The thread is now open for the rewatch of Ep 5.
Usual time: 13:00 UTC
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05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
Join @Growing_Beautifully, @Cleopatra, @Welmaris, @Janey, @nrllee, @Fern, @Kuroshio, @FGB4877 and @Carolina as they discuss the details of the episode.
Gifs from multifandom’s tumblr
@Welmaris and @Janey, will you make it for the rewatch of Ep 6 next week, Nov 27? It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the rewatch!
Hi @pkml3. I knew I could count on you to set up the thread for Ep 5. It’s usually set to automatically post at my 12noon or thereabouts.
Have a great weekend! Of course if you could join us, as well, that would be lovely!!!
@PM3 – I don’t do Black Friday shopping and stuff so I can make it on the Saturday after thanksgiving. How about you @Welmaris?
Happy Friyay!!! See and read you all tomorrow!!!
See you in 8 hours time @Janey!! Have a restful night’s sleep. 🙂
@Packmule3 and @Janey, I’m planning to be part of the rewatch group on Saturday, November 27. I haven’t any other plans that day. All my get-togethers are earlier in the week: hubby’s birthday Tuesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday.
My younger daughter flies in from Seattle late tonight, but I’m setting her up to sleep in our cabin’s master bedroom and I’m putting hubby and me in the guest room because that’s where my computer desk and monitor are. Hubby won’t mind my being on the computer at 5am. He’s often up by then anyway, and if not, he sleeps soundly… especially in front of a TV.
Hello Friends, preparing rice with fried vermicelli and a couple of fried eggs to give arepas a rest XD . Will see you in one and half hours ;D .
Kalimera everyone,
I will be with you today, but I won’t type at all. My elbow is getting better but I need to be careful because the inflammation is still there, but not as it used to be.
🙂
Hello there my dear @FGB and @Cleo!
I’m glad to hear that your elbow is improving, @Cleo. Just rest and enjoy the Show.
I’m wearing my spare spectacles as I broke my usual pair, so I’m squinting a bit as I type. I should get my new pair tomorrow.
See you in 20 minutes!
Hello! Ladies I am here!
Hi @Kuroshio! You’re in good time. What time is it for you?
I am here too…@GB Unnie, @Kuroshio and @FGB!
Hi Everyone, it’s 9pm my time. Let’s start now!!!
I’m here and have started. Always love the opening music.
I love the music too @Welmaris.
Ahh here’s KS looking so handsome with a book.
@GB Saturday 21:00~
@Cleo Sorry about your elbow. Really love to read your comments.
I do not know about the poem, but I really love his voice.So sexy!
Many of us wrote down the poem “The Physics of Love” last episode. I notice that the Viki subs of it are slightly different at the beginning of Ep. 5 than at the end of Ep. 4.
I really like this scene of ET jumping on the crosswalk. KGE really plays the part of a teenager so well.
And that poem! And the realisation in KS’s eyes when he knows what it means for him to have and to love his bride.
@Kuroshio thank you!
I love Gong Yoo’s voice too. Have you heard him sing?
Hello, still cooking! D:
Anyway, hope nothing will get burned in the kitchen XD . Let’s GO!
And now we’re getting noble idiot Goblin. He’s withholding himself emotionally from ET as soon as he realizes he loves her.
I don’t know why I’m surprised that Ferrari makes an SUV, but I am.
I wonder what causes Goblin to have pain from the sword. It seems to happen from time to time. Is it random, are there things he does that cause it, or are there external circumstances that make it start? In this case, I wonder if Goblin pushing away ET plays a role.
And now we see ET listening to a radio program. Reminds me of Reply 1994.
The story of the student ghost who wants her refrigerator stocked so her mom won’t know how deprived she was before death. ET goes the extra mile, cleaning her room as well. So thoughtful. And when the music starts…I want to weep along with the mom.
ET always has ghosts around her.She ignored them.I have no idea what make her change her mind this time.
ET walks home listening to the radio and thinks of how the genre of her day had changed from a happy fantasy to a sad melo.
The ghost of the student comes asking for a favour, to fill up the fridge at the student hostel where she’d lived before she died. This is one of the more touching ghost stories that we have. We actually get to see the resolution of the ghost’s needs that keep her from passing over, to her mum in mourning over her and her sojourn with Reaper in the tea room.
It is heart wrenching watching her mum touch her things with such quiet grief.
Once I commented that I thought this scene where ET helped bring peace in grief to the student’s mother, was included to juxtapose with the scene of KS realising at the restaurant that he too should leave ET to mourn in peace. However I’m not sure why we have this detailed scene.
It is definitedly hard to fall in love 🙂
LOL @FGB I hope nothing burns over your stove! Yes when we look at Reaper and KS it’s very hard to fall in love. Reaper keeps lacking the stuff Sunny and any woman would expect him to have.
Ah love this bromantic scene of the guys at home with egg and beers. They understand each other very well.
Good morning y’all!!! I’m here…
@Cleo – May your elbow fully heal soon! Relax and enjoy the show.
Anyeong chingus @GB, @FGB (your food sounds good!), @Welmaris and @Kirushio
Loving ET is connected to pain. She is inextricably bound to his second death, but she also reminds him of his first death. He is happy to be in love but having a bride means he must die, just when he wants to live longer, loving her.
The sudden awareness that he has fallen in love for the first time, and with his bride, Eun Tak brings on conflicting emotions. Seeing her shining like the sun, elicits memories of his death in the brightest midday.
At home he recalls how she had danced on the crosswalk and how the leaf had fallen on the open book like a death knell. This brings on the memory of the pain of being impaled by the sword.
God’s voice : “Only the Goblin’s Bride will be able to pull out that sword. And when she does, you will finally rest in peace.” KS is on the floor in pain, and very far from peaceful.
Poor ET walks home listening to the radio and thinks of how the genre of her day had changed from being bright and happy to sombre.
Later he thinks to himself (but Reaper can hear his thoughts) “That girl’s smile reminded me of the moment my life ended under that clear afternoon sky. I decided then that I must disappear, before my desire to live on becomes greater. Before I become happier. This is a decision I must make for your sake. To end this life of mine.” It’s interesting that before he loved ET, he was in search of a bride to end his life for his own sake. Now he says he must end his life for her sake. Because he sees that she is happy to be with him and that it will hurt her too much the more she loves him, to be the cause of his death.
(What a terrible punishment, to be happy and in love, but to not be allowed to enjoy that happy love. Instead they are doomed to a sad love … the seulpeon sarang as ET named it.)
Hi @Janey!!! Glad you’re with us.
@Cle WOW! I did not know that he sings! Will try some other time!
LOL so many candles with which to summon KS because she’s desperate about paying the hotel bill.
KS can just extinguish all the candles anytime.
BTW Hello @Kurioshio, how do you do @Welmaris, Kalimera from Caracas @Cleo and how have you been dear @GB?. Happy to read you! 😀
Reaper and Sunny finally meet at the bridge. Reaper is so funny, and clueless, when answering her questions.
What a realization: Reaper doesn’t know his name.
Reaper and Goblin having a bro-talk and sharing responsibility for preparing their snack. Goblin cooks the egg with his hand, Reaper chills the beer with his.
What makes Goblin happiest “shatters” his life. He loves ET, and has decided to die soon to avoid becoming happier and having an even harder time ending his life.
ET looks uncertain.
KS : “Let’s go home.”
“What do you mean by ‘home?’ ”
“The house that I live in. Because you’re the Goblin’s Bride.”
ET stares at him trying to figure out his intent. Remembering that Sunny had asked her if she and KS loved each other, she asks : “Ahjusshi, do you love me?”
KS can’t bring any warmth into is voice : “I can, if you need me to. …(and in a most indifferent voice) I love you.” And outside it starts to rain.
ET is unconvinced, especially because the rain is heavy.
“Do you hate me that much? How much do you hate me that you’re this sad? It’s really pouring out there.”
(KS really cared for ET in that he was sad he was dragging her into a tragic love story, in which she would be traumatised by his death at her hands. He didn’t want her to get too attached to him, since their being together was not meant to last long.
She thinks a moment and decides. “It’s OK. Even if you hate me, or you’re sad I’m going to come and live at your house. I don’t exactly have the luxury to be picky right now, anyway. All I have to do for you is pull out that sword, after all.”
KS : “Yeah, that’s all you need to do.”
Their expressions. Poor ET looks red in the eye with uncried tears. KS looks so unhappy to have her with him.
In the car, ET asks what his name is. (LOL just like Sunny had asked Reaper, but at least KS knows his name.)
He does not reply so she thinks that they are not a couple even though she is his bride.
KS : “No, we were a couple even before you were born. The two of us, I mean. ‘Uri’ (Destiny or fate? Created inadvertently by KS.)
At one point, I was Yu Jung Shin. At another point, I was Yu Jae Shin. And at another point, I was Yu Shin Jae. But my real name is Kim Shin.” (He kept the ‘Shin’ in all his names.)
His willingness to answer cheers her up a bit.
@Janey thank you! 😘
@FGB, I am fine and you?
@Kuroshio He is very talented indeed and I ❤️ for that…
I think the pain of the sword that was felt by KS was related to the realization that he will have to die at the hands of his love. What a wretched curse… to wait to die, to fall in love only to die. Not only to KS but also to ET.
Reaper is surprised to hear that ET is going to live with them but thinking how she’ll end KS’s life he’s suddenly enthusiastic.
GR : “I’m cheering for you and what you’ll be doing in the future. Let’s go in.”
I laugh at the irony of how ET who’d been moving from house to house, to avoid Reaper for 19 years, was now going to live under the same roof as him!!!
Then we find that they don’t even know the passcode to the front door LOLOL. Just like they never thought to bring a car when they rescued ET from the loan sharks. Just such a good touch by Writer-nim to emphasize how they are so out of touch with human life.
Yes, @Janey, the most unfair punishment. To fall in love and want to live happily but then instead to have to die at that point.
I like that Reaper already pegs ET as KS’s weakness and knows that any little discomfort for her will get KS to give in.
ET is in KS’s room and finds the leaf in his note book.
“So he didn’t throw it away. Heh. He sure is treating it as if it’s something precious.”
(The leaf was not only a bookmark for KS’s note on his plea for death, it was also a marker for the most significant moment of his relationship with ET, ie the reminder of the other leaf that had fallen on the open book.
It marked the time he realised had fallen in love with ET, and that out of love for her, he’d decided that he should disappear quickly rather than after she’d gotten too attached to him.
It was a leaf given in a sort of an exchange for the Buckwheat flowers. It was sign of relationship and became another significant object like the ring, which held the memories, the regrets, the longings of the people to which it was connected.]
It was a sad send-off for the student ghost. If memory serves well the actress that portrayed her died a couple years ago in real life.
KS’s NOTEBOOK says “This country is also plagued by a war that won’t end. With their spears and swords people steal others’ land, crops and lives. The god of Goryeo and the god of this land are the same.
I buried the grandson of the grandson of the grandson of the young grandson whom I left Goryeo with. I spent many days sitting on a chair in a small room. My will is not something I’m leaving behind while anticipating death. O god, my will is a plea for you to grant me death.” (We see KS trying to pull out the sword.) “I have considered this life of mine a reward at times. But truly, my life was a punishment. I was not able to forget any single person’s death. Therefore, I seek to end this life of mine. However, god is still as deaf to my pleas as ever.”
That’s where he’s wrong. For some reason god is constantly tailing KS and did answer his plea by giving him ET.
@FGB, I just checked that the actress is Park Se-Wan. She’s still acting even in 2021. So it must be another one of the ghosts?
G: …I will be by your side from now on. Let’s go home.
ET: Which house…?
G: The house where I live, since you are the Goblin’s bride.
ET: Mister, do you love me? (She gets to the heart of what she believes is important in a marriage.)
G: If that’s needed, I will do that, too. I love you.
That has to be the coldest “saranghae” in all of Kdrama. And Goblin can’t hide his feelings from ET. It starts raining.
ET: Do you dislike me that much? How much and how do you dislike me that you are this sad? The rain just continues to pour.
The truth is that Goblin does love ET. It’s the sad love they discussed at the fountain in Quebec. But ET has no idea what is going on in Goblin’s heart because he’s maintaining such an icy exterior.
ET: Well, it’s fine. Even if you dislike me, even if you’re sad, I’m still going to live at your house. I’m in no position to be picky about whether I get a cold or warm goblin. In the end, all I have to do is to take the sword out, right?
After all the difficulties ET has endured in her life, she’s a realist as well as a survivor. I like that she consciously decides to not be hurt by Goblin’s coldness. And she acknowledges what she’s heard Goblin say about the most important role of Goblin’s Bride: removing the sword.
G: Yes, that’s all you have to do.
Goblin’s voice sounds a little softer.
ET notes that KS has so much but it still feels lonely. He’s only recently got himself a friend in Reaper.
Love the levitating knives fight to see who gets to do the dishes.
LOL ET’s plea gets them to buy smartphones. But GR is not smart enough to use his. I always dissolve in laughter over their going to Playstore. Love their expressions … such spot on cluelessness.
LOL KS spouts all the tech specs of the smartphone but ET prefers a simple soft toy. KS never gives her a break yet. He constantly makes her insecure with him.
Reaper remembers how he ended his ‘date’ with Sunny. LOL the date was so awkward I was cringing. Every question was mechanically answered. Poor Reaper has a phone but can’t call Sunny.
I feel that way too about saving new numbers on my phone too … It’s such an accomplishment on my new phone. LOL.
Oh I love this part where ET gets to see her done up room. so much nicer than KS’s dreary room.
How in love he must be to be able to tell everything that ET is doing upstairs, and to let it keep him from focusing on the book.
Poor Reaper begins his friendly relationship with ET by asking for help with getting a good male name.
kS and GR now have to act more human than before now that they have a human housemate. Like opening doors and remembering passcodes! LOL!
I don’t mind to tell that the moment Goblin and Grim sits together at the table, Grim cooling Goblin’s beer and Goblin cooking an egg for Grim is absolutely hilarious, relatable and adorable: two Bros with lady problems 😀
Deok Hwas only thinks how he does not have money or a credit card, when he has everything else, but ET is grateful for the little she has and considers that she has a lot.
LOL DH meets with Sec Kim and is told to just be quiet.
The snacks brought to ET’s door are so sweet and suitable. Even Reaper joins in to cheer her on.
ET is so careful that she won’t pull out the sword in case she loses her home. At last KS asks her what the 5 million won is for. Reaper joins in again and it sounds like he’s asking KS to confess to her which sounds like ‘5 million’.
This episode has many facial closeups. The acting done by Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In No is top notch. That they can convey such emotions to us, the viewers, when they have cameras stuck in their faces is remarkable.
ET asks Goblin his name. “I’m not asking because I’m so curious. Regardless of the fact that we are in a vague relationship that’s closer than cohabiting but farther than a marriage, I’m the Goblin’s bride. I should at least know the name of the Goblin who’s going to be my husband.: ET displays such maturity, considering how much she must be confused and aching inside. She wants her marriage to Goblin to be one with children, a happy home, many years of companionship. She’s hoping for a “normal” marriage despite his being Goblin.
ET: Us…I guess there’s no “us” yet.
ET has no doubt Goblin has withdrawn from her emotionally. She looks so bereft. She was yearning to become part of a loving family.
G: I think it started before you were born. Us. Sometimes Yoo Jeong Shin; other times, Yoo Jae Shin. Currently I’m Yoo Shin Jae. My real name is…Kim Shin.
Sharing one’s real name is powerful. Goblin acknowledges that he has had a relationship with ET since before she was born. It’s a contractual relationship. But by sharing his real name with her, he’s honoring her in a manner beyond business. And I like the tone of Goblin’s voice: soft, caring. He doesn’t want to keep hurting ET.
Aww… ET’s room is so nice!!!
kS listening to her every move upstairs shows he’s whipped!
@FGB, the bromance was one of the best things in this Show. I was sad when they were estranged.
KS pretends that he’s not been waiting for and watching ET from outside.
The conversation between GR and ET is the best. Love how they ignore KS. It’s his own fault for being so cold. He tries to show off or get attention but no one is impressed.
His “I love you” is getting even with her XD . Poor poor Eun Tak XD XD XD XD XD
I love the “boyfriend” speech fight so much…
😁😂
Now I love even more KS and ET’s ‘not-a-lover’s quarrel’.
She points out that there must be a good reason the sword was plunged into his chest.
KS : “How could you rub salt into my would like that?” (So apt)
She goes on to say that “If you really want the best for me, give me a boyfriend!” … “What kind of guardian angel are you? You didn’t grant my wish for a boyfriend!”
Then he embarrasses all of them by insisting that her boyfriend is right in front of her ie him. LOL… they can’t look each other in the eye anymore that day.
This is my favorite line in Goblin when I first time watch this drama.
“If he’d let mee see his(God) face,
at least I would be able to resent him.”
This line is so much full of HAN and I think it is very Korean.
The teasing of Reaper and calling of Sunny.
This stopping of time scene, the BTS shows that some of it was not scripted and they acted on in character regardless.
That phone call with Sunny was another cringe-worthy conversation.
Hah! ET and KS still embarrassed over his being her boyfriend.
The rain has stopped by the time Goblin and ET arrive at the house. Goblin is feeling better.
The practical matters of a mortal sharing the house with non-mortals…the fun begins. Of course Goblin and Reaper don’t know the code to the keypad, since they don’t need to bother with opening a door before walking through. But I think Goblin has to physically open a door in order to use it as a portal to a different location.
Not only is a mortal going to be sharing their living space, but a young lady. Goblin wants to act gentlemanly toward her. Toward Reaper? Nah! Their battle for dominance continues.
Gong Yoo and that single tear… 😢😭
@Welmaris, KS and GR now have to act more human like opening doors and remembering passcodes!
KS is so crazy about ET he can’t wait to have another meal with her.
Back in Quebec at their fave restaurant, and KS sees the future ET in the eyes of the waiter. He draws his own conclusions from her waiting for a sajang-nim and decides that he must have died so that she was able to meet a new man.
He is more determined than ever that he should quickly get her to pull the sword out.
Love the music transitions as we see the scenes from the restaurant to the thoughts of him disappearing from her history.
I feel for poor GR and not having a name…
@Janey, I feel for GR too. He’s so jealous that KS only has to declare himself a boyfriend and he gets the girl, he has the girl right under his roof and he can call he and meet her whenever, but GR feels he cannot because he doesn’t even have the basics. It’s like he has no right to be a boyfriend without the right credentials.
Even ET noted with pleasure that KS was once working for the government. That gave him some standing as boyfriend material.
I love this episode so very much… It has everything in it.
I am glad we are watching this together… ❤️
Have to go for now! Please take care!
TAke care @Cleo!
Yes this episode has so much … the start of romance and so much comedy, and angst and the hint of the future.
Love this episode! Will read commendts later.
Got to go now!
See you!
Take care @cleo!!!
@GB a name gives one an identity and that’s missing with GR. He does not even remember his past, lest a name. What a sad fate and existence he has. Both he and KS are lonely “gods”.
See you @Kuroshio!
Love Grim, but Lord Buddha he is dense around Sunny DX
Goblin’s diary reading is so heartbreaking.
Even in a foreign land, the war does not stop. With swords and arrows, snatching the land and the grains. Taking lives. The god of the foreign land and the god of Goryeo are all the same. The child who left Goryeo with me…I buried him and his grandchild’s grandchild. I, in a chair in a corner of a room, I spent days and weeks. My will is not words that are left in the face of death. Dear God, my last testament is to ask you for death. Though I have at times regarded this life as a reward, in the end my life was a punishment. Anyone’s death…I couldn’t forget one. So I…am to end this life. However, God is not listening as always.
Goblin’s loneliness, which is part of his punishment, keeps him from sensing that god is near, listening, and at work in his life.
The fact that there’s been an unbroken line of mortal Yoo men attending to Goblin means that there have been women and children, as well. Did they play a role in Goblin’s life? DH did say that he’s known since he was a child that his uncle was a goblin, and talked about Goblin bragging about his gold each time he got drunk. So it does sound like Goblin, at least, doesn’t isolate himself from the children who will become his helpers. But the image from Goblin’s words in his diary, that he’s by himself in a corner, sometimes for weeks, sounds like “time out” punishment on steroids. Or it could be something like the “introvert chair” my daughter says she often sat in at a pub near her home: getting out of her house to be near other people, but not with other people.
@Janey, yes,… to not have identity or memory is a lonely thing. We know, however, what happened when he got his identity and memory back. He was even more lonely for a stretch.
This was one of my comments from way back when the show first aired: “Can’t get over how natural and chatty Reaper is now with Eun Tak while he can’t initiate a decent conversation with Sunny. Never heard such a literal response to small talk in my life LOL!”
I thought he was great at showing interest in ET’s life and asking the right questions, but falling in love with Sunny totally tied up his tongue and ability to think!!!
Bye @Kuroshio
This episode ending is sad. KS fading from all his encounters with ET is heartbreaking. That is if his desire to erase all memories of them from ET will happen. It does not have to be that way… this is a commentary to death – we lose our loved ones but we do not forget them. It’s more painful to have your memories erased, in my opinion.
Reminds me of a good movie – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on erasing memories.
@Welmaris that’s interesting, about the introvert chair.
KS was always with humans who served him. It was only with GR that he found another supernatural being who could understand him. Before this, even when he played baduk with the Yoos, he was still lonely.
With both Reaper and ET in his life, he actually started to laugh and smile a lot more, than his past has shown us. And yet we know, in the end, he chose to return to endless loneliness, in order to have just short stretches of time with his first and last love. What a great love.
@Janey, I feel that generally the memories would have remained regardless, but the almighty deity meddled and caused more suffering for ET than necessary, by removing memories.
ET takes charge right away, giving her roommates a list of household rules. You go, girl! Goblin and Grim Reaper are gobsmacked. But it’s hilarious that their takeaway from ET’s list is that they don’t have cellphones.
Goblin’s overblown self-esteem…hah! He believes he knows all about smart phones, but doesn’t know what the Playstore is. Epic scene.
@GB yes it’s a great love but a sad one.
Thanks for the rewatch! Will be here again next week after thanksgiving!!!
From Lonely to Happiness… but not really since I do t see much happy in that show. LOL! Ep8 is up.
@Janey, I’m saw that Ep 9 of Jirisan is on it’s way but I’ll go to sleep first and catch it tomorrow.
Bye everyone, thanks for a great party! See you next week.
Oops I mean ep5 for happiness. Ep8 is Jirisan!
Have a good night @ Gn unnie!
Looks like the shows We are watching are all during weekends!
It’s nice to see ET once again acting age appropriate, which for her would be a rarity. She’s so excited to be shopping with Goblin. Remember, when she lived with her aunt and cousins, she wasn’t even able to have an umbrella of her own. But Goblin, in meanie mode again, threatens that everything they’re buying is actually his, for ET to use while living in his house, but not for her to take with her if she leaves. His words do let a little air out of her enthusiasm. But she’s not taking him too seriously, as displayed by their little wordless scuffle at the register over buying one more item.
Beautiful ending, will take a nap, properly greet all of you, and engage in the forum! 😀
Goblin, his life interwoven with generations of Yoo families (the line of his helpers), probably has a idea of everyday interactions between men and women. He’s also met a lot of women while searching for his bride. On the other hand, Grim Reaper went from being a 15-year-old king with an arranged marriage to a 15-year-old widower after he had his queen killed in front of him. The queen didn’t have access to her own husband, which is why she’d asked General Kim Shin to return to the court to talk with the king. I suspect the evil court advisor kept the king and queen apart on purpose, so the queen wouldn’t have any influence over the king. I imagine Grim Reaper didn’t have experience spending casual, one-on-one time with his own wife. Then after his death, he went to work for the reaper bureaucracy. His only interaction with women from that point on was purely business. No wonder he’s so lost when around Sunny.
When Reaper comes to ET’s room to consult about his name, he knocks three times. Eeeek! ET knows that if a grim reaper calls your name three times, you die. She wants GR to believe her name is now different since she’s Goblin’s Bride, although they aren’t yet officially married, and by Korean custom women usually keep their own name after marriage.
The push and pull between Goblin and ET about sword removal. Goblin nags ET to get the job done, but passively, through notes with the snacks he provides her as she studies. ET doesn’t respond to the notes, but tells Goblin, “Actually I thought about it carefully, and about you getting pretty, I put it on hold for now…What if you kick me out after I lose my effective value? the thought of that is so stressful that I can’t study.”
Rather than being a money-grubber, repeatedly asking Goblin for $5,000 since she met him, it turns out she’s carefully calculated that amount to cover her living costs, housing herself at a sauna, and college tuition. She’s actually being very frugal, asking for the minimum needed to launch herself into adulthood. I think Goblin, on hearing her reasoning, is both impressed and taken aback. Her words about that $5,000 being a fortune to her probably cut deep.
I wonder why ET doesn’t recognize that she does have deep feelings for Goblin, if not exactly romantic love as yet. When Sunny asks ET if she likes the person she’s thinking of marrying, ET immediately says no. But the truth is that she likes to be in Goblin’s presence, and misses him when she’s not. ET also denies that Goblin likes her; his cold demeanor, at times, conveys that message to her. But most times, Goblin performs many caring acts for ET, and on a few occasions went to her instead of waiting for her to call him by candle. And if ET can’t sense that Goblin craves her attention, she’s made of stone.
ET and Goblin spar just like an old married couple. ET doesn’t forget anything Goblin said to her, and brings it all up to bolster her arguments. She flusters Goblin so much that he can’t maintain his icy exterior. He does end up confessing to her. The looks on his face, her face, and Grim Reaper’s face are priceless.
In Goblin’s mind, husband and boyfriend are on different tracks. He’s okay with ET thinking of him as her husband. That’s contractual. But boyfriend? That implies emotional involvement. That thought terrifies him. But it also secretly pleases him.
Despite their being excellent dramatic actors, both Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook can do physical comedy well. The whole sequence about Reaper’s first call to Sunny is hilarious.
Poor Sunny has to coach Reaper on every element of boyfriend behavior. And she accepts his literal answers. She’s intrigued by him.
It is funny, but difficult, seeing ET and Goblin be embarrassed in each other’s presence. They’d had many deep conversations before, and been comfortable together, so there’s a sense of loss watching them stumble with their words and want to escape. I’m glad they both admit their awkwardness. It’s sweet to see them fall back onto their old pattern in order to feel more grounded in their relationship: she’s hungry, he feeds her.
When Goblin encountered ET on the street in their first meeting, he was perplexed that he didn’t see her future. He’d expected to see her 20s and 30s, as he has with other people he’s met. At their dinner date in Quebec, he does see ET at age 29. She mentions in a phone call to a friend (is Sunny on the other end of the call?) that she’s never been abroad. Her memories of being in Quebec with Goblin are gone. She’s at “their” restaurant, and will be eating “their” meal (beef) with some man she calls CEO. Goblin is saddened to see that ET will continue happily even when he’s not by her side. “You’ve forgotten me and your life is perfectly complete with me gone.” This vision pierces Goblin’s heart more painfully than the sword that’s been in his torso for 900 years. He decides that for ET’s benefit, for her happiness, he will end his life.
Goblin momentarily comes out of his vision, seated across the table from ET, a tear running down his face. ET looks concerned.
Why is it we are convinced this is an epic love story? Why aren’t we frustrated with Goblin’s decision to abandon his immortal life despite loving ET? It’s because from the beginning, from the “us” that was formed before ET was born, Goblin has been faced with a dilemma. This is not of his own making, but part of the curse that gave him his 900-year-long existence as Goblin. Only the Goblin’s Bride can remove the sword and end his cursed immortality. And much as Goblin tries to hide behind the notion that he’s only together with ET because of her effective value to him, the truth is that he was once a kindhearted, loving man (as evidenced by his relationship with his sister), and that part of his humanity can’t be turned off like a switch. He was able to compartmentalize and become a killing machine on the battlefield because his victims weren’t people with whom he had relationships. They were declared his enemy by the king, and due to his loyalty to the king he performed his role as General Kim Shin, and performed it well…too well. But even in the grim business of war, he had a loving heart toward the men who served under him. ET has captured that heart, Kim Shin’s heart, that leans toward love. And Goblin is fated to leave ET, his beloved bride, by her hand. Their happiness together, from the beginning, has always been overshadowed by their sad ending. A sad love.
@Kuroshio, I also took notice of Goblin’s line about seeing the face of god. Little does he know that god’s face is in front of him often, and he’s frequently annoyed by that incarnation of god.
Sorry to comment here out of the blue without being a part of your rewatch group, hope this is allowed! I just found this amazing blog and your rewatch thread after watching Goblin for the first time about a month ago and falling down the rabbit hole that is the 1000+ pages on Soompi, where I became a fan of packmule3’s amazing analysis and theories. I recognize some of the other “names” from other sites too, so kind of feel in awe to find somewhere you guys are currently actively posting on!
@Welmaris regarding your questioning why ET doesn’t recognize that she has some kind of deep feelings for Goblin. To the viewer, ET presents as the most socially acclimated character and she’s mostly in bubbly teenager mode when around KS and Grim. But at this point in the show, she’s essentially experiencing a sense of belonging and relationship with other people that she hasn’t had since her mom died 10 years prior. She has no human friends, and until very recently, she ignored all the ghosts she could see as well, and she’s spent a decade with her abusive aunt and cousins. And now, although she’s living in the Goblin house, it’s after having her hopes up and dashed and up and dashed a few times, and after the flattest “I love you” in history given amidst a downpour of Goblin depression rain. She “knows” and accepts that being the “bride” is just a role to fulfill and isn’t in the position to expect or demand anything. And this on top of learning a few episodes ago that she shouldn’t even have been born at all.
But, ET is smart. I don’t think she doesn’t recognize that she feels some kind of attachment to KS, but she also has some understanding of herself and her past. She is optimistic despite everything that she’s been through, but she isn’t purely a naive teenager either (although that in and of itself is sad). I feel like her instinct to latch on to somewhere she can belong is a natural byproduct of the last 10 years of her life (plus all the ghosts whispering in her ear that she’s the Goblin’s bride, whatever that means), but at the same time, she also recognizes the source of that reaction within herself. I read her as a pragmatic optimist. She hopes for deeper connection, but her pragmatism plus all of Goblin’s hot and cold mixed signals tells her it’s simpler to live as practically as she can, even with her role as “bride” – don’t be picky when there’s a roof over your head and keep studying for university entrance exams.
So on that same note, I don’t think her heart is made of stone for not recognizing that Goblin craves her attention – with everything she’s been through and never having anyone want her since her mom died, can you blame her?
Ahhh so nervous to post this!
Welcome to the blog, @silentangelfish. And thanks for the reminder that I’ve to post again on soompi before I totally forget my password there.
I’ll let @GB and others welcome you to the Goblin rewatch threads.
Hi there @silentangelfish, welcome to the Goblin Rewatch Party thread. As you can probably tell after reading posts in Bitchesoverdramas (BOD), and the Welcome section, all who agree to comment according to BOD’s rules can happily ensconce themselves here and chat. We like thoughtful discussions as well as plain old reaction comments, so no worries about posting your thoughts.
Thanks for your comprehensive summary on ET’s situation and attitude towards her relationship with Kim Shin. I agree. I feel that she’s always had a ‘textbook’ understanding of being a bride … ie she has to be married to the bridegroom, and they would be a family. But she has not yet delved into the emotional attachment that goes with it. The case in point is that she was still hung up on her 3rd wish for a boyfriend … a typical wish for a teen. Never did she connect the fact that a boyfriend was supposed to progress to become the bridegroom. It was hilarious.
She associates romance with having a boyfriend (and being liked by/romanced by him) and being a bride with being married, but when KS says that he’s the boyfriend, it meant that KS was supposed to like her as a woman, and romance her. A totally startling thought, and one that embarrassed them no end at first.
The embarrassment and ET’s cluelessness, or not admitting to liking KS was also partly KS’s fault for continually protesting that he did not like her, and for being cold towards her, when he could have assured her by being warmer. Her pride might have prevented her from admitting to liking someone who did not appear to like her.
I agree that she probably did know that she had an attachment towards him, but it did not translate in her mind to something romantic, hence she thought she did not ‘like’ him.
I hope you can join us for the Rewatch Party this Saturday. We’ll be watching Episode 6 together and commenting as we go along. Cheers!
Welcome, @silentangelfish! I enjoyed reading your comment and appreciate your analysis of ET’s mindset. I hope you keep contributing, because you make good points.
I think you’re on target about ET being a pragmatic optimist. That will play into decisions she makes later.
Welcome to the BoD community, @silentangelfish!!! I just realized that it’s my 1st anniversary in BoD when I first discovered it (Start Up started it all!) as a lurker and then bravely posting my thoughts and no regrets… this is the best site and community to be in for drama lovers, thinkers, writers and readers (coz we all do that, right?). Looking forward to reading more of your posts moving forward. Cheers!!!
@pk3 @GB @Welmaris @Janey
Thanks all for the warm welcome!! I’m relatively new(ly reintroduced) to the kdrama world – large gap between Winter Sonata era and now, and have been binge watching recommendations and looking for good shows. I actually just watched Healer last week (and almost through my rewatch ha) after seeing that you all did a group rewatch before this Goblin rewatch). I’m bad at live watching shows while they’re airing, but may be tempted to give it a try if it means getting to interact with you all – it looks so fun! My hubs is already a bit bemused (to spin it positively) at my recent pouring of time into kdramas though, so we’ll see ^_^;; Not sure if or how often I will be able to join the rewatches live, but I hope I’ll be able to!
@GB, the actress was named Go Soo Jung and it seems that she was the sexy ghost. May her Soul rest in God.
I just had a realization… how come KS saw the future ET at 28 yrs old when he said he can’t see her future? It was actually thru the waiter’s future. That’s why the waiter was featured prominently in the scene. And that’s why KS cannot see who the man ET was waiting for since the waiter probably did not see it.
I was rewatching ep6 and those scenes were repeated. And then it hit me!
@Welmaris This line was impressed me because I thought that reason we don’t get to see God’s face is we don’t deserve it. Seeing God’s face is a kind of reward that we don’t dream to ask.
But here, Kim-shin thought it is cunning and cowards after God have done all these things to people without showing his face. And I think he has his point. It’s hard to hate someone you don’t even know how he looks. It also would be very convenient for God if he is a selfish and self-centered one.
But at the end of the day, Kim shim is waiting for his bride. I find that “resenting with hope” is very interesting .
Welcome on board @angelsilentfish!
@Janey that is a good catch!