The thread is open.
Here you go, @BethB.
Two things:
This is the first drama by Rowoon that I completed after “ExtraOrdinary You” (2019). That’s saying something.
And I like the female lead. She wasn’t stupid, codependent, impulsive (like the silly female lead in “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract), abrasive (like the female lead in “My Demon”) and whiny. She balanced the Confucian expectations of feminine compliance and docility with her natural boldness and cunning.
Take for example the scene in Episode 14.
JungWoo: (taking his leave) I will be going since I have done all I need to do.
SoonDeok: Your Excellency. Can you please stop this now?
He had been avoiding her because he wanted to put an end to their relationship.
JungWoo: (not answering)
SoonDeok: (frowning) Acting like you do not like me.
JungWoo: (still now answering)
SoonDeok: I’m going through a lot of difficulties as is…
She looked like she was pouting but this was all an act to get him to respond. Sure enough, he was instantly worried about her.
JungWoo: You are going through difficulties? Is something the matter?
SoonDeok: (not answering)
JungWoo: Please say something!
SoonDeok: (proving her point) You worry about me this much, and yet you try to act like you don’t like me.
JungWoo: Then, what can I do?! I have no other way, but I get worried about you, and I miss you to death.
And just like that, she got him to admit that he’d been faking his indifference.
JungWoo: Well, do you think I am doing this because I want to?
SoonDeok: It is so much better that you are being honest. Do you know what words I hate the most in novels? The words, “I am leaving you because I love you.”
There’s a name for this trope in kdrama. It’s called, “noble idiocy.”
He was silent because he knows he was guilty of noble idiocy. Note her smile. I like that she was looking up at him with a smile on her face. Her smile softened the sting of her rebuke.
SoonDeok: (smiling up at him to soften the sting of her words) The day I climbed the walls of Gyeonwoonjae, I made up my mind to be with you, Your Excellency.
He looked smug but I can’t blame him. He was pleased to know that he was loved.
JungWoo: But how?
SoonDeok: I do not know the way yet. However, do not worry. I am the best in Joseon at bringing two people together.
JungWoo: (reminding her) The Minister’s wife is way more fearsome than you think…
This is a role reversal. Usually, it’s the hero who believes that “love conquers all” and reassures that heroine that everything will end up well. But in this drama, it’s the heroine who shows more grit and gumption. I remember mentioning this role reversal in their meet-cute. It had been SoonDeok who grabbed JungWoo and saved him from being run over. Here, it was SoonDeok again who stepped forward and wrapped her short arms around him.
SoonDeok: I am way braver than you think, Your Excellency. So, please trust me a bit and wait for me.
She hugged him tighter and patted his back. True. Not only was she braver than he imagined her to be, but when compared to other female leads in kdramas I’m currently watching, she’s more resourceful and rational.
I enjoyed the series and will write more about it when my wrist heals.
I’m still liking this drama too. I’ll catch up as soon as I can.
What happened to your wrist? Too much cooking? 😉
Thank you for the new thread. ❤️
No, I tripped and landed on my wrist. (It was a choice between my knee or my wrist, and I sacrificed my wrist.) I just need to ice and rest it a bit.
But yes, I can blame the cooking, too. Lol. I’m beginning to realize how heavy all the pots and pans are in my kitchen. I didn’t use to mind these cast-iron cookware. I swore by them. They retain heat evenly; the meat comes out more tender and flavorful while cooking in its juices; they seal in the moisture, and they’re totally non-toxic.
But now, I’m thinking perhaps it’s time to get rid of them or exchange some of them for lighter cookware. I can’t even take them out of the cupboard with just one hand.
Oh dear, the choice between your knee and wrist. ☹️ I hope it’ll heal quickly. 🙏🏼
Those cast iron cookware’s heaviness is the sole reason I don’t have any. 😄 I always like looking at them though but then I carry it and I just can’t imagine myself using it most of the time. Just call me plain lazy. 😆
I’m actually watching My Demon too. It was a good start and the pair is beautiful but yeah the story not so.
I’m sorry to read about your wrist @pkml3. I had the same decision to make before…usually I hurt my wrist too. I am not superstitious, (people say I shouldn’t say this because I’m asking for trouble) but I do notice that I ‘fall’ once every 3 or so years. It will be my ankle or knee or wrist or elbow that gets the brunt. Used to be my ankle a lot… now it vacillates between knee and wrist LOL. (Well now that I’ve put this down, I guess I have to be more careful how I move!!!)
I hope you recover fully and soon!
When I thought about how this drama might end, I came up with three possibilities:
1. An unsatisfying ending where the two live out their younger lives separately, continuing their assigned roles, but loving each other from a distance, perhaps to marry in middle age after the MIL passed away. (But then what a hellscape SD’s life would be in the meantime).
2. An unhappy ending where Jeong-U drinks poison and Sun-deok kills herself (as shown in the preview at the end of episode 15). This seemed unlikely given the happy background music and the many previous comic moments, so I assumed this was a red herring, although I suppose it could have happened, with the two lovers reunited in death.
3. Or, the ending I predicted, with them running away together. This was the ending they went with, with a little bit of the unhappy ending temporarily thrown in. I wasn’t expecting him to drink the poison and live because I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it before. (We’ve seen the lovers escaping impossible societal strictures by running away together in the end–I’m thinking of The King’s Affection, also with Rowoon–so I assume this is a trope).
I didn’t love-love-love the ending because it was a little low energy compared to the most of the previous episodes, but I really don’t think the writer(s) could have come up with any other way for the lovers to be together in the end. Unless–(a possible 4th kind of ending) the MIL, who was not going to release Sun-deok from her family compound, died or was killed. But that woman was going to hang on by tooth and nail, so it would be hard to imagine her letting herself be killed or her killing herself. And that would have been too much of a downer for this drama and unbelievable, since neither of our leads could be murderers.
I’m glad that love won in the end and that the lovers were able to be together to begin an open courtship (hard to imagine if they were traveling together unmarried) and all the other pairings were made. Still a little squeamish about the Crown Prince and his 10-years-older bride, but they seemed to have an intellectual connection and she didn’t seem visibly pregnant, so it was a little easier to stomach seeing them together towards the end.
Also I agree with @packmule3 that one of the pleasures of this drama was having a FL who was resourceful, kind, rational, and full of smarts. [She was also a little bit like Clark Kent–apparently painting on a mole and putting on lipstick was all it took for people not to recognize her, which made me question how smart her townspeople really were!]
@pkml3, Happy New Year 2024!!!
It’s Saturday, which means it’s Rewatch party day/night!
🌈☀️☃️🍎🍐🍊🍋🍉🍇🍈🫐🍓🍑🥭🥝🍌🍏
Please open the thread for the Nine: 9 Times Time Travel Rewatch.
🌈☀️☃️🍎🍐🍊🍋🍉🍇🍈🫐🍓🍑🥭🥝🍌🍏