K Drama Chat

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 7 and 8 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:

• The song we feature during the recap: Love You With All My Heart by Crush.
• Soo Cheol calls Hyun-Woo “maehyeong” 매형, which means older sister’s husband.
• How Hae-in loses her will to live when Hyun-woo admits that he wanted a divorce.
• How Hyun-woo decides to make Hae-in hate him so that she has a reason to live.
• How Hyun-woo wants to stay by Hae-in’s side even if it means being the subject of her rage, humiliation and hatred; he has powerful reasons for wanting to be by her side.
• Both Hae-in and Hyun-woo are left wondering if everything the other person said and promised was a lie.
• Through the flashback of the marriage proposal, we can piece together how our couple got engaged, broke up, got back together, and finally married.
• How we held our breaths when Hyun-woo discovers that Hae-in has lost her memory of Germany and Hyun-woo wanting a divorce, which means Hae-in has to relive this trauma TWICE.
• The crazy divorce settlement scene with Song Joong-ki as Vincenzo Cassano.
• How Hae-in realizes that Hyun-woo was suffering during their marriage; she learns this when she overhears Hyun-woo at Grandma’s Home Cooking restaurant.
• The Chairman wants Hyun-woo fired by Hae-in defends him from the Security Team.
• How Hyun-woo followed David Yoon when he was following Hae-in. We see a very different Hyun-woo in that scene. We think we will see a very different Hyun-woo from now on.
• How David Yoon pressured Soo-cheol to sign the resort deal with David Yoon, and then the deal went south, giving Pione Investment the chance to swoop in and pretend to save the deal.
• But when the investors pull out and the Chairman’s embezzlement investigation comes out, David Yoon ends up with control over Queens Group.
• Meanwhile, Hae-in turns down the Hercyna deal and rejects David Yoon’s offer (again) to replace Hyun-woo.
• We feel sorry for Soo-cheol, whose wife double-crossed him, left him, and took their son to New York.
• Hyun-woo and Aunt Beom-ja have definitive proof, through a DNA test, that David Yoon is Moh Sul-hee’s son!
• Moh Sul-hee and David Yoon have been playing the long game. Moh Sul-hee endeared herself to the Chairman, whom she tricked into giving her power of attorney, and then poisoned.
• How the Hong family has been kicked out of their own company and have fled to Yongdu-ri.
• The hilarious scenes involving Hyun-woo, Hae-in and their secretaries.
• More Crash Landing On You references and tie-ins!
• The Koreans’ seeming obsession with the Myers Briggs Personality Types.
• The K Drama elements in this show, including all the crying, the epic umbrella scene involving Hyun-woo and Hae-in, more connections from the past between Hae-in and David Yoon, all the product placements, and Hyun-woo saving Hae-in from an oncoming truck.
• Our new, #39 product placement - cameos!
• Our predictions for the end of the show!
• We learn more about the amazing Park Sung-hoon!

References

• Park Sung-hoon on Wikipedia
• Myers Briggs Personality Types
• Crush on Wikipedia
• Love You With All My Heart by Crush on YouTube

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 9 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joong-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss:

• How Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok are reunited and they manage to sneak a few moments of joy together.
• How Yoon Chae-ok doesn’t want to be forgotten and she makes Jang Tae-sang promise that they will always remember each other.
• The amazing kiss between Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok!
• Jang Tae-sang’s plan to blow up Ongseong Hospital.
• How the Japanese control the news; the killings by Myeong-ja aren’t reported until Ishikawa is dead and then he is reported as having died honorably while going after the Joseon serial killer.
• How Yoon Chae-ok was on a suicide mission when she killed Dr. Ichiro. She can’t see a future, while Jang Tae-sang is motivated by a better future.
• After so many years of looking for her mom, now that she’s found her, Yoon Chae-ok can’t imagine a future life, and she certainly can’t imagine a life filled with happiness.
• How Lady Maeda didn’t seem too upset when she heard about her husband’s condition; in fact, she asked Dr. Ichiro to put an end to his misery.
• Yoon Joong-won has gone back into the hospital to end his wife’s misery; he lets himself be imprisoned, but then manages to get away from his captors and is now loose in the hospital.
• Nobody can find Yoon Chae-ok but we learn that she is at Lady Maeda’s house.
• Jang Tae-sang has figured out that Lady Maeda has Yoon Chae-ok, and he challenges her, saying he’ll never stop looking for Yoon Chae-ok.
• When Lady Maeda tells Jang Tae-sang about his staff’s betrayals, he counters that his people would not have had to betray their loved ones if it weren’t for the crimes of the Japanese.
• Jang Tae-sang confesses to Mrs. Nawol that he knew about her betrayal a short time after his mother died, but she doesn’t need forgiveness because it wasn’t her fault.
• Yoon Chae-ok is taken to Ongseong Hospital and the creature breaks through the grate.
• The K Drama elements in this episode, including lots of crying, more information about the connection between Lady Maeda and Seishin from the past, the amazing kiss, and the funeral for Commissioner Ishikawa.
• A bit of information about Japanese funerals and the expected behavior of guests.
• The show we will recap and analyze in Season 7 of K Drama Chat!

References

• Attending a funeral in Japan

Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 3 and 4 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:

• The three versions of the song Tell Me It’s Not a Dream by 10cm.
• Why the show is called Queen of Tears.
• How our leads seem not to care about each other much BUT they defend the other to anyone who criticizes them and Hyun-woo definitely doesn’t like seeing Hae-in with David Yoon.
• How we learn that Hyun-woo was a sharpshooter in the military.
• How the Netflix website says that Hae-in has never stopped loving her husband and she can’t understand why he’s pulling away. We see lots of things to back this up: she seems happy that Hyun-woo is jealous of David Yoon, she defends him against her family, and she wants to cuddle with him.
• David Yoon turns out to be quite the snake. We think he’s out to gain control of the Queens Group. He’s plotting with two associates; the three of them have bought shares; they’ve convinced Queens Group directors to purchase shares in a fund and use their Queens Group shares as collateral; they plan to have the Queens Group Chairman investigated for embezzlement. David Yoon may also be setting up Hae-in to fail.
• Hyun-woo seems to be the only person who is suspicious of David Yoon. Even if he says he doesn’t love Hae-in, he won’t lose her to David Yoon.
• Joanna thinks there is some nefarious connection between David Yoon and Moh Sul-hee, the Chairman’s mistress and she explains why.
• Hae-in’s seems to be looking at Hyun-woo differently since the reception with the Hercyna Chairman. She is definitely hot and bothered when she sees Hyun-woo in just a towel after his shower.
• Hae-in and Hyun-woo have a sweet scene in bed and we see a sweet flashback from when Hae-in visited Yongdu-ri.
• We also learn about a tragedy in their marriage: that they were expecting a baby on October 31. The baby clearly never came and now Hyun-woo sleeps in a separate bedroom, the former nursery.
• Hae-in’s crazy family, including the estranged son, the crazy aunt, the mother who doesn’t seem to love her, the inept brother, the caring by ineffectual dad.
• Hyun-woo’s crazy family, including the siblings who go to Seoul to try to convince Hae-in not to divorce Hyun-woo but end up creating a lot of trouble for Hyun-woo.
• How Hyun-woo’s sister messaged Hae-in to come to Yongdu-ri to support her father-in-law; as a result, Hae-in came with gifts, food, drink, and even a chef!
• Hae-in finds her old MP3 player and we see that she and Hyun-woo had crossed paths briefly in high school; that’s when she had dropped her MP3 player, and Hyun-woo had kept it all these years.
• Hae-in had another cloud cytoma incident that causes her to wander around Yongdu-ri, get lost and not remember what happened.
• When Hyun-woo finally finds her, he is really mad until he realizes she’s really sick.

References

• Tell Me It’s Not a Dream by 10am on YouTube
• Understanding titles and how to refer to people in positions of authority, including sajangnim
• Kim Soo-hyun on Wikipedia
• Kim Soo-hyun on Instagram

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss:

• The song we feature during the recap: Time by Baek A, the acoustic version
• Whether or not we think Jang Tae-sang had an affair with Lady Maeda
• Jang Tae-sang’s plan to re-enter Ongseong Hospital
• The game mahjong
• The drawing of Yoon Chae-ok’s mom and how it landed in Jang Tae-sang’s hands through the tailor
• Jang Tae-sang’s encounter with the samurais who beat him up
• How Sachimoto helped Jang Tae-sang and Kwon Jun-taek re-enter the hospital
• How Yoon Chae-ok doesn’t hesitate to kill the doctor when she saves the children
• The significance of fireworks to the Korean military and Korean culture
• The amazing cinematography in this episode, particularly during the fireworks scene
• How Dr. Ichiro is trying to train the creature
• What anthrax is really is and Joanna’s anthrax story
• What we thought about the title of this episode: Signal, Between Obsession and Perseverance
• The amazing and beautiful Han So-hee

References

• Rules of Mahjong
• FBI Investigation into Amerithrax Case
• Han So-hee in Wikpedia

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jyung-hun as King Cheojong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan.

We discuss:

• The song we feature from the OST, Like a Star is by Hanbyul Jang, an Australian-born singer and songwriter.
• We wonder if modern day Koreans would know about the reign of King Cheoljong, including the Andong Kim and the Pungyang Jo families.
• How nothing happened during the King and Queen’s night; the King even fabricated “the Red” on the bedding with pig’s blood.
• How the King and Jo Hwa-jin appear to be in love, and Queen So-yong finds out, through flashbacks, that she loved the King, but the King did not love her.
• How Jang Bong-hwan is fascinated by the court politics and the history unfolding before her.
• The Queen’s hilarious antics, including how Kim So-yong acts and moves like a man, how he hates the queen’s clothing and headgear, her awkward exit from the palanquin, how he sits with his legs spread while at court, how she flirts with concubine Jo Hwa-jin, and how he hikes up his dress when running around the palace.
• What a gisaeng house is, and how gisaeng are official government entertainers who were trained in fine arts, poetry and prose.
• How King Cheoljong acts the fool in front of the court, and how his facial expressions change depending on who he’s with and the persona he wishes to project.
• The roles of concubine, Grand Dowager Queen, and Grand Royal Dowager Queen.
• The K Drama elements we see in this episode: beautiful actors, beautiful court clothing, food, new triangles forming between the characters, flowers, talking to someone while they’re sleeping, and quirky best friend.
• Our favorite lines from this episode.
• The cliffhanger at the end of the episode. Will the King attack the Queen? What did the Queen overhear and did she understand it all?

References

• List (and titles) of Joseon royal consorts
• Hang Hyan-bul