@nrllee,

I compiled the scenes on Jang SaPyeong, and the blue orchid.

-pm3

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1. From Episode 4

IK: It’s strange that there’s a whole book written about this orchid.
JH: Joel Fields. Jang SaPyeong. It’s even stranger that someone translated this.

Note: If we’re not careful, it’s easy to assume that the Korean man wrote the book and Joel Fields translated it into English. It’s the other way around. Joel Fields wrote the book, and Jang SaPyeong translated it. That’s why InKyung and JongHo will contact Mr. Fields first.

IK: How did you find this book? You’re just as strange.
JH: We played detectives when we were kids. You were the director, and I was the assistant.
IK: We were meant to take turns each week, but you forgot. So I kept being the director, pretending I had forgotten too.
JH: I didn’t forget. I was afraid you’d stop playing with me if I asked you to switch.

That disconcerts her, and he just smiles. I’m reminded of Choi Senior’s remark in Episode 10 that IK misjudges characters. She misjudged JongHo because she had a tunnel vision; she only saw what she wanted to see.

That said, I can easily imagine the two of them working together as detective and assistant in the future should InKyung continue to work as an investigative reporter. JongHo is willing to be her sidekick and tag along with her, just to be in her company. (Assuming of course, that JongHo isn’t a traitor or secret member of the Jeongram Society himself, lol.)

JongHo begins to read from the book. This is what he reads:

“An orchid that is called the ghost. Among over 30,000 kinds of orchids, this blue orchid is the most mysterious. Many explorers and botanists searched the jungles of Vietnam and managed to obtain a few of them, but they all ended up losing their lives. That’s why this orchid is called the Orchid of Death.”

Meanwhile as he reads the passage, Mrs. Park is shown introducing IH to the Orchid of Death.

Mrs. Park brings the teen to the secret room with the Blue Orchid. According to her, it’s illegal to grow and import the orchid because it’s both endangered and poisonous. But her father wanted to keep it all to himself. She then designates one orchid as IH’s and puts it back on the tree. She says that the tree looks after the orchids so they stay alive.

This has a double meaning, of course. Just like the big tree takes care of the orchids, the Jeongran Society takes care of its members.

Next, it’s IK’s turn to read the book. She reads:

“Even among the natives, only a few shamans knew where the orchid’s habitat was. If a layperson came across the orchid, it could put them in danger. When you first encounter the orchid, you will feel your pain disappear just by smelling it, and soon begin to feel pleasantly dizzy. For the extremely sensitive, the orchid can increase their pulse, make them feel light-footed, and at times, even cause hallucinations. If you brew the orchid’s root as tea, you can completely lose your senses and fall into a deep sleep. Shamans referred to this moment as the first step of the stairs to heaven. In this state, shamans often come across the spirits of the deceased.”

And as she reads, IH collapses in her part of the world.

Later, JongHo manages to hook them up with Joel Fields, the author of the book. Mr. Fields tell them:

I wanted to see a blue orchid, just once in my life. My brother died in the Vietnam War and people say that the Blue Orchid can call forth the spirit of the dead. And I guess I just wanted to see my big brother again. I couldn’t find one anywhere in the world. And I was talking about it to the Korean translator on my book and he said that, if I would to never show it in public or use it for any kind of commercial purposes, that he could send me one. (shows it) If you have a reason to see this orchid, please contact this man. He’s very kind and generous. A gentleman.

When he gives them the man’s address, IK realizes that it’s the same address that her informant on the bank collapse gave her. Her informant explicitly told her to, “Go to 26 Gimtan-ri. Noma-myeon, Musim-gun, Gyeonggi Province.” He said she could begin her coverage from there. But if she wanted more details, they were to meet at the fish market column C7.

2. From Episode 5

They visit the address given by Mr. Field and IK’s informant. It turns out to be a school.

JongHo introduces himself as a director of a gardening show, “The Private Lives of Plants,” and IK as his cameraman.

Jang SaPyeong: The Blue Orchid is globally rare. But the one we have is the most beautiful. We can say that it is the queen of orchids.
JH: Is that so?
Jang SaPyeong: But that’s a little-known fact since I’ve been keeping it a secret. Still, I can’t keep it a secret forever.

He leads them to the orchid in a glass case. The flower was in full bloom.

Noteworthy: the tree here is the opposite of the tree in the Park’s secret room. It’s a bonsai with a solitary blue orchid.

JH: Orchid expert Mr. Joel Fields suspected that you succeeded in artificially cultivating them here.
Jang SaPyeong: (laughing) Nonsense. That would be impossible. The seeds that fell on that old tree just happened to have sprouted.
JH: How did you get your hands on this rare species in the first place?
Jang SaPyeong: This school was established 40 years ago. General Won Giseon, the founder, gifted it to me back then.
IK: (interrupting) Do you mean the former commander of the Defense Security Command?
Jang SaPyeong: (surprised) Someone as young as you knows about the General? He was a hidden hero of the Vietnam War. He found the orchid during an operation and brought it into Korea himself.

They tour the school’s small exhibit dedicated to General Won GiSeon.

Jang SaPeyong: General Won was the greatest hero of the Vietnam War, but not many Koreans know that. Isn’t that interesting? He and the Blue Orchid have that in common. But it’s time that the Korean people know more about him. After he returned to his motherland, he did many things. He built new houses in demolished villages and established facilities for vagrants. In the late 70s, he began to build schools for children in need. This is the last of the six schools that he built.

Then, he approaches a child and asks what she’s studying for. Like a well-indoctrinated student, she regurgitates the school’s philosophy. “If I study hard, I can reach the highest place, even if I’m from the lowest place.”

IK continues to film inside the small gallery. The old man returns with a box of tapes and folders on the Korean soldiers in the Vietnam War. He tells them that he can provide them with all the information they need.

3. From Episode 6

InKyung discovers the March 5, 1973 photograph of the men who belonged to the Jeongran Society. They had bought a land which was 130,000 pyeong, and the Wonryeong School was the only building.

IK: These are co-owners of the 130,000 pyeong land. General Won GiSeon. Park Jaesang’s father, Park IlBok, the principal of Wonryeong School, Jang SaPyeong. Go Juwon, a military officer. Kim DalSu of Bobae Savings Bank. Lastly my Great-Aunt.
JH: How are these people connected?
IK: There’s a photo of them together. There’s a date. I think it’s when they bought this land.

JongHo reads the names, and realizes that the people are all dead.

JH: Those who join Jeongran Society tend to die earlier than the average life expectancy.
IK: Who’s still alive then?
JH: General Won GiSeon. Principal Jang SaPyeong. And Choi HeeJae someone who went missing long ago. Lastly, your great aunt.

JongHo does more google-search.

JH: It’s easy to figure out how these people died. Their names are all over the news. Three people are involved with the savings bank. Private school corruption, land speculation, demolition service, correctional facilities.
IK: This is a digest of modern Korean history through the 70s and 80s.
JH: What on earth is this Jeongran Society? It must have something to do with orchids. A group of people who study the spirit of orchids?
IK: It’s that orchid. The Ghost of Vietnam.

Huh? Is that the meaning of “Ghost of Vietnam”? The men returned from Vietnam metaphorically cursed by the orchid? Their brotherhood forged in the war of Vietnam made them all corrupt and violent that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill anybody standing in their way?

4. From Episode 7

InKyung updates InJoo on her research about the Jeongran Society.

IK: Long ago, during the Vietnam War, there was a nurse and a platoon consisting of 12 soldiers. When they returned to Korea, they started to die one by one as fi they had fallen while fighting an invisible war. And since our great-aunt has passed away…
JH: Apart from General Won GiSeon the only survivor is Choi Heejae, who went missing gin 1998.

Note what he said here. I don’t know if he misspoke or he obfuscated it but it’s patently false that the “only” survivor is Choi Heejae.

IK: I need to talk to him.
IJ: How will you find someone who went missing?
JH: (looking at papers) You know what? After he went missing, his son inherited his land. And the son’s name is Choi Doil.
IJ: Could it be the Choi Doil that we know?
JH: They were both born in the same year.
IK: Let’s go meet Choi Doil’s mother first since we know where she is for sure.

And that’s how they end up visiting Choi’s mom in prison.

The curious thing here is that they forgot about Jang SaPyeong’s existence. And we too forgot all about him until in Episode 10 his face showed up in the crowd.

10. From Episode 10

I think he brought some of the kids from the school with him.

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I think it’s hard to predict which way Jang SaPyeong will go.

On one hand, he seems to be a diehard disciple of General Won. Given that General Won was such an evil man that his wife preferred to be locked away in solitary confinement for eight years than to be married to him, Jang SaPyeong would have to be either blind or complicit in his plans.

But on the other hand, General Won could have his own reason for leaving Jang SaPyeong alone. Jang SaPyeong might not have belonged in the inner circle of the secretive Jeongran Society. His orchid wasn’t grafted into the Father Tree in the secret room.

It’s possible that he alone didn’t need financial assistance from the Jeongran Society so he wasn’t indebted to the group. Or he could have been set apart from the group because he was running the school to create more junior members of the society. As an educator, he would’ve been appalled to associate himself with the likes of Mr. Park, son-in-law of General Won. He seemed so idealistic like General’s son, Won Sangwoo.