My interpretations of the title

Episode 1 Title: Living in the mist

1. First, the female lead, Do DoHee, can’t tell whether a person is a friend or foe. Her mind is in a fog. To me, she exhibits of paranoia when she wondered whether EVERYONE around her is an enemy.

Though she isn’t blood-related to the founder of the Mirae conglomerate, she rose through the ranks to become the CEO of its Food and Beverage division. She appears poised to become the next chairwoman of the Group, not only because of her competence at the job, but also because of her favored status with the founder, Madame Ju. Naturally, the family members are jealous of her and want to see her ousted (or dead, whichever is easier to achieve).

Note: This screenwriter seems to like the play on names. I don’t speak Korean, but I think DoHee’s saved Madame Ju on her smartphone as “Ju-Nim” which sounds like god or “Lord” in Korean. It makes sense then that the ringtone for Madame Ju on her smartphone is Handel’s “Hallelujah.” She also calls Madame Ju “Ju-yeosa” which I think is a wordplay on “Oh! Chief Maestro.” Given Madam Ju’s name, I wouldn’t be surprised if she masterminded the deaths of DoHee’s parents.

DoHee’s day begins badly with a news report that their brand of juice is packed with sugar. Immediately, she suspects an inside job to destabilize sales. Somebody from the family is attempting to tank the stock prices of HER Food and Beverage division.

Her instincts prove correct. In the next episode, she confronts the source of the misinformation, Madame Ju’s daughter, SuAhn, and threatens to retaliate by exposing SuAhn’s extramarital affair. Not only will the publicity of the affair tank the stock prices of the Apparel division which SuAhn manages, it will also disgrace her in her mother’s eyes. SuAhn’s needs to be in her mother’s good graces to become the next chair of the Mirae Group.

2. Second, DoHee lives in a mist of memories of her deceased parents. “I’m reminded of you everywhere I go. How am I supposed to live? Did you have to be so hardworking and diligent? Did you have to be such perfect parents?”

Her birthday is her parents’ death day, too.

Sidenote 1: Yes, this is a common trope in kdramas. We recently saw this in “Destined With You.” Out of 365 days, the parent, child, special someone is fated to die on the main lead’s birthday to underscore how hapless her life is.

Madam Ju treats her to a birthday cake and counsels her to start living without being burdened by the past.

Madam Ju: It’s been over 20 years since your parents passed. You can stop commemorating their death anniversary. From now on, just celebrate your birthday. (lighting the candle) Ta-da!!”
DoHee: May Madam Ju keep stabbing me in the back for many years to come.
Madam Ju: You can count on it.

Lol. The subtext couldn’t be more obvious. DoHee is unaware that Madam Ju has been in fact backstabbing her all these years. In fact, in Episode 2, when the male lead GuWon is apprised of DoHee’s connection to the Mirae Group’s founder, observant viewers should be able to deduce some shady business going on with Madame Ju.

Bokyu: She’s not from a chaebol family. Her father was an engineer who developed metal cross bearings for electronics. Her mother ran a hair salon. She was their only daughter from their late marriage. But they passed away in a car accident on her birthday 17 years ago. Do DoHee was 11 then. That’s when Mirae Group’s Chairwoman Ju took the orphaned Do DoHee in. Chairwoman Ju had co-founded Mirae Electronics, the parent company of Mirae Group, with DoHee’s father.

We can glean from that piece of information that:

a. DoHee’s 28 years old.

b. Unless this is a honest mistake on the script, the year of her parents’ death on the report isn’t consistent with the year Madam Ju said. She said that her parents died over 20 years ago. According to the report, her parents died 17 years ago. Why was she so quick to add the years? Was she trying to diminish the significance of their death by making it appear distant and detached from the present?

c. Her father was co-founder of Mirae Electronics. It was his invention that made Mirae Electronics which became Mirae Group.

d. If her father had lived, she would be from a chaebol family, too. If Madam Ju didn’t offer him a fair share of the company for his invention, then he could have outright sold it or licensed it and obtained royalties.

e. As her father’s sole heir, she should be Madam Ju’s rival to the throne, but Madam Ju raised her like an adopted “daughter” so I doubt she would turn un-filial.

Sidenote 2: This is my theory so take it or leave. Since DoHee accidentally obtained GuWon’s demonic power, I SUSPECT that the screenwriter is setting DoHee up to be the “wicked” Demon (“wicked” in quotation marks) to oppose and counteract Madam Ju’s very religious, very Catholic, and “godly” ways. I think this kdrama has anti-hero tone. To me, it aims to show that the real evil isn’t found in the Demon, but in people who profess to be devout (like the Catholics) but hide their diabolicalness under a sham goodness. We see this theme in action in Episode 2. The title gives it away “Everyone has a demon in his heart”

3. Third, the male lead, GuWon, came out of the mist to save her.

Veteran kdrama viewers would be reminded of that iconic scene in “Goblin” when Gong Yoo and Lee DongWook emerged the mist.

It’s a trope that heroes come out of the thick fog to rescue the lady in distress.

However, I think that the more allegoric scene is when both DoHee and GuWon plunged into the sea. The allusion to baptism is transparent to me.

Like in baptism, GuWon is “cleansed” of all evil in him by the water. His demonic powers are transferred to her. Meanwhile, like in baptism as well, she’s “reborn” into a new life. She’s empowered by the spirit (unfortunately, it’s HIS demonic spirit, not the HOLY SPIRIT) which now resides in her.

I think this “baptism” motif is foreshadowed in the beginning of Episode 1 when GuWon paid a visit to the chapel in the woods and dipped his hand in a basin full of water. Well, Catholics and Christians should recognize what that basin is. It is the font with holy water (holy water means it’s been blessed by the priest). He dipped his hand in it, and petals of a rose emerged in the water.

Sidenote 3: His fascination with the rose is relevant as you all could tell. Everyone and his mother has an opinion on what this rose means. I have mine but I’ll hold off on sharing it until I see more episodes. I don’t know how shallow or deep this screenwriter is. Lol.

The other noteworthy things:

1. Names

The screenwriter seems to like puns.

a. There’s Madam Ju’s name. I mentioned it above.

b. GunWoo’s manservant’s name. As soon as I heard it, I rolled my eyes. Park BokGyu. Bokyu is supposed to be a play on “Fcuk you.” He even flipped the middle finger to make sure that we the viewers get the crude joke. Sigh. Was that really necessary, Mr Screenwriter?

But then, I shouldn’t be surprised with this sort of crude humor, considering that this writer is the CO-writer of that execrable “Mr. Queen.”

c. The male lead’s name. Jeong GuWon. His name means “salvation.”

The cake scene was also a gratuitous display of the demon’s strength and eccentricity. I get that viewers are supposed to find the demon’s sweet tooth…well sweet and endearing: Awww. He wants to have his cake and eat it, too. Woe to anybody who comes between him and his favorite dessert. With just a rolled-up newspaper as a weapon, he can take down a gang of mobsters without breaking sweat. To me, though, this scene was underwhelming and lacking in originality. Was anybody really left in awe that a supernatural being like the Demon could thrash thugs and make them disappear into a newspaper print?

d. Noh SuAhn, the second child of Madame Ju

She’s obsessed with anything Paris so she’s called Paris-Su-Ahn. Her moniker sounds like “Parisienne” or a woman who lives in Paris.

e. Do DoHee

I still have to figure out what her name means.

2. The meet-cute

I said I would compare this show’s meet-cute with that other drama “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract.”

I wasn’t impressed with this one. The first encounter of the leads in “Park’s Marriage Contract” was sweet; the guy instantly recognized the girl as his childhood friend but hid his awareness with his amused smile.

a. To me, it’s unbelievable that the matchmaker accidentally got the hotel name wrong and sent DoHee to the wrong place. Seriously? DoHee is an uber-rich client, and the matchmaker would have gotten a fat commission to get this “deal” closed. How likely was it that the matchmaker didn’t double-check, triple-check and quadruple-check the hotel reservation? But I get it. The screenwriter had to force an accidental meeting between the leads.

b. I can’t help comparing DoHee’s first meeting with GunWoo and Shin Hari’s first meeting with Kang TaeMoo in “A Business Proposal.” Shin Hari had me bursting into laughter when she introduced her mammary glands as “Rachel and Samantha” and jiggled them.

DoHee just had me frowning. Not only was she so unlikeable with her prissy attitude, but she also committed the grave sin of being unwitty.

c. Their meet-cute is meeting of two haughty and bratty people devoid of any aegyo.

I get that DoHee was forced to show up at the blind date because Madam Ju made her doctor’s check-up contingent upon her attendance. But I don’t get how a supposedly brilliant CEO like her could think that arrogance was the right method to turn down a would-be husband. Her attitude and behavior weren’t in character, and I blame the screenwriter for mistake. He (or she) should have known that any CEO worth her salt would have used this opportunity to NETWORK. Sure, DoHee wasn’t interested in a husband, but as a CEO, she could have used him as a business contact and/or potential investor.

Duh.

She entered that meeting place determined to give a lousy first impression.

DH: (muttering to herself) What’s all this fuss? He could be Madam Ju’s soulmate. Why not just marry him herself?

Note: I see the foreshadowing here. GuWon and Madam Ju could be soulmates because their schemes and motives were demonic.

She spotted GuWon reading a newspaper and immediately launched an insult.

DH: I didn’t know that people still read print newspapers outside of planes. Is it just for show? I’ll have you know that I’m married to my work. I have no interest in men…whatsoever.

She made zero attempt at civility. She was determined to offend and insult at first opportunity. But as soon as he put down his newspapers which covered his face, she was impressed.

GW: Marry your work or your pillow for all I care. How is it any of my concern? If you must share your personal information, I’d prefer your bank account password.
DH: (couldn’t think of a comeback, this witless girl) Did we go to school together by any chance?
GW: Highly unlikely.
DH: Did we used to go out?
GW: Then you’d remember me.
DH: So you’re neither my school friend nor my ex. Where are your manners, then?

Pffft. I could have asked the same of her. Where are HER manners? Remember: SHE was the one who started off acting all hoity-toity. If I were the demon, I’d put her in her place too.

GW: All human beings are insignificant to me.

Dismissing him as a “handsome nutjob,” she stood up to leave the blind date. But Madame Ju called her to check on her blind date so she sat back down again. She and GuWon continued to bicker and he decided that she was a “hardcore nutjob.”

That’s summed up their meet-cute: a handsome nutjob met a hardcore nutjob.

The only good impression she had of him came when she was about to leave the restaurant. His quick action saved her from a disastrous accident with the cake. In her eyes, he protected her. In his eyes, however, he rescued his cake.

As a result, she reassessed her perception of him. She judged him, “Cold but kind. Innocent yet sexy. His whole existence exudes sensuality.” Flustered, she retreated to the ladies’ room.

That’s why I prefer the meet-cute of “The Park’s Marriage Contract.” The Joseon hero had long secretly admired the girl because of her spunk. In this drama, the haughty girl fell for the demon merely because he looked… well…devilishly attractive. 

Sidenote 4: This wouldn’t be the last time that GuWon would protect her. At the end of Episode 1, when she fell off the side of the road, he jumped after her and took the impact of their bodies hitting the water.

At the end of Episode 2, when somebody threw acid at her, he covered her and took the hit instead. Obviously, these acts of sacrifice and selflessness are being tallied by the deities for his eventual redemption.

3. Life lessons and misinformation

I said I was also going to judge the kdrama on its life lessons. In Episode 1, Madam Ju delivered the first lesson.

Madam Ju: Let me tell you. Having someone on your side makes a world of difference.
DoHee: You said not to trust anyone. Nobody’s on my side.
Madam Ju: You never know who will stab you in the back. But there will be someone you’ll gladly let stab you in the back. That’s what it means to have someone on your side. Someone you’d understand even if they betrayed you.
DoHee: I’m no Mother Teresa. And neither are you.

My reaction: 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️🙄🤦🏼‍♀️🙄🤦🏼‍♀️ I guess Madam Ju is a masochist. She’s an advocate of “Love till it hurts.”

Look: I know St Mother Teresa of Calcutta said to love till it hurts. However, she was referring to the care and ministry of God’s poorest of the poor, not to the empowerment of corporate back-stabbers and abuse of psycho boyfriends.

There’s also another misinformation.

GuWon: Catholics believe that humans have three kinds of enemies. The first is their own bodies, which undermine them from within with traits such as laziness. The second is their worldly lives, which eat away at them from the outside. Their third and final enemy is evil spirits.

My comments:

I’m not a theologian but here’s what I know.

a. In the Roman Catholic catechism, we are taught that temptation comes in three forms:

The flesh. As humans, we aren’t just spiritual beings. We have bodies, and our bodies have wants, needs, and desires. Our corporeal nature makes us vulnerable to temptation of the flesh, like over-eating (gluttony), over-sleeping (sloth), hyper-sex (lust) and greed. One way we can train our bodies to resist is by fasting.

The world. As humans, we exist in the world with other human beings. We’re tempted to acquire possessions, wealth, power, fame, and status. However, we can teach ourselves to resist these worldly temptations though alms-giving, volunteerism, and charitable works.

The devil. As humans, we are capable of achieving great things. It’s easy to be misled into thinking that we are our own superheroes and that we don’t need divine grace and mercy. That’s the critical mistake of the devil. He thought he was all-powerful, all-knowing and co-equal to God that he deemed God irrelevant and unnecessary. He cut himself off from God and he tempts us to join him in this worldview. Prayer is the best way to resist this temptation.

So, rather than view our bodies, our worldly lives, and the devil/evil spirits as ENEMIES, like what GuWon said, Catholics view these three as sources of TEMPTATION.

Do you get the difference?

What GuWon said was misleading and incorrect. It would actually be mentally unhealthy to view our bodies and the world as our enemies.

b. As for enemies, our ultimate enemy is death. In fact, this was the second bible reading last Sunday. From Matthew 25:31-46.

…For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death….

c. I also think that Catholics have worst enemies than evil spirits. I can think of two, actually.

One is the “traitors” inside the Catholic Church.

Instead of being good examples and faithful witnesses to the truth of Christ, they lead fellow Christians astray by their actions and words. It’s most grievous when these people belong to the clergy, but I do not underestimate the people in media and entertainment (cough. cough) who intentionally depict Catholics in a bad light.

And two is the “enablers” or those who justify evil as good and designate good as evil.

I think these humans are worse than evil spirits because their sphere of influence is wider, their impact more corrosive, and their lies more sophisticated.

d. Catholics — and all Christians, for that matter — do not go around looking for enemies, identifying them, and centering our lives to combat them. It wouldn’t be possible to exist for two millennia if our mission was only to fight our enemies. It’s tiring.

Rather, what we are instructed to focus on two commandments. Love God. And love our neighbors as ourselves. Love. As disciplines of Christ, we do things out of love and for love.

We even have to love our enemies. Which is…sigh…so hard.

If this kdrama is going to spotlight Catholics, then I hope the screenwriter and director won’t forget this elemental fact about Catholics.