The Silent Sea: Open Thread

This thread is open for Gong Yoo.

Heyyyyyy…is that tattoo on his neck or a hickey from some wild alien?

#THE NECK TATTOO I- from 𝜄𝜕𝛼#THE NECK TATTOO I- from 𝜄𝜕𝛼credit: splinterbean’s tumblr

Goodness! How many dramas are open this week? My feelings won’t be hurt if you practice JOMO (or the Joy of Missing Out) these next few days, and spend time with your non-kdrama family. I’ll see you when I see you.

The Best Moments from A Very Merry Pooh Year | Oh My Disney

Enjoy the show.

 

24 Comments On “The Silent Sea: Open Thread”

  1. Thank you @Packmule3!

    Merry Christmas to everyone!!!
    Heading to watch the first episode!

    @Packmule3 yes that is a tattoo… *swoon*

  2. We are here for Gong Yoo! And that’s a tattoo, will take a closer look.

    Done with 1st episode… the earth has dried up and water is scarce. Each citizen gets a card (Dr Song has a gold card) for water supply allotment. The moon mission to retrieve some sample of something at an abandoned moon station started dismally. The theme is water, either scarcity that you die from thirst or drown with too much of it. And there may be a secret stash of water in the moon?

    Pardon my Christmas Eve ramblings…

    Merry Christmas to all of BoD!!!

  3. @Janey,

    I just finished it myself…

    I am impressed by the details. No weird cgi.

    Gong Yoo is dashing… 😉😊😁

    Merry Christmas!!! 🎄🙏❄️🎈🌟🎉❤️

  4. Old American Lady (OAL)

    @pm3, it’s a tattoo-hope it’s make up. Read an article about GY where he talked about the tattoo for character building.

    Please have a wonderful and joyous Christmas that is also an observance of the return of light(the sun) after the solstice.

  5. @Janey I got hubby to watch with me. We watched Ep1 together last night. It was good. 🙂. Only 8eps. So we should be able to get through this during the holidays. The man who died before they got into the space station, he mumbled something about the water. And then “don’t” (drink the water? 🤔). He was involved in the construction of the space station and had stayed there before do conduct research. I get the feeling because the earth has dried up, they tried harvesting some from the moon? 5years ago, the expedition crew that was sent there died. Everyone was told it was a radiation leak that killed them. Bae Doona’s Dr Song character had a sister on that expedition. She died. Which is why Bae Doona seemed to agree to the visit back. Their mission is shrouded in secrecy? It was only supposed to be 24 hrs. They are supposed to bring a sample in a tube back. It’s in a special capsule that’s designed to hold the sample in low temperatures. They are never told what’s in the capsule. Higher ups seem shifty about the contents. Song asked what’s in it because she wants to know why it had to be maintained at low temperatures? They didn’t give her a straight answer. Standard answer they gave was that the information about the contents was “lost in the accident” (that killed everyone on the space station). There were 3 such samples in the space station. They show the team where the samples could potentially be in the station but they did say they may have been moved when the accident happened and everything was in disarray.

    Notes
    1. Their shuttle is lost (malfunction). They have to wait for a rescue team to get them home. They managed to make it into the space station by the end of the first ep.
    2. There’s something suspicious about the water in the space station.
    3. Dr Song (Bae Doona) is the astrobiologist and for decisions pertaining to the sample retrieval, her decisions trump Capt. Han’s (Gong Yoo). He makes the calls otherwise as leader of the mission
    4. There’s a loose cannon in there (Lee GiSu). He suddenly appeared at the last minute replacing the original female copilot. The other pilot seemed to recognize him from somewhere before but couldn’t place him. That raised alarm bells for me. Plus this actor tends to play the bad guy in most dramas 😂. Eg the heartless Professor Dr Cheon MyeongTae in Cardiology who tried to marry for money.
    5. Hubby thinks what’s in the capsule is a contagion (virus). That’s why it has to be kept in low temps. If it leaks out, it has the potential to kill them. Eek…don’t tell me it’s a zombie virus (Train to Busan except in space…GongYoo Imma looking at you). But I have problems with this theory. Why would they want to bring this back to earth? Wouldn’t they rather leave it on the moon?
    6. They left it 5 years (after the “accident”) before they embarked on this mission to retrieve the sample. Why wait that long? For whatever killed the crew that was last there to dissipate? 🤔.

  6. @nrllee,

    I am currently finishing Episode 3. I won’t give spoilers, but it keeps you in suspense!

    Kudos for the cinematography, the montage and the fast paced tempo.

    Regarding your questions, I think they were trying to create water with a sample from the moon, but something went wrong based on our biology…

    🌟🎉🎈🙏🎄❤️

  7. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Thanks for this @pkml3!

    Will have to JOMO for a bit before watching. First things first, everything will have to take a backseat to the main character, the baby Jesus. 😉

    See you soon!
    🎄 🍰 🥧 🌰 🍜 🧋 🎄

  8. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    I’ve watched the first 3 episodes. I had to FFD in order to reduce the stress of the slow walking around and suspenseful reveals. The station was so big I felt I was just seeing long walk after long walk, but the pace (or the dying) picked up.

    Conjecture
    @nrllee, yeah, they were trying to ‘make water’ on the moon, or used a man-made virus of sorts, that would enable human beings to generate their own water in their bodies (that’s my guess). But of course it couldn’t be controlled and got out of hand, and infected everyone on the station who drowned on the the water they themselves ‘made’.

    The lone survivor might have mutated and decided he/she had a better chance of survival in the abandoned station than back on Earth.

    It’s a pretty dark Show for Christmas, though. I hope it has an uplifting conclusion.

  9. @GB @Cleo haven’t had a chance to watch past Ep1. Will wait till Christmas lunch settles and when all the clean up is done, hubby and I can catch up on Ep2 and onward.

    @GB but yes the slow moon walking was excruciating to watch…especially when they kept getting oxygen reading low alarms… I was ready to scream at them, “just get inside already!”. I was somewhat dubious about how the shuttle failed? And they couldn’t get it to start up and had to crash land? How many things could go wrong? They need to fire the engineers who did the final checks on the spacecraft?

  10. I am not reading all the comments because I don’t want to see spoilers. But I’m heading over to watch now, It’s my Xmas tradition to watch while everyone sleeps. Too many dishes to wash but that will be tomorrow. PJ time with family in the morning and some relaxing time.

    Excited to watch this lol

  11. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    @nrllee, those were my thoughts too. It’s weird, how many thing failed, as if the mission was sabotaged from the beginning.

    There will be several things not working on the station as well and too many unexplained happenings.

    I’m wondering if there will be at least 4 or 5 remaining members of the team by the end of the series. 🙄

  12. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    ‘The silent sea’ can also be called ‘The suspenseful show’. I have to turn off sound to minimise the stress. This show has no nice OSTs to lighted the mood. LOL. How many things can happen in 24 hours?

  13. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    I’ve finished the series. Let’s just say I would not consider this a holiday, Christmas-sy show. 😉

  14. @GB I concur…no feel goods at all…Happiness without the positive vibes/messages of hope. Suspenseful right to the end. I suggest you leave this off your watch list if you’ve got a morbid fear of drowning. Water is not your friend in this drama. The ending was…unsatisfactory. Hubby and I agree on this point. It felt like a wild ride and then…okay…what was that all about? 😂.

  15. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Was there any message to it? ‘Nothing changes’? The ‘monsters are still the humans’. ‘Maybe there’s hope for Earth if we’re really careful about unstable water, but a whole bunch of people need to be experimented on and die first’? 😉

  16. Kalispera everyone,

    I have finished watching “The Silent Sea”. I was blown away from the cinematography, the cgi, the fast paced scenario, the montage and the suspence with a gradual plot line.

    You are asking if the series has a message? The message is the following for me:

    There are always those who bring havoc to the world, for personal gain, for greed, for money, for power, for their secret agendas.

    At the same time, there will be a handful of others who will remain humane, even in the most difficult situations and with their ethics will try to bring balance or even save the day.

    The enemy was not “Luna”. “Luna 076” is a victim as well. They used Luna as the result of Humanity’s pride. Some researchers think that there is no God and they want to become God themselves.

    They don’t understand though, that God exists and it is around us in everything we don’t pay attention to, that is our Planet, our haven Earth.

    Humans are killing the planet. We do know that water is going to be reduced in the next years. We might be here to witness it or not. The next generation will though.

    Still, noone does anything to save the planet. The ultimate dream is to go to Mars or the Moon, but so far I am not listening to or seeing any actions in order to protect our living conditions on Earth.

    We want to go to another place to taint it as well?
    We don’t cherish our planet and we want to inhibit another?
    Who are we that we are so sure about ourselves?
    We don’t see that we are committing Hubris?

    It is another thing to learn about the universe, the galaxy and unsolve the mysteries of the cosmos. I wish we were wise enough and tried to be better and protect all that are around us, like the rivers, the forests, the animals, Nature in general.

    When you don’t respect your planet, how are you going to respect anything else?

    That was the main idea for me. They thought they were “creating” an advanced human being, who could survive “lunar water”, but they messed up in between. Then send a bunch of people to secure “lunar water” without giving them all the data. From the whole expendition, only three returned to Earth along with Luna.

    All of them decided what they will do next. Luna shouldn’t be handed to the scientists. Luna should be kept away from “humans” and at the same time, Dr. Song along with others, were going to try to do more research on “lunar water” to be understood better.

    The question remains: when you destroy something, can you try to fix it, even though it is too late?

  17. @Cleo I think @GB and I were lamenting that the message wasn’t consistent. And it wasn’t exactly clear either. Those lessons could be extrapolated from the material given to us. But it was lost in the whole “lunar water is our enemy” theme threaded right through. The bits that had some of the cast waxing nostalgic about jumping into swimming pools, about the death of marine life, the class distinctions with regards to water rations, the cloning and human experimentation, they were all overwhelmed by the suspense fear factor. The very thing that is life giving (water) is now the harbinger of death. And it’s so graphically portrayed in the drama. I just wasn’t sure what the whole story was trying to tell us? Sure you could make out all those lessons that you listed but a good drama will have the core message clear as day. Like Happiness. That drama had all the problems of having the core message muddied by the zombie apocalypse but it never did. It managed to keep the balance well and gifted us with a clear message in spite of all the gore.

    *****Spoiler*****
    When I asked hubby what he thought about the ending, he asked, “there’s a season 2 yeah? They left it open like that so there would be a S2?” I looked at him and asked him if he thought the ML died in the end (I didn’t say GongYoo 😂. He wouldn’t understand 🙄. He thought there was sexual tension between ML and FL in the drama. Imma like, “huh? Where? When?” 😂) He thought ML died. In which case, I concluded that S2 is highly unlikely, unless ML has a twin 😂 to feature in S2.

  18. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    Yes, @nrllee I agree. The message which should have been clear regardless of all the rigmarole was totally muddied. So they went to the Moon to bring salvation in the form of water to the Earth, but then what? As you say, instead of bringing life, it brought death.

    There were grossly deadly issues to surmount before any benefit could be got from the water, and so we are left hanging. Could the trip that wasted the lives of 9 (maybe 10) persons ever have been considered a success? Could Luna and the water really be the solution to the endless drought? We end off with nothing but a big or several question marks. Is there hope or isn’t there? We don’t know. That is not what I,, the viewer, looks to take away from a show. Ie, despite the wonderful effects, cinematography, great acting, etc. It failed for me. The only message it gave was that humans will try and play god (in making other ‘humans’ and in creating weird water that can multiply), but they are never going to be god, because they cannot determine that their own creations won’t destroy themselves.

    There was so much suspense, loads of time spent walking through corridors, through passage ways, exploring rooms…. why? all in the bid to keep building suspense?, but for what end? Was there a happy, carthartic release? No.

    I don’t even know if Gong Yoo’s character actually survived. His helmet light went out. What does that mean?

    @nrllee… I too was wondering if this was meant to be the first Season. But I somehow don’t think so, unless they want to shift the location back to Earth, in the top secret labs where endless experiments will need to take place and more people are going to get killed/drowned.

    Pity, I really wanted to like this show.

    PS. I didn’t see any sexual tension either LOL.

  19. Kalimera @nrllee and @GB,

    It is okay. We cannot agree on everything.

    I feel though, that “The Silent Sea” is not giving you a clear message, because it is in the “food for thought” category.

    Everyone who has seen the story, along with their knowledge / way of life / beliefs can find their own meaning in what does “The Silent Sea” wants to say.

    For me the message was crystal clear and it mades me sad for all the reasons I wrote above. 🙂

  20. I don’t even know if Gong Yoo’s character actually survived. His helmet light went out. What does that mean?

    Yeah I thought he died because the light went out (metaphorically) in his helmet. But then the other guy who was shot at the end also died? And his helmet light stayed on? 🤔. Hubby and I discussed if GongYoo’s suit would’ve protected him in that deluge. And in theory it should’ve? Unless it tore? Or ripped? But it didn’t look like it? So potentially he could’ve survived? Because he pretty much had oxygen, the suit would’ve been protective against the Luna Water infection as well? The last bit when Luna took off her spacesuit was odd too? I know she had gills but…err..how? And she would’ve froze? The water froze (which made sense) as soon as it hit the moon’s atmosphere.

    According to space.com,
    “When sunlight hits the moon’s surface, the temperature can reach 260 degrees Fahrenheit (127 degrees Celsius). When the sun goes down, temperatures can dip to minus 280 F (minus 173 C).”

    So it made sense for the water to freeze like that when it came in contact with the atmosphere (I think?) -173C is plenty cold. But Luna just waltzed out there with her lab coat. If there was a running theme through the drama it would be the adaptability of mankind maybe? And Luna is the final outcome. In our quest to adapt and survive. It’s a reach for sure. 😂

  21. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    LOL @nrllee, good try!! LOLOL.

  22. Yeay I finally managed to watch this with lots of interruptions (so I may have missed a few corridors lol). I know I may seem all over the place, but I agree with everyone. =)

    Yes it had plot holes, like the girl running out, the weird guy meeting in the outdoor with someone that was never explained. The writing and message could have been tighter, but I agree with what @cleo said, it may be a stretch but I had the same thoughts.

    Two things though:
    1. I say the Captain survived.
    2. I don’t believe there was a love interest between FL and ML. I mean I saw the tension between them but didn’t think that to be love interest. lol but @nrlee I like your hubby’s interpretation.

    I still gave the show a thumbs up on Netflix. Made me think and wondered about the moon. I reminded me of an article I read that said scientists may had found water on the moon. Despite the fact that I hate open ended endings, I still liked it. Cheers everyone, hope you find something that makes up for this one =)

    PS: if you do, let me know

  23. GrowingBeautifully (GB)

    I checked this out on YouTube, and since it had me in stitches, I’m leaving a link for it here. The people behind the characters are a barrel of fun.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4TAgC2oygc

    I like how Kim Sun Young laughs. Lee Joon who seems to keep playing villains when I see him, is a sweet maknae, Bae Doo Na is generous and Gong Yoo is of course great.

  24. Having grown up during the Space Race, as a child I watched television news coverage (in black and white) of U.S. space missions. I also grew up seeing fabulous photos from space and from the moon in National Geographic and Life magazines. This drama successfully captured the look of motions in weightlessness and the moon’s weaker gravity: watching, I felt a sense of familiarity. But there was a difference from my past watching experience: whereas old TV broadcasts had grainy, jerky images in greyscale beamed from the moon, this show made the long-ago gorgeous still photographs come to life. I could believe I was there on the moon with the mission crew. The production crew worked hard and the cast practiced hard to bring us a high level of realism. https://youtu.be/rba3sn3VKUc

    The lunar water multiplying uncontrollably when it comes in contact with carbon-based life reminds me of a section of Disney’s old animated film Fantasia. In The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Mickey Mouse is tired of carrying buckets of water from the fountain outside to the basin inside, so when the sorcerer leaves his hat unattended, Mickey puts it on and enchants a broom to do the job for him. He ends up getting more than he expected, and cannot stop the dangerous process he set in motion. Mickey fell into trouble because he acted before gaining appropriate knowledge, not thinking through consequences.

    Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Part 1: https://youtu.be/VErKCq1IGIU
    Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZcesnqVF0us
    Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Part 3: https://youtu.be/oPDSoFgivPA

    In the same way, The Silent Sea gives viewers a warning: don’t expect a magical fix, as that may present more problems than it solves. Science experimentation is a lot of trial and error, a process of elimination. The scientific method is: 1) based on observation, describe a problem; 2) create a hypothesis; 3) test the hypothesis; 4) draw conclusions and refine the hypothesis. More often than not when doing scientific experimentation, the conclusion drawn after testing a hypothesis is “Well, that didn’t work as I’d hoped!” Sometimes failed science experiments or unexpected results lead to solutions to other problems: an example is the development of Kevlar. The Silent Sea gives us glimpses of various stages of the scientific method, at every stage bringing in questions of ethics and morality. When is the cost of finding a solution too high? When should experimentation stop? What should happen with unexpected results of experimentation?

    Although I enjoyed watching The Silent Sea, I had to start by ignoring the fact that the water on Earth is a closed system. We don’t lose water, although it may may be in the form of vapor, liquid, or solid. Liquid water can be visible, such as oceans, lakes, rivers, etc. or can be underground in aquifers. Of all the liquid water on earth, 96% is saline. Of the small percentage of water on earth that is freshwater, more than half is locked up in ice and glaciers, and about a third is in the ground. So, yes, drinking water is, and always will be, precious. The show got that right.

    When the earth’s ice caps, glaciers, and permafrost increase, there is less water in liquid and vapor form. Global ice age, anyone? In such conditions, it seems more likely that scientists would turn their attention to harvesting liquid water from ice, rather than going to the moon for a new source of water. But then The Silent Sea wouldn’t be a space sci-fi show, would it?

    The picture of earth we get from The Silent Sea is that it has become hot and dry: a runaway greenhouse effect is suggested. The earth as we viewers know it, 71% of its surface covered by water, no longer exists, and is leaning toward becoming like Venus. How did Venus, once believed to have been a wet planet, become extremely dry? This will explain it much better than I ever could. I don’t imagine such a thing could happen in less than a generation, as The Silent Sea hints. (https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/physics/astrocourses/AST101/readings/water_on_venus.html). For us to find believable the condition of Earth in The Silent Sea, we have to buy more into the fiction than the science of this sci-fi genre show.

    I just dove into science, thanks to thinking about The Silent Sea. From poking around the internet, I’ve learned a bit about glaciation, feedback processes, albedo, the earth’s molton iron core and magnetic field, solar wind, and other things I hadn’t planned to read about when I sat down to write this show analysis. It’s been fun!

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