The thread is now open.
Growing_Beautifully, Cleopatra, Welmaris, Janey, Fern, Kuroshio, FGB4877, and Carolina, do you want to continue your Saturday rewatch sessions? Please pick and choose your next drama.
Usual time: 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
Enjoy the show!
Since @WEnchanteur has recently been active on the Yumi’s Cells thread, I’ve posted a note to him there that we’ve considered doing a rewatch of W if he’s involved.
One drama I’ve watched that I think worth a rewatch is My Mister. It has lingered in my heart, probably because it is a strong combination of actors, script, direction, and cinematography. The story seems more real-life than many depicted in dramas. Another show that I’m a bit surprised has stuck with me is Because This Is My First Life. I’d enjoy another round with BTIMFL to figure out why it continues to resonate with me.
Another approach to group watches, if we want less than a weekly commitment, is to pick a movie to watch together one weekend a month.
Hello Everyone!
@pm3 Thanks for asking. I will join when I can. I am unable to predict if/or commit to waking up at 5 am lately 😉
I’m game for doing a rewatch hopefully when time changes that time becomes 6 am =)
I loved W and BTIMFL, would love to do a rewatch of either. I have not seen My Mister.
Hi All and thanks @pkml3 for this space. Our Saturday night dates seem to be (happily!!) quite a fixture!
I’ve mentioned W for a rewatch to @WEnchanteur a couple of times since last year and he has not give a yay or a nay.
If our BOD friends who are in between the Altlantic Ocean and Southeast Asia are free an hour later, we can move our rewatch party time back by an hour, for those who have to get up at 5am on the other side of the Atlantic. I believe among our group, I’m the one starting the latest in the evening, but I’m game to start at 10pm if that will enable more BODers from North and South America to join us.
So far we can vote for the following:
1) My Ahjusshi(My Mister) [2 votes @Welmaris and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us)
Vote if you are ok to start one hour later. If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start an hour later:
1) GB
2)
3)
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
I’d like to joint the next re-watch. I don’t have Viki Pass, so I could not watch Goblin, beyond the first two episodes. I was able to watch some free, ahem, pirated, episodes on Youtube two years ago. The video’s quality was terrible, but I got the story. It’s very heavy with lots of heartache, and the soundtrack is what made the show even better for me. Both My Mister and BTIMFL are on Netflix, and I see all episodes of W are open for the public on Viki. I am open to all 3, or any other ones that I have access to. I don’t have a preference for the start time.
Kalimera Ladies!
Thank you @Packmule3! I wanted to share with you that this Saturday I cannot attend our Rewatch Party, due to a seminar.
As for the new k-drama:
I will vote for “W”, if @WEnchanteur is going to be online as well!
I haven’t watched “My Mister” or “Because This Is My First Life”. So, I cannot say much about those two. If I can suggest a drama we can rewatch that would be: “Chocolate”.
@GB I don’t mind for the time being to start an hour later. When the light savings are going to be lifted there might be a problem but we can talk it at that time!
Dear @Fan of TKEM,
Just to let you know, those who have a Viki Pass can give a code to someone else to attend at the same time with them a tv series like a party.
Although, we haven’t interacted that much. Feel free to tell me to invite you in order to attend our Rewatch Parties! @GB Unnie and @nrllee have my email.
Hi @Cleo, I’ve noted already that you’ll be at a seminar this Saturday. I notice that you normally can’t stay on for too long after the 1.5 hours of rewatch, that’s why I wondered if it was OK to change the rewatch time.
Is Chocolate the 2019 kdrama with this plot? (from https://asianwiki.com/Chocolate_(Korean_Drama))
“Lee Kang (Yoon Kye-Sang) grew up in a small seaside town, dreaming of becoming a cook. He is now a neurosurgeon. He looks cold-hearted, but, in fact, he hides his warm heart.
When Moon Cha-Young (Ha Ji-Won) was a child, she met Lee Kang at a small restaurant in the seaside town. Lee Kang cooked and gave her a meal. This is the happiest memory for Moon Cha-Young and it eventually led her to become a chef.
Neurosurgeon Lee Kang and Chef Moon Cha-Young meet again at a hospice ward.”
I’ll add it to the list to vote for. Even if we don’t watch it now, we can do so the next round.
@GB,
Problems will arise at some point, but for now we are okay, if we will change the rewatch time by an hour. I wanted to share with everyone else who didn’t see my post on the February thread that I am not going MIA! 🙂
Yes, that is the story. I really liked it when I saw it and it has shootings over Greece as well! 🙂
Thanks @Cleo!
Hi Everyone,
Closing date/time for voting. Next Saturday before our rewatch party. IE: 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
So far we can vote for the following… more suggestions are still being accepted:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [2 votes @Welmaris and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [1 vote @Cleo]
4) Chocolate [1 vote @Cleo]
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start an hour later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3)
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
My apologies, I forgot to add the date …
Closing date/time for voting. Next Saturday 19th February 2022 before our rewatch party. IE: 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
So far we can vote for the following:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [2 votes @Welmaris and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [1 vote @Cleo]
4) Chocolate [1 vote @Cleo]
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start An Hour Later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3)
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
Something else we should consider and determine by consensus: do we do our next rewatch episode by episode, as we’re doing with Goblin, or select highlight episodes to watch together, as we did with Healer?
@Welmaris, the decision on whether to watch every episode or not may depend on whether we are having first-time watchers as well as re-watchers. And on whether first-timers will be able to catch the in between episodes separately before joining in on the Saturdays.
Some shows may have episodic plot movements that lend themselves better to being watched selectively, than others, I feel.
Due to some series having episode lengths of more than 1 hour 15 minutes each, I didn’t think it likely we might consider 2 episodes each time, either, and so did not suggest it.
We of course open this up here for discussion and consensus.
My take on it is that we may have to go on a case by case basis, ie it depends.
Dear agapimenes rewatchers!!! Sorry to be out of commission for 2 weekends. Life and work events prevailed. I will try to join tomorrow and catch up. After watching Just Between Lovers and appreciating it, I think I can do My Mister. Thanks to the suggestion to move to a later time. That’s really helpful!!!
Advanced happy Valentine’s!!! Love and hugs to all.
Thanks for your vote @Janey and Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!! Smooches!
Vote for the next Show to watch/rewatch and time to start
Closing date/time for voting. Next Saturday 19th February 2022 before our rewatch party. IE: 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
So far we can vote for the following but feel free to add your suggestions. We may watch them later:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [3 votes @Welmaris, @Janey and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [1 vote @Cleo]
4) Chocolate [1 vote @Cleo]
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start an hour later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3) Janey
4)
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
Hello again!!
An hour later for me please. I do agree with Cleo that once time changes we may consider adjusting time again. In my personal time zone, 6 am is my sweet spot. But always open to what works best for the group.
I’m game for My Mister and Chocolate. Haven’t seen either one so it’s exciting.
Also, I don’t mind doing like a set of episodes/highlights on the weekends as oppose to a weekly episode.
Happy Galentines/Valentines ladies!!! hugs
I’m also open to watching Chocolate. I read that some scenes were shot in Greece, the home country of @Cleo. And a place in my travel list.
OK @Carolina and @Janey
Here’s the latest tally of our votes.
Vote for the next Show to watch/rewatch and time to start
Closing date/time for voting. Next Saturday 19th February 2022 before our rewatch party, ie 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
So far we can vote for the following but feel free to add your suggestions. We may watch them later:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [4 votes @Welmaris, @Janey, @Carolina and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [1 vote @Cleo]
4) Chocolate [3 votes @Cleo, @Carolina and @Janey]
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start An Hour Later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3) Janey
4) Carolina
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
Dear Everyone, I’ve caught up – just finished ep. 14. But again, it’s Saturday afternoon and family events call, so I may not be able to join in a bit. It doesn’t matter which hour it airs. It’s just a case of it being in the prime part of the day on a weekend, which can’t be helped.
I would like to watch W or My Ahjussi. I liked Chocolate, too. It is the only one I’ve seen before. @Cleo, did you like it because it was partly filmed in Greece? It looked very tempting, I must say!
Hi @Fern, noted on your votes. Read you later if you can’t join us today.
Vote for the next Show to watch/rewatch and time to start
Closing date/time for voting. Next Saturday 19th February 2022 before our rewatch party, ie 13:00 UTC
08:00 am EST
05:00 am PST
09:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
08:00 pm Indonesia
03:00 pm Greece
So far we can vote for the following but feel free to add your suggestions. We may watch them later:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [5 votes @Welmaris, @Janey, @Carolina, @Fern and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [2 votes @Cleo and @Fern]
4) Chocolate [4 votes @Cleo, @Carolina, @Janey, @Fern]
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change, …does that sound, ok?
Start An Hour Later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3) Janey
4) Carolina
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
@Fern – may have family commitments regardless of what hour we start.
It’s time to start by my clock, but as we’ll be missing @Cleo today and no one is about yet, we can start a few minutes later. Holler if you’re here!! 🙂
Hello, @Growing Beautifully and anyone else. I’m here for a while at least. How is everyone?
I’m great @Fern. Good to see you at least for a while!
Let’s start!!
KS draws the sword from his chest and slays Park. He says his farewell to Wang Yeo.
ET runs over to embrace him desperately as red embers come floating out of him.
KS touches ET’s face tenderly : “My life must have been a reward because I met you.”
ET : “No, I don’t want that. Please. You said that you wouldn’t let go of my hand. You promised me!”
KS : “I’ll try asking god, to let me come back with the first snowfall of the season. I’ll ask just for that. I’ll try asking God to let me do that.”
ET : “Don’t say things like that! Don’t leave me like this! Please! How am I supposed to live without you? I love you Ahjusshi. I love you!”
KS : “Me too. I love you. Until the end. I already had.”
He smiles his peaceful goodbye before closing his eyes to dissipate into pretty embers and ashes that fly away.
We see after this that rain makes ET emotional. The forgotten link to how rain were the tears of KS and now the sign of his wanting to be present with her, haunt her subconsciously.
I’m here, starting a few minutes late!
The attention to detail, the sword changing color as it is coming out of Goblin’s chest, is fantastic. The use of music is also fabulous. Whenever I hear those opening piano bars of “And I’m here…” already gets my crying.
Wouldn’t we all appreciate having the time and wherewithal to say what we most need to say during our final moments? Goblin and Eun Tak say I love you. Goblin, “Even that, I did so.” He wanted to tell ET that he loved her more than anything. I noticed that the form he used was different that I’m used to hearing, with a “te” at the end of sarang.”
Hi @Welmaris
I have 2 versions of what KS said. I only transcribed one, but he spoke in the past perfect tense of sorts I guess. “I too love you, as I’ve done from before and will do until the end.”
How sad it is to see all the memories and his writing being erased.
Yes, I was glad that he didn’t disappear straight away, but lingered long enough for that exchange with ET and GR. All of the grieving scenes are so slow and so intense at the beginning of this episode.
I didn’t remember that we get to see all the people important in Goblin’s life losing their memories of him. I find it so touching that in the moments ET is devastated, grieving, she finds the most important thing she must do is write her thoughts in her journal in an effort to remember.
She is alone on the rooftop. Where is Grim Reaper? I assume he had to go with the spirit of Park to make sure he truly entered the proper afterlife of punishment.
ET’s memories start to be deleted. She suddenly realises what is happening and writes:
“Remember. You have to remember him. His name is Kim Shim. He is tall. Remember he has a sad smile. He will come with the rain. He will come with the first snowfall of the season. He’ll keep his promise to me. Remember. You have to remember. You’re that man’s bride.” ET dissolves in tears as her memories are erased. On the roads below, the traffic continues and life goes on as normal.
In a cold land where clouds meet the horizon of snow, we hear the voiceover of Samshin. KS is in his Goryeo attire and hairstyle.
“God said ‘You’ve become erased from the memories of everyone who knew you.That was for their peace of mind and I did that out of the kindness of my heart.’ (I disagree with god. He didn’t really do anyone a favour).
And God also said that he was no longer being punished. And that he was now to forget everything and rest in peace. But the Goblin’s eyes welled up with tears.”
(Flashback to a grown up ET at the Canadian restaurant, with KS observing her, although she cannot see him.) ‘Now I understand which decision I made. So I chose that in the end, huh?’ (He is still mistaken but it saddens him.)
‘I will remain here, god. I will remain here and go to her with the rain. I will go to her with the winds. I will go to her with the first snowfall of the season. I beseech the heavens to allow me just that.’ (I guess god agreed to these terms, since ET was reduced to tears at practically every rainfall).
I wondered the same about the GR? Where did she go home to? What happened with that?
I found it interesting that Samshin told the Goblin’s story to the man who was the reincarnation of Goblin’s right hand man in the army. It was almost as though she needed to talk to someone.
@Fern, I too wondered if she remembered where she lived, since if she went home she’d meet the GR and she couldn’t remember his as well.
At least she sort of recognises him.
LOL the joke about it being rainy like Southeast Asia. Well, lately we have had a lot of rain.
Sam Shin is not pleased with Goblin’s choice to not continue to his afterlife, but to stay in the in-between place. Even the almighty leaves him. But we see that Goblin’s special place in the buckwheat field remains in existence. It gives me hope to see it just as old lady Sam Shin, telling her story to the reincarnated lieutenant, asks where Goblin with go.
Ancient Egyptians believed that someone remained alive as long as their name was spoken. That is why rivals defaced and destroyed the monuments to their predecessors, to completely wipe them out of life. Goblin chose to stay between life and the afterlife because he wanted to be able to return to ET as wind, rain, and the first snow. As long as he was a part of her life, he’d still exist in some form. He may have been wiped from her conscious mind, her memories blocked, but Eun Tak still had full emotional memory of Goblin. She just didn’t understand why she suffered from such heartache.
When unpredicted rain came, it made Eun Tak cry. She didn’t know why it struck her so deeply in her heart.
KS is walking on endless snow fields
KS’s Voiceover : “He was so lonely by himself in that desert that he sometimes even walked backwards in order to see the footsteps that he’d made in front of him.”
We see words appearing on screen as if printed on a page. They are on the page of the poetry book that ET is looking at.
She’s copying the words?
The pages open naturally at the poem of first love, with the burnt out part where the words KS had written had been. It’ strange that the words in KS’s notebook disappeared but the words in her poetry book left burn marks.
Yes, she sort of remembers GR from meeting him as a child. She says 20 years ago.
Grim Reaper is right behind Eun Tak in the coffee shop. She does not recognize him…at first. But she has a memory of Grim Reaper from twenty years ago, when she was a child and he came for her. That memory would be intact because the vent happened before she met Goblin.
Although ET speaks positively, her friends know her well and look at her with concern. They know that she’s nursing great sadness, while trying to appear fine in front of them. At home, she gives way to deep sobs, wondering why she is so sad.
Yes, she can actually remember what Reaper looked like from 20 years previously!!
KS stumbles across the snow, with contract in hand. He falls and the contract gets blown away. It gets stopped from further movement by a dead flower (dried buckwheat??).
There’s first snow that seems to be blown over to Seoul from KS’s snowy fields. ET looks at it falling around her.
The Return of Kim Shin
The first snow falls early in Seoul, seeming to be the same flurries of snow that are being blown from the land where KS walks and falls. KS lies on the snow with the wind whipping up the snow. A tear flows from his eye.
ET sits on the roof of her workplace with a cake in hand.
ET’s desperate questions in her thoughts. [What is it that I’ve forgotten? Or who is it that I’ve forgotten?] ET’s thoughts reach KS who raises his head to look around for the ‘voice’. ET strikes a match and lights the candle on the cake.
[Whose face have I’ve forgotten? What kind of promise did I forget? Why is it that the only thing that remains is this deep-seated sadness? Who is the one who is cursed? Please… save me from this curse that is plaguing me.] ET has made an ardent wish, and the music changes.
KS is listening. ET blows out the candle. We see a dandelion flower disintegrating in wind and smoke erupting from KS’s sleeve.
I noted before with the Written Contract:
The 2 conditions in the contract that made it possible for KS to return to Earth: 1) that there was first snowfall and 2) there was a wish to be granted had been met. With these right conditions, when ET blew out the candle, it KS was finally summoned.
The conditions paralleled the very first time ET summoned him by accident. That time she had a cake, and a lighted candle, and she also made a desperate wish to be saved. KS heard her wish. Hearing thunder ET thought it would rain, and so blew out the candles quickly. KS found the smoke of her candles emitting from his sleeve and then found himself standing behind her, holding the buckwheat flowers.
In my notes I wrote that the buckwheat flowers were given by KS to ET upon request, and later I noted that the maple leaf would be given to KS by ET, as if a pledge of having relationship had been made. When ET gave KS the maple leaf, this was an exchange of gifts at the same spot on the breakwater. By asking for and getting the Buckwheat flowers (that mean ‘lover’) from him before, and later giving him the leaf (which was caught while walking with the one who would be one’s beloved) they had entered an inadvertent, unspoken promise of sorts. It was later to be ratified by the written contract.
The contract had been blown away from KS’s hand to be trapped against what might have been a dried buckwheat stem sticking out of the snow. The contract itself erupted in flames and burned away, having been consummated by KS’s returning to ET’s side.
I like that she has good friends and I like their banter and that they would try to set her up with a man, in case that is what is making her sad.
Eun Tak is reading her poetry book, the one Goblin had borrowed and written in while they were in Quebec. That begs the question: With her memories wiped out, how did ET collect her belongings from Goblin’s house? Nevertheless, she does have them nine years later.
Eun Tak talking with her class president from high school, and Sunny, says “The day is so nice.” It’s pouring rain outside, she’s depressed, but she’s grateful those two are her friends. It sounds from ET’s comment that she’s alluding–probably unconsciously–to the love poem Goblin recited to her several times. “Because the day was good. Because the day was not good…”
Other Parallels with Episode 1’s Summons
In Ep 1, at the first summons, KS asked : “Was it you who summoned me?” ET says she didn’t call him, however she can see him. She thinks he’s a ghost.
…
KS : “I’m not a ghost.”
…
KS : “What are you?” (He asks her this more than once.) In Ep 14 ET will ask who he is and why he is hugging her.
At the first summons, when KS asked her how she was able to summon him, she does not know but says, ‘Desperately?’
Being desperate over a need, having a powerful desire – this was what saved Eun Tak with the loan sharks and again when Park Joong Heon attacked Sunny. Now at age 29, her desperate plea to be rid of her sadness has summoned KS.
In Ep 1 ET asked : “But what are the flowers for?”
KS: “Buckwheat flowers [Meimei kot]”
ET : “That’s not what I’m asking. Why are you holding them? Give them to me. They don’t suit you.”
…
ET : “You can give them to me. It’s my birthday. A very depressing birthday.”
He passes the flowers to her.
ET : “I always get greens on my birthday. I received a cabbage on my 9th birthday. But what does the Buckwheat flower mean?”
KS : “Lover.”
ET looks at KS in surprise. She didn’t expect to receive a gift for/from a ‘lover’ on her birthday. (@pkml3 conjectured that KS expected to meet his bride, and that’s why he was waiting around with the flowers in hand).
But I like the parallel that at the first summons, KS gives her flowers meant for a lover, while in Ep 14, he comes empty handed but embraces her like a lover. She, who is his true love(r ) also remains in his arms, tears flowing, full of emotion for many long seconds.
How did the Goblin get that piece of paper with writing? I didn’t understand that.
@Welmaris, I thought that the Goblin in a previous episode made Eun Tak move all of her things out of his house. She said she would stay with Sunny while he stayed at Chairman Woo’s home? I think that is why she had her notebook.
@Fern, it seems that even when he prepared to fight evil Park, he kept the contract written by ET with him, his most precious possession. When he ‘burned away’ as embers, the contract burned with him and followed him into the in between realm.
@Fern, yes you’re right. ET had some of her things with her if not all. So she had her notebook and book of poetry.
Ah, THanks, @GB.
I liked that she lit a candle on a cake to make a wish, “Save me from this curse that is plaguing me.” but inadvertently summons KS.
I really like the reunion of KS and GR. The repetition of the insult of GR’s hat and the apology.
I was thinking through the last 3-4 episodes, that ET’s wardrobe gets better and better. I’m sure it’s PP, but years later it still looks pretty to me.
@GB, and the banter about who’s house it is.
@Fern, I like most of ET’s adult wardrobe and most of Samshin’s red dresses.
@Fern, yes I really liked how the 2 men immediately slipped back into their bromantic relationship, as if there’d been no break or monumental sin to surmount.
I guess KS’s clothes, etc were all still there for him to use.
Goblin’s punishment for his lifetime of killing was over, but choosing to stay in the in-between, wandering was an emotional and physical torment. No matter how much he wandered, he didn’t stray far from the dead flower.
Eun Tak’s deep, unknown grief, was a torment to her.
Goblin was desperately lonely, and struggled to walk in the never ending show. The most precious thing to him in all the time he was in the wasteland was his copy of the contract Eun Tak had written and he’d signed.
The first snow of the year falls early, on Eun Tak’s birthday. As before on the jetty, she does her lonely birthday cake celebration, making a desperate plea for help to heal her bottomless grief. She lights a single birthday candle and blows it out. Her sincere heart plea and the blowing out of the candle are what is needed to call Goblin back into her life.
Tellingly, Eun Tak remains in Kim Shin’s embrace and cries without instantly pushing him away. When she steps back, she’s confused about his identity and why he appeared in a restricted place. Yet even in this early stage of their reunion, with her not remembering his importance in her life, she still takes time to explore her heart. She feels, looking back at him as she departs the rooftop, that there’s something special going on.
The comedy always takes place around Deok Hwa. He’s wearing a strange printed suit. I wonder why GR can’t just introduce KS as his friend. Why did KS have to hide. LOL. Also LOL that KS reaps what he sowed when he originally pretended not to know Reaper before.
Are you past the scene where Sam Shin is having a discussion with the god/Duk Hwa? SHe asked him to preserve Yeo’s memories of the love. So he has to remember both his love and the love between ET and KS. The the god says he left a door open and seemed happy.
I had expected that KS might be able to appear at a first snow and them disappear again, but he seems to have stuck. Is that the open door?
LOL the temperature is exactly 22 degrees and just outside the radio station. KS is there to watch and to catch a glimpse of ET, because he misses her. But he walks away so as to not be too much of a stalker. The cherry blossom tree actually blooms within minutes.
I love the honesty and clarity of thought exhibited by CEO Kim. He reminds Deok Hwa that along with him and his grandfather, there’s one more person who knows about the longstanding family secret: Kim Shin himself. When Deok Hwa demonstrates ignorance of Kim Shin’s multiple names, CEO Kim realizes it’s better not to explore the matter further with Deok Hwa, who is still young and impulsive.
@Fern, yes… the only times that Samshin drank with Deok Hwa was when she recognised god in him. Later, she knew when he was just an ordinary boy.
God did as Samshin suggested so at least GR kept the memories of KS’s past.
I felt that KS was stuck for 10 years, because the conditions were not exactly right for him to be summoned back to ET’s side. Then when he did come back, I guess it could be considered the open door, since there was not rule that said he couldn’t stay after being summoned.
@Welmaris, I thought he meant the third person was himself and that Duk Hwa had just revealed a family secret! Thanks for another interpretation.
@Fern, I tend to agree with you. CEO Kim was referring to himself and DH was just clueless LOL poor kid.
ET has to get ads for her radio program. She has to get the ad from iloom by some great coincidence. KS helps her of course and she’s impressed that he’s the Biggest boss of the company.
His surprise at seeing her in the bookshop is so unconvincing. LOL
He still owes her 5,000 won and wonders if like before when it was an excuse to meet Sunny, he could keep owing ET money so that he’d have an excuse to meet her.
She threatens to report him to the police since she does not know why their paths keep crossing. He laughs …He explains why while looking her deep in the eyes :”Because this is quite nice. Because I can’t believe that this is happening. Because everything is perfect.”
(I actually feel happy for KS)
As he keeps asking Reaper for money, he gets a bit more arrogant and entitled each time.
LOL KS starts showing off when he goes to CEO Kim to get a card, house and nephew. He does not normally have to go around with blue flames coming out of him.
ET gets the sponsorship from iloom but can’t even contact KS to thank him. She does not even know his name. Unfortunately she does not hear his actual name but the Yoo Shin Jae name.
The radio show project to find lost friends is so suitable for ET who’s wondering who KS is, for her ex-classmate, and for Sunny even.
When the KS, CEO Kim and DH meet up, KS has fewer demands than antipated, except that he wants DH as his nephew. DH said, according to my subs, ‘Wait… If you don’t get it, then never mind.’ I wasn’t sure what DH meant.
Poor Deok Hwa is still ignored by the guys. The letter written in English brings him to samchoon to ask for advice. It becomes the last excuse for GR to seek out Sunny and for Sunny to meet him.
It is so painful to watch these men encounter the women they loved who have no memories of them.
It took me a little while to understand that ET only know Sunny as her downstairs neighbour and a successful restauranteur. All the memories of her time as an employee are gone. I wondered if she noticed the gap in her memories about certain things, like where she lived at the time of KS?
@Fern, I thought DH was referring to the blue flames/smoke that KS was emitting. They died down, so he said ‘nevermind’.
@Fern, Yes I too wondered to what extent ET remembered Sunny. She might have recalled her as her employer but not any other circumstances around Sunny. She did not recall the first store she worked at. She must have found out something when she had to go to Sunny’s place where her things were.
Oh his return to life, this is the order Kim Shin visits the people from his past:
–Eun Tak. She’s the one whose desire and call brought him back.
–Deok Hwa. He represents the long line of family that served him for over 900 years.
–Sunny. The reincarnation of his beloved younger sister, Kim Sun. He is comforted to see her healthy and doing well.
Grim Reaper / Wang Yeo. All of the issues between them from the past had been resolved. They start back where they’d been on Goblin’s return to Seoul ten years prior, with Goblin visiting Grim Reaper at his tea shop and insulting Grim Reaper’s choice in hat. However, they’re not starting again at the beginning and doing things over, they’re reflecting on their beginning and building on the relationship they’d developed.
“The rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” This line from Goblin is a nod to a famous line from the American author Mark Twain. It has been misquoted for a long, long time–even since Twain’s own lifetime–but the basic essence is correctly attributed to Twain.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/562400/reports-mark-twains-quote-about-mark-twains-death-are-greatly-exaggerated
Wang Yeo is the only one whose memory was left intact, by agreement between Sam Shin and the almighty (who considers his promise to Uncle Down the Hall to have been made in a moment of weakness).
Sam Shin: I think at least one that’s not one of us (a deity) should remember that love’s whole history.
Almighty: But then you see…why does it seem like I discovered the door that would open that world? Did I not close it tight enough? (He foresees there might be a way Kim Shin could leave the in-between world he chose to inhabit instead of continuing to his afterlife. Both the almighty and Sam Shin wordlessly acknowledge that possibility, and their smiles seem to indicate the thought doesn’t displease them.)
Goblin’s reason for his return: “Because of A’s tyranny.” Eun Tak never let go of her love for Goblin, even though she wasn’t consciously aware that holding onto it so tightly in her heart is what caused her great mental anguish.
Wang Yeo sincerely apologizes to Kim Shin for all his sins, the greatest being that he didn’t return the love that he’d received. Kim Shin nods his acceptance of the apology. Wang Yeo: “I should say this first…” The scene changes, and we don’t hear the end of his sentence, but I believe what Wang Yeo said to Kim Shin was “I love you.”
The beginning of their dating is so cute and tentative. At last KS can treat her like an adult and not be so careful around her as when she was 10 years younger.
He gets to see how happy and excited she is to meet him, and he wants her to know that she’s the only woman in his life and in his cell phone. He hears for the first time that she’s taking medicine for her depression.
He assures her that she’ll be able to travel by herself with confidence.
Ah. Thanks, @GB. I also noticed that the letter ET wrote was delivered to the old chicken restaurant although she had written no delivery address.
What beautiful scenes of Quebec. Makes me want to visit that place.
I was wondering if another door left open by god was the loss of the letter from the hotel, to be found only at this time, when KS returned to earth.
It took the falling maple leaf (later) to jog ET’s memory.
@Growing Beautifully, I thought the medicine was literally for a heart condition. One of her death cards said that she would die of a heart attack. It must be a difference between subs. Thank you for this other interpretation.
@Fern, I believe that she was seeing a psychologist for years (probably see this in the next episode) because she kept crying at every rainfall.
@GB, in real life, I asked my brother who would be the next to hold a family reunion, if Canada was a possibility because of the prettiness of the Quebec scenes.
The medicine as an anti-depressant made more sense due to her unexplained grief.
LOL the change in ET’s attitude when KS changes from stalker to the President of the company to whom she owes a meal.
The single red door is very mysterious. Is it only a fire escape and there’s no handle so that no one can open it from outside?
@Fern, aim to go to Quebec in autumn, if you can. The colours are so lovely.
Now when I saw the letter again, it had an address on the lower bottom right. But why would she send the letter to herself in care of the restaurant? Just for a solid souvenir of her trip?
Goblin is back. The bromance is back. The tit for tat is back.
Why do Grim Reaper and Goblin feel they need to hide Goblin from Deok Hwa? I don’t know…but it is funny how that scene unfolds. Deok Hwa is clever enough to wonder why he calls Grim Reaper “Uncle Down the Hall” instead of just “Uncle.” Deok Hwa also wonders how it is Grim Reaper became a resident of the family home.
I love all the redoings of things from the past. This time it is Grim Reaper as the house resident brushing off Goblin and telling him to leave, rather than the other way around.
I wonder how Kim Shin retains all of Goblin’s supernatural powers. The two have become one without the presence of the sword (or broom, or anything else that usually is animated to become a goblin). Kim Shin is still able to be called when Eun Tak blows out a candle, can teleport at will, can control the weather, and can make flowering trees bloom out of season.
Goblin must have been listening to ET’s show, to right her mistake about the temperature. He’s protecting her again, this time from public and professional humiliation. And the blooming cherry tree? He’s happy, being back as a part of Eun Tak’s life. It’s also to remind her of what happened nine years ago, perhaps to jog her blocked memory.
@Fern, my guess is that she had no one to write to, to express her excitement at being abroad, so she shared her joy with her mum. Since there was no address for heaven, and she didn’t want the letter to get into the hands of her horrible aunt, she used her workplace address. It’s interesting though that she didn’t have money for stamps or anything, but it was a free service of the hotel to just post the letter for her. The hotel must have paid the postage. Is that a common service?
I loved the touch of the weather and the blooming tree. It was a perfect show of care, but as @GB said, he stood back to not be too much like a stalker. He couldn’t avoid the appellation when he appeared through the red door in Quebec, though.
I must go now. It was so good to get your viewpoints and interpretations after my first watch. I am looking forward to the next episode.
Have a lovely weekend everyone. I’m going to check out the ice dancing if it’s on the television now.
Goodbye @Fern and @Welmaris. It was great to be with you. I’ll come back later to read.
In the coffee shop, Eun Tak cries on seeing Goblin, even though she’d seen him that day in front of the office building and had just been thinking of him. She doesn’t understand why she’s so emotional, thinking it is because her dose of depression medication has worn off.
Eun Tak and Kim Shin engage in a bit of verbal sparring. Eun Tak is defensive, not knowing who he is and why he’s not just around her lately, but now sits at her table. ET doesn’t realize she called Goblin by blowing out the candle. He’s telling the truth that he arrived because he was called, but the one who summoned him doesn’t recognize him. Kim Shin’s words bare his heart to Eun Tak, but she doesn’t recognize that he’s speaking of, and to, her. Not being recognized by his true love is hard for Goblin: “I went to see someone. I missed her. Very much. When I see her, it seems like she would run in my arms. But because I know that those things won’t happen, my heart is hurting.” Are feelings of jealousy being awakened in Eun Tak?
We have a repeat of Goblin not having pocket money to pay for a minor expense. It’s even the same amount, 5000 won, that he and Grim Reaper owed Sunny earlier for the roasted sweet potatoes.
Goblin has no cash reserves, and over the days has to borrow money from Grim Reaper. This uncomfortable situation leads Goblin to reveal his identity to CEO Kim (and Deok Hwa, who happens to be with him) in order to resume his position as head of iLoom and have access to his other assets. In appearing in front of CEO Kim, Goblin is able to fulfill all the points laid out by Chairman Yoo in his will: walking in rain and going in a blue flame, with the name Kim Shin.
“I don’t need the company. Yoo family carved up the company so it cannot be yours, Deok Hwa.” Ha! The company had to be protected from Deok Hwa’s profligate ways! Goblin tells Deok Hwa, “The nephew is you.” He’s calling Deok Hwa back into service as his personal assistant. Deok Hwa nervously says, “Umm, but…If you haven’t realized, then it’s okay.” Goblin isn’t sure what he means, and neither do I. Is Deok Hwa referring to his work incompetence? His laziness? His excessive spending?
ET’s radio PD job is hanging by a thread. The show had already been losing listeners and sponsors, so was on the brink of being cancelled. Then there was trouble caused by someone who called in.
General Director: “How did you answer the phone call? Because of your response the listeners’ BBS is going crazy!
ET: I sent the chef’s knife set as the prize, but he kept on calling to exchange it to a clothing shop gift card, that the writers couldn’t work. What was I supposed to do, then? It’s not like we’re a clothing company.
GD: Then what are you going to do with the clothing company? Do we pay your check from a money tree? Both the clothing company and the knife company are pulling their ads. What are you going to do?
Are there any others besides me who think it was Goblin who was the troublesome prize-winning caller?
ET goes to the book store to find comfort after being chewed out at work by her boss, and to consider how she’s going to solve the problem of lining up new sponsors. Goblin is also there. Even before, ET didn’t know that Goblin often waited for her at the bookstore, watching her pass as she went home after class or work.
I love the consistency in ET’s character. She’s still as serious about every won of her money as she was when she was a poor high school student. Goblin, too, is comforted by Eun Tak just being herself, even if she doesn’t remember him. He laughs, and Eun Tak asks why. He responds, “Because it feels good. Because I can’t believe this moment, Everything is perfect.” This, again, is an allusion to Goblin’s love poem. What matters most to Goblin, what touches his heart the most in his love for Eun Tak, are the everyday moments.
In his identity as CEO of iLoom, Goblin is known as Yoo Shin Jae. Not yet having heard Goblin’s name since reconnecting with him, Eun Tak doesn’t recognize the name Yoo Shin Jae when Secretary Kim reveals it to her. The only name she has that connects her to Goblin is Kim Shin, because of the note she scrawled immediately after Kim Shin dissipated, before her memory was scrubbed by the almighty.
The radio program’s next project of reconnecting someone with a decade-old forgotten relationship…could that suggestion also have come from Goblin? How did Writer Oh think of such a thing at this point in time? Coincidental or not, the project has gotten Eun Tak thinking about Kim Shin and the note she wrote ten years ago about being his bride.
Even though Grim Reaper has not seen Sunny in nine years, he has been keeping an eye on Eun Tak and knows she lives in the same building as Sunny.
The letter that Eun Tak wrote to herself in Quebec nine years ago finally arrives, delivered to the location of Sunny’s old chicken shop, which was in the building owned by Deok Hwa. Goblin gives Grim Reaper a reason to see Sunny after nine years, asking him to deliver the letter to Sunny to hand over to Eun Tak.
When Grim Reaper walks into the chicken shop the first time to deliver the letter, the camera work is amazing, the way it circles around him so we see and experience him fully in that setting.
Sunny isn’t in the shop several times when Grim Reaper tries to deliver Eun Tak’s letter directly into her hands. He finally decides to leave it with the employee, but when he departs the chicken shop, he has another one of those moments when every woman he sees he imagines is Sunny. when the real Sunny passes him on the sidewalk, she pauses and looks back. She looks at Grim Reaper with a furrowed brow for a few beats. Something about seeing him has struck her. Does she remember? When she continues walking away, a tear slips from Grim Reaper’s eye. His punishment continues.
Sunny brings the letter to Eun Tak at the broadcasting offices, telling her the story of its roundabout delivery. She doesn’t seem to recognize Grim Reaper as being someone from her past, but her comment about seeing him on her CCTV is typical Kim Sun and Sunny, focusing on his good looks. “He was really handsome…He’s so handsome to the point that it’s strange.”
In Eun Tak’s letter, written to her deceased mother, Eun Tak says that because she was able to see ghosts and other supernatural beings, she is with “mister” and is special to someone who asks about her well-being. Eun Tak wonders if “mister” and Kim Shin from her journal entry are the same person.
A few moments later, Eun Tak (who’s alone in the radio studio) gets a phone call from Yoo Shin Jae. She’s so flustered, she almost knocks a lighted candle off her desk, so she decides to blow out the flame and inadvertently summons Goblin. He appears behind her, inside the soundproof recording booth, so she can’t hear him while he’s speaking except through her phone. She doesn’t know he’s watching her and seeing her true reactions (excited, shy, flirtatious) to his call. Or that she prepares for their walking date by applying the perfume he gave her for her high school graduation.
Eun Tak used to be so good at poking Goblin where it hurts: his jealousy. Now he teases Eun Tak a bit to wake some jealousy in her. When he compliments her perfume, she assumes he knows the scent because he’s been around a lot of women. He provides her some reassurance by telling her she’s the only woman who knows his phone number…because he only recently needed, then got, a phone. This is parallel to his getting a phone for her sake when the met ten years ago.
When Goblin first met and fell in love with Eun Tak, he took medication to control his emotions that were all over the place. Now Eun Tak depends on medication to function despite her depression. She discloses it to Yoo Shin Jae because she wants to give him the opportunity to run away from her, since she thinks she’s strange. (My impression is that psychiatric disorders and treatment are not well accepted in South Korean society.)
Eun Tak tells Yoo Shin Jae that she’s traveling abroad
ET: It’s my first time going abroad so I’m so nervous. I’m so tacky, aren’t I?
Goblin: You won’t be nervous even though it’s your first time. You will be very natural as if you didn’t come for the first time. You will be like someone who lives there so don’t worry.
ET: You don’t know me well though. (Yet what Goblin had said was what ET herself had bragged when she went to Quebec twice with Goblin).
G: Believe me. (He knows Eun Tak well, at least as she had been nine years ago.)
I love how during this period where Goblin is reintroducing himself to Eun Tak, he is supportive rather than playing the grouch like he had in the past. He doesn’t want to waste his time with nonsense that might drive her further away from him. He’s spent too much painful, lonely time away from her while in the in-between place.
ET and Sunny are talking about ET’s upcoming trip abroad. Sunny says, “You know if you wear a hoodie when you go abroad, you’ll get in trouble with international law, right?” So what’s that all about?
Sunny is probably referring to fallout from the February 26, 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. He was a 17-year-old Black man wearing a hoodie who went out to buy a pack of Skittles but was shot dead by a neighborhood watchman. https://www.npr.org/2012/03/24/149245834/tragedy-gives-the-hoodie-a-whole-new-meaning
In July 2012 a radio station in Newfoundland, Canada, ran a poll asking if hoodies should be banned in the province because perpetrators of crime wear them. https://www.gawker.com/5924811/should-hoodies-be-banned-in-the-canadian-province-of-newfoundland
In January 2015 some legislators in Oklahoma wanted to make it state law that hoodies are banned, and wearing one would result in a $500 fine. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hoodie-oklahoma-bill_n_6410746
Some communities near Liverpool, England, banned the wearing of hoodies in October 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-34590878
Kudos to the hair and makeup team, and the wardrobe department, for making Eun Tak’s high school self look different from her career woman self during the Quebec scenes. For purposes of conserving costs, I imagine they were all filmed on the same trip.
Wandering the streets of Quebec, ET notices the small red gate in the wall that she and Goblin emerged from on their first trip. She might not realize why, since she doesn’t remember that first trip even after reading the letter she’d written during it, but the red gate makes her do a double take. And just at that moment Yoo Shin Jae walks out of it. I find it hilarious that as soon as he sees her, he tries to go back in but is locked out, so knocks on the gate. Was that in the script, or a bit of ad lib miming?
ET is suspicious about Yoo Shin Jae’s coincidental presence in Quebec, especially after he asks her if she’s been well (echoing what she’d written in her letter from Quebec, that “I now have someone who asks about my well-being.”) When ET asks if he has followed her, he doesn’t deny it. He’s able to convince ET she owes him a meal, so despite her wariness about Yoo Shin Jae’s presence, Eun Tak leads the way. We all know what restaurant she’ll pick, right? But we have to watch the next episode to confirm. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait until next week!
@Fan_of_TKEM, in the USA neither My Mister or Because This Is My First Life are on Netflix, but they’re both on Viki. I didn’t realize that the offerings on Netflix would differ from region to region.
@Fern, the piece of paper Kim Shin had in the snowy wasteland in-between world was the contract Eun Tak drew up before their first attempt at sword removal. She read it to him in the buckwheat field, and he signed it before they learned she couldn’t get her hands on the sword. Still, she made him honor the contract because he promised that whatever happened was not her fault. Later, Goblin caught Eun Tak in his room after she’d made a second handwritten copy of the contract and forged his signature. He confiscated both. On the trip Goblin and Eun Tak took to the traditional house–Eun Tak didn’t realize it was his way of saying goodbye–Goblin brought out both copies of the contract and gave one to Eun Tak. They tussled over his copy because ET thought it was the original and she wanted it back. Later, when Goblin was alone at Chairman Yoo’s house, he broke into sobs while reviewing the contract, especially the clause about coming to Eun Tak every year on the first snow. That contract was precious to Goblin, so I imagine he had it in his possession at all times from that point on, fearing that his departure was imminent.
@GB, at time mark 17:50 ET enters the chicken restaurant, sees Sunny, and (per Viki subs) says “Boss, you’re pretty as always.” But it is true that neither Sunny nor ET recall that ET was her part-timer at the old chicken restaurant. My guess is that when memories of Goblin were wiped from the minds of those who knew him, the employer-employee relationship between ET and Sunny didn’t end, but neither remembered having mutually known Goblin.
@Fern, when Goblin and ET left Goblin’s house after it was confirmed Grim Reaper was Wang Yeo, Goblin asked ET to pack lightly. She said she’d be ready in ten minutes. When they arrived at Chairman Yoo’s place, they only had one suitcase and two satchels between them (and probably ET’s backpack, but that wasn’t shown). Rather than staying with Goblin in Chairman Yoo’s home, ET decided to stay with Sunny. At that time the rooftop apartment was being rented by the junior grim reaper. The building owner was Sam Shin. At some point during the nine years after Goblin’s disappearance, Sam Shin sold the building to Sunny and ET moved into the rooftop flat. We also learn that Yeo is the only non-deity involved whose memory remained intact, and he’s aware of ET’s new home and proximity to Sunny. I’m guessing ET had help arranging her move to the rooftop apartment without remembering the full role in her life of those who made it happen.
I wonder if Sam Shin behaved like a slumlord, refusing to make repairs and not negotiating on rent, so the junior grim reaper would finally decide to find a new place, leaving the rooftop flat open for Eun Tak.
@Fern, I think the death card for ET specified heart attack because she was being bent backwards over the railing of the tall building’s rooftop while being strangled. I’d think that’d put a lot of stress on the heart!
@Fern, I think ET mailed that letter, written to her deceased mother, to herself at the old chicken restaurant address because she slept there while a high schooler to avoid her abusive aunt and cousins. She didn’t move into Goblin’s house until after her relatives went to jail and the home she’d shared with them was repossessed due to nonpayment of rent. So in essence, for a time ET’s home was the old chicken restaurant, with Sunny’s knowledge. And yes, I think ET mailed that letter to herself using the hotel stationery to have another souvenir of the trip. She took a free brochure about Quebec, the maple leaf Goblin caught, but didn’t have any money to buy something. She’d asked Goblin to give her some money, but he refused. It could be she saw that the hotel offered their guests a free send-yourself-a-letter service.
@GB, it doesn’t matter for me what time we start in the morning, even though I’m in the 5am zone. I am retired, so can catch up on sleep with a nap after our watch party. But I’d love to hear from any lurkers living in Pacific Time whether they’d join us if they could start at 6am.
I’m happy to rewatch My Mister or watch Chocolate for the first time. If Cleopatra will be with us, it might be fun to have her expert commentary on the sites filmed in Greece in Chocolate. For anyone who has already watched Chocolate, is it heavy or light fare? My Mister has its comedic moments (especially involving a van used as a business vehicle), but overall it leans toward the heavy side because it highlights emotional struggles. It isn’t angsty, as much as touching.
The dead flower seen in the snowy wasteland Goblin wanders for nine years is a dried Queen Anne’s lace. https://www.flickr.com/photos/sue_10512/3415728463/
Here’s an article that lists some meanings of Queen Anne’s lace in the language of flowers. https://symbolsage.com/queen-annes-lace-meaning/
As for why it was chosen to be seen repeatedly in the scenes of Goblin struggling through the snowy wasteland, I think its resemblance in dried form to a dandelion is one point. But I also like how Queen Anne’s lace represents sanctuary, haven, safety, and refuge. This may be why Goblin kept returning to it, and the precious contract with Eun Tak was blown to it by the wind. Thoughts of Eun Tak were Goblin’s sanctuary through those difficult nine years of separation.
@Welmaris, my favourite memories of Chocolate were about the food and the locations. The FL is a gifted chef inspired as a child by the ML who grew up cooking in a seaside restaurant until he was sent to live with his cousins. They reconnect as adults. There are very painful family interactions – that is what I didn’t feel comfortable about in the show, but not untypical of Kdramas.
Hello, sorry I haven’t been around. I can’t go into too much detail on the subject. For a few weeks now, I’ve been trying to get back to what I love. My project is to continue to correct my kdrama, precisely W season 2. I managed to see some dramas since then. What I couldn’t do a few months ago. I’m currently focused on crafting, and reading articles or book on screenwriting, or practicing by giving feedback on other people’s scripts, which is training me to find ways to improve mine, although it’s harder and always easier to analyze someone else’s writing.
A rewatch for W is ok for me. Especially since I haven’t rewatched the whole drama for a while. And the BOD community miss me. I don’t know how to prepare this because there are so many comments to make for so many scenes. However, I think Packmule3 might also have some ideas in the grey areas that are less easy to explore on my end.
Maybe I should write a ready to copy-paste sentence first: “here, goose-bump background music” and another “here, it’s the piano thrilling goosebump music”. ^^… Background musics are so good that they make feel you a plot-twist even when you know what is the plot-twist while rewatching the drama. Put goosebump everywhere as a base. Thrilling as well. 😉
Maybe you liked very much Memories of the Alhambra, but I prefer W, more fast paced, more crazy, more original high concept, more funny, more cerebral, more of everything, and less scenes about support characters, really no dead time or fillers. It’s so dense than the writer often need to use Montages to speed up the story.
This is a drama that is not easily coaxed. For example, I was reading a negative comment about how the heroine shouldn’t do the job she does. Only, it is explained in the story. Maybe not enough? Although I don’t have this impression (but being objective is difficult because I have seen it too many times). A scene in the script has been removed on this subject. Not too much of a worry as it speeds up the story and allows you to get to the heart of the matter. Yet it could have helped this kind of viewer, and let’s face it, that was the original vision of the screenwriter.
But there was no choice because the script is 17 episodes long, condensed in 16 episodes for the drama, and the rewriting work was well done. In particular the substitution of cliffhangers or the use of tricks to keep them (like the one in episode 1).
Hah! @WEnchanteur! Finally you have re-emerged, just in time to throw in your vote!!! Which sort of throws out our other votes.
Your reappearance has kind of of settled what the next Rewatch Show will be. We waited for you, and held back watching ‘W – Two Worlds’. We were watching other shows while waiting for you to pop up again, so now that you’re here …
… Will you be able to watch with us on Saturdays (it may be that we start one hour later)? We will likely start on 5 March 2022.
Thanks to @FGB for your suggestion.
Adding @WEnchanteur
Shows suggested so far, some of course for later viewing:
1) My Ahjusshi (My Mister) [5 votes @Welmaris, @Janey, @Carolina, @Fern and @GB]
2) Because This Life Is My First
3) W-Two Worlds (if @WE joins us) [4 votes @Cleo, @Fern, @WE, @GB]
4) Chocolate [5 votes @Cleo, @Carolina, @Janey, @Fern, @Welmaris]
5) Omameda Towako to Sannin no Motootto” (Japan – 2021) @FGB says “as I loved the show and it speaks about the experience of getting older, more jaded and hopefully wiser while also valuing all the love we have given and received as well.”
Vote if you are ok to start the rewatch party one hour later
If 2 from our usual able-to-watch gang (Cleo, Welmaris, Fern, Janey, FGB, Kuroshio, Carolina, WEnchanteur) have difficulty with the later start time, then we’ll not change.
Start An Hour Later:
1) GB
2) Cleo (for now)
3) Janey
4) Carolina
5) FGB
Prefer Same Start time:
1)
2)
@Fern – may have family commitments regardless of what hour we start.
I just read a few comment at the start of the thread. Just a suggestion, if you think rewatch sessions are really nice: instead of move the time, just make 2 sessions on 2 differents dramas.
I see people are motivated by “My mister”. I never watched this drama, it’s just on my watch list since a long time. I don’t wan’t to disturb people if they prefer watch that.
@GB, Hi. I was lurking on the blog since a while, but posting on older articles, so it drown very fast in the list. I ended Yumi cells for example. Far better than what I was feeling at first episode. I’m really a fanboy of Song Jae-Jung writer, haha!
@WE, I was aware that you were posting on the older threads. I read you but I just kept quiet since I had nothing to add and I saw that @Welmaris had also cajoled you to join us here (which I did last year!!!)
It’s not a problem if we do ‘W’ first and then 3 months later another show. We’ve been waiting to watch ‘W’ … or at least I have!!!
We’ll see if anyone says anything by the next Saturday. Just note the change in start time!!! Those who are now waking at 5am to join us are having a hard time, hence we’re asking if all are okay to start one hour later.
Change time isn’t a problem for me.
Can be 1 hour later, even 2 or 3. Or earlier, the same.
@WE, good about the time then, it’s likely we’ll start later since the usual gang have almost all responded and are okay to start 1 hour later.
So you remain an SJJ fan boy. I like most of her shows, as you know. However with ‘W’, I have issues and probably more questions. Hence I wanted to get other points of view as I got too judgmental about it and almost gave up watching the show.
@GB, I could say when rewatching, it will answer by itself, but as we know, rewatching is also post a lot here and write, so, it’s better to rewatch it alone before to rewatch it here, haha.
You make me feel like my post here is a kind of “W plot twist”. 🙂
I probably can answer a lot of questions. Maybe some questions not at instant speed. A friend of me tried to test me with an hard question about a plot-hole at end of episode 8. I was not able to answer fast because I forgot a logical point explaining the facts. Most of the time people find plot-holes where there isn’t in this drama. And also, they miss the real plot-holes when there is any, few ones.
Most of the time the problem is shortcuts, not enough explanations, at end of part2 in particular. There isn’t many reasons to complaint about plot-hole in the story considering the so huge number of plot-twists and cliffhangers. I know that for sure : it’s impossible to keep things realistic when you use too many plot-twists. Only thing possible is to make it entertaining and enough believable so we don’t go out of the story. Else, you have to write a more flat story, and I prefer plot-twists. Also, when you dig more, the concept of W is so complex that is quite impossible for the writer herself to keep everything right. I know a lot about that, as I encountered the same issues. And if there is a great scene but leading to something unstable about concept logic, it’s better to bend it a bit and deliver the great scene, than rely only on pure logic and giving a flat scene. If the audience is thrilled enough, it make the job.
@WEnchanteur, I rather think that while we’ll ask questions along the way as we watch, we’ll come back to read the thread later to see if anyone posted answers. We still come back days later and find new posts on our old threads.
Yes, with shows like Goblin, I do extra rewatches in advance, to get more of the plot ‘right’ in my mind so that it’s easier to watch and post at the same time. I don’t expect others to do this though; it’s time consuming.
I look forward to seeing you back on BOD. I’ve just started 25/21 and it looks like a keeper.
@GB, AH but yes!!! So obvious!
It’s a rewatch, but there’s no need to comment everything in real time! Real time is mostly for little stuff, to follow the action. But then, it’s like the usual comments on a drama here. I mean… This is a drama that has never been commented on the blog by pm3. So the rewatch thread also serves as a normal comment thread once the rewatch is over.
@WE, I am replying to your most recent post and to the one before it as well.
@WE, yes, we will follow the action in real time and comment if anything strikes, however being on the thread for a rewatched episode means that sometimes a question is triggered when it was not thought of before. These too will crop up. But no worries, anyone can answer the questions and they don’t have to be responded to immediately. 😇 😄
This means that we have to forgive the plot twists because it was too difficult for Writer-nim to keep it all consistent when it gets complicated. However these are probably the parts where viewers want to discuss and figure out what the explanation could be/should be. Hence we watch it together and ask each other. 😧 🤯 🥴
Ah,… the thing is that, generally speaking, if the plotholes are big enough and annoying enough, the audience may not be thrilled enough too!! 😵💫 🤔 🤯 😆
Tttt, don’t worry about plot-twists, they have mostly a meaning. As the whole drama. I say it again, concept logic is accurate most of the time. This is on the edge: I just say it’s almost impossible to keep everything clean, even you wan’t to. Anyway, each time there is something wrong and I remember it, I will point that. As I said, people cites some plot-holes in the drama, and it’s not plot-holes, they are wrong. The real plot-holes wasn’t pointed out by the audience, and often, it’s rather “I put that under the carpet” technique. And the reason why the scriptwriter use that, it’s either it would make the scene or plot crap otherwise, or it’s the kind of indirect drawback that is impossible to check… just because the script is 17h long and there is already a so heavy mass of content to check about concept logic. So because of this complexity, there are small water leaks. It’s really not about any writer lazyness, just limits of the human being mind, even as talented as she is.