As some of you know, “A Business Proposal” is the only kdrama that I recommended to my readers as soon as I’d finished watching the first two episodes. The actress Kim SeJeong had me in stitches when she introduced her ta-tas as Samantha and Rachel, and I thought you’d appreciate the humor, too.
This drama I can only recommend with reservations. Watch it if…
a. you like Park Min Young in “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?”
She reprises her role of an ultra-efficient, very talented, très soignée ACCESSORY to a man. This time, she plays a wife-for-hire named Choi SangEun aka Jamie, instead of a secretary.
b. you’re rooting for Go Kyung Pyo to succeed.
I don’t understand this actor. It’s been seven years since he caught my eye in “Reply 1988,” but he still can’t seem to star in a drama where he – and he alone – is the male focus. Does he require another actor to serve as a counterbalance because he’s a lightweight by himself?
In “Jealousy Incarnate,” he was pitted against Jo Jung Sucky, and he lost the girl. In “Chicago Typewriter,” he starred with Yoo JinOh, and came off second-best, which isn’t surprising since it’s Yoo Jin Oh after all. Next, in “Strongest Deliveryman,” he went against “Good” Boy aka Kim “Dimples” SeonHo whose career temporarily eclipsed his own before taking a nosedive in the abortion scandal.
Then, in this drama, he vies with a relative newbie actor for SangEun’s wifely attention. Although the second male lead is the stereotypical male bimbo (or “him-bo”), the SML character is more distinct and memorable than Go Kyung Pyo’s. The SML has a hilarious one-sided relationship with his cat, and a secret chaebol as well, but Go Kyung Pyo’s Jung JiHo is an enigma.
c. you don’t mind watching a hodge-podge of kdrama genres. This series features a love triangle, noona romance, transactional relationships (formerly known as marriage of convenience), secret birth, makjang, romcom, and murder mystery. It’s as if everything is thrown in one pot because Park Min Young is bankable. Her popularity is expected to make the show into a sleeper hit.
d. lastly, you want to give a new writer, Ha Gu Dam, a chance.
Per mydramalist.com, this is Ms. Ha’s inaugural drama. She has no other drama listed under her name. I’ll try this one out to give me a break from familiar screenwriters. Besides, if I want tv networks and production companies to cast their nets wide in search of new talented screenwriters, then this is the least that I can do.
Now, here are four things that I think this writer did well.
1. She laid the groundwork well. She not only introduced the female lead Choi SangEun’s background, but she also established her relationship with the second male lead, Kang HaeJin (HJ).
In many love triangles, the second male lead is just appended to the story, like an afterthought, to make the hero stand out more. In this drama, HJ is solidly connected to SangEun’s past, and has enough personality to make him a unique character on his own. I look forward to the high jinks when he hires SangEun as his wife, given their family connections.
SangEun is the only daughter of the Eena Group’s chairman. When she was 20 years old, a marriage was arranged between her and one of the five male sons of the Kangjin Group. We don’t know which son she was being married off to. Most likely it was the eldest, but the youngest son of the family is HJ.
SangEun scuppered the marriage deal when she showed up at the engagement dinner and unceremoniously dumped food on the sons. Although HJ was still in high school back then, the ruckus she made so impressed HJ that he still couldn’t forget her many years later. He names his cat after her, Jamie, and treats it like her proxy. He pampers it, coos at it, and confides to it as if it was his girlfriend. Funnily enough, the cat would have nothing to do with him, even hissing at him when he comes close. I thought it’s a harbinger of his future relationship with SangEun.
HJ’s assistant: You named your cat after you first love, and you’re like this on a daily basis.
HJ: What first love? So childish. She was just the first strong, cool, and oddly sexy woman I’ve seen. So she has been stuck in my head for 13 years, and made me lose interest in other women. That’s pretty much it.
Flashback to SangEun’s wrecking the dinner party.
HJ’s assistant: This is ordinarily called a first love, Hyung.
HJ: Well, am I ordinary?
HJ’s assistant: How would you feel if Jamie married someone else?
HJ: (scoffing) That woman isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill woman. Married, my ass.
HJ’s assistant: Exactly! She could have met an incredible man who could make her into that ideal run-of-the-mill wife. And she could have become the Queen of Housewives with a lovey-dovey life.
HJ: (acknowledging) She is in a marrying age. I guess…I don’t feel great about it. But hey, who could take responsibility for that woman? He must be someone like me, at least. Did she get married?
HJ’s assistant: See that? She is your first love.
My Comments:
One, although HJ finds it hard to imagine SangEun as a submissive wife, she’s already in a business relationship with an “incredible man” Jung JiHo for whom she transforms into a run-of-the-mill wife every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Two, HJ likes his cat for its haughtiness. It exhibits the same princess complex that he associates with SangEun. Thus, he’s intimidated by it but at the same time, he’s determined to love it. I think his relationship with his cat foreshadows his business arrangement with SangEun.
Three, SangEun’s drama at the engagement dinner had an impact on his life. I think it served as a catalyst to
a) distance himself from his family. He keeps his chaebol lineage secret from the public. He admitted to his oldest brother that he skipped their father’s birthday party because their father makes him uncomfortable.
b) support himself financially. He’s the only son who isn’t in the family’s payroll. He’s proud of the fact that he earns his own money as a successful actor with many endorsements. He doesn’t need his family’s company backing him up.
He’s unaware that SangEun’s rebellion inspired him to cut ties with family and carve a path for himself. She became his role model.
2. The writer also created a mystery behind Yoo MiHo.
Yoo MiHo is an interesting character. She’s called “Madam Yoo” by SangEun and she identifies herself as the “Director of Management Support” at Eena Group.
I suspect however that she’s SangEun’s birth mother. Why do I say this?
Here’s one flashback of the lipstick.
When SangEun was a young girl, Madam Yoo/MiHo discovered her playing with lipstick. After the maid wiped her face clean, MiHo admonished her.
MiHo: Many people can make you pretty. However, taking care of your impetuousness is up to you.
SangEun: (nods then cries)
What I find odd about this short dialogue is MiHo’s vested interest in SangEun’s character. Had Miho been an ordinary nanny or governess, it would’ve sufficed to scold SangEun like this, “Don’t put lipstick on your cheeks. Lipstick goes on your lips, silly goose!”
Then MiHo chastened her as if she had a PERSONAL stake in SangEun’s future success. She implied that anybody could make SangEun pretty, but nobody — not even her — could make SangEun docile. If SangEun didn’t learn to curb her wild streak on her own, then SangEun would bring about her own downfall…as well as MiHo’s.
The way I see it, the child cried, not because she made a mess on her face, but because she disappointed MiHo with her personality flaw, i.e., her impulsiveness (per Viki sub) or her tackiness (per Kissasian sub). Gaining MiHo’s approval was important to the child…TOO important if MiHo was a mere nanny.
Then, there’s another flashback in Episode 2 when SangEun decided to take care of Miho financially.
Miho: You looked like you would take care of me all my life. But you disappeared all of a sudden.
SangEun: (handing over a bank deposit book) Take it. The password and the card are inside. The beginning of the month would be better for deposits than the end of the month, right?
Miho: Did you find a job?
SangEun: I’m considering using the skills you taught me more effectively, Madam Yoo.
Miho: Which company?
SangEun: You think any company would hire me? We should have a set of rules between us. Let us live like strangers. Don’t ask questions you don’t want to answer yourself. But it’d be too sad if we were perfect strangers, so let’s notify each other when we die.
My Comments:
a. SangEun was right to believe that companies wouldn’t hire her given her connection with the Eena’s Group. She’s the daughter of Chairman after all.
b. Since Madam Yoo/Miho taught and trained SangEun to be a rich man’s wife, she hatched up a plan to employ her unique education to support herself and Madam Yoo. It was a no-brainer for her to work as a wife-for-hire, given her particular skillset.
Oddly enough, SangEun didn’t want Miho to know her plan to utilize her training in such a manner.
c. Outwardly, Madam Yoo seemed to regard SangEun as nothing more than a meal ticket…or at least, in SangEun’s mind, she was just the meal ticket. Hence, when she was transferring money to Madam Yoo’s account, she whispered, “Bon appetit, Yoo Mi Ho, this month, too.”
She thought that by making a monthly deposit of 30 million won for 13 years, she was settling her debts and compensating Madam Yoo for the income she lost from the failed marriage deal. My guess is Madam Yoo never touched the money that she sent.
If I’m reading her bankbook correctly, SangEun deposited 30m won (or $21 thousand) monthly to Madam Yoo. The odd cash deposits, 399.201 won in May 2021, and 435.241 won in May 2022 were most likely Chairman Choi’s handout to Madam Yoo/Miho.
It’s noteworthy that there’s no withdrawal made on the bank book.
More importantly, Madam Yoo intended to return the bankbook to SangEun after her suicide. I thought Madam Yoo was doing a kdrama “misunderstood mother” trope: she wanted to suffer in silence and let the daughter misunderstand and resent her all her life.
d. IMO, Madam Yoo/Miho was counting on the arranged marriage to solidify both their status and security in the chaebol world. If MiHo was indeed the Chairman Choi’s mistress and SangEun was her child from the liaison, then the real wife only accepted SangEun on sufferance because there was no other offspring.
If SangEun proved useful to the merger of the Choi and Kang families, then both SangEun and MiHo wouldn’t be kicked to the curb so easily. But SangEun rebelled and as a result, they were both booted out.
Fortunately for SangEun, she could contract her services out to clients in need of a pretend wife. MiHo, on the other hand, could hardly advertise her skills as mistress and/or child groomer. She sounded pathetic when she was meeting with a former colleague, and Eena’s current “Director of Management Support.” She was asking him to take care of her affairs after her death.
MiHo: (to the Eena’s manager) By chance, if I’m dead, would you make a phone call for me?
Eena’s manager: Why do you keep talking about dying?
MiHo: (stares at him)
Eena’s manager: (nervously) To whom?
MiHo: (looking at SangEun) Someone. Someone who cut off my legs.
From this brief conversation, three things stood out for me:
One, she hadn’t forgotten what SangEun told her about being strangers and calling only to inform each other of their demise. It must still rankle with her after 13 years.
Two, by referring to SangEun as a person who cut her “legs,” she meant SangEun’s arranged marriage could’ve ensured her position in the company and even elevated her status in the Chairman’s life. SangEun’s scandalous behavior nixed her plans and wasted all her years of training her.
Three, she should’ve been full of animosity for SangEun. However, when they met up after SangEun sent her last monthly deposit, she offered SangEun an olive branch: her favorite tea. To me, this was such “motherly” thing to do. She never complained nor explained; she bore SangEun’s insults.
There’s another conversation with the Eena Group’s manager that jumped out at me. It was his conversation with the junior staff. It was sad because it showed how far MiHo had fallen from grace after SangEun’s fit of rage at the dinner engagement.
The junior staff looked upon MiHo with contempt.
Junior staff: (complaining) Why do we continue to manage her?
Eena’s manager: If she had remained in the company, I wouldn’t have gotten promoted. Don’t you know it’s a special order from the Chairman?
Eena’s manager: (scolding the junior staff) Why are you rude and dismissive of her? You’re both women?
Junior staff: Because of women like her, elite women like me get badmouthed.
Eena’s manager: (ignoring her)
Junior staff: I heard she’s legendary among the elders. As a woman scorned while coveting the Chairman’s mistress spot.
Eena’s manager: Who says things like that? Watch what you say!
On one hand, I do get the junior staff’s contempt for MiHo. In her mind, MiHo’s affair with the married Chairman tainted all the professional women like her. People unfairly assumed that she only got ahead in her career because she slept her way up the corporate ladder. The junior staff had a reason to be contemptuous of MiHo.
On the other hand, I do believe that Madam Yoo/MiHo is misunderstood. Everybody saw her as mercenary. The junior staff assumed that the Chairman was still paying her for services rendered; SangEun assumed that her monthly allowance was being spent on sumptuous food and the latest fashion.
Nobody knew that MiHo was putting up a front. She was living in poverty. She rented a room and was behind on her rent. She might have slept with the Chairman, but she alone suffered the consequences for it. The Chairman remained the chairman.
I don’t think it was a coincidence that she intended to kill herself after SangEun paid off her last “debt.” She had no more will to live since her daughter was cutting her off for good.
It’ll be interesting to see how MiHo will change SangEun’s life (for the better? for the worse?) and hit back on the chaebol families once she’s on board the Kangin Group. I’m actually rooting for her.
3. The writer gave a plausible reason for SangEun’s unorthodox occupation.
I know, I know. Some of SangEun’s actions may be considered questionable and fraudulent. But I will overlook them as long as they make sense to me for the sake of this story.
SangEun: I, Choi SangEun, am always ready to receive a client as my husband. I hope there are no misunderstandings about my job. After all, I have no interest in tackling your sacred marriages. It’s just that I’ve learned marriage is a business. According to business administration basics, we are committed to maximizing profits and minimizing losses. What is the marriage business risk? Of course, it’s your personal life.
SangEun says she isn’t interested in entering in a marriage herself. Her cynical view of marriage is understandable given her upbringing.
a. She saw how the rich people viewed marriages as transactional. They acquired spouses and in-laws like they merged assets.
b. She was treated like a commodity herself. She was groomed to be a perfect wife of a chaebol. She was important to her father, the chairman, for what she could bring to the table. Once she stopped being useful because she canceled the arranged marriage, she was discarded.
c. Her mistake however was that she assumed that MiHo saw her only export-import product, too.
MiHo: Do you know…how much you cost us by canceling this marriage?
SangEun: You must not worry about me. Madam Yoo, how much do you make? If I had wed into the Kangjin Group according to plan, would it have secured your future as well?
MiHo: (not saying a word)
SangEun: I’ll let you continue to ride that car. That works, right?
Because MiHo didn’t deny or say anything, SangEun was left to believe that her value was only monetary.
c. However, if Madam Yoo/MiHo was indeed SangEun’s biological mother, then she, too, was also treated like a commodity in a transactional arrangement with Chairman Choi. Because she was only a mistress, she had no power to protect herself and SangEun.
d. The way I see it SangEun’s contractual wife-for-hire marriages turned out to be more empowering than arranged marriage. She was her own boss. She could dictate her terms. She was handsomely paid for her trouble. In a way, this was a better proposition for her than being a chaebol’s wife. She didn’t have to deal with the unequal balance of power as a wife of a chaebol. And she didn’t have to be subservient to any man unless she’s agreed to it as part of the job.
4. Symbolisms
I like it when the writer has embedded symbolisms early in the story.
a. The cat = SangEun
On the way to work, the male lead, Jing JiHo, was dragged into a street argument about stray cats. One woman was feeding them while one man objected because it would attract more strays into the neighborhood.
Man: Don’t feed them again! You feed them once more, and I’ll cut their necks and leave them at your door!
JiHo: That’s a threat and violates animal protection laws.
Man: Who the heck are you? The police?
JiHo: No.
Man: Whether a cat starves to death or not, why are you so nosy? Look at the mess they made. I can’t live in this stench.
JiHo: They wouldn’t do that if they were full.
When the man threatened to exterminate the stray cats anyway, JiHo recounted an incident in China about sparrows.
JiHo: In China, when sparrows kept pecking at their grain, the whole nation rallied to catch and kill millions of sparrows. But the next year, as sparrows declined, the locusts they would eat destroyed the grain. The grain damage was incomparable to what sparrows did. Finally, China ended up importing sparrows.
Man: What bullshit are you saying?
JiHo: It’s mice that carry harmful bacteria to humans, not cats. Cats are quite clean, as long as their stomachs are full.
And with JiHo’s closing argument, the man left in frustration. The funny thing is when JiHo was asked whether he liked cats, he said he personally didn’t like them. He thought stray cats in particular have parasites.
The cat is obviously a symbol for SangEun. She’s the stray cat that JiHo has to feed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, until she becomes tame. He can overlook the inconveniences she brings (i.e., her mess, disruptions, and impulsiveness) because she’ll be worth it in the end.
b. Preparing for their dinners together = feeding the cat
SangEun has a fear of abandonment. She likes it when he prepares their dinners together because he’s taking her in, caring for her needs, looking after her…basically, adopting her.
Their private dinners are a far cry from the dinner engagement that she wrecked. At that party, she was about to be served as the “sacrificial lamb” for the merger of the two families.
With her private dinners with JiHo, she was the main guest being served with great food.
I think that’s the reason she fantasized about JiHo telling her, “Honey, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.” In the same way that she felt nurtured by JiHo these past five years when he prepared their meals, she envisioned him as the one she needed to take care of. She was slowly beginning to see that he was another stray like her.
c. The flowers in the poetry = both of them
Jung Ho Seung’s poem was quoted in the first episode. If you watched “When the Weather is Nice” with me, then his name would be familiar.
There Are Also Wounds on Blades of Grass
Translated by Brother Anthony and Susan HwangThere are also wounds on blades of grass,
there are also wounds on petals.As I walk along the field paths
where you and I once walked together,
when I sit by the field path
and gaze at the glow of sunset
wounded blades of grass
wave their hands.Petals with many wounds
smell sweetest.source: koreatimes.co.kr
The interesting thing about the poetry scene is that they didn’t realize that they were BOTH wounded flowers. SangEun thought the poem applied to her alone. And JiHo commented that he liked the poem himself. They had yet to figure out that they were in the same situation, and that their inability to connect with other people as adults stemmed from a traumatic experience with their families as children.
That’s the whole point of the poem. The persona in the poem is walking solitarily through the field of grass. He’s feeling lonely because he’s no longer walking with a companion like he once did. However, if there are wounds on blades of grass and even on petals of flowers, then what more for human beings? Getting hurt and feeling pain are inevitable in life so he must soldier on by himself.
That’s how SangEun and JiHo assumed they would have to move forward with their lives. They had to let go of the other person and bear their “wounds” on their own.
Of course, since this is kdrama, love will heal them, yada yada yada.
Okay, that’s it for me. “Love in Contract” is on every Wednesdays and Thursdays. You still have time to watch the first 2 episodes if you want to join me.
Yeay!!!! Pm3 is watching 😁😁😁
On another note, the chaebol was there to put suspicion on JH. Writer made him looks like a possible serial killer but I think his works related to crime scenes. He studied criminal cases, he re-enacts crime scenes. Prosecutor or profiler?
SE has retired and ended her business deals except with JH, where she has developed a connection. I am not sure how she will agree to enter into a marriage deal with the chaebol.
I wonder if JH came from an abusive family. The brother that came by… 🤔🤔🤔
I am staying for the mystery of the both FL and ML. And yes i like MH character too. I think she loves SE but decided not to show it.
The writer should have done her homework when showcasing the Arab wedding mixing with Indian element i.e. the bindi that PMY wore on the forehead. Suffice to say, some fans are not happy with that.
Until the next episode! 😁😁😁
@miracle23,
I thought it was clear that JH isn’t the serial killer. He seems to be studying the case, though. Can be a profiler or a prosecutor but most likely a prosecutor, judging from
a) his citing the animal protection act (lol, for some reason, kdrama writers think that attorneys talk like that and pepper their conversation with legal citations),
b) the bound books on his bookshelves at work.
c) his therapist mentioned “court” in a conversation. IIRC, she said that he had a reputation in “court” of being detached/cold/unfriendly.
d) his neatness. In the opening scene, when he cut the tomato cleanly, or in the middle scene when he chopped off the head of the fish (ugh!), he uses the knife methodically. The fact that he was studying/practicing the knife attack AFTER the deaths tells me that he isn’t the murderer. If he was the killer, he would have practiced the stabbing even before he killed his first victim. He was methodical.
e) his reluctance to argue when he’s home. Many attorneys desire a peaceful home life because they spend the whole day arguing, debating, contesting and challenging. They just want to get away from anything contentious and stressful when they get home.
🙂 I don’t know anything about the Arab wedding. What’s a bindi?
Yes, for sure JH came from an abusive family, too. Most likely, orphaned at a young age and taken in by relatives.
@packmule3 bindi is the little red dot on the forehead. It is religious. Hindus wear them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindi_(decoration)
I thought Arabs were Muslim? So mixing Hinduism and Muslim is just not accurate.
Thank you @packmule3 – I am liking this series. I watched the first 2 eps twice through and got more out of the second watch. I think for me it was a little too ‘stretching credibility’ for some of the plot-busy first episode, but when I got into the swing of the show, I began to enjoy the comedy/dark comedy/characters etc
I do like PMY in Secretary Kim mode and of course they allow her to riff on that original character in some great ways. I don’t know the ML actor but am liking that role and am enjoying our second (?) lead too.
I loved the cooking scene and the sudden reveal of the mess she had left on the kitchen counters in ML’s minimalist home! I loved the expression on his face.
I loved some of the things he thought to himself about her and what he was doing for her. I enjoyed the ‘unsaid’ but ‘thought’ in their interactions.
I like the mystery around the ML and the FL and her background, too. I am glad you have decided that ML is not the serial killer… I was worrying that the whole thing would be very noirish if that was the case! But quite right! He wouldn’t be practicing knife thrusts in a shared stairwell would he?
@nrllee, thank you for the clarification 😉
Pm3, it was featured in one of SE’s wedding, with the Arab guy.
Yup, it was clear that JH is not the killer. However, I am curious to why he seemed unsettled when he saw the long-haired girl and followed her home. Is he monitoring possible witness before her death? Or does he expect her to be the next victim? This is what the writer did to create misunderstanding by building that suspicion towards JH… plus of course the eyewitness chaebol seeing him stabbing downstairs n the photos 😂…
I was told that this mash up romcom x thriller/mystery usually does not work well in ratings i.e. You are my spring. Personally, the mystery part is what keep me from leaving 🤭
P/S: yup, prosecutor is more likely his job due to the law books etc. He reminded me of the ML from Stranger. That guy likes to re-enact crime scenes too and he’s a prosecutor! Another common trope? 😂
@packmule3, Some random comments-i saw Private Lives, a series about con artists where Go Kyung-pyo was used very well. I think that he comes from a comedy background (he was in three seasons of the Korean version of SNL and in two sit coms). So far I like him in this drama. They are giving him a minimalist role that matches his apartment set. I am wondering how the writer will give him mire to do, including, what I think will be the inevitable love scenes.
I think this drama is a departure for PMY. Her last role in Forecadting Love and Weather, although a Noonan drama and workplace drama, it still had romance bones. Love In Contract is almost an anti romance and does a good jib insulting how in certain circles that marriage is mostly an economic merger, that it always has been,, dowries anyone. I like that our FL is not a damsel in distress. She has her own agency. I just hope the writer doesn’t turn her into romantic mush.
I am intrigued by the MiHo character. She has received a lot of money over the years but does not live well in her one strange room that looks like a closet. She uses 4xpenive goods almost like short term barter and appears well off to the public.. she is almost like a walking contradiction.
The set up is pretty strong.. I just hope the drama doesn’t Peter out. And am thrilled that @packmule3 is giving us her commentary…
@Kate,
The Female Lead’s mess on the kitchen counters = lipstick mess on her face when she was a kid = messy sleeping habit = rage at the engagement dinner
She hasn’t gotten rid of that wild streak/impetuousness/irrational exuberance of hers. I wish this kdrama was on Netflix instead of Viki so I can check the Korean word used in the dialogue. IIRC, the kissasian sub used the word “lewdness” which I don’t think captured the flaw Madam Yoo was pointing out.
I think the Male Lead is on the spectrum, like that Male Lead in “Because This Is My First Life” but he doesn’t fit the kdrama writers’ mold of a serial killer. 😂 In kdramas, serial killers are also cat or dog killers. There’s correlation between human violence and animal cruelty, and kdrama screenwriters incorporate this factoid in the script.
Jamie the cat instinctively trusts the Male Lead. 🙂
Kalimera Everyone!
Although, I was saying that I am not going to watch this.
I think I might give it a try…Thank you @Packmule3 for the heads up!
@Packmule3 – what you highlight here is interesting. This is clearly an intriguing and not a clunky show.
Interesting re the unrestrained bits of FL’s behaviour and the word used by Madame Yoo…
I’m so glad too – again- that all the non-obvious signs are good for ML being ‘on the spectrum’ rather than sinister. That means I can sit back and enjoy the comedy and clumsy attempts at connection. Of course, FL is being tripped up by her feelings in a delightful way.
What about the dream when ML rescued FL at the club? Is it an intuitive prescient awareness she has about ML? He repeated precisely the same words in the dream at the end of the second episode – ‘Honey, I’m hungry etc’. Is this just story telling or was she there? Am I missing something?
ps @Packmule3 – just now re-read your commentary. I missed your comment re the ‘Honey, I’m hungry’. Makes sense!
@packmule3 and @Kate, A word of caution-it I’d too easy to place people with quirks on the spectrum. I don’t see the ML that way nor do I see him as a serial killer. I am waiting to see how this plays out. Please be careful when diagnosing. I think it would be to easy for the writer to make him ASD. Spoken as an ASD parent
.
@OldAmericanLady,
Let’s be clear here.
I’m only going to point out what passes of as an individual “on the spectrum” per Kdrama standards. After watching so many kdramas, I’d be stupid not to notice the stereotypical quirks these writers use as short-cut to define a type of character.
Like, an attorney must cite case laws in normal conversation.
Or a serial killer poisons cat food.
Or a shifty chaebol funds an orphanage.
Or a well-educated woman is a multilingual, Ivy-leagued grad.
Or a murderer wears black cap.
Or a free-spirited heroine drinks herself silly.
Or a gay friend makes a wonderful confidante and housemate.
Or a guy on the spectrum has trouble reading faces and making friends.
It is what it is…until it isn’t.
These are stereotypes used as SHORTHAND by kdrama writers to establish the minimum personalities of the characters at the onset of the show. As the drama proceeds, then the characters’ personalities are fleshed out further.
As I said before during the “It’s Okay to Be Psycho” viewing days, this blog doesn’t claim to be a clinician’s, a therapist’s, or psychologist’s blog. We are a blog that analyze dramas. We don’t do diagnostics here. It’s the readers’ responsibility and problem, if they choose to read the opinions and commentaries as something other than what they were meant to be.
As for being an ASD parent, I can only imagine what you have gone through. When my sons were young, we had them privately tested to check for learning disabilities, and emotional and psychological issues that might need to be addressed. My sisters-in-law waited till their children were in middle school/high school and by then, my dear nephews were struggling. Fortunately, they found support and schools to match their twice-exceptional (and twice-blessed!) children. I’m a firm believer of early screening, monitoring and intervention, and of course, lots of love and prayers.
@packmule3, Glad for the clarification. Point well taken K Dramas are full of tropes and ASD has become one-It’s Okay To Be Not Okay, Move to Heaven, Extraordinary Attorney Woo and The Good Doctor to name a few with more to follow I am sensitive to this issue. When our son was little, it was all Rain Man.And you are absolutely right about early intervention. We were lucky. Our son got great services and was in regular Ed classes by second grade. He went away to college, graduated magna cum laude, has a great professional job, owns his own place,etc. But I’ve also seen the downside. My son’s good friend in college who was also on the spectrum but who didn’t have the emotional support(and this kid was Phi Bets Kappa), took his own life. That’s why I tend to become critical because ASD is used as a ot point and has become the condition of choice eliciting grim fascination.
@OAL and @Packmule3,
Very helpful points of clarification. Absolutely no glibness or simplification of the nuances and real life complexities of anyone living with ASD intended.
By the same token, I found Packmule3’s highlighting of K-drama code helpful too. I had missed the symbolism of the cat etc etc
Annyeong 🌼
Great to read your first impressions @PM3 💗
I’m watching this show coz of PMY. but rooting for GKP as well 😄 Thanks for the insider on the new writer Ms. Ha. it was encouraging to read what you think she did well.
I wanna root for the 2nd ML (KHJ) as well – coz wow- he’s faithful to his first love even though they never had a relation to begin with. when he FaceTime the cat and treats her like a GF – hilarious. who does that? that cat is spoiled. she gets her own room haha. guess i can see what you mean… that his relationship to his cat is a harbinger (had to look this word up LOL) of his future relationship with SangEun. Aww that’s too bad. but yea, it will be interesting when they will have a contract marriage not knowing his family is the one she turned down. anyhoo, i do like the cat Jamie and how she did not mind being held by JiHo. that’s a good sign JiHo’s not a killer yea? yes.
i was worried that JiHo was the killer. what’s he doing in the bottom of the stairs- in the dark- with a knife and simulating a kill??? he wouldn’t even say what his job was. it must be a good job though coz look where he lives and the car he drives. he’s mute about his personal life. but he’s so thoughtful to divorce her so she can move to Canada. why Canada? Goblin? hahaha. i don’t think that move will happen though. i did like that dream sequence in the club when he rescues her.
i like the gay-ex husband. they’re so close and comfortable with each other. funny how they’re like BFF and living together. how he kind’a counsels her – gave her another view on why she feels so affected by Jiho’s request for divorce. she doesn’t realize JiHo doesn’t wanna do it either. i love their dinner dates. funny how she’s so messy when she cooks. i don’t cook like that. but i know some people who cooks like that. eeeks!
good observation that MiHo is the mom. i can see that now.
wow. that room she rents- it doesn’t look like it has a bathroom or kitchen? how did she manage? it’s like a storage area. with a chair and a lamp. yea, it will be interesting when she gets hired by the Kangin group.
looking forward to the next episodes…
@HK_Lady,
Yes, I found it hard watching SangEun’s mess in the kitchen because I’m not like that at all. I make sure that by the time the food is done cooking, the kitchen counter and sink are clean, the bowls and utensils used for food prepping are loaded in the dishwasher, and the serving plates are already laid out. I’ve obsessive-compulsive tendencies. I definitely wouldn’t be able to sit down and eat dinner with that messy kitchen counter in plain sight.
I was disappointed when the rescue scene at the club turned out to be a dream sequence. I really thought he showed up. Booooo!
BTW, SangEun’s Sunday home was also featured in “Our Beloved Summer,” Episode 8. The location site is Nonsan Onbit Natural Recreation Forest. Here’s a link: https://koreandramaland.com/listings/onbit-natural-recreation-forest/
@packmule3Apropos of nothing, SangEun must be pretty well off.Dishwashers are not a thing in K Drama households, even in some with money. You get the occasional clothes washing machines(with no dryers-mostly air dryers on balconies or bathtubs-no clothes lines as in my childhood) and my favorite using the foot stomping method(a la Lucy grape stomping) in a basin in the bathtub for larger items.K Dramas have a lot of manual dish washing scenes. I love watching home living in K Dramas, empty rice cookers and all. My husband wanted a rice cooker and I had balked until I succumbed I have to admit I had been wrong. I love it
It is easy, practically maintenance free and makes delicious perfect rice and other good grains. Anyway, another fun fact about K Dramas…
I’m joining this thread after having finished 12 episodes of LiC, so won’t comment at length because I may inadvertently drop spoilers.
@Packmule3, you highlight the fact that this is probably the first work of this screenwriter turned into a TV drama. Reading through your comments above with the hindsight of having watched further episodes, I see how the screenwriter intentionally led the viewers to draw conclusions that may, or may not, be correct. I think that shows skill.
@OAL, because I married an ethnically Chinese man (and a son of a Chinese restaurant owner), rice is a staple in our household. Because we’ve always used rice cookers, I haven’t a clue how to cook rice in a pot on the stovetop.