The thread is now open for Ep 5.
Join @Growing_Beautifully, @WEnchanteur, @Cleopatra, @Welmaris, @Janey, @Fern, @FGB4877, @Carolina and our newbie, salteddust, for the rewatch.
Option A: 14:00 UTC
10:00 am EST
07:00 am PST
10:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
09:00 pm Indonesia
05:00 pm Greece
04:00 pm Paris
10:00 am Caracas
Enjoy the rewatch.
Thanks @pkml3! Hope you have a good, safe trip. I thought you were on vacation already earlier this week. 🙂
The highlight of this episode is a very long dialogue, about a third of the episode. The kind of thing that’s hard to do, usually something that might bore. Of course, it’s the opposite here. One of the many most exciting moments of the drama. Hmm… I’d better number the scenes that are not exciting. So far I’ve only found one.
Already, screenwriter Song Jae-Jung makes sure that the dialogue is good enough to hold, even without additional elements. Because the dialogue is extremely rich and captivating.
Exposition, plot and character revelations, many conflicts, very good acting, smart lines, strong stakes and motivations for both characters, reversals of situations, changes on who takes over.
With several objectives and of course a final objective. All to be organized according to these objectives, while involving the emotional reactions of the characters, with many subtleties that the actors are able to convey. In addition to the script, their inventive interpretation.
But that’s not all! The dialogue is broken into several scenes in real, since to break the monotony, everything that can be shown visually is. No question of boring the audience when the characters talk about something other than what is in the room. So many montages and flashbacks, with voice-over, and quick returns on the reactions of the characters. Great art!
And that’s not all! A good way is used to reinforce the emotional involvement of the spectator in the dialogue… The dialogue has a witness! And by the emotional reactions of the witness, we have a relay, an identification support to better receive the emotions of the dialogue. Also a way to break the unique set of the dialogue.
AH!!! W!!!!!!! I feel like Professor Park at the end of one of the scenes in episode 9, when he waves W with his arms or hands. AHAH! 🤪
Kalo mesimeri everyone!
How are you?
Hi @Cleo, I’m great (as usual sleepy but still OK) how about you?
Hey @GB Unnie!
I am a bit sleepy myself…The weather is good though!
@Cleo It was horribly hot today, then it finally rained, but it’s still warm and humid. We had to put on the airconditioner for a while.
Hello!!
Hi GB, hi Cleo.
@GB,
At least we didn’t have humidity!
Hey @We!
Hello!! I won’t be able to join you today. Enjoy and chat with you later!
Hello there @WE! Very glad you’re here. Your contributions of script and analyses have been wonderful to read and help to clarify points.
I’ve read all the theories here about KC’s world being frozen and the portal opening up.
I agree that it was his spoken aloud acknowledgement that his world was a fabrication that put a freeze on it. By being aware of this reality, he became more the creature of our real world than the manhwa world. He started to see the manhwa world as we see it, ie static drawings, frozen in each frame.
When the portal opened in both times, there was a confluence of 2 things … of Yeon Joo being upset about KC being ‘killed’ and it was a time of his greatest need, when he needed help. The first time YJ was upset after seeing the drawing of a bleeding KC. The portal opened between them and he could reach her and bring her into his world. I agree with Welmaris that love of some kind had to do with it… the love of a fan for the character (and if she remembered that she drew him, the love of the creator for her creation).
The second time, she was horribly distraught, feeling guilty that she’d caused his manhwa world to white out (the blank, white screen was all she saw) and so the portal was bigger. In addition, KC’s need was greater… he would not be able to remain in a frozen world where he no longer belonged. The portal opened up big enough for him to step through.
Hey @Janey!
Thank you for informing us! I do hope you are okay!
Hi Janey, come back later. 😉
See you another time @Janey!
@GB, I will read your long comment later, because… it’s…
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello @WEnchanteur, @Growing_Beautifully, and @Cleopatra! I’m glad this isn’t a Zoom gathering, because I’m sporting some serious bedhead. I tossed and turned all night, and my hair shows it.
Here I go. I’m starting W!
Yes, we start now. Another voiceover recap which brings us to our Ep 5.
Kang Chul in the rain walk in the street and see.
THE BUS.
Don’t care about furious driver.
I really want to touch the manhwa image!!
ahah
Hey @Welmaris! Don’t worry!
Regarding W: So, Kang Chul got out to the primary world and he sees with his own eyes what Yeon Joo tried to protect him from.
Once again he saves himself and walks in the rain. Great that he sees the ‘W’ poster on the bus and does not get knocked down by a car while walking across the road. He sees that what YJ has told him is true.
First stop… research about his life.
Library scene.
With lot of manhwa cut real/images/flashback.
We have to praise the Production team that they also created the Manhwa’s volumes in such detail!
I like the visuals of Park-so-Bong’s hands ‘disappearing’ into the screen. It is both clearly the back lighting and yet the viewer is momentarily distracted by the idea that he too might be sucked into the comic.
Turn the page and see…
The dead family, for the first time, in a manwha image!
@WE it was a heartbreaking reading for KC, seeing himself come across his dead family.
Lee Tae Hwan (as Seo Do Yoon) has a beautiful smile.
Lee Jong Suk manages to convey so much when looking at that bus poster.
Fight scene, thanks to good skills at teakwondoo from Lee Jong Suk.
@WE, I seem to recall that Lee Jong Suk took up Taekwondo and used it in another show.
I liked the gang fight.
Ha! They want us to believe that it is raining heavily in the real world, but the dry street paving gives away the fact that the rain is coming from a hose. I wonder if the crew uses warm water for the actors’ sake, or if they get doused with cold water.
Good action sequence, but I wonder how Kang Chul can move so freely in tight jeans.
Because Kang Chul’s world is a webtoon, the character of the prosecutor won’t change: he’s always going to be KC’s antagonist because that’s what he was created to do.
I wonder why the women working in the bookstore can’t see that Kang Chul is in front of them in real life. They don’t have to believe he’s from the manga, just that the character was modeled on a real person.
@salteddust yes LJS has done very well in this show. What a mess of plastic bags on the floor.
He is bitterly amused that his life is well read by others.
Yeon Joo unable to imagine Kang Chul could be here yet, when suk Bum speak about “fiance”…
But at the end of the scene… !!!!!
That wink to the shocked YJ! LMAO
@Welmaris you are right!
I should have asked though!
@Cleo the jaw dropping moment, literally. Her mouth opened and she can’t speak LOL.
@Welmaris.. the weather, rain etc… was made so we gets the idea it’s not the same season in the two worlds. So in ending of episode 4, Kang Chul sees quickly that, and understand it’s not the same worlds (even I knew already).
@GB,
Han Hyo Joo did a great job capturing this feel, if you see the details even her ears were moved from her facial expression!
Kang Chul say “good bye”… what we’ll create trouble in Yeon Joo later.
but now…
THe….
KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First real kiss that’s not an accident or experiment
Yoo. Now comedy scene with prof Park. Always so good.
To be continued later, as we come back on Kang Chul.
@WE,
The problem is that Kang Chul as a person had a break down.
We are going to see that he is unstable emotionally, but I cannot hold him any grudge for what he did. Oh Sung-Moo was awful to him and challenged him in purpose.
I kept thinking no self-respecting book-seller would have allowed all that plastic wrap to accumulate. Ha ha.
Also still thinking about the time differentials. OYJ has time to interact with Soo-bong, get to the hospital, change into her uniform AND sit and look at the comic…
@Cleo… yeah, this Kang Chul, it’s really too much for him. All is life, all he suffered, all the lie, the crazy absurd truth. He get all in the face. He was nothing than imagination from a alcoolic who tried to kill him.
And in the end of the scene, he sees…
Yeon-Joo…. Sung-Moo daugther!!! Damn…
He can just sigh then.
Prof Park comedy scene, the sequel, where there is the most funny…
I love the close up of OYJ’s face as she realizes who the ‘fiance’ is. And the time spent allowing those subtle changes in expression as she comes to that realization.
@WE,
I agree. A person can break at times. He got beyond his breaking point.
@WE finally a reversal, KC gets to see photos of YJ and her father when all the time she’d been the one looking at drawing of him. But now he has to make sense of the fact that the father is the one trying to be rid of him while the daughter keeps saving him.
“Kang Chul loves me” !!
THen yeon joo destroyed more by prof Park.
🙂 🙂 🙂
@GB, yes, he understand everything about that.. it will be related in the BIIIIG dialogue scenes we will get now.
And here we have the most awkward conversation that will become heated because of Oh Sung-Moo.
Dialog scene start good… we know right away it will not be kind. There will be CONFLICTS!!!
KC doesn’t know why he’s the only one who stayed moving in his world, but guesses it is because he’s the main character. I think it is because he was the only one in W that was self aware, and he already had demonstrated he had some control over the trajectory of events.
I like how empathetic YJ is to KC’s situation in the real world. She doesn’t want him to experience the discomforts she encountered in his world.
Why did KC kiss YJ so deeply just then? I do think he’s developing feelings for YJ despite being created as an action hero. But at that moment, he needed comfort. I think it helped him ground himself after the shock of reading through his life in the bookstore and realizing all the hell he’d endured had been entertainment for others. He knows that YJ sincerely cares for him.
And now comes yet another big reveal for KC, that YJ is the daughter of the creator of W.
When YJ’s professor is scolding her after the surgery, I think she could have gotten herself out of trouble by offering to have him meet the person on whom KC is modeled, but that would have been exploiting KC. The argument between YJ and her professor is a good one, bringing up many points in fandom. “Does it say somewhere that you have to get married with someone that’s always next to you?” YJ uses her professor’s exact argument to bolster her point: Kang Chul has never spoken any words to his secretary indicating he sees her as more than a friend. Professor’s opinion is that W should stick to the formula, the tropes, be predictable. And I think that is where fandom in the real world goes wrong, when people pigeonhole actors into the roles they’re playing instead of recognizing that they’re real people, not the characters they play.
Absurd try from Oh Sung Moo to fight… He know the character better than anyone, and should guess he don’t have any chance… but with a trick maybe…
Then Soo-Bong… AMAZED by the crazy words of Yeon-Joo. Kang Chul is Here?!!?
@Cleo Sung Moo seeing KC walk up to him was his nightmare come to life.
Revelation!!! Now we know why Sung Moo disapeared and what he did.
Trying to kill Kang Chul HIMSELF!!
@WE
Great points…!
We get to see that jakkanim not only made that scene where Kang Chul dies, but he also tried to kill him while he was wounded…
We also know with that, how Kang Chul know that the bullet in the heart will not kill Yeon Joo. As both of them come from a mini-portal.
Interesting… a manhwa gun can really work in the real world.
That was @Welmaris in my previous comment.
@GB Unnie. He was wrong to act as what he did. The jakkanim even stabbed him, that’s why Kang lost it. I am glad that YJ heard it all…
As @WE has pointed out before, Writer Oh is always drinking or drunk when he encounters a self-willed KC. This time he meets KC in the flesh in his own world: his greatest fear.
The lighting on KC’s face is genius: half illuminated, half shadowed. It is a visualization of the struggle within KC right now, between the righteousness with which he was created and the fury he feels for having been subjected to such misery at the whim of another.
@GB,
THat will be explained on the later episodes.
It is not a manhwa gun per se…
@Welmaris, the face in half shadow is also a tribute to old black&white detective movies.
Good to know: any fear Oh Sung-Moo could have, he care more about his daugther than himself. So Kang Chul say he’s a incompetent family chief, but still a very loving father. More loving than many competents family chiefs.
Jakkanim you are so wrong…
First 2 steps are Kang Chul anger, then Sung Moo one. Now next step of the dialog “draw the culcript”.
I ended up way behind. ….Aargg… But anyway, I too love the comic scene in the surgical suite. Heo Jung Do is hilarious here. Amazingly rapid with the dialog. Very similar character to what he played in Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung. Also seemingly unaware (the character not the actor) of how ridiculous he is to be so focused on a comic.
This a serious mistake that the jakkanim admitted. He created everyone but the killer.
Kang will lose it because his family’s murders are in vain. All his emotional pain is in vain. He feels so miserably and gets angry by his misery who cannot be changed.
Cliffhanger! Quite unexpected first time I watched that. Kang Chul fire! Sung-Moo was to relax after the first try and said what he shouldn’t.
I’ll come back to comment more later, as I’m not alone at home now.
I have to go for now. Read you laterz!
Bye @WE and @Cleo. I, too will be back later. Bye everyone!
Just finished the re-watch. The first time I saw this last scene I was absolutely stunned. It was more like a scene from episode 13 of 16 which is the point where I usually pause in those dramas that start sweetly and will probably end sweetly because I have been in this for the escapism (at least initially). But here in Episode 5! The ‘good’ guy and KC is clearly a moral being, has just shot someone in cold blood. Even with the incredible loss he has sustained this episode with his world ending, it seemed out of character.
This go around I was struck with the incredible dialog and the pacing and really the role of comedy which is Shakespearean (based on my really limited knowledge). But the drama builds (and builds) with pauses to break away to scenes of OYJ in the taxi playing the role of audience as it were, and relieving the author of the necessity of having a scene explaining OYJ’s father’s culpability to her, and the short comedic scene of Soo-bong in the internet cafe. And then the finale! Whew! Cathartic and meaty — what is the role of fate and an indifferent and possibly malign creator?
I also realized with this viewing, that one of the things I truly love about these 16-20 episode dramas is the ability to convey long scenes like this and long looks at the face of a character realizing a painful truth. There is really very little time for that in a movie format; the director can really only show that sort of internal struggle for the main character and even then only a handful of times. This format really allows for a much richer look. And then, unlike the sit-com format or the medical drama format, the 16-20 episode drama format allows for a nice dramatic arch. Although, in ‘W’ we seem to have reached the apex too soon!
Ok. Saturday chores. Back later.
I think it’s another stroke of genius that the confrontation between KC and Writer Oh is heard on the phone by YJ. We get her point of view.
Aha, @WE, here’s something else you pointed out: Soo Bong and his ramen whenever the worlds collide.
This is the first time we learn that Writer Oh was pulled into W by KC before KC grabbed YJ. We also learn that Writer Oh chose to actively murder KC, not just draw his demise or walk away as he bled out, but to grab the knife and stab KC.
We see that the knife, when turned on Writer Oh, doesn’t leave a mark after he’s stabbed. That’s how KC knew YJ wouldn’t be affected by the bullet when shot.
Some might think that the long conversation between KC and Writer Oh is too much telling and not enough showing, but it reminds me of the 1972 mystery/thriller movie Sleuth, based on a play of the same name, with Sir Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, in which the plot advances through a battle of wits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleuth_(1972_film)
We see a flashback of YJ’s parents fighting while she keeps herself occupied through her sadness and fear by drawing a picture of a young man holding a gun. I believe we are being shown KC’s genesis. At the time YJ drew him, Writer Oh’s career as a webtoon creator was failing. She drew KC to be her hope. I don’t know if Writer Oh, with his low self confidence and defeatist outlook, would have the creativity to come up with such an action hero himself. He took YJ’s creation and embellished him, then in frustration tried to kill him off. In an earlier episode we learn that KC’s suicide attempt was in book 5, published in 2009. W started being published in 2009 (7 years before 2016). It took off in popularity after KC saved himself. “I didn’t save you. You were the one that persisted on. I killed you there. But you were the one who endured. Putting on a tantrum to be saved. So I let you live because my heart went soft. Because I had affection for you at the time…” YJ’s affection for KC has never wavered. She’s always had his survival, his potential happy ending, deep in her heart. I think her will, as KC’s original creator, overrides her father’s shallow thinking.
Writer Oh changes his opinion about KC exercising self direction. At first he considered it a welcome revelation. As Writer Oh lost control of W more often, his fear and hatred of KC grew; even so, he kept writing W to take advantage of the fame and fortune, and for Yeon Joo.
Writer Oh displays his evil mindset by persisting in his belief that KC is not real, is nothing, an illusion, a character he’d created. Writer Oh dehumanizes KC despite evidence to the contrary. He saw KC breathing and bleeding, pleading for his life, yet still chose to kill him.
“…Why are you here in front of me right now pretending to be human?!…A predetermined configuration that I created!” That’s where Writer Oh goes wrong. He chooses to deny Kang Chul’s humanity. He fails to admit that as a human, Kang Chul can change. He can veer from the path on which he was set. Writer Oh has seen KC’s will in action when the drawings in W change, when the W storyline is created without his input, so why can’t Writer Oh accept that KC is not predetermined? It is because of his ego. He clings to the concept of being a god to KC’s world.
“You are a guy who cannot shoot a completely unarmed, powerless old man just because you are angry.” Writer Oh may think of himself as unarmed and powerless at the moment, but when he gets the drawing pen in his hand, when he grabs a knife or box cutter, he’s quick to inflict harm–lethal harm–on KC.
I’m going to copy and paste some scenes from the script.
Especially this one. Not an important scene, but since there is a difference between the script and the drama, I like to show that.
Here, the whole meeting between Kang Chul and the two girls was removed in the drama. Of course, to save time. And to save time, you have to remove what can be removed. Which is hard to find in the script of W.
But here it is possible.
The purpose of the scene is to show how Kang Chul knows where to find Yeon-Joo later at the hospital. This provides logical continuity. And reminds how Kang Chul could find her so easily. The scene also shows girls who think Kang Chul is super handsome and super cool.
This is unnecessary because from episode 2, we see Kang Chul getting Yeon-Joo’s hospital badge, so he will have no trouble knowing where the hospital is. The audience can accept the ellipsis easily, at the cost of a little effort of memory.
On the other hand, removing this scene has a positive impact on the rest of the episode. When Kang Chul is waiting for Yeon-Joo at the hospital, it makes the scene more surprising.
The rest of the scene also gives a subjective indication about Kang Chul’s state of mind “as if possessed”. Which the actor transcribes when he walks through the cars and doesn’t care.
Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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#39. street (afternoon)
Kang Chul came out to the bustling street all of a sudden.
Everyone is passing by with umbrellas, but only Kang Chul is wet from the rain…
People stalk Kang Chul as they go in the rain…
Kang Chul, I look around, but I can’t really tell what’s different
At this point, a conversation with Yeon Joo suddenly comes to mind.
KANG CHUL – Where does Oh Yeon Joo live..?
YEON JOO – ….. (only) Seoul…
KANG CHUL – Same Seoul…? But what’s different..?
YEON JOO – (Voice trembles) That’s where I live… Here you live.
Kang Chul, as soon as that thought came to mind, I thought I should meet Yeon Joo.
Approaching young women 1 and 2 who were passing by with umbrellas
KANG CHUL – Let me ask you something.
WOMEN – (Your complexion brightens as soon as you see it) Yes~
KANG CHUL – Is there… Myungse Hospital?
WOMAN1 – Myungse Hospital? Yes.
KANG CHUL – (!) Is there Myungse Hospital?
WOMAN1 – Yes. It’s over there. (indicated)
In the distance, a massive hospital building can be seen peeking out. You can also see the sign.
KANG CHUL – (…!) Yes. Thank you. (towards that)
WOMAN2 – (Quickly) We’re in that direction too, shall we cover it?
KANG CHUL – No, that’s fine. (and go away)
WOMAN1,2 – (Sorry, ‘You’re so cool’, ‘Are you a model?’)
Kang Chul, go to the crosswalk to cross the road and stop.
While waiting for the traffic light to change, I looked around with my eyes. I stopped, something too much caught my eye, and when I looked again… I fixed my gaze on the bus that was stopped to turn left in the first lane.
A book advertisement for the cartoon posted on a long billboard next to the bus.
Kang Chul, …..!!!
A large cartoon character resembling himself with a gun is drawn.
Kang Chul realizes that it is him as soon as he sees him.
I can’t believe it even when I see it with my own eyes..!
Unknowingly, he gets off the sidewalk and approaches the bus…
Motorcycles and cars that were just rushing in, Kang Chul suddenly jumped in. It squeaked in the rain and suddenly tangled up in an uproar. Kang Chul, without realizing it, approaches the bus as if possessed. Drivers shouting and honking ‘Hey, are you crazy?!’ ‘What, you almost died!? ‘ and shouted, with his head outstretched, Kang Chul still looked at the bus.
The bus gets a signal and leaves…
@Welmaris, yes, review my comment at the very beginning for all the tricks used in this dialogue scene, which holds up perfectly despite its length.
After the important revelation about the killer: “he doesn’t exist”.
Huge. A very poorly written script, just a plot-device out of nowhere with no reality and no continuity. Which can have a crazy impact with a concept like “W”.
Oh Sung-Moo gets the upper hand again, but Kang Chul lists his suffering, not forgetting to mention that Sung-Moo would have been unable to endure this.
“It’s just fiction, that’s what writers do.” Just the exact right response from Sung-Moo, yet Kang Chul’s response is even stronger.
“You really tried to kill me, it didn’t show because you were holding a pen instead of a knife, but you are a murderer by nature!”.
Then the moment when Kang Chul goes to kill Sung-Moo but doesn’t. The tension is released. Exactly what we could anticipate, the end of the scene. Except that… Oh Sung-Moo seems to have a real desire to be killed! the fool! He provokes Kang Chul by reminding his “it’s your configuration” rule. Kang Chul doesn’t just go crazy with rage… He also wants to show that now he is free to break this pattern… And… He shoots. Wonderful cliffhanger.
In the script, we see the meaning given to Oh Sung-Moo’s last lines. Mostly idiocy, because of his nervous release. A little apparent detail in the drama, he sees Soo-Bong coming, which relaxes him even more. He just thought that now, nothing could happen and he could place his so annoying line…
But the actor in the drama was able to inject arrogance into the line, making it even better. Motivating Kang Chul’s reaction even more.
_________________________________________________
#32. Sung Moo’s Living Room (Night)
KANG CHUL – That’s why you tried to kill me, because you can’t have a happy ending! If it weren’t for this, you would have continued to draw this and enjoyed success until the day you die, I don’t even know English, I chase a criminal I can’t catch forever, suffer from insomnia, get hurt, break up, and suffer endlessly, repeating the same thing over and over again!
SUNG MOO – (I think I won’t be able to shoot, but I’m scared, my breathing is short)
KANG CHUL – Do you know what I’ve been through?! As you go through countless things that you can’t stand even one of them, while scrambling with excitement with those bare fingers, without any responsibility, I remember every single pain!
SUNG MOO – (Like a closing argument) That’s fiction..!! The author says that’s his job!!
KANG CHUL – No, you’re not just a writer, you tried to kill me while watching me come alive, that’s your essence. It’s cruel and violent, you hold a pen instead of a knife and it’s hidden, you’re a bastard by nature and you’ve already killed It’s no different (trying to pull the trigger)
SUNG MOO – (!!! Close your eyes tightly)
_________________________________________________
#33. In a taxi (at night)
YEON JOO – (Screaming) No no no..!!
ARTICLE – (Looking around in surprise)
YEON JOO – No, please..!!
_________________________________________________
#34. Sung Moo’s Living Room (Night)
A finger trying to pull the trigger, hesitating at the last minute…
Kang Chul is fighting like crazy with an exploding urge to kill.
As Sung Moo said, this is impossible. I can’t accept myself…
_________________________________________________
#35. In front of Sung Moo’s house (night)
Soo Bong was running and saw the living room light turned on and quickly pressed the button.
_________________________________________________
#36. Sung Moo’s living room + taxi (night)
Kang Chul, who hesitated because he could not shoot..
At this time, the sound of closing the door and ‘Teacher!’ calling
KANG CHUL – …… (finally lowers the gun)
SUNG MOO – (opens eyes while breathing out)
KANG CHUL – (Puts a gun to his waist and wipes his tears) Thinking of a way, somehow.
Until I come back.
YEON JOO – (…!! Barely exhaling)
SUNG MOO – ……
I see Soo Bong coming across the yard through the curtains…
SUNG MOO – (Relieving seeing Soo Bong, feeling like a nightmare has passed)
KANG CHUL – I think you’re lucky. (I’m leaving)
SUNG MOO – (excessively relieved) It’s not that I’m lucky, you said you couldn’t shoot me.
KANG CHUL – (Pauses)
SUNG MOO – That’s your setting.
KANG CHUL – (!! With those words sparking from his eyes, he pulls out a pistol from his waist and turns around slowly)
_________________________________________________
#37. Sung Moo’s Yard (Night)
Soo Bong is going to the front door, but…!! gunshots are heard
Soo Bong, I’m surprised…
_________________________________________________
#38. In a taxi (at night)
A clear gunshot in Yeon Joo’s ear… Yeon Joo’s expression.
_________________________________________________
#39. Sung Moo’s Living Room (Night)
A small amount of gunpowder smoke rises from the muzzle…
Sung Moo’s surprised eyes as he sits on the chair…
Kang Chul, ……
Sung Moo’s heart… blood slowly seeps out of his clothes.
Kang Chul, ……
Sung Moo, with his eyes open, collapses from his chair and thumps to the floor.
Blood begins to spurt…
Kang Chul, then lowering the gun…
Kang Chul orders Writer Oh to draw the ending of W as he’d originally planned. He’s not asking this out of concern for Writer Oh’s torment, but because his world and his friends have been left “in a state that’s not living nor dead. I can’t allow them to remain in that pitiful plight.” Writer Oh refuses to do as KC asks, saying he can’t. “What do you want me to do when the story only progresses when you have to comprehend it?” This sounds to me more like Writer Oh won’t, rather than can’t, end W, since KC has just said he will comprehend the ending (if it is in context). What is a logical ending to W? That KC finally catches the culprit, who is made to pay for his crimes, and KC goes on to live an ordinary life.
“Draw the real culprit’s face. In a way that I can remember.” And this is the catch, because Writer Oh was too lazy to create a real culprit. He only created an impersonal plot catalyst. I believe it is in Writer Oh’s power to create some retroactive continuity, giving the real culprit an identity and backstory that introduces some logic into his killing spree. But he’s a lazy writer. He hides behind the tropes, the “common set up found in hero genre” that makes the hero strong through adversity. He doesn’t even consider the possibility of creating retroactive continuity to right his wrongs as a story creator.
Writer Oh himself admits “If you catch the culprit, the story ends there.” That’s what KC wants too, if the story must end. Bringing W to a close with KC’s death, with no questions answered and no real culprit revealed, makes no sense.
Who is the real culprit? It is Writer Oh himself. His lazy storytelling brought harm to KC and his family. I can almost hear @Packmule3 grumbling about Writernim’s bleak worldview and lack of talent compromising the story. He inflicted agony on his main character “without bearing any responsibility.” No, Writer Oh, it isn’t just the writer’s job to tie the characters into knots with no logic or reason behind it. KC is correct in recognizing Writer Oh’s worldview: “You are merciless and violent.”
KC cannot bring himself to execute Writer Oh by shooting him in the head. But he’s able to pull the trigger after Writer Oh mocks his predetermined nature, shooting Writer Oh in the chest instead of in the head, where he’d been aiming before. Having himself survived multiple stab wounds to the chest, one inflicted by Writer Oh, KC may know where a gunshot to the chest would not be lethal, and has the skill to aim precisely. (Although at such close range, I’d think even a BB gun could be deadly.) KC could also hear Soo Bong outside the house, so knew help was near. It could be that in real life KC was enabled to inflict harm on his antagonist equal to the harm his antagonist inflicted on him. And eye for an eye. In some cultures that is considered justice.
Now, a series of scenes, which have differences with the version shot in the drama.
The whole discussion between Kang Chul and Yeon-Joo during the kissing scene was supposed to take place in the hospital corridor, next to the operating room.
However, this would have caused various problems. So one, which is just logic. Suk-Bum would have witnessed the kiss!!! The writer makes him leave to avoid this, but it seems odd to put the whole scene here. And it’s not a romantic place. It was all put in an outdoor location in the drama, with bubble lights, a whole wonderful atmosphere.
A short scene where Yeon-Joo washes her hands again. Useless and removed from the drama.
A short scene, in which we see Kang Chul waiting in front of the operating room, then… disappearing. Useless too. But very well written.
Yeon-Joo wondering… Something that is less mentioned in the drama but that the script insists on twice (including once in the scene here)… Yeon-Joo is worried about Kang Chul’s words when he said “Good Bye”.
By the way, at the end of scene #50, Yeon-Joo forces Kang Chul to sit down. This was not done in the drama. And I think it doesn’t quite fit his character. It’s hard to ask Kang Chul to do something. He decides himself what to do, most of the time. And never answers the question, except with another question.
Then, the cliffhanger in the script of episode 5. It directly shows Kang Chul in Oh Sung-Moo’s house. Kang Chul comes out of the shadows… but director Jung Dae-Yoon is a lover of cinema, of the classics. And he chooses to bring Kang Chul out of the shadows, but still keep half of his face in the shadows. By doing so, he adds even more meaning to the scene. The tribute to black and white genre films, and as Welmaris said… the dichotomy between the light and dark side in the character’s mind.
This means that we will see the scene where Kang Chul breaks into the house later, in episode 6 of the script. A trick very often used by the scriptwriter. First place a cliffhanger, a hook, something that questions the viewer. Then give the unfolding of the situation that gave rise to this.
Here, the scene where Kang Chul arrives in front of Oh Sung-Moo’s house and breaks in like a thief. All this was done in a linear and chronological way in the drama instead. Simply because it was impossible otherwise, because it is in the middle of the episode.
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#50. In front of the operating room (night)
The automatic door opened and Yeon Joo walked around with me, but I couldn’t see it.
At this time, in the hallway, you can see the back of a man listening to Suk Bum.
YEON JOO – (…?!! Surely) Suk Bum.
SUK BUM – (looking up)
KANG CHUL – (Looking back)
YEON JOO – (?!!!)
KANG CHUL – ……
YEON JOO – (Face)
KANG CHUL – (Smiling as if welcoming)
YEON JOO – (!!! It’s obviously Kang Chul, he was startled and dropped all his mask hats)
SUK BUM – (Yeon Joo is surprised ?? looking at Kang Chul) Are you acquaintances?
KANG CHUL – Yes. (Going to Yeon Joo)
SUK BUM – (confused) Wait, so that’s Yeon Joo’s fiancée??
KANG CHUL – It’s kind of a cipher. We communicate with each other (we respectfully put our hands away)
SUK BUM – (??)
Yeon Joo is so startled that she can’t move, but Kang Chul approaches Yeon Joo’s eyes. I’ve been thinking too much, so I’m not sure if I’m seeing a vision…
Suk Bum, you’re always tilting your head and going…
YEON JOO – (Face)
KANG CHUL – How are you?
YEON JOO – (!!! I’m even more surprised by the end)
KANG CHUL – I was worried about the escapee’s back, but it looks good.
YEON JOO – (Face)
KANG CHUL – ……
YEON JOO – Uh… (only) How… what…? Am I dragged again? not really? No, this is our hospital and there’s Suk Bum.
KANG CHUL – I’m here.
YEON JOO – (…?)
KANG CHUL – I’m here. Oh Yeon Joo’s world.
YEON JOO – (?!!) Uh, how about…? how..
KANG CHUL – Stopped. the world I lived in
YEON JOO – What..?
KANG CHUL – It all stopped. Except for me.
YEON JOO – (…!)
KANG CHUL – So I got out. leave it all behind I don’t know why I’m the only one alive.
(Cynical) As you said, the main character is…? Is it the hero’s privilege?
YEON JOO – (Face)
KANG CHUL – I’m on my way to see all the thirty-three books of W with all the cash I have.
YEON JOO – (…!)
KANG CHUL – So now I’m convinced. Oh Yeon How Joo knew me so well.
He must have been a reader. You’ve been watching me for 7 years.
YEON JOO – (Lost words)
KANG CHUL – (I decided to say it calmly, but it wasn’t easy) Do you know how much regret I… now…? Then I’ll listen to Oh Yeon Joo’s advice.
YEON JOO – (Face)
C#1
KANG CHUL – Answer me.
YEON JOO – I can’t. I told you it would be unhappy.
C#2.
YEON JOO – You will regret it.
KANG CHUL – I have no regrets.
KANG CHUL – (bitter laugh) The truth… I never imagined it would be like this.
I should have listened to you.
YEON JOO – (No words come out)
KANG CHUL – Oh Yeon Joo I now know how much silence thought of me back then.
So I’m here. I want to say goodbye one last time.
YEON JOO – (Face)
KANG CHUL – Thank you for taking care of me as best you can.
You are a really good person and you deserve to be a good doctor.
YEON JOO – (…!)
KANG CHUL – …….
At this time, the automatic door opens and Nurse Kim in a surgical suit looks out.
NURSE KIM – Professor Oh is here.
YEON JOO – ……
NURSE KIM – Teacher Oh
YEON JOO – (Eyes fixed on Kang Chul) Yes… let’s go…
NURSE KIM – (Going into the road)
KANG CHUL – You must have been busy, so let’s go in.
YEON JOO – (…!) Where are you going…?
KANG CHUL – (not answering)
YEON JOO – (It’s so confusing, but I’m sure I’ll hold onto it first, holding her arm) Where are you going? Wait here for me, it’s not a major surgery, so it’ll be over soon, okay? Don’t do anything. Just stay here, wait. Think of me as your guardian.
KANG CHUL – imitate me now?
YEON JOO – Nothing. No money, no house, no ID, I know how difficult it is, but I’m a doctor here, and nothing compares to you, but I have money and a house. So trust me and wait till I get out, (pointing to the waiting chair) here in this place, don’t go anywhere, okay?
KANG CHUL – ……
YEON JOO – Sit down.
KANG CHUL – ……
YEON JOO – Please listen to me!
KANG CHUL – …… (Sit quietly in the guardian’s waiting area)
YEON JOO – It doesn’t take long. It’s over in 40 minutes.
KANG CHUL – …… (slight smile as if in agreement)
YEON JOO – …… (I’m just going to leave in relief)
KANG CHUL – (Suddenly grabs Yeon Joo’s arm and kisses her cheek)
YEON JOO – (?!)
The first kiss, not a way to an ending, not a scientific experiment.
After a while… Kang Chul’s lips fell off…
Yeon Joo, who unconsciously closed her eyes, slowly opened her eyes.
To Yeon Joo, he is a real man who is always alive and right in front of his eyes.
How can you say this person is an illusion?
YEON JOO – ……
KANG CHUL – ……
YEON JOO – (trying to calm down) Why… why are you like this?
KANG CHUL – As for my impressions after reading the whole book… My misfortunes increased by ninety-nine times, but there was only one good point. I used to feel like I was losing money, but now I have seen your insides. So… it’s better not to say anything frivolous.
YEON JOO – (…!)
KANG CHUL – (playful smile)
YEON JOO – …… (I feel a little relieved when I hear the joke)
NURSE KIM – (Coming out again) Teacher Oh, come quickly!
YEON JOO – …… (going backwards) If anything goes wrong in the meantime, find Kang Suk Bum, a thoracic surgeon, and he’ll help you if you call him my friend, okay?
KANG CHUL – That friend, right? I’m fiance, so I’m rough. Not your boyfriend?
YEON JOO – You said you don’t have a boyfriend!
KANG CHUL – (Smile)
automatic door closes.
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#51. Operating Room Hand Sanitization Room (Night)
Yeon Joo comes in without a fuss and washes her hands again.
My heart feels like it’s going to explode with vertigo… But what’s clear is that it’s unbearable and chaotic, but not as unhappy as it was before.
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#52. operating room (night)
The surgery has just begun. Prof Park is doing the work and Yeon Joo comes in and settles in.
PROF PARK – (Sighs) Oh Yeon Joo’s name is a problem. If you only wear Oh Yeon Joo, anything goes wrong. Look at W. Oh Yeon Joo That dog shit character came out and the manga is going to the mountains now. It’s not just a mountain, it’s very Himalayan climbing.
Another Oh Yeon Joo is about to overthrow the traditional thoracic surgery department at Myungse Hospital.
ALL – (growth)
PROF PARK – You lost today. see you when it’s over
YEON JOO – Yes. (It doesn’t matter what you say)
PROF PARK – (Let’s answer so readily, what? Glimpses)
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#53. In front of the operating room (night)
Kang Chul, sitting there…
The light above the automatic door turns on.
When the camera illuminates Kang Chul’s place again, Kang Chul disappears.
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#54. In front of Sung Moo’s house (night)
A taxi comes and stops… Sung Moo with an empty suitcase gets off.
Sung Moo, completely exhausted, presses the button and opens the door and enters.
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#55. Sung Moo’s Living Room (Night)
The living room with the lights off and the curtains pulled down.
Sung Moo throws his bag and goes straight to the kitchen, turns on the kitchen light, and plugs his cell phone into the charger on the table. I turn on my cell phone and drink a glass of whiskey right away in the meantime. The text ring on my cell phone keeps ringing constantly.
SUNG MOO – …… (sighing and checking the text)
With Soo Bong’s voice.
Sung Moo, ….??!! Unexpectedly, I look at the next text with surprise
With the voice of Publisher Park in charge of portal webtoons.
With Soo Bong’s voice
Sung Moo, …!!
With the voice of Yeon Joo.
Sung Moo, afraid to even check what happened…
The hand holding the phone is shaking… I’m just about to call Yeon Joo…
KANG CHUL – (E) Oh Sung Moo Writer?
SUNG MOO – (…?!)
A low voice from behind.
someone is coming home Sung Moo, a moment that gives me goosebumps
Sung Moo, slowly turning his head, then his expression.
Kang Chul is standing in the dark corner of the living room.
SUNG MOO – (!!!! Dropping the whiskey glass in his hand while groaning. The glass shatters)
KANG CHUL – …….
SUNG MOO – (Undoubtedly Kang Chul, what you feared has come true)
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#56. operating room (night)
Yeon Joo holding tools while watching Prof Park’s work. Glancing at the clock announcing the time for surgery, it’s frustrating that it doesn’t end sooner… A word that suddenly comes to mind in Kang Chul’s words, which he stumbled across in the midst of a panic.
KANG CHUL – (E) Last.
YEON JOO – (on expression)
KANG CHUL – So I’m here. I want to say goodbye one last time.
Yeon Joo, ….! Last..? What do you mean the last…?
Belatedly, the word last strikes me with an ominous premonition.
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#57. Sung Moo’s Living Room (Night)
Kang Chul slowly emerges from the darkness.
Sung Moo, staggering backwards in fear…
KANG CHUL – (Looking at Sung Moo’s face) It was you too.
SUNG MOO – (…..!)
KANG CHUL – I thought it was you. (Cynical flows)
SUNG MOO – (completely contemplated)
KANG CHUL – We’ve met a few times already. Will you remember..?
SUNG MOO – (on expression)
In the dark, Kang Chul’s right hand holds a pistol.
Sung Moo and Kang Chul face each other, and then Yeon Joo cuts and divides between the two.
End of the 5th.
A short scene removed in the drama. What’s funny, I watched the episode with a friend. And seeing the scene in the bookstore… He said to me: it’s weird, Kang Chul is unpacking all the books and reading everything here, and nobody tells him anything. Why doesn’t an employee come and tell him?
That was in the script!!!
While most of the time I prefer the drama version and a lot of the removed scenes could, I think this one should have stayed. On the one hand the character of Kang Chul is respected in his way of acting. On the other hand, the first time I watched the drama, I had trouble understanding why the saleswoman asked to pack all the manhwas. It was good to show that Kang Chul had bought everything. This will be said later in the conversation with Yeon-Joo “I used the money I had on me to pay”. But I would have preferred to see it rather than having it in a dialogue. And especially to see it so that I could get the meaning at the end of the bookstore scene.
C#10. Large bookstore (afternoon)
Kang Chul, who has passed through the 4th volume, finds the 5th volume and rips the vinyl like crazy
The student who was reading a book next to me was afraid of something and went to another place…
an employee comes
EMPLOYEE – That customer. You have to calculate that and tear off the plastic.
KANG CHUL – (Opens 5 books without answering)
EMPLOYEE – Guest! You have to calculate to see it.
KANG CHUL – (without looking at him, he takes out his wallet from his pocket and throws a bunch of 50,000 won on the book)
EMPLOYEE – (expression, hesitating) How many books are you going to read..?
KANG CHUL – Everything.
EMPLOYEE – (I have nothing to say, I carry a bundle of money)
KANG CHUL – (Rapidly flipping through book 5)
Dear @GrowingBeautifully, @Welmaris, @Cleopatra, @Carolina, @SaltedDust and last but not least dear @WEnchanteur, my Internet came back after being down for 18 hours.
@WEnchanteur, this happened to you several weeks ago and I found both refreshing and hilarious how you got so mad at it as we are so used to have sometimes even two whole days without Internet (yes you are correct, we are meek and resignated lambs). Anyway I just wanted to say Hello and I will watch the episode, read all of you and comment later 😀
@FGB4877, I’m sorry you were sidelined this week by internet issues, but glad you have now checked in. I look forward to reading your comments.
Other than the unreliable internet, how have you been this week?
Hi there @FGB. I’m glad you’re well and that you couldn’t be with us only because of the Internet connection. I’ll have to join you (in a sense) in rewatching and reading. I was too tired last night and I must admit that the pull of ’25, 21′ was stronger this finale weekend.
@FGB, Hi, it’s a bit painful to loose internet. Just when I wanted to be here for the W rewatch, with episode 2. For other stuff, it don’t matter so much, I can just do something else. It made me think about using this less in the future, to focus on other things, like working more on my script.
Another problem: in the script excerpts I posted. I just saw that all the indications like “what can be read” or flashback indications have been removed because it’s the “lower” and “upper” letters in the script. And copied and pasted here it disappears because they are reserved fonts for internet. I would have to replace that with “{” and “}” in the future. Too late for what was posted here. So for example, in the scene where Oh Sung-Moo checks his phone messages, we don’t see the text.