The thread is now open for spoilers and pitchforks. Since this is the week before the finale, we shouldn’t be surprised to see some wild and crazy drama come our way before Dali and Moohak get the HEA they deserve.
Let’s enjoy the show!
Dali and the Cocky Prince: Eps 13 & 14 Open Thread
Thanks @pkml3. I want to pitch a fork at the lousy uncle of Dali’s.
Such a hypocritical turncoat, totally untrustworthy and out to make use of Dali any which way he can, for the so-called family name, which he himself did nothing much to defend or uphold.
I abhor how the elders make use of their ‘status’ (with seniority), to abuse, unfairly blame, coerce and trick the younger generation into doing their will. This goes for all the seniors from Dali’s uncle to Moo Hak’s father/step-mother, and Assemblyman An.
On the good side are Dali’s deceased dad and her faithful colleague, Hwang Ki Dong, who are out to serve rather than be served.
@packmule3, thank you.
@Growing Beautifully, I support your sentiments. First the uncle blamed Dali for everything and said that she isn’t part of the family, later he tried to procure her for Tae Jin in the name of salvaging the family honour. Shameful. We know that Tae Jin wants to wrest control of the gallery from her.
Two wishes: I hope that she has a plan and I hope that as a woman, her plan isn’t that she will be 100% rescued by a man or men, even Moo-hak and Won Tak, but rather an effort by both. But I’m not sure her current mindset will allow for that…
On other comments I read that someone thought of this plot as Dickensian. I rather agree.
Hi @packmule3!! I’m really enjoying this kdrama.
I agree both with @GB and @ Fern. Pitchforks for elders and Second ML (stab, stab). I really liked Kwon Yul on Haechi, but I hate everything about him on this one. Hair, clothes, attitude lol. I probably won’t be able to watch these episodes till the weekend but looking forward to reading the comments. @Fern I agree with your wishes. I hope Dali has a plan and that the curators/support do not stab her on the back. Also, for Moo-hak and Dad to reconcile (it may be a given).
Hi @Fern, @Carolina and Everyone
Ep 13 is still on the roll with this Show appearing to follow the kdrama rules of tropes and idiocy (noble or otherwise) with their resultant misunderstandings, but no! Once again it goes the usual way of A – B – C – X instead of D, and our characters remain consistent.
It is uncertain if the curators would have come clean if they’d been on their own, but as we (the viewers) expected, it was Gong Ju who unexpectedly stepped up to clear Kim Nak Cheon’s name. Among the curators, Gong Ju had nothing much to gain from coming forward, except peace of mind, and so her action was that much more admirable.
It was good to see an abundance of caution, over Dali’s disappearance, and equally good to see that ordinary people like the bus driver are far more honest and responsible, than they are sometimes given credit for.
TJ annoys me no end, by claiming that Dali can make a decision, while insisting on what she has to choose anyway. He continues the hypocritical route of assuming the role of saviour, after he himself causes the issues that threaten to destroy Dali and the gallery. He will, of course, try to force her to his will by destroying Dondon as well, but that’s for Ep 14.
It was a good episode, but I was wondering if perhaps we were getting quite a lot of filler and PPL, ie, more than usual suddenly. Was not the scene of Secretary Yeo trying to feed MH and remove his wrinkles rather extraneous? Of course we know Chak Hee’s scene could easily have been halved if not for the PPL. It was a scene to reinforce the expected nuptials and the loss of the Basquiat Exhibition.
How about the part where the curators re-enacted MH’s charismatic entrance? Even the important scenes of the curators at the police station were not as edited as they could have been. I have an inkling that the episode could have been done in 45 minutes or less.
Thanks @packmule3
@GrowingBeautifully The product placement for that KAHI wrinkle stick is insane. It’s the new Subway. But I think the way the show has integrated the PPL is quite creative at times, as they take opportunities to lighten to tone. I get what you mean about the filler scenes, but sometimes I wonder if they’re planted for later episodes. There were moments in earlier episodes that I thought were filler, but later turned out to be important.
It really annoys me that if Tae Jin were to marry Da Li, he would get the girl and the land (and the money). I don’t think this will happen, but the sheer arrogance of him thinking he can play both sides and still corner Da Li into marrying him. I wonder if Segi’s shares went up because investors think he’s marrying Da Li to get access to the land. Ugh so terrible.
One other thing, that strikes me … I’d hate to be forcibly ‘bought over’ at the cost of a humongous diamond ring. Instead of being a sign of regard or how much one is valued (which it isn’t), it is an unfeeling status symbol, a brand of ownership and an astronomical burden upon the one forced to accept it. Those commentors who say they envy the lady who gets the ring, are sadly mistaken.
On top of everything else, the lady with the ring gets accused of being a gold digger. 😠 😑
@hotatoes Yes, tell me about those Subway ads. Everywhere, they were. They have the opposite effect on me. When I see a Subway, I tend to avoid it. Not so much the wrinkle stick. It featured in Yumi’s Cell’s as well, of course, since Kim Go Eun seems to be it’s brand model as well.
Here’s something amusing. Maybe I like it because I’m practically a granny? LOL.
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2021/10/netizens-thrown-off-seeing-lil-nas-x-advertising-the-kim-go-eun-balm-the-one-my-mom-kept-telling-me-to-order
TJ’s proposal was not a proposal but a threat. He basically said you will marry me or I will hurt MH and make you marry me. He is increasingly coming across as a sociopath. I really enjoy this show but it could have been 12 episodes – there is not much to the central mystery but they have just dragged it out. Every episode seems to have a scene of Dali walking, or on a bus, or staring while the melancholy music plays. This episode had two such bus scenes! But I’m just nitpicking because this is definitely in my Top 5 dramas of 2021.
Although I risk losing my street cred as a commenter here, I will confess to purchasing the KAHI stick. As an old person, I like that it’s reasonably priced and doesn’t evaporate, spill or dry out. I wouldn’t rub it all over my face like a crayon for daytime touchups, but it’s pretty decent as part of a daytime/nighttime skin routine.
As he’s written, I like TJ as a villain. He starts out smooth and charming, but we know something might be up when he gives the once-over to Moo Tak when they first meet. His quips get slightly more snarky as time goes on until he realizes he may not get what he wants and the claws come out. Granted, he’s not likeable, but I appreciate that they wrote in a character that really is a good foil for MT. He’s his complete opposite, yet they matched each other line for line. And TJ uses MT’s and his family’s actions against him, so real stuff, which makes him more theatening, I think. Online people call him “robotic” or “boring,” but that’s just part of underestimating him. I was cautiously thinking he might go down as the tropey martyred 2nd male lead, so to have the script flipped that’s he’s the evil mastermind is yet another way the show is switching it up.
@GrowingBeautifully
Thank you for the link it was hilarious and endearing! I love that they got the publicity they wanted, but in such an unexpected way. The marketing almost worked on me, but I read the ingredients and didn’t want to put so much oil on my face. I’m worried it would clog my pores.
I was smiling so hard for the first 20 min of Episode 14 that my cheeks ached. The art installation was probably the most lovely way to show a couple montage that I’ve ever seen in a k-drama. I don’t usually like light installation art, but now I want to visit that piece. And the fact that Da Li’s dad found Moo Hak just as amusing as she does. He was very insightful – many of the qualities that he noticed in Moo Hak are the ones that Da Li loves as well.
The artists always pick up on Da Li and Moo Hak’s relationship in no time!
Only two episodes left. I hope TJ gets outed publicly in episode 15 along with the assemblyman. And the ungrateful cousin druggie should be criminally charged.If not because he is family he should be shipped off away from DL. Wish we could just focus on the MH and DL in the last episode.
There’s no noble idiocy yet! No crazy second female lead scheming! Everyone’s still sorta rational! That’s a win so far!!!
Also, I like the consummation scene – it’s sweet, funny, and has Dali as the slightly more aggressive one.
The dinner scene was also hilarious. Won-tak is such an incredulous big bro. I didn’t understand why Moo Hak’s later answers were funny though.
Consummation scene, @L? That such a quaint term! 🤣 I’m playing catch up with y’all but I don’t remember where I stopped.
Heh @L that was an entertaining consummation scene.
And that scene in Won Tak’s home was to die for. Loved his totally (deliberately) wrong answers to every question and how he reveled in that, and Dali loved them. And oh …. how he danced across the floor while giving them LOLOL.
Dali tells Won Tak and she and Moo Hak click well in conversation. He doesn’t believe her and tests MH.
“What’s the capital of India – (MH’s answer – Indonesia!” (what the!!!))
“Founder of Joseon Dynasty – (Yoo Dong Kun)”
“Seven-story – (House!)”
“Bad news – (is Terrible!)” Dali starts to laugh and I can’t stop.
“What does UFO stand for? – (Well, I don’t know. Skip it!)” He’s doing a rap dance.
WT : Yet you guys click well? Seriously?
Dali : There’s only one thing you lack, and its humour.
MH starts taunting Won Tak by sliding across the floor and doing an almost moonwalk.
Dali, referring to MH : Isn’t he cute?
MH while dancing around WT: Aren’t I cute? Aren’t I cute?
That makes my day and my night!
I find that Show still makes use of people being coincidentally at a place where they see or hear something they shouldn’t, and so the plot continues,… happened when Ki Chul witnessed Kim Nak Chun’s death, and this episode with Chak Hee hearing her dad trying to call TJ and Dali being present to hear that TJ receives a recording of her dad, and even when TJ sees MH hugging Dali. It’s an easy method to get people to know stuff they wouldn’t. However with this Show’s good humour and lack of the usual irritating misunderstandings, I forgive it heartily!!
I’m so looking forward to Ep 15 and the finale!!
@Growing Beautifully, that scene was so funny. MH was so adorably in love all day, right?
@hotatoes, yes, I liked that Dali’s father actually met with MH and was going to set him up with his daughter – who was good looking like him!😉🙈 – MH politely declined. But it reminded me of when he was consoling Dali about being adopted – he said he knew because she looked nothing like her father. I had been wondering how he knew.
@Fern,
That scene of MH in the kitchen with his staff watching his ‘being in love’ performance was so OTT cringey that it was good LOL. The expressions of his staff were gold. Actress Hwang Bo Ra really hammed it up big time. I believe they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ywwi901RwIK7U2l0qyXYAVxCzemh5-xb/view?usp=sharing
It was another filler scene for pure entertainment. Dali going ‘Whhooo’ into the phone to blow at him to make him all better, made all the kitchen crew sick LOL.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gmu5w3yPWdEMGRQTK_8sZRaiM6gU6RQ6/view?usp=sharing
Kim Min Jae has called up his early idol trainee and current rap moves for this show. I roared with laughter again, watching him slide dance all around Won Tak, shaking his tie at him. I hope we get to see some gifs of his “Aren’t I cute?” moves.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pg2Ha1Diq9e3ocFhXXsMZyFVEo-D8i8I/view?usp=sharing
No noble idiocy – how refreshing! A bed scene – and funny too – also refreshing! Great episode. Just the right amount of tension as all the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together.
@Growing Beautifully, thank you for the screenshots. Ha, the chefs get a bonus because MH is in love.
I think Hwang Bo Ra is so funny. I remember her from ‘What’s wrong with Secretary Kim’ and ‘Zombie Detective.’
Hi Ladies,
I have a question regarding the terms Dali uses for her cousin and TJ. She uses Oppa for them. While I know it can be used for older brother and a term of endearment for your SO.
Why does Dali still use Oppa for TJ? For your ex? Does it make sense? Am I over thinking the term? or why she should use it for TJ?
@Fern I like Bo Ra as well. I have not seen those dramas but recently watched “Arang and the Magistrate.” She was the shaman and she was funny there too.
Hi @Carolina, my take on how the Koreans address each other from my long ago online Korean lessons and from what I see in dramas, is that out of politeness, they will address a person by his title, and then that title kind of sticks with them practically forever.
So TJ was oppa to Dali from the beginning ie he was older than her. She has stuck with it. It probably just means “older man” to her now. Calling him something else means a shift from being in an amicable relationship to another type of relationship that may be fraught, so the shift is seldom made.
I’m not sure if she’ll one day call him Tae Jin-shi to distance herself from him, after she finds out the full list of his crimes. Becoming more formal means losing a good relationship, and vice versa. So no change is the easiest thing.
When she and MH wanted to move on from formality to informal address, we can see it was not easy to just call a person sweetheart or chak-kia. The addressing thing in this culture has pretty great significance. It changes the status of the person with reference to the one addressing him. It also makes obvious to onlookers, what the relationship is.
In Goblin, the FL still called her class mate ‘Class President’ when they were both adults, instead of by her first name as is accepted among same age individuals. For them it was a comfortable address that harked back to their school days and reflected their long relationship.
It would be nice if someone well versed in Korean culture could also give the cultural point of view. 🙂
@GB thank you for explaining this. Now a lot of other shows make sense. The titles of people sometimes throws me off. I am used to it from the point of historical dramas, but it was hard for me to reframe this into modern era.
I’m fascinated now that I understand it better and I wonder how much details I’ve missed.
Thank you again I’ll keep this mind as I watch dramas.
The first 20 minutes of Ep 14 is pure gold. Such cute couple moments. This reminds me why we watch Rom Coms.
@Xinsheng Wang – I whole-heartedly agree that the first 20 mins of Ep 14 is pure Rom-Com gold. Funnest bedroom and morning after scenes I’ve ever watched in a Rom-Com. Completely in keeping with the playful nature of their relationship. Great script-writing, acting and editing (loved his neck-tie going ‘splat’ against the wall and landing in a heap on the floor).
I believe @pkml3 is super busy these weeks. If you can @pkm3, please open up the Ep 15 and 16 OT for the finale. Thanks!
🍪🍪🍪 ☕ 🥛 🍪🍪🍪 ☕ 🥛
You should have a hot beverage or milk with cookies!
I’m very late to this comment stream, but I want to post that I’ve read and enjoyed all your comments and agree with them.
I was enchanted by the scenes with the art installation Dali and MH toured after reconnecting on the country road. The way the fog machine and a layer of laser light were used to make it seem they were walking chest-deep in water was magical. And yes, @hotatoes, summarizing their relationship using the lights was clever.
When MH and Dali returned home after their long day, an emotional roller coaster for both of them, I liked how they communicated without words. MH held Dali’s eyes with his gaze, and when understanding broke in Dali’s mind, her mouth slightly dropped open. The consummation scene was both romantic and realistic in how lovemaking can be interspersed with awkward moments and laughter. The morning after, when Dali woke as MH was cooking breakfast, I was pleased to see that her clothes and purse had been neatly set at the foot of the bed; I suspect that was kindly done by MH. As he was cooking, you could see MH thinking of Dali, smiling and yet looking a bit unbelieving. That was good facial acting by KMJ. Once he realized Dali was awake, we see MH trying to respect Dali’s space, yet giving in to his urge to smother her in kisses. He’s besotted!
The scene in the rooftop flat where Won Tak and Moo Hak are trying to one-up each other is hilarious. I had previously seen, from my viewpoint on Shallow Island, that actor Hwang Hee filled out his tee shirts very nicely. Watching him flex his biceps while eating a chicken leg has to go down as one of the great moments in Kdrama chimaek history. Watching MH’s silly yet skilled dance moves, scooting around WT, was one of the high points of this entire show.
About actor Hwang Hee, his face shape reminds me a bit of Gong Yoo. I’d love to see them play brothers or cousins. I would find that casting very believable.
@welmaris,
i don’t mind your late post. ditto on everything you said.
i would love to know more about that art installation (warehouse, laser lighting). like – where can we see that piece? i would love to walk through that fog and feel like i’m in deep water 💦 y’ know. that was mesmerizing 🥰
the cyclops have become one 💕