Gotta say I enjoyed it!
This drama is based off a UK series of the same name, which I watched 10 minutes of like 10 years ago, but couldn’t get into, mostly because the protagonist ends up in the 1970s, which is the decade I hate the most, hahaha. The protagonist of this one goes back to the 80s, so it’s better. Also, 1980s Korea much more interesting than 1970s Britain!
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This site is refusing to let me reply-to-post. it says I need to log in. I’m ALREADY logged in. Then when i try to do it it says someone already has my log-on. Yes, that’s ME, bitch. Dafuq.
Anyway…
It was pretty fun seeing our Hyunnie get the “Pretty Woman” treatment, this time with our wildly wealthy heroine flexing her plastic. HOW MANY times have we seen this scenario play out where it’s the poor, unfashionable girl who has to trot out in various outfits for the stoic (but inwardly squealing) man to choose. It was so refreshing! And I love that she bought him one of everything though he might only be in the country for a few more hours and he had warned her so. It brought her so much happiness to shop for him and take care of him.
And he was adorable reading the comments on his video online, too! He’s so easily pleased by compliments hahaha. You would think he’s be used to it by now. The women in North Korea ALSO have eyes, come on.
I have to say, though, that considering Capt. Ri dug through a tunnel for 20 HOURS to get to the South because Se Ri’s life was in danger, how did he leave her side so abruptly without even making alternative arrangements for her protection?? There’s no way Se Ri should be walking around in an empty building and parking garage by herself! She has a security staff, for God’s sake. They couldn’t have assigned one to shadow her? I mean even if it turned out to be useless because our villain had already infiltrated, at least it would show the intention to safeguard her was paramount.
But I have to say this villain perplexes me. He has escaped to the South, where he apparently has extensive connections (given the number of goons who attacked Capt Ri on his behalf) or plenty of money to hire them, yet his only purpose in life appears to be to kill our girl who has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to him!! All this in a bid to get “revenge” on Capt. Ri, a man whose brother he killed FIRST. His motivation is so “how DARE you duck when I throw things at you!” that I have to roll my eyes. Was Captain Ri such a nemesis that he needs to be made to suffer in perpetuity? Isn’t he ALREADY grieving the undeserved loss of his hyung?? Does this villain have no thoughts of just living large (and peacefully) on his ill-gotten gains in freedom and BB-Q Olive Chicken houses? I hope we get some more insight into why he is so deranged and hateful. He makes no sense at all.
Yeah, the ducklings are useless. But we knew they would be. Even Captain Ri’s plan of wandering around until he bumped into her was better than theirs. Hahaha!
It was fun to see Con Man suddenly start to catch feelings for Dan; he was cute. Though I still can’t stand him.
Oh and let’s all thank KitKat for their sponsorship of this episode. Eat a pile of them when you are sad, kids!
Considering our girl came back from the dead in this episode, I gotta say the hour for the most part was pretty dull for me.
The real fiancée makes her presence known, angers the village women with her attitude, and we get a pretty clear picture that Jung-hyuk’s going along with the engagement out of duty, putting up with a ridiculous late-night dinner with the future MIL but not much else. During his absence, the women bring booze to commiserate with Se-ri and they bond over her tale of a love facing obstacles. Se-ri is offered another plan to get home, one that will cause Jung-hyuk problems though he denies it; it requires a passport so a makeunder, NK style, happens, and Se-ri pawns an key item. The State Security LC Cho continues being suspicious and looking for ways to trap Jung-hyuk, and Jung-hyuk looks for ways to repay the favor. Finger hearts are given and pouts are pouted, and a train trip to Pyongyang meets with a lengthy delay.
Yolette: Really, our boy’s efforts were bordering on pathological during the train ride. Our heroine didn’t even have to ask him for anything, just mention it in passing and he’s off to go get it! It’s getting more and more bizarre! And where does he finally draw the line and say no? Getting a picture together. He doesn’t want a memento, he says. It makes me think he already HAS one from that time on the bridge. What a weird thing to balk at.
Robin: He was definitely paying close attention to what she was saying on that bridge, the whole time Dan is trying to catch his attention and remind him that they are supposed to be getting to know one another. He’s all “yeah, yeah, I hear you,” while Dan’s doing her quiet “pay attention to me!” thing, but he was watching and listening to Se-ri as if Dan was made of glass. He might not have a photo of her from that particular moment, but I agree that he might very well have others from that Swiss interlude. And… just wondering… if Jung-hyuk took over soldiering after his brother’s death to please his father, could Dan be another responsibility that he inherited? Could she have originally been planned to be his brother’s wife?
The whole train ride sequence was like some sort of glam-travel in the 3rd world travelogue — how quaint the singing vendors are! How resourceful the country folk are! How cozy the campfires are! But I wondered if the breakdown was planned so those country folk would have an opportunity to make some money (if such a thing were to really happen).
Yolette: That said I laughed myself sick during this episode. The ladies gathering to commiserate after they met the real fiancee–they were so angry on her behalf!! Learning all the new ways to say bitch! And the drunken village watchwoman screeching at the General’s wife, “Do you really love him? He’s just an old raccoon!” while being bodily carried away! Our hero’s fulminating pout and bed kick after Se Ri sends finger hearts to all of his crew. OMG, I can’t! Hahahaha!! He thought he was special. And his FACE when she tells him she has MULTIPLE men waiting for her and crying over her disappearance in South Korea, hahaha. Down with that “Capitalist love!”
Robin: A moving picture worth a thousand words!
I thought this little bit was hilarious, and while he’s so Hyun Bin, he still managed to make me laugh at his pouty, pouty face!
The bonding session was fun, and it really cemented in my mind how Se-ri is really a survivor. Those ladies don’t know Romeo and Juliet? Well they do know the old folktales, and so does Se-ri. She is upset that her watch isn’t worth anything but it’s weight value in NK, until she sees a guy pawning his belt. How poor do you have to be to pawn a belt? I like the way the women have taken her to their bosom and man, each one of them is a little scene stealer in her own way.
Yolette: Does he really not realize that he likes her? It seems obvious that he does, but then why go out of his way to warn her that he already has a fiancée and not to catch feelings for him? But also, SCREAMING LAUGHING that he tells her confidently that his fiancee won’t show up and ruin his lies, turns the corner and there she is!! LOL! Ouch!
On this note, it seems that our heroine “negs” him a lot, asserting that he’s not that smart, that he’s not respected, that he has no power, etc. (I’m posting the definition from Google: Negging is an act of emotional manipulation whereby a person makes a deliberate backhanded compliment or otherwise flirtatious but negative remark to another person intended to undermine their confidence and increase their need of the manipulator’s approval.) I find it is an interesting device being used by the writer in this drama, especially in light of our hero’s eagerness to please her. Is the writer deliberately staging this relationship as such, or is it just happening that way unintentionally?
Robin: I don’t know that it’s intentional on Se-ri’s part; she’s just formulated that opinion based on what the Company 5 boys told her because neither they, nor the villagers know that he’s politically connected and apparently from elite wealth (an OSTRICH as a security alarm at his parents’ home?!) and she’s saying these things to him as a way of saying, “I know you face challenges, you’re not doing all that well, but I’m okay with that and I’ll help you too if I can as a way to say thank you (and I don’t judge you for it either.)”
Having Dan show up (and girl, you are not going to get a man to fall for you if you stand there like an ice princess) just as Jung-hyuk so confidently says that he’s not going to get busted was a predictable moment, but enjoyable nonetheless. The bit I enjoyed the most though was Se-ri saying she was going to ‘head off home’ and he hustles after her to catch her and say that his home is hers (don’t go running off to some other place in the dark where you could get lost and run into trouble without me here to protect you). Oh yes, he’s interested!
Yolette: Finally Se Ri and the con man run into each other! I love that she saw right through him at first glance. Even he had to respect that about her. Now our hero has something he can really get jealous over! Rrowr.
Robin: I’m disliking Gu Seung-jun quite a lot, but then I guess that we’re supposed to — but he’s another survivor, it seems. Maybe because Se-ri has toughened herself up to survive her painful past she’s become an expert at sizing up the panderers and sycophants, but it was gratifying to see her tell him to take a hike after taking a ‘sip’ from her brother (that sip being a couple of billion, it seems). In the few scenes we’ve had with him, it seems like Gu Seung-jun is the less attractive flip-side of Se-ri; taking and expecting and charming to get his way, without any sort of compunction.
Yolette: Imma go out on a limb and say that after our heroine’s tale of dismay, our hero will at some point go back to reclaim her designer watch to make her happy and he’ll find his brother’s watch at the pawn shop. I wonder why the bad guys are so afraid of it being found. What evidence could it contain?
Robin: Ditto. D’ya think they telegraphed this little detail sufficiently? Sometimes the stories just write themselves, sigh…
But, evidence aside, how proud were y’all that the maknae of the Company 5 boys was smart enough and loyal to figure out that, judging by how long he had to wait to be interrogated by LC Cho, he was the last of them to be visited and therefore the others had said NOTHING. Yay!
Yolette: How sad that our wiretapper still hasn’t grown a spine. He spilled all the goods, still a faithful rat. I feel so bad for his son. Our heroine is surprisingly good with children for a hardened socialite.
Robin: I wonder when his heart will “grow 10 sizes” and he will discover that he has a pair of cojones after all? Knowing he has access to evidence (whatever that watch will tell anyone), knowing that he can be a true and honorable ‘rat’ and turn in LC Cho and possibly higher-ups for murder, knowing his wife likes Se-ri, knowing Se-ri defended his son… what else will it take?
Not only is Se-ri good with children (apparently speaking from her own experience), but there was a little “oof” moment when she tells Jung-hyuk that he will be a good husband and father some day. If he is feeling ‘those kinds of feelings’ for her, knowing he’s sending her away (again, even if whatever was in his recollection of their past in Switzerland may have been one-sided, she might also represent the life he sacrificed as well as someone who touched his heart) has to sting.
< Episode 4 — Episode 5 >
The kiss works! It’s just 2 lovebirds out for a boat ride on a fishing trawler, right? Se-ri’s not happy to be stuck for an indefinite period of time, so Jung-hyuk does what he can to make her comfortable (coffee) and well-guarded. Se-ri takes it into her head to try and escape via her paraglider, but is discovered by Jung-hyuk and he whisks her away to safety to escape SS Lt. Jo; her radio was on, causing an alert. She can’t make it across the border w/o detection, but apparently they can take to the hills! The spy (Man-bok) comes further into their circle via a market theft and Jung-hyuk taking on the crooks, and his listening in seems more sympathetic. Turns out his wife is the one kind-hearted village lady too. The boys of Company 5 do their best to give tips for helping Jung-hyuk escape trouble, like making nice to the bossy senior-most woman in the village, and Se-ri jumps in with both feet. Back in Seoul, the family backbiting continues, with a successor chosen, and some news for us: Se-ri was illegitimate! Real fiancée Dan and tool Seung-joon continue to cross paths; she’s on her way to visit Jung-hyuk!
Yolette: She wants coffee she gets coffee. She wants scented candle, she gets scented candle, even if it takes a few days. What is this mania he has of doing whatever she wants? It’s sexy as hell!! LOL!!
Robin: Drama World’s feeding us these amazing men lately, like Ryan Gold in Her Private Life. Men who go that extra mile to keep the woman safe, pamper her with her heart’s desires, and kiss like a dream.
Yolette: At least now we know our hero did indeed cross words with her in Switzerland and saved her life even back then. I’d be curious whether he took a picture of her at the time or not. He had his camera on her for a while. But if, as I’m suspecting, he did fall in love with her a bit back then, and then felt as if it were fate when she was literally delivered to him out of the sky in North Korea, his ridiculous inner monologue about “Should I just kill her?” seems even more ludicrous. If it weren’t for that scene it would totally explain his uncontrollable urge to please her even when she’s being a brat.
Robin: Well, it could be a “just kill her” like the way we might say in frustration, “I could just wring his/her neck” and not “killing her would save a lot of trouble.” But these little snippets at the end post-credit are kind of annoying me because they might easily be overlooked if you don’t stick through the credits for them (as I originally did). They add the potential backstory to their story. Obviously he remembers her from back then, but her memory of him is dim (oh, I know! …it’s the popular SK amnesia! …maybe she got a little too close to her suicide wish. Guess we’ll have to wait for a few more after the episode backstory moments to fill in those gaps.
But at least we also now know why she might want to be off somewhere looking for euthanasia for her mental grief and bone-crushing despair, and contemplating suicide. I would suppose she’s found out at that point that she’s illegitimate. We only had to wait until episode 4 to learn that part of the story. Imagine being the victim of an apparent abandonment as a child (as we’ve seen in any number of dramas), being lost is traumatic and her brave, “can-do” attitude might just be her version of “whistle when you’re afraid”. How nice that it’s Jung-hyuk with the scented candle who comes to her rescue!
Yolette: Once again I am rolling my eyes at these people, well, the fiancee… who stays in Russia for TEN YEARS apparently without a single word to her bethrothed –no calls, no letters, no meetings during trips home, and yet somehow expects him to still be there waiting for their nuptuals? And is excited about reuniting with him, as if she’s in love? Bizarre.
Robin: That’s an awfully long time for someone to put their career first, even in dramalandia. If they were ‘engaged’ when they were children and had to wait until they were adults, okay maybe I could see it (as if that would make it any better!) With the post-clip we know that they have at least traveled together on a get-to-know you trip (during which she got very used to looking at him, because Hyun Bin, okay), but there’s no heat in the arrangement for him. Why?
Yolette: I am really enjoying the tsundere character of Chi Soo, though, I think he’s my favorite character, lol! I live for that look of disgust on his face hahahaha he’s so hilarious. His sparring matches with our heroine are the best! The pinch-faced neighborhood watch enforcer is my second-favorite. An A+ WTF expression!! Hahahaha!
Robin: You know who those two groups remind me of? Male and female versions of the ‘cuartel de las feas’! They are there to amuse us and enlighten us, kind of the modern-day Greek chorus, just as the feas were in Yo soy Betty, la fea. Chi-soo is hilarious; not gonna return that shampoo, no thank you! Once you’ve seen the light of good products you’re not going back to coal tar or lye soap, no sir! Also, I want to try those soju-cooked clams, don’t you?
Kim Sun-young is always such a scene stealer! I loved her in Answer Me 1988 in particular, but she’s up to her sly old ways once again. The key for these scenes is to give us a feel for the village life without overdoing it and for me, right now they’re just enough.
Yolette: So, the wiretapper at his post listening must know what’s up by now. They’re not being sly at all in the conversations at the house. Though clearly he is soft on the Captain, since he feels guilty for aiding in the killing of his brother and then grateful for having his wallet recovered, too. Maybe he’ll be an ally and not a spineless worm.
Robin: I’m glad that wiretapper Man-bok is troubled enough by guilt and gratitude (plus, woot! action Bin time!) to be thinking about his role in all this and maybe becoming if not an ally, than at least not an impediment/squealer. I am happy that it’s his wife (played by Jang So-yeon who I also always really like) who is the one who’s kind about Se-ri, realistic about Jung-hyuk, and rescued by Se-ri at the party. BTW, raise your hand if you wished that Se-ri had introduced herself as Sam-soon.
To the shock of everyone (Jung-hyuk and Se-ri included), Jung-hyuk pivots and affirms that the woman in his house is his fiancée and nope, no papers or names are needed because she’s part of Division 11 (spies unlimited), which disappoints everyone else on a massive scale. No chitchat, no harassement, nada. Company 5 boys expect the worst because Captain can’t lie, but omo, he can and did! SS Lt. Jo is suspicious and wants to guard against any investigations further by Jung-hyuk and sets up a listening device. The listener is a villager who happened to be involved in the scheme to kill Jung-hyuk’s brother and he’s still dealing with that trauma, but does his job. Se-ri gets ready to leave by holding an awards show, giving out prizes to 3 of the men, but not grumpy Pil-su, nor jealous Jung-hyuk (beyond a tomato plant). We meet Dan, his ‘real’ fiancée and learn that the swindler from the south is definitely a jerk. The boat arrives to take Se-ri to the offshore boat and sensing her unease, Jung-hyuk goes with her; they exchange names as a parting gesture, but the trawler is pulled over. They’ve been rumbled! Honoring drama tropes, he kisses her as the hatch lid opens…
Yolette: Hahahahaha! He really wanted to get that award, didn’t he! So cute.
But he really does do everything she asks, it’s a little weird. Can it be that he’s in love with her already?? Or is he just that bored? Did he, maybe, already know her from Switzerland? Because he gets her everything she wants, listens to her instructions on how to behave towards her in public, lets her give away his stuff and even takes to heart her advice about saying 10 nice words to he tomato plant everyday. WHY is he so keen to do everything she wants??
Robin: You know, until you mentioned the little scene at the end where they are both in Switzerland, I didn’t realize that they had them! I’d been turning it off after the credits outro. I went back to watch them afterwards. In episode 1, it did indeed look like he was amused by her in the tree, not alarmed at all and maybe a little bit smitten in those few seconds watching her unawares. How much exactly did they experience together in Switzerland (and how sad was it that she wanted to legally euthanize herself?) She said he looked familiar, but you would think if they spent a lot of time together, or even one magical night (we can hope), he would certainly not have that common South Korean disease, amnesia.
I think some of the things she does annoy him (they would annoy anyone), but others are the kinds of things that would touch most people, especially giving away food and clothing to the boy who’d been caught stealing to feed his sister. She didn’t put those things together to go and play Lady Bountiful, she was just doing what her heart told her to do and I think it is the kind of thing he would do as well. She also was curious about who he was, why the books with dark subjects, what about the piano? Those prompts are scratching away at the trauma he’s still dealing with; the loss of his career (looks like he had to step in to replace his brother in the army), the loss of a dear brother, the loss of more freedom that a professional musician would have…
Yolette: I can’t believe they bugged the house and no one slipped up and said something incriminating? Can it be??
Robin: Heard out of context, thinking that she might be a spy from Division 11 and therefore talking in “code” (like Jung-hyuk’s 10 nice words to the tomato plant), I suppose we can suspend disbelief a wee bit. But where I was leery was the installation of the device; come on! In that nosy village nobody noticed?
Yolette: The neighbors were hilarious talking bad about our heroine just steps from her house where she can still hear them. Passive aggressive much?
Robin: Oh, Se-ri! Dasher of dreams! Slasher of fantasies! Those village ladies must have had endless daydreams about running away with this neighborhood prince charming and in walks this mysterious floozy with ill-kept hair and odd clothing who isn’t just that pretty and their various bubbles are burst. They even suspect her of being nine-tailed fox! The fact that she tells them she doesn’t want to make kimchi with them and subject herself to their prying, gossipy ways (and maybe come in for the drama tropey kimchi slap?) was smart, as was her staging of the morning farewell.
One interesting note: the other (real?) fiancée wears her hair down long and straight too (though Se-ri could use a hairbrushing), so what would villagers make of her?
Yolette: Runaway conman still seems to be a waste of space in this drama. I wonder at what point he will become relevant?
Robin: I was surprised at how entitled he felt to talk down to someone who clearly was not just an average military lackey type, just because he was paying to stay in North Korea and this officer was in on the scam. I thought it was interesting that neither he nor Se-ri really have much awareness of NK, just a short hour’s drive north of Seoul, and all the news that comes out of that country about the lives of its people and the regime, but then I have read that many people in SK just aren’t as concerned about things as people outside are, like they’ve become inured to it all. Interesting too that with the proximity of Seoul to the border that the possibility of her being carried that way doesn’t even make a blip on their mental radars. BTW, it looks like the only person who really still cares is the guy who sold her life insurance.
I would recommend this one, mostly for the badass-ery of our female lead. But also because almost every character in this story has had their lives or bodies broken because of love, and I found it fascinating that even the most reprehensible villains had someone they loved.
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