Here’s the thread, as requested by our resident Divo, @WEnchanteur.
I’ll chime in later to give my two cents on the one-true-pair (OTP). I’m sure the lurkers from “Start Up”– the haters and fans of this blog, alike — are waiting to see what I have to say on the male lead’s identity because I bucked the trend early and declared I was on Team Geek Knitter, and not that Team Smarmy aka “Good” Guy.
Link: Start-Up: Team “Good Boy” or Team “Geek”
FYI. The screenwriter as we know is Park Hye Run. She wrote “Pinocchio” (2014), “While You Were Sleeping” (2017), and “Start-Up” (2020).
The director is familiar to us, too. He’s Oh Choong Hwan. He collaborated with Ms. Park on “While You Were Sleeping” and “Start-Up.” He also did “Hotel Del Luna” with the Hong screenwriter duo. Both “Start-Up” and “Hotel Del Luna” were scrutinized extensively in this blog.
@birdie007, you commented on another thread —
I’ve seen the first episode of Castaway Diva and I’m excited about it. However, I just realized it’s from the same writer as Start up and the comments on MDL seem to hint there will be some mystery as to who the male will be as the official OTP. I will watch episode 2 tonight and see if I can find a hint (like the feather in episode 1 of start up) as to who our “winner” will be. Hopefully it will be fun to uncover and not tedious wading through fan girls of a specific actor/character to find intelligent commentary.
No. I don’t think the hint in “Castaway Diva” was a drifting petal this time. (By the way, the feather is from “Forrest Gump”). I think the director used something less obvious….
However, the director DID use the same technique of floating something in the sky to connect the past and the present moments. He used the drone.
The director also used the same face-to-palm “greeting.”
From “Start-Up.”
From “Castaway Diva.”
😂 Let the sleuthing fangirls draw their conclusions from there.
Let’s enjoy the show!
Thanks @pkml3! I’m having a fun dive into the show and into @WE’s great write-up on the first 2 episodes (he provided a link on the WAWW in Nov thread).
I didn’t give it enough attention on first watch but now with @WE’s help, see Easter Eggs and that much planning and thought went into the making of many scenes.
We have two mysteries instead of one here:
– Find the OTP.
– And find who is Ki Ho now!
I copy again the scenes breakdown of first half episode 1:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dNEvluNHyVvCI35KixH3n8zcKg3QC8f9A79Llv1m-Co/edit?usp=sharing
My goal here is to find the key of the writer mastering at creating powerful emotional scenes, able to move deeply the audience, as soon as episode 1.
Other infos we found:
————-
High chances Yoon Ran Joo is the mother of Mok Ha.
More than one clue, starting it’s said she comes from the same village of the island.
End of episode 2: the lyrics of the song.
————-
About who is Ki Ho. Many clues it’s Bo Geol. (would need a recap)
————-
But while rewatching episode 2… I found this could be Woo Hak for valid reasons.
I found that while trying to understand what is the family the two brothers live with.
Hypothese 1:
The mother of Ki Ho quit her husband, the policeman Jung Bong Wan.
She’s probably Song Ha Jung.
For a reason I don’t know, Ki Ho goes on the island with the father.
About the other brother, he goes with his mother.
The mother finds a new man: Kang Sang Doo.
Hypothese 2:
Quite the same, except:
The mother of Ki Ho quit when Ki Ho is a new born.
One year later, she give birth to the son she have with Kang Sang Doo.
After the tragic events 15 years ago, Ki Ho escape from his father.
He goes to live with his mother… Song Ha Jung.
And they change the name of Ki Ho, so he can’t be find by his father.
Until now, I was thinking Bo Geol is Ki Ho, but I’m not sure anymore.
For that to work, it needs Bo Geol to be the older son.
However, Ep2, 38:45, Woo Hak says he’s older of one year than Bo Geol.
And two times in the episode, he says Mok Ha and him have the same age.
So it makes Woo Hak a valid person to be Ki Ho.
But maybe it’s one more red herring?
And we’ll learn later that Ki Ho was older of one year than Mok Ha at school?
And we don’t know why Woo Hak lose his memory.
———-
About aquarium: Ki Ho break an aquarium at the end of episode 1.
Also a scene with Ki Ho voice-over, saying people staying in a aquarium becomes sad, mad or crumble (well, I don’t remember the exact words)… and during this time, the director make a shot of Ki Ho’s father, looking like he’s in a aquarium.
We really have a dream team on this drama, writer + director.
@GB, nice to add colors, more easy to see where you comment.
As there is the scene header, it would be possible to make a transcript. Retro-engeniring of the screenplay, with descriptions and dialogues. But that wasn’t my goal to note everything. Only what’s trigger emotion and how. 😉
@GB, as I read your comments on the doc, it turns out you find yourself the most easter-eggs and additionals foreshadowing and correlations.
For example, scenes 8 and 9, the dialogue about the ship and capsize.
Often, a script have additionals lines, or lines depending on the situation. It’s quite normal, everything can’t be linked, it needs some basic speaking, or give information. But I know what it is when we have this kind of hyperlinks. Just I see it when it happens in my own screenplay. When this kind of line take dominance, there is a strong cohesion. And we see the script of Castaway Diva is dense about that. There isn’t a lot of waste.
I’m thinking about episode 2, beginning, discussion in the morning in the familly. We get a random line from Bo Geol, his brother steals and wears his underpants! But I’m sure there is a meaning in this. The information they are close about size and both of them could be Ki Ho. Are also a way to say his brother steals what is intimate from him. Could it apply to woman and love too?
Correction of my first post, I put the wrong word! Read: YOUNGER.
“And we’ll learn later that Ki Ho was younger of one year than Mok Ha at school?”
@WE and @GB, I enjoyed reading your notes and comments. So much attention to detail! I was impressed by the first two episodes, and can’t wait for the next. I also think that Bo Geol is Ki Ho, but it is too early to tell. I will just sit back, enjoy the show, and trust the writer.
About the discret “hint” of who is OTP.
Well, not so discret if it’s that:
———————–
The writer use something symbolic to say that, and enhance the relationship:
THE SHOES.
Before they go on the boat, Ki Ho gives shoes to Mok Ha.
And say “when we step ashore, I’ll buy you shoes”.
During all the time Mok Ha is on the island, she keep the shoes Ki Ho gave her.
When Mok Ha is rescued from the island and put a step on the land:
Bo Geol bought her a pair of white shoes.
She removes the pair Ki Ho gave her.
And Bo Geol help her to put on the new shoes.
It’s one of the clues about Ki Ho is Bo Geol.
In any way, she never stop to wear Ki Ho shoes.
Note: In case I’m wrong.
I still think about the symbol of the shoes could be a truth.
So, if Woo Hak is Ki Ho, nevertheless, Male Lead here should be Bo Geol.
Then, the shoes track Wok Ha’s love, not Ki Ho.
And, as she changes shoes, she changes man.
Such a problem, because we can take that in both situations.
——————————-
Other clues about Ki Ho as Bo Geol.
– He seems so sure to say Wook Ha “you are not Ki Ho”.
– We see in the montage before the clock (end episode 1), he removes his glasses, no need to wear some anymore?
– He thinks about Ran Joo as a singer in his producer team (when everyone forgot her).
– He works in the montage room at TV.
– Often facial expression. Like is hiding something or feel guilty or remember.
– Looks like he knows it’s Wok Ha singing, end of ep2???
– Plus that………
Title of episode 2: “fate or chance”.
With a bit of logic I can imagine this: Ki Ho knows Mok Ha was lost in the sea. But he can’t believe she’s dead. It’s why he subscribe in the eco-team cleaning beach of various islands, including the ones where nobody live. So, it’s not by chance they find her 15 years later. We can say it’s fate?
Ep2, 02:40. In their house.
Woo Hak says to Bo Geol: “you’re volunteering today”
It’s Bo Geol subscribing in the Eco-Team. We even learn Woo Hak doesn’t do that and doesn’t like to go on boats or gets dirty by cleaning (and vomits on the boat). So, if he finds Mok Ha, it’s by Chance.
Ep2, 10:00. On the boat.
Woo Hak plays with his smartphone and says Mok Ha is orphan. The director do an insistent shot on Bo Geol face when he hears that. As if “it’s not really that, I know the truth about her” or he remembers her.
—————————-
Clues Wok Haa is Ki Ho.
A lot.
– Of course the age.
– The fact he is amnesic. So why he doesn’t know he’s Ki Ho.
– He wears glasses, but we see he often don’t wear them too.
– Wok Ha says to him he’s similar to Ki Ho about personnality.
And I forgot to say, anyway, Wok Ha keep the old shoes as a souvenir.
AarrGGaaaAGGAAAAAA, we can say everything and its opposite. WHAT A HELL!!!
We need Packmule3 on the bridge!!!
@Snow Flower. Hi, even we get many information, the writer play with us well. I think I should continue to focus on screenplay quality and emotion, instead of playing the guessing game.
@WE,
End of Episode 1 – we see a KH who waits at the spot where MH was supposed to meet Lee Seo Joon changing from the 16-year old, to perhaps a 19-year old?… and then we don’t get to see the adult version’s face as he stands with umbrella in the rain. The last view of him is in uniform with a briefcase, standing in the snow. (His calm bearing seems to make him appear similar to Bok Geol).
We get a nice transition to a sunny day that turns into a rainy morning on the island where an adult MH wakes up. (We hear what sounds like the ‘Canon in D’ as she sets up umbrellas to catch rain water for drinking water. It seems to be a running background OST).
Good point about the Woo Hak stealing or wanting to share what is Bok Geol’s.
Episode 2 – Coincidence vs Fate
The emphasis is on the brothers. The first sign we see is ‘Brothers Salon’. The next sign or banner we read is that their 3rd floor is for rent. Bok Geol wants to get away from sharing a room with his brother by taking the rooftop room. Woo Hak later claims he has separation anxiety and won’t let his brother separate himself from him. (He does not want to be an island.) Later we find out that he even works in the same place as his brother.
Bok Geol’s mum, Song Ha Jung, says to Woo Hak: “You ran out of things to copy, so you bought the same underwear?”
For some strange reason, Woo Hak is copying his brother, but it should be that the younger brother copies the older one. Not in this case. Woo Hak, the older brother, is the one who wants to stick close to Bok Geol.
In their repartee with their parents, Woo Hak calls mum ‘Omorni’ (more formal Mother), but he calls his father ‘Ah-pa’ (Dad). Bok Geol protests when dad says Woo Hak should move up to the rooftop with Bok Geol, calling him “Ahborjie” (more formal Father).
So, is Kang Woo Hak much closer to his dad than to his mum? Is Bok Geol the more sedate, serious one who prefers to be formal?
Woo Hak is so sticky with BG that he even insists on going volunteering (beach cleaning of an island) with him, although he gets seasick and hates getting dirty. So the added mystery is the strange cloying relationship of the brothers in reverse. Usually it’s the younger one who bothers the older one by following him about. But the older Woo Hak is the clingy one.
OMG! How fun! I watched the first 2 episodes and definitely was emotionally engaged – great acting by the teenagers, well casted (young Mok-ha was also a young sister of Suzy in Start Up, she looks a lot like Park Eun Bin!)
I love Start Up and will keep an eye on writing/story/trope similarities. And the OTP… hmmm. This is why I love this blog! Will read @Wenchanteur’s posts in a bit.
Btw, I’ve always thought Chae Jong Hyeop has similar looks of Nam Joo Hyuk. I liked his acting In Sisyphus so I was hoping he is the ML on this show (before even knowing the storyline and before watching the eps). Noticed his hair style looked like Dosani when the petal fell. Hahaha!
Hope I can join you all on the castaway journey! Happy November, bitches!!!
Based on how this Writer and Director team chose the more earnest, serious guy to be the boyfriend in Start Up, it’s likely that BG is the chosen one. However I’m in it for other revelations and ultimately it’s whomever the girl likes who’ll get my vote.
@Janey, you climb on the bridge. 😉
Yeah, he’s the Sisyphus guy playing loto.
@GB, complicated about familiar/formal calling. Could it be things like a Son comes from another mother or father?
Brother copycat: another strange theme creating more mystery… 🤔
Hi @Janey! It’s been too long. You were the one who got the Start Up Rewatch going. I’m glad if you can join us for a another show, that happens to be similar to Start Up.
@GB unnie, good times!!.Hopefully I can make the time to sustain, it’s also 12 eps and the weekly drops help with the pacing. I also have vacation coming up so I think I can do it. Just like the good old days!!!
About brother copycat, maybe it’s not a mystery.
If I have to think: how an amnesiac character who remember nothing after he quits high-school would be written in a consistent way?
– Imitation: His lack of identity, he needs a model, someone to root with, so it’s his brother. It’s why the relationship goes in the inverted sens.
– Separation: His fear of separation. We can say he’s separated with himself first. In case he’s Ki Ho, he have an heartbreaking separation in the past he forgot (about Wok Ha). He forgot but it’s maybe printed deep in his soul.
@Janey, @WE, @Snow Flower,
One of the similarities between Woo Hak and Start Up’s Ji Pyeong is that they were both more self-centred than others’ centred. They may have done nice things, but often because it was self-serving.
The chosen guy was the one who was more truly generous.
I was thinking that if Woo Hak were KH, he would surely have recognised his own hand-writing on that memo paper that MH found in KH’s abandoned home. But like I said, it doesn’t matter who KH is, only whom MH loves, who’ll be the chosen guy.
For me, there is no second contender here, same like start up. Dosan always be the male lead there..
just hate it when second male lead fans is hyping him too much, until we Cant enjoying the show to the fullest lol.
Ok lets talk about castaway diva.
The man who’s waiting for mokha in the same place mokha promised to meet ranjoo manager, was once seen wearing navy uniform, ofcourse he wont have problem like seasick, but we saw woohak got seasick. Bo goel isn’t.
The characteristic of woohak kinda childlike, “even his age is older than bogeol” he keep following bogeol like little brother.
Bogeol is the one who mentioned ranjoo to appear on their show. This is wont be random, he looks serious about it.
So far my gut feeling said in order to hide kiho from his abusive dad..
His mom tried to hide his identity by switching his identity with his little bro woohak.
They have mention woohak was once losing his childhood memories. “Maybe” something bad happened to him too related to kiho dad or something else.
@WE, good point about the copy cat syndrome. I thought he was really strangely overboard in following his brother about now that they are such grown men. Perhaps he needed to find his identity by copying BG first.
However there’s a contradiction in how he refuses to do what BG wants or suggests. He wants to do what his brother does (more or less) but not what his brother says. BG refused to give his opinion saying that WH would not listen to him anyway, but WH said to himself that BG never said anything worth listening to. But this is false. He obviously needed his brother, took his brother’s stuff, etc but seems to resent it as well. (Does that sound familiar?)
Hi @Lovebangwon,
Yes, good point about that uniform. I was wondering if it was a navy uniform… then surely, WH cannot be KH.
Although we know in kdramas, the childhood friend/sweetheart is the end game… in real life, just because someone is Ki Ho, does not make him the chosen guy.
I’m glad it’s only 12 episodes. A shorter time to wait for the denouement.
With the montage of Kiho waiting at the station for years, I do not think he had amnesia. If BG is Kiho, he would be more concerned about MH.
If WH is Kiho , why did he not recognize his hand-writing as @GB noted? So maybe KH is neither of the brothers and just a red-herring to put some mystery and twist to the story. Like something that will be irrelevant in the end like who is Min Chae’s dad in 2521! LOL!
BOOM! @Lovebangwon and @Janey smash with two irrefutable proofs!!
Navy uniform + Waiting in the place after high-school days.
@GB bonus: manual writing of the note not recognized.
Maybe Ki Ho isn’t one of them? Let’s think about a tragic plot:
Ki Ho died because of Bo Geol. It’s why he feels guilty.
@GB yes just like start up, dalmi end up with dosan. Who isnt her childhood friend
But in castaway diva im sure even if they dont end up together or there is no romance here. I believe kiho will always have a special place in mokha heart.
But the way writer writing their story im sure there is love line here 🤣 their childhood memories leaving deep emotions between two of them. Its so different from start up drama, they only friend through letters.
But mokha kiho having hardships together not only letters.
@wenchantur
Esp the back side of the actor so much a like chae jong hyeop aka ki ho. The model figure. Esp when he is wearing navy uniform
N actor aka woohak so thin in my opinion..
I kind of wish a kdrama would dare to do something different for their loveline… like, the girl ends up with a different person from her childhood connection/first love and is totally without regrets. Or given that there are two guys, still there is no love triangle at all!
I was wondering when Ki Ho would have reported his father for abuse. His father had to leave the police force, therefore it was pretty soon after he recovered from the brutal beating. That would mean that Ki Ho had gone to Seoul as a 17-year old, and been waiting at that spot for Mok Ha. The only way he’d have been able to go to Seoul is his father had already lost custody of him.
I’d like to know how he survived on his own, and whether he did find is mother and of course if he could be Bok Geol.
Plot-holes on the island.
I noticed that the survival situation was somewhat unrealistic.
– The heroine looks for food rather than water first.
Other people report other inconsistencies:
– The fact that she keeps the same T-shirt without it being damaged.
– And few other points.
But above all, this situation is not in-depth, and told shortly.
Even if we can hope for a few flashbacks later on.
– We don’t feel the difficulty of surviving like this.
Moreover, the director creates an idyllic shot of her shack, and its field of umbrellas. Like a dream world.
There’s also a line in episode 2 referencing the movie “Cast Away”, which is based on the hardships of life as a castaway. The guy even goes half-mad in less than five years. The screenwriter knows what a realistic survival story is!
But she doesn’t do it that way. So, obviously, the screenwriter knows what she’s doing, and so does the director, and it’s on purpose that they’ve painted a quick, enchanting portrait of Mok Ha’s life on the island. There’s an intention behind it. And I wonder what it is.
– I can easily accept that Mok Ha has a good chance of survival. She comes from a small village on an island, is used to fishing and nature.
– The survival situation on the island doesn’t matter in the drama. What matters is the in-and-out. 15 years later, so the world has changed around her.
– Should we add more suffering to Mok Ha? Or show that she’s happier even so. I’m thinking of a liberating situation: she’s finally escaped her father. So whatever she experiences now is bound to be better. That’s why she doesn’t go mad from loneliness and lives peacefully on this island. Here is what I think is the main intention.
– The unrealistic detail of the intact T-shirt is anecdotal. It’s to show that she’s remained the same psychologically after 15 years.
– And of course, the abundance of objects from pollution. A mystery in episode 1, but making the connection with beach pollution in episode 2.
Good catch @WE!! Yes, all the stuff that made MH’s life more endurable on the island by herself were washed up articles from boats. The detritus of many passing ships, that Bok Geol was volunteering to collect.
I assume that MH might have got hold of washed up clothes as well because she’s wearing shorts when before she was in overlarge long pants.
Rather than focusing on MH’s sufferings, Show wants us to see her dogged survivor instincts, determination, and ability to take care of herself, coupled with her persistently hopeful, positive attitude of constantly fixing the SOS on the beach.
We find that unlike the impression we had received in the beginning, of MH as giddy fan-girl or frightened child, MH is not shallow or flighty or one to feel sorry for herself. She retained the strength of the girl who reported her dad to the police. If she lacked anything (as Ki Ho had complained once) it was negativity, and perhaps the maturity of an adult.
But her childlikeness rather than cynicism in insisting on welcoming her ‘fallen’ idol Ran Joo, with many green balloons, together with her helping Ran Joo, will be the winning combination to save Ran Joo and help herself.
Transferring @OldAmericanLady’s comment here. –pm3
************
@packmule3, Just acomment on your parenthetical reference to the Disney streamer. I am very disappointed in their K Drama content. Apart from Snowdrop, there isnot much to see 7nless the Marvel Universe is your thing. 8’ll be watchingThe Mzrvels when it airs to see how Park Seo-joon does. We keep it because my husband watches series like Ahsoka but it a waste for me. Apple had Pachink9 but didn’t cover the entire book so basically I was disappointed. So my strategy is to rent streamers that have large ASian drama libraries like Netflix, Amazon and Viki. Disney and Apple are very limited so we keep them because my husband is a viewer. And with streaming I find that I don’t watch HBO or Showtime like I used to. It amazes me that viewing hasbevome so specialized.
Right now I am enjoying Castaway Diva although at present I can’t seem to view our FL as a diva(in the obnoxious sense) and I hope she’s not going to become one. The drama uses child abuse as a unifying element and I wonder if it is prevalent in South Korea. One thing that I learned in my career in criminal justice and c social welfare is that one country’# parenting practices cN be construed as child abuse in another. It is also like corpora o punishment in schools. I was appalled when I became friends with some teachers from Pennsylvania who owned paddles for routine disciplinary spankings there in the 1980’s. And that was in an. elementary school.But watching dramas from other countries definitely enlightens based on cultural differences. That’s why I am no longer surprised when I learn if accounts of horrors elsewhere-cultural differences prevail, just as other countries think the USA is 4iddled with guns.
Same here, @OAL.
I’ve given up on Disney+ and AppleTV. I didn’t know that AppleTV carried Korean drama, to be honest. But just found out that our cable offers 150+ channels. Goodness! We’ve been paying for it all these years, and I probably used about 4 channels for news. But my husband uses it for sports, reruns, and detective shows.
Well, the young Mokha wasn’t a full-blown diva in school. She couldn’t, given her family situation. But I can see how she could become high-maintenance, temperamental, demanding like a diva, if she wasn’t tethered to reality. But since she’s the main lead, I don’t think the screenwriter will turn her into a real unlikeable diva, the narcissistic type.
Loving the discussions of this show and re-watching the first two episodes properly now to catch all the detail…
I am again struck by the young actor who plays Jung Ki Ho… such a poignant and strong performance. I remember being really sad to lose him as we moved to the later years of the plot. Re-watching now, I am again enjoying and moved by that young character and the way he depicts him – with quiet stoicism and determination. Lovely comedy touches, too, opposite the gifted young performer who plays Mok Ha as a schoolgirl.
The young actor Moon Woo Jin – has played the young version of so many adult characters in, many well-known, dramas including The King the Eternal Monarch and What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. I thought I recognised him from WWwSK because the young version of the ML has a traumatic experience which the young actor played so well. One to watch – of course!
@kate, I saw this about the young actor Moon Woo Jin. He acted so well. Hope the link works.
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/netizens-shocked-child-actor-moon-woo-jin-grown-new-role-kdrama-castaway-diva/
It does and thank you @Janey!
I enjoyed reading this and seeing he is getting lots of appreciation on-line!
@WE,
I’m not sure how much more of island life we will see but I was surprised at how little survival hardships we were shown. Maybe because they wanted us to feel that surviving while being raised by her father was the harsher environment.
I said in an earlier comment somewhere that now I think the story is more about a diva (someone who had an actual heyday as specified by the producers) that has been cast aside from the public + the girl who was a castaway on an island and whatever kind of shenanigans and sham they come up with going forward. I really hope this doesn’t turn into some mili vanilli fiasco. Not the island show I was expecting but still interested. Mostly curious about the manager situation and how her fall from grace came to be at the moment.
Aahhh… I see I was responding to @WE on the other thread but the ‘diva’ conversation started here LOL. Well if anyone cares to read. I’ve copy-pasted something from Wikipedia on what a ‘diva’ is and given my 2-cents on
https://bitchesoverdramas.com/2023/11/02/castaway-diva-eps-1-2-a-quick-note-on-kiho/#comment-109624
@birdie007, I agree about the island hardships. That is deliberately not the focus for this Show. We are to observe that MH is a resilient, positive spirit. That apart from her father, she is unoppressed and able to take care of herself, and has the determination to reach her goals, even if they are the goals of a 16-year old.
Instead of a Mili Vanilli situation, I’d love for RJ to be the promoter of MH and to sing together with her, sharing the stage, but giving MH the credit for the better voice.
Is there agreement on everyone thinking RJ will be MH mom. Maybe aunt??
I’m actually hoping the parents raising BG won’t be his real mom. I can never accept a mother abandoning her child. Especially to leave him in the hands of an abuser (yes, I know maybe she wasn’t aware. Still)
There are a lot of things I can note and recognize in this drama, concerning the scenario mechanics. In the first 10 minutes alone.
Mok Ha is looking for a phone to receive Ran Joo’s call.
First of all, we’re not told why, to get us hooked and into the tension of the scene. And maybe to make us forget a plot-hole, which we can’t detect at this point: but when we know Mok Ha’s life in more detail, it’s almost impossible that she forgot to have a working smartphone.
This kind of plot hole by omission sometimes flies under the radar. However, the screenwriter realized this. And since she imperatively needs this “smartphone situation”, she has to fix it. However, she doesn’t have time for a long explanation or flashback.
03:25, the fix:
MOK HA: (whines) how could I forget to charge it today.
It’s little and short, and not wholly convincing. But how else to do it, without further disrupting the narrative?
07:10, The two girls talk about Ki Ho and get angry about him.
FRIEND: Ki Ho was a runaway, now he’s only interested in money.
The screenwriter manages to place this line naturally in the flow of the dialogue, and certainly it was on her checklist of things to expose in the scene.
On further consideration, it’s an under-the-nose expository line. Indeed, we can assume that everyone in the school knows this, including Mok Ha. So why tell her something she already knows? It’s a line for the audience. A trick often dismissed as clumsy, but made sufficiently invisible here. And the audience doesn’t pay much attention to this kind of detail.
07:40, GB had pointed this out on my doc, and I add the beginning of the sentence, also part of the lexical field of sea travel:
MOK HA: I was about to become a diva, I was about to weigh anchor and set sail when… wooo, that good-for-nothing nutcase.
FRIEND: He capsized your boat.
It’s all part of the theme, and a bit of foreshadowing. The expression “set sail” can also be taken literally, since she’ll have to leave her island to go to Seoul.
The screenwriter may have been inspired to come up with this line when she first wrote it, or the idea may already have been noted in her outline. It could also be a correction made while revising the script.
The friend is an extra. Her role is to get the heroine talking, indirectly to let us know who the heroine is and what she wants, to do a bit of exposition. The scriptwriter adds a little life to the character to make her exist or be emotionally involved.
@Birdie, I hope there will be flashbacks to the island.
Something important is missing, and I understood it when I saw episode 2, when someone says that Mok Ha knows all Ran Joo’s songs by heart. Yes, that’s true when she was 16, but after 15 years on an island?
I had the idea that in episode 1, the moment on the island should have had at least this: When Mok Ha fixes her distress signal on the beach or walks through the rocks: she sings a Ran Joo song. That explains why she’s never forgotten her songs.
I’m expecting flashbacks, because knowing this screenwriter, she’s sure to jump at the chance for an emotionally powerful scene. And what could be stronger than Mok Ha having a hard time on the island and singing Ran Joo’s songs to give herself courage?
Some thoughts on Episode 2
We mentioned 2 mysteries, but there is a third, plus other questions that we can ask. I reword them:
1a)Where is Ki Ho? – We hear that his father left for Seoul and was likely looking for Ki Ho still. This gives us the reason why KH will not reveal himself easily. However, now as a grown man himself, KH has other recourse if he has to face his father (and methinks the Show should round this relationship off by going there). He is no longer a weaker, 16-year old but probably a stronger than his father 32-year old, with the law in his favour.
1b) Is WH really older than BG? – About the relative ages of BG and WH… although BG calls WH ‘hyung’, I’m still under the impression that WH is some years younger than BG!!! His attitude is childish (unlike MH who is childlike). The changing of the age of the boys could also be a ploy to hide Ki Ho.
2)How did WH lose his memory?
3)Will MH need to end up with 1 guy and does it have to be KH? (If one of the brothers is KH, we’re pretty sure it’s BG so no mystery for us there.)
Side question:
4) Will the mothers of KH and MH be revealed? We anticipate that MH will reunite with her mother. We heard from KH’s dad that he thought KH was in touch with his mother.
Similarities between KH and MH:
One of us posted that their similarity of misfortune drew them together/united them.
They were about the same age or only 1 year apart, lived on the same island, had abusive fathers, were abandoned by their mothers (we don’t hear that MH’s mother abandoned her though but we assume so), and wanted to leave the island.
They had both disappeared in an attempt to survive, but while KH had run away and likely gone into hiding, MH had been a castaway, waiting to be found.
A Few More Thoughts After Episode 2
MH for all that she was stuck in her 16-year old mentality displayed more wisdom than 31-year old WH.
WH’s point of view was that MH should resent KH for her 15 years of being stranded on the island, but to her KH had saved her life. The immature WH, who never considered another point of view, is chastened. Not good for a reporter.
Thinking about how she had passed up on going to Seoul when Lee Seo Joon had first called her, MH is wise enough to realise that giving up on opportunites out of fear was a mistake. Instead of trying to see far ahead and plan (like an adult, as WH suggests) with the plans making one freeze out of fear of what might be lost, she had decided to forge ahead.
Mok Ha: “If you keep worrying about the future, then you’ll end up with just as many regrets down the road.” She chose to live in the present, doing what she wanted.
Sounds so much more mature than WH, who was living to copy his brother, steal his space and take action just to be rebellious ie in opposition to what his brother says!!! (Personally I find that so strange in a 30+ year old who has no obvious special needs!!!)
In just the same way that WH’s insistence on going for the volunteer island cleaning panned out, WH is going to bull-headedly insist on believing that he is Ki Ho and in the process come to grief. At least he’s going to suffer (seasickness will be nothing by comparison!) but hopefully he’ll make some good discoveries (like finding himself the way he found MH on the island).
In the way of Writers exploring their fave themes… we had this Writer include in Start Up, sisters at odds with each other while in the same job/business, and in this Show we have brothers doing the same. I expect that ultimately they will come to terms, even if uneasy ones, and be united in their goals.
@GB, and I see some comments on the internet: “It’s sooo predictable 😩”.
🙃🙃🙃
@WE, as usual without emails, I miss the posts at first and see them only after I post something.
Good points about adding the emotional heft. I, too, was thinking that she must have been singing RJ’s songs to herself in order to remember all the lyrics! The reason we don’t get to see much of her surviving on the island or singing at all is because we are to be UPLIFTED by how great she sounds at the end of Ep 2 LOLOL.
Yes it was kind of a plot hole that of all times, MH should have forgotten to charge her phone. (Personally I often forget to do it!!!)
Yes, the mention of runaway KH was to inform us that his running away was known ie he did it more than once. The adults brushed it off as him being a handful, without trying to find out why he was trying to get away. Ironically, MH just accepts that KH is the type to run away without considering that she’s also planning to be discovered by Ran Joo so that she can leave the island.
I like the use of the phrase “set sail”… it was metaphorically and literally true. The timing just wasn’t right, perhaps. If her ‘boat’ had not been ‘capsized’ or rather if she had not fallen off it and become a castaway, she might have become a great discovery and a diva like RJ. But she might not have retained her sweet attitude.
By coming in now as a surprise voice to help RJ, RJ’s attitude towards her is different from if she’d been with her as a 16-year old.
Among the questions that I should have asked… the school friend who’s there only to get MH to say her lines and give us info. She seems to be forgotten. Among the people MH should have asked about, should have been this girl who had rooted for her and mourned her loss.
OOoh OOoh!!! I realize: Next episode is on-air in 10 hours!!!
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WaAaAaAAAaaa… Maybe I could watch it this week end?!!??
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Where is Pm3 for the open-thread?!?!
☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆
To get the emails. I am looking forward to today’s episode
@MM, on the last thread, you made me think about that:
Woo Hak looking for an identity.
But WHY does he want so much being Ki Ho?
Only explanation I find:
He just fall in love with Mok Ha.
So being Ki Ho is like a licence to get her more easely.
I think it is related to the same reason he was copying his brother. He has amnesia so he does not have a firm sense of identity. Interesting take on trying to find one’s self.
A quick thought, about some logical consequences.
Because Woo Hak made the reportage, the name of Wok Ha was in the TV news.
If Ki Ho father knows there was a link between her and Ki Ho, then he’ll get a track to find Wok Ha, then Ki Ho. Plus, he was policeman, he should have some skill for doing research more easely. Maybe some contacts too.
Then, I expect to see him come back in the drama.
And we’ll have a reason to dislike Woo Hak, as he caused that.
🙂
Comments like that tell me that they were one of those viewers who were disappointed with Start Up because their Mr Smarmy Dimples didn’t get the girl.
If this show is so predictable that they’re bored with it, then why are they wasting time watching and commenting about it? A much better use of their time is reading a book or communing with nature.
They’re the predictable ones…stinking oppa-lovers. 😂😂
Bravo, @WEchanteur.
That’s why KiHo changed his identity…even his age.
🙂
To me, there are two possible reasons BoGyeol is a year younger than WooHak.
a. His school records were fudged. As KiHo, he appeared to be a new kid (or a new transfer) in school. MH’s bestie called him “New Kid.”
Or
b. He established a new identity when he returned to Seoul. It’s easy to track someone if Date of Birth is known. It’s on his/her National ID.
Then, it gives one more reason for Bo Geol to stay distant and hide his identity to Mok Ha? It’s better if they don’t have a link or meet each other? But it will fail, as Woo Hak is motivated to continue to follow Mok Ha.
I don’t know to which point Ki Ho’s father could be a mess for him. But it could also be problematic for his mother. I don’t know what the father could do. It goes from enter their live again and be painful, or eventually going on something more violent. I find hard to accept it could be to the point of murder or psycho-killer instinct. But with someone like that, a situation can degenerate badly and consequences be worst than what even himself want.
Well, speculations. I have to stop that. I don’t like so much the guessing game. Just think about the script logic and emotional impact.
I posted on MDL about a study about predictability (now way to remember from what). It turns out predictability, teasers, even spoilers have a better rating than what rely too much on surprise, often stressfull. People prefer to know “how and why it will happen?” than “what will happen?”.
I’m late to the party but the relationship between the brothers seems straight out lifted from What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim where the one brother stole the other brothers childhood trauma. Waiting to see if that weirdness is better executed here.
@GT I have.tried to remember which show that Scenario came from. Thank you for the answer
Resubscribing!