[Drama 2013] Thorn Flower / Spine Flower 가시꽃

[Triton823]

Je joon once he learns what really happen will simply stop what hes doing and simply protect his daughter. I still have my suspesions about him. Besides he knows his own family is trying to root him out and once everything jennifer has blows open i think je min and sw will attempt to escape. Karma is a richard simmons and thats the truth jack!

[Guest d0137]

Not sure what to expect from him but can't wait to see how shocked he will be when the truth comes out...

[Guest d0137]

I am trying to attach a picture but it doesn't seam to be working 
Help please!

[Guest d0137]

Can anyone tell me if  image can be opened?

[Triton823]

Sheep heading to the slaughter house is right!

[baduy]

Episode  98 today was mainly concerned with Seo Won's ongoing determination to force Ji Min apart from Je Joon and pressure her family into making her flee the country with him, but that strand is understandable enough from the visuals alone so I won't go into those scenes here.
   
The bent cop tells Jennifer that although he pseudo-accidentally destroyed her fingerprint records, he made a copy first, and he wants more cash before he'll destroy that as well. She agrees to meet him. But when she's hung up the phone, she remarks to herself that she's grateful to him because her plans are now almost ripe and all she needed was a little more time, which the guy has bought her by his blackmail attempt. When, at the other end of the episode, they do meet up again, the briefcase she presents him with this time contains not the additional cash he was demanding but an (absurdly large product-placed Samsung) tablet PC (the same overpriced, underpowered and over-weighty model we saw Son Ye Jin struggling to detach from its keyboard without dropping it in Tuesday's Shark) with a recording of their previous meeting. She not only refuses another payoff, but says that as the price for not exposing him as corrupt, rather than just careless, she wants the money back that she paid him on the previous occasion.

Gong back to earlier in the episode, Soo Ji expresses her exasperation to her mother on finding that the fingerprint search on Jennifer yet again turned up nothing. She says she's always been certain Jennifer is up to no good and she's still determined to uncover her hidden schemes one way or another. But her mother warns her that if she takes her compulsive suspicions of Jennifer any further, people will begin to think she's not right in the head, and in fact she's beginning to think the same thing herself. We are tempted for a moment to think that Soo Ji's mother has given up on her daughter and is instead devoting all her energies to winning the forthcoming Korean national round of the World Marge Simpson Hairdo Lookalike Competition, but she surprises us, and Soo Ji, by revealing that Hyeok Min is holding a fire sale of all the Kang family assets and she is thinking of putting in a bid for the vacation villa and making a present of it to Soo Ji, since she's always been so fond of that place. She re-iterates that Taekang is on the verge of complete ruin and that when that happens, everyone, including Jennifer, will desert Hyeok Min and he'll come grovelling back to Soo Ji, if she really still wants him, so all she needs to do is be patient a little longer.

A little later the same day, Soo Ji follows up this exchange with her mother by going to see Jennifer. She concedes she was wrong in her belief that Jennifer was hiding behind a false identity, but she insists that nothing has changed her total conviction that Jennifer is an utterly deceitful and malicious woman who is pursuing some evil agenda. That's as may be, Jennifer replies with a half-smile, but she asks just what is it that Soo Ji really wants. Can it really be that after all she's seen of Hyeok Min's character, still she wants him back? No, that's not what she wants any more, Soo Ji replies. All she wants is for Hyeok Min to see through Jennifer, sincerely feel all the wrong he's done to Soo Ji by abandoning her for a scheming temptress and humbly beg her to take him back. She implies all she wants is to witness him abjectly begging, with no intention any longer of accepting his pleas.

As she's done so often before, Soo Ji is here unwittingly disconcerting Jennifer, who can see how they both essentially want much the same thing, but she daren't reveal that truth without wrecking her larger-scale plans.

Meeting Nam Joon at a tent bar (her pretext for popping out yet again being a craving for tteokbokki this time) Jennifer tells him how she led Je Joon into a trap and how Hyeok Min and Evil Mom are now gunning for him for his supposed treachery to the family and Ji Min is losing faith in him, and everyone else, as a result. Nam Joon is rather shocked to hear that she did that deliberately and asks isn't she being rather cruel to her former fiancé. But Jennifer scoffs at his reproach, saying that Je Joon, who abandoned her when she was in a vegetative state, and Ji Min, who covered up her brother's crime and framed her for stealing the necklace, both deserve all the suffering she can and will bring upon them. But in the meantime, Seo Won has worked out that Jennifer must have been the one who leaked the scandal, though for the moment he's keeping that knowledge to himself, and she appears not to know he's rumbled her (her malicious intentions towards the family that is, but not her true identity) though from the video teaser it looks like she finds that out tomorrow.

Jennifer has, however, some genuine compunction over her contribution to Seong Min's predicament, despite her hatred of his father. After being harshly rebuffed by his stepmother and brother for insisting that his father isn't mentally ill and ought to be brought home, he overhears his stepmother berating the doctor at the hospital over the phone for letting her husband regain sufficient presence of mind to talk coherently with Seong Min and Nam Hee and re-iterating that she wants him kept in a state of permanent mental incapaciity for the rest of his life. This finally opens Seong Min's eyes to his stepmother's true character, and he realizes that he will have to find some way of rescuing his father behind his family's back. So he turns one by one to the people he senses have some shred of decency, starting with Jennifer, but she disappoints him bitterly by saying that as a dutiful daughter-in-law and wife, she can't go against her husband and current acting head of the family. Then Seong Min moves on to appeal to Je Joon for help, but he doesn't want to worsen his own tricky position, where Hyeok Min is convinced that he's trying to disgrace Ji Min and the entire family, so he, too, says apologetically that there's nothing he can do. Which leads Seong Min finally to appeal to Nam Hee's mother and aunt for help with stealing his father away from the hospital. But Nam Mee's mother tells him very firmly that although she can see he is a thoroughly good man who loves her daughter truly, so she doesn't hesitate to support the couple's relationship, he simply can't expect her or any of her family members to do anything to help his father after what he did to them. Seong Min accepts that, but there are hints that if necessary, Nam Hee will go against her own family to help him out, since no-one else will.

The teaser for tomorrow looks rather perilous, though the peril is more of the drama collapsing into outright farce rather than any danger for our heroine. It looks as though, instead of more plausibly infiltrating the villa as a domestic, Nam Joon's mother has now been decked out with a monster pair of Kdrama Magic Incognito Sunglasses and is posing as a rich potential buyer of the vacation villa, a rival bidder to Marge Simpson Ji Soo's mother. and no doubt equipped with a rubber checkbook from Jennifer's highly productive forgery workshop. Maybe it won't be quite so bad on the night. Just maybe...

[Guest d0137]

Soo Ji not so stupid after all but still why waist your time with such an idiot? 
Wonder what Jennifer's intention is with the Villa...hosting a party and revealing the whole truth about Se mi and her parents "deaths" ? while appearing before them as being the actual Se Mi (in the same gown she has worn in the awards ceremony...)
Je Joon will be an Idiot till the end and at the revelation moment he might go to the roof and jump as a self punishment for being so stupid and fall for "his families lies" thus destroying his own life for lack of good sense ... the pregnancy trick is rather lame to start with and shouldn't justify totally abandoning  someone as helpless as Se Mi was... if it wasn't for Nam Joon she would have been all alone and dead after several molestation sessions :-& ...
Nam Joom's mum can't go around even if in her massive sunglasses B-)you can still recognise smiley right??
Love some of jennifer's counter attacks, like the one she just pulled on the "bent cop" )

[baduy]

In case anyone's tempted by the banner notice currently appearing at the top of every page saying Also, we have a fancy new search function, so check it out the next time you need to find something

[Chowderina]

At this point i couldn't understand how Je-Joon can love his evil wife, Ji-Min? Oh my god she is terrible and she lied to him with so many things. His character is more than stupid. He doesn't deserve to be happy at all. I hope it won't be an end like in "glass mask". So dissapointing. The writers make Je-Joon more than a weak character, an innocent one and malleable.

[Guest d0137]

Totally, his character is just annoying..i hope he does jump off the roof in the villa after realising what a idiot he was all along or die saving her dragging H Min with him to the fall lol!... 
I think he is staying with Ji mi as a self punishment knowing what he has done is beyond forgiveness for Se Mi/his son (the abandoning thing i mean because sleeping with Ji mi he couldn't even remember how it happened and thinks he just betrayed Se Mi in his drunk state)True is it was actually a rape as she drugged him (very cheap trick) to get him to bed and then take responsibility for some other man's child.... 

[elegance1]

Is Seo-won really loving Ji-min or are we talking about .. like an obsession and Ji-min is more of an object. I can't seem to tell who's being sincere here or just mental unstable, a lot of these guys are really unstable. They've lost it completely. If anyone should replace the father of Hyeok Min in that mental place it should be the mother. 

[elegance1]

And guys - are you gonna watch Empire of Gold? Jang Sin-yeong is in it! Jennifer! ^^ 

[Chowderina]

d0137 said: Totally, his character is just annoying..i hope he does jump off the roof in the villa after realising what a idiot he was all along or die saving her dragging H Min with him to the fall lol!... 
I think he is staying with Ji mi as a self punishment knowing what he has done is beyond forgiveness for Se Mi/his son (the abandoning thing i mean because sleeping with Ji mi he couldn't even remember how it happened and thinks he just betrayed Se Mi in his drunk state)True is it was actually a rape as she drugged him (very cheap trick) to get him to bed and then take responsibility for some other man's child.... 

[baduy]

Quite a lot is hidden in the talky bits of today's episode (99), so here goes...

After Jennifer has assured the bent policeman that she's very shortly leaving for the States where she'll be safely out of reach, but still be able to get him jailed at any time by making sure the video of him accepting the bribe is sent to the authorities, he recognizes that he's beaten for now, but he departs with a warning that she shouldn't underestimate him or think he's off her back just yet. Her expression when left alone suggests she senses she may have overstepped the mark, and it looks from the teaser for the next episode that he's going to be back to cause trouble.

Je Joon reflects on Hyeok's accusations and the evidence that led to them and realizes Jennifer has set him up. He also recalls his own admission to Jennifer that he abandoned Se Mi and deserves punishment for that.

Jennifer arrives at the mansion with a large payload of upmarket shopping bags. Evil Mom assumes she's been indulging her expensive tastes, but we discover later what her purchases were really for. Hot on her heels, Seo Won shows up and makes a further unsuccessful attempt to convince Ji Min that Je Joon is behind her disgrace and she should run away with him.

He's still pondering his next move when Jennifer comes by, cellphone prominently in hand for no apparent reason, and says she's about to go out to an appointment. He persuades her to come sit down for a moment, and tells her how, when he picked up his assistant's phone, he distinctly heard her mother-in-laws's voice addressing whoever it was on the other end of the call. That shows the call came from the mansion, and since Jennifer was the only other person likely to be there at that time of the day, he accuses her of being his assistant's accomplice. He seizes her cellphone, despite her show of protest, and looks for his assistant's number in the call log, but is taken aback when he finds it isn't there. Jennifer sarcastically says she thought he was no longer a prosecutor, snatches her phone back from him and reminds him she has an appointment to keep elsewhere.

Back in her room, Jennifer swaps what turns out to have been her pre-prepared alibi cellphone for her real, visually identical one and calls her helper to say she thinks Seo Won is on to her, while Seo Won is left reflecting that she managed to evade that one somehow, but he'll catch her out next time, before making another onslaught on his intended mother-in-law, warning her that unless he destroys the evidence in his possession in return for Ji Min being sent off abroad with him, Hyeok Min and his mother will swiftly land in jail. While Evil Mom is protesting that she'd like nothing better than to comply but it's down to him to win Ji Min over, Seo Won is called out by his former assistant, presumably alerted via Jennifer's helper.

His assistant shows him a list of charges he's drawing up against Seo Won on his laptop, listing all the improper behavior by his former superior that he's recorded over the last five years. He tells Seo Won that unless he makes himself scarce and stays cooped up in his apartment from now on instead of busybodying around here there and everywhere as though he'd done nothing wrong, he'll file the complaints against him.

Je Joon is still mulling over Se Mi / Jennifer's actions and motives when Ji Min arrives in great distress, demanding that he explain to her why she should believe he loves her after all she did to him. He assures her that the answer is simple. He's her husband, he's vowed to be loyal to her for the rest of their life together and he intends to keep that vow. Asking how she can believe that in the circumstances and against all the weight of the evidence, she breaks away and leaves his office even more distraught than when she arrived.

At the bakery, we discover where Jennifer's shopping bags ended up. She's been kitting out Nam Joon's mother to act the role of rich purchaser of the vacation villa. When she doubts whether she can pull this off, her sister-in-law reminds her that before her husband's disgrace she was the wife of a business bigshot, so she knows all the social ropes and won't give herself away by any faux pas. At that moment, Seon Yeong gets a suprise call from Soo Ji, saying she's about to call by for a chat, so she packs her sister-in-law off to the hairdressers for the final touches to her appearance so that the two don't meet.

Talking of hairdressing, we cut to an impressive profile view of Ji Soo's mother's ever growing neo-beehive as she asks Joon Hee to come with her for a viewing of the vacation villa she intends to buy. (Naturally: she needs to check out that the rooms are big enough to let her turn her head to one side without bashing her topknot into the wall. Though maybe nowadays Korean hairdressers equip clients who insist on hairstyles like that with the sort of collision warning sensors normally fitted to the rear fenders of automobiles.) 

In the meantime, her daughter has arrived at the bakery, and is admitting that this isn't really just a casual passing call. She's come to ask Seon Yeong a question as the next phase in her tireless ongoing "Unmask Jennifer" campaign. She says she's heard (from Seo Won) how Nam Joon barged into the church to try to stop the wedding and declared that he was the one who truly loved Jennifer, not Hyeok Min. Seon Yeong, as the other witness at the ceremony, has to admit that the account Soo Ji's heard was correct. Well now, Soo Ji goes on, she's come to know Nam Joon pretty well over the years, and she's sure his aunt will agree with her that he's not a man who acts on momentary impulse or who's prone to being bowled over by a woman he's only just met, however alluring she may be. Seon Yeong, wondering where this is leading, has to agree with that assessment, whereupon Soo Ji plays her ace. Given his character, Nam Joon would only go out on a limb like that for a woman he'd grown to know well over a lengthy period  and for whom he'd been nurturing strong feelings for a long time previously. So, that means the story that Jennifer was to him a stranger, newly arrived from America, whom he'd only very recently met, can't be true, can it? Flummoxed, Seon Yeong insists Soo Ji is wrong about that, but her discomfiture is all too visible, and Soo Ji realizes her embarrassed denial amounts to an admission.

Seo Won is now even more convinced that Jennifer is in league with his former assistant and he comes to try to persuade Hyeok Min to share his suspicions of her. It doesn't work. Especially not after Jennifer herself happens to show up all smiles, and apparently happy enough to go wait elsewhere while the two finish their man talk, bidding Seo Won a breezy "cheer up" on her way out. "Did you see her face?" Hyeok Min demands. "How could anyone with a face like that be a treacherous snake?"

A monster pair of sunglasses with Nam Joon's mother just about visible behind them has arrived along with the realtor at the Kang vacation villa. They are joined by the Taekang representatives who have come to sign the contract, namely the Finance Director who doubles as Hyeok Min's punchbag on occasion, and ... ex detective Seo, who plainly suspects right away that those sunglasses are hiding a familiar face, though he says nothing. We hear a voiceover of Jennifer assuring Nam Joon's mother that she needn't worry about ex-detective Seo recognizing her: he'd ever even dream that she could be the wealthy potential purchaser the realtor has spoken of. But we get the feeling that Jennifer may have been overconfident yet again and that there will be consequences before long. But the contracts are exchanged, the cheque is written and handed over to the finance director, who pronounces it in order, and the deal is done. At which point, Soo Ji's mother  and Nam Joon show up, and are astonished to find that they've been pipped at the post by a rival buyer. Nam Joon is even more astonished when he recognizes who the buyer really is (Jennifer and Seon Yeong have obviously kept him in the dark) but like ex-detective Seo he keeps his thoughts to himself.

While this is going on out in the countryside, Jennifer is getting a most unwelcome visit in her office from a grim-faced Je Joon. He says he knows she's in league with Seo Won's assistant, that she unleashed the scandal that ruined Ji Won and that she deliberately entrapped him into appearing to be the culprit, all for the sake of exacting vengeance on the Kang family. But what can they have possibly done to deserve what's being wreaked upon them? He knows that what he did to Se Mi is unforgivable, and he doesn't expect forgiveness or mercy from her. But just what did the others do to Se Mi eight years ago that could possibly justify Jennifer's actions? She refuses to answer, and when he pleads that surely he has a right to know, she throws him out of her office.

She's gone to her Vengeance HQ, where she's contemplating real-estate plans and photos of the villa and the caretaker's house when she gets Seon Yeong's call telling her everything went off smoothly. But Seon Yeong also tells him that Nam Joon showed up and that he was accompanying Soo Ji's mother there in the hope of putting in a bid. Both these pieces of information plainly give Jennifer pause for anxious thought.

Apparently some hours have passed, because Seon Yeong is now in jazz-singer / bartender mode, observing more 12-year old Canadian Club being poured all over the bar as well as down Ji Min's gullet. Ji Min, almost too drunk to speak, takes a call from Seo Won, who asks what must be a sure-fire contender for the Stupidest Kdrama Question of 2013, namely "Where are you? At the Blue Moon?" She denies it, but it's not like she was in some huge metropolis somewhere with thousands of bars, so he knows just where to come find her. Meanwhile, Seon Yeong has tipped off Jennifer, who's now back at the mansion, and shortly afterwards, when Je Joon arrives there too, she tells him she's just heard that Ji Min is alone and wasted over at the Blue Moon. He thanks her and heads straight out again, only to learn that his wife has left around half an hour earlier with Seo Won. The rest needs no explanation.
 

[Triton823]

Je joon....the idiot. I hope ji min leaves him which i think will happen and then the kang family will throw him to the curb...that to me can be his punishment for what he did to se min.

[Guest d0137]

I am with you Triton823Initially i had expectations to his resolution to help Se Mi once he found out he was tricked into the wedding but the  bahhhhhhhh can't stand him now, a total idiot the writer created...
Wasn't expecting Se Mi to forgive him or such but his take on things are just stupid and don't make sense.
Who else thinks writer is making Ji Mi look a victim of something???...she was the one sleeping with the psycho and stepping on others for her own sake and now she complains of Je Joon and he listens and still apologise??? what kind of man does that?? Ah wait an IDIOT....

Hope he does get what Triton823 says and on top of that hope the daughter goes with the mum or her real dad comes forward to shake things up with yet another scandal to ruin the family name further and his name as a husband...

[Auntie Mame]

@Baduy:  This version of the search function is as good as the last . . . nada.  I wonder why they didn't keep the original search function requirements.  Soompi was the most user-friendly and user-dedicated site before the change to Vanilla.  Basic mandate to tech people: Change should be for the better, not worse. 8-|

Guess what?  "Once In A Blue Moon" bar must be affected by the TaeKeung pending financial disaster.  They've resorted to renting out the bar to other dramas, i.e. "I Summon You, Gold".  They even rented out the stage and piano, so that the youngest DIL of the family can play a bittersweet song at the venue.  ) )

As always, thank you for the explanations that we may miss from just watching the visual.  =D>

[Guest d0137]

@elegance1 is Empire of gold a recent drama?
@Auntie mame, also noticed the bar and wondered what drama i was watching as no sight of Nam Joon &Co lol!
I started watching "I summon you gold", found it easier to watch and left the other dramas for the time being until there is more episodes to watch properly.
Just finished first season of Orphan Black which was also good for a break, thanks atomickitty
Thorn flower thanks to this forum i follow the story although have not watched it for over a month

[elegance1]

@d0137 - It's supposed to air tomorrow. Lee Yo-Won is in it too - I certainly will try to watch it, because I am curious about it. 
Here's a little taste :

[Guest d0137]

@elegancehummm yes definitely will watch it, plus is a thriller so a little mystery in the mix, i like that!
I also like Lee Yo-Won, loved  49 days and disliked Cruel Love, with Kwon Sang-Woo and his love being specially annoying, too MUCH DRAMA!! Gave up before the end lol ...
But lets face it most K-dramas love happens after seeing the person once or twice and suddenly, like a day or two later they became their soul mates, their everything, or for the unlucky ones the subject of someone's OBSESSION lol ... honestly it creeps me out when someone is so eager after 1-2 meetings errrrrrrr in real life i think that is rather scary and if we were to refer to K dramas is a bad idea because most evil man and women have someone they want, well better say they are obsessed with and do whatever it takes even kill to have them...
Love the quote and Park Ki Woon image you have, Bridal Mask/Gaksital right? ...I hated his character but i must admit loved how versatile he was i playing the nice then the bad guy, same goes with Joo Won they were great!!
Can't say the same about Seo Won, H Min or Ji Mi though but have not seen much with them in ...just dislike them  hahaha  >
At least Nam Joon love for Jennifer seams to be a bit more down to heart, he can't go crazy on her and doesn't as the others, just keep hoping to himself she might take him after the revenge to which i think she won't 
)  =((