find HJ’s aegyo these past two episodes annoying. But it’s not irredeemable-annoying. I can be a very patient viewer, I’m still willing to cut her some slack. 🙂 Speaking of aegyo, I remember that the very short aegyo scene in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo amused me. The Female Lead has a very strong personality and she’s not conventionally feminine, and so, IIRC, when she once acted cutesy in front of her boyfriend Male Lead (incidentally played by Nam Joo Hyuk), he teased her about it and asked her to do “aegyo” again. She eventually got annoyed with all his teasing, and the situation somehow ended up with the Male Lead acting all cutesy so _she_ would act cutesy.
In HJ’s case, so far, I just find her antics tiresome. Incidentally, in Weightlifting Fairy, the Male Lead found a list of things that the Female Lead would want to do with her theoretical boyfriend [they weren’t a couple then, and maybe it’s important to highlight that they were college students] — things like go to an amusement park and share a drink, IIRC — so in one episode, he surprised her and did some of those things for her. _That_ I found sweet and not draining.
@GrowingBeautifully @Pat Fern
I also find Hye Jin’s girlfriend mode to be a bit… offputting. It’s so saccharine that it gives me a toothache.
I wonder if it’s a cultural thing? Growing up Chinese, I’m very used to seeing women of all ages doing what is known as ‘sa jiao’. It’s pretty similar to the concept of ‘aegyo’. It’s when you act cute and a bit spoiled because you want something. It’s infantilising for the woman, but it’s actually a way for women to assume power in a way that is inoffensive to the man’s sense of masculinity. It’s a hard concept to translate, but it really does work in practice. We also saw it work for Hye Jin, as Du Sik gave into her every whim.
I’m finding it harder to connect with the drama after reading the recent posts about Kim Seon Ho’s acting. I used to feel pretty neutral about his acting range, but now the rose-tinted glasses are truly off. He plays the cheery helper well, but his acting has a limited range when it comes to deeper, more nuanced emotions.
It’s particularly noticeable when I watch Lee Sang Yi in the same drama. When he talks to the writer, you can see him starting to understand she might have feelings for him. It’s just an inkling of an understanding, but it’s clear in his microexpressions. I also thought his scene with Hye Jin in the cafe was one of the most moving scenes in the drama. It was definitely more moving than the confession scene between Hye Jin and Du Sik, which I felt fell rather flat.
😂 hotatoes,
So you saw it, too, didn’t you? That Lee SangYi is a much better actor than KSH.
I watched his scene in the cafe with HJ. Just look at him when he said “I’m truly honored that someone like you…is my first love, HyeJin.”
We heard his voice before we saw his face. But when the camera shifted to him, he was gazing at her and nodding his head, three times, almost imperceptibly. That was spot on!
Why?
Because it looked like he was not just seeing her physically, but also recalling her in the past, the way he saw her through the years. He was nodding because he was realizing that yes, he was truly honored. Honored was the word.
Then, his smile was just right, too. He didn’t look like unctuous car salesman trying to sell me a car with his dimples. The smile appeared in steps. First, his lips curled up, then opened a crack then showed teeth then more teeth.
She was his first love. And that’s how he should end his first love. With the sweetest and purest smile that he could muster, because it was goodbye. 🙂
Edited to add this: Lee SangYi and KSH reminded me of Lee Jaewook and Rowoon in “Extraordinary You.” It was obvious from the get-go that Lee Jaewook was a better actor, but Rowoon was the “face” and the leading man. We had no choice but to go along and cheer for Rowoon’s Haru. But I was hoping that LJW would be recognized as an actor on merit, not look-ism.
I saw the otp’s ‘you peck me + i peck you + we peck and kiss’ and I cringed… I saw a replay of wg cringey peck peck scene… and I turned off my socmed😂
Why oh why….
@miracle23,
Because this is a “cha cha cha.”
Cha = you peck me
Cha = I peck you
Cha = we peck and smooch
Their whole dating is how the writer and director perceived the cha-cha-cha dance to be. When done the right way, the man and woman dancing cha cha cha demonstrate a light-hearted flirtation but with lots of sexy appeal. But Chief Hong and HJ are doing “hometown” style so they have to add cutesy/aegyo in the mix, too. Which I don’t think works well in a cha cha cha.
Imagine them doing cute. Start vid at 1:20 mark. 🙂
https://youtu.be/08rWdLdm3Vk
@packmule3
They say ignorance is bliss! I can’t unsee the truth now! 😂
That was honestly such a beautiful scene. I love that he saw (and still sees) her for who she truly was (is). I understand that Hye Jin was hesitant to be with Sang Yi because he saw her at her lowest, but I think having someone accept you warts and all is pretty special.
I hope the actor stars in more dramas as a lead. He doesn’t quite fit Korea’s male lead actor visual trends at the moment, but he can actually do his job (which is more than I can say for some other male leads).
I’ve seen Lee Jaewook in When the Weather is Fine and Search WWW, so I can’t wait to see more of his work. He’s great. And side note, I prefer his visuals to Rowoon’s. Rowoon’s visuals are a bit too artificial for my liking, regardless of whether his face is natural or not.
I know what you mean about Rowoon. I also heard rumors of plastic surgery but plastic surgery is separate from acting, so I ignored that.
As for actors Lee JaeWook and Lee SangYi, I can bend my mind (I’m a mind-bender??) and view them as handsome because they do their jobs well. Who cares if they have long faces, flat cheekbones, monolids, and whatever. If they perform their roles well, then in my mind, they’re IT.
It’s just like “Mona Lisa.” By today’s standard, that face is rather plain looking. But her enigmatic smile worked. When you think about this, the model had one, and only one job to do: smile for the painter. And she did it. She’s been smiling for five centuries now.
Hmmm. I simply think that Lee Sang Yi is good looking altogether and his acting here is icing on the cake. He looks more like a ML to me than KSH, but that’s my own opinion. Thank you, casting director.
I found it interesting that HJ admitted that she liked him and she knew he liked her, too. It wasn’t only he who delayed putting a relationship into motion.
@hotatoes, yes to Lee Sang Yi being the ML in another drama soon. He had some potentially difficult or could-have-been-corny lines to say, but he managed to elevate his character. I’m interested to see what happens to him next – I hope he stays in the show…
Good observation @hazuar, DS may have been in Russia. He spoke fluent Russian to the sailor in the early episode.Oooh…
Thank you @PM3, @hotatoes for hiliting the response to confession scene of Hye Jin and Dir Ji. I mentioned already that it’s the most touching, gut-tugging scene in this drama. And I am not rooting for Dir Ji to be the OTP not having SLS. But his acting here delivered the message so well with the appropriate and mature closure. I wish we have a breakdown of that scene with the dialogues. Cookies 🍪 🍪 🍪 @PM3?
The “aegyo” relationship at this age (30-40’s) is just too cutesy for comfort. I know it’s the start of the relationship and they are giddy but there are ways on showing that romance without these cutesy/clingy tropes. It’s appropriate for Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo college romance but I find that kdrama resorts to this with HPL2, You are My Spring (the OTP early days when they became BF-GF).
I’ve see it done well in “You are My Glory” and that’s kind of my yardstick now. K dramas, you can do better.
@packmule3, I think I see a KSH, Shin Hyun Been connection here. For all the fangirls, how about teaming them in some drama. We’d see lots of pouts and bad aegyo and the fans will go wild. SHB could play the ugly duckling saved by Prince Dimples. Think if their kisses-Not! Ya think they’d get ratings. Sorry BODs but I couldn’t help myself.
According to HJ’s backstory, she dated her boyfriend for three months while in dental school. Back then she was unpolished, hinting at a lack of previous dating experience. She feigned ignorance about Ji’s feelings and denied her own, so kept that friendship from evolving into dating and it eventually fizzled into no contact at all. HJ had a dating drought for ten years.
I suppose the conclusion Show wants us to draw from HJ’s aegyo, clinginess, and giddy behavior is that she’s new at this. Her inexperience translates into insecurity. She relies on fiction, drama tropes, rather than personal experience to guide her in this new territory.
When DuSik told HJ that she’d changed, I thought it could be because of one of two things:
1. She was adopting fake behavior, not being true to herself.
2. She finally dropped her defenses, allowing her true nature to come out.
I hope it’s the latter. We have seen that HJ is a good friend to Miseon through thick and thin. We’ve also been told HJ regularly supports several charities, even when her finances became unstable. Show wants us to see her as kind hearted and committed. Her prickliness was self preservation.
I too would like to see Lee Sang Yi in a leading role. He did a great job in the thankless role of unlucky Second Lead in Youth Of May.
I am currently watching Move To Heaven so I got my Lee Jae Wook fix.
@Snow Flower, I hope you enjoy Move to Heaven. Lee Je-hoon played a wonderful antihero and got ripped for his fight scenes.We also got a very nice performance from Ji Jin-hee as the Dad.But In was blown away by Tang Joon-sang as the autistic son.He was one of our soldiers in CLOY and he’s a kid. He also was so sweet in Racket Boys.
This is the first time Ive ever watched Lee Sang Yi (and the actor playing Officer Choi) and he (they) are more compelling to watch than KSH. I even find the brief scenes of their respective romances more interesting to watch than the OTP scenes acting all cutesy.
@packmule3, good catch on comparing Lee Sang Yi/KSH and Lee Jae Wook/Rowoon! Lee Sang Yi and Lee Jae Wook sort of have similar visual templates, I think? I don’t know to describe it… Sharp/strong features? But @packmule3 is also correct about the flatness of cheekbones and the eyes? Anyway, same-ish mould/vibe (for me).
And incidentally, I see some similarities between Rowoon and KSH, too. Dunno if it’s the impression/illusion of a wide face, or just the visual consequence of being wooden. Add to the mix Jang Ki Yong (I’ve only seen him in My Roommate is a Gumiho; I don’t know if he was more expressive in other dramas), whom I thought had similar limited/awkward acting. Ive always described such acting (always coming from the supposedly handsome boys) in the local language — it doesn’t translate to English well — ‘they act with a very rigid neck’. Just stiff/blank/awkward acting all around.
The actor who engaged me the most in Episode 12 was the roast chicken foodtruck operator. What an outstanding cameo!
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I read through the Wikipedia entry for Yumi’s Cells, and one supporting cast member is described as playing Yumi’s second boyfriend. I cross checked the Wikipedia entry for that actor, Park Jin Young, and his filmography lists him playing a main role in Season 2 of Yumi’s Cells.
Oops! I posted the second half of that comment in the wrong thread. So sorry. Joesonghamnida!
If we’re critiquing the kiss scene would it be petty of me to point out that KSH closes his eyes way too early in the kiss? Makes him seem like a teenager having his first kiss.
I love that everyone’s keen for Lee Sang Yi!
@packmule3 I wish I had that mind-bending ability, but alas I cannot tolerate certain faces. 🤷🏻♀️
@Fern I think Sang Yi will be sticking around until the end of this show. It looks like they’re developing his relationship with the writer and he’s pretty much an Honourable Resident of Gongjin at this point.
@Welmaris Yes! He was definitely the star of the episode! He reminded me of the cabbage vendor in Avatar the Last Airbender.
@Good Twin
Ahaha I noticed that too. I assumed they were going for the pure romance route – it’s as if both leads have 0 Lust cells.
Annyeong,
these episodes are amusing to the max. the couple status in secret and reveal/twist and HJ’s girlfriend mode and couple bucket list. i was happy for them. and it was weird. i was wondering what the BOD peepz will say about it. maybe a bit overboard @jhans. @GB sweetness overload/a bit irritating (maybe we’re just jealous ??). maybe too clingy per a few of you. but like @welmaris said, it could show the true nature of HJ after love has broken down her wall of defense/self preservation.
@cheekychu, did enjoy that prank on the OTP of the gongjin tribe though. such a wonderful support. so cute.
@pat fern – the personality switch of HJ was surprisingly wonderful. love the ending of ep 12. you’re right, instead of bucket list, wish list is more apropos. and i felt that HJ was rushing into this list. crazy. i like that DS advised her to slow down on that list. i also saw he had a list. and that maybe the box and secret beach surprise were part of that. lovely and more personal indeed.
i agree that the HJ’s violence (what? ouch, poor DS) was not funny. so glad the village folks were protective of DS to the point that they were separating the lovebirds. too funny.
regarding the habitual slapping/tap, unfortunately, i am guilty of doing that to the point that my hubby and bestie do not appreciate it. i can’t help it. and i don’t think it hurts. but guess my hand is heavier than i imagine it to be. 😢 it’s the asian in me. or just me.
@welmaris, i agree, i’m glad they are showing our OTP as not so chaste in their honeymoon state. adorable actually. i think we all have a couple list of things to do. i think it’s funny that HJ wanted to dress DS up though (pretty woman moment haha). i wish i can do that with my hubby. he does not appreciate it. even though he ends up liking it sometimes haha. DS is so nice to play along. my hubby does too with some whining haha.
@GB, they did manage to find each other again. sweet reveal there… that they knew each other while growing up. a sweet connection.
i feel bad that DS’s dream and that he feels he doesn’t have the right to be happy 😭 still a big mystery here.
This is my first KSH drama. And I’m just enjoying it. Acting might not be at par say with Jo Jeong Suk when SongHwa first rejected him and Kyung Ho’s face when he first heard IkSun’s voice in IkJun’s car on loud speaker. But he’s well for his role. Sorry haven’t really watched that many Korean dramas to make more varied and recent examples.
I tried watching other SeonHo shows. He’s alright in 2D1N–not the strongest in the group (I like the old guy and the big one Se Yoon), but his presence allows for a variety of interactions. Saw snippets of StartUp but still can’t bring myself to watch it in full.
And he has this perpetual scowl there.
Anyway, please don’t pair him with SHB. Ahaha. I don’t know what she’s up to these days. Given their acting range, in a tug of war between SHB and KSH, SHB might prevail. Gyeo ul’s dour sour-faced tainted that of Jeong Won’s. 🙁 and I’d like to preserve Hong Du Sik.
@OAL, I am totally invested in the bad uncle with a heart of gold (in Move to Heaven).The dynamic between him and the autistic nephew is the heart of the drama. Both actors are fantastic.
@Welmaris, the rotisserie chicken truck guy deserves his own drama.
@HKlady, funny village trolling them really! It’s nice that they allapprove of her for their DSdepsite first impressions and earlier interactions.
All that Dusik hitting and slapping for naught. Though I agree w all the points raised here on domestic violence. I think it’s only for comic relief. I really don’t take this show too seriously. The last one I did Hospital Playlsit broke my heart. 🙁
HyeJin’s overcompensatong for her lack of dating in the past. With a to-do list in excel! Hahaha. Knowing her competitive and perfectionist tendencies and go-getter attitude. And when she thought the necklace might have caused DS distress, she sold it online. When she realized she liked DS, she couldn’t wait to tell him.
She’s quite sensitive too. On other days she just barges into DS’s house. But when she felt something was off with him, she waited for him outside.
DS’s bucketlist is sweeter, more personal.
They balance each other.
@packmule3, I love watching dancers, esp the latin routines! 🥰🥰🥰 Thank you for the video. I used to follow So You Think You Can Dance and enjoyed them immensely.
If they are using the cha cha cha as template, I am sorry for not seeing its relevance in HCCC. Like you said, despite the vibrant music, cha cha cha dance still exudes masculinity and intense flirtation, yes more sensual. Add cutesy and it is ruined 🤭. Probably quickstep is more appropriate for such hometown cutesy flirtation. Still, at that age, acting supposedly ‘cute’ teenagers… not buying it. Is all honeymoon phase has to be depicted like this? Songhwa with multiple dating experience also being made to look like immature teenager getting her crush at 42 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ Why can’t mature ppl handle honeymoon phase, maturely, Show? Like more intense gazing while talking about the stars, I don’t know… just talk about each other and look at each other as if you can’t live without each other and then kiss under the stars 🤣🤣🤣🤣 just no cringey cutesy at 30s 40s please. 🤧
SMH is pretty and dimply… KSH is too dimply I can’t see him as manly enough 😅 the combo is not working for me.
LSY could have played CH a bit more different, me think.
@hotatoes, DuSik kinda sorta showed he had a lust cell when he came home, found HJ waiting for him inside his house, and she told him to shower so they could do something together. In Kdramas telling a partner to shower, or announcing to a partner that you’re going to shower, is code for getting ready for nooky. DuSik looked gobsmacked rather than lustful, but at least he reacted to a naughty thought. I couldn’t tell if HJ used a double entendre on purpose (Writernim did, of course) or spoke innocently.
@Welmaris, so asking to shower is the equivalent of inviting someone to eat ramyeon?
What animated discussions we have here!!! How fun to read different and similar reactions.
@Welmaris, the cameo that stole the show was indeed the chicken guy!!! It’s going to be a special place for the new second couple!
@GoodTwin – I’m laughing because I also noticed that he is closing his eyes too early for the kiss. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that. And the kisses were meh… sorry. Too self conscious and a bit rigid (even more so).
@Welmaris Good point! In most cases, a man of his age isn’t going to run for a shower unless he has something else in mind. He was so disappointed for couples yoga 😂 I wonder if it was an intentional double-entendre on Hye Jin’s part – I don’t know if she’s wired like that. We can contrast the situation with Yumi’s double entendres when convincing Woong to run a marathon with her – those were definitely intentional on the character’s part.
Perhaps I should be more specific – it’s as if their Love cells and other cells override their Lust cells.
@OAL, oooo. No wonder NamSook was shocked when DuSik invited Ji PD to ramyeon!!! Haha
@Janey, never noticed the early eye closing. Perhaps should observe more.
All these talk about cells make me curious about Yumi’s cells.
Enjoying the discussions here. I’m learning something new about K-dramas.
This and Yumi Cells threads are fun reads.
I admit that the kisses here were so underwhelming (and the smiles between OTP were too many and therefore became too much for me) that I went back to Lovestruck in the City and watched JCW kissing Kim Ji Won, to get some solace LOL. Now those were kisses we can get behind!!
Purely for research purposes, @GB, do you mind telling me in which episodes can I find the kisses in Lovestruck in the City? 🧐
@cheekychu – join us in Yumi’s Cells! We are up to ep6 so you can easily catch up. You’ll get lots of laughs!!!
@GB unnie – ooh lala! I agree on JCW kiss scenes. I did not watch Lovestruck in the City so I just searched for the first kiss and it was earth-shaking that the surfboards fell down. Very apropos for the costal feel. And the laughter after was very spontaneous. ❤️Even Dosan kissed better (a lot better). LOL!!!
@PM3, since I freshly researched, first kiss of Lovestruck In the City is is ep2. Also searchable in YT. @GB unnie can fill up the rest. 😉
@Miracle23 absolutely agree with your take on how kiddish 30+ yo’s act in the early love phase, like they play all hard to get leading up to the romantic union, and then suddenly run out of ideas 🤣 Like, why did you get together in the first place then lmaooo BTW, who is “LSY” you’re talking about who can play Chief Hong better, just curious? 🙂
I’ve seen a few gifs of the kisses, and yeah, not feeling it. The dialogues also are too weak as far as I’ve seen. And what is this constant comparison I’m seeing between this show and Start Up lol They’re fundamentally as far apart as two shows can be, the feel itself is sooooo different (few scenes matching + same actor =/= one show better than the other what the what lmaooo). Maybe the fangirls WANT to convince themselves that this show is trying to vindicate their #justiceForHJP movement hahaha
Lovestruck in the City romance scenes are daebak! JCW and KJW really outdid themselves. The first one is in Ep. 2, but they have quite a few bed scenes in the following episodes (nothing explicit, just snuggling together, watching the sunset type of thing) and there’s another great kiss scene in Ep. 14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8-VZcycUCA
I think the angst/sexual tension is what is really well acted by the two leads, the rest of the show was pretty shit haha
Oh, there’s one in Ep. 16 also that I don’t remember that well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX0DD9NBOkg
But I think this compilation is def better for research purposes @pm3 hehe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA-cLPQPKLk
Ofcourse, there are also fan-vids 🙂
Heheheh! @pkml3, I find that I didn’t record the kisses in an easy to find way, but I believe dashman1010 has given you the Youtube links that will aid your research. 😉
@Dashman1010, LSY is the second lead in HCCC. 🤭 JCW is always, always intense in his errr… steamy kisses… but sigh… I left him looooong ago… I am not returning 🤣🤣🤣🤣 A No is A No. Lmao
Not a fan of the FL in Lovestruck either. So, case closed. 🤭🤭🤭
The tips I see is always the guys have great capabilities to do the killer intense gaze… and their kisses are just flowing naturally… ok… 🏃♀️💨💨
@Miracle23 ahhh okay, just checked LSY’s discography and it lists Prison Playbook on there 🤔 Either I haven’t reached the point where he makes an entry or it was a really minor role that may have slipped by me… Haven’t seen any of his other works so I’ll take your word for it 😉 He does look mysterious though haha
@OAL, my impression is that “go take a shower/I’m going to take a shower” might be used by an established–maybe even married–couple as prep for makin’ whoopie. “Come over for ramyeon” might be used as a pickup line, or to try and introduce physical intimacy in a new relationship that hasn’t yet gotten to that stage.
I haven’t seen Lovestruck in the City, but ngl my curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked on @Janey’s and @dashman1010’s links. 😅 Daebak steamy!
@Miracle23, I wonder what made you leave the Male Lead and decide never to return. 😅😂 I have no strong opinion on the Female Lead, but I dont dislike her. In the shared links (and the few other related LitC vids I watched while I was already on YouTube hahaha), she seemed to act well. I’ve only seen her in DOTS and Fight For My Way.
Back to the kisses, I would understand, though, if the kisses in HCCC are not as steamy as in LitC because I think the shows have different tones. HCCC seems more light-hearted and wholesome. But I also think that even by wholesome standards, the OTP’s kisses are NOT heart-fluttering. 😅 Oh well. I just enjoy the fun ride, even if I’m not a huge fan of the OTP. (I mentioned in an older post that I do like the side characters and their stories more than I like the main couple.)
Perhaps HTccc is meant for a family audience? I had that impression from the write-ups before the show started. We may not get a lot of real steam, just something for our imaginations.
@dashman1010, didn’t Lovestruck in the City start off with a bang and end with a shrug? The first few episodes were really amazing. It was exactly what travel company writers like to conjure up for romantic, escapist holidays. But the holidays end with a return to normal life.
I am looking forward to JCW’s next drama. I hope that it’s well written. 🙏🙏🙏 I would have enjoyed him as ML in HTccc.
@packmule3, I loved the video of the dancers. They not only danced but acted as well. She was hilarious, right? A woman who knows what she wants.
Off topic
Here’s a hypothetical question: Who would you cast as the leads in the Korean version of YAMG?
@Fern you’re bang on the money for LiTC, it was a great concept to begin with + new-ish format, short eps., but the resolution was really meh and they brought in a last-minute unnecessary twist.
SPOILERS ahead:
I think it started going downhill the moment the writers shrugged off the main theme of the story i.e., ghosting to focus on the romance. The general perception among viewers at the time was that the FL was not given a good enough redemption arc and I agree. The first half was stuff of dreams, but the second half could have been entirely re-written in a much more earnest way to address an issue as serious as ghosting in the day and age of online dating, this is a hot-selling topic and I really wish that show-makers/TV/film producers invested more in bringing these stories to the mainstream audience. It was very unsatisfactory on the whole.
Really really sorry if I spoiled things for anyone. @pm3 please feel free to delete the comment if you wish 🙂
@pandamilktea yes, it makes sense that the themes of both shows are very different, but natural chemistry can neither be created nor hidden (if it exists between the leads) 😉
Kim Ji Won usually has good chemistry with most of her co-stars, same can be said for JCW, so it is but obvious that they both will set the screen on fire regardless of the setting 🙂
@dashman1010, I agree about the FL not having enough of a redemption arc. I still mistrusted her long-term ability to handle the relationship at the end. Maybe that was supposed to happen? She was keeping the relationship as her personal fantasy and didn’t want to share it with the ML in RL. By the end, I wanted her to work harder, grow more and be more proactive about resuming the relationship in a healthy way, rather than being largely passive and needing convincing. Do you know what I mean?
@dashman1010, oh, too true. You’re right. Chemistry just naturally sparks regardless of setting. Off the top of my head I think of CLOY (Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin chemistry is more or less a generally accepted truth, right?) and, imho, Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na (of Goblin/Touch Your Heart), and yeah. HCCC OTP is just okay. Pleasant but average KDrama fare. 🙂 (I hope @packmule3 doesn’t slap me upside the head — doesn’t she dislike it when fangirls mention the unquantifiable term “chemistry”? Hahaha. ✌✌)
@pandamilktea, before I left, I watched all his works except Empress Ki because, yup, too long 🤣🤣🤣… the last one was Suspicious Partner and I really had trouble to finish it, which I can’t remember if I did finish it. 😂
It felt like I was made to eat donuts non-stop until I finally vomitted and traumatised by it? Something like that😅 I feel he has not grown in terms of acting and has fallen into being typecasted in his projects. Probably his choice. 🤷♀️ from the short clips of LiTC, I can say same old same old. I am no longer captivated by his performance. 😁
As for the FL, she is good. Has potential, but similarly, she recently seems to choose a light romcom projects… her last one, Arthdal did not get good reviews in Korea, although her performance was top. Unfortunately, romcom is the last in my book for kdrama unless my bias is in it. Despite that it would take great effort for me to watch a romcom. I find them hard to believe and less engaging. 😅 just a matter of preference. I mostly picked something more serious… and where romance is just a minor part of it.😁
I am surviving One The Woman maybe because the OTP are such a dork😂😂😂😂 two mature ppl… started to fall for each other in midst of their missions … no cringey teenage stuff that makes me vomit blood… so I am cool with story like this. My brain can handle them 😅 mostly, I just adore Lee Honey and my first drama of Lee Sang Yoon. He is just a simple guy and cough cough cough nice to ones eyes. 🤭🤭🤭
@Miracle23, ROTFL! Now I get what you mean. 🤣 FWIW, I commiserate, but on a literal food-level. I once accidentally over-ordered an otherwise delicious dish, maybe 3x the amount of what a normal person would eat. The catch was I had to eat the dish in front of the Japanese chef who prepared it, and I was so afraid that it would be impolite not to finish it, so I tried as much as possible to finish the entire thing. 😅 I objectively get that said dish is delicious in general, but I still haven’t eaten that dish thing since then. 🤣
Duly noting your comment on One The Woman. I cant remember if Ive watched a kdrama that realistically depicts romance in the mid 30s / 40s. (No annoying aegyo, pouty face, and pecks, to say the least!!! 😂) So yeah, taking note of One The Woman. 😊
@pkml3 I did a quick check and enjoyed some in between scenes as well.
Kisses
Episode 2
Episode 4 (rooftop of camper van wedding and kiss)
Episode 7 lots of kisses. Two scenes at 19:00 and following, 19:50-20:00 and 23:10
Episode 9
Episode 14
Episode 16
Besides the OTP, there were a couple of side character kisses too.
@Fern Yes, absolutely. Even if it was her own personal fantasy, taking advantage of another person is never okay, and I guess to some extent, ML was way too gullible for a 30+ yo (I guess that was their portrayed ages?) and “forgave” FL too easily. At the time, I think there was news that this drama was going to be a seasonal thing, will have to be very careful with the next installment in that case hehe HP had me good with this seasonal bollocks :/
@pandamilktea haven’t seen CLOY so won’t comment, but I think Park Min Young is supposed to have good natural chemistry with her co-stars, so I guess any of her pairings are also quotable (although, I don’t personally like her xD) I may get kicked outta here for mentioning my OTP though so I’ll stay lowkey on that front 😄🙈
@Miracle23 I hear you about JCW being too mush, I get the same vibe from him. He was good in LiTC, but then again, that was more down to how well he embraced that character. I didn’t like him enough to watch his other works, for instance — more like out of sight out of mind thing with him (I confess that I was swooning over him in the LiTC days hahaha). Too early for romance on OTW, there have been flashes in the most recent episodes, but I like the pacing, and ofc Lee Sang-Yoon is pretty chill on the eye. I think the other elements and the situations that the two of them get embroiled in together are more appealing than their actual minor romance scenes so far 🤭 Can’t wait for them to get together though! There is also the mystery of what happens when his first love returns 😉 Also, on this note, concur with @pandamilktea about kdramas not doing justice to 30/40yo’s in love. Although, I’d like to know how You Are My Spring and Mad For Each Other fared on that front…
Thanks, @GB.
The first kiss was interesting, especially the prelude to it. Nipping him was sexy.
And the bed scene was interesting. I thought I saw a knee so her legs were spread open.
Now, THAT’s what I call “cha cha cha.”
@GB I love the painting scene kiss also (I think it’s in Ep. 2 or 3 when they are painting/spraying over their surfboard), it was so organic and showed nicely how two people in love craved that physical connect whenever they were together, even in small simple moments, regardless of their messy getups 😇 Felt like a very “Western show” kind of moment to me, the choreography of the scene seemed effortless for the lack of a better phrase. I think that sequence probably was my favourite of them as a couple, how comfortable they were with each other, sharing their hobbies, while also doing “couple” things. An underrated scene 🙂
Hi @dashman1010 Lovestruck in the City The painting surfing board scene with warm, natural kisses, was Ep 7, I believe. Yes, it was very nicely done. I did not look it up, but I did think that LiTC was made with a Western audience in mind, based on the way casual sex was portrayed and the choice of music for OSTs. 🙂
@pkml3 LiTC Realistic way of portraying people in their 30s dating.
While I’m happy without the ‘bedroom’ scenes or the very chaste ones we get in HCCC, their dating is so artificially sweet and kiddy-style giddy it takes me out of the Show to shake my head in disbelief.
I agree, @GB.
The dating scenes of Chief Hong and HJ are cringe-worthy. The writer and director were blatantly doing a FAN SERVICE there because of the actors. It’s distracting from the plot.
Real people in their 30s don’t act like them, and if they did, they would get such a big eye-roll from me 🙄 that you’d feel the earth quake beneath your feet in Singapore, @GB.
Moving on…
I hope HwaJung wouldn’t accept YeonGuk back. She overheard him in the cafe, didn’t she? That’s why she was soaked although she had an umbrella with her. If I were HwaJung, I’d always whether he returned out of pity, or out of reciprocity. That is, nobody loved him as much as HwaJung did so he might as well love her back.
Ugh. No thank you.
That relationship would need months, if not years, of couple therapy and counseling.
If he had an ounce of humanity, he should have known a long time ago, that he was a jerk.
In our original discussions about LITC I was an outlier. I liked and defended the FL. If I had used a more sociological approach, perhaps I might have been more convincing. If you look at it from the perspective of the place of women in society, men still have the upper hand. The same can be said in terms of employment. Our female lead went on this vacation/escape traumatized.She had hit rock bottom. So she experimented with a new identity and ultimately be realized she couldn’t pull it off. So to take the ghosting analogy further, it was she who was spooked.
A vacation Rance generally is a fantasy. No matter how we onderful the guy may seem to be, it is not reality. Classic domestic abusers be use live bombs to ensnare their prey. And even though this wasn’t the case, a vacation ends and you have to return to reality. So FL disappeared herself. In reality she was struggling professionally while our ML was a starchitect. Try he fact that they had mutual friends ended up bringing them together again. But you see the power dynamic skewed to him. Agree or disagree with me, no sweat. I chose and choose to take her side. The fact that the ML played by the charismatic JCW turned out to be a nice guy helped. But even on the casting of this drama the FL had nowhere near the star power of our ML. To me that skewed the sympathy level. Been And our commenters went to him by and large. That’s where I come down. The FL was not a classic ghost. She was responding to reality.
@Miracle23, I “discovered” JCW in Empress Ki. He was a revelation. He had so much to do in his role from the physical to the nuanced. If you have a chance, please try to see it. Ha Ji won Was a powerhouse and the two lit up the screen-not bad for the fairly newcomer JCW.inhope that he gets another broke of this magnitude.
And I love One the Woman. Honey Lee is so versatile and has the best comedy chops. I am amazed by her overall accomplishments, academic, musically, as s an actress and a beauty having been Miss Korea. Usually beauty queens seem vapid-not our Honey Lee who is a true Renaissance woman.And she is a hoot in this show. Her asides are hilarious.
Social commentary,I come from a different generation and even as part of my generation I did not meet it’s norms having married in my late thirties. I think that what some of us would think of as mature for people in their 30s and 40s is not so currently because adolescence seems to have been extended these days.Look.at the number of adult children returning to parental homes, the people in the gig economy and the unemployed. The yardstick is just different nowadays. In Hometown we see some arrested development in action, our dentist is a great example but we even see it in our cop.
Good points, @Old American Lady. Thanks. You reminded me that the vacation-romance is a familiar trope. I still remember the shipboard romance in “An Affair to Remember” with Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant. And the Vegas rule (or “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”) is predicated on the assumption that when people are vacationing in Vegas, there may occur a romance, licit or illicit, that’ll the participants will want to forget when they go back home to reality. The slogan worked for Vegas tourism because the city was built on a desert, and mirages are common occurrences in a desert. A vacation-romance is a fantasy, a mirage.
The other drama, I’m watching right now, “Dali and the Cocky Prince” also began with this vacation-romance (or to be specific, a BUSINESS-romance) encounter. He was on business in Amsterdam when he first met her. He gave her his gold watch as a promise to meet her again. He later thought that she ensnared him, and disappeared with his watch. He vowed to take revenge when he met her again. It’ll be interesting to find out whether he’ll use his wealth and clout to put her at a disadvantage.
Thanks for your perspective.
@OAL thanks for pitching in your thoughts. I was under the impression that Kim Ji Won is as popular as Ji Chang Wook, so I never really approached it from that angle (it may be true for other fangirls). I guess the only slack I can cut the FL is that she owned up to her flaws and said that she wanted to work on herself first. Self-love is very important, as our hostess has always enforced, and I appreciate that the ML promised that he’d be supportive in her journey (funny enough, if I were to ever buy into the WinterGarden pairing, THIS is the kind of conversation I’d have expected them to have). I also didn’t see their professional careers be a source of power imbalance in their dynamics, it seemed par for the course for k-dramas with office settings (boss/employee; boss/assistant; co-workers; etc. etc.).
I understand your empathy with the FL for acting out of desperation/confusion when she hit rock bottom is well placed, but I’m sure the ML would have helped her as best as he could, if she had shared her woes with him. Isn’t that one of the prime reasons why we seek companionship? They got married, said all their vows, even if it was a sham-like setup, it meant something to both of them — so why didn’t she reach out to him when he tried repeatedly to do the same? She could have had basic courtesy to say “it was nice knowing you but this isn’t working for me, let’s move on” or something along those lines. The FL’s duplicity left me perplexed more than anything. One minute she was pining after the ML, next minute she was punishing herself… At least the ML was unilaterally embracing the path of doom and gloom lol And yes, she wasn’t the classic ghost, the can never show characters that vile in a romance drama, but she did something a typical ghoster would do and that is unforgivable (even if the ML’s sufferings are exaggerated in a similar manner). I guess we’ll agree to disagree, but it is indeed good to see a fresh perspective from you 🙂
@GB ahh yes, thanks for clearing up the episode confusion, and yes, agreed that it definitely has the western show vibe to it 🙂
Sorry for spamming the HCCC thread, chingus ❤️
@pkml3,
The Hwa Jeong-Yeong Guk relationship is likely to be ‘unhealthy’. If they get back together, it is likely that they will return to the pattern of her ‘mothering’ him, and he, remaining an immature ‘child’. Even his son is 10x more responsible and grown-up than he.
We, the viewers, will always doubt that YG would have become more mature overnight, or that his penitence could equal returning to HJ out of a sincere regard for her, rather than out of guilt. In this simplistic, feel-good tale, unfortunately, it is likely that the realisation by YG about what a jerk he’s been, plus some ‘sob-sob’ apology, is meant to suffice as reason for his being accepted once again by HJ.
On the one hand, I’d like the Show to take a different tack so that HJ stands firm in holding YG off, but on the other, I’d also like to see a healthy reunited family in itself, as well as for the son, Yi Joon. I’m guessing Show is going to get them reunited to keep things sweet.
On HwaJung and YeonGuk, yes!!! (I swear, this YeonGuk has no saving grace. Maybe Im biased, but I can’t even be impressed by how he loves his son. Even that aspect is nothing special.🙄 ) If these characters were real-life characters, I would say, the hell with that YeonGuk fool, I hope HwaJung moves on and be completely happy without him.
But the show being an uncomplicated, supposedly lighthearted and healing show, I guess it will reconcile the two. 😒 So I will just fervently hope that the writers and director at least make the story arc worth it. I hope storyline makes YeonGuk satisfyingly and convincingly be worthy of HwaJung’s devotion. Makes the audience believe that he loves (and he loved???) her because that is what he feels in his heart, not because he pities her or he feels guilty. 🙄
Same here. I’m not buying that he loved her, @pandamilktea. If he did, then he would have treated her better.
I still remember that scene when she visited him in his office (when the school teacher was there) and his assistant greeted her as the missus. Didn’t he scold his assistant and told him to call her by another name because they were divorced? He was a jerk.
Her barely concealed rage when she talked about the socks! Kudos to the actress; I was unconsciously gritting my teeth, too. No wonder she’d get migraines from clenching her jaw! She could barely talk because she was seething mad.
🙂 I don’t consider it a healing show when it treats me like I’m a stupid viewer to be fed pablum.
I would also prefer not to see HwaJung and YeonGuk remarry, but Kdramas do love their redemption arcs. In real life, with HwaJung’s trust shattered, rebuilding a solid marriage would be a monumental task, even after forgiveness.
YeonGuk is a jerk, but HwaJung also needs to revise her behavior. When those two squabble, she’s usually the one to start it by complaining about HJ. She seems to be a caring mother to I-Jun, but is she blind to how much damage he’ll suffer being frequently exposed to the rancor between his parents? By keeping to herself the reasons for their divorce, she left herself mired in an emotional mud pit.
I agree, @Welmaris. I think Hwajung needs a real friend. I mentioned this before. The seaside village presents itself as a close-knit community but it strikes me that there’s something a bit fake about the place when a person like Hwajung has nobody to confide in about her divorce, or Chief Hong doesn’t feel comfortable confiding in anybody there about his missing 5 years. They have their social gatherings and chat group, but their inner pains, they’ve still kept hidden. They’re actually little islands unto themselves.
🏝
Don’t get me started on HwaJung and YeonGuk – no remarriage as end game pls. I would prefer if the healing for them is to be friends again like how they were buddies before and develop the mutual respect for each other. Their son will be happier for it. Will see how the show will treat this storyline maturely and realistically.
@packmule3, wouldn’t it be shocking if Hwajung and the school teacher became a couple. My Spidey Sense tells me they’ve been hinting at this from the beginning. Why did teacher go away, teacher says see omitting about Hwajung’s kindness, is not keen on ex from the get go. I think that slowly K Dramas are incorporating more gay themes(ala )kpop so we may have something controversial here. There was a transgender character in You Raise Me Up.
@Old American Lady, I believe that @Welmaris brought up that possibility a few episodes back. She also mentioned the matter of accepting Bora as not being a feminine girl – her parents openly said that they would like the new baby (if a girl) to be more feminine. It was sad that they said such things in public.
@Fern, I missed Welmaris’ post. I also remember the comment in the drama about adorable Bora. In the scene where the tooth came out, I thought Bora me ght be a boy.I wondered why the parents allowed Bora to dye her hair. I think what we are also seeing us the subliminal message that new ideas are coming to the small town along with the nostalgia for family and friendship (the simple life).we also see the conflicts attached to these ideas. In some ways this drama is actually subversive.
Ref Love in the City,
@dashman1010 and @Old American Lady, the thing about the FL in LiTC that I didn’t understand was that she actually DID like the ML. She cherished the photos, she searched for and found the wedding ring he threw and then wore both his and hers together, so SHE wasn’t moving on.
I can understand her wanting distance if, upon reflection, she didn’t think the romance was worth pursuing, if she realised there was something about him that was incompatible, distasteful or troublesome, if she thought they had acted only to satisfy sexual cravings, if she had a partner. But it didn’t seem that way, so having her say to him ‘It was nice knowing you, but…’ would be lying, even though it might have helped him to move on. And she knew that he had feelings for her as well. What was making her hold onto her memories privately if he was willing to be there to share them? Was she afraid it had been too idyllic, too perfect to work in reality? But no relationship is perfect, right?
Blimey, what a lot of blather. Apologies for going off-topic.
@Fern, She did love him. He was everything but she was a fictional character. My take is that she was afraid that he was in love with her fictional self but not the real human being. Ergo, she became a ghost. Maybe her romantic notion would be that that her character would in time become a fond memory for him. For her we know this is the highlight of her life. We know that her fictional self is actually a part of her personality, the confident part. She recognizes that she is too frightened to follow through and worries that her ideal man will not accept her true self. Reality bites. Ah, the misunderstandings of romance.
🙂 @Old American Lady,
It did strike me too, when Hwajung attended the teeth demo at the school, that the teacher was more interested in her than YeonGuk. However, if this writer was going that route, then I would have wanted her/him to develop the story much earlier in order to give that plot the care and finesse it needed. I don’t want a gay theme for shock value or for virtue signaling. I want it organic.
@packmule3, Amen to that. There’s just too much of both.
@Fern @Old American Lady
I agree with @Old American Lady. I saw Eun Oh’s character in Yang Yang (not in Seoul) as a bit of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. The girl he was in love with was a persona she created – it was the person she wanted to be, didn’t have the courage to be, but could have the freedom to be in Yang Yang.
After that holiday ended, she had to go back to one of the lowest periods in her life. She probably felt a great degree of shame after being cheated on and not getting the job. I think shame stops people from a lot of things in life, and it probably stopped her from pursuing Jae Won.
I didn’t love the show (I’ve watched similar but better things in Western media), but I thought the plot and character development made a lot of sense. I understand why people were confused about them getting back together, but I think it was because they were both able to step out of the holiday fantasy and into reality. He had opportunities to see her, not the facade she’d created in Yang Yang.
On KSH acting – I think he isn’t a bad actor but his role here and the one in Start-Up are just too similar. Orphaned, close to halmoni, one track minded in terms of love, always helpful.
On LSY, I rewatched the scene when Writer Wang told him about her resignation. The emotions and delivery were perfect. I am surprised since he’s actually a singer! Hopefully he will find a suitable role in the future.
Not many people are like Han So-hee (the mistress from World of the Married, innocent university art student in Nevertheless, and upcoming revenge-seeking fighter in My Name) who seem to carefully choose their projects to showcase their diverse range.
Hoping we can cut KSH some slack as the character just so happens to be similar to what we have seen before!
100% agree with everyone in the saccharine scenes being too much over two episodes. Just break our hearts already :’D so that we can find a resolution to this mysterious past of Du-Shik!
@pandamilktea, 🤭🤭🤭 I had same issue with instant noodles. Ate too regularly until I can’t eat it anymore. Usually I can only eat one serving of anything, at one time. Something to do with the limit in my err…stomach 😂 I went to a buffet once and ended up wasting it cos I only ate one plate of main meal, the usual rice and some side dish… had trouble breathing because of too full. It was when I break my fast😅
@Dashman1010, yeah the pacing of OTW is good for now. It seems she inadvertently add another enemy in the form of her boss, and she didn’t even know it 🤧
@AOL, I did watch clips of Empress Ki. And I have seen him in similar performance from those scenes😅 in his other works. I think that is sufficient for me. 😁 One of EK ost is my go to song, in my ballad playlist…. I don’t think I can endure a very long kdrama after Jumong. I don’t have the patience anymore 😂. I used to think JCW has potential because he is good at eye acting i.e. expressive eyes. That is my benchmark. But after watching many works from him, it no longer seems to give me what I want from his characters. He probably is doing well in his dramas. It’s just me. 😅
@Jennifer,
KSH’s acting in “Start Up” was a whole lot better than his cloying performance in HCCC.
Did you see his crying scene with Halmeoni after his character realized that she was going blind and he’d refused to fund the NoonGil app? Or do you remember the last scene in Ep 16 when Halmeoni told him that he should come over and visit her because he shouldn’t be lonely by himself? He did well in those scenes.
But here he acts self-conscious. That’s why he had those ticks (eg., the hair rubbing, eye closing to signify sincerity, eye lowering to show shyness, etc.) and extraneous movements.
Or when they were hugging at the pier. Take for instance the scene in Ep 11 when he and HJ were on the phone. Remember: they filmed this solo. They weren’t actually talking to each other. They were filmed pretending to converse with each other and the editor joined their clips.
Shin Mina outperformed him. The second she started talking on the phone, her eyes smiled, her body swayed, her voice sounded flirtatious. She was believable.
Him? I could tell that he was speaking to himself. His eyes were too shifty. He was asked “Where are you?” And you know what he did? He looked around him before answering “At Bora’s Supermarket.”
Snort. 😂
It didn’t make sense. He’d been sitting there, but he had to look around to remember that he was in the middle of a supermarket?
Or that scene at the pier, when Shin Mina was telling his character that she wanted to see him everyday. He had that plastic smile on his face while he mouthed his lines, “I lived for 34 years without you, but each day seems to last forever since I met you.”
Typically, in emotional confessions like this, the director chooses a front close up of the face as the actor speaks. Like with Lee Sang Yi’s goodbye scene.
Here, we’re given a side shot or a shot of KSH’s profile. Lol. His cheeks were stiff, there’s no spark in his eyes, and his smile? Taut.
There’s no radiance in him. It was all Shin Mina acting.
Maybe KSH does better with crying scenes. Who knows?
I’m watching “Dali and the Cocky Prince,” and the male lead actor does a much better job even though he’s playing an absurd character.
@pm3 KSH and haelmoni scenes in Start-Up are among my favourites! Such tight dialogues and well-shot/paced scenes they were. I’d have been ok if the series was filled with just their interactions hahaha KSH needs a terrific screen partner to uplift his performance. And he is far from lead actor material for me. I hope he finds his niche in romcoms because I doubt he’ll be able to pull off graver roles convincingly.
@pm3, kim min jae is bae.. his voice 🥰. To think he was a dancer first… plus points in my book. 😁
@Miracle23 I recently saw this new music video of his or some other artist, him and Lee Sung Kyung in that video had pretty good dance moves 😌 I’m not much into contemporary/hip-hop dance styles, but I can recognise grace when I see it, and these two carried off the choreography effortlessly. Good to know that he’s a dancer 🙂
@dashman1010, I saw that, too! They were goooood!!! 🤯👏👏👏 Ive only seen Kim Min Jae in Do You Like Brahms. (And Goblin, but I don’t think Goblin really counts?) I saw an oldish interview of his where he said he wasn’t a good dancer before (??) and he sort of demo’d some moves and the hosts didn’t seem too impressed?? 😅 But anyway his video with Lee Sung Kyung more than proved that boy’s got the moves!!! 👏👏👏🤯
@dashman @pandamt @ miracle – I researched YT also and found the dance video! Very cool. I saw in the YT comments that KMJ trained for idol also hence the multi talent of singing/rap and dancing but he focused on acting. I first saw him dance in Tempted copying the iconic Leslie Cheung (complete with white undershirt) to bribe the maid. That was a short dance but noticeable.
Hi @pkml3, please open a thread for HCCC Episode 13 and 14.
I just watched Ep 13 and what BOD has predicted happened. Lots of emotions, laughter and tears. I think we finally get 1 scene where KSH/Du Sik did well emotionally. I loved the kids’ scene, which I thought was a good call by PD. Instead of concentrating only on the adults, we get to see how the children felt and coped.
And they are really pushing the reveal of DS’s secret past to the latter episodes still. It better be a big enough trauma to warrant making it mysterious for so long.
Still waiting for Seong Hyeon to do something more active and positive to change the trajectory of his life.
@Packmule3, I’ll wait until you open a thread for HC3 eps. 13 & 14 to post my comments. Hope all is well with you.
@pkml3 I hope you’re just busy or on the road and that all’s well with you.
I hope all is well, @pm3! And that work is not too crazy busy! Take care. 🙂
@packmule3
Haha your memory never seizes to amaze me and your analytical skills. I see you are right that in some ways those phone scenes were somewhat lacking on Dushik’s part. Hyejin’s reactions seem much more authentic.
I feel like those heart-wrenching scenes that we felt made KSH the iconic symbol of “Second Male Lead Syndrome” are somewhat coming, since he will have to face his past and guilt in the final episodes. Maybe in KSH’s best career interests, he needs to try out different and more challenging roles than his ‘nice guy deep down’ ones. Kind of like how Lee Minho is branching out in Pachinko (coming out 2022?) as the antagonist, if I’m not mistaken.
@Jennifer and @packmule3, I read somewhere that KSH started in theater work, but it seems, that training didn’-t h3lp with his range. He is limited so far and Ned’s to find ways to stretch. He could also choose a different path because he seems to be charming them in the variety show, Running Man. Methinks that as long as he’s perceived as the handsome dimpled one he’ll get work because of his now fan base. To use a Hollywood term, he’s bankable but has not ascended to the A list.
Two actors referenced in this blog have range and impress in very different roles. Kim Min-jae, our Moo-hak, 2as the lead in Do You Like Brahms. He has had supporting roles in a variety of genres and even sings. He shows wonderful comedy chops in Dali..and his timing is impeccable. I think he is going places.
Han So Hee is another actor(actress) who has range. I didn’t see World of the Married, but did see Nevertheless and her supporting role in Abyss and found the two roles I saw her in to be quite different. She’s n o w going into an action role and I look forward to seeing her handle it. She did win an acting award for WOTM. She v is not one note.
I think that actors who try to stretch do better I n the long run. You can see burn out and joblessness in actors who are looks c dependent and long term employment for those who know when to hang up their matinee idol roles for character parts. And I would also guess that those who stop having plastic surgery to overstay their looks are far better off. To use an American example, Meryl Streep was never classically beautiful. Her face did not have perfect features but her acting skills transcended it and in so many roles, she made us see her beauty. She also did not limit herself to heroic roles and allowed herself to be sullied. In Korea we see actors like Song Kang Ho and Lee Jeong-eun who consistently win awards and work in a variety of genres who have stood the test of time.
So the KSH charm offensive will only work as long as he has his looks. He needs to up his game to achieve longevity or chuck it all and go the variety show route (that might be a better way forward for him).