Just a quick note before you all go down the rabbit hole….
There are seemingly two mysteries in the romance. Let’s not conflate the two.
The first mystery is the whereabouts of the adult Jung KiHo. The second is the identity of female lead Seo MokHa’s “One True Match” or OTM. Who will be her one-and-only at the end of this drama?
To me, the writer and director just upped their game in this new series. In “Start Up,” the real and imposter Dosan AS WELL AS the female love’s OTM were known by the end of the two episodes during the opening week. The imposter Dosan lost to the real Dosan because of the primordial rule in kdramas that “faint heart never won fair lady.” Although the imposter Dosan wrote the love letters, he didn’t want to have anything to do with her and he handed her off to the real Dosan. It was the real Dosan who pursued the girl.
Now, in this drama, the identity of the adult Jung KiHo should be a no-brainer to us, Bitches. As soon as it was revealed that WooHak suffered a life-changing amnesia in high school, then WooHak was eliminated as KiHo.
Why?
Because the real KiHo remembered to wait in front of that clock at the Old Seoul Station. He obviously had no amnesia.
He went to the meeting place at 8 pm. He must have stood near “the copper plate in the shape of a compass on the ground” that he told MokHa before parting from her on the boat.
He stood at the same exact location each time.
And here.
Then here.
Given his amnesia back in high school, Woohak couldn’t have stood at the Old Seoul Station in the rain as a grown man. That conversation would have been totally erased from his mind.
Then, here.
WooHak wouldn’t be standing at the Old Seoul Station in what seems to be a naval officer’s uniform. The navy is out for him because he gets seasick. It wouldn’t surprised me if KiHo joined the Navy to be able to search for her in the islands.
KiHo isn’t WooHak. It’s BoGyeol.
The first mystery is a head fake. It played tricks with your mind. To me, the second mystery, the boyfriend/husband guessing game, is the more interesting one.
You see, unlike Mr. Smarmy Dimples in “Start Up,” WooHak is actively pursuing Mokha because he was (wrongly) convinced by Mokha that he’s KiHo. Meanwhile, the real KiHo is biding his sweet time. The tables are turned.
Gotta go.
As greater sens of irony:
The reason why we could think Woo-Hak is Hi-Ho (amnesia) is also the reason why it can’t be him. I’m feeling like falling into an abyss of beyond-the-realm writer genius.
I suspect at some point the heroine will mistake Woo Hak for Ki Ho.
Thanks as always @pkml3 for stating the obvious LOL. Of course Woo Hak cannot be Ki Ho, no matter how MH says he reminds her of him. It was clever that Show put the amnesia at the very end of Ep 2, so we forgot that at the end of Ep 1 he couldn’t have forgotten if he’d been waiting at that place in Seoul on and off for years.
Plot twist. Ki Ho is Woo Hak. Before to loose memory, he told his story to his brother Bo Geol. He had an accident in a boat (why he doesn’t stand boats now). After that, Bo Geol continue to go in the place with the clock-and-compass. Maybe a promise he would continue to wait for Mok Ha instead of his brother.
LOL @WE, what a plot twist!!! I’ll get addled headed, bird-brained… Show should add a couple more guys who could be Ki Ho just to up the ante!!!
Yes, @GB. I thought it was very sneaky how the director/screenwriter set it up. It wasn’t done like the flower petal in “Start Up.” You couldn’t miss that petal drifting and landing on Dosan.
But here, it wasn’t obvious because the montage of BoGyeol waiting at the station was buried almost near the end, at (1:13:15) like it was an afterthought. The montage came right after MokHa discovered the shoe of her dead father at the beach, and saw the body of her dead father at a distance. She thought to herself, “You were right, (addressing the absent Ki Ho). ‘If you wish for something, one way or another, it’ll come true one day. And it’ll happen in an unexpected way.'”
She had wished to be rid of her father forever and she got her wish.
Then, in the next scene, Ki Ho was seen waiting for MokHa at the station.
Well, we knew what he was wishing for then, right? He must have been wishing for her to reappear.
Then, after the station montage, we fast-forwarded to the island 15 years later and saw an adult MokHa. And she was discovered by the drone that WooHak was flying.
In a sense then, his wish did come true, one way or the other. Because of his lazy bum/rebellious/copy-cat brother, MokHa reappeared in front of him. And their first meeting was nothing like he would have expected it to be. There was no tearful reunion at the station at 8 pm, and he found her tearfully hugging WooHak, instead of him.
I’m transferring your comment to the Open Thread, @OAL. –pm3
Oh… how interesting!
Now I must confess to buying into the obvious … I fell into the red herring basket! I need to go back and re-watch the first 2 episodes.
But this makes it far more interesting to me. It’s a show that requires careful watching – I was treating the plot too lightly.
@Kate me too I have already rewatched episode two last night. There are clues that it could be either of them. In my defense, I was thinking there was a third man who would come around and maybe so. I am not familiar with the actors and I did not really know who the Male leads were supposed to be.
At first I thought it was just way too coincidenthat she be found by Her friend. Then when I noticed the title of the episode I thought oh maybe. I missed the incongruity of amnesia and waiting for her at the train station.
I am thinking the big clue to who is kiho might have to do with the potato flower. I got a good laugh when she found the potatoes. The all around best food for my ancestors and many others. On a side note potato bread has solved some of my stomach issues! It’s still a very useful food source in today’s day and age.
@Kate and @monmor, you can’t even cheat to find out who he is
I will go online to look up the cast on various websites to determine some mysteries but here the production team faked us out by renaming leads because of the child abuse storyline They are very “sneaky” that way. In reality it adds to the cache of the drama.
On another note, I wish we had seen more of our FL’s castaway moments
I have always been a sucker for those Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson stories of ingenuity in the face of adverse situations(like The Martian and growing potatoes).
The point of my above comment was that we should be all watching out for potato flowers! And perhaps allusions to potatoes. I did not watch startup but I guess there could be a relationship between the above mentioned flower petal and potato flowers in terms of the script writer’s ideas.
@Monmor – I am comforted!
@OAL – thank you. Will follow up.
Agreed re the time spent on the island. I thought that most of the show would be a learning journey based on the island.
Although – thinking about that – it was difficult to progress the wider story there!!
or daffodils. I forget the original reference to the daffodils. I remember it was because she put apotato flour behind her ear. But I forget what the Meaning of putting the daffodil behind her ear was other than that, it was a connection to the singer she was a fan of. And also a connection of course to Her relationship with kkiho.
Daffodil is RJ’s favorite flower symbolizing nobility and grows alone. MH mistakenly used potato flowers instead (flowers are clustered) and this info from KH saved her life on the island. Also can be symbolism of what kind of diva MH will be – which will be different from RJ, more like diva for the masses.
Many contrasts in this show like the trash that wash away to the castaway island are treasures for MH to survive.
@Monmor – yes, potato flowers will be a big clue on KH.
@AOL – I also love survival stories like that and hope to see some snippets of her island life. Potato is so basic it even grows well in Mars!
I rewatched a bit to look for BG’s reactions and either he is hiding it well (why?) or he is not KH. I expected KH would be the happiest person to see MH alive and survive her ordeal and will be the first person to help her – and not just giving her new shoes. And maybe that’s another contrast for the man in her life – BG will be new white sneakers while KH is the old but always beloved pair.
@Janey, even BG is KH, no ID he if would be the OTM. Ep2, WH is close to MH, offers her a home, and TK to him, she can GO to see RJ. A real OK.
@AOL, welcome on the bridge!
About what a Diva is… I like it says Diva and not a K-Pop star.
A Diva is a talentuous singer? I mean…
More than a pop singer, able to sing Opera but sings popular songs instead?
I wonder who are the Diva singers. Is Ailee a Diva?
@WE @Janey, for fun I looked at trusty (well mostly?) Wikipedia about ‘diva’ and it says “Diva is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of diva is closely related to that of prima donna. Wikipedia”
“a celebrated female opera singer.
1)a famous female singer of popular music. ‘a pop diva’
2)a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please (typically used of a woman).”
We sometimes use ‘diva’ in the 2nd sense, making it a derogatory description of a girl/woman.
We find in the beginning that Ran Joo really is a diva in both senses. She sings well, loves the limelight, can be arrogant, and she wants to be called a goddess (even on radio). At the same time she appreciates talent and being acknowledged as a person, an artist and not merely an entertainer/artiste… a ‘thing’ to help make an agency money. That, and Manager Lee Seo Joon’s ability to recognise MH’s talent, made her choose him to be her Agency.
I like @Janey’s idea that the different kinds of flowers depict the kind of diva MH will be compared to Ran Joo. Ran Joo claims to be a self-made woman, needing no help to have reached her pinnacle… and we see that her decline is also lonely, with only 1 assistant by her side (and no more Lee Seo Joon!?) She has become an island, alone, not even maintaining her good singing voice but depends on lip syncing to her own recorded voice of the past.
By contrast MH although a lone girl and stranded on a literal island, returns in the hope of connecting with friends and acquaintances, and not to grab her own things for herself. She finds out that Ran Joo has fallen from her pedestal, and she does the best she can to encourage her by distributing green balloons to help raise RJ’s self esteem. She offers her talent to help her ‘idol’ without asking for anything in return (as yet). She sings not only to escape the situation of her life but in order to give to others.
Ki Ho’s parting words were that she should become a singer so great that no one would be able to touch her. I’d like her to become so famous (and still retain her childlike heart), so that Ki Ho can find her. Or want to be found.
If another person does not turn up to be a possible Ki Ho in the next 3 episodes, he needs to be one of the brothers. But at this stage, who he is, is still open.
BG is KH, that I’m 99.9% sure of.
Will bg/KH get the girl? I hope so.
I thought it was sweet he remembered and found a way to keep his promise of buying new shoes once they reached Seoul together. But also all my kdrama watching has me mumbling ‘nope. Now you’ve given her shoes to leave you with.’
I don’t like a clingy copycat (although the amnesia does offer a plausible reason for his behavior) and the whole “doing the opposite of whatever advice/suggestion/request” shtick can get annoying. Reporter characters usually annoy me too. However, WJ started to grow on me. Maybe it’s the actor?
@GrowingBeautifully(GB),So well said!
Thank you @OAL!!
@birdie, I agree that given the kdrama penchant for pairing up people with their first loves, it’s likely that MH is meant to end up with Ki Ho. Also it’s more likely that BG is KH.
However we remember the Start Up plot style (not so much a twist but the style of the Writer). The guy who spent ‘time’ with the girl at first does not end up with her. That the guy is also relatively more self-serving (as Ji Pyeong was and) as WH is, makes it more likely that he will not end up with the girl.
@GB, symbolic meaning of 2 differents flowers, according to 2 differents divas.
Gosh, awesome. Now I wonder why the green ballons.
Hi @WE, lime-green was Ran Joo’s favourite colour so lime-green balloons ended up being the thing fans brought to Ran Joo’s concerts.
Resubscribing!
@GB I have also not been getting the emails over the last few days for a number of Threads. I had not been having this problem as much previously.
Is there something i’m supposed to do with the word press other than click Confirm.
I am getting them this morning though.
Hi @MM, after trying all kinds of stuff I went back to WordPress, logged in and clicked Manage Subscriptions. For some reason my subscriptions had been removed!!! It was probably a WordPress update that did it. The look of the WordPress looked new and unfamiliar to me.
I decided to check mark all the options to get email and notifications to see what would happen. Now I seem to be getting notifications in email once again. Such a relief!!! 🙂
@monmor, i never thought of potatoes when it comes to Korean cuisine. As someone with Eastern European(Austria/Hungary and Belarus) ancestry I have associated potatoes with hearty European meals. I know potatoes s originated in South America so they’ve found popularity world wide. I never met a potato that I didn’t love.
Green balloons from the days before light sticks for Korean pop music. How awesome!
For some reason, when the actress had the green balloons on her head, she reminded of the frog in “Yumi’s Cells.” Didn’t Yumi and her first boyfriend go to a frog festival?? They wore those frog-eyes headbands.
Yes, I remember the headband eyes and the frog festival. So funny.