[Drama 2019] Graceful Family, 우아한 가

[thistle]

It's usually at this point in a drama that I tend to go off the rails a bit with Wild Theories but this time

there's something I've been thinking ever since the very first episode, and I haven't said anything until now.  However, it is in my nature to see patterns and connections, so I wonder if anyone else noticed this stuff.  Since this is somewhat off-topic, I'll spoiler tag and, yes, this is just meant to be funny:

 

Spoiler

Okay, here we go:  how about those connections with Healer?

1.  In the first episode, we see a sassy reporter with a short hair style.  She's wearing a delivery-person's vest because she is planning to stake out a star for a scoop.  Her boss, at a small internet news venue, is exasperated with her but he admires her, too.  I saw this and thought, OMG, it's Park Min Young's role in Healer.

 

2.  Park Sang Myun.  He plays YD's dad but YD isn't really his son because he is adopted.  YD's dad is kind and patient and maybe a little too emotional.  YD's dad runs a cafe that has a law office at the back (okay, it's only a desk but that still counts).  In Healer, Park played the FL's dad but his daughter was adopted.  He is kind and patient and maybe a little too emotional.  He runs a cafe that has a law office on the side.

 

3.  Jung Hye In.  She plays the former journalist who is now the Image Maker at TOP, one of Han's lead minions.  In Healer, she played the younger version of the FL's mother and she was, surprise, a journalist.

 

4.  The Big Pearl Earring.  Yeah, the cartilage piercing right in the middle of the ear.  That is not very typical.  But there are two leading ladies who have that same style and that same huge pearl:  SH and the female lead in Healer.  (I've gotta say that I worried a lot about that piercing for Park Min Young because it often looked red and inflamed and possibly infected during Healer.  That's why I noticed it so specifically.)

 

5.  The Big Bad.  Doesn't Han remind anyone else of The Elder from Healer?  She's just more high tech and has a shinier office.  She likes to make and serve coffee.  The Elder liked to make and serve alcoholic beverages.  They both wear suits.   

 

 

 

[Lmangla]

am curious to see what the prosecutor's son will do in his revenge journey against ms han. if looks could kill, ms han would have been stabbed multiple times at the funeral place. wonder if he will dig up something about ms han's past that will answer our question about why she is so obsessed with power and controlling MC group. at this stage, she is more like the owner than the mo family.

[0ly40]

preview oct 16

 

[thistle]

2 minutes ago, 0ly40 said:

preview oct 16

 

Seems like the prosecutor son's hair-do has taken a drastic change now that he is aggrieved and ticked off.    Funny how that happens.

[ii panda]

No kissy-kissy on Episode 14. You disappointed me, Mr. Huh YD. 

[tulip06]

Wow, Han Madam 

Spoiler

Pushed Joo Dad to suicide??? 

 

[ii panda]

This is just a hunch but I think Ms Han's motivation goes beyond familial love. She may have self-appointed herself as a judge and executor for this reason. I'm not ruling out revenge though coz, heck, she does not put any breaks in taking down people who betrayed her so it is highly possible that all her actions so far lead to one big revenge.

 

Anybody remembers which episode she first appeared prior to being a TOP member?

 

P.S. I am okay with Mr. Wang and SH's mom's affair in the story. For me, it's a strong twist. I guess, I'm just too used to watching indie films with lots of 'uncomfortable' elements so I may have developed some sort of immunity. 

[thistle]

18 minutes ago, tulip06 said:

Wow, Han Madam

 

"Carpet bombing" for sure.  Ms. Han believes in complete destruction.

 

7 minutes ago, ii panda said:

Anybody remembers which episode she first appeared prior to being a TOP member?

 

Not exactly sure but I think that flashback happened early on, like maybe episode 2.  I'm thinking of re-watching some of the drama this week so I'll let you know if I find it.

[Ameera Ali]

3 hours ago, thistle said:

 

Seems like the prosecutor son's hair-do has taken a drastic change now that he is aggrieved and ticked off.    Funny how that happens.

 

Oh no we couldn’t believe his 

 

 

[sksen]

This is the only one show excite me every week!!! Love the craziness this has brought us to the viewers.

[Takingthehighroad]

At least this thread is lively enough that these few days waiting for the climax is bearable. Ms.Han is admirable in a way - she always has her ducks in a row. Just thinking - could she be SH's mother? She seemed to want SH away from all the goings on. But SH is just like her - determined to see it through. SH won't give up until she finds out who murdered her mother.

 

I think Ms. Han's obsession in wanting to put the second son at the top is to prepare for her final revenge. She has everything planned - to destroy that which destroyed her. I can't imagine her actually murdering anyone but she knows who did & that, too, will be part of her final done deal. Why would she bring down the prosecutor? I think that, too, has something to do with long ago. He must have had a hand in ruining her career.

[thistle]

I'm doing a re-watch leading up to the finale, so I'll share some thoughts as I go.  

Random thoughts and information from Episodes 1 & 2:

Timing.  The first job that Han did for TOP was covering up SH's mother's murder.  SH was about 12-14 at the time, so her cousins would be in their 20's.  How long was Han with MC Group before she started TOP?  She only began TOP with Mr. Mo's assistance (that's when she got her office near his), so she must have worked with Grandad Mo for awhile before that. 

 

That EMPIRE pen:  Han's symbol of power?  She has it when she gets YD's uncle to sign away something.  She still has it years later when she gets YD to sign a work contract for TOP.  What is Empire?  Maybe it was her family's company that got swallowed up by MC?

 

The book that Ms. Han is reading in ep2:
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters    
Following book blurb borrowed from GoodReads:  
 

Spoiler

 

If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets.

 

The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.

 

Thiel begins with the contrarian premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by shiny mobile devices to notice. Information technology has improved rapidly, but there is no reason why progress should be limited to computers or Silicon Valley. Progress can be achieved in any industry or area of business. It comes from the most important skill that every leader must master: learning to think for yourself.

 

Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique.

 

Zero to One presents at once an optimistic view of the future of progress in America and a new way of thinking about innovation: it starts by learning to ask the questions that lead you to find value in unexpected places. 

 

.....and I can't really see this applying to Han but what do I know?

 

 

editing to add one thing that I almost forgot:

The script that First Son is trying to peddle is called White Bridge.  The title was shown particularly in one scene so I'm wondering if the term White Bridge has meaning.

[Sirry Usly]

I don't get why people are making such a big deal about the affair with SH's mom and her dad/grandpa. She's still classier than her SH's brother/dad's second wife or mistress and this is a k-drama. richard simmons happens. I honestly prefer it because at lease now she knows her real father truly loved her as any parent should. I don't want anyone else to be SH's "real mom"  but the one we have been shown so far. Also, it would be too last minute to add that plot twist because then you would have to explain why she was raised by a different parent etc and that's too much. 

[RobinM]

I guess because the idea of a father in law seducing/having an affair with his younger daughter in law and getting her pregnant too boot just comes off to most all people as sleazy and Gross rather than sweet and romantic.  

[thistle]

1 hour ago, RobinM said:

I guess because the idea of a father in law seducing/having an affair with his younger daughter in law and getting her pregnant too boot just comes off to most all people as sleazy and Gross rather than sweet and romantic.  

 

Yes.  Sleazy and gross.  And in some places on this big world, it could be considered incestuous. 

 

I think it's creepy.  To me, the problem isn't his age difference.  It's the fact of a woman sleeping with her man's daddy.  That is completely ewwww.

[10192123sangre]

4 hours ago, thistle said:

I have been wondering about this.  Why did Grandpa Mo choose her after all?  Han said that she loves MC Group more than the Mo Family.  What is it that attracts her?  Why is she so addicted to power and vengeance? 

 

We haven't seen enough of her backstory to understand.  This drama is so well-written and so tight but this is something that hasn't been addressed and time is really short now with only two episodes left.

 

Ms. Han was a judge before she was recruited by Grandpa Mo to MC Group. She was a disillusioned judge. She was too much of an idealist and believed that the justice system should and would prevail. However, during her time as a judge she saw that the justice system in Korea was not what she envisioned it to be. She became disillusioned because of the corruption and the manipulations that happen behind the scenes. Criminals who come from affluent families go free. And powerful and moneyed people, corporations inlfuence the direction of court decisions.

So when Grandpa Mo approached her with the promise of power and influence she readily took the bite. And it changed her completely from a justice seeking person to a corrupt one. Having tasted what having the  money and the power can do to one's wishes is very tempting and would want for more.

Ms. Han is the epitome of this.

Ms. Han has definitely crossed the line. She no longer has a conscience. Power and access to money has gone to her head.

[Lmangla]

38 minutes ago, 10192123sangre said:

She was a disillusioned judge. She was too much of an idealist and believed that the justice system should and would prevail.

actually am not sure how much she was for justice. the case that brought her to grandpa, she ruled a sentence that was harsher than necessary. this is why her judgement was ultimately tossed out. so from the beginning, she had a habit of squashing people till they had nothing. she delighted in it and when she had access to MC group, she really reveled in it. papa mo said ms han hates losing more than him. feel that it was all about winning for her from the beginning. she tossed the justice system aside because she realized that she will not win.

[10192123sangre]

Just now, Sirry Usly said:

I don't get why people are making such a big deal about the affair with SH's mom and her dad/grandpa. She's still classier than her SH's brother/dad's second wife or mistress and this is a k-drama. richard simmons happens. I honestly prefer it because at lease now she knows her real father truly loved her as any parent should. I don't want anyone else to be SH's "real mom"  but the one we have been shown so far. Also, it would be too last minute to add that plot twist because then you would have to explain why she was raised by a different parent etc and that's too much. 

 

I would like to believe that the pregnancy resulting with Seok Hee did not result from  an affair with the grandfather (Mo Wang Pyo)  but from artificial insemination or IVF as suggested earlier. I think the grandfather thought of that as a solution to the problem of not having heirs from his bloodline. So as a solution to the problem and making sure that the child is from his bloodline he suggested  this solution to his daughter-in-law.

I am guessing that the grandfather was doubtful that the 2 boys brought in by the nurse (2nd wife) is of the Mo bloodline. She is a nurse and could easily tamper the DNA results or fake it. She does have connections in the health sector.

Mo Cheol Hee is not a saint and surely he would have been sleeping with his wife (Ahn Jae Rim) so it would be easy to pass off the pregnancy of AJR as his child.

Mo Wang Pyo is very disappointed with his son Mo Cheol Hee, so I am not surpirsed that he would do such thing (him being the biological father of Seok Hee).  If he could have another child of his bloodline through artificial insemination or IVF through his daughter-in-law then why not. It would be killing two birds with one stone. A child he is sure is of his bloodline and an alternative heir to his loser son.

And as most families of such wealth, he would have had the nurse Ha Young Seo's background investigated. She was able to get her claws on his son, so she would be highly skilled in more ways than one.

 

 

 

Just now, Lmangla said:

actually am not sure how much she was for justice. the case that brought her to grandpa, she ruled a sentence that was harsher than necessary. this is why her judgement was ultimately tossed out. so from the beginning, she had a habit of squashing people till they had nothing. she delighted in it and when she had access to MC group, she really reveled in it. papa mo said ms han hates losing more than him. feel that it was all about winning for her from the beginning. she tossed the justice system aside because she realized that she will not win.

 

She has a sadistic nature then. Psychological disorder. Grandpa Mo should never have recruited her. 

 

One more thing, I think that Ahn Jae Rim's refusal to give her consent to the divorce could be a motive for the murder.  That is if she is refusing to give it. 

[thistle]

Continuing with my re-watch (which appears to be turning into a binge re-watch).....

 

 Love how all the episodes start with a voiceover about the past.

A lot of episodes 3 &4 is about Han, how tricky she is, and even a bit about her past.  It becomes very clear that Han is willing to say anything and to betray anyone to get what she wants.  She has no conscience or remorse.  She is even willing to kill the head of the Mo family to get more control of MC Group.  Han becomes more and more cruel as she attains more power.

 

One of the most enlightening moments is when Han talks to YD on the roof of MC building and we get a little information about her past and her motivation:  she is from a family at the top of the legal profession.  She says that she was threatened to be killed in her legal profession and that the scope there was too limited to fulfill her dreams.  She says that she is protecting the MC workers and even the country of Korea.  "With my hands.  With TOP's hands.   Imagine the EMPIRE that is moving because of us."

There's that word again:  EMPIRE.  Perhaps Han's motivation could be simply a massive case of megalomania.

And then there was the weirdness of the Milk Witch.  I expected something more to happen with her, especially as her conditions for loaning money to SH were that  the Milk Witch would be able to sell 50% of MC Group's distribution rights whenever she chose to do so.  It also sounded as though she told the doctor to wake Grandpa up from the coma, so was she somehow involved in keeping him asleep?  Why haven't we seen more of the Milk Witch?  She seems like the one person who might be able to bail SH out of a bad situation or who might have the power to defeat Han.  
 

[Lmangla]

16 hours ago, thistle said:

One thing I recall from the beginning of the drama is that it was mentioned more than once that she was living her life as a man.  Now, that's an odd thing to say, even if they just meant that she was a female taking a Power role that would have traditionally have been for a male.

so I understood this differently and felt like it was also a reference to the legal profession history.

 

the first woman lawyer and judge in korea was lee tae young. what is remarkable about her is that she was a mother of 4 and it was her husband who encouraged her to apply when seoul university first opened its doors to women to apply for law in late 40s. till then, it was not allowed. he was a pastor and later after korea gained independence, felt called to take up politics. he eventually went on to become the minister of foreign affairs. now because her husband was in the opposition party, lee tae young was initially denied a position as a judge and was told by the government that women cannot make objective decisions as a judge.

 

she continued to work as a legal aid lawyer helping women mostly in the area of family law and the legal aid organization she set up still exists mostly catering to family law. so after some time, she did become a judge and she was instrumental in setting up the family law system in korea and was also part of several revisions to the family law. her impact was far reaching as she knew the issues women faced when it came to divorce, alimony, adoption and property rights and pushed for reforms.

 

the google doodle for her birthday & explanation:

Spoiler

 

Lee Tai-Young was the first female lawyer in Korea. In 1952, she passed the difficult Korean national judicial examination — a rare feat for anyone, and an especially stunning achievement for a woman at that time. She later became Korea's first female judge and founded its first legal aid center. By revising national laws, especially those related to families and marriage, Lee helped Korean women improve their circumstances and stand up for their rights.

Lee traveled extensively, advocating for human rights and peace worldwide. In the 1970s and 1980s, she received a flurry of awards, including the Asian Peace Prize (the Ramón Magsaysay Award). Lee wrote many books on women's issues and translated Eleanor Roosevelt's book On My Own into Korean. In her memoirs, Lee summarized her life's work as "build[ing] a dam which can produce energy and power to lighten the darkened corners of society and reinvigorate its stalled and rusty engines."

Doodler Olivia Huynh’s multi-panel Doodle pays tribute to all of the remarkable contributions Lee Tai-young made to Korean society-- as a lawyer, a writer and a champion for women and families. Today, for her 101st birthday, we honor Lee Tai-young for her unyielding commitment to equal rights and lasting contributions to social reform.

 

now around the same time as lee tae young, another young woman was a rising star and was tipped to be judge but she got murdered by her husband and his family out of professional jealously. so this event basically discouraged women from even studying law and for about 30 years or so, lee tae young was the only woman in the justice system. it was only in the late 70s, 80s that women again started studying the law and becoming part of the profession.

 

so in case you are wondering how I learned this, in another drama thread where the story was about lawyers, a chingu mentioned about lee tae young and posted an excerpt from a book. I got really interested and read up some more. lee tae young really was a remarkable woman.

 

now how does this connect to this drama -- my assumption is that ms han was probably one of those early wave of women in the 70/80s who went on to study law and become a judge. while not as isolating as lee tae young but the profession at the time was still heavily male-dominated. so I understood the comment from grandpa mo as a reference to her choosing to be single, no personal life and working in a male-dominated profession.