OFFICIAL JiAn-Hyuk JoGak-Sculpture-Couple Thread (Shin HyeSun ❤ Lee TaeHwan)

[mglthrw8]

Just finished watching episode 50. I’m genuinely stunned by what I just watched. Did my DK as Kokoschka theory just get confirmed by the writer?

 

Halfway through the episode I was in such despair. Hyuk pulled out the love confession note like I had long predicted but only as way to reaffirm his love for Ji Soo! The exact opposite of what I thought was going to happen. It was truly agonizing to watch. He still doesn’t know that Ji An wrote the confession note! Hyuk not knowing and possibly never knowing that Ji An wrote the note is such a cruel and sick joke by the writer.

 

But then the ending! My God the ending! The writer confirmed that we were right all along about DK’s awful character. We weren’t crazy. We weren’t being overly sensitive. We’ve been vindicated! Long live the drama revolution! It took way way way way too long and the writer badly stumbled after episode 26 but she has a chance at salvaging the ending.

 

Ji An’s devastatingly simple question for DK at the end of the episode: What did you do for me?

 

Such a simple question that exposes the selfish nature of DK and his boundary-violating possessive love for Ji An. Now Ji An obviously should never have fallen in love with him in the first place but unfortunately we live in a world where good women loving bad men is not without precedent.

 

To @titania1000  @meechuttso @Ni Wen  and everyone else who kept the faith. WE WERE RIGHT!

 

Unless the writer pulls a truly insane plot twist in the next two episodes and destroys Ji An’s character we’re at least going to get a Ji An alone ending.

 

On 3/3/2018 at 8:47 AM, titania1000 said:

On 3/1/2018 at 11:44 PM, mglthrw8 said:

Random thought - Jian still doesn’t know that DK’s grandfather assaulted her father right? I will continue to believe it was an unintentionally horrible choice to have DK withhold that information and instead ask her to date.

 

I can't remember exactly the scene and the episode but in my memory Mi-Jung told Ji An.

She knows if only because Ji Soo knows: she told Hyuk on their way to hide that her Grandpa  came to the Seo House and that her adoptive mother tried to step in to stop him to beat Tae Soo. I don't imagine her hiding this fact from Ji An.

 

Add this fact  to the long list of things that make Ji An-Do Kyung impossible for me: Tae Soo has been slapped by the father and the grandfather. How can Ji An  become the wife of the son in those circumstances?

 

 

It’s funny that we had lost so much faith in the writer that we barely analyzed the implications of DK’s grandfather assaulting TS, DK finding out about it and then asking Ji An to date instead of informing her. Putting DK’s actions in plain language like that we should have been incredibly horrified. But I guess I’ve been so burnt by the writer that it just registered as faint disgust and a “random thought”.

 

On 3/3/2018 at 8:47 AM, titania1000 said:

I don't think there's  a Ji An- Do Kyung ending that could be satisfying for me, i would stay bitter because i can not relate to this kind of relationship.

His character development was so forced, and nothing seemed earned or natural between them. It was all jump of logic where Ji An went suddenly from" I don't want to see you ever again" to "i like you" and from "i can't date you because we have  nothing in common" to "i date you because i feel sorry for you". 

The writer wasn't even trying, why should i feel comforted by the less horrible option when she purely and simply  dismissed the best option without a logical explanation?

 

Yeah who was I really kidding. I was just desperately trying to reconcile myself to a Jian-DK ending. I was in the bargaining stage of grief. I absolutely would have been very bitter. I will be very bitter if we somehow still get a Jian-DK ending. To the bitter end as I always say.

 

But a Jian-Hyuk ending doesn’t look good. Is there still time for it? Hyuk unfortunately appears to be firmly committed to Ji Soo. Ji An may not end up with DK but she’s never shown any overtly romantic feelings for Hyuk. Hyuk and Ji An have superb chemistry and they’re so completely right for each other but is it just going to end as platonic love? Even though Ji An alone is the second best ending it would still make me very sad if it happens.

 

The early promo pic with Hyuk’s arm around Ji An. All the wonderful Hyuk-Ji An scenes throughout the show, especially Incheon.  The parallels with Baker-Hee and  the fisherman and his wife. Ji An being the true author of Ji soo’s love confession note. SHS’s recent instagram pic. Please be clues! Please writer! I want to believe!

 

Ji An asked DK what he ever did for her after he left Haesung. Now she needs to ask herself, who in her life has actually done things for her? Who are the people in her life that have always risen to the occasion? Clearly it’s Tae soo and Hyuk.

[meechuttso]

On 2/19/2018 at 11:13 PM, mglthrw8 said:

If I was more confident that the writer was actually trying to subvert and twist her genre, I would say that the feeling of “fakeness” was intentional; that it was to subtly alert the audience that those relationships were “wrong”. Unfortunately we’ve been burned way too many times. But I want to believe!

 

On 2/19/2018 at 11:13 PM, mglthrw8 said:

The fantasy writer I mentioned before tries something like that in his novels. He introduces a new character more than half-way (thousands of pages) through his series that is presented as extremely important. But it all feels subtly wrong somehow. There’s no build up. The character is completely bland and generic. He’s supposed to be this new hero/savior type but feels assembled out of the laziest fantasy tropes. In fact his backstory is basically a composite of two other main characters that we’ve been following from the beginning of the series. The essay I read argued that it’s all intentional to show that the character is a manufactured fake. There are strong suggestions that this ‘fake’ protagonist is going to soon come into conflict with one of the ‘real’ protagonists. And the real protagonist is going to reclaim her hijacked narrative by destroying this fake protagonist. A hard earned well-executed trope defeating a lazy one!

 

Wow, @mglthrw8 , your crystalline gems of thoughts and ideas introduced here deserve my going back on my goodbye to at least give a 'like', it's so novel but helpful to me. Thank you and @titania1000 for your thoroughly enjoyable exchange here.

 

[meechuttso]

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

Just finished watching episode 50. I’m genuinely stunned by what I just watched. Did my DK as Kokoschka theory just get confirmed by the writer?

Congrats!

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

But then the ending! My God the ending! The writer confirmed that we were right all along about DK’s awful character. We weren’t crazy. We weren’t being overly sensitive. We’ve been vindicated! Long live the drama revolution! It took way way way way too long and the writer badly stumbled after episode 26 but she has a chance at salvaging the ending.

Yes beyond badly stumbled, but she's trying to do something in spite of her failings.

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

Ji An’s devastatingly simple question for DK at the end of the episode: What did you do for me?

I feel a gif coming on for the first time in a long long while.

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

Such a simple question that exposes the selfish nature of DK and his boundary-violating possessive love for Ji An. Now Ji An obviously should never have fallen in love with him in the first place but unfortunately we live in a world where good women loving bad men is not without precedent.

Well said for the umpteenth time, but can't be said enough no matter how many times repeated.

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

  and everyone else who kept the faith. WE WERE RIGHT!

I can't say I kept the faith. I had given up on the writer.

2 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

Unless the writer pulls a truly insane plot twist in the next two episodes and destroys Ji An’s character we’re at least going to get a Ji An alone ending.

JiAn alone is sufficient for me.

 

I shall take up these points in the main thread where they belong now, but will take some time to compose the thoughts properly.

I encourage you guys more articulate than me to also feel free to express your thoughts there again, even if in short summary.

[cp23]

I posted this on the main thread.

JA has been sad for several episodes. She has no one to turn to now with all that's going on. She’s got a lot on her plate. I think she led a golden life when she lived with HK and the roommates in the share house. She was happy working on her wood products and had started to get out of the pit she was in when she went deep into the woods. As soon as DK moved in, she started spiraling back into sadness, with the issues from DK and Haesung, his grandfather and her father. She let DK back into her life, despite repeatedly saying she wanted nothing to do with him and his family. It's up to JA to decide to either accept DK for who he is or move on with her life for her sanity.

 

 

[Ni Wen]

On 05/03/2018 at 2:22 PM, mglthrw8 said:

 

 

To @titania1000  @meechuttso @Ni Wen  and everyone else who kept the faith. WE WERE RIGHT

 

Yes all! We were right!

 

All along we are the only ones who felt DK's love for JA was selfish, possessive and for himself.... Which many people did not agree with us and which is why we all left the main drama thread. From day 1 he did nothing for her while proclaiming his "love" for her but just selfishly wants to be with her BECAUSE of his own desires. He did nothing but to stir her feelings without thinking of the consequences that his love will bring to JA and her family. Like Hyuk always says if you can't be responsible please leave her alone. But he thinks leaving his house and working odd jobs and being independent means he's doing something for her. In contrast she did more than she could for him, helping him with his company proposals, research, setup, and his father even had to help him check out the shareholders. Yes, just what have he done for her? Nothing.. except hurt and tears. And even asking her not to go to Finland.

 

JA and Hyuk is not going to be together, it is a foregone conclusion to me. I'm just happy for a Jian alone ending please! But I think the writer will give them a happy ending. Haiz. Poor Hyuk the writer have greatly wasted a good character she had build up. 

[cp23]

It is still possible for JA to end up with HK. A time jump and a chance meeting if HK and JS have broken up.

[cp23]

The poster with the cast has been analyzed by many viewers.

I don't know if we can find clues in the poster, but everyone on the bottom row is linked hand in hand, except when it comes to DK and JA. JA is leaned towards HK chest and his hand is on her shoulder. JA's hand is linked with her father and JS is linked to DK.  The Baker and Hee did end up together and so did JA's older brother with his wife.

[Ni Wen]

@titania1000 @cp23 I really don't want to smash your hopes but Hyuk is not going to end up with Jian. Because it has been written that Jian don't like him in that way... I feel the writer is just playing with the viewers feelings, trying to show that there's going to have some twist ahead but in the end will just be back to the main otp being together. 

[meechuttso]

Chingoos,

I tried to compose something worthwhile to say in the other thread, but just got too nauseated reading the other posts even now. I gave up. This drama is not worthy of our contribution because when we start to reason thru and say something positive, we end up sounding as crazy as the writer has made these characters, wasting breath on absurd characters that do whatever the writer wants totally opposite of expectations every 2 episodes - it's the most insulting thing to your intelligence. I've come to despise all the characters, including Jian, believe it or not. Yea, watching MGL is toxic and just makes me seriously meechuttso (loco), so I don't think I can muster up the energy to write even one more post there. The Ep 51 preview with more scenes of getting down on knees, crying and saying so sorry, sorry just makes me cringe even harder now.

 

However, in a strange twist, I have found a Hyuk!

 

You have to get to episode 2 before you realize his name is Hyuk.

 

I probably would not find this drama so refreshing if not for 6+ months of deprivation on MGL, my godawful life. The contrast was amazing. Although Uee had flopped on her 'hole' drama after turning Jian's role down, I think she is the smart, lucky actress after all, steering clear of godawfullife, with this new role which is bit of a twist on contract marriage again.

 

I won't give it away, but I swear, just a bit of ep 2 where this new Hyuk shows chivalry, respect, decency and real concern for the female stranger, a damsel in distress, yes, was such a balm to my parched soul looking for some human kindness and selflessness from the male lead in a story (which I have yet to find in all 50 eps of godawfullife combined). I don't care for the strong woman beginning of godawfullife because since ep 26 she's degenerated into this inexplicably vacillating and unable to keep herself from 'loving' the kokoschka character that nobody respects anymore - I am finding that at least in a drama, I need a man who speaks and behaves tenderly to a woman than a strong woman who doesn't need anyone or goes back and forth 25x in 50 episodes.

 

 

[mglthrw8]

7 hours ago, meechuttso said:

I tried to compose something worthwhile to say in the other thread, but just got too nauseated reading the other posts even now. I gave up. This drama is not worthy of our contribution because when we start to reason thru and say something positive, we end up sounding as crazy as the writer has made these characters, wasting breath on absurd characters that do whatever the writer wants totally opposite of expectations every 2 episodes - it's the most insulting thing to your intelligence.

 

Yeah some of the posts on the main thread made me lose any desire to contribute something there. The contortions that some people go through to defend the indefensible….

 

After the elation of ep 50’s ending scene wore off I’ve had a lot of trouble writing anything more about the show because I don’t know if the writer is simply going to make my words irrelevant by Sunday. Like @titania1000 said, the writer cheats a lot. She draws on both realism and kdramaland logic but applies them arbitrarily. That’s what troubles me so much about this writer. She has the intelligence and self-awareness to write something like the ending scene of episode 50, but it might all be the done for the purpose of setting up one last twist/obstacle before bringing Jian and DK together. One of the more astute posters in the main thread saw DK’s only option as getting on his knees and begging for TS’s forgiveness. The poster wasn’t entirely convinced by this solution but that looks like what’s going to happen. TS will forgive DK and let Ji An know so she can be with him without feeling ashamed and guilty. It’s stomach churning to contemplate but a depressingly plausible outcome.

 

Even if TS forgives DK, Jian’s question for DK still stands. What did he ever do for her? And no, giving up Haesung so he can “magnanimously” grant Ji An the “glory” of his “love” doesn’t count. It would be beyond farce if Ji An takes DK back after saying that falling in love with him was the worst thing he did to her.

 

After Ji An posed her simple but devastating question, I went and took a look back at some previous episodes to see exactly DK did for her when he was living in the sharehouse. It’s actually a lot more disturbing than I remembered.

 

The below scene comes in ep 37 shortly after DK’s mother confronts Ji An and after Ji An makes it clear to DK in the café that she wants nothing to do with him or his family.

 

JA: Why are you waiting here? Someone might follow you.

DK: Are you that scared?

JA: I am. I’m very terrified. So what are you going to do for me?

DK: I’ll ask you only one question. Please answer it. Do you really mean that? If you really meant it when you said that I must not be the son of Haesung corporation, I’ll stop now. Answer me.

JA: I really meant it.

DK: Then let’s stop this. If you really meant it. I can’t help it. Even if I die, I’ll still be the son of Haesung corporation.

JA: nods

DK: However, you must remember this. When I say I won’t do something, I really mean it. Like you said, I can’t stop being myself for you.

JA: Okay

DK: I’ll give you one last chance. Don’t let me go.

JA shakes her head

DK: Then it’s over. Goodbye

He walks away. Then turns around and marches back up to her

DK: WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO GET?

 

Does DK answer her question at all? Does he do anything to allay her fears? Does he come up with a plan to protect her and her family? Does he do anything for her? Ji An is terrified because DK’s mother has found her and she knows that the wrath of Haesung is coming for her and her family. She’s so scared and is so desperate for reassurance. But DK does nothing for her. Instead he has the gall to issue an ultimatum, to give her “one last chance” to not let him go. Good God.

 

I only remembered the truly heinous last line from the scene but his non-response to her question may even be worse. One of the things that drove me to post on this forum was DK’s monumentally selfish decision to move into the sharehouse. No one except Hyuk seemed to be concerned about it. It was obvious the moment he moved in that his family would eventually find him and Ji An. And the consequences that followed for Ji An and her family were obvious and inevitable. Choosing to expose the danger and terror of his family to the person he supposedly loved made him essentially unredeemable to me. All for his own selfish needs and his “love”.

There are more scenes like the above in episodes 38 and 39. In ep 38, DK berates Ji An for not informing him about TS’s sickness. Instead of comforting her he chooses to get angry with her about their lack of closeness. He only cares about her insofar as her actions impact him. And of course the dreaded wood studio scene in ep 39…

 

I know that the writer may make my words irrelevant by Sunday but I want to get this out, just to say that at least some of us found DK’s behavior to be unacceptable.  

 

We’ll see what happens. I’m hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.

[cp23]

@meechuttso

I saw the first two episode of Uee's new drama. Not bad so far.

 

JA and DK still up in the air with two more episodes left. It's become like, she loves me, she loves me not, with every episode flipping back and forth with the relationship and then, we have to wait to the very end for the writer to put us out of our misery.

 

 

[cp23]

@mglthrw8

I agree with what you wrote. JAs words and actions do not add up.  The writer goes back and forth. It's as if the writer couldn't make her mind--she could have had a change of writing, after JA and DK won the best couple award.  It's the same dialogue episode after episode that doesn't make sense with some of what she has put her characters through. I too found DK's behavior to be more like a stalker, who wouldn't give up.

 

I believe that a JA/DK ending will make this drama the same as all the dramas I've watched so far with a chaebol family involved. I know that in most dramas the OTP usually end up together, and I hope the outcome for this drama will be different.

 

 

[meechuttso]

3 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

The contortions that some people go through to defend the indefensible….

Aaah the wordsmith strikes again.

 

Sorry I actually kind of broke an unspoken rule here plugging another thread so blatantly. Please allow me my coping mechanism, friends, this whole thread has been our coping mechanism hasn't it?

 

Funny how that name 'Hyuk' has grown on me, and my endearment to the other Hyuk I found was from the sum total of all the warm fuzzys of our original Hyuk here before the loca damsel started rejecting him to her own demise. To me, it's no small consolation that there's at least one more Hyuk to root for now. I find him worthy, and hope he doesn't get weak-legged and vacillating between his old love and his new love too much - but there, I see no conflict no matter what happens - mgl, it's been all conflict every exhausting step of the way.

 

@mglthrw8 I gif'ed the ugly scenes from Ep 37, 38, 39 and all that, but I couldn't see the point of uploading them (I did put one in SHS thread, but it's too ugly to look back on - it was more of a gravemarker).

 

[mglthrw8]

20 hours ago, meechuttso said:

I don't care for the strong woman beginning of godawfullife because since ep 26 she's degenerated into this inexplicably vacillating and unable to keep herself from 'loving' the kokoschka character that nobody respects anymore - I am finding that at least in a drama, I need a man who speaks and behaves tenderly to a woman than a strong woman who doesn't need anyone or goes back and forth 25x in 50 episodes.

 

12 hours ago, cp23 said:

The writer goes back and forth. It's as if the writer couldn't make her mind--she could have had a change of writing, after JA and DK won the best couple award.  It's the same dialogue episode after episode that doesn't make sense with some of what she has put her characters through.

 

I've been reading a great classic novel called Middlemarch by George Eliot and I came across the perfect quote.

 

"It is certainly trying to a man's dignity to reappear when he is not expected to do so: a first farewell has pathos in it, but to come back for a second lends an opening to comedy"

 

Just how many final farewells have we had in My Golden Life? Beyond comedy. Beyond farce.

 

@titania1000

I wrote something earlier this week that complements your excellent analysis of the ending scene in ep 50. I was going to hold it back until after the show ended because I just didn’t want to look foolish if the writer pulls a terrible last minute plot twist. I felt that I should not charitably interpret any of the writer’s decisions until I knew what the end was.

 

But if the writer has finally put all her cards on the table then I believe the one week dating plot to be worth reevaluating. 

At the time I was irritated by the generic flat quality of the dating scenes and how they seemed to be detached from any larger context. It appeared to be another example of the writer just phoning it in, not needing to convince us because she could just deploy the usual kdramaland clichés.

 

But Ji An makes an absolutely extraordinary admission in ep 50 that casts the one week dating plot in a whole new light.

 

She says that she was actually willing to remain silent after learning that DK’s grandfather beat her father AND hearing the recording of her father being threatened and forced to kneel. She actually admits that she was willing to let the humiliation and dishonoring of her father slide for the sake of her love memories! What a truly shameful thing to admit. A real sign of just how much she has compromised herself.

 

But instead of contempt we should feel pity and compassion for poor Ji An for wanting to protect her love memories.

 

I believe the one week dating plot was Ji An’s misguided but understandable attempt to deal with her abusive and toxic relationship with DK directly.

 

The one week dating plot allowed Ji An to accomplish several things:

 

-To seize control of the narrative and situation for the first time. DK has repeatedly violated her boundaries, invaded the places she felt safest (sharehouse and wood studio) and made her feel powerless again and again. The one week dating finally allows her to take control.

-To give in to DK’s demands but under strict limitations of her choosing. She got to pick all the dating events and activities, what they did and where they ate. The last kiss as you also noticed looked planned and deliberate.

-To normalize an abnormal and toxic situation. The reenactment of romantic clichés wasn’t laziness by the writer. It was Ji An’s heartbreaking attempt to make her situation with DK safe and tame and normal. She really was, in spite of her better judgment, intensely attracted to DK.

 

EP 43 and 44 detail all the fantasies of normality that Ji An wanted to indulge in.

 

Quote

EP 43 with Myung Shin

 

JA: I wish he were like your boyfriend. If he were, if Do Kyung were an ordinary office worker, or if he were an ordinary person who runs his business.

MS: If he were?

JA: I would have gone to his office right after work. I could help him with his presentation. We could go out for a beer after work. If he met someone bad at work, I’d join him complaining about that person. I’d tell him what I made or what I did that day. And he’d praise me for my work. Stuff like that. I just want to share little things about our lives. Sometimes we’d laugh or get angry, but we’d eventually make up. We could’ve done that.

 

EP 44 after their first date

DK: Is there nothing you want to do with me? My gosh you never expected this to happen?

JA: blurts out very quickly I want to go to the movies, go for a walk, go to an art gallery, work out together, talk on the phone whenever I want, go to a bar and a café, and go to a theme park with you. “I’ll see you tomorrow”. I was overwhelmed to hear you say that.

 

 

During the one week dating, Ji An manages to do most of the things on her list. They see a movie, go skating, sledding and eat chicken feet at a restaurant. She gets to have him observe her lovingly while she works at the wood studio. She stops by his office and helps him with his presentation.

 

Ji An reenacts romantic clichés and fantasies of ordinary domestic life with DK in order to cover up the sharp painful particularities of their complex and troubled history.

 

And if DK really let her go at the end of the one week dating like she hoped he would, Ji An probably believed that with enough time and distance she could one day look back at the memories of their relationship and  feel nostalgia and tenderness instead of shame, pain and regret.

 

That’s why she was still willing to be silent on her father’s treatment in order to preserve her manufactured love memories. It’s wrong and misguided but completely understandable.

 

In the ep 50 ending scene, DK takes away Ji An’s ability to hold on to any remaining illusions about him and their relationship.

 

7 hours ago, titania1000 said:

Ji An's attitude has never been so firm, so clear. You can sense that she wasn't overwhelmed by her feelings at all despite her tears, that she reflected deeply on what she wanted to say, had make up her mind and was determined to follow her decision until the end.

 

Ji An’s voice is mostly steady throughout the scene as you’ve noted. I want to highlight a few exceptions where her voice cracks. It’s a really brilliant bit of acting by SHS.

 

JA: That’s why you shouldn’t have done this. You shouldn’t have called.

DK: Ji An

JA: You shouldn’t ask me not to leave.

 

DK: If you knew, you would’ve been through so much pain. Your father didn’t say it either.

JA: No.  You didn’t say it not because you’re worried about me.

 

You’ve done a great job of analyzing these scenes so I don’t have much to add except to note that Ji An’s voice cracking on these lines is done to emphasize just how excruciatingly painful it is for her to say those words out loud as it forces her to admit to herself that the man she loved was completely unworthy of that love and on a fundamental level never cared about her deepest needs.  She is further aware, given his expression of both pain and bafflement that he is selfish in ways that don’t even allow him to truly understand her words. She knows he is probably already thinking of another way to win her back.

 

DK not allowing Ji An the consolation or comfort of her carefully crafted love memories is one more act of cruelty in a long string of cruelties DK inflicts on Ji An, but in fact it may be the first and only gift he’s ever given to her. He’s forces her to see him, with devastating clarity, exactly as he is.

 

Edited to add a few more reactions:

 

 

Quote

He seriously hide behind the fact that her father too said nothing! Was he counting on his desire of protection for his daughter to continue to enjoy peacefully Ji An's company?

That's because he was shameless, that she had nothing to lose anymore in term of feelings for him that she could boldly say that he never worried about her, only about the fact that she could leave him.

 

Great catch. DK attempted to deflect responsibility by bringing up her father? Worst possible response!

 

Quote

Do Kyung was not totally stupid to not realize that it was the end but he's stuck in a loop where his love justifies everything:" it was because i love you so much"

But Ji An has nothing but contempt for this kind of love: "that's the way you love"

She said it as if it was a kind of disease...

 

Her calm and decisive response "yes" showed just how prepared she was to hear this answer. 

 

Quote

In the same way, Jae Sung told him about the humiliation suffered by Tae Soo  at the hospital but he stayed focused on the race for the control of the company and keep it a secret too. 

 

Great catch. I completely missed this.

 

Quote

Shamelessly, he still asked her to consider his position!!!! So his answer to her blame about his selfishness is   staying true to himself and acting selfish! 

 

It's really amazing how every single one of his responses just further condemned him.

 

Quote

I do get that she was a classic doormat character in some parts: "quiet, obedient, stoic" (tvtropes).She let the Choi family walked over her: at work first when she was striving to get a permanent job and later when she joined their family and did whatever they asked, only to please them, even denying her bio family, past, identity and real name.     

 

One of the writer's most clever insights into Ji An's character was to link her timidity with her greed. Her timid acquiescence to Do Kyung's mother's training regimen was actually really an eager desire to be part of that world. She admitted to Hyuk that she abandoned her parents because of that greed and ambition.

 

For so many years, her family thought that her many part time jobs, contract gigs and intense ambition
was just to help provide for her family. Sharing the burden of household expenses with Ji Tae, paying for Ji Ho's
schooling and providing an allowance were sincere attempts to support her loved ones but also a mask and salve for her darker and more shameful ambitions. Ambitions that resulted in her abandoning her family.

 

 

 

[meechuttso]

8 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

... a first farewell has pathos in it, but to come back for a second lends an opening to comedy"

I feel guilty posting here, kind of like I'm pulling a DK imitation coming back after goodbyes, but all you guys' excellent insights and posts make me at least want to acknowledge how helpful your efforts can be to some of us, to wrap things up and somewhat rationalize or justify our energy spent on this drama as not having been completely wasted. What we post here is purely for our sanity and satisfaction and is also a bit of patting ourselves on our back for having had some insight into what the writer may have tried to do although it feels she failed ultimately. Maybe more important to applaud her in her efforts than to condemn her too harshly for trying at all.

 

How the story ends in the last 2 episodes is irrelevant now, since I feel like much of your insights help us get to the crux of the story, or the writer's intent. So I can post opinions here without any worries of feeling completely foolish regardless of what the writer does now.

 

I thought the 2 eps extension was simply to accommodate or appease the general public by giving the 1 week dating scenes since there may be too much outcry if even that much isn't allowed of the OTP by the writer, who had in mind a tragedy from the beginning. But, alas

 

8 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

And if DK really let her go at the end of the one week dating like she hoped he would, Ji An probably believed that with enough time and distance she could one day look back at the memories of their relationship and  feel nostalgia and tenderness instead of shame, pain and regret.

 

Your insight here seems plausible, and perhaps the writer was able to do both these things, make a stronger case for Jian's desperate attempt to salvage something for her torture, and somehow the 2 eps extension wasn't simply for sadistic fan service and shameless ratings grab.

 

8 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

One of the writer's most clever insights into Ji An's character was to link her timidity with her greed. Her timid acquiescence to Do Kyung's mother's training regimen was actually really an eager desire to be part of that world. She admitted to Hyuk that she abandoned her parents because of that greed and ambition.

 

So that's one of the weakest parts of the writer's story line. I never saw any real hint of her 'greed' that made her blind in the early goings, and there was really no justification that it was greed that drove her to the quick move-in to the rich house.

 

The other, bigger weak part of the story of course is that she had to fall so much in love for such an unworthy character - this never looked convincing, and it was the story's big undoing.

 

8 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

but also a mask and salve for her darker and more shameful ambitions. Ambitions that resulted in her abandoning her family.

 

No grounds for her or anyone to feel it was a 'shameful' anything. She hadn't abandoned anyone. So the reason for attempted suicide was weak, and the reason for her behavior in falling for kokoschka after the miraculous rescue from death was even weaker.

 

12 hours ago, titania1000 said:

"You made me fall in love with the grandson of the man who hit my dad" 

"You made fall in love with the grandson of the man who threatened my dad and made him kneel"

 

12 hours ago, titania1000 said:

"Just like before, you're selfish" 

 

She really has no one to blame for not rejecting the cluelessly bad man sooner. I think the writer is trying to pin some blame on him for being so forceful, but really, she smiled way too much and give him way too much quarter even after the outburst of Ep 26 (see what she does at the beginning of Ep 27, where she calms down seconds after that epic rage and takes the check and even thanks him again), etc.

 

8 hours ago, mglthrw8 said:

Ji An’s voice is mostly steady throughout the scene as you’ve noted. I want to highlight a few exceptions where her voice cracks. It’s a really brilliant bit of acting by SHS.

JA: That’s why you shouldn’t have done this. You shouldn’t have called.

JA: You shouldn’t ask me not to leave.

JA: No.  You didn’t say it not because you’re worried about me.

 

So unfortunately, brilliantly acted portrayal of an insane person who keeps going back to her poison can't help me admire the actress, I am realizing. Learned much about my limits.

 

I hope SHS does take her time to select her next project, very carefully.

 

Sorry I have nothing really positive to add, but reluctantly I feel I should add that the writer had other goings on in the SK political realm that she had to also be careful to negotiate around, like the former president's heavy sentencing, tied to chaebol conviction and release, and the metoo movement raging in the SK news every day for the last few weeks, etc. It seems in hindsight like a particularly bad timing to have chosen this drama subject matter which was always going to be tricky anyways, and her insistence on the particular casting didn't help matters either. Everything we had feared in July and August but had hoped for the best.

 

[cp23]

@meechuttsoThanks for creating a thread where posters can express their ideas for JA/HK.

The writer could not foresee all the issues that she put in her drama would come to light down the road. She could have addressed JAs suicide, DK's stalking behavior and the bullying and bad treatment of the less fortunate by DK's family. Too much time spent back and forth between JA and DK. The chaebols are still living a good life and enjoying all that comes with their wealth thanks to JA's father.

 

 

 

 

[mglthrw8]

21 hours ago, meechuttso said:

I feel guilty posting here, kind of like I'm pulling a DK imitation coming back after goodbyes,

 

Please stay! At least for a little while longer 

 

21 hours ago, meechuttso said:

What we post here is purely for our sanity and satisfaction and is also a bit of patting ourselves on our back for having had some insight into what the writer may have tried to do although it feels she failed ultimately. Maybe more important to applaud her in her efforts than to condemn her too harshly for trying at all.

 

Hopefully there will be cause for more back patting by Sunday 

 

I do sincerely appreciate the writer's efforts. May she stick the landing!

 

21 hours ago, meechuttso said:

So that's one of the weakest parts of the writer's story line. I never saw any real hint of her 'greed' that made her blind in the early goings, and there was really no justification that it was greed that drove her to the quick move-in to the rich house.

 

21 hours ago, meechuttso said:

No grounds for her or anyone to feel it was a 'shameful' anything. She hadn't abandoned anyone. So the reason for attempted suicide was weak, and the reason for her behavior in falling for kokoschka after the miraculous rescue from death was even weaker.

 

You're right about this. It's not dramatically earned in any real way. Ji An....just plainly states her motivation. I find the idea clever but the execution was lacking.

 

 

[cp23]

I enjoyed reading all your comments and analysis on this thread.

 

What a way to end a drama that had so much potential. The worst kind of ending with the OTP just staring. Stalker to the end.

[mglthrw8]

Just finished 52. *long sigh

 

Hilarious montage near the end with DK popping up in the background of every scene Ji An was in. And then him showing up in Helsinki. Unbelievable.

 

So let me get this straight. After Ji An breaks up with DK in the café, he doesn’t see or have contact with her for a year. And his great idea upon her return from Finland is to play an elaborate game of stalking and deception where he arranges a fake “blind” date and fake “chance” encounters with her. He even enlists the help of her best friend Myung Shin. Good god.

 

Here’s how Ji An’s conversation with Myung Shin should have really went after DK tries to enlist her help:

 

JA: Hey MS what’s up?

 

MS: Remember DK?

 

JA: Ugh I’m trying to forget.

 

MS: Well I ran into him just now and he asked for my help in an arranging a fake blind date with you when you get back from Finland. He asked me to pretend that I broke up with my bf and then booked a blind date to get over him. I’m supposed to call you to tell you I got back together with my bf and ask you to go in my place for the blind date where DK will show up. He also asked to report on your whereabouts when you’re back. Absolutely insane right?

 

JA: Good god are you serious? Please tell me you’re joking! What did you tell him?

 

MS: I wish I was joking. I was so stunned that I could only stammer out “no” and then I turned and ran. That was 20 minutes ago. I would have called you immediately but I was shaking so hard that it took me a while to compose myself before I could call you. I’m still trembling.

 

JA: I’m so so so so so so sorry you had to go through that.

 

MS: No need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. We’re best friends and I’d do anything for you. You’re the one I’m worried about. You really need to watch out for him when you get back. I’m pretty sure you’ll have a “chance” encounter with him somewhere. You can’t see but I’m using sarcastic air quotes.

 

JA: Thanks for looking out for me. Why on earth would he think that you’d help him with this insane stunt?

 

Crazy ending but all in all I’m still glad I watched MGL. Thank you @titania1000 @meechuttso @Ni Wen @cp23 so much for the great conversations.

And MGL introduced me to the wonderful actress Shin Hye Sun. I’ll give a chance to any project she does next.

 

I’d like to think the real ending is the friends we made along the way!

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WorthlessTreasureTwist

[meechuttso]

@mglthrw8 I wonder if you had considered renaming yourself - 'mgl' in your name forever? If you do reincarnate, do let us know, although I think I can recognize your clear thinking writing that stands out every time.

 

I liked your rewrite, but I was puzzled, wondering if you saw the last 5 minutes of the Ep 52.

 

I was ready to move on, but this writer actually managed to blow my mind beyond expectation - it was so revolting, so perverse, even sadistic what this writer was doing with the flashback of every stalking scene by DK and how he had colluded with her dumb friend Myung-Shin (variation on Byung-Shin, which mean idiot!) to bald-faced lie about the 'chance' seeing of him sit by his truck, then the ridiculous 'blind' date, how he was at every scene just ***ing stalking her.

 

OMG with the #MeToo prosecutions (and suicide of an accused well known actor) raging on in SK like this lately I can't believe how the writer could completely endorse this stalking behavior and the blatant DECEIT for this so called 'relationship' he's trying to 'start from clean slate'. OMG. This does reenforce your kokoschka theory, but the most revolting part was her fondling that voodoo doll of him she had made even after all that.

 

DK's invoking her father's comment near the end when he says, "before I was pursuing you for my own selfish needs, but this time it's different because now I am carrying out your father's wishes, and (instead of WAITING on her for what her needs are) STALKING YOU for your own good" - in fact, it was clear that he never stopped stalking her AT ALL!  He invokes the dead man and twists his words to just keep going on with that scary as s**t stalking!

 

But even with all that, kokoschka or not, the really crazy one isn't him. It's her, Jianny. She's the one with the serious mental illness. And I am so sad that that's what our SHS had to work with.

 

I am negatively energized enough to add my final thoughts to the main thread, maybe tomorrow, and it ain't gonna be pretty.

 

@titania1000  , @cp23 , @Ni wen , everyone, see you all in another thread somewhere IF we recover, chingoos!