My problem with this drama is that it promotes a BOGO (buy-one-get-one) deal on storylines, when I can only buy into one.
On one hand, there’s the quest of Baek YoonYoung (YY) to reset her mom’s life. She’s been eliminating the roadblocks to her mom’s future happiness, namely her high school bullies and worthless husband-to-be. YY has no qualms about blocking her parents’ courtship even if the outcome of her meddling means she won’t be born as their child. She doesn’t mind losing her existence as long as her mom can escape marriage with her dad.
In her own words:
YY: I want to turn back time, Dad. If I could go back to the past, I would go that far. So that I could make her not love you or me. Not being fooled by a person who makes her feel lonely or tricked into having a family. I want her to be happy by herself. So that she will live a long life. I will make her live.
On the other hand, Yoon HaeJoon (HJ) is on a mission to solve the 1987 serial murders and save the residents at the sleepy Woojeong Village.
Their reasons for staying in the year 1987 are antithetical. YY wants to cease existing in the future while HJ wants to avert his early death in 2022. YY has given up on her life, and HJ wants to live on.
As you might expect, it’s HJ’s storyline that interests me more than YY’s. His investigation on the serial murders holds my attention. I can look for clues, analyze motives, and figure out how new information fits in with the rest of the story.
In contrast, YY’s plot annoys me on several levels.
One, her guilt is unreasonable. Look: if her mom indeed committed suicide, then her death isn’t her fault. Her mom wanted to die. (shrug emoji) If her mom was murdered, however, then her death isn’t her fault, but the killer’s. I find it tiresome to watch YY perpetually donning sackcloth and ashes for something she couldn’t have prevented.
Two, her constant tears of regret got old pretty fast. I get that she regrets not doing more to get to know her mom while her mom was alive. Seriously, however, how much do adult children really know about their parents anyway?
YY beats herself up for not paying more attention to her mom’s dreams and wishes. mother. But I would rather that she beat herself up for lacking self-awareness. She’s obviously going through the stages of grief.
Three, her mom SoonAe was unlikable. Not only was SoonAe a doormat, but she was an enabler, too. I didn’t like it in Episode 2 when she didn’t want to report her bullies. And I didn’t like in Episode 3 when she didn’t want to report GMS’ cheating on her essay assignment.
I wrote in my First Impressions that the adult SoonAe had 30 years to raise a big stink about Go Misook’s debut novel but she didn’t. Her silence finally made sense to me after Episode 3, when young SoonAe shielded Go Misook (GMS) from YY’s wrath.
YY was outraged that GMS was taking advantage of her mom SoonAe and passing off SoonAe’s work as hers. She wanted to take action against GMS, but SoonAe stopped her.
YY: (addressing GMS) So this is what you’ve been doing all along? I have my doubts but you’re the same person. Do you even know how to write without anyone’s help? I’ve seen it for six years, but it’s surprising you couldn’t even complete your own essay without someone’s help. If you really think anyone can do it, then you could do it yourself. How can you be so proud even after using someone else’s time and abilities? No, this isn’t being proud. You feel it’s shameful yourself. That’s why you talk about hiding in a place like this. (showing the draft) This kind of thing can’t remain a secret, at least in this place. (talking to her mom SoonAe) Let’s go to the Teacher’s Office.
She grabs SoonAe by the wrist to leave the room. GMS screams. SoonAe stops in her track and takes the draft from YY. She walks back to GMS.
SoonAe: Misook, are you okay?
YY: (stunned)
SoonAe: (turning to YY) This…I’m doing this because I want to. The class will start soon. Go ahead. (turning to GMS) MiSook, let’s go.
@Growing_Beautifully is right to call SoonAe an enabler on two fronts. SoonAe allows the bullies to abuse her and shields GMS from the consequences of her actions. I wouldn’t be surprised if the adult SoonAe were to come to GMS’ defense in the likely event that YY brought up plagiarism charges in the future.
In my book, SoonAe is too stupid to live; I’ve zero patience for her.
Now that I got that off my chest, let’s move on to other notable elements in these episodes.
1. YY’s complicated family relationship
YY is great-niece of Detective Baek Dong Shik but only YY is aware of it. Det. Baek accompanied his nephew Baek HeeSeop (HS) to his first day at school. As we all know, HS is YY’s dad. It must be fated that both of them came as new transferees on the same day.
On a side note: if there’s romance between the two leads, YY and HJ, in the future, then this encounter at the principal’s office is the unofficial first meeting of the families. YY has her father and great-uncle in attendance while HJ has his grandfather.
I thought it was sweet when HS made sure to teach YY a defensive move just before they went on separate ways to their classrooms. He was worried that YY would get bullied.
HS: My dad taught me this. When I entered elementary school, he said if another kid picked on me, I should get a head start like this.
I thought “head start” is a great pun. She literally head-butted him to establish dominance. It’s cool to think that this head-butt was a family tradition, handed down from one Baek generation to another as a form of survival technique.
HS: (continuing) When I graduated, both of my parents already passed away. But this is the one thing I learned, and I’ve been using it very well.
YY: (tearing up again)
HS: (continuing) This is what dads want to teach their kids. So…it’s not like your dad missed it because he wanted to. He probably had reasons.
YY: (silent)
His words must have hit a raw nerve with her. YY’s mom always made excuses for her dad’s absence, and here’s her young dad advising her to be understanding and to cut her dad some slack, totally unaware that he’s referring to himself in the future.
2. Prince Five
HaeJoon’s nickname in school is Prince Five. That’s because his female students determined that he only resembles Prince Charming for brief five second before he starts nagging like a Tyrant.
HJ: What did I tell you to do right after school?
Students: (sighing) Go straight home.
HJ: That’s right. Straight home. Don’t stay out after 10:00 pm. You can’t go to the library to study, either. Just study at home. If you can’t study well, just sleep. Sleep is a good medicine. Mountains and rivers are forbidden, even during the day. So just don’t go. Don’t go anywhere dark and remote. Don’t trust anyone carelessly. Bad people will approach you with a smile. For now, only deal with school, home, you and your friends. Just wait a few months until you’re 20 years old. You’ll have freedom from then onward. And…
Student: Can we just start the class, please?
Indeed, he sounds overbearing and paranoid. But this is because he’s worried about their safety and wellbeing while an unknown serial murderer is in their midst.
3. Go MiSook and Go MinSoo
I mentioned in my First Impressions that this kdrama is very disorganized about establishing family connections of the main characters. In Eps 1 and 2, I was frustrated that the director/writer left out the name of the convicted man. In Ep 3, I begin to suspect that the omission was on purpose because Go MiSook and the convicted man are siblings. Methinks, the director didn’t want to reveal the relationship right away or the writer wanted to preserve the secret a bit longer. At any rate, had I known that they were GMS and the criminal were siblings, then I wouldn’t have given either of them the benefit of the doubt.
But what I find more exasperating is that HJ (and the fans of the writer GMS for that matter) hasn’t connected Go Misook with Go Minsoo.
GMS: Thank you for earlier. Your compliment on my writing assignment
HJ: Oh, I just said it since you wrote well. Nothing to thank me for.
GMS: I was a little shy to show you this assignment. Do you really think I can be a novelist one day?
HJ: Of course. Not too far in the future. You may become very famous. So try your best.
See that? He already knew that GMS would grow up to be a famous murder mystery writer. But I find it shocking how someone who has done extensive research (and he even created a crime wall/murder map at his home) could have missed the connection between GMS, who writes murder stories for a living, and Go Minsoo, who was imprisoned for serial homicides. Surely, Go Minsoo’s criminal file included the names of living family members. After all, once released from prison, he’ll return to live with one of those family members.
To me, this secrecy of GMS and Go Minsoo’s relationship is a major flaw in the script.
It’s implausible that — in this day and age — the public remains oblivious to relationship between a famous MURDER mystery writer and a convicted MURDERER. lol. Knetizens are pros at stalking on the internet. Any reporter worth his salt, or any avid fan of GMS for that matter, would have unearthed her family history, family records, childhood home, educational background, and other particulars. From there, it’s easy to discover that she was raised and living in Woojeong village during the time of the serial murders.
Moreover, the identity of the convicted serial killer isn’t kept secret; it’s public knowledge. Given that the GMS and the murderer share the same last name, and lived in the same village, inquiring minds would have asked whether they were related to each other. Really now. It isn’t that hard to connect the dots.
On a side note: It also bugs me that serial murderer only got a 30-year sentence, and that the community where he committed his crime wasn’t notified of his return to the area. Oh well….
4. Go MiSook’s personality as explained by her brother
I’ll transcribe the subs from Viki. The conversation is revealing.
Brother: I can speak casually since you’re a student. Right? I’m 22 years old.
YY: Oh yeah. But what did you mean by that earlier. That I don’t know Go MiSook’s ways at all?
Brother: You said she threatened you. If you felt that directly, then there’s a high chance that’s not real. It’s just a kind of light test.
In other words, “still water runs deep.” GMS is most dangerous when there’s no telltale sign of her malevolence. When she’s in her threatening mode, she’s merely prodding for weakness in her future target. She doesn’t actually give any warning when she’s ready to strike.
YY: Test?
Brother: You know, seeing which button to press to get a reaction. Trying to figure out your weakness. To see if there are any secret cards to use against you. Until she fully figures out those things, MiSook will never attack. And once she figures them out (signaling with his hand), then that’s the end.
He means that GMS is solely messing around with YY’s brain in the meantime. YY is still an unknown entity to GMS. Unlike SoonAe. GMS already knows what makes SoonAe tick. She already knows that SoonAe is a pushover who’ll do anything for a friend, even giving up her talent.
As the brother explains GMS’ personality, YY remembers her confrontation with GMS earlier. She realizes belatedly that GMS was testing her by deliberately riling her up.
YY: You said she’s your younger sister but should you say these things to me? To someone you just met?
Brother: Because you look like you’re in danger. When you look at one place and rush toward it, you fall into many traps. (slamming YY’s head on the dashboard.
Interestingly, in the epilogue of Ep 4, we see GMS saying the same words to her brother.
In short, having a tunnel vision and acting impulsively prevents the individual from seeing the big picture. HaeJun is the one with a tunnel vision (e.g., focused solely on solving the murder mystery and averting his death), while YoonYoung is the one with impulse control issues (e.g., getting herself into a jam or dangerous situations because she doesn’t think first).
5. The romance between HJ and YY
I’m not feeling it.
Yes, it was sweet that he fed her doughnuts with soy sauce and pretended that it wasn’t his idea. But I’m not feeling their connection. If I were HJ, I would find YY a nuisance.
6. Things to watch out for
a. The lock and padlock
I wonder why HJ asked Baek HeeSeop still had the key with him as if it’s important that he held onto it.
b. HJ’s phone number
He had all the students memorize his phone number 53-2355 and he wrote it down for the new student-teacher. I wonder if this will cause him problems later on.
c. The guitar
It finally showed up. The guitar actually belongs to Beomryong’s father and it was HeeSeop’s first time playing it.
d. GMS’s mother
Her mom’s a doctor in the hospital in town. She was serene when she saw the broken flowerpot at the foyer of their house. This was obviously not Go Minsoo’s first time to attack somebody, and it’s disturbing that she was unfazed about it all.
GMS: Omma.
Mom: Go inside and clean up quietly. And don’t tell anyone.
GMS: Yes.
Mom: (turns away to leave)
No wonder GMS has psychopathic tendencies.
Noteworthy: her mom’s completely different from SoonAe’s mom (and YY’s grandmother) who’s at everybody’s beck and call.
e. the matchbox
HJ was so sure that the matchbox was a significant clue. He wasn’t to know that during that time sending love messages in a matchbox was a popular practice among teenagers.
7. ghostwriting = ghost-murdering
I don’t believe that GMS does the killing herself.
In the same way that she has neither the skill nor the talent to actually write a novel, I don’t think she has the guts to kill someone.
Instead, she gets someone else to do the killing for her while she observes from a distance.
HJ used the term “witnessed.” He asked Go Minsoo if he was aware that somebody had witnessed his crime at the time.
I think the better term here is “observe.” GMS was keenly observing the crime in action so she could gather material for her murder mysteries.
I’ll have to stop here. Bedtime.
Thanks for giving us your take on the Show @pkml3. Although I’m not as bothered about YY and her motives as you, I do agree that she’s operating irrationally. It’s not only HJ but also YY who has tunnel vision in just concentrating on the one goal without considering the wider implications.
I do wonder if YY really understands what she means about wanting her mother to never love her and to be happy alone. She wants to create the unsolvable paradox. On top of that she has not considered what makes for her mother’s happiness. Perhaps her mother is the kind who enjoys being a doormat and is happier with an ungrateful child than without any children at all.
Worse, if mother did not marry the hopeless Hee Sub, she might have married a man who is far more horrible. So YY is operating based on her subjective judgment of what would have been best for her mother… exactly the same mistake that parents make when they control their grown kids ‘for their own good’.
Despite the tedium of YY’s (and Soon Ae’s) arc, I envision that Show intends to merge this with HJ’s plans to out the killer and save lives in the process, and make this a healing drama.
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I’ve been waiting to see if HJ is actually making his murder a certainty. Might it be that it’s because he went back into 1987 and ruffles feathers that he gets targeted to die by age 35. Or, because he is starting to disturb the killer now, he’s making his death more imminent and immediate. If he fails in 1987, he may not even make it back to 2021.
If YY succeeds, she won’t even exist at all, which means she should disappear in 1987 as well.
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I liked the irony of Hee Sub teaching his ‘daughter’ defensive moves while defending her father who would be himself.
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HJ’s advice to only deal with school, home and friends may not end up being wise because it’s in school, home and among family and friends that the crimes get committed. Instead of beware of strangers, it should be strangers, (like the new staff Lee Ju Yong) beware!
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Yes, it does seem like a big plot hole that HJ never found out that Go Min Su is the brother of GMS. I do not see that his not knowing adds anything to the story.
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The fact that 2021 GMS enters the room where her ex-convict brother is and instead of a greeting, starts saying the same words that he had said to YY, seems to indicate that she’s the one with the upper hand. She dictates and he follows. Even in 1987, the way she dismissed him when he came to fetch her from school, shows that though she’s younger, he’s her ‘minion’. Their mother though is also a scary one. Perhaps they are a family of sociopaths or psychopaths: no empathy or sense of guilt?