Instead of the usual highlights, let’s do a survey. Which scene gave you the most vicarious embarrassment?
This is my list.
a. Woong’s cream pasta woes
Why is it embarrassing? Self-explanatory.
I laughed when she called out to him, because he was hanging about the doorway, and he mumbled, “Shit.” He used it as an expression of embarrassment, but it was appropriate because he really needed to go to the bathroom.
BTW, if people think that “shit” is a vulgar language, tell them that it’s been used since the 18th century. Jonathan Swift, the “Gulliver’s Travel” author, made the line “Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!” famous in his poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room.”
If you haven’t read that poem, it’s about a man who so idealizes his love, Celia, until he happens to enter her boudoir. There, he sees and smells a lot of gross things like her dirty clothes, cosmetics, stockings, and…chamber pot. When he sees and smells the contents of her chamber pot, he’s grossed out. He exclaims, “Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!” Then, he runs away, forever traumatized that beautiful women (and men, for that matter) defecate just the same as ugly women. lol. It’s satire.
“Oh! Woong, Woong, Woong shits!”
b. The clogged toilet
Why is this embarrassing? Again, it’s self-explanatory.
c. The condom misunderstanding
Woong was asking for the plunger, but she thought he was asking if she had a condom around. He was going out to go out to buy one if she didn’t have it.
Why is this embarrassing? Because her Naughty Cell got ahead of her.
d. The overflowing toilet
Why is this embarrassing? Because a toilet that overflows is 10x worse than a clogged toilet.
Not to mention that it’s embarrassing that a guest, a first-time guest at that, got up close and personal with the bathroom tiles.
Furthermore, it embarrasses to think that some poop molecules (lol) could have possible attached themselves to his clothes while he was de-clogging the toilet and wiping the floors.
No. If I were Yumi, I’d want him to go home, take a shower, and change clothes.
e. Yumi’s indecision
Why is this embarrassing? Because Yumi’s such a cheapskate that she has to compromise on her values.
f. Woong’s insistence on fighting for their “consumer’s rights”
Yumi asked where he was because she couldn’t find him at the lobby. He answered that he went to the hotel’s office.
Woong: They keep saying they informed us in advance and are blaming you for it. So I got upset and came to meet the reservation manager.
(The background suspense music was great, too)
Woong: They could have just apologized, but they kept saying that it isn’t their fault. I said let’s hear the recording then! (scoffs) And they said let’s hear it.
I adore Woong for defending his woman. If this had played out during the 18th century, it would have been comparable to him challenging the manager to a duel with pistols at dawn because the honor of Yumi had been “stained.”
But since we know that Yumi was at fault, I was internally screaming “Andwaeeee!”
Yumi: What did you say? No, Woong, stop. We came here to have a good time, what are you doing? What’s the point of listening to the recording?
Woong: I’m just asking for my consumer’s rights. When I’m mad, I see things to the end.
Where were Yumi’s cells? I would have loved to see the reactions of her Emotional/Feelings and Rational cells. Would they have been biting their nails, too?
I like that he was determined to fix everything, but at the same time, I dislike that he was determined to fix everything. If he had just listened to Yumi and let things be (like she was begging him to), then there was no need for this show-down.
g. Yumi’s stopping the voice recording
She came in the nick of time to slam the keyboard to pause the recording. Woong was shocked to see her there. She dragged him out.
Yumi: Let’s go.
Woong: Wait. Wait a moment. I haven’t heard it all yet.
Yumi: (stuttering) I…I asked them to give me that room. I was the one who asked them to give me that room.
Woong: What?
Yumi: I asked them to give me that room. Let’s go now.
Woong accidentally knocked some folders which landed on the keyboard. The recording resumed.
Recording of Yumi: It doesn’t matter! I like full-glass bathrooms! Please give me the full-glass bathroom!
Recording of the reservation staff: All right, ma’am.
Lol. Without context, she sounded like a pervert, when actually she sounded desperate to reserve a room with a view, and double beds.
The term “room with a view” had double meaning. She wanted the OCEAN view, not the bathroom view. But for that room, one can’t have one view without the other sort of view.
The Naughty cell’s flower face was too funny.
In kdramas (and Shakespeare, too), a lunatic is depicted with a flower in his/her disheveled hair. Naughty Cell wore a flower behind his ear signified that he was going crazy or “miccheosso” – just like Woong’s cells earlier when he had the cream pasta diarrhea.
Ophelia from “Hamlet” with flowers in her hair.
source: lars.ingebrigtsen.no
Also, I love Kim GoEun’s facial reaction here. She nailed that stiff, awkward look.
Yumi: I told you. I was the one who asked for that room. I told you, right? (forced laughter) Have a nice day.
Why is this embarrassing? Because it was public humiliation that could have been averted had she owned up to the truth in the privacy of their room.
h. Yumi’s confession
Why is this embarrassing? Because it was a forced error. She had no choice but to admit that she booked it, but she couldn’t tell him her reason for lying to him about it.
i. Yumi’s case of the sulks vs Woong’s cluelessness
Why is this embarrassing? Because she made the situation worse. She could have just laughed it off.
There’s so many ways to describe how she was feeling at this point: petulant, peevish, petty, sulky, in a huff. She didn’t have to bring up his diarrhea and humiliate him (in such a public way, too) to feel better herself. Especially when he was already trying to make light of the situation so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed.
Yumi: (looking down to avoid his eyes) You told me to reserve an ocean-view, double-bed room. That’s why I did it.
Woong: I know.
Yumi: That was the only room left. Really.
Woong: All right.
Yumi: It wasn’t because I like the full-glass bathroom.
Woong: (smiling) I got it.
Yumi: (hearing his amusement, she looks up) Why are you laughing?
Woong: Huh?
Lol. I sympathize with Woong. She morphed from being cute to scary in zero seconds.
Yumi: Are you laughing at me right now? Do you think I’m a pervert?
Woong: No. No, it’s not like that. It’s because you’re cute.
Danger! Danger! Not that “cute” word again.
Yumi: Cute? You always say cute when you don’t know what to say.
Woong: I thought it was funny so I just —
Yumi: What’s so funny? I’m serious right now.
On no! He should know when to shut up. Anything he says will only escalate the situation.
Woong: The situation is kind of funny.
Yumi: I never laughed when you came over to my place and had diarrhea all night. Compared to that, this situation isn’t even funny. Don’t you think?
NOOOO! Don’t go there.
j. Woong’s counterattack
Why is this embarrassing? Because now, they were both behaving like kids.
I didn’t know that this behavior could be described as “salty.” Viki described him as “King Salty.” I didn’t know that being salty was the same as being peevish.
I like Kissasian’s sub better. He was called King Sullen.
But I like the description of this Regal Cell.
Rational Cell: It can’t be! He’s the second son of Prince Angry. They say when he comes, he stays for three years. He’s…he’s…He’s King Salty.
Minion: The king’s feeling uncomfortable. Everybody out of the way!
Rational Cell: No! Your Majesty. I apologize for saying this but you can’t be salty right now. Yumi is embarrassed and ashamed by the situation. We need to be understanding. Please be sympathetic.
The animation got this spot on, too. We often see commoners bowing and begging for mercy in sageuks, so the image of Rational Cell begging for understanding was too funny.
I guess King Salty Cell is like “Wounded Pride” Cell.
BTW, “ppoong” is subbed in Kissasian as “whatever.” I’m guessing it’s the equivalent of a shrug or “pfft” or “whatever you say.”
But all’s well that ends well. After all these embarrassing moment, they still kissed and made up love.
Kudos to the guest “actor” in this episode: the bathroom!!!!
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
That’s my list of embarrassing moments in this episode. Did I miss anything?
@Packmule3, Yumi felt embarrassment while making the hotel reservation, trying to keep it out of the hearing of her office mates but ultimately failing at that goal. As was pointed out before, if she wanted to avoid being overheard, she should not have stayed at her desk…but then we would’ve missed a well timed comic moment.
Another moment of embarrassment for Yumi and comedy setup for viewers was when Yumi got into the car with GW and was going to explain about reserving the room with the all-glass bathroom, and GW blurted out that perverts would want to stay in such a room. Then and there Yumi should have responded it was the only room left, she’d tried to reach him for advice but failed, so she made the decision to take it. Deal with it! The issue would’ve landed back on GW and his attitude. But then we wouldn’t have had so much fun watching the rest of the episode.
Until Yumi feels confident she can speak her mind and still be loved despite differences of opinion, this won’t be a healthy relationship for her. Both Yumi and GW are withholding things that aren’t in themselves deal breakers, but obfuscation increases the negative impact when those things are finally laid bare. Mountains out of molehills.
@Packmule3 and @Welmaris.Thank you for your excellent analyses.
I did enjoy all of episodes 5 and 6, but particularly the hotel scenes, and the fluctuating reactions of both Yumi and Wung as their respective understanding of the situation shifts. Wung is steadily redeeming himself in my perception, and on the whole he comes out of the ego fight just slightly better than Yumi.
The cells did very well in the end, getting rid of both Etiquette and the Prince of wounded dignity.
It was interesting to see another aspect of Wung – the determination to have what he sees as his “rights” aknowledged, and to stick with a problem until he’s satisfied it has been resolved. I wonder if this will crop up again. It could very well do – after all, he is a programmer, and seems to run his life along flow chart lines.
I had to laugh at Yumi’s poor Rational Cell. His “We’re screwed” and his sudden acquisition of flowers reminded me of the Goodies (some UK group members will perhaps remember the 1970s comedy sitcom) and Tim Brooke-Taylor’s standard panic reaction: “I’m a teapot, I’m a teapot…”
I think the screenwriter added a brilliant touch bringing the bookings manager out into the hotel corridor to stand behind Yumi and Wung and ironically wish them a pleasant stay in the hotel.
I noticed that neither Yumi nor Wung apologised to the hotel staff.
@Juriel, I had second-hand embarrassment too when that manager came out to wish them a pleasant stay in the hotel. I knew he was mocking them but because of his bland delivery, he can’t be accused of contempt or sarcasm.
Woong bowed and Yumi just turned down her eyes. Then the way she walked! lol, She was swaying side to side, like she was reeling under the weight of her embarrassment.
I’m really entertained with Kim GoEun as she makes these little moves. I can’t imagine anybody else in her shoes. She’s mastered her craft.
LOL @pkml3 I was cringing with second hand embarrassment and disapproval, because so much of the chagrin could have been avoided by being upfront. Immediately upon booking the room, she should have messaged Woong to inform him that she had to book the last available room with the glass bathroom wall.
All that hiding of info and avoidance to face save/save face frustrates me after a while.
I do agree (and this is like Dali’s case with Moo Hak in Dali and the Cocky Prince) that men should really listen and shut up when a woman says not to do something. At least find out why she protests instead of riding roughshod over her wishes.
The funniest most embarrassing cell scene was Rational cell losing his marbles. I liked that flower and vacant eyed look whenever things get out of hand and Yumi’s cells can’t cope.
Yumi’s self-created humiliation was great and I understand her anger at Woong’s amusement. It was more anger at her own foolishness but she took it out on Woong. Not only had she booked the ‘pervert’s’ room, but she had repeatedly lied about knowing about it.
Since he was quick enough to make light of it, I wish Woong might have been a little quicker to assure her that he knew she wasn’t a pervert, and that he’d made it difficult for her to admit to knowing about that room, because he’d already labelled anyone who booked it, a pervert.
Still she shouldn’t have brought up his cream pasta humiliation in public. His case of the sullens is exactly right. Fortunately he doesn’t go into totally silent treatment and lack of response, or the episode would have fizzled entirely. As it was, a few minutes got him to re-think (I’m glad Prince Sullen did not stay for 3 years!!!) and to spark off a hot night.
@GrowingBeautifully (GB)
I was going to say that films can deal with unreality in a very real way, but that doesn’t say everything in this case. You’re so right. People (Yumi) can sink into such a quagmire of embarrassment that normal human reactions can’t happen. My own cringe was totally real for these hotel scenes simply because something slightly similar happened in my own life, long ago. Every so often the memory crops up again, and the embarrassment is as acute now as it was then. I do wish I could get rid of it.
@Juriel, I do agree with you. The feelings, especially the embarrassment, do not seem to fade much with time! If you’ve watched Ep 7, what we’re saying here seems so apt. Ep 7 starts us off on an unexpected different set up for Yumi’s cells, and changes our perspective on the events in her life.
I agree with everyone’s take on the embarrassment. Good and rapid communication helps. I am actually relieved that both characters get tongue-tied sometimes when they are flustered. It happens to me often.
@Juriel, your thought that people like Yumi can sink into a quagmire of embarrassment is so apt. That’s one reason they couldn’t say thank you to the manager. I imagine that she wished she could just disappear, and quickly! I’ve had those moments and yes, I wish they would leave my memory but they have a way of sticking because they are so excruciating. (The Goodies aired before I moved to the UK, but I’ve seen clips. Also Dad’s Army’s ‘Don’t panic, Captain Mainwaring’.)
@packmule3, I think another cameo was the shoreline at sunset. I don’t think Yumi would have lingered so long in the room regretting the situation if it hadn’t shown up. Ironically, when they both returned to the room, the outside view was the last thing on their minds. 😈
How funny to see Song-hwa’s Sochko in this drama.