I’ll discuss the individual episodes later. For now, I’m putting my notes out here for FYI.
1. The screenwriter and creators
The screenwriter is Ahn SaeBom. She/he also wrote Soundtrack #1 (2022) which I haven’t seen.
Interestingly, there are two creators of the drama. I’m not in the industry so I’m guessing that a creator came up with the original idea and a screenwriter is the one hired to write the script with dialogues. The creator approves the script and ensures that it conforms to her vision.
a. Joo HwaMi who wrote:
“Atypical Family” (2024),
“Meow, the Secret Boy” (2020) Didn’t you do a rewatch of this, @GB, @WEnchanteur, and @ibisfeather?
“Introverted Boss” (2017), and
“Marriage, Not Dating” (2014) which started off great but bored me by the 2nd episode. 🙂
b. Kang EunKyung, who’s the more recognizable writer of the two. I’ll just mention three titles from her body of work:
“Gyeongseong Creature,” seasons 1 and 2
“Dr. Romantic,” all 3 seasons
“Where Stars Land” (2018), which I found boring.
She’s one pretty busy lady.
2. The written clues
We were given a few props which I think give us clues about the characters but aren’t translated.
a. The business card
In Episode 1, the male lead Dokgo Dal (DD) finds a business card in the purse of Gong YeonSu (YS).
Since Viki didn’t translate it, it’s “What’s in your horizon?” or “Where does your horizon lie?”
Noteworthy: after YS abruptly ends their blind date, DD spots her waiting at the pedestrian crossing. When she begins to walk, she enters his horizon.
This is visual foreshadowing, of course. There’s nothing subtle about this director. lol.
b. The billboard sign
In Episode 2, we see why the card in YS’ purse struck a chord in DD. Every day, he wakes up to see the Horizon billboard with that message “What’s in your horizon?” emblazoned on it. That’s why he specifically asked for the person who worked on the Horizon ad to work for his company.
Though he later discovers that YS is the creator behind the Horizon ad, he still sends her off because she’s biased against the very product she’s supposed to promote.
She, however, makes a last-ditch attempt to convince him that she’s the best person for the job. She points out that, given her stance on his products, she understands best how to promote them to people like her.
Then, he asks her what horizon means for her.
DD: What does the Horizon mean to you, Ms. Gong YeonSu? That advertisement? I heard you made it. I’m just curious. What does it mean?
YS: Well, just a peaceful, smooth, stable life.
DD: More specifically?
YS: It’s the line I look at, so I don’t lose sight of the kind of person I am and where I’m heading. Sometimes I stop and look back to see if the path I’m walking on has deviated from the direction I wanted, and doing that is the line that makes me walk again.
DD: (pointedly) Something like marriage, for instance?
YS: Well, who knows? Whether it’s marriage or something else. Horizons cannot be measured in distance. I’m walking endlessly, but I haven’t reached it yet. Does that answer your question?
c. The mystery message
In Episode 3, YS attends an art exhibition germane to their business. It’s called “The Temperature of Love in Body Language.”
She immediately encounters her DD and his bestie, and as usual, she and DD argue over their clashing interpretations of a digital art. But to me, the interesting part in this scene is that he remains aware of her physical space even when arguing with her. An art spectator is about to walk into YS but DD smoothly blocks the man then pulls YS closer to him. I don’t know about you but I find this gesture more swoon-worthy than the typical yank-and-pull rescue from an errant motorcyclist. Perhaps because it’s done discreetly, without fuss and fanfare.
On her way out, she sees an interactive sculpture. It’s called, “Illusion: Something You Can Never Grasp or Reach.” The museum label instructs her to take out a message.
The message is revealed later in the episode when she and DD kiss each other outside a store. It’s a quote from a 1998 bestseller “Contradiction” by Yang GuiJa. According to google, it goes:
“Therefore, love is a red traffic light. The red traffic light that warns of danger and safety at the same time is love.”
It’s that text on the upper left side of the screen.
But take note of the traffic signal light found on the right of the kissing couple. Not so subtle at all, Director-nim!
d. The love notes in YS’s room
In the epilogue of Episode 4, DD peeks inside YS’ bedroom and notices her scribbles on love.
From google translate:
About Love:
1. Love is acceptance, not understanding.
2. People love more if they don’t prove it.
3. Love = even though I gave up on myself
Not giving up. Having a wish.
->Nevertheless -> love => possibility?
-> education = not giving up = the act of love
[indecipherable. Something about education is also possible]
3. The cheonggukjang
Watch how it’s included in the story. It’s a symbol, obviously.
a. In Episode 1, DD and YS reluctantly go on an arranged blind date at an exclusive hotel restaurant. She suggests, however, that they move to a casual eatery as they don’t have any intention to prolong their lunch.
Without directly insulting the fancy restaurant and its menu, she points out that the food arrives quickly at this place. She continues to make small talk, saying that the food is good because it’s done in a traditional way.
YS: When fermenting cheonggukjang, temperature and time are the most important factors. When one of them is off, the whole batch can be ruined. It’s quite fussy.
DD: You seem to know a lot about cheonggukjang.
YS: My family makes all kinds of fermented paste at home. My grandma always says that I should meet someone who’s as well-aged as this cheongukjang.
DD: (bored) Well, I see.
Two comments:
One, in terms of this rom-com, “temperature and time” mean attraction between the couple, and timing. Or fate.
Two, in the epilogue of Episode 3, he clumsily learns to cook cheonggukjang stew by himself.
b. In Episode 2, YS helps her mother dispose of spoiled cheonggukjang paste. Their conversation has double meaning.
Mom: I worked so hard on it, but why did it spoil? (tasting) Ugh. It’s so bitter.
YS: Then, what now?
Mom: What:
YS: Over one mistake? You’re throwing it all out just because it went bad?
Mom: I wouldn’t if I could fix it. These beans were expensive.
YS: (sighing) If even cheonggukjang can’t be saved, can I be saved?
My comment:
I would have thought that YS was referring to her recent break-up with her boyfriend. After all, she had spent one year with the guy. But to my surprise, she’s actually lamenting over her job prospects at DD’s company. After their blind date snafu, and her drunken mishap, she’s upset that she made such a bad impression that he won’t hire her.
This short scene tells me exactly how importance her ex was in her life.
c. In Episode 3, YS’ mother hands him a nicely wrapped dosirak (or bento box). He gets the impression that it contains choenggukjang.
Mom: Oh, okay. By any chance, do you like cheonggukjang?
DD: Pardon?
Mom: (handing him the nicely wrapped box) When you live aline, you must miss your mom’s cooking. Make sure you eat properly. Come visit anytime you miss a home-cooked meal.
DD: Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.
As he walks off, her mother wonders to herself, “Should I make him samgyetang next time?”
Once he gets home and unwraps the dosirak, he sees that it contains two layers of nicely prepared dishes.
Lol. The reason her mom asked about cheonggukjang is to determine what she was going to cook for him when he gets invited over soon. I think he got the message, too.
Also in the epilogue of Episode 3, DD learns to cook cheonggukjang in his kitchen. The fact that he doesn’t know how to turn on his stove tells us that this is his first time. I think, as early as Episode 3, he wants to be that “well-aged cheonggukjang”-like man YS’ grandmother wished for her.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
That’s it for now. I plan to do write-ups for the four episodes as well, but there’s a long queue of dramas I have to deconstruct and reconstruct.
@agdr03,
Where are you? I need help! The toys are unfamiliar to me. Pwahaha.
Seriously.
As I told @ibisfeather on the “What Are We Watching” thread, I’ll try to keep mum and hold the fort till @GB gets back from her vacation to discuss the show’s message on love, sex, marriage, and scratching the itch (e.g., one-night-stands and friends-with-benefits situations).
She’ll most likely have the better perspective on this because she’ll speak with the Asian POV in mind.
@Pm3, hi. No it was “Imaginary Cat”, with a lovely cat and we hear her thoughts.
“Meow” is about a cat becoming a guy (switching from one to the other). The drama was cosy, slow, a bit boring (in the “radio romance” way). Disappointing as we don’t see the cat often, and the guy acts more like a real human than a cat.
Sountrack was a bit slow, but yet a good drama, and with Han So-Hee, just a success!
Make me Tingle also have a secondary screenwriter: Lee Hwa-jin. So a little more than just a simple assistant. She was assistant on “The World of the Married” and “Forecasting Love and Weather”.
Alas, I don’t have time to watch. I’m in Ep4 of “A love other than yours”, I didn’t have time to watch a lot since last time. Comedy scenes (a few) doesn’t hit, but dramatic scenes are good. The writer is quite new too, but it’s well constructed. I just spotted a moment with two scenes in correlation in different places, like Park Hye Ruyn did on Pinocchio. It makes me feel the writer setup first this situation, then create the circumstances for this to happen at the same time. At this point, I didn’t watch yet the moment when the drama goes into the mess all people are raging about. (Ahah! I’m impatient to see that)
Thanks, @WEnchanteur. I didn’t know that there was more than one kdrama about cats. I’m more of a dog lover myself.
There’s a secondary screenwriter for “Make Me Tingle”? Uh oh. Two screenwriters and two creators. That doesn’t bode well, does it? I hope the script isn’t ruined because of too many cooks in the kitchen spoiling the broth altogether.
In this context, the creators did the concept and general guidelines. Then, it’s difficult to know their role. They could be just gone (like when they adapt a manhwa), or charged by the channel to give feedback and guide a bit the two others writers (like showrunners). As it is, I suppose the creators didn’t write a single line of the script.
Yes, I agree, @WEnchanteur.
The creators would’ve had a say on the hiring of the screenwriter(s) and actors. I assume they also had to approve of the direction of the story, the conflicts, and ending/resolution. The screenwriter would have to pitch everything to the creators, for the creators’ approval. Everything except for the dialogue.
To me, it all depends on how control-freak the creators are, and how long they’ve been in the industry. If I were Kang EunKyung (the senior creator), I wouldn’t want my “brand name” associated with a messed-up kdrama, so I would breathe down the necks of the newbie screenwriters and be nit-picky. Conversely, if I didn’t care about my reputation as long as I get monetary compensation, then I’d give these newbie screenwriters plenty of leeway. I’d them just do it, because for better or worse, I’d get paid anyway without me breaking a sweat.
Personally, when I co-sign on a work, it’s a matter of pride and integrity that the result is up to *my* standards. Otherwise, just leave my name out of it entirely.
@Pm3, I would be rather positive if the creators are also hired to do a bit of coatching. Guys very experimented, like the one who did Dr. Romantic, where all situations are well setup, oriented toward character grow, emotions that always hit. If I were producer, I would certainly hire them to help a bit the two other writers with less experience. I don’t see it as an interference but great help.
I give you an example from my own screenplay. During a very long time, I knew one of my episodes didn’t work. Feedback from 2 readers wasn’t enough to know exactly why, and how to solve the issue. It’s typical: you know something isn’t right, dozen of people could say it, but it’s useless as you already know that, what you need are real ideas, a way to unlock the situation, someone able to point out what is the real problem. And it can be tricky. I was lucky and I end up to discover it by myself. Intuition, luck, or I don’t know how to call that.
As I couldn’t find, I said to myself: well, at least I will clean anything I see that could be loud, too long or anything, not aiming at doing big changes (and not listening to some points of the feedback because it pointed at rather good scenes, and I interpreted the cause of frustration was probably elsewhere). Then I saw 2 montages, problematic, making the reading bad at a point when the reader could be tired, half episode and another one later. I had some reasons to do them as they were. One was easy to fix, a reverse flashback, because I needed the cause to be the last shot. Unreadable, I turned it into linear flashback, except the last shot, keeping my intention, but with clarity.
The other was a big montage (200 lines!) of two argument scenes “with a link between them”. Sounds perfect about the idea. I wanted just to delete, cut some moment at first, but I just saw it wasn’t understadable the way I wanted. We couldn’t follow the progression of the first conflict (most important one) when it’s intercut with the other one. So I gave up on that, removed any flashback and put the two scenes as regular scenes at the moment they happen. And here it’s a BIG change. What gives…
The first argument had to go at the start of the episode. I did it, and only then, BANG!!! I understood why the episode didn’t work. The episode lacked two things: a clear direction AND take into account what audience want to see at this point (aka: what the characters worry about, how they plan to solve a previous dramatic situation). In the previous version, there was a hint about what they need is related to the other characters I show in the episode. But the link comes too late. So, the episode was like wandering, showing the other characters without a clear reason. NOW, what changed: I adress the dramatic situation first, and this link to other characters first.
How I trapped myself: the characters are unable to solve this dramatic question during the episode, so it’s like it didn’t matter if I speak about that sooner or later. Wrong! It matters for the audience. Even if they fail, I needed to introduce them first at trying, and give the sense this episode was about that, like any story, at the end the characters succeed or fail, here they fail, but we understand the other ones I show mainwhile could be the key to success.
Now, imagine that the screenwriter of Dr Romantic reads my screenplay and is with me during a metting: SHE FINDS THAT IN A FLASH !! She will explain why and how, making any change even more easy to accept. (it’s not easy to change something when you get the feeling you put a good idea into it, but if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, that’s it). She would even find many other things that doesn’t work so well.
In this kind of professional feedback, the mentor isn’t here to change your story, change your integrity or anything of this kind. On the contrary, the mentor is here to help you to unfold what you want the best it could. I absolutly not see that as “control”, they know they help new screewriters on their first big project, whishing for them to succeed. Else they wouldn’t want them. However here, I just hope they helped, as we don’t know the situation. Maybe they just give a concept and walk away, then the producer just hire two screenwriters to make it, because the other ones don’t have time, or for any other unknow reason.