[Drama 2018-2019] Children of Nobody/Red Moon, Blue Sun, 붉은달 푸른해

[liddi]

Am excited about this interview and the epilogue which was cut out. Didn't realise they were still filming until the morning of the finale. Looks like we might get a Season 2 after all? 

 

[Interview] Lee Yi-kyung Talks About "Children of Nobody"

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2019/01/20 | 129 views | Permalink | Source

Lee Yi-kyung claims he didn't know anything about the criminal from "Children of Nobody".

He was interviewed recently in a café in Seoul.

Lee Yi-kyung said, "I didn't know about the 'Red Cry' and neither did Kim Sun-ah. The director never told us. We only knew when the actor's name was written next to 'the Red Cry' in the script".

Lee Yi-kyung continued, "I suspected Kim Sun-ah. Cha Woo-kyeong was in the middle of everything. Someone asked me if I was the Red Cry. It was fun trying to figure out who the culprit is".

"We finished filming the final episode on the morning of the final episode. There was an epilogue of Red Cry sending everyone a text message from prison, but this never got out. It means that there will be a second season and it also means that child abuse continues".

About season 2, "I guess we might talk about it at the dinner party tonight. Kim Sun-ah said she'd like to meet me again".

Lee Yi-kyung said, "I have a niece, but I am not that age to think about children so I didn't know much about child abuse. The drama is actually a nice version of it. There are so many worse cases out there".

"Children of Nobody" is a mystery thriller about a woman who tracks down a poem to solve a case. The drama has a social message on child abuse.

Lee Yi-kyung played the role of detective Kang Ji-heon and he's coming back with the JTBC drama "Laughter in Waikiki 2".

cr. hancinema.net

[cyan5tarlight]

7 hours ago, mushforbrains said:

the back story of YTJ was partially alluded to in his adoptive Father’s article...

 

Which was on screen for all of 4 seconds, that you would have to pause, go back, and enhance (plus need to speak pretty fluent English if you're in the target Korean audience) if you ever wanted to know anything at all about the guy. For the main antagonist of the show, I would have expected we'd get a bit more information that that, especially given that it's coming from a very biased source, aka his adoptive father. Again, I chalk that up to the pacing near the end being rather rushed and the series not being able to spend as much time on character motivations as it wanted to, and it's not a huge deal, but it does bug me a bit

 

 

Great analysis, @liddi! I really liked your thoughts on YTJ and his reasoning for becoming Red Cry. I guess what still bothers me about him, personally, is while there is this common thread of himself, Wookyung, and Siwan all thinking "I'm glad it wasn't me" when confronted with their younger sibling's abuse, there's one thing that he doesn't have in common with them. While they themselves were not the predominant targets of abuse in their households, Siwan and Wookyung still had to live and grow up in that toxic environment and contend with loads of emotional and psychological abuse, even if physical abuse wasn't usually part of the equation. Yes, there's still that guilt and sorrow that comes from just being glad that it wasn't you being hurt, but I think that was also fueled by the fact that they both knew every hour of every day it could have very easily be them at any time if their younger sibling didn't exist to take the brunt of the punishment.

 

YTJ, however, did not have that problem. He was adopted very quickly from the orphanage, and by all accounts, the rest of his childhood was as happy and stable as his adoptive parents could make it, even if his mother did end up abandoning him . He was thousands of miles removed from his brother's abuse while it was happening. Even when he got back to Korea, it's not as if he was or would ever be in any danger from the Head Director. And by the way he was so shocked and devastated from the news of what had happened to Eunho, it's not as if he was expecting that's what would have been the cause of his brother's nightmares. I completely accept and understand his rage and grief for his brother, it's what anyone would feel if they were in his position, I'm sure. I guess I'm just still not clear where he makes the transition from simple grief and rage to deciding to become a serial killer mastermind if he didn't already have some psychotic tendencies beforehand. He even said outright that he was the one who planned and orchestrated everything, and Eunho was merely the one to carry those plans out. (Which makes me even more sorry for Eunho, tbh. If his smart, talented, respected hyung, someone so much older and more educated and better with people than him, was egging him on and encouraging him to do this, saying that this was for the good of the children he loved so much, then no wonder he went along with it without much fuss. Surely he could trust his hyung, right? His hyung wouldn't steer him wrong. Right...?)

 

In light of all that, YTJ's stated motivations would almost be more understandable if he had stayed in Korea and grown up alongside his little brother, IMHO. Eunho would still have been the one to attract all of the Head Director's "attention," but YTJ would have experienced some that environment with him, known something of what his brother was going through but also been glad it wasn't him to experience it, just like Wookyung and Siwan did with their siblings. Unlike those two, though, he eventually took action and lashed out at an unfeeling and uncaring world, and did the only thing he could think of to avenge himself and his suffering younger brother as well as "save" other kids which were going through the same things they did when they were children. To me, that would make him much more understandable and sympathetic. As it stands, the explanation we have now isn't a bad one, it just seems more of an excuse for a deeply disturbed guy who had no business being a psychiatrist in the first place to let loose his psychotic and controlling tendencies while convincing himself that he was also "helping" people than it does a valid Freudian Excuse. But that's just my two cents.

[sheherizade3]

On 1/20/2019 at 8:29 PM, liddi said:

 

@sheherizade3 There is no statute of limitations to 1st degree murder in Korea. However, in the stepmother's case which is possibly classified as manslaughter or death by accident, the statute of limitations remain at 25 years, which has already exceeded in little SK's case.

 

It did occur to me after I've posted my comment.  The stepmother in all probability committed manslaughter rather than 1st degree murder because her action was spur of the moment, not pre-meditated.  

[larus]

Kim Sun Ah Praises VIXX’s N, Lee Yi Kyung, And Nam Gyu Ri

by E. Cha

Actress Kim Sun Ah had no shortage of praise for her “Children of Nobody” co-stars Lee Yi Kyung, Nam Gyu Ri, and VIXX’s N!

On January 22, Kim Sun Ah sat down for an interview to talk about the MBC drama, which came to an end on January 16.

The actress revealed that the cast had grown so close during filming that they were sad when they finally had to wrap up the shoot. “For this drama, I worked with senior actors, junior actors, and child actors,” she said. “When filming was over, we said to each other regretfully, ‘How can we have seen each other so little even though we were filming the same drama?'”

She went on, “We created our own group chat, and we were incredibly active in chatting with each other.”

Kim Sun Ah added that she had been particularly impressed with several of her co-stars. “Lee Yi Kyung was so funny,” recalled the actress. “If I was crying and Lee Yi Kyung appeared, it felt like an angel had appeared before me. That’s how funny and witty he was. It was to the extent where I begged him to please come [to my shoots] more often.”

https://www.soompi.com/article/1296653wpp/kim-sun-ah-praises-vixxs-n-lee-yi-kyung-nam-gyu-ri

 

[mrsj3n]

On 1/19/2019 at 5:40 AM, liddi said:

And this one's for you @mrsj3n  

 

 

 

 

 @liddi

 

A hug is as good as a fling for now... 

 

Here's hoping for #childrenofnobodyseason2please

#cwkhaveflingwithJHplease

 

[liddi]

@cyan5tarlight Thank you for your thoughts! I don't claim to understand YTJ inasmuch as what DHJ writer-nim determined as his backstory and motivations... nor am I familiar with psychology by any stretch of imagination, but here are some of my theories of why YTJ turned out the way he did, despite, as you said, a far more privileged, fortunate upbringing than his brother and those he set out personally to save.

 

I think it is exactly because he is that much more blessed, that his instinctive first thoughts elicited far greater self-loathing compared to if he had been a part of that same toxic environment. The fact that he was thousands of miles away all those years, blissfully unaware of what his brother suffered, never having to choose to stand up for his abused sibling or turn aside in self-preservation, achieving all that he had achieved then coming back due to his compassion for suffering children, yet this was the first reaction he had when it finally hits so close to home - is it any wonder he judged himself by even more exacting standards and is thus no longer able to forgive himself? That in turn, would have fueled an even greater hatred for abusers whose abhorrent actions would claim so many victims - be it those abused, or those who escaped - yet remain outside the confines of the law. As such, being one who continues to live with such terrible guilt and self-hate, he would have been driven by the conviction that it was his moral obligation that no other child should have to go through the trauma of abuse and its aftermath. 

 

I beg to differ but I do not believe YTJ coerced LEH into being a part of the Red Cry cause, or controlled him in any way. From what he told KJH, LEH was filled with anger upon remembering what happened to him, and it was their collective anger that gave birth to Red Cry. KJH himself once noted that there is a deep-set fury within LEH just threatening to explode. Remember LEH was the one who first met PYT, and instinctively recognising a like-minded comrade, worked with him to create the bulletin board that would gather more like-minded members. From my interpretation, they each chose to take on different roles - cases are brought to their attention from various sources (members, their personal observations etc) upon which YTJ would verify and collect pertinent data, while LEH will serve as executioner when necessary e.g. taking over when Sora's mother could not bring herself to kill her husband. As to why LEH would do so, I think he views it as a necessary evil and is therefore utterly detached about the killings.

 

We now know that LEH was already working in Hanul Children's Center before he was reunited with YTJ, which means that he had not returned with vengeance in mind. It is telling too, that although a pertinent part of Red Cry, LEH still suffered from involuntary emotional dependency on the old director and Director Song despite YTJ trying to save him from their parasitic influence with repeated reminders that they never saw him as a part of their family, but merely someone they could use and control. What that indicates to me is YTJ did care and had been actively trying to convince his brother to break free from the terrible hold his abusers had over him, a truth LEH could not accept in his heart despite understanding it in his mind. I am also inclined to think that it was only when CWK conveyed Director Song's words, asking him to take the fall for him, that LEH finally accepted the painful truth in his heart. LEH's devastated reactions and subsequent outburst, involuntarily revealing what YTJ said, were too raw to be merely an act. It is possible too that because LEH had been under the old director's insidious thrall for most of his life, he could not go on anymore once the bond is finally severed for good by his own hand, and that in part, could have been one of the reasons he chose to die while protecting his brother to ensure their cause stays alive.

 

Ultimately, my theory is that Red Cry is the product of two brothers who were damaged in different ways as a result of the same abusive act - one driven by overwhelming guilt and hatred, the other by the hell that he had experienced - united by a common goal that no other child should have to suffer as they have by putting a definitive end to the source of each child's abuse. Just my 2 cents...

 

What I would really love to know is the contents of the text Red Cry sent everyone from prison in the deleted epilogue. Perhaps it would have clued us in further to the psyche of YTJ, one which is not given full justice in the short 1 hour finale. If we ever get a season 2, I also hope we will finally gain insight as to who really did kill Kang Ming Gi's father. The boy adamantly denied to the last that LEH did it. If so, did he do it himself after all? Assuming Red Cry remains active after YTJ's incarceration, perhaps KMG would be the one to take up the mantle in his place.

[bedifferent]

32 minutes ago, liddi said:

 

Ultimately, my theory is that Red Cry is the product of two brothers who were damaged in different ways as a result of the same abusive act - one driven by overwhelming guilt and hatred, the other by the hell that he had experienced - united by a common goal that no other child should have to suffer as they have by putting a definitive end to the source of each child's abuse. Just my 2 cents...

 

What I would really love to know is the contents of the text Red Cry sent everyone from prison in the deleted epilogue. Perhaps it would have clued us in further to the psyche of YTJ, one which is not given full justice in the short 1 hour finale. If we ever get a season 2, I also hope we will finally gain insight as to who really did kill Kang Ming Gi's father. The boy adamantly denied to the last that LEH did it. If so, did he do it himself after all? Assuming Red Cry remains active after YTJ's incarceration, perhaps KMG would be the one to take up the mantle in his place.

 

Yes.  Love reading everyone thoughts.  You know it's a sign of a great drama when weeks after, dust and thoughts have settle, we find meanings after meanings of what it wants to tell us.  Sorry to have cut your post, I learned a lot from it.

 

@cyan5tarlight I agree with @liddi here on her analysis of Eunho/EunTae.  Their collective acts made Red Cry, each take on a different role though motives are both personal and united in many ways.  This made RC a complicated figure, not one to simply disregard as a vigilant or psychopath.  I think I came to a conclusion that Eunho in many ways tragically chose to execute his solutions consciously.  The pain that he felt and his overwhelming need to stop the suffering of others were the overwhelming "motive" for his actions.  Just as Ji Heon, I considered over and over again how I should remember Eunho.  Or whether Ji Heon (who supposedly personifies our society) has done all that he could to help steer Eunho's life to a different outcome.  And the answer is yes and no.  He did have the choice to walk away.  However, he didn't have the tools to see the available options or the foresight to understand the consequences.  The person who should have helped him was EunTae who chose to hold his own brother hostage to mental prison and used him to alleviate his own survivor's guilt.  The way the drama ends, it is my belief that the message is clear... we need to take accountability for our choices and live with the consequences.  Rainbow, unicorn, or not.  Because Eunho wanted to give the victims the permanent solution that he himself could not, I think he did consciously committed his executions and not just merely being coerced by EunTae.  Does that make Eunho unsympathetic? No way.  

 

We didn't get to know more about EunTae.  I don't know if this is deliberate on the writer's term so that he remains a figure for us to consider our own moral and personal stance in all of this.  I did like the two phrases that EunTae uttered cuz they speak so much, means a great deal... were wonderfully written.  Just marvelous.  "I was glad it was not me" and "Good job Woo Kyung". 

 

The former speaks on how EunTae compartmentalize his psyche.  Fascinating really.  On one hand, he felt great survivor guilt just like Wookyung.  He tried to transfer this guilt and anger toward the abusers.  Maybe in his mind, this is a productive and positive way to correct for his own mistakes.  I also think it's his own therapy for empowering himself for being the victim years ago.  Handling out punishments to the abusers allow him to heal just like Eunho.  I don't doubt he also takes upon himself the authority to judge but I wonder if he perceived it as the victims taking back their lives.  This is why he identified with Woo Kyung at a mentor level and took careful steps to grooming her.  The rage in Woo Kyung was something that needed to be unleashed so she can regain control against her abuser.

 

In many ways, I see Woo Kyung's struggle to continue to live as very realistic and a great way to highlight the dilemma we all face.  It started with EunTae congratulating her on resisting going down his own path.  To EunTae, he chose to go beyond the law to deliver justice because the route through law and order failed. In exchange, the victims received what he considered a fair judgement.  Woo Kyung chose to stay within the laws to preserve her humanity and morality.  The result is that the statute of limitation was not on her side.  What she is left with is the struggle to make peace with her decision.  The consequences of taking the other route and chose life over death.  The options that life gives to the permanent solution of death.  If she could, would she change her decision if she can go back in time?  That's what I love about the ending.  The what if?   Woo Kyung became the vigilant figure like RC in her stepmother's life.  It became her burden to carry for the rest of her life.  I think it is something Woo Kyung embraces as her debt to little SK just like the sun switching places with her sister moon.  For her sacrifices, she comforts herself with the happiness of family for SK and her daughter.  Is it fair? Not really but is so realistic.

 

This drama does need at least one more episode to tie up some of the small details, Boy A, Soo Young and Ji Heon's back stories...  How about that missing Epilogue!?  Maybe it will be included in the Director DVD version?  Any news of that possibility?

 

All in all, love it, excellent drama.

 

 

[cyan5tarlight]

@liddi @bedifferent Thank you both for your thoughts as well.

 

6 hours ago, liddi said:

Ultimately, my theory is that Red Cry is the product of two brothers who were damaged in different ways as a result of the same abusive act - one driven by overwhelming guilt and hatred, the other by the hell that he had experienced - united by a common goal that no other child should have to suffer as they have by putting a definitive end to the source of each child's abuse.

 

Well said! I agree. And you both are definitely correct in saying that in Eunho was working with Taejoo, I didn't mean to imply that I'm trying to undermine his personal agency in what he ended up doing with his life. He did ultimately always have a choice. It's not like Taejoo put a gun to his head and said "Yes, you WILL go out and kill these people, or else" or anything like that. It's just that, as bedifferent said,

 

4 hours ago, bedifferent said:

He did have the choice to walk away.  However, he didn't have the tools to see the available options or the foresight to understand the consequences.  The person who should have helped him was EunTae who chose to hold his own brother hostage to mental prison and used him to alleviate his own survivor's guilt. 

 

And that's exactly why I have far more of a problem with Taejoo than I do with Eunho. When faced with his brother's trauma, Taejoo was fully capable of saying "Nah man, we're getting you therapy, and we're going to tank that stupid center once and for all, and then you're going to come live with me and have the happy, fulfilling life you should have had a long time ago." But he didn't. Eunho was essentially a broken, traumatized child living in a grown man's body. He was poor, uneducated, socially awkward, knew nothing but pain and abuse and could comprehend no other way to escape from it except for death. Taejoo, on the other hand, was a fully-functional adult with the best education money could buy, charming, suave, and insightful, who had grown up with a loving home and a loving family. If anyone could have set Eunho straight and shown him that there was indeed a better way to live, it would have been Taejoo. Not saying it wouldn't have been difficult, because the road to healing never is, but I firmly do believe that if Taejoo had kept at it, kept showing Eunho how awful the Songs were, how he didn't need to be under their thrall, this isn't how healthy people live, he would have gotten through to him eventually. But he didn't. It's like he gave up and just left Eunho to sort out his own problems with the Songs, like "Well, if it gets bad enough, I'm sure he'll leave eventually. This is something he's Got To Do Himself." Nevermind the fact that Siwan certainly didn't ask him to go and murder his own dad, and he was more than willing to go knock off Stepmom for Wookyung. Eunho doesn't even get that much? Really? (Not that I'm advocating for murder, I just find the whole situation darkly ironic and more than a little hypocritical.) And I'm just not convinced, rage notwithstanding, that Eunho would have necessarily become a killer if Taejoo hadn't been there egging him on and assuring him repeatedly that what he was doing was right and just.

 

In addition to all that,  even though they were technically partners in this endeavor, it's hard for me to not see a colossal power imbalance between the two brothers, not only with the vast age difference between them and the emphasis Korea places on age hierarchies (i.e. respect your elders above all else, do everything your elders say even if you disagree, and in turn, your elders will take care of you and not steer you wrong), but also their socioeconomic status, their level of education, and the way one was so much better at reading, understanding, and manipulating people than the other. Even if Taejoo really believed he was helping and doing the right thing by encouraging his brother down this path, and even if Eunho went with him willingly, I still can't see their relationship as anything but very unbalanced and exploitative. Even if Taejoo didn't necessarily intend it to be that way, it's definitely how it comes across.

 

IDK, that's just how I see it, though. One of the great things about this show is that it leaves so much up to the audience's interpretation and leaves us all to make our own judgement about everything, and that's what makes analyzing everything so fun. ^^

 

[larus]

Kim Sun Ah Wants To Do A 2nd Season For “Children Of Nobody” And “My Name Is Kim Sam Soon”

by S. Park

Kim Sun Ah expressed her desire to star in the sequels of her past works.

On January 22, Kim Sun Ah participated in an interview after the conclusion of “Children of Nobody.”

“Children of Nobody” is a mystery thriller about a child counselor (played by Kim Sun Ah) who comes across a mysterious child and uses poems as clues to solve the case.

The drama received praised from viewers when the ending seemed to hint at a possible second season. “There were many hints, but a lot of the actors also predicted a second season while watching it,” said Kim Sun Ah. “We shouted, ‘Let’s do season two!’ amongst ourselves. I really hope that there will be a second season. I really want to do it, but even if I don’t appear in it, I really think that a second season needs to be created.”

At the 2018 MBC Drama Awards, the actress had expressed envy about the second season of “Partners for Justice.” She explained, “Doesn’t the release of season two mean that everyone was satisfied with season one? Isn’t Lee Yi Kyung also appearing in ‘Waikiki 2’?”

https://www.soompi.com/article/1296963wpp/kim-sun-ah-wants-2nd-season-children-nobody-name-kim-sam-soon

[liddi]

Thank you all for your fascinating insights!

 

@bedifferent I particularly love how you described Red Cry as YTJ's own therapy for the guilt he carries - a measure of his own redemption if you will, and your explanation of YTJ's choice of vigilantism due to a system that he deemed to have failed to protect the victims. And the sacrifice CWK made in choosing to let her stepmother live, thus never having the satisfaction of seeing her stepmother face justice in the eyes of the law, due to the expiry of the statute of limitations, having to live with the sense of injustice of it all, while accepting her choice as the only one her conscience, her moral fibre would allow - beautifully described - thank you!

 

@cyan5tarlight I think where you and I differ is your belief that because outwardly YTJ has everything going for him and seems to have it all together, he is more than capable of guiding LEH through the scarred experiences of hell and embrace a new lease in life. I don't concur. For me, I find YTJ himself is damaged - the trauma of his abandonment exacerbated by his immense guilt - only he is far more adept in hiding it from the eyes of the world. As such, for me, to hold someone thus damaged responsible for not saving his brother, is a tall order, if not impossible. Physician, heal thyself? How could he save his brother, when he could not save himself? They were both lost the moment LEH's abuse was revealed - a turning point in both brothers' lives that set them down a path of no return, both plunged into a hell not of their own making.

 

As for LEH's continued proximity with the Songs, LEH's outburst to CWK indicated that YTJ had tried to get him to leave - but the younger man could not, due to their hold over him. Perhaps it was then that the plan to bring down the center was conceived - taking steps that LEH could manage, until he could finally build himself up to confront and destroy the man who stole his life. And no, I don't think YTJ ever left his brother to deal with his abusers alone. I think in the end, he realised that his brother could only truly be free from the old director's insidious hold when he personally cut the ties to the twisted relationship. What I think he did not expect is LEH to choose to die after the deed is done. Remember that LEH had already packed and was leaving the center. Do we really know that their original plan was not for him to join YTJ after that? Hence his devastation with his brother's death (whom he referred repeatedly to KJH as "uri Eun Ho"... our Eun Ho"), especially the significance of the location he chose to die.

 

In my opinion, Siwan and CWK are different from LEH in one significant way - while tormented with self-guilt, they were not necessarily held in thrall by the parents who wronged them. Perhaps to him, the ties to their abusers needed only to be severed definitively, to help them claim back their lives and be free of their torment, one he understood only too well. Unlike his brother, whose ties ran too deep, that the only hope for healing is to sever them himself. Just my 2 cents.. 

 

Gosh, why am I starting to sound like an advocate for YTJ and Red Cry? Am I now user ID "H4", taking MHJ's place on the bulletin board? 

 

But in all seriousness, I will admit that I approached the finale with a great deal of trepidation, because I was afraid that the writer would opt to go with a safe script, with LEH remaining the innocent victim and YTJ the diabolical mastermind. As such, I cannot begin to express just how thrilled I am that she stuck with a tougher, perhaps less popular choice - to make the pitiable, much-loved LEH just as culpable for his actions, and YTJ more than just a caricature of the typical villain and manipulator. Kudos, writer-nim!

[cyan5tarlight]

@liddi You raise some interesting points. What Eunho did was wrong, no doubt, no debating it. But at the same time,  given his upbringing and the awfulness he had to live with nearly every day of his entire life, especially when faced with the possibility of the same thing happening to the innocent children he adored so much... well, honestly, how much can anyone really hate him for doing it when you get right down to it? On the other hand, I suppose my hangup with Taejoo - tragic backstory notwithstanding - stems from the fact that he is, ostensibly, a trained professional. One who has (one would think) studied cases similar to his brother's and Wookyung's and Hana's in preparation for his medical practice, who should know how to treat them without resorting to first and second degree murder. Basically, my opinion of him boils down to "he, at least, should have known better."

 

What if someone came to a doctor bleeding out everywhere from a sucking chest wound, and the doctor just slapped a band-aid on it and sent them on their merry way, resulting in that person's death? Would I not be allowed to be indignant about such blatant malpractice, no matter how good the intentions of the person performing said malpractice might have been? So what about a trained psychiatrist deciding that the best treatment for a suffering individual who came to him in good faith seeking peace and healing was to have them go commit multiple cases of homicide? I mean, it's definitely not a crime to be traumatized or to have baggage, and there's no shame in not being able to help someone get better, even if you do all you know how to, but surely Taejoo would have known what kind of cases he'd possibly be handling when he opened his practice. If he couldn't handle it, then, idk, maybe he should have thought about going into a different profession.

 

Again, I would never hold it against anyone for having trauma in their lives or skeletons in their closets, but I find it completely irresponsible for someone who is obviously this mentally unstable and damaged to place themselves in a position where they could cause untold damage to others because they overestimated their abilities due to their own hubris. I know I would be an absolutely awful surgeon because I can't stand the sight of guts and viscera, so going into that field of medicine makes no sense for me, and I'd probably do more harm than good there. If, despite all that, I became a surgeon, and then killed someone on the operating table because I wasn't cut out for the job and was distracted with, say, family troubles to boot, then their death would still be my fault regardless of how noble my intentions may have been or how jacked up the issues I was facing in my personal life was. When someone puts their life and well-being, be it physical or mental, in your hands, trusting you to help them because you are the expert and advertise yourself as such, then you should be held responsible if something you did or failed to do caused them distress or harm even inadvertently. It's just common sense and basic business practice.

 

Plus, speaking as someone who's personally suffered from years of debilitating and agonizing mental illness, seeing a trained, professional therapist fail multiple patients this horribly just makes me livid on a deep, fundamental level. And I admit, this could just be a personal hot button of mine, and not everyone feels the same way about it. But for me, seeing someone who has actively placed himself in a position of medical authority not only abusing the trust of his patients (he actively invaded Siwan and Hana's minds without their consent for God's sake! Does no one else see a problem with this??), but in some cases making their lives actively worse rubs me in all the wrong ways.

 

I do concede that after I wrote my last post and left for work, it did occur to me that the reasoning behind Taejoo not physically removing Eunho from his abusive environment could be because Eunho simply could not bring himself to leave, no matter what Taejoo tried. I just wish that the series would have told or shown this to us more explicitly if that was the case. Some sort of confirmation that the two talked or spent time with each other beyond their vigilante mission, that they actually had some kind of brotherly relationship that went beyond mere sentimental familial obligation, that Taejoo truly didn't leave Eunho alone in his misery and pain in that horrible environment and just expect him to take care of it himself after rejecting all of Taejoo's offers to leave. Even an extra line or two of dialogue could have helped. As it stands, just judging from Eunho's outburst to Wookyung at the police station it sounded like Taejoo's advice essentially boiled down to "You're blind and brainwashed, but you'll see I'm right about your 'family' eventually, just you wait. And when that happens, don't say I didn't tell you so." At least, that's how it came across to me.

 

I agree that it was very brave of the writer to make things such a grey area when it came to Red Cry. I very much appreciate such nuanced writing as well, you don't see that much from fiction nowadays. ^^

 

All this being said, though, feel free to have whatever viewpoints you like on Taejoo's character. Due to my personal experiences and beliefs regarding expectations for people who voluntarily place themselves in positions of authority that others are expected to defer to, I will always find a character like Taejoo far less sympathetic than someone like Eunho. However, this isn't to say that you can't have a completely different opinion than the one I hold due to your interpretation of the the character, and that's perfectly fine. Thanks for the thought-provoking discussion!

[liddi]

@cyan5tarlight I think you misunderstand me. Not once did I say that I approve of YTJ being in a place of professional authority as he was, and using it the way he did for his vigilante activities. Never did I claim that he was justified in using unethical means to obtain the intel that he required without his patients' knowing or consent. Nor did I say that YTJ should be excused for not having removed himself from that position, knowing that he had issues. YTJ is one who is morally skewed, regardless of the tragedy that brought him to that place - there are no two ways about that. I do understand that you hold him to a higher standard exactly because he is a trained professional with this area of expertise, and well you should. However, my standpoint comes from viewing him as a damaged character, who was no longer in the correct frame of mind to judge the rightness of his actions, expert or not, professional or otherwise. Do I excuse him for what he did as a result? No. My only exposition about him as a character was never that he was right or justified, merely my theory as to why he got to where he did, and my differing views on whether he manipulated his own brother for nefarious ends. I am sorry if I come across differently and appear to advocate all his actions, because I don't. In which case, I guess I should give my analysis of YTJ a rest in case I give cause for anyone to think that I really do support the viewpoint that the ends justify the means  Thank you for the engaging discussion! It has been a long time since I watched a drama that evoked such riveting reactions and analysis - a sign of an excellent drama that does more than just entertain, one that deserves a standing ovation.

 

Was documenting the timeline of the drama to try and get a sense of the chain of events... and found that while emotionally resonant and intellectually stimulating, production errors unfortunately do plague it... in this case timeline inconsistency.

 

Pre-28 Mar 2018 - YTJ and LEH meet. LEH sets up the Red Cry website with PYT

28 Mar 2018 - PJH released from prison. JSW sent back to Dreamland Orphanage
29 Mar 2018 - PJH killed
30 Mar 2018 - JSW run over by CWK
2 Apr 2018 - PYT killed himself

23 May 2018 - PJH's name used to join the Mom's website with nick Red Cry
(6 months later)

4 Oct 2018 - LHS killed

24 Oct 2018 - ASW killed

[Hana's DNA test results were dated 12 Dec 2018, which is impossible since it occurs before CWK received a reply from Red Cry]

30 Nov 2018 - Red Cry answers CWK's message on the Mom's Chat (JSW's mother blackmailed CWK)

14 Dec 2018 - MHJ commits suicide

[GSH was killed on a Saturday night after MHJ's death, before 21 Dec, yet the only Saturday after 14th was the 15th, which would have been impossible considering the manifold chain of events that took place after her death, before Ha Na was sent back to her father]

20 Dec 2018 - Judgment on Mr Yoon on the Red Cry bulletin board
21 Dec 2018 - KJH confrontation with Red Cry

?? Dec 2018 - Mr Yoon was killed

[Based on the date on LEH's final resting place, the old director and LEH died on 3 Jan 2019. Yet much time had elapsed since LEH's death up to Siwan's father's murder, also committed on 3 Jan, a date that is supported by dialogue and the bank transaction made by Siwan's mother]

3 Jan 2019 - Siwan's father dies

 

Still, it was a fascinating exercise, reminding me that ASW was killed after LHS - one which initially eluded me because of the sequence with which the cases are revealed to us. And yet another proof that this show continues to hold me in its thrall, and I still can't cut my ties to it. Season 2 anyone?

[cyan5tarlight]

@liddiAh, okay, thank you for clearing that up! What I basically heard was "We can't hold Taejoo responsible for screwing up his brother even more than he already was because he was screwed up himself" and hence I was like "I respectfully! disagree!!" But if you were merely trying to explain his actions instead of excuse them, then we have no problems, s'all good. ^^d

 

Thanks for the timeline analysis! I admit that the timeline for the series has kind of confused me throughout, mostly because everyone always seems REALLY COLD even when it seems to be supposed to take place over the course of about a year. But I chalk that up to a fall-winter shooting schedule and not wanting your poor actors to develop frostbite. As for the other timeline muddles, it's a bit unfortunate that the some of the dates were fudged that badly. You'd think someone from production would have caught at least some of those. :/ But ah well, it's not super distracting, and doesn't detract from the story itself, so I'll let it slide.

 

BTW, does anyone happen to have any other drama recommendations that someone who really enjoyed Children of Nobody might like? I'm close to being done with Legend of the Blue Sea, and I'd like some other dramas to add to my queue. For a bit more context, I prefer character-based dramas, and any genre is fine with me, though I'm not a huge fan of romance. I don't mind it when it's done well, but even then, I do prefer there be other interesting aspects to the story than just the main couple's relationship. My favorite drama so far that I've watched has been Goblin, because I loved the modern fantasy aspects of it and the characters were all so interesting and likable and had great chemistry with each other. I also enjoyed Pinocchio and Healer quite a lot. I've heard of this show called "Duel" that sounded interesting, that I was thinking about starting, but any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

[liddi]

@cyan5tarlight Glad all's good and we can move on  And yes, the mistakes in the timeline were rather unfortunate - there was also a scene when CWK first sent a direct message to Red Cry, and the list of Red Cry posts on the Mom's website were from year 2015 when he only first joined using PJH's identity in May 2018  Nonetheless, I agree that they did not detract from the story, certainly not its emotional resonance, and I wouldn't have noticed either if I had not gone back and deliberately traced the timeline to begin with.

 

Some drama recommendations would include Signal and Missing Noir M, if you have not watched them already. Prison Playbook is also an absolute joy to watch.

 

This marks the first week without Children of Nobody to look forward to every Wed and Thu.  Been listening to the soundtrack and tearing up every so often as familiar strands remind me of scenes that still strike an emotional chord in my heart... among them:

 

"Where do you think my mother went after leaving me in such a pretty place?"  -- LEH

"Would you be able to forgive yourself... for having such thoughts? "  -- YTJ

"Se Kyung, wake up!"  -- CWK

"I'm sorry, Se Kyung..."  - CWK

 

 

"... do you see that yellow button? If you press that, I'll come to you."   -- KJH

"It doesn't matter if you think they're your family. They don't see it that way. You've been brainwashed so that it's easy for them to use you!"  -- LEH

"You still don't seem to get it. I... remember it all, Mother."  -- CWK

 

 

"How would you know whether I suffered or not?"  -- KJH

"She was only five! Why did she have to be in here!"  -- CWK

 

[larus]

[Interview] "Children of Nobody" Kim Sun-ah in Awe of Kim Yeo-jin

Kim Sun-ah showed her respect to actress Kim Yeo-jin with whom starred in "Children of Nobody" in an interview on the 23rd in a café in Seoul.

Kim Sun-ah couldn't help but compliment Kim Yeo-jin who played Dong-sook.

"There was a scene where she laughs about her husband's death. The scene crossed paths with a narration and when I watched it on TV, I watched in awe. It gave me goosebumps".

She mentioned all the actors she worked with and said, "They all have unique characters and it was fun. It was only fun in a serious environment thanks to good people".

https://www.hancinema.net/interview-children-of-nobody-kim-sun-ah-in-awe-of-kim-yeo-jin-125997.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

*****

I remember that scene. Indeed was a good scene and Kim yeo Jin did a very good job.

[Guest]

Hey ya, I'm a little late to the party, but @bedifferentrecommended the drama to me and due to this I binge watched it within four days, finished it an hour ago and wat to summarize my thoughts about the ending.

 

•  I liked it a lot and it was a very entertaining, interesting drama. I would rate it 9 out of 10
• You said it was like 'Mother' and compared it to be as good as Signal or Tunnel. It is indeed very good, but I would not go that far. Mother was way more emotional, during Mother I had a dry throat more than once, CoN approached the topic from other angles, asked very interesting questions and had an interesting plot, which was never boring. I can see the similarities, but it wasn't as emotional and sometimes hard to watch like "Mother". Some scenes during Mother were hard to endure, I never had that problem during CoN.
  Sure, after or during some scenes you also thought in what a richard simmons up world they are living, but I had way more often this crime-drama feeling.

• But if I learned something from Children of Nobody, and the peeps that know me well will know that this is the most important thing I expect from a drama, then that I agree with Kang at the end, which is completely irrelevant towards the story or anything. But I also thought the way like him, but it somehow changed.

  I really do want to have kids aswell I guess, show them love and treat them well.

• I understand now why you said you wished Soo Young had more screentime. I felt her story was treated miserably. I hated it when that bro beat up my girl, I wished they would have dealt with it more. It felt so much like running out of time and just scratching the surface. 
  Honestly I feel like the plot isn't finished, I hated it so much when that punkbrother beat her up. I hated him so much.
• Somehow I'm not happy about catching Red Cry. I felt that was too easy to just lure him into the house so easily. In the past he was way more careful.
• I think they gave away too much towards the end, I felt like I already knew what was happening after pretty much half of ep 15. Episode 16 was more or less just watching what I already knew. At a certain point you know who the sister was, who the killer was and how everything is connected.
  Which is a little sad, because I really loved the style of storytelling.
• If we are totally honest, the first two episodes including WK husband, his affair and Kangs ex-gf, including his boyish affection towards her was completely irrelevant. It didn't do anything.
  I was hoping that his insecurity and different behavior towards her would play are role at one point, but they ignored it completely.
• Well, maybe they were just introduced to have a way to put Eun Soo somewhere, so WK has time for her stuff. Eun Soo had too less screentime.

[larus]

Red Moon, Blue Sun: Episodes 31-32 (Final)

by odilettante

The final episode means our heroes have no choice but to face the truth about Red Cry and the little girl in the green dress. While this drama may not have been the easiest to watch due to its bleak and disturbing subject matter, it has been one of the most gripping and intriguing shows I’ve seen in a long time, and, unlike Woo-kyung’s childhood memories, will remain with me for a long time.

 

http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/01/red-moon-blue-sun-episodes-31-32-final/

 

 

 

[larus]

Kim Sun Ah Talks About “Children Of Nobody” + Winning Her 1st Daesang In 13 Years

by E. Cha

In a recent interview, Kim Sun Ah took a nostalgic look back at 2018 and shared her thoughts on winning multiple acting awards in one year.

Kim Sun Ah most recently starred in MBC’s thriller drama “Children of Nobody,” a performance that won her the Top Excellence Award at the 2018 MBC Drama Awards last month. When asked how she had ended up starring in the drama, the actress replied, “I was abroad for a brief period of time, and I read the script on my phone. I read the whole thing in one go.”

She went on to speak fondly of her experience filming “Children of Nobody,” remarking, “The drama itself was so powerful. I think that it will continue to stay with me [for a long time], resounding within me.”

Kim Sun Ah also shared that she had struggled somewhat with her character in the drama. “I had the thought that Cha Woo Kyung is an adult who hasn’t fully matured,” she explained. “She wasn’t a character that was easy to portray, which gave me a bit of a headache. I had to be careful about controlling my emotions.”

more

[liddi]

@larus Thank you for sharing that article. This part of her interview in particular, reflects just how much the drama has carved a place in the hearts of those who are involved... and by extension the viewers, and has me so much more hopeful that we will see a Season 2 one day, after Hakyeon comes back from his military enlistment which commences March 4th, 2019.

 

Kim Sun Ah went on to share that she has never hoped for a second season of a drama as badly as she does for “Children of Nobody.”

Explaining that she had truly enjoyed working on the drama, she declared, “I want a Season 2 of ‘Children of Nobody.’ All the actors had so, so much love [for the drama and each other]. This is the first time that I’ve wanted a Season 2 this badly for a drama that I’ve completed.”

 

cr. Soompi

[larus]

3 hours ago, liddi said:

This part of her interview in particular, reflects just how much the drama has carved a place in the hearts of those who are involved... and by extension the viewers, and has me so much more hopeful that we will see a Season 2 one day, after Hakyeon comes back from his military enlistment which commences March 4th, 2019.

 

I totally understand the lingering feelings of the cast and viewers but in the same time I want this drama to remain perfect in our hearts. I am not a fan of shows who have more seasons but I will accept it if it will happen. The story had an ending and the writing was good so, if the writer has more interesting stories to tell with the same/ or different cast I will watch for sure. But I will not wait for it. Just like how I loved Stranger (Forest of Secrets) and Signal. They have announced a second season for both shows but nothing was put on motion. If the writer will find the creative muse for more stories I am all for it.