[Drama 2019] Babel, 바벨

[zenya22]

I actually like the way this drama is coming about, deals with the complexities of relationships forthrightly and brazenly. A classic who done it more than a revenge drama. In the beginning it seems that there is an element of revenge but as the drama progresses suppositions and concepts become unclear and all possibilities can happen relative to the characters' understanding and experience. The prosecutor is doing what he is supposed to be doing, investigate. However, he does not have the power and the political backing and he is being blocked as soon as he gets his witnesses in line. He has 2 cases in his hands, the murder of Min Ho and the helicopter case and is all connected to the Tae family. Now, his sole witness in the helicopter case is being hijacked by the political system. I am guessing that witness, the wife of the pilot who died who is now being accused of killing her husband for insurance reward will be put in prison where she will be killed by people of Madam Shin. In essence this is a fight between Madam Shin and the prosecutor who will blink first. At the moment, Madam Shin seems to have the upperhand, however her children are catching on and the daughter in law is pretty sure her mother in law has something to do with the disappearance of the uncle. As for the revenge part, it has not been clarified that there is something to revenge about. The prosecutor was very young and whatever he remembers happened to his father may not be what really happened. Who did what to whom and why was not really made clear yet by the drama. Who is Min Ho's mother and who is he related to? Seems to me that the demented chairman Tae knows about WH, who he is and that is why he trusted and insisted for him to be his corporate lawyer. What Chairman Tae may or may have done to WH parents for me needs to be clarified for the revenge to be established. It is also shown here the co-dependency between MH and SH from when they were children and the guilt that SH carries and the sincerity of his grief for MH death. MH always was the scapegoat, took the punishments meted by his stepmother that was supposed to be meant for his brother, SH. And as grownups, MH also covered up for SH gallivanting and inefficiency at work. But then worsened the dependency of SH on himself by becoming SH drug supplier. I think that MH in his fractured mind was doing this to SH as a revenge to his stepmother and garnered the respect and love of his father who made him the heir instead of SH. The conversation between SH and his mother at the hospital when the father was diagnosed with dementia, SH accused his mother "you did to this to my father and to Min Ho." At the funeral for Min Ho, he said that if in the next life he and MH will become brothers again, he would do his best to be the big brother for MH. In his own way, he is taking responsibility. I am curious to see now that the uncle disappeared, what SH will do and if he will cover up everything to save his company and his mother and sacrifice Jung Won and everyone else or he will fight his mother to take his rightful place and save the company from ruin caused by greed of his mother.

 

As for WH and JW, the drama does not cower in the presentation of this socially unacceptable and complicated relationship and I like that.  However the relationship began,  what ever baggages JW carries, I love WH's unconditional love for JW, how he is committed to her and tries his best to protect. That is what a real man is supposed to do. Protect and help the woman you love instead of beating them. It gets complicated though for WH if he gets proof that JW is involved with the murder of her husband. But was she really? Ricky has an important document or evidence and a picture of it which he gave to MH, who showed it to Madam Shin. Whatever that was is vitally meaningful to the madam. MH might have been killed for that. Whether JW knows about it or not remains to be seen. I think WH will do all he can to protect JW and get to the truth at the same time. I also want to see what SH will do. If he suspects that his mother had something to do with the disappearance of his uncle will he not think that he too is in danger especially when he is not handing the reins of power to Mom as she expects? 

 

So who done it, is still a big mystery. It could be JW, Madame Shin, the husband of the woman who needed the donor, or the barber assasin or even Ricky if he thinks he was double crossed by MH. 

[anony12345]

Disagree with most of what you've written above but will just pick two points as it's a very long post

 

Not sure how you can say "the prosecutor is doing what he is expected to be doing, investigating", then say later on he's doing everything he can to protect JW, as that's contradictory in nature. He has purposefully moved the investigation away from her and not bought her in even though he knows she was there and has more motive than most. He also willingly destroys evidence that would have helped with the investigation just because it could hurt her. Wouldn't say this is what a prosecutor should be doing.

 

People expect revenge because it was described as a revenge drama from the main guys point of view and we see beforehand even when he's a photographer he's targeting the family so he has clearly researched this for years. So the fact that even now we still have no exposition over his motivations or how his relationship with the female lead is so strong he forgets everything else is rubbish writing. I don't think anyone here cares that it's a socially unacceptable relationship - but we've literally seen them have that one meeting where she finds out he's the photographer, the one where he helps when she gets attacked in the canteen, and then the one where he goes to the hotel and sleeps with her when she's drunk as hell.

 

How can anything of what they've shown equate to the actions we've seen in the show? Personally find the route the show has taken dumb as hell.

[imgreatgal]

Thank you @zenya22 for your insight on this drama thus far. It makes me look from a different perspective. However I can only agree that the drama is taking an interesting turn after SH miraculously survived a jump from what a two storey building? with only minor injuries and a broken leg. He seems to have been cured of his drug addiction and is talking and thinking with a clear mind. So far it makes for an interesting watch. Maybe SH is the one i should root for. 

Somehow i quiet agree with @anony12345 on WH's behaviour. He has the testimony of YE who say she saw JW came home at 4am on the day of MH's murder instead of 2am as insisted by JW but he didn't questioned her about it. He visits Chairman Tae and was short of choking him to death. So i fail to see WH's honesty in investigating. 

[Ayame]

Babel OST (Parts 1-4) [English Hardsubbed] (Youtube Playlist)

 

[roli]

Is there no episode today.??? 

[ymiss]

I don’t think one wants to and/or could stop their self from falling in love even if it’s not right. It’s happening in this drama and in real life.

 

Woo Hyuk knew Jung Won was married yet he still continues to be involve with her. It was kind of fate too, wasn’t it, that brought them together time after time in different encounters. Both Woo Hyuk and Jung Won are sinners but the sin is heavier for Jung Won since she can’t seem to get out of her marriage with Min Ho.

 

It has showed that Jung Won wanted a divorce, I’m not exactly sure when, whether it’s before or after her affair with Woo Hyuk started. Still, she tried running away from Min Ho, flying out of the country but was brought back to Min Ho. I’m not sure how many times she has try running away from Min Ho but she did try in one flashback. She just can’t escape Min Ho! If she notify the police, will that work? Let’s say she went to the police and Min Ho was locked up for some years for physical abuse, sexual abuse and what not, during that time, could she run away from Min Ho forever? When Min Ho gets out, will he still be able to find her? Let’s answer these questions ourselves, should we!?

 

I know this aspect, the romance, love between the male and femal leads, is bothering some of us who are watching the drama since there’s not much buildup, explanation on it but if we try to look at it in a different perspective and make sense out of what’s given to us in the drama, we may be able to see why they love each other.

 

I think Jung Won stopped loving and try to get away from Min Ho who knows how long before she became romantically, sexually involved with Woo Hyuk.

[mizkorea]

Watched raw. So who actually stabbed MH? JW or his assistant?

 

[imgreatgal]

2 hours ago, mizkorea said:

Watched raw. So who actually stabbed MH? JW or his assistant?

 

I haven't seen ep12, subs are not up yet. I have a feeling that its Director Woo (MH's assistant) who stabbed MH and JW is keeping silent to protect him because he has a sick wife to care for. 

 

@ymiss i have no problem with WH and JW's relationship but as a prosecutor he should have been upfront with his team and distant himself from the case. 

 

[mizkorea]

From the convo in the car between director woo and JW, director Woo intervened in the fight between JW and MH that night.  He got bruises on his cheek. Normally he would turned a blind eye to what his master did to his wife. But he needed her to be alive since she sort of promised to donate her organ. So he cleaned up the crime scene and kept his mouth shut. Now he knew she is pregnant what will be his next move.

 

What a mess between our otp. WH tried to safe her from the murder charge. He even put her interest first over his revenge.  It might work if not for his colleague big mouth. Now she got in her head she needed to save him from herself.

I wonder if she knew about that revenge thing that he has against geosan. From the preview YuRa will found out about his vendetta against geosan. I bet she will be only too glad to tell JW about this.

 

YuRa words will bite her back. Her mommy will definitely pay for her crimes.  But HS throwing  that bloody knife on a very busy bridge which I am sure will have plenty of cctv in a broad day light was the most ridiculous scene ever. *facepalm*

 

 

[imgreatgal]

3 hours ago, mizkorea said:

But he needed her to be alive since she sort of promised to donate her organ. So he cleaned up the crime scene and kept his mouth shut. Now he knew she is pregnant what will be his next move.

Sorry but i didn't get this part about JW promising Director Woo to donate her organ anywhere in the last two episodes. From what i understand is that she had made a promise to him about something which we are unclear of to this point and i don't think JW got to tell Director Woo about her pregnancy the last time they met. 

So now JW has the original will of Chairman Tae which states MH as the sole inheritor? I'm guessing Director Woo also knows the contents of the will and i think what he is after is really monetary for his wife transplant. Its interesting that JW is using the will as a bargaining chip to get herself release but now YR becomes her attorney. I don't think HS knows that YR wants to get JW out of the way and have WH all to herself. 

Anyway the reason Chairman Tae killed WH's father and his mom committed suicide is still vague. There was a flashback scene where WH saw his mom meeting someone in a car at their front gate. That 'someone' must be Chairman Tae. Looks like he gave her a photograph and not long after she committed suicide. 

 

[mizkorea]

@imgreatgal

It was in episode 7. (Almost the end of it)

JW at the airport trying to escape from MH. As usual Director Woo caught up with her. Her plea for him to let her go failed becoz he was such a loyal dog to his master. But then on the way back he got a call from the hospital. Thats how she got to know about the sick wife.  She told him she was willing to be tested. The night of the murder if MH was not momentarily distracted by director woo presence JW will not have the chance to grab that knife. She was not strong enough to overcome him. 

 

JW should have trust WH. She thought she is saving WH. She longed to be free from geosan but now she is back to square one. 

YuRa is letting her emotion ruled her. But then if not for her , WH would be dead.

 

In ep 12 it seemed HS was the one who stabbed WH's father for reason still unknown. What would be the reason for  a widow to  committ suicide in the living room of their home after telling her son the best revenge is to live well. 

Did WH's father has an affair with HS or what?

[imgreatgal]

thanks @mizkorea i went back and watch end of ep7, don't know how i miss that. Anyway when JW offered to get tested it was after Director Woo caught her at the airport trying to leave, but that was a flashback, I wonder if she was pregnant then. At the end of the convo between JW and Director Woo in the same episode (current time) Director Woo said "forget about it, its not easy as long as you keep your promise there will be no problem" now i understand that Director Woo meant it was not easy for JW to donate her organs, She may not be a match etc. So what JW promised Director Woo isn't about donating her organ. 

[imgreatgal]

Before watching ep13 i had suspected that HS and WH's dad were in a relationship hence the photo that chairman Tae showed to WH's mom (in the flashback) and she committed suicide. I also have a feeling that SH is not Chairman Tae's bio son all the more reason for the chairman to dismiss SH as the heir of Geosan. hahaha quiet interesting! but the plot seems overused. 

I'm beginning to like SH and YE's relationship. 

[mizkorea]

His stupid dad loved a psycho and paid with his life. Like father like son. Both are sucker for unhappy married women. 

 

@imgreatgal

I like them too. Both are flawed but  I have enjoyed watching their interactions. I hope they get out from this mess, together and happier.

 

 

 

 

 

[philosophie]

Wow what a twist. So YR is basically in love with her half brother’s half brother? Well we certainly got our makjang. I was kinda getting some Bad guy kdrama feels for reals

[zenya22]

OH Boy, interesting.... but JW is right about WH, he did use her just like MH... and SH could be the son of WH dad and he and SH half brothers.... But I still am not too sure if Madam Shin killed WH dad or it was the chairman but it was easier for her to convince WH to let the revenge go if she told him it was her who killed WH dad. I remember saying to the demented chairman at the hospital that she resolved everything because what the chairman had done and then she went to bridge to throw the knife in the river. And no wonder the chairman favored MH and Madam hated him. But now at least it is clarified who done it. 

 

I hope that JW who suffered so much because she fell in love with the wrong guy, will get away from them all who used her for their own purposes and live far away at a place where she can be at peace and live the way she had wanted with her baby. WH still has mission to watch over Geosan, he is not ready to give up all for love of a woman just as he was not ready to do it before. Now, I wonder if he will find out if he SH is his half brother? 

[imgreatgal]

7 hours ago, zenya22 said:

But I still am not too sure if Madam Shin killed WH dad or it was the chairman but it was easier for her to convince WH to let the revenge go if she told him it was her who killed WH dad. I remember saying to the demented chairman at the hospital that she resolved everything because what the chairman had done and then she went to bridge to throw the knife in the river. And no wonder the chairman favored MH and Madam hated him. But now at least it is clarified who done it. 

 

I'm with you on this one. I'm not convince HS killed WH's dad and i wonder why she confessed that she did.  How did Ricky got hold of the knife and wasn't Ricky the Chairman's driver? If HS did indeed had and affair with WH's dad and she conceived SH,  when did YR came about?  hahaha so confusing.

 

[mizkorea]

HS is totally bad. She's like the mafia godfather.  She will  dispose whoever is in her way. She even have her own assassin to do her bidding. 

So who can really stop her now. 

Looking forward to watching the last 2 episodes. 

[zenya22]

10 minutes ago, mizkorea said:

HS is totally bad. She's like the mafia godfather.  She will  dispose whoever is in her way. She even have her own assassin to do her bidding. 

So who can really stop her now. 

LOL the godmother. I was hoping her son SH can stop her but he seems clueless about what mom is capable of or what she is doing behind his back. 

[mizkorea]

13 hours ago, zenya22 said:

LOL the godmother. I was hoping her son SH can stop her but he seems clueless about what mom is capable of or what she is doing behind his back. 

@zenya22

He always know about his mom obsession to make him the head of geosan. He tried so many times to stop his mom but she never listen. Now with MH gone and his dad hospitalised he can do something to curb her. Love the scene when he busted his 2 faced assistant.  The actor playing SH is good at making SH looks vulnerable and helpless with a hint of his mom ruthlessness. 

 

Episode 15.

Interesting convo between WH's dad and the chairman. Wish I could understand korean.  His dad looked  like a sleazy kind of guy..

Director Woo lost his wife. So I guess JW never really promise to help him. He misunderstood her intention and saved her from MH for nothing.