[Drama 2015] Heard It Through the Grapevine 풍문으로 들었소

[hushhh]

@baduy

Hello,

 

Will you be posting any more distillation of the series--I know the series has ended, but I thought I'd ask instead of assume.

[noyha29]

I feel that the ending seemed to leave you hanging with.."really, this is the ending"   or better there is no closure to the drama.  I initially thought there might be 2nd seasons but I highly doubt it as it seemed the drama has no real story in my point of view.  

[Guest lisette19]

 

  We do see the big guy being punished once in a while in real life (the KAL VP lady was sentenced to jail for re-routing a plane because she was angry at being served nuts in a bag instead of on a plate though she was given a suspended sentence in the end). 

​

Alas, even that wasn't exactly triumph of transparent justice. The prosecutor chose to head up the indictment with a charge that couldn't be sustained (because it was meant to apply to something quite different and more serious than what the defendant had done). But then the judge in the district court, possibly determined to thwart the prosecutor's attempt to cause the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the charge was inappropriate, found the defendant guilty on that charge nonetheless and handed down an (unsuspended) jail sentence. But given the mismatch between the charge and the actual offense, it was inevitable that that verdict was going to be appealed, as it duly was, with the conviction being overturned in favor of a conviction for a lesser offense and the substitution of a shorter, and suspended, jail sentence. Very fishy. More detail in my post http://forums.soompi.com/en/?app=core&module=system&controller=content&do=find&content_class=forums_Topic&content_id=345033&content_commentid=18955470.

 

​Thanks for this explanation, Baduy. When I first read of this "nut rage" incident, which was the cause of much international hilarity, I thought the charge did seem a trifle over-the-top for the actual offence committed. So to have it explained as an attempt to get the charges dismissed on the grounds that the charge was not appropriate to the offence committed makes sense to me now. I guess the takeaway here proves what Secretary Yang tells CEO Han: there are lawyers, prosecutors and judges out there who don't like what you, Hansong and the revolving door between your legal firm and the government represents. But the over-entitled heiress did do hard time - if only for a few months, was forced to make several grovelling public apologies, was subjected to national outrage and international ridicule, lost her job, and probably experienced the drubbing of a lifetime by her angry father in private. I guess that's punishment enough and proof that times are indeed changing.

[hushhh]

1) Did YiJi ever tell Bom why she was happy Bom married InSang?

2) Yoon Bok-In, the actress playing Bom's mother, was magnificent throughout. I just watched a snippet of Episode 5 and was blown away by the truth, commitment, and delicacy of her work. I wish we had seen more of her work but the story didn't support that.  

[seungshin]

 

  We do see the big guy being punished once in a while in real life (the KAL VP lady was sentenced to jail for re-routing a plane because she was angry at being served nuts in a bag instead of on a plate though she was given a suspended sentence in the end). 

​

Alas, even that wasn't exactly triumph of transparent justice. The prosecutor chose to head up the indictment with a charge that couldn't be sustained (because it was meant to apply to something quite different and more serious than what the defendant had done). But then the judge in the district court, possibly determined to thwart the prosecutor's attempt to cause the case to be dismissed on the grounds that the charge was inappropriate, found the defendant guilty on that charge nonetheless and handed down an (unsuspended) jail sentence. But given the mismatch between the charge and the actual offense, it was inevitable that that verdict was going to be appealed, as it duly was, with the conviction being overturned in favor of a conviction for a lesser offense and the substitution of a shorter, and suspended, jail sentence. Very fishy. More detail in my post http://forums.soompi.com/en/?app=core&module=system&controller=content&do=find&content_class=forums_Topic&content_id=345033&content_commentid=18955470.

 

​Thanks for this explanation, Baduy. When I first read of this "nut rage" incident, which was the cause of much international hilarity, I thought the charge did seem a trifle over-the-top for the actual offence committed. So to have it explained as an attempt to get the charges dismissed on the grounds that the charge was not appropriate to the offence committed makes sense to me now. I guess the takeaway here proves what Secretary Yang tells CEO Han: there are lawyers, prosecutors and judges out there who don't like what you, Hansong and the revolving door between your legal firm and the government represents. But the over-entitled heiress did do hard time - if only for a few months, was forced to make several grovelling public apologies, was subjected to national outrage and international ridicule, lost her job, and probably experienced the drubbing of a lifetime by her angry father in private. I guess that's punishment enough and proof that times are indeed changing.​​

​More than the substance or the process of the actual legal proceedings, which was incredulous from the beginning to the end, this case represents such a symbol for the mood of today's Korea.  People are angry with extreme wealthy who lives in their own village beyond reproach.  They are few but so far above the rest they can't be held accountable.

The Korean VP lady did wrong but she was caught in the middle of the public mindset and she was effectively hung in the public square.  The case was so ridiculous it caught the international media attention.  It helped that it happened in international setting to totally blow up, had it happened within Korean soil it probably would have been better controlled since her family will have someone like Lawyer Han we can surmise.

Even if her sentence was not carried out to the fullest she will forever be remembered as the symbol of the excess wealth and privilege who was punished and shunned publicly.  She was stripped of her executive positions.  Her father, the President of KAL and other large companies, had to publicly apologize a number of times on her behalf and many people stopped flying on Korean Air.  The whole company and the family was a subject of international ridicule and a fodder for night comedians.

Imagine any of the people in the Han circle put through this when they value their 'dignity and status' even more than their wealth.  No this case did not lock her in for long or bring down her family wealth but it served as a notice to the 'Han family like folks' in Korea, they need to watch what they are doing.  People are angry and they are not going to take it anymore.  Something like this would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

[baduy]

If I can recover from these sleepless mights having to empy a lasagne dish into a bucket every three hours or so (and assuming the plumber shows up tomorrow and has with the right replacement part) I'm hoping to spend part of the weekend looking through all 30 eps, which may lead to some additional rambles or two. But I get the impression that other people have covered the important bits of ep 30 by now.

I wish the subbers hadn't made Min Ju Yeong talk about IS "spreading his wings" (we hear that twice, first when she actually says it, then when JH thinks back to her saying it -- In the Korean she says "대표님 그늘을 벗어날 수 있을 거예요" = He will be able to escape from out of your shadow" an expression that carries perfectly well into English without changing the idiom and allowing the somewhat dark image, redolent of that gloomy, sun-shaded house, to be retained.

Though I agree Tutor Park's morphing into a selfless patron of penniless scholars looks like a rabbit out of a hat, I think the hat has been there in a dark corner of the set since episode 1, and on close observation has been wobbling about more and more as the drama progressed, indicating that there was something inside waiting to pop out in due course.

It seems to me that Tutor Park has a sort of cousin, character development-wise, in the Hong Ji Sun of Wife's Credentials. Except that her development goes in reverse to his. We learn from her backstory that she and her husband started off as brilliant and idealistic students, determined to put their brains and their skills to the communal good. But to earn additional money, she took to giving private tuition, and was so successful and so much in demand from rich parents because of the high success rate of her pupils that she became a full-time "super-tutor", then went on to invest her ever-growing tutorial earnings into opening a top-notch and exclusive hagwon where the richest parents all fought for places for their kids. Her dentist husband reluctantly gave up his initial practice in a less salubrious area of Seoul and, with funding from his wife, opened a state-of-the-art practice in Gangnam near her hagwon. That's how he comes to meet Yoon Yun Seo Rae by treating her son Han Gyeol, with unfortunate effects on his marriage. As Ji Sun grows apart from her husband, she departs even more from their once shared ideals by courting big time investors to open a private high school for the super rich as a money-spinning operation and becomes involved in shady dealings that eventually land her in jail.

A highly dramatic moment in Wife's Credentials shows the parallel with Tutor Park especially well. Ji Sun has been persuaded to admit Han Gyeol to her hagwon and place him in her elite group she tutors personally. Shes set the kids a math problem as part of their homework. The writer familiarizes us with the problem by having Gyeol go over it with his mother in advance of the class. Or rather, his mother reads it out, asks does Gyeol want any help with it, and he says no, he's cracked that one himself. And so to the actual class, where it so happens that another boy is picked to demonstrate his solution to the problem, which he does with an air of effortless superiority.

Ji Sun praises him briefly for his solution, then is about to pass on to the next problem when her eye falls on Gyeol. He isn't trying to attract her attention or show off, and is quite ready to turn to the next exercise like the others, but some remnant of the ideal-fired teacher that Ji Sun once was makes her spot that Gyeol isn't totally happy with the "correct" solution, and so she asks the class "Can anyone see another way of solving this?"  That question meets with instant hostile glares from all the kids apart from Gyeol. As far as they're concerned, the first boy got the "right" answer, they can follow his explanation of it, they've noted it down in their books, so they want to move on without further delay.

Gyeol very hesitantly concedes that he thinks he does have a different method to get to the same correct solution, and after some persuasion from Ji Sun, he diffidently but lucidly explains what it is. In a nutshell, Gyeol's proposed solution shows much more of what mathematicians call "elegance" than the one the other kids are satisfied with. It requires fewer equations and fewer calculations to reach the correct result, because Gyeol has seen that part of the way the problem was presented involved what exam designers call "distractors", deliberately inserted pieces of information that are either irrelevant to solving the problem or which tempt less able candidates into unnecessary extra efforts. His solution shows disinct mathematical talent, and Ji Sun flashes him a brief but warm smile of appreciation for his alternative approach.

But now the mood of the other children turns from hostility to barely restrained fury. The first solver of the problem scoffs at Gyeol's solution in terms that suggest he hasn't understood it and doesn't see why he should bother trying, since he himself had already provided the "right" answer. One girl, who apparently has indeed followed Gyeol's logic, opines that the only reason he opted for a method that involved so much less arithmetic was that his brain was too feeble to do all the sums necessary for the other solution in the time available, at which all the other children titter in agreement. As the titters die down, another pupil proclaims in no uncertain terms that they should move on to the next problem with no further delay. Ji Sun hesitates for a moment, but then does as her young paying clients have in effect ordered, and moves on with no explicit acknowledgement of Gyeol's skill, or any attempt to engage the class in understanding why an approach which shows insight into the logical structure of the problem might be superior to one that mechanically gets the task done and out of the way. But the matter isn't over. We learn that the other kids went home and complained to their mothers about the way Gyeol had "held up" the class and "wasted" the time that was being so dearly paid for. As a result, Ji Sun bows to the mothers who regard Gyeol's independent minded approach as "disruptive" and she removes him from the class. A milestone in her downward path from idealism to sole focus on the bottom line of her educational businesses.

So... does anybody still remember Tutor Park after all that? Good, I'll get back on to him, and our current drama, now. Promise.

When in the final episode Bom and IS reveal that Tutor Park will be financing their studies, IS's mother's reaction is a contemptuous-incredulous "부자야?", "Is he rich?", spoken in a tone that implies the addition "if he is, I'm a Dongdaemun market wet fish vendor". But her husband cuts in with his habitual "I know stuff you birdbrains don't" manner to say equally succinctly "돈은 좀 있지," "He's got money alright." How does he know that? Because in the first episode we saw that every nook and cranny of Tutor Park's personal life and finances had been scrutinized by Hansong agents to ensure that his already undoubted credentials as the most sought-after and highly paid law "supertutor" in Korea were not accompanied by anything that could cause embarrassment if it later came to light. He was indeed in a little difficulty with the tax authorities, but that little matter was soon Hansonged out of the way.

So, Tutor Park is engaged to cram the principles and practice of Korean law, along with all the many other not particularly legal matters that the Bar Exam covers, into IS's head, in the same spirit that the Gangnam mothers hired Ji Sun to stuff rote learning and mechanical mastery of techniques into their offsprings' pampered noddles. He's confident he can do it, and shows no sign of questioning whether that's what teaching and learning should look like. There's no indication he'd ever thought about his lucrative occupation from any other angle.

He never really gets time to get to work on IS alone, and after IS escapes back to his wife and child, Tutor Park soon finds himself with a pupil quite unlike any he's enountered before (if only because he's never had experience of taking on anyone with parents as hard up as Bom's: something very similar applies to Ji Sun and Gyeol). I've already posted about how the Bom and IS double act transform what Tutor Park perceives his task to be. He continues to share with his employer and his students the same overall goal, passing that exam with flying colors. But Bom and IS make it clear that while being unfailingly eager to read and absorb every tome that he puts in front of them, however obscure, they won't be satisfied until they have a critical undestanding of what it is they are learning, including the freedom to decide that they  understand the subject matter well enough, and know that the rules of exam passing mean they have to regurgitate in on demand, but nevertheless are making their own value judgments about the theory and practice of law and shaping their own approach to what is important in society. And we see that Tutor Park finds he has an appetite for fostering that critical understanding and turns from a master crammer into an inspiring explorer and sharer of knowledge. In other words, he takes the reverse route to Ji Sun. And whereas she leaves Gyeol by the wayside in her relentless subordination of education to profit, Tutor Park takes IS and SB along with him on his own road in the reverse direction.

I hope now it will be a bit clearer what I mean by the signs of unexpected life in that hat in the corner, presaging the emergence of the generous rabbit, though we see no more than the tips of the bunny's ears until the very last episode. But even those emerging ears in the immediately preceding episodes are only visible with hindsight, once we realize what he (with some encouragement from his new wife, we imagine, with the butler and housekeeper being probably in on the plan as well) has been planning for some time now.

The mock exam which SB and IS do so well in near the end of the episode isn't the only test they pass successfully in the closing set of episodes. Looking back, we can see Tutor Park is setting them another, more decisive exam in the scene where he calls them out to the café, "introducing" them to his new wife in the process, whom of course they find they already know very well. He lays before them the clear choices open to them. Give up on their law studies in view of their drastically changed domestic and financial situation; decide that one of them will give up and instead support the other so that one of them at least can achieve what was once their joint goal; or stick with their original ideal come what may, despite the strong risks of neither of them achieving what they hope for. He tells them to go away and think about it, but not to take too long over it.

They try to reach a decision in episode 29, but don't act on it, or tell Tutor Park what it is. So, near the start of episode 30 he gives them a final prod, and we see the fight that ensues. However what an ultra "InBom" fight (to borrow the couple name" forged in typical Korean fan fashion for the pair by DC denizens) it proves to be. Because the essence of that fight, which gives it its umistakeable charm (not a word one expects to apply to a fight, but then In Bom isn't/aren't the sort of people one encounters elsewhere anyway) is that each is furiously insisting on giving way to the other, and getting angry with the other for not wanting to let their partner put them first. (With only a slight modulation in tone, this could be a Monty Python skit scenario...) They reach an impasse because their devotion to each other is perfectly evenly balanced and equally intense, and their devotion to their shared ideals is equally unswerving, even when they think they're forced to concede they can no longer pursue those ideals in the way they planned to. But reaching that impasse, for those reasons and in that way, means they pass the covert exam Tutor Park was setting them by confronting them with the need to choose and decide, while scrupulously avoiding the slightest hint that, if they pass his test and prove they really are the people he believes them to be, they will be offered a way forward thanks to his discreet generosity. Once the pair have proved their mettle precisely by their fight, the rabbit can finally emerge and do his obstacle removing stuff.

[mdj101]

@hushhh:.... Good Morning!                                                                   POSTED:  June 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM DST, USA  I woke up late)

                                                                                                                FIRST FULL DAY POST- HITTG

In response to a comment you made (p.196) that , in my words, someone needs to tell the senior Han couple to "wake up and smell the coffee", I remembered that Secretary Lee actually DID tell Yeon Hee  what was really happening!  Yeon Hee is just "emotionally slow",  but the type my old grandmother would ask,  "Are you dull of comprehension,Girl?"  ( Something MY grandmother loved to say if I was slow catching a meaning!---so a saying from late 1800's, or at least "as old as the hills" ).

Shortly before she formally resigned, Sec. Lee did YH a great kindness.  She told Yeon Hee straight up what YH & HJH had done that made InSang leave the Han house, renounce his inheritance, choose instead  his wife and their son, and decide to live with them temporarily at his in-laws home. The rest is up to YH herself.

  @@@@@@@..................@@@@@   .......................@@@@@......................... ..@@@.........................@................                     

Yeon Hee seems more emotionally responsive than HJH, at least in the Home, her domain.  It is very hard for her, but she appears to be waking up,  decides for herself, and takes direct action in response to realities now.  Still has a mighty long road to travel, yes.  But she has taken those first uncertain steps!  Good Luck to her.    

And what about Han Jung Ho?    Well, he is surprise to find he misses Sec.Kim. "He was the most foolish of my employees. Why do I feel that I am missing him?" , he said to Sec.Yang.   Also, he said plainly to Yang (at least as subbed in an early SoompiTV version), "I don't want you to leave me.   But....", then he told her he needed her brother to take the fall for him and Hansung, and for the Han Trust.  HJH admits to Yang that the class action lawsuit will seriously harm the reputation of Hansung (and therefor, also his own reputation).The final blow, Sec.Min tells him, "InSang will never come back.  He will follow his own path now"  (paraphrased). And we have seen how much HJH personally misses his grandson, Jin Young, and the extent to which he willingly schemes and embarrasses himself to catch even a glimpse of the baby at the Daycare Center  (& the CSR  stuff-??- to benefit & upgrade that facility for the child). 

Maybe these are all we are meant to have from the drama.  As the distance from the last scene of the finale increases, I think about the facts I have about each character and their important relationships, the special insights given a viewer about their reactions to events and people as they occur in the drama,  and I have background knowledge about changes in the outside world that affect all of the characters in HITTG.    So THIS is an OPEN ENDING ?     Darn it.     Guess they expect me to use the old "gray matter" (  MY brain?)  and consider the possible ways the drama  and all of its characters (including Korean Culture and Society)  might change  as they live on after we last see them in HITTG.  The nerve of them!   SIGH. 

Oh well, it's not really so bad.  Nobody dies or gets hurt!  ( except poor Sec.Min & her crutches).  We got all of our favorite loving couples united, only Sec. Kim with a broken heart.  Poor Sec.Yang --- will she take the hang Sec.Lee and Sec.Min held out to her, asking her to join their "support group? Or will she continue as a "loner" whether with HJH on off on her own, awaiting the outcome of her brother's trial and "growing" her  stolen slush funds ( or did they become "legal gains" now that HJH came to an understanding with her in that matter?

MY REACTION TO THE ENDING?

I'm lazy and spoiled, for sure!   My first choice would have been for the HITTG creators to give me my "Disney-like, Fairy Tale ending!".  But OK.  I can "write my own ending", otherwise known as think about the ways I think it would work out --- therefore,  several possibilities will run on my mind's -eye video screen.  Finally, I am OK with the way the drama ended.  No avenue was permanently closed for any character. I am free to imagine my own ideas about  "justice" and "fairness" and "reality" becoming the Karma of them all.    

 "YOU WORKED HARD,  HITTG  PEOPLE.   I THANK YOU.  I ENJOYED IT, TOO".    

 

Trying to condense large empty space--- may not work out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hushhh]

 

Though I agree Tutor Park's morphing into a selfless patron of penniless scholars looks like a rabbit out of a hat, I think the hat has been there in a dark corner of the set since episode 1, and on close observation has been wobbling about more and more as the drama progressed, indicating that there was something inside waiting to pop out in due course.

. . .

 

He never really gets time to get to work on IS alone, and after IS escapes back to his wife and child, Tutor Park soon finds himself with a pupil quite unlike any he's enountered before (if only because he's never had experience of taking on anyone with parents as hard up as Bom's: something very similar applies to Ji Sun and Gyeol). I've already posted about how the Bom and IS double act transform what Tutor Park perceives his task to be.

 . . ...

I hope now it will be a bit clearer what I mean by the signs of unexpected life in that hat in the corner, presaging the emergence of the generous rabbit, though we see no more than the tips of the bunny's ears until the very last episode. But even those emerging ears in the immediately preceding episodes are only visible with hindsight, once we realize what he (with some encouragement from his new wife, we imagine, with the butler and housekeeper being probably in on the plan as well) has been planning for some time now.

The mock exam which SB and IS do so well in near the end of the episode isn't the only test they pass successfully in the closing set of episodes. Looking back, we can see Tutor Park is setting them another, more decisive exam in the scene where he calls them out to the café, "introducing" them to his new wife in the process, whom of course they find they already know very well. He lays before them the clear choices open to them. Give up on their law studies in view of their drastically changed domestic and financial situation; decide that one of them will give up and instead support the other so that one of them at least can achieve what was once their joint goal; or stick with their original ideal come what may, despite the strong risks of neither of them achieving what they hope for. He tells them to go away and think about it, but not to take too long over it.

 

​My thoughts exactly [passim], even the stuff I deleted for space, except for the Wife's Credential bit-- I never saw the series.

You can see the switch in Tutor/later attorney office manager Park approach to his lessons.  Instead to lecture and memorization, once InSang and Bom start asking questions his approach becomes real world problem solving and honed critical thinking skills.

[mdj101]

FIRST FULL DAY POST - HITTG    (CONT.)

Good Morning, Everyone!

I am compiling a list of "comments" as I read down from the top of page 196.  At least it will be gathered into one post.                                  

Maybe  I will use the Spoiler heading for the "body" of my comment. I need to feel lighthearted now and want, therefore, to act silly and playful.          Did I say Yeon Hee was a bit slow?   Seems like I'm moping along, as well!    

Did we not say, "WE NEED A GROUP MEETING/2DAYS&ONENIGHT/TEAM-MEETING of our Forum members?  Oh, Hey!  Acting a bit lighthearted, singing, talking, playing games/sports...... All that is what we would be doing in that Virtual Group Meeting anyway, Right?  Just thought of that!  Do I get a special prize? Or will we all get a little "momento"  to take home from that "emotional closure" event?            Remember  @baduy told us the Korean word for the feeling when we had the article about the cast & crew's post-production event.  We've also had a close three month relationship creating this Forum around the drama.

OK TO SKIP (UNDER THE SPOILERS)  

Without "SPOILERS)" this post will be way too long.  I can't stop talking (aka writing) as it is, now.  OK, so be it.  iF i SAY SOMETHING OTHER THAN MY REACTION TO A POST, I'LL MAKE A NEW "REPLY", HONESTLY.  So really feel free to ski

 

NOTE:.....I did something (?) that erased an entire monograph I composed in response to @hushhh's 1st and 2nd posts on this page (p.196).  Never got past them!   Lucky hushhh, you'll never know! 

                I like my "spoiler" idea, however the Soompi "REPLY" box has disabled my aimless rambling from one idea to another --- totally my past history/reputation for simple "digressions".  

 

 

[IBELIS]

Yang and her brother were no innocents that are being used by daddy Han, she was stealing money from the company and making herself wealthy, and if I'm not mistaken the brother was advising her and more than likely getting his share. It was just the previous episode that she offered up her brother to take the fall, she probably feeling ashamed because he really has to be the fall guy. She just wanted some drinks a sympathy.

Before I watched with subs and seen Park's condition for financing Bom and IS education I was thinking that IS is not really the poor boy they are making him out to be because a great deal of his inheritance comes from the Gpa which means at some point daddy Han would have to turn it over regardless, which means where they may have missed taking the bar exam they could always go to law school.  Atlas they chose to be the proud yet poor and not take the tainted family money.

[seungshin]

The best drama I've ever seen. It's been awhile since ive seen characters with so many layers. The ending felt a bit rushed with all the lose ends but was still a good ending. I hope to see more of Lee Joon and Go ah Sung in the near future.

​If you loved HITTG, the same writer (Jung Sung Joo) and PD team (Ahn Pan Seok) have done a lot of other great dramas.  Secret Love Affair, a Wife's Credentials, Behind the white tower, the End of the world among them.  You might want to check them out.  They are all different in their own ways but similar in its quality and the feel.  And all of them are top notch story telling.  

[mdj101]

SECOND DAY POST - HITTG     (CONT.)

@baduy:..

.Recently, you commented , in jest I thought, that Soompi  and/or  the Soompi  digital  "gremlins" had it in for you personally, perhaps. You felt as if they were playing around with your Posts and generally "messing with you" in a rather childish display of ill-temper. 

Today, I've reconsidered my initial off handed chuckle at that remark.  As the old-time comic sections of newspapers used to put it......#7@!!%*$4#!    Even lost the second, much abbreviated version of my REPLY.     I'm taking a break!  I'll take time to read up on all the comments so far. Starting with page 196.  .  Maybe I had too many cups of coffee this morning?

[KwonSangSeung]

The moment to watch the 30th episode has arrived, but here's the reviewcap/opinion on the 29th one!

Episode 29 Review: Heard It Through the Grapevine (2015)

I still can’t believe that Heard It Through the Grapevine ended, but i am lucky enough to not have watched yet the last episode since it would interfere with my thoughts on the 29th one, so practically for me nothing has ended yet! So far i managed to hide pretty well from unwelcome spoilers, but you can’t be sure until you watch the episode yourself! During its 29th episode Heard It Through the Grapevine returned where it belongs, after all it was its last airing week, it deserved it! Heard It Through the Grapevine claimed its throne with 11% and left Hwajung behind with 10.6%, paving the way for its grandiose entrance among feels, laughter and hide & seek interactions!

Read more here: https://dramajjang.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/episode-29-review-heard-it-through-the-grapevine-2015/

[mdj101]

@SennaR:..

Still near the TOP of p.196, darn it, but just had to clarify my remark (copied into your post on p.19 - -thanks, I didn't have to search for it.) about possible marriage between Han Jung Ho and Young Ra.  I see my mistake.  I  ONLY spoke of Han Jung Ho's "first" and maybe only love, Young Ra.  

I did not make clear that YOUNG RA"s  "FIRST" LOVE       and maybe ONLY TRUE LOVE IS $$$$.  Of which, HJH will always have plenty!  That is why I see them as a "match made in Heaven"  (? Heaven, surely not there!).

Even though I acknowledged Han Jung Ho's strong feelings for young Jin Young       Maybe that is only the closest emotion to LOVE that HJH can muster up. That child is "of his Blood" and it matters a lot to him.  He has disowned his only  "son and heir". The ONE time we saw HJH cry was when he "talked" to that picture of his Mom & Dad.   He "misses" Sec.Kim.  He does not want Yang to quit.  What does that mean?  Anything more than the inconvenience caused by the 2 new young lawyers, new secretarial staff, and the new household staff?   The only thing he said to Yeon Hee while she zipped closed her suitcase was "Will you be back ?".  At least that's kind of what the rough Soompi sub  told me.

 I have no reason to believe that HJH would go after YH. I believe he would be MORE than pleased to replace her with the beautiful and socially acceptable Young Ra.  And for the right price $$$$, Young Ra, sly, crafty, money loving ______ (you fill in the blank) that she is, will happily become the "adoring, attentive, affectionate wife of HJH's dreams.  And HJH will continue to have plenty of the $$$$$ she loves truly.   (via Han Trust funds, Hansung, his Inheritance, or from the  fees as a private lawyer that Attorney Han will still be able to rake in --- think of the consultant fees, the future, speaking date fees, literary profit, etc..  HJH is a chameleon, as I said before, and if he resists the opportunity to change his life, per Sec.Min's  "gift" to him, HJH will always attract wealth like a magnet in this  digital Era.  

Please understand my ranting about Han Jung Ho here.  I've tried to keep an open mind about him, since we have been allowed to see some of his external evidences of internal emotions.  We do suppose he has some, right?  But I have a "gut"/visceral feeling that HJH WILL RESIST CHANGING IN ANY WAY.  He is not able to visualize it. I fear he would see Death as the only other honorable option.  Think of how he describes his son, Bom, her Uncle, "all of those OTHERS" ---- DELUSIONAL, less than fully Human, etc.   Think of his Gods--->  Money, Power, Prestige, Position, Connections, and on and on endlessly.   NEVER in any possible positive light.   He is like a Soul whose allegiance is to The Devil,  a cold and cruel Master indeed, in whatever religion you conjure HJH's  "GOLDEN IDOL".       NOT ANY KIND OF A LOVING GOD, CERTAINLY.

Han Jung Ho  is the epitome of what  HUBRIS  makes of a character.  Great greek tragedies, other literary masterpieces, and Cultural Legends  have described the dramatic  Fates of such men. 

But I "adore" and respect the Actor,  Yoo Jun Song.   How often I had to stop, look at that man onscreen, and remind myself of the talented, admired, fun-loving person who he actually was in real life!  This Actor did not receive any nominations or awards, but he has the respect of his peers in the Industry and the admiration of his fans, like me. I will say the same  about Yoo Ho Jung ( "Yeon Hee") and about Baek Ji Yeon ( that evil fox, "Young Ra"). 

Great drama , HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE.   BRAVO to all who worked to bring it to us!                   

     { where is that little "bow" guy when you want him/her?  Not even a pair of applauding hands!}        

 

 

 

 

[shamrockmom]

@mdj101--

I concur that it would have been quite feasible for the writer to have HJH and YR get back together.  As I recapped those episodes during their 'affair', I kept getting the weird feeling YR started out baiting HJH to get back at YH, but she didn't anticipate two things.

First--HJH's overwhelming response to her attention. It was quite obvious there was serious unfinished business between these two, at least from HJH's viewpoint. At the end of the day, his "gods" of money, power, prestige, etc. didn't satisfy the emotional needs he had for a human connection; for someone to love and understand him. I wonder if he would have ended up as pathetic and warped as we saw at the conclusion if he had a loving marriage to begin with, although one could make the argument he was already messed up from his childhood/teenage influences--including his "tutors". 

The second thing was her feelings toward him.  What started as a ploy to rattle HJH's family seemed to serve as a catalyst to make her rethink her own loveless marriage. IMHO, the piggyback ride scene was the turning point. It seemed like YR was starting to question her own feelings about HJH and about the guy she was married to. Maybe HJH would have been an attentive and warm husband. YR would really have been a great choice for HJH's wife--25 years ago. Too bad his mother had other ideas.

It was interesting that the writer chose to close that line of the story off--or perhaps it would have been developed if this was a 50 episode drama. If you ask me, that whole scenario of YR and HJH is ripe for a FF spinoff! 

[shamrockmom]

@shamrockmom 

Thank you for those pictures. They were extremely appreciated  
Also I started watching SLA again and isn't Madam Lily daughter's lover the same person too ?

And Kim Hee Ah's husband's secretary = Butler Park ? 

@Baduy​
Thank you so much for your explanations.
Also also for the hangul practise. I've realized how terrible I am at it  
 

I didn't even notice today was Monday  
My stream's not working  

​@SennaR:

Actually, SB and IS's Tutor Park was Kang's beleaguered secretary in SLA. The actor who played Butler Park has only appeared in movies prior to this TV drama. 

And you have a very sharp eye   in regards to Kim Kwon, the actor who plays YJH in this drama--he was indeed Young Won's infamous boy toy from Episode 1.  Looks like uri YJH earned money for Law School by umm.....tutoring! Pic for you behind the spoiler...

Sorry I couldn't get a screencap with his eyes open or that sheet down a little farther for you!  

 

[Guest Lyn_]

Wow, I felt that that the ending scene with HJH so powerful and sad at the same time.

That being sad, I would like some more chapters to wrap it up because when everybody started to quit, for the very first time HJH saw he was very much not in control of everything and that he actually misses those people he took for granted. THAT ladies and gent is motherfucking CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Also, it seems likely to assume In Sang and Bom will do great at the bar exam and law school. Also very probable that the new firm that has everyone who quit working against HJH prosper and be their firm alongside the others. I'd like to see at least a fast forward on that.

But what I really wanted to see are the repercussions of those illegal acts and how YH and HJH deal with it, how they will come together as a family again. It does not seem to me that they are bad people. Just very, very delusional about what is right and wrong, people in general. This seems like the perfect wake up call. Finally someone is stepping up to them and saying "Hey! You've got it all wrong, what you are doing is wrong and you will end up alone like this. The world changed!". 

So, is this really the end? A couple sites said it was 30 chapters long, some said 32. Anyone knows for sure?

​Interesting points

but I'm really curious how you missed being "Richard Simmonsed"

​Richard Simmonsed?

[lauren2b2]

The best drama I've ever seen. It's been awhile since ive seen characters with so many layers. The ending felt a bit rushed with all the lose ends but was still a good ending. I hope to see more of Lee Joon and Go ah Sung in the near future.

​If you loved HITTG, the same writer (Jung Sung Joo) and PD team (Ahn Pan Seok) have done a lot of other great dramas.  Secret Love Affair, a Wife's Credentials, Behind the white tower, the End of the world among them.  You might want to check them out.  They are all different in their own ways but similar in its quality and the feel.  And all of them are top notch story telling.  

​behind  the  white  tower  is  that  with  kim  kyung  min  where  he  played a  an ambitious  doctor  who  donated  his  body  to s cience  when  he  got a  terminal  illness?  re 'end  of  the  world'  is that  one  with  viral  infection  spreading  in korea.  recently c aught  that  on  our  cable  channel tvn.  but  isn't  behind  the  white  tower  an  adaptation  of  a japanese  or  taiwanese  drama? i've  seen  'a  secret  love  affair'  and  it  is  quite  similar  to  httg  ,i  love  the  storyline  and  maturity  of  'a secret  love  affair'  but  i  can't  help  but  have  an  image  of  a  mother  and son kissing  and  making  love  in that  drama.  a  lot  of  actors  in  that  drama  are  in httg .

 

[maddymappo]

The best drama I've ever seen. It's been awhile since ive seen characters with so many layers. The ending felt a bit rushed with all the lose ends but was still a good ending. I hope to see more of Lee Joon and Go ah Sung in the near future.

​If you loved HITTG, the same writer (Jung Sung Joo) and PD team (Ahn Pan Seok) have done a lot of other great dramas.  Secret Love Affair, a Wife's Credentials, Behind the white tower, the End of the world among them.  You might want to check them out.  They are all different in their own ways but similar in its quality and the feel.  And all of them are top notch story telling.  

​behind  the  white  tower  is  that  with  kim  kyung  min  where  he  played a  an ambitious  doctor  who  donated  his  body  to s cience  when  he  got a  terminal  illness?  re 'end  of  the  world'  is that  one  with  viral  infection  spreading  in korea.  recently c aught  that  on  our  cable  channel tvn.  but  isn't  behind  the  white  tower  an  adaptation  of  a japanese  or  taiwanese  drama? i've  seen  'a  secret  love  affair'  and  it  is  quite  similar  to  httg  ,i  love  the  storyline  and  maturity  of  'a secret  love  affair'  but  i  can't  help  but  have  an  image  of  a  mother  and son kissing  and  making  love  in that  drama.  a  lot  of  actors  in  that  drama  are  in httg .

 

I am finding that for Behind the White Tower the following credits:

• Original writing: novel "Shiroi Kyoto" by Yamazaki Toyoko
• Screenwriter: Lee Ki Won

And End of the World:

• Writer: Bae Young-Ik (novel), Park Hye-Ryeon

For Jung Sung Joo drama credits are:

TV Shows

• Heard It Through the Grapevine (SBS, 2015)
• Secret Love Affair (JTBC, 2014)
• A Wife's Credentials (JTBC, 2012)
• My Love (SBS, 2006)
• Lawyers (MBC, 2005)
• Land of Wine (SBS, 2003)
• Long Live Love (SBS, 2003)
• Since We Met (MBC, 2002)
• Housewife's Rebellion (MBC, 2001)
• Roses and Bean Sprouts (MBC, 1999)
• Memories (MBC, 1998)
• Cinderella (MBC, 1997)
• Our Paradise 2 (MBC, 1992)

​

[hushhh]

but I'm really curious how you missed being "Richard Simmonsed"

​Richard Simmonsed?

Profanity and inappropriate language is usually replaced with ​"Richard Simmons" in Soompi forum. . . or so it seems.