The thread is open.
Yes, I know I’m missing my Ep 10 review. I’ll work on it after my dinner engagement tonight.
gifs from becomeundone’s tumblr
With 6 episodes left, I’m sure we’re on track to see the rehabilitation of TaeHee. I often question whether this steady diet of romantic kdramas set up the female viewers, single and married, to have unrealistic expectations of men changing their habits and mindset because of love.
I guess that’s one reason I like watching a drama with @GB, @nrllee, @OldAmericanLady and all the other bitches here. They’re cognizant of the limits of fantasy and the imperative of sanity. They appreciate the swoon-worthy moments, but they also temper the “feels” with common sense.
That’s my biggest stumbling block with that drama “My Liberation Notes.” In a nutshell, the show’s a romance between a drunkard and a half-awake, emotionally stunted woman. It was weird rooting for their relationship to grow when ordinarily, in real life, I would question its suitability and viability. If I saw a friend in a similar situation, I would want her/him to hightail it.
That’s how I view TaeHee’s action right now.
As much as I find him as cute as a button 90% of the time, his ghosting of ChungHa is a black mark against him. Also his lying to DongJoo about his feelings for her….
His conduct on these two occasions go on his trustworthy-ness record, and I have trust issues. I’ll be watching his every move with eagle eyes to see how he redeems himself.
Let’s enjoy the show.
@packmule3,I like the actor who plays the ML-it is ironic that his role here is so different from the role he has in Love and Leashes where he is literally dominated by the female lead to comic effect. Of course, many at BOD would not be inclined to watch BDSD where women are dominatrices but the role reversal says a lot about certain male fantasies that actually involve strong women.
I think redemption arcs play into fan girl fantasies in K Dramas. As BODers we tend to be more realistic. Instead of ghosting, MLs are viewed as stoic.Thebfantasy is that it takes the love of a good woman to break that. It has been a winning combination and I’ll admit that I suspend disbelief when I make excuses for those MLs. And if course, the writers tend to build us up for the big love/kiss scene. We get a lot of this temptation and tease in this drama. So I’ll say it. Enough already! Please show TH resolving his issues with Chingha. It has been established that she is a caring doctor. We also know that triage is the way multiple emergency cases are sorted. TH should know this intellectually. That’s why I hope there’s more to this.And why, for Pete’s sake, has he quit medicine entirely(another K drama trope).what a waste of an education.
And DJ, whose character has been set up as the avatar of virtue, has to have some dark places. That’s why I have trouble with the CH DJ set up as strawmen. As humans, by our very nature, we are not 100 percent virtuous.
However, given what I have already said, I still am drawn to this drama. I want to see who DJ meets after their deaths and to know the resolutions. I also am interested in the cop and DJ’s father and the societal prejudice against funeral directors and those who work with dead people(that they are dirty). And, of course, I am interested in BOD reactions to it all.
Thank you my dear @pkml3. Is it Wednesday already!!! Of course it is and I feel I’ve not accomplished much this week.
I watch every show with a satirical eye while also with a desire to be entertained. At times I temper my comments when I see that other viewers are wowed by something in the show that I just have little or no positive feelings for. ‘Why spoil their fun’ … is the main consideration, but at the same time I may feel compelled to say as gently and diplomatically as possible that something did not sit well/right with me. (Perhaps I’ll put in a little note on something along that vein even for the beautiful ‘First Love’ that I enjoyed.)
True, TH could have just said he’s not ready or he can’t reciprocate yet instead of denying it outright. At least he apologised for it.
I just want some happy moments before working my tear ducts again. 😁
Kalimera @Packmule3 and Ladies,
That is the main reason that I haven’t watched yet “My Liberation Notes”. We get to fantasize that people who have real problems that need to deal with them via therapy can be “saved” by Love or the effort of their loved ones.
If the person himself / herself doesn’t want to be saved, noone can do that for him/her. Especially if you have an addiction. This also applies to the psychological problems as well.
As for TaeHee, I am waiting for the jakkanim to do his character good, i.e. making him to come in terms with his trauma and come clean with his ex gf.
Kalispera Ladies!
So many things has happened tonight. Tomorrow’s episode is very important… Let’s see how the jakkanim os going to approach this one… 🙄
Tomorrow I will write more…
@Cleopatra, Just stayed up late to wa5ch Ep. 11. They set this up perfectly for Ep. 12. It was a wow. Without spoiling anything, they homed in on various coincidences that have been hinted in past episodes. I am looking forward to some explanation in episode 12 and others going forward.
Hope all is well with you @Cleopatra and you have an easy busy holiday season. I know Greek Orthodox Ch4is5mas comes out on an older calendar and appears later on the Julian calendar. Advent just lasts longer(if you even do it). I hope the holidays bring you meaning, blessings and joy.
We are hanging in there. My husband is now receiving a short course of radiation to prepare him for surgery. He has gained some weight. And as we say in the K Drama world, he is hwaiting!
Kalimera my dear @OAL!
Yes, yesterday’s episode was full with almost everything! I am a bit anxious about tonight’s episode.
I am busy indeed, because it is the end of the year and workwise we need to wrap up everything. Let me give you link for you to read to see that we -the Greek Orthodox Church – follow the Gregorian Calendar as well, after using the Julian one for so long, but there are other Orthodox Churches that are using the Julian one.
https://www.goarch.org/-/the-calendar-of-the-orthodox-church
I am glad to learn promising news about your husband. I wish for the best outcome in his surgery! Hwaiting indeed! *Hugs*
@OAL Putting on a bit of weight is good! Hwaiting to you and to your husband!!
@Cleo, I hope to be able to watch the episode soon. 🙂
Unnie,
We are leaving the thread spoiler free for you to watch it first!
Thank you my dear Doensaeng Cleo!
Awww those flowers were simple and gorgeous!:)
Someone is clingy!
@OAL, sending you and your husband strength and lots of hwaiting!!!
Hi @agdr03!
Yes, I really liked that bouquet of flowers too.
So many things happened in this episode. I feel that there’s a comment being made about guilt (again), desire/greed leading to ‘death,’ but I don’t know to what this refers at the moment. I’ll watch Ep 12 to see if anything more surfaces to cast light.
Is subbed episode 12 out yet @GB? I tried to look around but no luck. 🙁
I feel for CH, she must feel guilty about her Mom. But then their relationship is not really ok from the start.
I was going to get angry at TH if he didn’t show up at the viewing. Lucky he did. I thought it didn’t need any thinking at all.
Hi @agdr03
I looked around at a couple of sites but there’s only the raw episode 12 still. Probably the priority is being given to some other more popular shows that are airing now?
I’ve been distracted by too many other shows too. Don’t know which to concentrate on!!! LOL. Maybe it’s just as well that the new crop of Dec kdramas do not really entice me, except for Unlock My Boss. But even that show I can put aside for a while.
Kalimera Ladies,
Episode 12 was a bit intense and I was waiting for it. The case Dong Joo had to attend was so sad…😥
Still, in Episode 13 things will escallate even more…🙄
Thanks for the info @Cleo. I’m stuck in You Are My Hero at the moment and don’t want to go into anything hitting the angsty or sad. It’s that time in the episode count that things are supposed to get more stress inducing before the denouement.
🤔 😮💨 😬 😧 😲 🤭 😅 😀
I was so glad to see Tae Hee step up and attend the wake of Chungha’s mother and be able to comfort her without either of them overdoing it. It made me wonder how Chungha’s mother reacted to Dong Joo’s statement that she liked Tae Hee as well and didn’t intend to give him up. I wondered if they came to a resolution.
I’ve just watched episode 12. It seemed to be much about memories being a way for those who have passed on to continue to exist. And the saying to survivors, ‘You must keep living or going on.’ That seems a cruel remark to Dong Joo, but she understands it now. I couldn’t find an episode title.
Both Hae-in and Dong Joo have now learned that Joon-ho is Tae Hee’s little brother. Lots of anguish, but healing as well, because Tae Hee has met with his grandmother and his parents and was able to visit Joon-ho’s urn with them.
After hearing Dong Joo’s apology for running away from Joon-ho, Tae Hee admitted that he had been a coward and ran away from everything as well, much more than she. Well, he’s not the only one, as we see Hae-in is hiding his actions from 2 years ago as well.
Harder for me was the little girl of a funeral director in the preparation room. Seeing her go down the path with no one seeming to be waiting for her on the other side was heart-breaking. It wasn’t like the child from an earlier episode who had cancer and could accept her death. This girl had so many dreams. For those of you who watched, are you glad that Dong Joo couldn’t awaken the mother? I was. It would have served no purpose for her to be angry with the woman. I was also glad that both mother and daughter weren’t in the preparation room together, as the old couple in episode 11 were. It made me wonder if one of the other funeral directors with the same ‘gift’ got there first? The interview afterwards with her uncle/priest made me so sad. He had no answers for her anguish.
We didn’t see if Sora tried to pass on the check-out information about the funeral director’s ex’s child, did we? Did she recognise the baby in the restroom as the one? It had marks on its arms, but I don’t know what that signifies. I was prepared for the baby to be the one that the senior funeral directors said they would handle.
Kalo mesimeri my dear @Fern!
*SPOILERS BELOW*
Episode 12’s title is: “Meeting You”.
The whole episode was a rollercoaster of emotions. I am so glad that Dong Joo said ASAP that she had met Joon Ho and she was sorry. The jakkanim is doing a great job portraying how a couple should communicate with each other not only in good times, but also in hardships…
Hae-In’s guilt is something that is eating him alive. He changed the course of the truck that was going to hit Joon Ho. It is to be made clear if they had drunk together that night, hence he is blaming himself for that!
The little girl’s case with all those dreams and hopes made me so sad.
I truly cannot understand WHY some people can have kids and they don’t treat them right…
Regarding the mother, I was waiting for something like that to happen, not only from a theologically point of view. I truly feel that Dong Joo / Stella is blessed and she was not have that blessing. Father was indeed at loss of how to comfort his niece.
Sora recognized the mother from the incident with her father accusing the DJ’s sunbae. She saw herself that the baby has needle marks. I think she was in heart and cancer department.
My other guess is that SoRa will be paired with HaeIn. I thought so since the beginning…
Next week’s episode will be hard, now that everything has come into light. Let us see how TaeHee will deal with HaeIn and his Hyung.
Correction: Hae-In’s guilt is something that is eating him alive. He changed the course of the truck that was going to run over the wounded Joon Ho.
@Cleopatra, I didn’t understand the truck bit. Didn’t the same van hit the boy already? How could it strike him twice? Were the earlier scenes of the accident leaving some part out? If Haein redirected the van, he may also be dealing with the thought that his brother was further injured by the next crash, so his medical condition could have been caused by that. (Are there no air bags in Korean vehicles?)
Ah, I forgot that scene with the ex’s father. Of course, Sora would recognise the woman. I suppose if the marks on the baby weren’t needle marks, it could be a sign of leukemia, but I’m not a medic.
I guess we’ll have to wait for our theological explanation of Dong Joo’s temporary ‘gift’.
Hey my dear @Fern,
If you check again the flashback here is what happened:
The truck hit Joon Ho. Hae In comes to the scene of the accident and Joon Ho while on the road asks him to save him. He sees that inside the van, the driver is his older brother / hyung who was unconscious from hitting his head.
Some minutes (1-2) later, the van starts to glide, is it the gear or the rain? I think it is both. Hae In sees that the van will hit not only him, but it will run over the injured kiddo. He then tries to block the van and changes its route. For what he did, the car crushed further below and his huyng was hit more severely than before, because of some pipes.
Dunno about the air bags. It didn’t have one obviously.
True about Dong Joo’s / Stella’s gift..
Hi @Cleopatra, Small stuff-I keep watching the numbers go down on the dream catcher and wonder who the last people Don’t Joo/Stella will communicate with. Also I think it is significant that her Uncle is now calling her Stella. I think Stella means star but I also think that the name has significance in Catholic theology. If anybody has any insights into this name I would appreciate knowing. And are the diminishing numbers indicative of DongbJoo’s limited number of deceased people with whom she communicates.Ir is she going through a celestial internship to determine if her gift will be permanent.She has become such a comfort to the deceased and the living that it would be a shame if she lost this ability.
@OAL, In addition to the word meaning star, it made me recall that Dong Joo told Tae Hee that many people say that the dead become stars to look over and guide the living on earth.
I know that in Catholicism, Mary the mother of Jesus has the title Stella Maris – Star of the Sea. This is what I found online:
The title “Stella Maris” first arose back in the 5th Century when St. Jerome translated Mary’s Hebrew name Miryam, which means “drop of the sea” to the Latin “Stilla Maris”. Mary later went from a “drop in the ocean” to the “star of the sea” when “Stilla Maris” became “Stella Maris”.
The prayer Ave Maria, or in English, Hail Mary end with the words, “…Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”
My oldest great aunt was named Stella. She was 90 when I was 7, so the name always seemed antique to me. My best friend named her dog Stella. If you know the play or film, Steet Car Named Desire, you will get why that’s a satisfyingly dramatic call name.
@Cleo, thank you for the better interpretation of the accident. I will re-watch. I still haven’t quite figured out why Haein didn’t call it in at that point. Did he panic? Was he afraid of being implicated?
@Fern, Thanks So much for elucidating the symbolism of Stella. One of our local parishes is Our Lady Star of the Sea so I knew of the translation
That symbolism is not lost in DJ’s character. She has a certain purity and is shown to feel deeply. So it is only fitting that she is referred to as Stella (our star).
Our son took drama English in high school. His teacher had every class member paired with a scene partner and they covered lots of play including Streetcar. During that time, our son frequently was heard shouting “Stella!”. He got a big kick out of it.
So much if this drama has a spiritual undertone that to me is done respectfully. That’s why I am curious about the underlying symbolism. And I love Father Michael. There is something about his irreverence that is actually reverent. He reminds me of some of the religious that I met attending Newman Club with my freshman sister. They were so engaging and truly holy. Although I never changed religions, I enjoyed sharing the joy my freshman sister derived from her faith and particularly enjoyed our similaritues and music. I am happy to continue to learn more through BOD.
Episode 11
The two uncles sharing a tub of popcorn while watching TH & DJ in the park, like they’re at a movie theater watching a romance: if it weren’t funny, I’d think it creepy they were spying. Also (maybe not) funny is uncle Father’s bully streak, punching Vincent’s shoulder so hard it knocks him into the wall, then threatening to punch Vincent again after Vincent (with little effect) retaliated.
Uncle Father seems quite the card shark, at least during the Go Stop game.
I’m sorry that CH and her mother remained at odds until the mom’s death, never finding a way to reconcile and heal their relationship (and themselves). The mom accused CH of not being able to let go of TH, but she was just as bad about hanging onto the past and resenting TH for having a new girlfriend. It is good, however, that CH was able to call out her mother’s two-faced “concern”: seeking out CH just so she can harp about TH, knowing it is a painful subject for her daughter. “Are you worried for me? Is that why you’ve chased me here? To piss me off like this? I don’t understand what you’re doing. I can’t understand you with my common sense. There’s not a single thing that I can understand! If I were you, I wouldn’t do this. If you cared for me just a little. If you worried for just a little.” I think it was healthy for CH to set a boundary, closing the door on a toxic relationship even if it is with her mother. Unfortunately, her mother did not have time to learn and grow from CH’s example. CH might feel unfilial and guilty about her mother’s death, but I do not fault her for speaking up in order to protect her mental health.
I like how TH and DJ’s father have a friendly relationship. I hope the father won’t feel too angry with both TH and DJ about the deception that they know each other from living in the same goshiwon building (off-campus study dorm). Their bigger deception is hiding that DJ is not studying for the civil service exam, but working as a funeral director. Of course, we know DJ’s father is hiding from his daughter his part-time job as a security guard, and he’s asked TH to keep that secret. Lots of land mines waiting to blow up here.
@Fern, before we see TH comfort his ex, CH, at her mother’s funeral, I loved the scene when DJ encountered TH in the hallway of the funeral parlor. The scene is wordless, but DJ and TH are able to communicate so much support for, and acceptance of, each other!
I also liked how TH made sure he got a message to DJ, waiting for her to come home when he couldn’t find her at the funeral parlor. “I felt bad all day…because I went today and made you hear things you shouldn’t have (the gossip of people who knew CH and TH during their ten years of dating and assumed they were getting back together). But those words…There is no need to listen to them. No need to worry. No need to be upset. Because you’re all I need.” I am glad TH laid to rest any worries sparked by the words of his former colleagues, which DJ overheard. But I wish he’d stopped right there, instead of going on to say, “I will only make you smile. I promise.” In a Kdrama, making such a promise is a jinx. Now I’m worried something bad will happen to TH.
When next to her mother’s new grave, CH says, “Mom. I want to quit…hurting myself. I want to stop doing that. So, Mom, don’t worry about me. And please go in peace. Go safely, Mom.” All this is good. It sounds like she’s moving in the direction of better mental health. She’s calling Choi Mi Ran “Mom” after having said she’d only acknowledged her as such out of pity. But then CH says, “I’ll be back soon.” I hope that means she’ll come back to visit the grave, not that she’s planning self harm to meet her mother in death.
DJ’s developing relationship with TH’s grandmother, which had been moving along positively, is tainted by halmoni’s negative attitude about DJ’s job. Halmoni considers it horrifying work. By suggesting DJ find another job, she implies she doesn’t think it decent someone who would want to do that kind of work.
I am baffled that Hae An didn’t immediately radio in the accident, even though his brother was at fault. A child’s life was at stake, and it seems that the delay in getting help for Joon Ho contributed to his death.
@Old American Lady, I can completely imagine your son shouting “Stelllllla!” at home. The school halls must have been ringing with it at the time, because he was probably not the only one. Lol. Pity for any girl called Stella back then.
@Welmaris, thank you for your thoughts as well. I think the punching and shoving between the two men falls under the physically OTT comedy sometimes seen in Kdramas.
Yes, it’s a pity about Chungha and her mother. Those scenes were very poignant. Even after death Chungha’s mother believed that a person other than Chungha could be responsible for her happiness. The mother said she had hoped that she wouldn’t pass on her loneliness to Chungha and asked DJ to act to stop it. I’m glad that DJ stood up for herself. It made me wonder if Chungha’s mother wouldn’t have been so lonely if she had spent more quality time with her daughter. It would have been more healthy for her.
As to Tae Hee’s grandmother, I had been hoping that age would bring wisdom. Although she doesn’t physically recoil, her suggestion to change jobs means she doesn’t approve. I have been worried about her character since the photo shoot when she said words to the effect that she didn’t have to worry about being ill because Tae Hee was a doctor and would take care of her. When she left abruptly after leaving food, I thought she might have run into trouble before getting home.
Episodes 11 and 12
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! I held back writing mine and I also held back watching Episode 12 until just a couple of hours ago. I saw that I was going to be entering or continuing into a not-much-fun sea of regret, guilt, shame and hitting greater depths of it. It’s more than I bargained for although this is a show with death and dead souls as one of its characters.
So many secrets. Uncle Vincent and Fr Michael have a great ahjusshi bromance but they cannot tell each other the personal stuff regarding the pain of TH and DJ.
While DJ and TH are doing a good job in better communication, and even TH is stepping up to admit to HAe An that he likes DJ, in other circumstances, others like DJ’s dad, DJ with her dad, Hae An with everyone have so much still hidden, and painfully. They sometimes look like they are being eaten up by the worry of being found out, weighed down by their burdens. There’s much letting go to do in the last few episodes.
On the comedic side, but still in the same vein of hiding, Vincent thinks someone stole the persimmons and TH does not come clean about it.
I found the motif of people being scared silly over being seen/caught etc repeated in Ep 11. Again it is linked to them wanting privacy and then being given a fright. There were at least 3 occasions but 2 of them are when Il Seob on the phone was given a fright by So Ra who came close to him, and TH and DJ were frightened by the ahjusshi Uncle and priest who were staring into their vehicle.
There is a parallel of brother relationships. In these episodes there is the finding out of the brother relationship between TH and Joon Ho, and between Seo Hae An and comatose driver Seo Young Chul. Both TH and Hae An are wracked with guilt at having contributed to the death or condition of their brothers. In addition, HA knows he might have saved Joon Ho and didn’t.
The guilt of TH over taking the girl HA likes pales in comparison to the guilt and the secret HA carries with him.
The Go-Stop card game played in Ep 11 seemed to me that it might have been a metaphor. “The objective of this game is to score a minimum predetermined number of points, usually three or seven, and then call a “Go” or a “Stop”, where the name of the game derives. When a “Go” is called, the game continues, and the number of points or amount of money is first increased, and then doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on. A player calling “Go” risks another player scoring the minimum and winning all the points themselves. If a “Stop” is called, the game ends and the caller collects their winnings.” – from Wikipedia.
As @Welmaris also noticed, DJ and Michael seem very experienced in the traditional ‘Go-Stop’ card game, although Michael says DJ’s a beginner. If he wasn’t a priest, I’d suspect him of being a card sharp too. LOL. Although DJ is on a winning streak, Michael advises her to Stop, and quotes from the Bible a verse that refers to desire (possible greed) which if fed and allowed to grow brings forth death.
In terms of literal death, we see the unhealthy desire of CH’s mother to control and find fault, likely helping along the aneurysm that killed her. We also sadly see the desire of Yoon Seol A’s mother to avoid facing financial difficulties, leading to the murder-suicide. They didn’t know when to Stop.
It’s another parallel, but this time of mother-daughter relationships gone wrong. So unlike the happy demise of the elderly husband and wife who knew when to Stop arguing and went off together into the afterlife.
What I liked about Ep 12:
1) TH’s family relationship. It’s a pity though that his grandma cannot bear to see her own daughter grieving, and that she has no kind words for her own son, Vincent. I liked that poor Uncle Vincent was not totally left out, but received the pork bone from TH.
2) DJ telling TH about meeting Joon Ho. The health of their relationship where TH keeps in touch and meets DJ, telling her when he’s back so that she won’t be worried about him. DJ giving TH a hug on the steps up to her place, without words.
3) Finally Hae An meets So Ra. Like some of you I think they make a good couple. (In Ep 11 we saw that HA noticed Chung Ha in the hospital, but we get no follow up on this. We also did not get a follow up on whether So Ra gave Il Seob info about his ex-gf’s child.)
4) DJ spending time with Seol A. This is the first time she inadvertently befriended a soul before the person died. At least Seol A had a happy day and was not alone before she died. Pity she had to walk into the afterlife on her own.
5) The parallel of DJ confessing to having run away from Joon Ho, and TH admitting that he too had run away instead of entering the hall at Joon Ho’s wake.
6) DJ or Stella/star (or bridge in a Streetcar Name Desire) who gave a galaxy of stars in a globe to Joon Ho, through TH. She will likely act as the bridge to bring together the disparate parties.
7) Through her we also hear the good advice to live life to the full rather than to just stay alive. “If you’re alive, you should live.” We know that TH and possibly HA are not living fully, (another parallel) not realising their potential. HA had been a top cadet and TH had been a doctor.
What I felt was a pity – more regrets, this time from DJ who is asking if she made a difference when she could not resurrect the dead. She does not yet see that just befriending those who come along is a valuable gift that she has given.