The thread is now open.
For now, I’m dropping this drama because the stupidity of all three sisters is killing me. The villainous Park family can’t be blamed for their current crises since it’s the sisters’ bad choices that created the mess they’re in. I may return when they’ve stopped digging their own graves and learned how to think.
This is what I liked about the original “Little Women” —
When they were young and little, they muddled through life. But when they grew up, they gained wisdom. I’m hoping that the three sisters in this Korean adaptation will soon wise up, too.
Keep writing the recaps, @nrllee! I’ll read them.
Enjoy the show!
I am not sure if the Oh sisters have stopped digging their graves, but at least now they are sharing vital information with each other. More things about the past are revealed, but more mysteries are left unanswered. The biggest question is “Is Hwa Yeong really dead”?
@SnowFlower is HwaYoung the Unnie of IJ? We were toying with the idea that she was alive but shelved it. But there seems to be increasing hints that she could be. Now that Choi revealed what he did for his first client. The Korean American girl who faked her death. Strange though that laying low meant she still had an Instagram (Skygram) account posting all her photos? But whatever. I find the writer isn’t meticulous enough with her details. She tries to weave mystery and intrigue but it’s not working on me. I just find it frustratingly shallow. All smoke and mirrors with no substance. Haven’t had the chance to watch Ep7 yet. Will try to catch it tonight if I find the time.
@packmule3 I will try to write a recap (or madcap) if I am not too tired.
Ep7
Hovering over the dead body of Great Aunt, IJ mutters, “it’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t gone after the money. If only I didn’t bring the orchid home.” Ya think? 😑. IK is dumbstruck, “what are you talking about?” (Come on IK, any fool can join the dots 😑). IK picks up the orchid flower conveniently placed in the pool of blood next to Great Aunt. Choi bursts into the room and surveys the scene before him. (I was half expecting him to yell, “I told you so!” because that was what I would’ve done). 😑. IJ locks eyes with him and then faints. IK catches her.
Funeral of Great Aunt. Buddhist rites. Everyone at the funeral is muttering about the mystery surrounding her death. We hear their thoughts. IJ is the only witness and she refuses to talk. The rumour mill is spinning. Choi is standing in the background. We see IH arrive with Mrs Park. IK glares at them. Strange how the police don’t seem to be investigating this you know? 🤷🏻♀️
IJ and Mrs Park sit at a bench after the funeral. Mrs Park talks about how she knew Great Aunt. Great Aunt used to visit their home often. She was Mrs Park’s mother’s nurse and was with her till she passed. This earned her the strange moniker “Syringe Lady”. IJ (continues in dumb mode) asks, “why did you give me the orchid?” 😑. Flashback. IJ voiceovers, “I had a nightmare. I was terrified so I went to check on Great Aunt. (With the orchid flower in her hand? 😑🙄). And the next thing I knew was that I was crying with my Great Aunt’s body in my arms.” Mrs Park summons her best look of horror. IJ, “did my Great Aunt die because of the orchid? Why did you give it to me?” Mrs Park spins some sob story about how when her own mom died, Syringe Lady was her rock and gave her words of wisdom which she is passing onto IJ now. What the hey? Why doesn’t IJ just slap her already? Mrs Park purrs, “the orchid has nothing to do with her death. It merely is a token of our friendship.” Like hell it is. Friendship with the devil maybe? 🙄 IJ reiterates that she doesn’t close the door on life and hide (apparently this was what Mrs P did when her mom died). She’s made of sterner stuff. She will get to the bottom of this. She tells Mrs Park she doesn’t trust her. (Then why take her orchid? 😑. Makes zero sense).
Reading of the will. IK receives all the stocks and the company. The rest of Great Aunt’s assets would be divided evenly amongst all the other family members. Then the lawyer reads out her liabilities. Turns out Great Aunt owed more than she had. All the other members bail on the inheritance. Leaving IK to bear everything.
IJ confronts Choi in his office. Telling him he can keep all the money if he tells her who did this to Unnie and Great Aunt. Choi refuses. He says he won’t have time to secure solid evidence to put them away. And tells her to stick to the plan and be ready to fly to Singapore with him.
IJ and IK talk on rooftop. IK is going to put aside her grief and work to get the company out of the red (for Great Aunt’s sake. Of course.). Why does she always have this staccato choppy voice that clips? IK blames herself. IJ vetoes that thought and says she will bear the responsibility of all that’s happened.
IK is handed all of Great Aunt’s belongings eg car keys, house keys by the administrator of the will. She sees a card (with nothing written on it – key card?) which the lawyer has no record of. She feeds the parrot in the house. Visits her old room and sifts through old photos. Gets a phone call from IJ who tells her to turn on the news. Someone confessed to the murder of Great Aunt. Who would’ve thought? It was the butler! Wow. He claims it was because he sunk funds into real estate on Great Aunt’s advice and he lost all his money so he wanted her to pay. IJ and IK have an epiphany. He couldn’t have done this on his own. He must’ve been hired by someone. 😑👏. IK asks IJ about the orchid. IJ says it’s from Mrs Park and it’s an induction gift in the JeongRan society (since when?). JongDo bursts into the house and tells the girls to watch the whole video of the confession. Right at the end, they see the butler with a spray of the blue orchid in one hand. JongDo states the obvious, “he must’ve brought the orchid to the scene.” Wait…what about the flashback of IJ with the orchid in her hand walking into the lounge room from earlier? That was a dream? Metaphor? She “brought death” into the household? (Creepy suspenseful music plays as the three musketeers exchange knowing looks). Our intrepid musketeers put their collective heads together…actually it was JongDo who works out architecturally the lounge room’s dimensions don’t seem to make sense. IK takes out the mysterious key card from earlier. Lo and behold, it’s the key to a hidden room with a safe which had been emptied of its contents. In a drawer underneath the safe, IK finds the second orchid. Ahh…so the butler left his calling card here? IJ breathes a sigh of relief…it’s not her orchid that’s responsible for the death of Great Aunt after all? 🙄. JongDo must’ve stayed too long with the sisters because he whispers, “how can an orchid be so scary?” Thereupon, IK proceeds to take a whiff of the death orchid…yes, the same IK who read all the research about how it has hallucinogenic effects. 😑🙄. JongDo and IJ just watch her? Dumb and dumber. IK walks out of the secret room as if in a trance and then vows to take down everyone involved. She will be the one to tell the whole world about the Secret Orchid society and how people are getting killed and get justice for Great Aunt. Thus emboldened, IJ tells the other 2 about the 70bil in Singapore under her name. She reveals she will get the money, use it for all 3 sisters to hide away, then hand the ledgers over to IK to blow a hole in the whole slush fund fiasco to take down the baddies. Poor d’Artagnan JongDo whines, “what about me? Aren’t I in danger too?” The sisters totally ignore his pleas and shake on the plan.
PJS wins the primaries in his quest for Mayor of Seoul and makes his victory speech. The 3 musketeers watch his speech on TV. IK realizes it sounds vaguely familiar. He’s plagiarized it from Gen Won’s speech to the masses years ago. They watch Gen Won’s speech on a laptop side by side with PJS. IK spies a young Great Aunt (as a nurse) in the crowd listening to Gen Won.
Back at Park home, Mr and Mrs P continue with their dangerous tango in their sham marriage. IH is awakened by HyoRin’s distress at night. They hear thudding and things breaking. HyoRin tells IH her parents are fighting again. IH opens the window to her room and sees Mrs P try to run away in her nightdress. Guards surround her to stop her and Mr P is seen holding her and dragging her back into the house. HyoRin hides under the covers. IH suggests they go to the place they weren’t allowed to go to before (Mrs P stopped them the last time they walked up the stairwell in HR’s nightmares). Wow. Great thinking IH. Just go somewhere even scarier. They head up to the attic. It is full of old furniture and odds and ends. HR and IH pore through an old photo album of Mrs P. And find that someone had been cut out of some photos. As if to erase the memory? They are wondering who had been cut out of the photos. HR opens a wooden box she used to play with…it’s a doll’s room. They find a doll hanging in the closet with red stilettos on…and a blue flower below her. The box is called “the closed room”. They noted that the dollhouse room had no door.
IK and IJ going through Great Aunt’s stuff and find dog tags. She fought as an American in Vietnam. JongDo finds out that all the people in JR society fought in Vietnam and met at a hospital there. They work out that apart from Gen Won who is in a coma, there is only one other person left “alive” – Choi HeeJae who disappeared in 1998. IK vows to find him. Turns out his son is none other than Choi Do Il. Wow…what a coincidence. Who would’ve thought? IK decides to find Choi’s mother first and talk to her.
Breakfast at the Ps. HR and IH eat and Mr P says he needs to talk to HR. He tells her mom is sick (with a bad headache) and needs to stay in her room by herself. HR looks scared (this young actress is impressive – her face is very expressive and it’s very easy to read her – much prefer her to the deadpan faced actress who plays IH) and in a trembling voice asks, “mom is staying in a closed room (eek just like the box they found in the attic) by herself?” Mr P assures her she’ll be fine and they should “help mom out by enjoying each day regardless”. HR looks away and picks at her food. Mr P instructs IH to “help” HR enjoy each day. IH nods her head obligingly. How is this normal? Is she HR’s friend or Mr P’s pawn? 🤷🏻♀️
IJ and IK visit Choi’s mother. Who is in prison? Did I miss that detail somehow? 🤔. Turns out no. We are told the backstory as IK interrogates the mom about the apparent murder of an old man back in 1998. IK is pulling apart her story and insists the murder makes no sense. Yet the mom is adamant. She did it. IK believes she was instructed to kill the man in exchange for her son being provided for in future (he got a scholarship to study overseas). IJ interjects and tells her Choi’s life is in danger. She breaks down finally and gives them a cryptic message (why is it always so cryptic?) to pass on to Choi. That her answer to his question is “no” and provided them with some directions (coordinates to somewhere?) where he will find the evidence he needs.
Mean lady tells Mr P that IK and IJ visited Choi’s mother in jail. She asked if she should get rid of them. Mr P says they aren’t the problem. Have the men tail Choi instead, he says, much to Mean Lady’s delight.
IJ tells Choi about their jail visit. She reveals her plan to him. Turns out Mr P’s dad was the one who killed the old man. Not his mom. IJ says plan is 1. Withdraw 70bil from Singapore. 2. IK uses the ledgers to reveal the slush fund. 3. They can use the evidence to reveal Mr P’s dad is the real murderer and take Mr P down. Choi hands IJ a usb. He tells her with the evidence there (relating to Great Aunt’s death) her life will be in danger. He no longer cares about her safety. Yeah Choi. Just tell her “stupid is as stupid does” (even Forrest Gump knew that). You can’t protect people from their own stupidity. IJ comes back with, “I knew I was in danger from the beginning. Call me.” 🙄
Choi is being followed by Mean lady’s henchman…and IK/JongDo? Wae? Choi loses the henchman and heads to the coordinates given to him by mom. It’s a house deep in a forest. IK and JongDo are close in pursuit. Why they didn’t use the info provided by his mom from earlier and had to tail him instead is beyond me. 🤷🏻♀️. Guard dogs bark. A man appears. Is it his dad? Looks to be the right age. The man missing from 1998? The only one left in the JR society that is still alive? IK tries to film the pair on her phone.
HR and IH back in the attic. The box with the closed room is actually an art grad piece for the NY School of Theatre. Submitted by Won Sang A (Mrs P) in 1985. Surprise! 😂. We saw this a mile away. HR is terrified that her mom would die in the exact circumstances. IH assures her that she won’t because they know about this and will stop her. How though IH? She may already be dead for all you know?
IH walking outside in the garden of the Park residence. Someone (captive Mrs P?) tosses a crumpled piece of paper near her. She picks is up. It’s a message for IJ. IH sends a pic of the note to IJ. Note reads – I am a captive. Mr P is very dangerous right now. I’ll escape no matter what. Withdraw some money for me in Singapore and I will meet you there with the girls. Camera pans to Mrs P staring out a window and taking a whiff of a blue orchid. Mr P asks IH about her allegiance again. He tells her there are many things that will happen soon which will test which side she is on. IH is worried? This actress is so hard to read.
IK and JongDo pretend to be lost hikers and talk to the man Choi met living in a hut in the forest. They try to engage the man in conversation but he isn’t interested. He’s dressed in camo pants? Dead giveaway. He gives them directions to get out of the forest. IK tries to be Dr Dolittle and befriend one of the guard dogs…which of course bites her…so this is how she’s going to engage him? 🤔🙄 She succeeds and man takes her inside the hut and bandages her bleeding arm. JongDo is looking around the hut with some weird glasses on and finds a war medal and paper evidence of him fighting in Vietnam. Who would leave incriminating evidence out on a table like that? 😑🤷🏻♀️. IJ calls him by his real name Choi HeeJae. And then introduces herself as a freelance reporter trying to uncover all the ills of Gen Won. CHJ tells her dog may have rabies (yeah and goodness knows what else). And she could get tetanus. He sends them on their way. Turns out the glasses JD wore had some tiny camera installed so IJ views the footage on her phone as they drive away. JD can’t believe she led the dog to bite her (yeah we can’t either). IK brags about her suffering worst fates…like covering typhoon stories. 🙄 JD sighs, “one day you will be the death of me”. Uhoh…don’t say that JD. Foreshadowing alert.
IJ talks to IH at her art school. She reveals the plan to go to Singapore. IH has to join her with IK later. IH asks about HR and Mrs P. IJ assures her they will join them later. IH then passes an SD card to her (because it’s IJ’s birthday). Presumably we are supposed to believe that it’s the dash cam footage from Mr P’s car of the night of Unnie’s murder? IJ goes on a shopping spree. Celebrating her “last day of poverty”? Buys a similar frilly pink skirt she wore when she dined with Unnie. Dons the diamond studded shoes and eats at the expensive restaurant Unnie took her to.
Mr P in the basement orchid room. Choi confronts him about the tail. Then hands him coordinates on a piece of paper. “My dad is here. Do what you want with him.” Scene change. Men in black approach the forest hut. IK is talking to someone (someone who knew CHJ). He recounts how CHJ is special forces. Think Korean Seal. Man voiceovers extolling the prowess of CHJ as the camera pans on the MIB trying to ambush CHJ in the hut. Where are the dogs though? They get into the hut. It’s a trap. Explosion. MIB are no more. CHJ surveys his work from a hill above with his guard dogs. He lives another day.
Choi enters a vault. Opens a locker. Unzips a bag. Takes out a bloodstained hammer in ziplock bag. Presumably the murder weapon for the old man that his mom was accused of doing away with? Puts the hammer in there for safe keeping. Looks at his phone as he walks out. Scene change. IJ eating her steak at the restaurant. Choi turns up to her surprise. Scene change back to when Choi confronts Mr P in the orchid room. Turns out Mr P asks him to get rid of IJ ASAP as a test of his allegiance. Scene change back to restaurant. Choi shows her an article on his phone about the International Orchid Festival recently. Where a Ms Oh InJoo was in attendance. A pic of her from behind is snapped. IJ gasps. As she enlarges the photo, she clearly sees the tattoo of an orchid on her ankle. It’s Unnie! Choi asks if she’s really dead. IJ assures him she saw her body. She can’t be alive. Choi tells her that the paper company he set up for her is being investigated and he’s now worried that this fake OIJ may just beat them to the 70bil. IJ is shaken. Could Unnie really still be alive? Choi says he’s headed straight to Singapore to find out.
Not sure what happened to my recap comment. Here it is in a Google doc
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-hsVsvlchMqo_7ZNzkwkHiY3Q4_CA4uvL86X9vy63t0/
It went to Trash, @nrllee! 😱😳
It’s a good thing you told me. I was able to find it before it got buried. It’s now approved.
I’m sorry. 💐💐💐
Ep. 8 – Oh In Joo continues to dig her own grave, but now she is wearing pretty dresses.
There was never a doubt that PJS and his wife are both psychos. The 70 billion won question is: are they working together or does each one have a sinister plan?
No problems @packmule3. Probably too many emojis. The Google Doc version is better. I had to edit the original after re-reading it.
Will probably do a slimmed down version for Ep8. It wasn’t easy recapping Ep7 because PD kept chopping between scenes instead of just allowing the scenes to flow naturally from start to finish in one sitting. 🙄
Hello everyone! I’m taking a break from watching this series since I am preparing for a family trip this coming October. So I’m taking a break from reading posts here too, so I will not be spoiled, and maybe enjoy JOMO.
But I hope everyone is doing well and healthy! Have a good week ahead! 🙂
Ep8 recap
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19zF8LbHAopRJvRFmdRg3__UYfz9aekPsQWs7bN52aT0/
We were on the money. It’s the fruitcake Mrs P. Playing with real life dolls. See? Elements of Squid Game and Parasite mushed together and a bit of the Truman show. I am honestly not sure I want to continue to watch crazy Mr and Mrs P. If I do watch on, it will be for Choi. I like this actor. And for the street scenes in Singapore. Very nice. Kopiko is winning big. How are they even normal candies in the Presidential suite of the Fullerton? 😂. I would’ve thought something minty would be more appropriate.
What? They served Kopiko at The Fullerton??? Don’t they have a coffee maker in the room? DeLonghi? Breville? Miele? Or even that annoying Keurig coffee maker?
Yes, I get the appeal of that actor playing Choi. When he nonchalantly studied the picture of the truck of doom’s “accident,” the word “sexy” came to mind. He didn’t even blink.
He reminded me of John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) also known as Baba Yaga.
Viggo Tarasov: That “fuckin’ nobody”… is John Wick. He once was an associate of ours. They call him “Baba Yaga.”
Iosef Tarasov: The Boogeyman?
Viggo Tarasov: Well John wasn’t exactly the Boogeyman. He was the one you sent to kill the fucking Boogeyman.
Hahaha. Daniel Choi is a hit man. He was the hit man you sent to kill the other hit men.
I watched Ep 7 and I’m halfway done with Ep 8. Will post your google doc recap for Ep 7 with my comments. Let me finish it before heading off to work. 🙂
Thanks for the recap.
@packmule3 yes the actor exudes cool vibes. Much like Son Seok Koo from My Liberation Notes. Both have charisma. Inscrutable, dangerous but irresistible 😂. I half expected him to burst into the room in the last scene in Ep8 with the show down between the women. With the crazy Mr and Mrs P I am starting to wonder if Ms P (HyoRin) is also part of the cast? To lure IH in and she gets her own personal “doll” to manipulate. This plot is so twisted it’s tied itself in knots 😂
aNNYeong 🌼
Thanks for the madcap @NRLlee so much is happening. What a ride! We are introduced to DoIl’s dad and he’s bad ass. looks like IK will be teaming up with him in Ep 8. the ending to Ep 7, i’m like, shooooot! or is IJ gonna faint/knock out due to the drink? ahhhhhh driving me crazy. but looking forward to the next episode.
i do like Wi HJ’s depiction of Do-Il’s character – I love JOHN wick – HE, Keanu, is my “boyfriend” LOL. anyhoo, did they plan the switch (money to bricks?). him and IJ? glad she has the gun. will she use it tho? i don’t think she will. when she drank the blue drink, i was iffy about it. no wonder. also, why did she have to walk to the hotel from the hospital?
i feel like the sisters are coming together though – they have a plan! they will be there for each other. crazy b*^&#@s. hahahaah
so Mrs Park escapes Korea just so she can be there for the play *all those people were her puppets? wow! ? no wonder she didn’t bring her daughter. she was running around pretending to be Unnie H. and Mr Park locking his wife up is not normal. Yes, they are all crazy or psychos per @snowflower. and about Hyorin being one of them as well? idk. i don’t think so. Poor girl. she was even used by her mom. but at least she can hack their home security. haha. i think IH now realizes Mr Park is cuckoo.