The thread is open.
Episodes: 16
Start Date: Sat, Jun 17
Where to Watch it: Netflix (Hurray!! We don’t have to wait for subs.)
Network: tvN
Let’s enjoy the show!
37 Comments On “King the Land: Eps 1 & 2 Open Thread”
Comments are closed.
The thread is open.
Episodes: 16
Start Date: Sat, Jun 17
Where to Watch it: Netflix (Hurray!! We don’t have to wait for subs.)
Network: tvN
Let’s enjoy the show!
Comments are closed.
Wow this is early @pkml3! Thanks for the reminder that it starts this Saturday. I didn’t keep the date in mind, and would have missed it.
I’m just going into a rewatch of the last episode of ‘One Day Off’. Such a charming show!
I am so in need of a rom com right now after so many shows about trauma and/or murder! Fingers crossed it’s a fun ride!
BTW After dropping some kdramas that had upset me, I recently watched Love Village and found it surprisingly moving. It’s a cheesy concept but the love confessions are sincere and thoughtful. Something maybe to dabble into while waiting for KTL to premiere!
I look forward to watching this show with other Bitches from my chaise lounge on Shallow Island.
🙂 I forgot that I had this “Open Thread” on queue, @GB.
Kalimera @Packmule3 et al!
So happy to see you all here! 😀
I just watched the Netflix preview and giggled. This looks like it’s going to be a blast of a comedic romance. The comic timing was great!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzV68chDFuE
😂 🥰 🤩 🥳 🤣
On top of Eye Candy Mountain on Shallow Island, enjoying the view towards Shirtless Bay.
Episode 1 had its funny moments—the Baby Shark “nightclub” and the bathroom incident are the two that immediately come to mind—but so far LJH has seemed more like a model than an actor. Much of his screen time in this episode had him dressing, trying on outfits, or being measured for suits. Otherwise he seemed mostly to walk around looking like he had a chip on his shoulder.
I hope his character gets more depth and more extended interactions—in his scenes he mostly seemed to be walking into or out of a room (or parachuting onto a roof), leaving no time for any kind of in-depth conversations. (Maybe that’s the point, though—at this point he doesn’t have much human contact beyond superficial interactions except perhaps with his assistant).
I liked the relationship they set up between the ML and the intern who became his personal secretary. That has some potential.
I was a bit grossed out by the FL’s task in the gym. I was eating dinner at the time!
I am hoping that this first episode is the big scene-setting, establishing episode and then the story will pick up with a pace and start to hook us in.
I didn’t like the bathroom incident as a meet-cute part 2. Slightly gross out comedy – I know it is designed to put the FL in the most embarrassing position but I didn’t like the fact that his first fresh encounter with her wasn’t that fragrant!
I’ve finally watched the first episode. LOL, speak of being caught with one’s pants down!!! Well there was Bora who pee-ed in the street so the literal ‘toilet’ humour crops up again.
Junho looks to die for. If I wanted to satisfy the ‘gawk at Junho in suits’ urge, this Show is it! Yes to the bromance.
Watching the girls go clubbing even at the kiddy playground got me feeling tired. 😮💨 😵💫 😬 🤪 What energy!
Despite nothing much happening, we know that Gu Won is back to wrest the hotel from his half-sister, and that his decision was galvanised by information on a ‘mother’ figure (his own or his step-mother?), Han Mi-So (played by the oft seen Nam Gi-Ae who’s good in all the flawed mother roles).
SHALLOW ISLAND REPORT
Show is still starting and gearing up for more backstory and more humour. It’s a bit over the top, but not in a bad way. It’s probably safe to just hang out in my boat under the Bridge of Tropes, between Shallow and Cyncial Island. I’ll paddle over to whichever side suits my mood depending on the episode!! All like-minded bitches are welcome to join me!
Oh, it just occurred to me to include this. For newcomers, here’s the Shallow Island updated map and description.
https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2022/09/07/bitch-talk-phoenixs-updated-shallow-island-map/
Come over and find your spot!
There are of course BIG parallels with The Red Sleeve…
Chaebol heir and humble hotel intern
He’s grumpy, she’s upbeat
Their meet cute involves her not knowing his identity and chasing him away…
She has a little group of loyal girlfriends. He has some sort of massive disfunction in his wealthy family.
Just watched the first 10 minutes of Ep 2 and this struck me on the head!
I wonder if someone said …Let’s do a modern day rom com (with more com!) version of The Red Sleeve and amp up the idol factor?
Kalispera,
I watched back to back the two episodes and I really liked the start.
We have a mystery, we have a sister who antagonizes her little brother from another mother and we have a romance.
Let us see how that will go…
Between the opening set piece, the sound effects, how heavily stylized everything is – from the car to his mansion in England -I really thought this was based on a webtoon. But they’re actually adapting the series into a webtoon. Regardless, it plays like a cartoon – a little tongue in cheek. I’m here for Shallow Island This is the best handsome man in a well-tailored suit porn since Forever and Ever.
@BethB,
He is lonely. His mother is MIA or deceased and he cannot find any data regarding her identity and his father thinks everything is okay between his family, when in reality, his Noona despises her dongsaeng. Everytime the father says something to him, his sister comes in secret and tells him the opposite. “Don’t come to the house / hotel. It is not yours. It will never be yours, etc.”
He doesn’t feel welcomed to his house. He doesn’t have an loving interaction, hence all those lonely scenes with luxury. He may have material wealth, but he has noone to share it with. He is alone and feels like noone really cares about him.
Hi all,
I found @Good Twin’s comment about cartoonesque qualities helpful for revising my expectations.
Our ML’s English country residence has the proportions of an aristocratic cartoon hero’s home in DC or Marvel.
The look of the show is big and bold.
Loved the depiction of the VIP rooms.
In Episode 2 things begin to warm up a bit.
Loving the Private Secretary, again, in counter snub mode – he will bring lots of comic value.
I also found Yoona with the Tuna very funny!
The pop psychology – isolated ML looking for real connection – also works in this episode.
Is it too much of a stretch for the Tiger t-shirt to be a reference to ‘The Red Sleeve’ and the killer tiger?
I’ll keep an eye out for parallels – they may only be visible at the start of the series.
@Cleo, for both Gu Won and Sa Rang, the hotel has connections to their mums. Gu Won may be looking for his mother, who is supposed to be the real Director of the Hotel(?) but her name (Han Mi Soo) and staff ID are missing from the records, while Sa Rang chose to work in King Hotel because her happy memories with her mum seemed to include the hotel.
Gu Won has some trauma to do with people smiling insincerely in front of him. I like that he stands up for his employees, unlike the snobbish manager and other managers who want the underlings to take the blame and apologise.
Show is clearly giving us the death knell for Sa Rang’s relationship with boyfriend, who has little consideration for her. I can’t believe he didn’t lock the lock but instead threw it away!!! What clearer sign that he had no intention to commit… plus the key fell to the ground and will likely be thrown away too. I like that she walked away when bf kept breaking his word to leave the reunion quickly.
LOL, I liked how quickly Secretary No Sang Shik and Sa Rang got into panmal familiarity. The minute she called him oppa, he was stunned (he thinks he’s attractive to women LOL). And to rub it in she treated Gu Won with absolute formality. 😂
So it’s pretty quickly now, in Ep 2, Gu Won has been struck by Sa Rang’s beauty at the airport. He will start not liking it more and more when she gets too cosy with other guys.
SR dares to ignore GW’s order to take his suitcase (she says her job is not to be the porter LOL) and lets it roll off to hit a man who looks scary. In retaliation for SR and Sec No’s abandoning him to the scary man, GW drives off in his fancy car without them. Heh! So we have entered ‘petty-hit-back’ territory.
We have yet to be shown why GW chooses not to smile. 🙂
Besides the rom-commy entertainment. I guess Show is also highlighting the work, stress and challenges of people in the service industry. The 3 girlfriends are all at the mercy of their customers and not necessarily supported by their managers. Seldom is anyone as fortunate as Sec No who gets away with good-natured impudence.
Just as GW and SR might be getting to warm up a bit with each other, the interview they have to ‘perform’ to please his father and assure the stockholders gets in the way. It’s likely to be fraught since Sister Dearest who wants to overturn all efforts to keep GW on board with the company has doctored the interview questions/script that SR will use. I’m guessing the questions will call up GW’s trauma and cause him to fumble on live TV.
Oh, … and the handsome man in well-tailored 3-piece suits porn just keeps coming along nicely!!
Hey Unnie!
This is true. King Hotel has connections to both their moms.
Gu Won might be left to the Hotel when his mother disappeared and everyone was fake smiling at him because he was pitied, which made him nauseous. On the other hand, Sa Rang cherishes the memories she has with her mom. Their difference is that Gu Won doesn’t remember his Omma or we are not shown if he does yet.
Gu Won is not a spoilt brat. Since he was studying abroad for so long, he has different work culture than the others. The Hotel Lobby Manager should be fired. She is a snob and she wasn’t defending her juniors in front that “Mother of the Nation” Halmeoni who wanted free stay at the hotel.
Sa Rang’s boyfriend had a RED FLAG written on him. He was awful. I am glad SR finally left him. Yes, the lock and key scene was too right for their non existent relationship.
I like Secretary No as well. He really cares for Gu Won and does what is the best for him. The airport scene was amazing… I laughed when GW told them to find another way to go to the Hotel. LOL. He is petty when he is not treated right!
His Noona though is evil. She changed the interview’s questions in order to make him uncomfortable in public…
P.S. Jun Ho is really handsome in well-tailored 3-piece suits!
@Kate – it is all the Boys Over Flowers watching and especially the Japanese version that got me focused on the cartoonesque elements of the drama. In BOF it was the POW 💥 POW every time the ML hit someone. King the Land seems very Batman(y) in parts.
While any watcher of kdramas recognizes SaRang’s name as love, I learned his name- Gu Won – means Salvation. Not that there could be any doubt that these two fall for each other.
@Good Twin,
Thanks to you, Batman was in my mind too… the improbably huge stately home, the English butler with such careful enunciation… the stately home … the dour external demeanour. The sad background.
Even flying in to the first scene…Yes!
The private secretary may take on shades of Robin! We’ll see.
I am also hanging on to some of The Red Sleeve references… I don’t know if I imagined this but I think one of the team – writer/producer/director may have been involved on TRS.
Also what is with Netflix’s refusal to use the word Oppa in their translations? Same with Unnie, Noona and Hyung. The significance of these words in establishing relationships between the characters gets lost in the translation. I guess Netflix’s practice is not to include translator’s notes like you see in Viki.
This may post twice @Good Twin – but I hadn’t picked that up.
Must be to do with the ‘general’ cultural resonance they are aiming for…? Or simply because of the way they format sub-titles.
Hi @Kate, I looked up the writer and director of The Red Sleeve and King the Land, but the names are different. I also looked up See You in My 19th Life to look for overlaps.
The only overlap I was able to find: Jun Ho and Nam Gi are/were in both The Red Sleeve and King the Land.
Jun Ho and Go Ha are/were in both The Red Sleeve and See You in My 19th Life.
I find that a few similar elements between King the Land and See You in My 19th Life are getting me confused when I write about each show… I keep checking that I’m not thinking of the wrong scenes or protagonists!! LOL.
These Shows both have:
ML with trauma and who are mostly unsmiling and relatively alone
FL working with them in official capacity
ML with mother issues and a hotel that’s connected with mum
ML whose claim to be director of the hotel is being challenged by a female family member
ML with fathers who are problematic, but who want them to run the hotel/take over the company
ML with only 1 good male friend/bromance
FL with good friend(s) or friend
ML stands up for their employees against rude/unfair treatment
🙂
@GB – this is great and I can absolutely see why it is somewhat confusing!
I plan to watch ‘See you in my 19th Life’ too – may give it a little time so I don’t get mixed up! LOL
Thank you for, kindly, looking into the connection between TRS and KTL… I do wonder if I read something somewhere… but it may be a mis-remembering.
One thing is for sure … this has the look of a very expensive production.
Junho was approached, apparently, with around 100 script offers after TRS.
I find this reassuring. He must have chosen carefully based on the quality of the project.
Unless – he was swayed by the desire to work with Yoona. He and his 2pm band mates all seem to like her a lot.
@GrowingBeautifully, I’m grateful to learn I’m not the only one struggling to keep separate the characters, settings, and plots of King the Land and See You in My 19th Life. And your remark about well-tailored-three-piece-suit porn is so on point! I am certainly enjoying the view from Shallow Island. Maybe we can get @Phoenix to add Three-piece-suit Pavilion to the map.
Howdy! 👋🏻
I’ll join @GB, @Welmaris, @Fern and girlfriend @Phoenix in Shallow Island definitely for Junho. 🥰
Actually I’ve been staying there sipping my pina colada since episode 1. 😍
Can I replace Yoona too when he stares at her like that? 🤣
Stand in line, @agdr03…!
😂😂😂
@Welmaris, now THAT’s an idea to second loudly!! @Phoenix, if you see this and have the time, please add that 3-Piece-Suit Pavilion… maybe it should house a catwalk where our handsomest and most well-dressed stride back and forth in well tailored suits. 😛 🤭 😂
Did anyone else notice that the FL’s friend who is the stewardess was also a stewardess recently on Love to Hate You? (At least the uniform is different!) In this role she also seems like she will be swayed by a man who exhibits gallantry. I’m wondering if this is some kind of Easter egg–and, if so, if there will be other EEs and references to other kdramas (tiger shirt/tiger as someone else mentioned). The other friend played a doting mother in Under the Queen’s Umbrella–but connecting her to that show/character might be stretching it a bit because she was a bit dipsy in that one and seems more responsible in this one.
I’m really having a hard time keeping this show differentiated from SYIMNL so I think I’m going to have to drop one for the time being and watch the other once it is finished. But which one?? I really can’t decide.
We have Goo Won as Cinderella, and his duplicitous unnie is the ugly stepsister, bent on keeping her brother oppressed and unsuccessful. She may be the primary reason Goo Won distrusts insincere cheerfulness. In front of others she acts as if she has his best interests at heart, but works to undermine him, and to his face bares her fangs and unsheathes her claws. She probably resents him for having been born and brought into the family to be raised, especially since Goo Won seems to have had a good relationship with the mother who raised him. That all records of Goo Won’s birth mother have vanished may have been Sister Dearest’s doing.
@BethB – ues I did. I wonder how she felt about being repeat cast in that type of role!!
@Welmaris – the sister asked him for two copies of his family register – ostensibly to register him as an employee – but I wonder if we will hear/see something about that family register again.