This is @GB’s reflections on the importance of keeping the right distance. I’m reposting her commentary in full for future reference. As usual, I added my comments at the end. 🙂 Thanks, @GB! — pm3
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
The Right Distance
@pkml3 spoke of the right distance for the lunge in fencing and I was writing a long piece on it generally in the earlier thread. This episode we are once again reminded of the distance between the public figure and the subject, or the public figure and the audience, between strangers, family and between friends. Oftentimes the right distance is determined by the circumstances.
Sunbae observes YJ looking upset. He asserts : “The news relays the situation. What’s the problem?”
YJ : “It doesn’t look like we’re simply relaying it. I feel like we instigate at times.” (Nowadays it happens much of the time!!)
Sunbae : “You’re mistaken. Do you know why you’re mistaken? You failed to keep a distance from the subject. You know Na Hee Do.”
Sunbae takes a step towards YJ : “A public figure must not get too close to or too far from a civilian. A journalist must maintain a distance from the subject being covered.”
We see that HD’s Mum Shin has really kept that distance, par excellence. Even at home, she has maintained a distance with HD. What strikes me over and over again is that no one outside of a few here and there, knows that Hee Do and Anchor Shin are mother and daughter. They never care to acknowledge their relationship. Yi Jin does not know that HD’s mother probably had a hand in hiring him or that his news debut report about HD, took place under her Mum Shin’s news reporting.
Mum Shin never revealed how she felt when she heard about the public sentiment that YR was the good, poor girl whom people wanted to see winning, while HD was considered the upstart who interfered and upset the apple cart. Perhaps by continuing to never acknowledge HD’s relationship to her, she was better able to protect HD. At least HD didn’t have to live up to being Anchor Shin’s daughter and no one could accuse her being prejudiced in favour of HD in her reporting. Still it would have been nice if HD would have considered calling her Mum over her win, or vice versa.
===
Hee Do observes how YR has a dad to pick her up and give her a comforting hug. The right kind if distance that she never had with her Mum. She herself wanders around, losing her cell phone at the pharmacy.
Hee Do calls her own mobile number to get her phone back and finds YJ on the other end of the line. At the end of the day, they somehow had a direct connection with each other. He comes in a cab to bring her phone to her. (Where’s his red car? Didn’t he just drive her in Gyeongju in that car, that day?)
YJ maintains his adult role in lecture mode, which HD does not appreciate. But it was the right distance to keep with her, since she was angry and he had not yet found a solution to help her. In their matter-of-fact relationship, it would have been weird if he’d comforted her with soft words, the way that Ji Woong did with Yoo Rim.
Also he rightly pointed out that she had failed to keep her right distance, as a public figure, in the press conference. She had reacted emotionally and tarnished the image of Korea on international TV.
YJ to HD : “Running away isn’t the solution. You’re on the national team. Do you think your attitude at the press conference was acceptable? You left without telling the team, didn’t you? You know, you can be disciplined for this.”
HD : “Are you done? Then leave. I could have gotten my phone back myself, so I won’t thank you.”
HD walks off but stops when YJ asks : “What will you do in a town that you don’t know?”
HD : “I ran away because I didn’t want to hear that garbage. Don’t you get it?”
The tree that appears between them, shows that they are divided at that moment.
However, we see that division start to melt away along the lonely road, with YJ walking behind, HD to keep an eye on her.
HD : “I told you not to follow me.”
YJ stops to think and says : “People say Ko Yoo Rim is a victim. I think you’re a victim too. Even if the referee’s decision was a bad call, you’re still a victim.”
HD : “It wasn’t a bad call.” And she demonstrates with YJ so that he can see what she means when she said that the fencer always knows who was faster.
YJ : “Who asked for an explanation?”
HD : “You’re a reporter. Would you have come here looking for me otherwise?”
YJ : “What do you think? Tell me.”
HD has to say honestly : “You would have come. Regardless.”
YJ : “As long as you know. Let’s go back.”
She refuses so he uses the wish that he won.
YJ : “Your face was on the news on every channel. Don’t cause any more trouble. Let’s go back, Hee Do-yah. That’s my wish.”
By being the responsible adult friend towards HD, YJ maintained the right distance. HD also had to acknowledge that with the kind of friendship they had, YJ’s coming to look for her was natural and expected.
===
YJ had been coincidentally in the right place and time to become acquainted with Referee Alan Smith. He used this acquaintanceship, and kept the right distance, to persuade the Ref to listen to him. I noticed how he literally stood a distance away from Ref, so as not to crowd or intimidate him.
I liked Ref’s interview statement… he too was speaking of the right distance that the public should have. We also get to hear Mum Shin’s objective introduction to Ref’s assertions.
Anchor Mum Shin : “The referee’s decision during the fencing finals of the Asian Games last night is being disputed. This has led to unreasonable assertions such as claiming the referee was bribed. We met with referee Smith, who is at the centre of the controversy. Baek Yi Jin has the exclusive.”
Alan Smith onTV : “Athlete’s can be confused when they are worked up. Even if the cameras can’t give you a clear picture of what happened, would it make sense to say that what I saw was inaccurate, since I was right in front of the action? If you want the athlete you are rooting for to win, go watch a movie. That is not the nature of sport.” (A good diss against the emotional Korean public who couldn’t keep the right distance, since they wanted a sporting event to play out like a movie with their preferred happy ending).
YJ on TV : “Referee Smith asserted that his decision at the match was fair. The young athletes had to bear the weight of overly emotional speculation. What should have been the happiest moment became a piercing wound. I’m Baek Yi Jin of UBS News.” (The reporters’ and public’s prejudiced speculation had robbed the gold medal of honour, and the win of glory.)
HD who had wanted to leave the restaurant stays to hear the full report. When she sits, she finally finds herself crying, because at last others had stood up to acknowledge the unfairness towards her. Yi Jin, Ref and her Mum had to speak objectively. But when the ahjusshis started taking her side, her tears flowed all the more.
Ahjusshi stranger : “You must have been so hurt. Life throws you some nasty curveballs, doesn’t it? You’ve been through a lot. Here, have a drink.” (She tells them she’s too young to drink.)
“Na Hee Do, you were amazing during the match yesterday. Congratulations on winning the gold medal. It must have taken such hard work to make it there. You must have cried so much in secret and suffered so much pain.” Hee Do covers her face and cries in earnest.
“Goodness. You did great. Please lead Korean fencing going forward, okay?”
This was the right distance, supportive of the facts, ‘untainted by emotions,’ that should have been the public response towards a public figure (HD).
===
YJ reports to his sunbae : “That interview wasn’t because I was too close. The news criticising her went out yesterday and we feigned innocence as the public criticised her. It was an improper attitude for the news. That was why. If you say I did it because I knew her, I have nothing to say.”
Sunbae : “You did good.” YJ is surprised so sunbae repeats : “You did great. Remember how you felt as you rushed to the airport today. Congrats on your debut in the news.”
YJ : “Thank you.”
And one more time for good measure: “You did good.”
YJ : “Thank you.”
YJ smiles.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
And here’s my comment on this.
👏👏👏 Brava, @GB.
I’ve given up trying to catch up with you all. I don’t have time to sit down and watch all four episodes this weekend.
So I’ll re-post this on the blog and sign off on it as the “official” 😂😂 statement on the importance of keeping the Right Distance.
Yes, the Referee had the right distance for the match. We the viewers did too. If you’re watching on Netflix, you can actually slow down the speed when you replay the scene, and see that Heedo (or the fencer playing Heedo) was half-a-step quicker than Yurim.
And Heedo’s jump-riposte (I don’t know if that’s the technical term for it) to score her 13th point would have made an impression on the referee. It meant that —
a. She was still in the fight. She hadn’t given up and she was giving it her all.
b. She still had energy. Fencing requires sudden bursts of energy, and she wasn’t exhausted yet.
c. Her footwork and timing were great.
Yes, referees do decide bouts. And unlike judges in figure skating who evaluate the aesthetics or artistry of the performance, 🙂 referees in fencing are looking for the fight in the fencer. Fight means tenacity, resistance, and competitiveness.
The truism is referees don’t like cowards, quitters, and chickens.
In fact, there’s a rule made about four? five? years ago about non-combative fencers. Previously, there were matches when the fencers refused to fight when they were on the piste. They’d stand there or bounce up and down. They didn’t want to risk getting hit so they’d wait.
So the rule was made to eliminate this passive stance.
Under this non-combatting rule, if the fencers don’t fight or score a hit in a minute 😂 then the ref will halt the bout and card the fencers, depending on the rank. The match is essentially decided by the ref. The burden is on the lower-ranked player to score a point to avoid losing the game. If he doesn’t move, he’ll certainly lose so he may as well just attack.
Anyway…
You know who else didn’t act professionally in this episode? The fencing club coach. 🙄
What a fool.
I’m sure many viewers thought she was funny. But I told y’all she’s nuts.
She was totally out of line when she started blabbering about “shitty etiquette,” and the amount of rice Heedo eating (did she three bowls?) and also addressing Heedo from the podium, “Na Heedo, you! This is your last chance!” 🤦♀️🤦♀️
She was a commentator for the sports. Not the cheerleader. Not the coach.
She did NOT at all know how to maintain the right distance.
Frankly, she’s partly to blame for Yurim’s unsportsmanlike conduct.
She TRAINED Yurim to view Heedo as someone to be feared. I said that it was bad coaching to inculcate in her mind that Heedo was an enemy out to grab her Number #1 spot. The #1 spot wasn’t “hers.” She had to EARN it if she wanted to KEEP it.
I said the coach failed to teach them how to cope with eventual rivalry. Instead, she pitted one against the other, and pushed them to view each other as the nemesis.
To me, this is the wrong approach. She should have emphasized the mutual benefit of practicing against the best challenger. They’ll be challenged to give their best moves and to drive each other to excellence. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Frankly, I wasn’t surprised by Yurim’s conduct. In truth, I was expecting worse. I thought she’d lose badly, and blame it on Heedo’s distracting screams. lol. That’s why I asked about the result of their match. 🙂
The coach tolerated bullying in her club because in her mind,“That’s the way the world is. Seniors just gotta bully and the juniors just gotta deal with it their own way.” 🤪
Well…when Yurim is the “senior” in the ASEAN games. When she decided to “bully” her way to a gold medal with her stage tantrum and her disrespect of the referee, that’s on the coach. Yurim was only acting out what she’d learned from her club, that —
a. bullies got away with their emotional blackmail, and
b. grown-ups would tolerate bad behavior because it’s the “privilege” of seniors to act that way.
Do you see what I mean?
If the coach was too lazy to fix the toxic environment in her club, it should come as no surprise that she’d be just as lazy to train her star player in good sportsmanship. 🤷♀️
Thank you, @packmule3.
Thanks for putting this up @pkml3!
With Episode 8, we see that there may yet be a continuation of this theme of the right distance in the following episode(s). Just as Mum Shin as a public figure keeps a distance, even from her own family, and now even YJ is told to be careful about his work when it includes people he knows, so too HD who has become a public figure will have to set a right distance between herself and those like YJ, whose work covering reports on her will end up in a conflict of interest.
That’s what happened to Anchor Shin with fencer Yang Chan Mi. When the right distance was maintained, the friendship died. That looks to be the foreshadowing of how it might be for HD and YJ.
After a re-watch of episode 8, I think that @packmule3 is correct about the coming-of-age, but the growth and change in this drama is not limited to the young people, but also to the older adults. As I mentioned before, some of the adults think that the young people are more mature than they could possibly be. I liked the change YJ’s father’s employee showed. He released YJ from his promise and apologised to him for taking his anger out on him, recognising that he is young (like his own child) and not the person responsible. He clapped YJ on the shoulder the way a father would.
I agree that the issue of distance continues. I am really concerned that HD mistaking YJ for Injeolmi will create a big problem of distancing that will take a lot of skill on his part to overcome. They are both attracted to each other, but it’s not the right time.
I don’t know about others, but I was upset with the conversation that HD and her mother had about the news. The mother initiates the conversation with a criticism. It’s a legitimate criticism of HD splurging on treats to get stickers, but it’s not the time for that.
This is followed by her question, “When are you going to stop acting stupid?… Have you reflected on your attitude at the press conference?” Again, the query about HD reflecting on her attitude is legitimate, but she could have left out the first question. This was the correct time to make amends, as the coach suggested. Instead the mother digs herself in deeper and deeper with her ‘no apologies’ philosophy.
To me it’s one thing to report the news in an even way, but she could have sided with her daughter in private if not in public. She could have been honest and told Hee-do that she felt bad for her at the time. The mother asks, “What do you want me to do?” All Hee-do is asking of her is to act like a mother when they are together. Hee-do says ‘You don’t want to do anything, so let’s stay out of each other’s business.’ In other words, Hee-do is trying to protect herself now by avoiding her own mother, who has stated her philosophy and can’t or won’t give her the support she craves. I was left wishing that Mrs Shin could have contacted the pirate radio broadcast run by Seung-wan to get the same response: apologise. But Ms Shin doesn’t seem to be the sort to apologise in any manner.
In the conversation between Min-chae and her grandmother, of course distance (2 generations) helps to diffuse emotions and gives more perspective. Ms Shin happily agrees with her grand-daughter’s empathy towards her (finally SOMEONE understands her), but doesn’t mention that she may have made any mistakes as well. Then Mrs Shin flatters her granddaughter that she is more perceptive (smarter) than her daughter, even when Min-chae points out that HD is her grandmother’s direct descendant. Mrs Shin still seems to think that HD acts stupidly. She agrees with Min-chae’s criticism of her mother – that HD can’t empathise. I found that criticism a bit unfair after HD and Min-chae’s talk about progress not being an exponential upwards curve. I think that the grandmother should be very careful about saying things that might drive a wedge between mother and daughter. We do see, however, that Min-chae acknowledges YJ’s support of her mother as she watched his video – we have to believe Min-chae’s opinion comes *after* watching the grandmother’s coverage and reading the diary.
Blimey, what a ramble. It’s off my chest now. There have probably been 18 posts covering this by the time I send this off – apologies in advance.
@Fern, it’s nice to ramble here. 😉
All I wanted was one word, congratulations. That was all but nope.
The lengths that YR will do to not think about her family’s situation. 🙁
I was cracking up when they were running in the school corridors after freeing HD from the secret room. 😂
Those stickers are cute! ☺️
@Fern, I heartily agree with you. I believe and want every character to display some kind of growth. I desperately want it for Min Chae (which I see happening already), for Mum Shin, for YR and HD.
The way the creditor of YJ’s father came around, is what I’m hoping for in Mum Shin. She really ought to apologise for failing to be more motherly at home. She was stuck in a rut being fault-finding first before anything else, with poor HD. At least now that she’s no longer an Anchor woman, she did chat with adult Hee Do, adult-to-adult.
The way she agreed with Min Chae over Hee Do’s failure to put herself in other people’s shoes, reminds me not to do the same ie playing one family member against another or getting them to take my side against another. By dissing Hee Do in front of Min Chae she was approving Min Chae being judgmental and critical towards her mother, instead of encouraging her to respect her mother. It was like they ganged up against HD behind her back.
While to an extent, a grandparent or family member might agree with the criticism, they have to be careful how they acknowledge the truth of it without approving the criticism.
I feel aggrieved on behalf of HD who was not present to defend herself.
The Injeolmi ‘misunderstanding’, will I hope not be something that actually happens or if it does, then only for a short while. I really expect YJ in his usual just way, to tell the truth, or at least to say that he is not Injeolmi, although he might not be able to reveal who she is.
We trust that things work out well and soon, because we recall previews of the gang getting on, on a trip together.
So far, Show has provided us with characters both likable and not so likable without any villains (except the ‘times’!) I really want to end up liking Mum Shin and YR by the end of the series.
Hi, agdr03!
Haha. The toilet ghost! They probably heard HD’s screech in the lavatory and panicked.
I don’t know what to think about YR. Her mother didn’t want her to know that they invested in a scam, but she’s a smart enough girl to figure it out. I know that her reactions toward HD are wrong, but sometimes HD winds her up on purpose. After HD overheard that official in the hallway talking to YR and saw her in the swimming area, I think the way was paved for them to reconcile. They need each other’s communication and support. But YR panicked to think that HD was Ryder and fled, leaving YJ holding the rose. All I can think was: How could she leave? And, if she had to run away, why didn’t she hide the rose somewhere rather than give it to YJ? I don’t think she intended in a million years for HD to think that YJ was Injeolmi. I think she was in full panic flight mode, but it will come back to bite her.
There are sometimes cute stickers like that in our local Kawaii shop.
@Growing Beautifully, I have to hope as well that YJ uses his good moral compass to find a way out of the Injeolmi situation and not let it hang. The previews for the next episode look like more stress ahead. I hope for some good times for the characters, too.
I keep thinking about appropriate distance. I think that, although a stranger, it was appropriate for the ex-employee to reach out and comfort YJ after they spoke. I think it was appropriate for Coach Yang to give the medal to Mrs Shin so she could get back to an appropriate mother/daughter distance with HD. You mentioned that both HD and YJ have been cautioned about keeping their distance in their roles as a sporting figure and a journalist respectively. I think that Mrs Shin won’t like at all that they are friends – she seemed regretful in the current time when she looked at his photo and noted how young he was.
I wonder if we will get more reveals next week. I am particularly curious about why Mrs Shin didn’t go to her husband’s funeral.
Did you get the impression that the man being interviewed about the fire was keen to get the journalists to leave by very purposefully telling them that there were no phones available? He seems dismayed that YJ stayed behind to ask more questions.
Great write up @GB and @PM3!!!
Mum Shin (as @GB calls her) takes the cake on maintaining distance and she has the same measure applied to all. Which should not be the same with her mother-daughter relationship with HD. If only she said the same words she said to Minchae (for the first time, I regretted being a news anchor) to HD and gave an olive branch (even an acknowledgement that she worked hard and how tough her situation is like the Ahjussi in the restaurant) to reduce the distance, that would have made a big difference. Granted we see a biased view from HD given her misconceptions about her mom not supporting her in school transfer or the wedding rings, we also see that mom has let her continue believing those, even through adulthood . Daughter and I coined this as “Noble idiocy parenting”. It can put a wedge on any relationships.
Oh, I was shocked mum Shin kicked and hit YJ for flubbing his report and then acknowledge later to HD that he actually did the best thing in that situation. Geez, I hope those times are gone. I’m ok being berated for a mistake but so unprofessional to hit another person.
Like @fern, there’s redemption arc for the creditor also. I’m glad he reflected on his actions and admitted his mistake there. I like a grateful YJ even thanking YR’s mom for her side dishes. The other crappy adults from the sports federation and coaches, I am not sure if we will get that though.
This Injoelmi/Ryder meet-up gave me Start Up memories (or nightmares?)! Not again!!! This is one sticky mess indeed! I hope this gets nipped in the bud fast. I hope YR reflects on her chats with HD to see her point of view and give their friendship a chance.
Great shots on the pool scenes with YR trying drown her miseries in her pool of tears. That teardrop hitting the board as she freefalls from the top was dramatic. I feel sorry for her in this episode.
@GB and @pm3, This post is quite thought provoking. There are some points that I’d like to address.
I am think we all put too much good will on the position of coaches. I spend as lot of time watching sports with my husband and son. What I have learned over the years is that coaches can be as corrupt as they come and use questionable tactics to win.It is a psychological game that puts Ayers against each other. The depiction of the coaches here was pretty spot on. I’ll give you an egregious to example-the US women’s gymnastics team.Do you not think for a minute that the coaches were not aware of the doctor’s to perversion. Or better yet, the Penn State football scandal where the vaunted Joe Paterno had to step down beca it se of the long time perversion of his assistant coach. These things are open secrets.We want to believe and are made to believe that coaches are the holy grail of sports but they’re not.It’s a high stakes business where we the goal is w ok nning at any cost. So in our low level coach and our national coach are and can be corrupted. It is sad but true that this is more widespread than we think.
As to HeDo’s mom, I’d like to use a legal in analogy. When there is an a on personal connection judges by recuse themselves. Mom should have done it and the same goes by for YJ too. From the point of view of dramatic license, this real life choice was not an option. In a less dramatic way, they could have done the fun legal disclaimer to”for the sake of full disclosure” that we hear all the time. On truth if you Google a good chunk of the anchors and TV talking heads as well as anyone in on the air, their connections, relatives,the mind boggling To me, it’s in a wonder how anyone without connections makes it to TV.(And I don’t buy how the kids of stars have it tougher than someone starting out from podunk).
I also think that in the sports world nowadays top athletes are taught how to deal with the press. It was unrealistic to send out rookie national fencer by out without preparation. It co hi ld be said that this wasn’t done in those days but PRpepple have been attached to national sports I’m most countries for as long as I can remember
Poor He Do was walking into the lion’s den where her coaches and team knew that the controversial topic of the ref’d decision would be topic one.My take on this is that it was totally within the team,’s control but that they wanted a scapegoat.
As age is a big deal in S.Korea, there is no way that HD and YJ could have a romance at this juncture. I think that when HD heard YJ’s tape and his confession, the sparks of her crush on him came to the surface. YJ could not think of her in those terms but showed a fondness by for her in an appropriate manner. He is had too many other issues in mind primarily his family obligations and his need to earn money to survive than getting himself entangled in any romantic relationships
And it has been established that way the time of the tapes, YJ was still an affluent kid.
HD’s Mom is a far better grandmother. In some ways it is because she he as had a successful career and had withstood the hardships of widowhood. HD’s late Dad seemed like he provided the bulk of HD,’s affection. Mom, on the other hand,seems like widowhood and full time responsible and public employment has made her a distracted Mom at best-who also needs to maintain control.It is striking to see how she’s been aged.Her younger and older self has been softened by make up and hair style. Her mid life self has been made to look cold and brittle. It is realistic to see Hedo enjoying collecting stickers. She is still a child who has lost her daddy at age 18 and 19. Her Mom expects more because she, by maintaining her distance, does not allow herself to get close to her only child.
Kalimera Ladies!
Thank you for this post @Packmule3! GB Unnie and you nailed it for another time!
@Fern I totally agree with what you wrote above and what @GB wrote afterwards as well.
It was wrong for me as well that Mom Shin sided with Min Chae. Min Chae doesn’t know anything about her mother, except from the fact that she was jealous of her and felt competitive against her.
She is beginning to changing her perspective, mostly because she is reading Hee Do’s diary.
Mom Shin doesn’t see her failures as a parent. She also doesn’t want to be the mediator between Hee Do and her granddaughter. Why? Because she doesn’t know how to do that. She didn’t know when Hee Do was a teenager, how is she going to do that with Min Chae.
I believe that Coach Yang was the mediator between Mom Shin and Hee Do. Why? Because she was hurt first handed by her. She knows exactly how Hee Do must have felt being at home with a mother who cannot empathize with her.
The fact that she felt like this but couldn’t say anything in private with Hee Do, shows that she cannot be there for Hee Do. That’s why there is always friction between them. Her mom cannot understand what Hee Do needs emotionally. Mostly because, Hee Do’s dad was the one who was providing it for her.
For me, Min Chae is a younger version of Mom Shin. That’s why they can tag along so well.
@Cleopatra, I agree with your statements above, except that I’m not sure that Min-chae is a younger version of her grandmother. I’m wondering if she is starting to look for all of the different perspectives herself so she can compare them to find a more universal truth in the family history. (Ha, with this penchant for research, she may end up in journalism like her grandmother and YJ.)
At the beginning, she was like her grandmother in that she didn’t want to compete unless she could win, which was the cold advice Mum Shin gave Hee-do. But that may have changed after Min-chae and Hee-do discussed the concept that improvement wasn’t totally an upward trend. Also, it seemed to me that Min-chae didn’t completely swallow her grandmother’s flattery, did she? It will be difficult for this girl because she loves both her mother and her grandmother despite their flaws.
@Fern,
Yes. At the beginning Min Chae was just like her grandmother. That’s why I wrote she is a younger version of her.
Min Chae started to understand her mother after she came across to her notebook and started reading about her efforts.
Also, if MC wanted to be okay to her mom, she could also say something to her grandmother after of what she has told her.
I agree with @GB when she said that her grandmother was not trying to find a way to bring balance between those two. In that regard, it seems that Mom Shin likes that Min Chae took her side. She understands her better than her own daughter, she even commented.
Up until Episode 8, we get to see that Min Chae has a biased perception about her mother.
We should take into consideration that an entry in a notebook cannot cover everything. So, what Min Chae is reading are thoughts of Hee Do based on her feelings that date, but not all the aspects of the situation.
Has Min Chae ever asked her mother why HeeDo’s relationship with her Mom Shin was so strained? I mean has Min Chae tried to listen to her mother’s side of the story?
I get that Mom Shin has a specific character as a woman / wife / mom / anchor woman. I can understand where is she coming from, but I cannot empathize with her.
Min Chae can become a reporter as her grandmother. I just wish that Min Chae will find the truth she is asking for and will have a better relationship with Hee Do.
@Cleopatra, I completely agree with your wish that Min-chae will find the truth. I would like all 3 of these family members to grow to gain wisdom, trust and honesty with each other by the end of this drama.
@Fern,
True. Let us hope that they will find a way to be happy all together!
Hi @Cleopatra and @Fern, I agree that I hope Min Chae, her Mother and Grandmother can form a more loving relationship. It is often said that characteristics skip a generation so there is an affinity between Min Jae and her grandmother. I also think that grandparents are more likely to spoil or treat grandchildren more leniently. That’s why Min Jae “ran away” to her grandmother’s house.
Did you also notice that Min Jae got a present from her Dad of a ballet costume and that her Dad was abroad. Dad obviously has not been entirely absent in her life
This begs the question-who is Dad? He has been gone long enough not to know Min Jae’s circumstances and I get the impression that his not knowing shows his lack of communication with her Mother. So we have an intriguing situation here.
Another question I have is how HeDo came to woodworking. Where did fencing go? HeDo also looked like a more affluent person when she dropped off Min Jae to the competition. The kid did not seem poor.Also is Mom single, divorced never married? Questions abound not the least concerning an absent father, given that we were shown HeDo’s distress at thinking that her beloved supportive Dad was lost buying noodles for her at the train stopover. This of course occurred before he actually died. In a way we have parallels of lost father’s here.
The women seem to rule but at great cost. To be continued…
It’s a good observation that characteristics or affinity sometimes skips a generation. Or that grandparents spoil grandchildren in a way they didn’t spoil their own children. It’s a classic.
I wondered about the wood-working as well. If Min-chae’s father is still supporting the family, the woodworking may not be the only income. It’s unlikely that a 1 person woodworking shop, no matter how desirable the product, would support a family very comfortably. It might be different if she were a famous sculptor of wood, but she seems to be making furniture.
In real life, it’s very difficult to maintain sports as a means of making an income once competing has finished. There are limited job opportunities at the top tier and otherwise the wages can be very low. One of my daughters has been looking into it and it seems very risky.