Thanks my dear @pkml3. Yes we are indeed enjoying the rewatches, reading each other and garnering new thoughts on the show and general knowledge. It’s always a heap of fun doing what we enjoy together. 🥳🥰

Tonight, I have unexpectedly a visitor, therefore I may be late or may not be able to come here in time.

@WE, @FGB, @SD, @FF, @MM in case I’m not back in time, please start without me. I’ll come when I can or I’ll come by to read you later!

I may leave a few comments below based on my own quick rewatch. 😁😇

Hi @PM3, we are certainly enjoying the rewatches. Thank you for letting us have this space.

@GB, please try to join us tonight or leave your comments prior to the rewatch so that we can read and reply. Enjoy hosting.

Hi @WE and @FF!!! I made it back!!!! Had to extricate myself somehow and it was fortunate that the final hosting was at another relative’s home. I’ve barely made it back. Actually I’m sleepy (which was the reason I said I should leave early) but if I’m still awake, then I’m here! If you find me silent for some time, I’m probably ZZZzzzz.

Got my fruits and a drink to relax with now. 🙂

@GB Yes she is beginning to have a concept of repercussions of time travel. I am looking forward to discussing the time worn trope that is So cleverly used in this episode!

Hi GB FF MM SD. 😉

Hi @MM!

HI @WE, @SD,@MM.

I like the neck jerks, clearing of throat, grimaces and heavy sighs of DM. The actor does a good job of subtly conveying annoyance and the way this guy thinks he should be the center of all female attention.

SCENE where Dong Min tells the director that he wants to have Queen In Hyun poisoned to death… This scene will play out again but at a different time after the time warp. So cute… and I only noticed it upon rewatch… it showed that no matter before or after the time warp, Dong Min and the Director were the same.

Supercool way to make us understand that the Time changed: with a different drama script. 😉
Normally, audience should guess everything now, but anyway, the situation will unfold.

@SD, sometimes I do find Dong Min childishly cute probably because the actor is so convincing in his role.

@WE That’s the irony… DM is the psycho who wants to change the script by killing the Queen, while BD is the realist who actually changes history which changes the script in order to save the real Queen!!

@GB: YEAH!! I realise now. Dong Min want to change the script, then the script change. He’s not the cause, but it’s a nice CORRELATION.

I like the split screen where Hui JIn talks to Bong Do, sometimes with a third screen of Hui Jin’s manager. The screens move in slowly as if to pace the audience moods.

Hi @LL, I’m still wondering about the logic of the time travel and why only the leads remember the historical changes.

@WE, I only just noticed the irony myself!!! All down to SJJ’s skill of writing in real plus fake history that’s reflected in real script and the show’s script LOL.

@LL, hi!
Yes, you are right, if we see happy people first… just wait and be worried, because at one point, the more happy they are, the more they will suffer after.

@GB, it’s why rewatch are importants. And as we are more than one, better chances to spot the subtelities. 😉

@MM The actor who plays DM can be so annoying, so petty and at times mean. But he’s the immature type who does not really do big harm to HJ.

Thanks @FF. Just noticed it because of what @WE wrote.

And Oh My!!! our 300 year old BD is driving LOL. He could have accidentally knocked HJ down! He drives by numbers LOL.

What boyfriend can top this… willing to do something corny and to sell his sword to get the girl a car!!! Then she calls him thief LOL. Well he does steal clothes all the time.

His explanation for not having a wallet is so sardonic.

Aack! The time has caught up with me. I have to get to my class (on images in poetry — maybe useful for some future rewatch?)

@GB, @FF I did not catch the contrast between DM’s petulant desire to kill the Queen and the way the Queen survives the assassination attempt until you pointed it out; it went by too quickly. The clear value of a group rewatch.

I will finish the episode when my class is done and may add some additional comments. Otherwise, see you next week.

I think Bong Do has no sense of the value of money in modern time. Sold his family heirloom to buy a car for Hui Jin.

Bong Do is such a sweety, arranging HJ’s skirt for her.

And Hui Jin sadden by the unbelievable time travel story.

I like how she drives circles around BD for some time … he’s the centre of her life. Then she starts to realise that she doesn’t want to lose him.

So she practically forces him to say that he’s been lying to her, he’s a con man who lives in her time and not a man from 300 years ago.

See you @SD!!!

@FF, HJ is still prepared to date BD after she hands him over to the police and he comes out of jail. Girl has it badly for him.

“Think about it, it’s not easy to meet someone you like. Even if you don’t understand why, you are able to really communicate. Even if the other person is a swindler who deserves to die, it’s still better than someone from another era altogether.”

He plays along that it’s a lie to appease her temporarily.

Speaking of thick skin @MM, here’s HJ trying to con our BD again about the uses of a car LOL, as if a car was made in order for couples to make out in!

Oops my comment got lost. I noticed how the music changed while she was driving in Circles to indicate I think Her realization of what it might be like to lose him to time travel. This may be a stretch but driving in circles is a very dressage move

@WE, I like that in this series there’s a repeat of some events so that we can notice and compare, and get more insight.

And true enough, according to HJ’s use of a car, the crew can’t find HJ kissing in the dark car LOL. BD approves the sale of his heirloom Heh!

He says he will come back only for her.
What trigger^s…
… The cringy Joseon Music. ^^^^^^^^

@FF, Yes I think that’s the first time he initiated the kiss, but there was also a kiss in the library. Did he initiate one there? Excuse to rewatch!!!

Quite funny. The scene with the guardian cleaning the street:
We learn the historical drama is on air, but for now, it’s the childhood episodes (what can be as long as 5 episodes in big seaguk).

BD does not know what a date is. LOL

BD manages to fly back to Jejudo and get his clothes!!! They were in Seoul, so he’s really taken on modern life with a vengeance. We assume he returns to Jeju in his time. But the minute he appears, arrows come at him.

Unfortunately the assassin cuts the talisman into two and a time warp takes place. What a powerful talisman!! We seem to go backwards to the time he was supposed to be killed in the library and he wakes up under the care of his retainer, Han Dong.

I really wonder what happened in the 10 days he was unconscious and in the 2 months he cannot remember. SJJ makes a strategic move in not really showing us much. We have to guess from the conversations. It’s a good way of not having to write out every detail of the time warp.

So the confusion here is that his memory is being stabbed in the Hanyang library but he’s found stabbed and wandering around in Jejudo.

It is raining when BD returns to his time, the talisman is sliced into 2 … just when I was wondering if the talisman will disintegrate if wet.

BD is injured, he did not time travel this time because the talisman is damaged?

I noticed she brushed her teeth with a whole different attitude than she did after d m’s kiss

@MM yes, first time she brushed her teeth to get rid of DM’s touch on her lips. This time it was perhaps to relish the memory of BD’s kiss.

@WE I also noted the comment about the children in the first few episodes. The children can be wonderful but I have also dropped shows for that reason. Such a humorously placed comment

@GB, now, W half is when Kang Chul reset the story to make the killer disapear, end of episode 8. Then he erases all events, make it a dream he forget, and take back his life two month before. But it’s very close, and also half of the drama. 😉

@GB, ah yes the similarity with W: destruction of the tablet!

I am thinking what it would be like to hear that. You were charged with treason and then exonerated When you had not even known you were charged with treason. The bewilderment in his eyes Is so well done. At the same time we can tell he is engaging his rational thinking mind

@LL, Yes the impact was great… HJ’s life turned upside down and she could not accept the changes that she could not recall experiencing at first…

I was so curious to remember what happened that I skipped ahead to rewatch.

@FF, @WE must have rewatched ‘W’ more than 4 times.

@GB, besides rewatching W and I think he engraves the whole story in his brain including minute details.

@GB, more than 10 times. ^^
I did also subtitles and changed lines and even an alternative end.
I stopped all that and now it was the past.
But… it was like a trap when I started to have ideas for a season2, the geyser of ideas couldn’t stop. Idea storm during many months, making my life a hell. I couldn’t poop quietly without having an idea (and have something for taking note even in the toilets).

Dear Bro @WE, I love when inspiration comes! 😀 . At this moment I am starting to write a story about how life is here and how much I miss my friends that went away during our Diaspora. Decided to keep a loaded fountain pen and a notebook for ideas at home and to write down my nocturnal dreams.

Man, 32 episodes are loads of inspiration!!! 😀

I think dreams can be a great source of material for creativity.

I fell asleep! Hi @FGB. Missed you! Please add your comments.

Ah so many aspiring writers here on this rewatch team!

It’s a challenge to remember dreams! It takes discipline to gather all bits of info and sort them in some way, so that they can be found and used at the right time.

See you all next week!

A seldom notice the music on a first watch. It is only on the second (or third) watch that I really start to pay attention. The background music when BD gives HJ the car keys has a Brit box vibe (Ms. Marple mysteries, maybe, LOL).

And I loved the comic relief of HJ and SK try to mime out their conversation (though at that point we don’t really need comic relief).

I like the camera’s focus on BD’s eyes when he tries to make sense of things, what exactly is missing and how much. Just before that scene as we watch him wake up I was trying to figure out how the actor manages to be the handsome hero. I have seen Ji Hyun Woo in one other drama (Angry Mom) and in that one he is sort of the antithesis of a hero (except maybe at the end). He projects scholarly vibes in that one and this one also. His physique helps, but I think it is the eyes; cold when he hold the knife to Min Ahm’s throat, bemused when talking to HJ, alert when fighting. Here in the last minutes of this episode, his bewilderment is clear; the director (scriptwriter?) is right to focus on his eyes. You can tell, just from his eyes, that BD realizes something very important is missing in his memory.

@SD. There are many elements that go into the Car gift montage.- Music and how it is filmed. I think there is another connection between the Present and the past.
And that is driving the car in circles -reminiscent of riding a horse in a corral. Maybe that was unintended, but it added to the many elements,for me, in that scene.

Back in Episode 7… well, the second male lead messed up but his heart was in a good place. The second female lead (obnoxious actress) is just a piece of work.

I think the English title might be what I talk about when I am running. A memoir

Oops @MM. I just saw your post. Looks like you did what I did and googled it. It looks like he has a second book on writing, “Novelist as a [maze] Vocation”. I have a bunch of books on writing by famous authors; I may need to add another to my list.

@FGB,
I like how you consider the motives of our exasperating 2ML. Yes, he had good intentions, however he carries them out prematurely, childishly, impulsively too (like our HJ) and gets petty about losing to an ‘extra’. With both HJ and DM being impulsive, and him being a ‘player’ too, it’s good that they broke up and should stay that way.

I thought it an indirect ‘punishment’ for obnoxious actress to end up having to spend time with Dong Min while he rails at being supplanted embarrassingly.

(Side note: I’ll be going back to Sono Onna Jitterbug later today. I shall rewatch Episode 4.)

Dear @SatledDust, I think that the English title is “Novelist as a Vocation”. I am still on it, but what I like so far is that you can see over his proverbial shoulder about how he takes on his craft.

Personally I only open the Word Processor Archive when inspired where he gets in front of several 400 Japanese character sheets everyday for 4-5 hours in the wee hours of morning. He also speaks about timetables, how he does his revisions (several before even presenting it to his first reader: his wife).

He also speaks on how to deal with criticism which being so early I don’t need yet but will become more important over time. A lot about the Process so far, more than about the technicalities of writing. How he preserves his best ideas for long novels that he considers his craft to not dilute them in other publications. And more.

I find it really interesting yet it is my first book on how to write, so I do try to temper my enthusiasm over it.

@FGB, I have a lot of books about writing.
But I’ve read very few!!! “Writing for Emotional Impact”, “No Fear Revision” and Scott Meyer’s PDF series. I started Syd Field “Screenplay” but gave up.
First of all, they’re in English and hard for me to read. Secondly, it takes a long time and the introductions are endless. The author adds tons of stuff. In fact, I’d just like to ask:
Take out all your text, and in place of your chapter, write a short series of tips.

The trouble is, it’s all theoretical knowledge, and it’s almost impossible to apply. After all, creation is not an intellectual act. And even worse, the intellect sabotages the imagination. You can pick up a book on “how to structure a film” with the steps. It’ll just give you an empty shell. Structure depends on story, not the other way around.

I’ve mostly read tips given by screenwriters on the internet, because it’s short. But you have to be careful, because not all advice is good advice. You have to keep a critical mind.
I’ve also given feedback on other people’s writing on a forum. It’s very useful. Seeing all their flaws makes me think: “hey, I might have that problem somewhere in my script too”.
And especially, analyzing SJJ’s “W” screenplay was really helpful. And getting into the habit of thinking by myself about writing, what you put in a script, how.

On a forum, I remember guys whining that they have a “writer’s block”, even though they’ve read tons of books. And when they publish something: it’s badly done. That’s it, they’re stuck in a theoretical thing instead of being free to create. They’re convinced there’s a “right way to do it” and are afraid of doing it wrong –KRIIIIP– Block. 😀

I don’t think there’s such a thing as a writer’s vocation. If someone is passionate about it and wants to do it, then they can do it. But what is it? Imagining a story, being enthusiastic, having lots of ideas. Then render it as well as possible, coherently.
The only thing to do is just create and write it. That’s the best way, the practice. And only once you’ve practiced a lot do you have material to work with. The various theories on writing make sense, and in truth boil down to very little. It comes down to “thinking by yourself”, acquiring certain reflexes, thinking about the meaning you put into a scene.

Here’s an example:
You write a scene in which the characters meet in the morning, have breakfast and talk.
That’s it, you’re done, you’re happy because you feel the scene is alive, the characters are saying funny things.

You put it aside for a few days, then read it again. With the feeling that something’s not right. ^^
Here, you can remember a few tricks, like “start late, end early”. The scene starts with people saying “hello, how are you”, “I’m fine, and you?”.
This is trite and boring, it’s better if the scene starts directly on the main subject. Correction: The scene is shortened at the beginning.
You think about the tip the first time, then after ten times, it’s become a reflex. It’s such a reflex that you write it right without the unnecessary stuff the first time.

Maybe even, in the end, you realize that the dialogue isn’t all that funny, that the scene doesn’t show anything interesting about the characters, or that there’s nothing about the story that’s important. And the final correction is to delete the scene!

SO… Don’t waste too much time on theory and books. Have fun and imagine your story, write down all your ideas, gradually structure them in a way that suits your story, then write it. You can sort out the problems later. Because there will be things to correct anyway. Here’s a quote I like: “Writing is mostly about rewriting”.

Hi @WE. Thanks for your careful description of the two types of screenplay. I appreciate it. I have learned so much from you about screenplay (Not hard since I knew zero before), but hey it’s cool.

And I enjoyed your comments to @FGB about writing. In my professional life I had to write methods sections and results sections for medical journal papers and verify the conclusions were correctly stated (matched the math). So revision was mostly 1) is it correct and 2) does this use the fewest word’s possible as clearly as possible so as to meet the strict word counts (like you can say ‘hospital’, you do not need to say ‘the hospital’, it is still correct). I am in the midst of taking an online class on revision in poetry, because it’s a whole ‘nother thing. Making a poem shorter does not make it better; nor does making it clearer necessarily make it ‘better’. So once I had written a poem I was stuck on good ways to revise it. So far this class has been very helpful and reflects what you have written about above; mainly some revision is what you have not yet included and some is still what is confusing to the reader (and do you want to leave it ambiguous — it’s a poem after all — or not). Anyway, I am just now learning all of this and obviously it is very different from what I have done before. Fun discussion.

@SD, I did it too, powerpoint presentation, need to trim all. Very useful practice when writing screenplay.

Of course, poetry is totally different. There is no point to trim something for better efficiency in this. And about novels, trim can be useful, but a novel allow more content than screenplay, and can be content you don’t show on a screen.

Screenplay contains mostly what we see on screen, but it can have few unfilmables lines. Or saying what you show with an extra-flavor. What I have difficulty to do because of translation in english. It’s a permament battle about make it short and keep feeling, as a page should be an average 1 minute screentime. As I use korean format with notepad, I rather count words. 8000 words should be a 40 minutes episode.

@FGB, as you watched many kdramas or movies, anyway you can have an intuition about creating it. Maybe you prefer to write novels. Then, it depends more on the novels you’ve read.

@GB, it’s important to be open and grateful when someone take time to read my stuff. And as you know, bad luck, back communication or anything, not many people did while it’s for free on internet. Well, I don’t focus that much on that, as I want to end the rewriting as a priority. Just I did an account on twitter.

Two others people read, one doesn’t give feedback but enjoyed. And obviously, it’s already enough, it’s the main point, as I publish for people to enjoy, like they are watching a drama. To find again the awesome feeling to be in W universe with new crazy plot-twists and dramatic “wow!” moments.

The other reader give comments, so I can think about that. And it helped me to make corrections. Sometime massive ones (I edited all the montages to put better keywords about flashback and present time).

But of course, each reader have a different way to read and be hooked, so I don’t have a complete picture. I’d need more opinions for that. This reader like when plot goes fast, action, revelations, sometimes comedy. But I have less comment about emotional scenes.

So it’s very strange, because on some scenes I think they are huge, no comment. And some scenes I think they are good but more common, in a unexpected way the reader like.

Also this reader is easely got by twists and don’t try to guess. If pm3 reads, I suppose she could guess too much. Maybe you are in a middle ground. For now, I don’t have a way to know how it’s predictable or not. And of course, a W sequel should be like the original material: quite unpredictable.

Feedback is something that help to think, re-imagine. It helps to see what I’m unable to see because I’m drowing into that. But I know a scene can be twisted, revisited, I’ve done it many times. But how many scenes left where I miss something better?
Maybe the opinion is right and it’s possible to use it to improve. Maybe it’s right but not precise and there is a problem but no solution to solve it for now.

For example, I think episodes 1 to 3 lack a little something, a more clear direction. And I have now way to fix that. Even after rewriting 38 episodes.
Then coming at episode 3 ending (what should be an episode 1 kdrama episode because my first 13 episodes are shorters, about 25 minutes)… I think the definitive hooking device is triggered. Episode 3 ending is a “wow!” moment. At this point, you die to know what happens next, and so on until the end. 🙂

Also, I remember you found many bad english expressions. Here it’s really a problem for me. I use translator but don’t get the right thing. Again, maybe because it’s how it is in french? I expect the first episodes to have this kind of problem. Maybe later, it’s better, as I made a little progress in english, but mostly the soft I use for translation also made a lot of progress!! 🙂

Last: I’ve the feeling that feedback coming from a screenwriter wouldn’t be so good than ones coming from kdrama audience. Kdrama aren’t written in the same way. And a screenwriter could judge something as a flaw when it’s not. It would need a kdrama screenwriter for that.
I’ve a good example with a scene with exposition on the noze. But it’s very common in kdramas. And this scene save me a lot of time. What’s the point to do it “right” according to a western screenwriter, if I need 3 more scenes for that? I just put a fast flashback montage, and it’s done!
You know that, I could note many flaws in Hospital Playlist, the reasons why I find that boring. But audience who liked the drama doesn’t care!! So, was it so bad? Maybe it’s better like that? Just not something for me.

And as I’m completing Alchemy of Soul currently, I find flaws too. Just I don’t care because I like the drama. But there are many scenes with useless monologues where the characters just say what they are currently doing. LOL! So, just do it! We can see! No need to describe it, the action is on the screen. 🙂

@GB. The situation is not like that. I recap:

6 years ago, I had thousands of ideas to write a sequel to W. I didn’t want to do it because it was too long and required too much work. But I was trapped because the ideas were so powerful. So I had no choice but to do it. Despite the moments of doubt and the difficulties, I was happy doing it.

For a short time, I thought this script could make a real drama. I tried to contact people in Korea. Without success. Then I realized it was absurd. As time went by, there would never be an official sequel to this drama. And anyway, not from anyone outside Korea.

I’ve published this in its final form, with images. This way, the visual screenplay is attractive to read, as if it were a real kdrama. The drama doesn’t have to be filmed, it can be the final product.

I’m my first audience. After all, I write what I’d dream of seeing on screen if a real sequel were produced. And I was satisfied with the result, credible enough to be a real sequel. About that, I often got this thought: “let’s write a drama that can surprise even Song Jae-Jung herself, so she can enjoy the drama like audience like her dramas”.

Then, I wanted to share it with other drama fans who had enjoyed W season 1. So, it became the ultimate goal, as if the drama were broadcast online. I thought fans would be really happy watching/reading a drama that is faithful to the W universe and brings lots of amazing new things.

As it comes from a copyrighted license, there’s no way to offer it to anyone for production (except in Korea). It’s just fan fiction. Only more elaborate than fan fiction, because it’s written like a real kdrama screenplay. The translation into English is the most important thing, as it makes it accessible to the greatest number of people in the world.

So much to think about.. I get inspiration when I am dancing. I thought about The car scene again and thought how it was also dizzying To watch- Much like the Nature of their relationship..

IHM Hyo Sub Who plays the evil state minister has fifty one dramas to his credit. I just counted them. For a while it seemed like every show I watched he was in. He does several, up to five or six, every year in the past few years. A wide range of roles, often evil. When he plays a more benign role I am very suspicious of him.