The final thread is here.
Watching this has been a fun roller coaster ride. The sudden twists and turns, not to mention drops (how many times did HJ fall off a precipice?) were exhilarating. But I admit to fast-forwarding the romantic scenes because I can’t stand the cheesiness. Like this one in Episode 10 epilogue.
SE: Why was I born? I always thought about it. If I have to live someone else’s life against my will, why was I born? But I think I found the answer to why I was born and why I had to live as Paik SaEon. It was to meet you.
🙄
No offense but that’s Nicholas Sparks-level of cheesiness.
You don’t know who Nicholas Sparks is? Then here’s a collage of his movie posters.
source: screenrant
Examples of Nicholas Sparks’ lines? I got a few here from Goodreads and screenrant.
1. From “The Notebook.” “I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.”
2. From “A Walk to Remember.” “Our love is like the wind. I can’t see it, but I can feel it.”
3. From the “Best of Me.” “You want me to fall back in love with you? How do I do that if I haven’t ever stopped?”
4. Also, from the “Best of Me.” “I want to wake up with you beside me in the mornings. I want to spend my evenings looking at you across the dinner table. I want to share every mundane detail of my day with you and hear every detail of yours. I want to laugh with you and fall asleep with you in my arms.”
Do you see what I mean?
If I collect all the lines from this kdrama and read them aloud to you, you’ll be covered in goosebumps — and not in a good way. 🤣
Let’s enjoy the show.
I don’t remember squealing in any of the threads for WTPR. 🤔
Hopefully it’ll be a satisfying ending with what, a resurrection and living quietly away from the limelight.
Thank you for the last thread. 🙇🏻♀️
Same here, @agdr03.
Yes, we didn’t squeal here. But my youtube is inundated with behind-the-scenes reels with fangirls swooning over the couple. Hahaha. Been there, saw that. I’m not going to fall for that weird shipping thing.
It’s been yonks since I shipped and it didn’t sail so no more. 🙅🏻♀️
The only bts I liked was when YYS’s dog Rita was going to film with them and before that CSB went to say hi to Rita and completely ignoring YYS. I thought it was cute when he said annyeong Sobi-na, I’m here too. Then she laughs at him. 😄
Don’t get me wrong. 🙂
I’m glad that YYS is being “rediscovered” by the international netizens and considered a romantic hunk. Is he the replacement for Hyun Bin? Ever since HB married and had a family, he isn’t as hot as he was during his “Crash Landing on You” days.
About HB, He seems to be in the press a lot about the movie Harbin. If I were more on top of things, I would have seen him and his costar at the toronto international film festival.
I think I have seen something about an upcoming drama or movie starring him and his wife. Their son is pretty adorable. I feel like I become.
A shipper for older actors who find the get married and have children, Like this couple and eric moon.😃
Hmm. I’m not sure YYS is a replacement for Hyun Bin especially when it comes to looks. 😄
My friend said to me his not that good looking and I said to her but his a great actor. 😂
I wasn’t really a big fan of Hyun Bin too. I mean I watch his dramas yes.
It’s a good question, who’s worthy now to replace Hyun Bin? 😃
Ten years ago, when we watched “Warm and Cozy,” I thought he looked like a horse. 🙂 But yes, he’s a great actor. He also kisses very well… on screen, that is.
I suddenly remembered that. Yup, a horse. 😂
I have a soft spot for him because of Warm & Cozy. 🥰
True that! Kisses wise, he delivers. 😄
For me, YYS has magnetism and he is big! I may be getting dangerously close to shallow island here!
That said he is looking rather long in the tooth! 😁
@pkml3, @agdr03, @MM
I’m back to saying what I said in the beginning … that this show is about communication or the lack of it. So much regret could have been prevented.
I’ve watched Ep 11 (well with a few skips) and I’d say although it was packed and more was shown/explained, and there was yet another twist or 2, I prefer the twists and the explanations that we came up with. I feel we were more creative and it made more sense! LOL.
Actually, show did not play fair. There was more stuff that was not shown, and therefore we made our predictions on insufficient data/clues. The hidden stuff was a doozy though!
I dread Ep 12…. will it be filled with long moments of waiting and nothing much else?
I wait to hear how you all feel about Ep 11.
@GB Thanks for reminding me that there is an episode today! And raising my motivation level to watch it.
I continue to thoroughly enjoy this drama. Plot holes and cheesy stuff included. I never took this on for the story – having read the novel after ep 1 itself.
I enjoyed YYS (his first work I’m seeing here) and CSB on screen and felt my time was well spent. Both the actors did justice to their screen time and looked compelling in spite of an implausible storyline.
They found each other because of a supposed mutual enemy. But in reality , throughout their lives, their own lack of communication and keeping of secrets was far worst an adversary than the kidnapper – as they belatedly regret. They were their own worst enemies – not the kidnapper, not the fake mother…
@GB I am at the part where the original son is shown in his imprisoned, What looks like original room. I know what you mean by long moments of waiting.
Well we did get some kissing at the end.
@GB Yes, about the theme of lack of communication and regret. The last few scenes Of this episode are representative of this theme.
I don’t think we needed this level of drama and convolution to bring home this Point. On the other hand it makes me afraid to not communicate.So I guess it had an impact.
Sigh…as expected, the plot holes remain (writer tried to cover it with weak writing) and bigger ones were added. 🙄. Suddenly real SE is the mastermind and “plays” DJ with the lie that he’s one of the “victims” as well. And that was how writer framed them linking up and plotting together. Not sure how DJ managed to “contact” him first off (maybe he hacked his phone because he was “watching” him from afar?😂🙄). Still no idea how DJ knew about HJ being fake SE’s real wife. Bugged him maybe? 🤔
Fake SE is revealed as Grandpa’s illegitimate son whom he kept in hiding until he was inaugurated into the Paik household at 15. Dragon ring is a hidden camera (wow…technology nowadays).
Pretty sure what real SE told fake SE at the end of ep11 was that grandpa ordered the hit (truck of doom ✅) on the Hong children. And thus riddled with familial guilt, fake SE decides to take off and hide away from his one true love (noble idiocy ✅). 😂😂😂
DNA test apparently was mistranslated in English. It just says they aren’t father-son. Nothing about “not being related” because they are half brothers. 🙄. Hence the weird conversation (about heterochromia) between PA (?) and HJ outside the Paik mansion after she confronts Daddy and Mummy Paik about fake SE’s disappearance. To add more credibility to fake SE being part of the Paik household after all. 😂
PA – How much does the spokesperson know about the person making threats?
HJ – What do you mean how much? Everything he told the police?
PA (hesitates) – so nothing more about the heterochromia?
HJ (looking confused – as are we 🙄) – what…should he know?
PA – when Mr Paik (he actually said SPOKESPERSON Paik? So NOT psycho kidnapper) was young, he had eye surgery. It’s a little known fact. Since then, his eyes were no longer different colors.
(Then HJ has a flashback of psycho kidnapper’s eyes. Where she notices the different colours and psycho kidnapper says, “What about you sis? Do you know him well? Listen carefully. In this world, the person who knows PSE the best is me.”
PA (continues with voiceover) – when spokesperson SE (I revised the English translation because he actually said this in Korean) first came to this house, he was like a scared stray cat. I have never seen him smile comfortably in this house. I’ve always felt sorry for him. (HJ weeps in her car and startles when her phone rings and it’s SW).
Maybe writer had to write him (PA) into the story somehow…and this was how…because he suddenly (and conveniently) plays a significant role in ep 11. He is the “keeper of secrets” in the Paik household. The “walls” have ears…and eyes…
We’re at the finale now. Started with an anonymous phone call and it looks like it will end with an anonymous phone call. 📞
@MM, I’d love to watch it almost as it airs after subbing, but that clashes with our Rewatch Party. So I’ll try to stay up to see the end of this twisty, troubled, two-family saga.
So true @Arishsi. The lack of communication thing was what jumped out at me from the beginning, and not only that, but the unnecessary silences, misleading communication and the gaslighting by practically everyone just heaped on the problems.
The external enemy did them all a great favour.
It reunited mother and son, brought closure to father and son, acknowledged the right relationships, highlighted the true monster, clarified relationships and brought the couple together. Now it’s just a matter of being alive to enjoy the aftermath Heheheh!
In the end Psycho was very much like his mother!
@MM, yes, we start getting those waiting scenes already. The flashbacks, the imaginary if-onlys… I dread that this show is going the way of Queen of Tears… so many nice lovey dovey scenes but all only in the past and all shown to us only in snippets. Nothing between the couple in the present.
Now we’ll get all those long scenes of longing and waiting until the couple is reunited, but besides the imaginary ‘being an ordinary couple’ scenes, they’d better also give us proper reconciliation and being a happy family scene. If not, I’ll petulantly lose my temper!
@nrllee Bravo! I believe you’re right.
The noble idiocy thing is the most likely reason that SE disappears from HJ’s life. I was wondering at first if there was a birth secret and that she’s his sister or something, but that’s unlikely.
Thanks for clearing up what Secretary Min/PA who is suddenly brought into the forefront of the action, says to HJ. Out of the blue he tells her about the eye surgery. We are all confused. So he’s referring to the real son, the SE we know and not to the son of Prof Sim.
Since both boy had heterochromia, they are likely indeed from the same stock. I noticed that the camera played into SE’s eyes from time to time as if trying to give us a hint.
The coincidental meeting of the accomplices is more unlikely than the scenario of SW being the instigator. SW still looks shady.
And so we wait for the phone to ring again.
@nrllee and @GB ugh. How I hate noble idiocy. It is just idiocy. Nothing noble about it.
So this is a speculation from my end because ep 12 is yet to air but I don’t think it’s to do with the Hong children accident. HHJ’s husband aka fake BSE already knew the culprit as HHJ’s step father mentions. It can’t be any birth secret – he already knows he is Jung-ho’s son as he mentions in Ep 11.
My two cents (NO Spoilers)
Through out the series many have wished for fake BSE to NOT be blood-related to Baeks. Because they are a bunch of murderers including Psycho kidnappers biological father. However, fake BSE is indeed a Baek by blood. Conceived through an illegitimate relationship when his father was 75. Though one could say none of this was the fake BSE fault, one could also say that when one marries a man, one marries his lineage because well – genes.
Like @GB mentioned, the psycho son is just like his mother.
Fake BSE is not exactly innocent either – he did forcefully marry HHJ. He did use words like “hostage”. He did put forward conditions HHJ could never fulfil in order to escape his cold prison. And he did forcefully kept HHJ bound even when he knew she wants a divorce. He never outrightly abuses her in the drama (novel is a different story) but he’s never emotionally or physically available even when she tries – like making breakfast or dinner. He’s never acknowledged her. In public, he argued that it’s to protect her. But how about in private? He married a neglected young woman and piled on more neglect on her. Like the now infamous lines, he said to not be disturbed unless there is her corpse.
There is a like by Jung – Ho ep 9 – “Some monsters are made, some are born” Baeks are a family of monsters. And novel fake BSE is definitely close to being one.
It’s like how Edward Cullen realises SUDDENLY after bouncing around with Bella for one year (here, THREE) that he’s the monster or rather, has the potential to become one. So what does he do ? He promptly abandons Bella.
Edward decided to try and end his life after abandoning bella without warning. Here, maybe the husband of Hong Hee Joo decides to well… Ring the phone ? 😉
Well, I agree that our explanations made more sense than writernim’s. The camera was a big surprise though. YYS’s delivery makes me forget (temporarily) about plot holes.
@snow flower… Do you remember King the enternal monarch? Folks at BoD including @nrllee, @GB, @welmaris and others did such a wonderful analysis and dissection of the whole story. Ultimately the way the actual writers went was extremely underwhelming at best.
@Arihsi, IKR!!! Given the premise and a bit of the flow, we would have written far more convincing and compelling scenes plus added a twisty plot or two! The ‘how the accomplices met’ was so meh I rolled my eyes!
Your idea that fake SE disappears because he realises (belatedly and only after his half nephew tells him something) for eg. that he’s the monster is interesting. He certainly failed to be loving and supportive towards HJ once he married her. He should at least have told her why he behaved more like a kidnapper than a husband. Poor HJ has felt trapped most of her life.
Unfortunately it still seems SW is meant to end up with YR, suspicious though we may find him.
@SF the dragon ring camera was almost a deus ex machina for the added twist. SW harping on the ring did not really make sense, but Writer-nim had to have the ring pop up earlier so that it wouldn’t look entirely out of place.
@Snowflower I agree about YYS’s acting here. He hasn’t missed a beat. Plot holes or not this drama has catapulted him into “stardom” – especially in the eyes of those outside Korea. It’s timely for him. Most actors (when they hit 40) are past their prime and their star power dwindles. His is on the rise.
@Arihsi I think I see what you mean when you say that fake SE is fearful of becoming a monster like his daddy. And that’s what real SE whispered in his ear? Can it be both? I didn’t think it was common knowledge that grandpa was the one who ordered the hit on the Hong children? Maybe I missed that bit about fake SE knowing. So real SE reveals this fact and then adds, “apples don’t fall far from the tree…you have monster blood flowing in your veins. What’s to stop you from turning into one in future? HJ isn’t safe with you either.” And true to KDrama form, that’s enough to send fake SE into a metaphysical crisis of identity and he stays away from HJ “for her own good”. And the audience lets out a collective groan…NOO!!! 😂😂😂. Noble idiocy strikes again.
@GB Birth secret? 😂😂😂. If writer pens that in for HJ that would be something else this late in the drama. So HJ’s mom is really fake SE’s mom too? 🤔 Or something to that effect? I thought the birth secret trope was already written into fake SE’s bio so writer has already ticked ✅ that box. He’s still nameless so far. She’s (?) been ticking all the relevant boxes so far. Meeting as children ✅. First love for both parties ✅. Piggyback ride ✅ – riding into the sunset 🌅😂. But who knows? The writing hasn’t been particularly convincing thus far in the drama.
I agree with everyone that our writing of the story would’ve made more sense. @packmule3’s suggestion of Mommy Paik being the Mastermind behind it all is a case in point. Writer made her into monster who smothered grandpa Paik in the hospital bed anyway? Why not take it a step further and make her the mastermind? With DJ and real SE as her pawns? Shady SW looks to be a good guy after all. Apparently he was never in the original webtoon? He was just a character made up by the writer. A plot device to bring the whole missing children case to the knowledge of the audience. And with the final anonymous phone call to HJ at Christmas from 604xxxxxx (numerical palindrome 😂😂😂 how’s that for subtle?) we end ep11. Will we see the fated pair together again? Surely writer won’t be so cruel as to leave us hanging for their happy ever after at the end of ep12? With the number of kisses she’s been blessing us with in this drama? Surely no? Is she a Hong Sister using a pen name (shudder)?
@nrllee yes I think so. Also, he’s a nameless man with a calculative murderer as a father and a psycho serial killer as nephew.
As his nightmares show us, he has always felt guilty about real BSE. Then the fact that his father caused Hong children accident and forced HHJ to stay mute, meek, imprisoned and having to give up all her dreams. Now add to that the guilt of becoming a worst cold prison for HHJ when he thought he’s rescuing her. In ADDITION, the thought that he could contribute to psychotic tendencies in their child through his genes. It is a bit much of baggage, I agree.
I expect a final rescue of uri “nameless potential monster” from Hee Joo, a la “NO Edward, DON’T!” to be honest – as an absolute declaration of her love. I’ll be disappointed if the drama doesn’t stay true to its unnecessary dramatics as it has uptil now. This is right up their cheesy sleeve. 😜
@Arihsi
Real SE whispers in fake SE’s ear – the Force (of evil) is strong in my family. My grandfather has it. I have it…[pregnant pause] and my uncle has it 😂😂😂.
Omg adequately dramatic @nrllee 😄
@nrllee, your Star Wars comment made my day! If an alien ship shows up in the finale and beams HJ and fake SE up, I’ll just roll with it!
Surrounded by police with guns but they don’t stop Psycho from shooting SE? Can’t believe it!
Episode 12
So was he shot or wasn’t he? Show is still muddying the waters.
Resolutions everywhere. Some not entirely plausible and some definitely cheesy.
I thought it was a better ending than I feared we might have and definitely better than Queen of Tears. But too cheesy even for me!
At least the rebels did not show up! I still enjoyed this drama more than Queen of Tears.
MY thoughts on the finale
Well I did watch it.
I do not like when a show plays with an audience the way it did about whether he was shot or no.t Cliffhanger sure but keeping it up at the beginning of the episode bothered me. I thought his getting out of the car was very poor judgement on the part of someone who knew how crazy this guy was. I guess stupidity was needed for dramatic effect.
I ffd through mom’s grieving scenes and wished someone would cut down the presidential candidate’s pride. I hope his mother was not granted the death penalty so she could suffer the rest of her life in prison.
The Christmas sequence was well done with good cinematography and music . The empty apartment with the sole brightness being the Chrismas tree was moving as an expression of her loneliness and yearning.
I have yet to try tonkatsu.
I did feel sad for HJ when she went to see DJ to ask about her husband. I laughed when the rebels were shooting at the car. Her going to a war zone was probably supposed to be romantic-that she would brave death to retrieve him- but was ridiculous to me. What was he doing there ?
The dialog at the end between the couple was terribly cheesy.
I was happy to see some happy couple times and their friend? group gathering. And that he wanted s*xy times so they could have a family.
I really enjoyed YYS in this episode and in all episodes. I first watched him as a yakuza in Mr Sunshine and, man, was he charismatic. I think the only time I had second lead syndrome. His character was so interesting and well acted.
@Monmor…agree with your comments about YYS in Mr. Sunshine. My first time seeing him. Quite the memorable performance!
For some reason I wondered who fake SE’s mother was, what name fake SE answered to for fifteen years ( “Boy” as in the old Tarzan movies?), and why Juan fishing guy was willing to do the dirty work of disposing of the children’s corpses???
@LL We know Very little about his life from before Or even while he lived with the fisherman, Unless I missed something. I would like to have known more.
I would love to see y.S in a role like that again. I have not actually seen him in anything else. I have not watched hospital playlist. Oh yes, I did see him in the other Doctor show But I do not remember the role that well.
@monmor, I was happy that there was no amnesia. The whole war zone thing was stupid, but the rest made sense. I liked the new name he chose.
Now I need to watch Mr. Sunshine again.
I agree with everyone here. @SF yes, it didn’t make sense but it is actually part of the novel and the career shift he does so not sure what option the drama had here.
Yes @GB indeed every thread is resolved, no matter how wildly.
One part I’d have like to see is the full circle to his dreams of drowning. In the original work, while escaping the armed men in warzone, they fall into water. Hee Joo remembers that he’s terrified of water, finds him paralysed in fear underwater, does their sign language “Gwenchana” and saves him.
Since then, all his dreams of being drowned feature her saving him. Even the dream gets a resolution 😄
Maybe it wasn’t technically possible to shoot this scene. Who knows.
What happened To the bleeding wound after he was supposedly shot? He was shot right where his heart and spleen are!
Oh right that was her nightmare!
Yes @monmor it was her nightmare but I think the drama tried to do justice to original novel Hee Joo here. The HJ is novel isn’t as coherent and “put together” as the drama HJ due to decades of neglect and abuse by her mother, being forced into mutism etc.
Lots of drama viewers complained about all the “good” scenes being Hee joo’s dreams but this is true to the original narrative. The idea being, she wants it, but can’t convey it. Similarly, she sees herself being bereft of him and is super afraid of loosing him, but can’t say it. Not even to him.
For last two episodes, they attribute her confusion to not eating since days but novel Hee Joo is generally a little confused until she finds her footing because of his steadfast affection at least post the whole debacle.
Drama Hee Joo, much like novel Hee Joo is confused. He is not around. So did he die ? Or is he alive ? Thus, she goes in hunts for clues that he’s alive.
In the novel, as she’s looking for him, she receives calls from 604 everyday. Not just once. He doesn’t respond or say a word. Only she does the talking. She talks about her griefs, abandonment and trauma for days.
I don’t think the drama had the time to flesh out these details. But it gives more weight to his guilt of “doing this to her” and makes Hee joo’s tendency of many dreams – both good and bad make sense.
If you’d recall, in ep 8 when she’s in the hospital, she doesn’t scream when she’s afraid that the kidnapper is trying to open the door. She doesn’t answer when fake BSE is calling for her because she’s unable to. When faced with real danger, she’s unable to talk ) scream about it.
When taken together, all this gives more closure to what he says at the end. Be like 406. Talk to me. Tell me what you want. I wouldn’t know if you don’t tell me.
He knows that she still can’t say. Up till then, she stays meek and doesn’t really dare to get angry unless she’s anonymous like 406. So from the time she has enough security in her relationship with him to get angry, throw tantrums and make her desires known, her healing begins.
I hope this answers @GB’s question also. No, he doesn’t get shot but it’s more than a nightmare.
She’s actually confused whether it happened or not. With nightmares, one might be scared but ideally, one must not be confused if it actually happened or not.
Whereas with Hee Joo, her trauma and neglect makes it difficult for her to process these things. In the drama, they tried to convey it with her many dreams and desires with Sa Eon – none of which she’s able to tell him and being unable to open up to the only person who actually wants her to let him in.
At the end, he encourages her to keep sharing her true feelings with him like she did when they were anonymous – either when she was 406 or he as 604. In the novel, it ends with him saying 604 loves 406 – highlighting how he’s a nameless man with no identity and she’s not what she was pushed into. The HHJ moulded by trauma is not the real Hee Joo. The real Hee Joo is 406 – spunky, angry when warranted and letting him know her mind.
Last bit – Sa Eon being shot as Hee joo’s nightmare is made clear to the viewers when the show real SE aka kidnapper body being carried by the police and his mother grieving. Likely, the shot viewers heard end of ep 11 was from the police shooting kidnapper.
But Hee Joo is still confused because of everything I said above.
Hope this helps give a little context which I felt the drama could not. 😌
Another piece of context that may help –
When fake Sa Eon was a child, he was very traumatized by watching real SE being drowned and having to take his place in a love-less home. He didn’t eat well, sobbed alone while hiding in alleys close to his home often and had nightmares.
The drama covered the eating and nightmares superficially but they missed a crucial point.
In the original work, young Hee Joo watches him go through all this – in her signature silent manner, unbeknownst to him.
When she confessed to adult Sa Eon that she’s loved him since childhood, she tells him and I quote – “I didn’t start loving you when you were all powerful, sophisticated, always – in – control presidential spokesperson. I loved you since you were sobbing alone in the streets, unable to eat and plagued with nightmares.”
I think this was a very important piece that adds authenticity to HJ’s love. It should have been included rather than how the drama did it.
Thanks very much Arihsi for putting the scenes we have in perspective and for adding in the parts that were left out. Yes, some of the helpful nuances have been lost in the way the show was adapted. I guess this Writer needs more practice and maybe a good mentor.
I was under the impression that drama HJ knew very well that SE is alive but missed him so much that she wanted to talk about him to anyone who had known him well. She was also looking for clues as to where he might be. The Reporter friend was helpful there, but it was a VERY long shot that she could locate him in the fictional country of Argan.
But of course to make a long story short, he was the one who’d turn up to rescue hostages (hah!). A hostage negotiator who took his own wife hostage and who rescues civilians from rebels without negotiating Heheheh!
What irony that as herself she could not speak her mind but only as a number. It would have been nice if the show could have made it clearer how stuck she was in her mind and how her healing began. We’d appreciate SE’s love more and maybe found it slightly less cheesy.
Yes @GB… The novel SE isn’t cheesy at all. It also puts into perspective his guilt. It is his father’s fault that HJ is traumatized, meek, having forced mutism and slightly messed up mental health wise. His family is even against her having any career like they make clear in ep 2. So basically they’ve reduced her to nothing.
The drama does try to say SE knows this because even as early as ep 5, on call he says “could she have been forced to stay mute ? She was only In-a’s shadow ?” Etc.
Drama showes HJ borderline faint / have less clue of what’s going on around her more than once but fails to clarify the connection with her trauma and thereby SE’s guilt at his father having knowingly done this due to greed.
YYS sang an OST for the drama called “Say My Name”. It has wonderful lyrics and suits very well to the original novel where post the reveal, SE has zero identity. He asks Hee Joo to give him a name after she finds him and rescues him from a river. I think the drama couldn’t effectively portray his identity crisis either.
I am speechless after ep12. And not in a good way. 😂😂😂
Sunsets…Descendents of the Sun ☀️ makes a cameo. Argan sounds like something from the Periodic Table. Wonder of wonders they speak English there? Even the rebels. Why must their most honest interchanges have to occur amid the threat of imminent danger? When fake SE questioned her decision to find him in rebel territory and then asked her why she didn’t just idly wait for his return? I wanted to slap him and scream like she did. You selfish fool! It’s always been about you isn’t it? Your time, your guilt, your pain, your plan. Never once did you ask her how she felt about it, consulted her about taking off. Kept her in the dark. How is that love? What happened to keeping no secrets and communicating? Face to face. Is that so hard? Hate confrontations much? Be brave. Tell her about your guilt, your confusion. If she’s worth her salt, she will love you more. Let her walk that dark journey back to the light with you. Don’t just run away with no explanation. The other party deserves as much. If you truly loved (and continue to love) learn to say it to their face. You know why breakups over text or via some email or some other delivery method is so hard to accept? Because it’s cowardly. You’re sending a message to that person that they aren’t worth it. You won’t grace them with your presence to tell them face to face. If you need to write it down then do so. But deliver the message in person. And take the fall out like a man. It hurts more when the other party learns about it third hand. Why did HJ have to find all those little tidbits from other people (Kang and DJ and InA?)? Why does HJ have to literally hunt you down to extract the truth? Did he change in the end? Hell no. HJ found out that he was in hostile territory from the newsreel? Just like everyone else? You could argue that newsreader YuRi knew before HJ did because YuRi had the script beforehand? 🙄. Even DJ knew more than HJ did. 🙄. Hiding the truth from her only worries her more? How hard could it be to relay a message to her to let her know you will be going and uncontactable? If you have no time then tell DJ to let her know? She’s your wife? I have no words (selective mutism 😂).
I actually googled 604 and it’s the area code for British Columbia in Canada. Now that would’ve been a better place for them to find each other (I believe Packmule suggested this 🍪🍪🍪). A lot less dramatic but hey real life is like that. Lots of mundane. Wasn’t that what HJ and fake SE aka newly minted Paik YooYeon wished for? To be an ordinary couple? That was their ultimate happy ever after. Not this MIB version that was penned.
@NRL I felt my angriest at him in this episode.
I thought
The area code was British Columbia when it first showed up And got my hopes up Only to have them dashed.
When he is rescuing her in argon( Yes sounds just like an element in the periodic table) (just so we know for sure, if we had any doubt, this is a fake name of a country), I was in disbelief that it would be him in the mask. At the same time, I knew it must be or what was the sense of these scenes.
Also just why did HJ Never speak when she was with him. I am trying to think how dire the consequence might have been and can’t come up with one Other than that she would be displeasing her parents And how they might be about that. She is twenty eight years old although a Young twenty eight year old but still… I guess Eventually she would have been afraid to reveal it to him after being silent for so long. He certainly did not make her feel safe. However she bears responsibility as well for their silence as a couple.
For me this drama’s plot did not fly even from the beginning. I did try to suspend my rational mind but that part of me kept interfering with my Watching experience.
@Arihsi I was.
Just rereading Several of your above Comments. Thank you.That helps me understand the character of HJ better And why she would not have spoken up.
Thanks, @nrllee. 🙂 I’d take your final word for it. And thank you for taking the bullet for me.
If these last two episodes revolved around the romance then I’m outta here. I don’t think this screenwriter has much insight to offer me on life, relationships and love, but I can definitely teach her a thing or two.
From the start, I said I was only in it for the mystery because the romance bored me. It was as tropey and FORMULAIC as a Hallmark Christmas movie adapted from a “Harlequin Presents” fiction.
Example: the time HJ realized that SE entered her bedroom, instead of his, so she chased after him to see him sprawling on her bed, inviting/daring her to sleep with him, because he purportedly wanted to protect her while a killer was out and about, when in reality, he only wanted to apologize to her for overhearing him say to the killer, “Call me back when you have a corpse.”
Subtlety in that scene: 0
Cheap thrills for “feels”: 100
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Since the plot hit the wall (or more aptly said, fell down the hole) in Ep 10, I’m closing the door. I’ve seen enough to determine the range of the screenwriter and the limits of her critical thinking process. I won’t include this drama on my List of Completed Dramas of 2024. That count for completed dramas currently sits at two. Let me see if “Love Your Enemy” gets on it. Otherwise, year 2024 is a dud for kdramas for me.
@packmule The other “bed” scene I thought was so hokey was when she was in hospital and HJ was acting nervous about him spending the night with her! Did I miss some level of abstraction or was it just stupid and cringey?
Oh another thought I had that I was just reminded of- when the real SE is whispering to the fake SE, I thought HJ was reading his lips- was she? and that was not developed or did I miss something again. I did not follow whether she knew or not about the hit. I think there were some directing/editing issues in this drama and not all rests on the writer’s shoulders.