[Drama 2019-2020] Woman of 9.9 Billion, 99억의 여자

[Fabbo]

4 hours ago, larus said:

Exactly. Why the writer did not put a little effort to show more the character development, some good interaction between different characters and not let the chase over the money took over the drama?!  I admit that I like more serious/ realistic dramas, even the ones that other people find it boring if the script is good written than all the makjang crazy dramas. And I have to prepare for such drama. Poor me! (you understand what I mean.) I understand their appeal, it is entertaining and I enjoyed seeing some scenes but I need ballance. Those dramas are enjoyable for the moment. The moment the episode is over, I forgot about it. I like to be moved a little, to resonate emotionally, to think about character`s decisions/ personalities, to try to understand them, to put myself in their shoes. 

 

Yeah. Especially if you have such great actors (for the most part) and someone like Cho Yeo-Jeong as the lead. They obstructed a lot of possibilities to portray subtle character moments by how crazy they went very early on. Now it's kind of too late. I still like the scenes with SY and HJ. But everytime they show the ambiguity in HJ's character (that i like in theory) i don't really buy it. I am just not as invested as i want to be in their friendship or HJ's backstory.

 

 

Someone pointed out how Seoyeon is like an enigma and how the men gravitate to her. I had a similar thought and that description always reminds me of the FL in the drama Misty. Pretty much everyone gets obsessed with her (women too). And watching her presence on screen it completely made sense to me. While here you have as @larus said the money and the chase after it taking that position. I would have prefered a complex, flawed and fascinating character Iike in Misty. And i think the potential was there.

[40somethingahjumma]

Sigh. I don't know what to do with this show, quite frankly. There's a part of me that wants to keep going because I'm curious about what happens to the money. It's the carrot that's dangling to keep us hanging on. And then there's KKW that I love.

 

I can cope with the insanity of this world and the absurd rapidity in which the money changes hands but it's the stubborn stupidity of SY regarding the money that's driving me up the wall. I'm not against female empowerment stories BUT every time she tells someone that the money is her heart and mind, I groan and shake my head. Especially now that there's a man hanging around that she actually likes and everyone close to her can see that the better life she craves is right under her nose.  The obsession with the money means that she's missing the wood for the trees.

 

Perhaps she should consider carefully why she keeps playing musical chairs/pass the parcel with the money... it's not because bad people want it very badly. The truth of the matter is that it's because she can't handle it. This is why lottery winners don't hold on to their stash for long. She is far too reliant on others to ensure its safety. The money was never the end in itself. Yes, she needed change in her life but the change happened because she finally acted outside of the script.

Frankly it's tragic that she can't see it.

 

I was hoping this was more about how she used the money than about a money chase. I feel that the longer this money chase goes on, the less respect I'm going to have for the female lead.

[gladys57]

9 hours ago, lumibear said:

I'm sure In Pyo is still alive too. I bet he will dig himself out with the little knife from his hotel room. The thugs probably didn't search him and he was still wearing the same clothes/robe. xD

 

The actor who plays Leon reminds me of Lee Sang Yeob. Like an older version. Kinda? xD; 

 

Like you, I think IP will definitely escape with the knife and bring comical relief to this drama!

After checking out with @larus's sharing, I now know that Leon is none other than popular musical actor Imm Tae Kyung whom I admire on popular KBS variety show Immortal Songs 2. (The Koreans are very into musicals there and most of these musical actors have branched out into dramas. Jo Jung Suk is 1 of them when he got 2nd lead in King of Hearts.) He has an OST  this drama too and his voice is phenomenal! I laughed when I read an article stating that ITK is a lady singing the ost.

His acting is so SPOT ON as Leon and now as Daniel Kim!

[Nymeria289]

@40somethingahjumma was this show ever meant to elevate So Yeon's dignity as a female lead though.....she was an abused housewife drowning in poverty having affair with her condescending best friend's husband just to rub it on her friend's face.....that money spun her world and her desperation to leave it all behind resulted in the money becoming the crux of her existence....leaving her dead bit husband was about finding her agency not the money....the way I see it, it just drove a woman precaiously walking by the edge of a mountain loose balance and hang onto the edge.....now that she is trying, she is finding it not so impossible to accomplish it without that stolen money...I believe she will accept Tae Woo but she needs time....greed doesn't vanish into thin air out of the blue and So Yeon is greedy, she has grown up fighting to exist and running because she had no money.....for Hee Ju, its easier walking away from money because she did not grow up being trampled by people who had money....her sob story was when her father went to jail and she fell from grace but she was still well off even then.......I still don't like So Yeon but she is far better than most cardboard cut out female leads out there...Hee Ju I find slightly better as she is more in control but both ladies are deliciously flawed...am not digging Leon...he should have entered the story 2 more episodes ago...I believe its a wasted opportunity to build a smart yet cunning villain...he is still smart but it did not have the punch it needed

[Fabbo]

I simply don't agree with the premise of seeing a flawed lead character as a bad thing. For me it's the opposite.

[larus]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:49 PM, lumibear said:

I'm sure In Pyo is still alive too. I bet he will dig himself out with the little knife from his hotel room. The thugs probably didn't search him and he was still wearing the same clothes/robe. xD

You thought about the same thing. I did not saw your comment. I must have been written mine in the same time and missed your post.

"Great minds think alike". Or I should say better we both have the same expectation of this writer. 

 

If this will happen it will be hilarious. Where he hided the knife because I doubt the knife stayed in the large bathrobe sleeve.

 

On 1/11/2020 at 6:55 AM, Fabbo said:

I simply don't agree with the premise of seeing a flawed lead character as a bad thing. For me it's the opposite.

For me too. I like very much when a drama don`t have a perfect heroine. I am really OK with a flawed lead character.

I really loved the heroine in Misty. I liked that show very much.

 

 

****

BTS

 

[40somethingahjumma]

@Nymeria289

TBH I have no idea what the show intended to show with regards to SY. I've seen comments in places where she's been hailed as an independent woman etc etc. And I understand why people might think that. She's pretty determined and she's not afraid to face up to her opponents on her own. She even told her husband that she's changed and not the woman who cowed at his voice. 

 

I suppose a nicer way of putting it is that I'm confused by what the drama is trying to say about the character. Are they saying that being strong-headed justifies all kinds of recklessness? But yes, you're right. She's not someone that is easy to root for but I don't hate her. Just getting frustrated. For the most part I have rooted for her especially against the husband and the ex-lover, however I still don't see the point of clinging on to the money if change is all she's looking for.  

 

Anyway, we'll see where her greed takes her.

 

@Fabbo I have no problems with flawed characters or antiheroes. Far from it. But I draw the line at the dumbing down of characters for the sake of furthering the plot.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Katrina Abdul Talib]

SY's husband may be THE person to recognise Leon.. Leon's voice, the humbling whistle, his style and they met face to face!! If he somegow managed to dig himself out, he will go all out to GET Leon and the money.. 

 

 

[The_Doctor]

They didn't show us the exact burial of Inpyo, they just showed us the the unconcious  body dropped in the pit and the pit they put him is too deep to get out by himself. Either someone else will save him, or he ise dead. Other options will be unrealistic.

 

This comment might be too childish but Leon is really hot with his beard. Like, really hot.

[ktcjdrama]

On 1/7/2020 at 12:32 PM, stroppyse said:

 

My only issue with translating KRW into USD in kdrama translations is that sometimes the translators will get the denomination translations wrong. Oh well.

My issue with translating KRW into any other currencies is that after some years, it will be difficult to imagine how much the money is really worth because of the changing exchange rates. They should just keep to the original currency so the amount can always be current no matter when a viewer watch the drama. 

[larus]

2 hours ago, The_Doctor said:

They didn't show us the exact burial of Inpyo, they just showed us the the unconcious  body dropped in the pit and the pit they put him is too deep to get out by himself. Either someone else will save him, or he ise dead. Other options will be unrealistic.

 

 

Of course it is unrealistic but I have seen it already in other stories. Nothing surprise me anymore.  It is unrealistic to me that the gansters could not kill a single man when it was so easy. When Leon could fake his dead on the spot. The police, the Interpol said that the dead body was Leon`s. When? The next day. 

Makjang was never realistic. I will be glad if the writer will make it more realistic and Hong In Pyo will be saved by someone else. We`ll see.

 

Spoiler

 

If a woman could do it, then Hong Il Pil will do it for sure. And he has a knife.

 

 

[larus]

BTS

 

 

 

 

[Fabbo]

She is getting a lot of coffee trucks. Anyone knows who sent that one?

[The_Doctor]

Here is the preview. From the looks of it, i think TW learned that SY let his brother die.

[larus]

3 hours ago, The_Doctor said:

From the looks of it, i think TW learned that SY let his brother die.

 

I don`t know if I consider that Seo Yeon let Tae Wooo`s brother died. True, she hesitated to call the ambulance but I think he would have died anyway, even before the ambulance would have arrived.

But maybe this will be very disturbing for Tae Woo, that Seo yeon has hesitated, she did not jump to help him immediately. The only one who knows that is Seo yeon and maybe that fact doesn`t make her comfortable, she feels guilty every time she sees Tae Woo. Maybe she will confess. 

[Nymeria289]

12 hours ago, larus said:

 

I don`t know if I consider that Seo Yeon let Tae Wooo`s brother died. True, she hesitated to call the ambulance but I think he would have died anyway, even before the ambulance would have arrived.

But maybe this will be very disturbing for Tae Woo, that Seo yeon has hesitated, she did not jump to help him immediately. The only one who knows that is Seo yeon and maybe that fact doesn`t make her comfortable, she feels guilty every time she sees Tae Woo. Maybe she will confess. 

Tae Woo's brother died like 15 seconds after So Yeon took her phone out...no medic team could have saved him. So Yeon's guilt is the hesitation, it did not cause the death itself but its about time Tae Woo got the full picture if they are to end up together, fingers crossed. I have faith he will eventually forgive So Yeon. And I was right....dragging So Yeon into the party did set off alarm bells in Hee Ju's head...how could it not?? So Yeon saving a guy the very same night Leon died and that guy turning out to be an investor...a bit more investigation and Hee Ju can figure out that it was a gun shot wound, not hit snd run....this is wayyy too reckless for a guy like Leon. I am sure In Pyo will 'Kill Bill volume 2' his way out of that grave....so this is just not a good game plan for a villain like Leon who was painted as a very clever and dangerous guy. 

[The_Doctor]

She said it to him. He offered that they go away together and she refused telling about his brother.

[larus]

6 hours ago, Nymeria289 said:

Tae Woo's brother died like 15 seconds after So Yeon took her phone out...no medic team could have saved him. So Yeon's guilt is the hesitation, it did not cause the death itself but its about time Tae Woo got the full picture if they are to end up together, fingers crossed. I have faith he will eventually forgive So Yeon. And I was right....dragging So Yeon into the party did set off alarm bells in Hee Ju's head...how could it not?? So Yeon saving a guy the very same night Leon died and that guy turning out to be an investor...a bit more investigation and Hee Ju can figure out that it was a gun shot wound, not hit snd run....this is wayyy too reckless for a guy like Leon. I am sure In Pyo will 'Kill Bill volume 2' his way out of that grave....so this is just not a good game plan for a villain like Leon who was painted as a very clever and dangerous guy. 

 Exactly. I hope she will tell him and I hope he will forgive her eventually. His brother would not have survived anyway.

 

It is about time someone will suspect Leon. For a guy who conceilved his identity for so long, he make several mistakes now. But I am glad if Hee Joo will realised first who he is.

 

I am curious if Hong In Pyo will escape that grave on his own like many of us predicted. I can`t watch the episode RAW but that`s my first curiosity.

 

4 minutes ago, The_Doctor said:

She said it to him. He offered that they go away together and she refused telling about his brother.

 

Good. That means she has a conscience and feels guilty. He needed to know and it is his choice to forgive her or not. But I think he is a reasonable man and has a good heart. He already loves her. 

 

[0ly40]

preview jan 16

 

[larus]

I was right. In Pyo digged out of his grave with the knife. It is ridiculous but that`s what we have here.

 

 

When I saw the leaves, I expected to see the hand (like alwasy we see in those kind of scenes) but we saw the hand with the knife. How on Earth the writer explains how he had the knife all this time? If I remember corectly, he was in a bathrobe when gansters catched him and beat him. They dressed him to bury him?

I will stop questioning my sanity. Anyway, I laughed at this scene.