I could analyse this show.
I could tear apart every plot hole and game flaw. I could rant about how the premise was doomed from the start, and how it would be much better if the game as the antagonist was fully realised and the rules of this world fully established and how any explanation they are going to give us is probably going to be weak and unsatisfactory. I could rant about what ifs and could’ve beens and how badly I want this to be a full fantasy horror with a liberal sprinkling of dark comedy. I could also defend Hee Ju’s tears and actions. I could do that. And then I could rant again about the poor character writing in literally everyone except for Jinwoo. I could wax poetic about how he’s the only fully fleshed out character and how he’s actually pretty darn relatable in a lot of ways.
And usually I would. Usually in a show like this I would swing one way or the other. It would either annoy me enough to write a full essay rant, or I would connect to it enough for me to repeat over and over again what I loved about it.

Except I don’t really feel like doing either of those things.

The truth of the matter is- contrary to some of my fanwall sarcasm- I do not hate this show. The things that are annoying, and annoying enough for some people to decide to drop it, are merely inconveniences to me. I do not actually yell or throw anything at the screen that often. The angst doesn’t even get to me. It’s just there.
And the things I do like about this show, the gaming, the sword fighting, the hints at horror and Jinwoo, are enough to keep me going. But I don’t exactly fully love it either. I have simply found my way of enjoying it.
And that way of enjoying it is through being absurdly silly about it.
You know when you reach a point in watching, that is not hate watching, nor is it full unbridled glued to your seat attention, it’s more of a watching for shits and giggles? That’s how I’m watching this show. My biggest reaction is simply a soft WTF and a lot of incredulous laughter, followed by a lot of excessive sarcastic commentary on Dramabeans because it’s fun.
This show could end in the most expected worse way possible, or it could pull a magic trick out of it’s ass, shock all the sceptics and solve everything, and my reaction would still be the same: “Well that was fun.” Both ironically and unironically.
And hilariously, the more people hate this show, the more intent I am of making my own fun out of it.

Some of you may love this show- and that’s fine. There are enough elements to love about it that I understand.
Some of you may hate it and may have dropped it. I understand that too.
But me? I just can’t wait to make more shitposts about it.

*so don't mind me, I'm gonna go do just that with Episode 10* *come join me on the Dark Side if you can* *we have cookies*

I wish Jin Woo would have let Hee Joo go to Granada and help him with his quest!

I can't even imagine having to defeat 92 level NPC Marco everyday! Hyeon Suk is still bearable considering all he has is a sword and can't use physical violence, but having to dodge bullets that can kill is a dangerous game.

Speaking of the game, it has certainly gone cuckoo! The Game AI probably can't tell the difference between real and game world and is out to kill. But maybe that is only triggered when you 'kill' some player in the game. Then the game want's to 'actually' kill that player and then resurrect them (just like normal NPCs) to attack the player again.

But Seo! He sounded so much like spiderman with his 'Save me!'
My heart went out to him and the look on JinWoo's face when he got the alert that he has lost his ally! Arghh. Why show , why the heartbreak! He didn't ask for this! This was not in his job description!

He was so cheerful in the beginning. Such a good loyal friend to Jin Woo! He was eager to learn the game and became an essential support system for JinWoo! He saved JinWoo so many times! Game , you better not claim him. Seo is too good of a person to meet that fate!

The moment when 'oppa' shove HJ out of his way TWICE to be able to continue his testosterone-fulled rant while JW was busy wrecking other people's property was the moment I completely gave up on this show.

This is by far the worst work of this writer in terms of narrative construction, but I was willing to persevere just to see where she was taking it all. Not anymore. My time is too precious for this kind of macho nonsense.

[Part 1] I could go around making guesses all day, but this show keeps putting me in a tailspin. I'm trying to apply video game logic to this, which probably doesn't work, because of the fantasy genre and the fact that so many things are unexplained and unexplored.

That final scene was, I think, a direct attack. I think the game is created using a particular AI as a base, and that Se-Joo (and Marco) were more like designers and developers of the game but using a pre-existing AI (if my sponsorship theory is correct, then they were provided with the realised AI and high-spec PCs to work their magic). So my question then is...who has the AI? Where is it based - where is the server? Is someone controlling it, or did it go rogue?

I think these questions would go a long way to find out what happened at the train station. I think this was a very directed attack, and it seemed to me that Jin-Woo was being kept separate from Secretary Seo. Is the goal to attack Jin-Woo's ally and weaken him for whatever is coming up next?

The mass respawning of the NPCs was bizarre. In a game like Fallout 76, enemy NPCs respawn rapidly and right under your nose if another player comes into the spawn radius. The enemies respawn so that the new player can also get the XP, the quest objectives and the loot. I wondered at first if this might apply here and another player was nearby, but I'm thinking more and more that it was about separating Jin-Woo and Secretary Seo.

The fact that these NPCs can cause physical pain, though...until now it was only Hyung-Seok and Marco who could do that. But none of these NPCs seem to have once been real people. So has the game's AI learned from the people who play it? Very creepy.

Thank you @dramallama for the recap. I haven't seen this episode yet and this gives me a preview of what to expect. Like Min-joo, I also want to see our protagonists get together.

How I wish that the thought of his ally should be around lvl 90 to survive the quest has crossed Jin-woo mind back then. If Sec Seo has been equipped with better armory and he’s at high lvl probably he’ll survive going out on his own. Perhaps because of their circumstances, the time limit of the quest and being in their comfort zone in Korea for too long, made them not considering how menacing the actual game could be in Granada.

I find the quest is rather fishy. Why would master put an expiration time on the rescue quest if it’s the only backdoor to save him? So, I find master is rather fishy.

Ahhhhhh! Not Secretary Seo! I was hoping against hope that he wouldn't become a casualty of the game. With the game claiming Jin-woo lost his ally and considering these new NPCs seem to inflict real damage/pain I don't see a favorable outcome for Secretary Yeo. I wish he had practiced more actual fighting instead of relying on gaining XP by tagging along with Jin-woo. He might have had a better chance of fighting back had he done that.

Jin-woo is killing me! I'm falling in love with him along with Hee-joo. I can't take his mischievous smile, his dimples, nor his sad, longing gaze. I'm doomed. I think I'm now officially a Hyun Bin fan.

Hee-ju's friend needs to go! He was seriously annoying me last episode and this episode he was infuriating! Not only did he attack Jin-woo, but in the process forcefully shoved Hee-joo out of the way, grabbed a guitar, that he knew damn well took a long time to make, and then planned to hit Jin-woo with it, and then has the audacity to behave like he genuinely cares for Hee-ju. Ugh, he annoys me to no end.

The last 10 minutes of this ep was good, When they started to move on with the game.

The lonely tear drop on JW's shoulder was the moment i can recall vividly in my mind from ep 9. And the dyson vacuum, it had its own moment to shine too. Especially when a lot are talking about both on the fanwall 😆

Other that that, sadly this ep was filler. Half of it was JW's delusion of what could have happened to SJ. Which possibly did happen or did not.

Still watching because i do find it fun despite all the flaws and plotholes i can personally see~ haha

Reading the comments here, I wonder why I never have such issues with the things other beanies have. Maybe because I don't think the game is the centerpiece of this show. Eps 5-6 were a little bit boring and next week ep 11 will be aired. Which feels weird because the show is fast-paced but progress has been slow. How many episodes do we need to tie some loose ends? To wrap up another plotline? Tsk tsk tsk

"Imagine a game universe for Grandma in which grannies level up with weapons like ladles to chase out overbearing boys creeping on their granddaughters."

@dramallama I would seriously love for this to happen! Your comment reminded me of one of the Naruto games in which his mom comes out with a frying pan. Can't remember which game, it's been a long time since I've played the game, but I loved having her as an ally just to see the frying pan come out.

For all the talk about how crazy Jin-woo is, I think Prof Cha is the craziest person in this drama. I always thought that most of his actions and decisions didn't make sense (like how easily he cast his son out and didn't seem to mourn his passing one bit), but after listening to what Su-jin said, I think she nailed it. Cha is a person who only ever cared about his pride, and that probably made him the most dangerous person here. He would stop at nothing to achieve whatever he needed to boost his pride and position and to always felt in control over everything and everyone else in his life. Su-jin might believe that his marriage suggestion is only another way to insult her, but I have a niggling feeling that it might be a long-term plan Cha prepared to keep Jin-woo in check. Cha knew that Jin-woo is slipping away from under his thumb when the game started becoming the thing that ruled his life, but he also knew that Su-jin is still one of Jin-woo's weak spot. And that's probably the real reason for his come-out-of-nowhere suggestion. Can I hope for an unexpected alliance between Jin-woo and Su-jin to stop Prof Cha's machination?

As for our wayward game, Granada sure is a heaven (hell??) for NPC. Things seem to work against all rules there with enemies swarming the city without any warning and wounds that felt painfully real. Is there a special dimension warp there? Or is that an inexplicable side effect from the creator residing in that city?

Real question: what on earth happened in a year that changed the game to the state that it is at the end of ep 9?

Why wasnt JW attacked when he was playing the game in the early stages? This was not his first time at Granada train station. Did it have to do with JW levelling up? But Seo was half of JW's level, and he was attacked by swarms of warriors whereas JW just had to face the terrorists.

The game is totally bonkers. Theres no sound explanation to it anymore. Hua3

This was a roller coaster! A shout out to how cool it was that as the train moves away and he sees on AR view that he lost his ally. The game keeps breaking the rules. The drama may not be perfect but you have to give it credit for such a pumping rideThis was a roller coaster! A shout out to how cool it was that as the train moves away and he sees on AR view that he lost his ally. I like the editing of this drama, you either follow or not follow. And if you do, it makes absolute sense. The game keeps breaking the rules. The drama may not be perfect but you have to give it credit for such a pumping ride

I have also watched ep10, i’ll Say this has to definitely be the writers and PD mind:
1. We are going to write a darn hell of adventure, with a fish pumping horror chase of a hero on a quest - this will be the focus of the story and the audience will follow him on this - it will be non stop action and we are going to hit them with all the rules and break the rules

Advertisers: erm we need a female lead guys

Writer and Pd: no we don’t

Advertisers: yes we do, we already have one, Hyun Bin romancing someone will guarantee some ratings esp with those dimples. Just write it in!

Them: no we can’t - the story is tight!

Advertisers: no female lead no Granada

Them: erm ok.

So we’ll fit her in but the story remains unchanged

that’s it! I hope to be proven wrong but it’s not enjoying my view of this drama because constantly at 1 hr I’m enjoying myself

Thanks @dramallama! I'm all for your suggestion on the game universe for grandma and Min Ju, LOL. I was hoping for more interesting quests and stuff rather than just killing to level up. In Granny game universe, Grannies can level up by guessing the right ingredients to each pot of stew and then gain more points by ladle hitting greedy kids who try to steal their food. 😆

The thought that came to me was that it was a pity Hee Ju's character is made to be the butt of jokes or the one who is caught in an embarrassing situation. First time was when she was on the kitchen counter trying to stop the fire alarm, then falling out of the toilet stall and fainting... etc and now we have her caught on the phone embarrassing herself before Jin Woo. Poor girl deserves a break. She also needs to lose the 'family friend,' Sang Bum, who has no business behaving like a thuggish husband.

I feel that show is entering the territory of game universe rule changing again. I'm not sure that the initial rules were always clear and consistent, but if this goes the way of 'W', we may get more sudden changes in what we thought were rules and without explanation or logic, (just to keep show surprising and viewers on our toes).

And this ties in also with what you, @dramallama say about the 'guesswork/delusions' of Jin Woo on what Se Ju may have gone through: "... we don’t know if that hypothetical is true, but it looked highly possible with what we know about the game thus far. I like how this remains a hypothetical — a crafty move by the writing to open up the possibilities in narrative tweaks" This is precisely it. Writer could be preparing to lay on a whole bunch of tweaks and twists on us. Yet, I remain hopeful for more logic and some explanation. 😉

I was anticipating this episode because I thought Hee Joo was going to go to Granada with him but the preview must have been misleading *sigh* One thing this show manages to do well is create tension so I don’t even question some of the bizarre events of this episode but am more worried about the safety of the characters. I feel like the writer has yet again has not prepared enough answers for the questions she’s thrown but I’m not too upset because I know it’s only make my head hurt trying to connect the dots to each point.

This episode was filled uncertainty and tension. Hyun Bin’s portrayal of Ji-Won is interesting and heavily-burdened. How does Ji-Won mentally survive this game, or the consumer? It may be a visionary’s goal but at what cost?

The AR storyline is building nicely and I cannot wait to see Ep 10 & the recap. Thanks

This episode marked the first time I was invested in the action because I thought a character (the secretary) was at risk. I like the secretary, and I hope we've only been tricked into believing he was killed.

A few thoughts:

I don't particularly dislike Hee-Joo, but she cries a lot and it's hard to feel moved by her tears, even if Jin-Woo finds virtue in the constant waterworks (overly emotional people can be annoying, whether they're sincere or not).

At this point, I'm basically ignoring myriad questions and watching for certain characters now. Hee-Joo's little sister is cute, but Jin-Woo and his colleagues keep me watching this show. Hyung-Seok, Soo-Jin, and Professor Cha add a little intrigue, but I keep wanting more. The actor playing Professor Cha has ample experience as a villain, but I'm hoping he doesn't become an evil caricature here.

I'm still not sure what the show is trying to do with the game scenario, since the game world is underdeveloped and this show has not been particularly philosophical. I can excuse some unanswered questions, but I wish Hyung-Seok's death and the craziness that followed had been handled with greater sophistication. It was frustrating to see Jin-Woo blame himself without ever explaining or acknowledging that he still believed it was a game when he killed Hyunk-Seok. He did not use real weapons, and he had no reason to believe his blows were fatal. The show mentions guilt, delusion, and reality, but never really addresses such concepts in any depth. Even if he wasn't in his right mind, the people who were following Jin-Woo's progress in the game should have asked for an explanation after the accident, especially if the game was likely triggering his erratic behavior. It's very strange that everyone would just continue to develop the game and assume his apparent mental breakdown was unrelated.

Based on the premise and set up, I thought this show was going to be fast-paced and electric, a fist-bump inducing action-packed thriller (just as W was at its best). Week after week though, I am pleasantly surprised to find that Memories of the Alhambra is firmly rooted in introspection and horror, with flashy action almost taking a back seat. I know quite a few people wanted the game to play a bigger role in the story, but I think show has done a great job so far of balancing between world building within the AR, and exploring how real people entering the AR has in turn created a breach between these two planes of existence. Jinwoo's trajectory in engaging with the game--starting with his child-like wonder, progressing to denial, and ultimately landing squarely somewhere in horror territory--has been constructed with a sensitivity that is not often seen in this genre, and I think that's what makes Jinwoo such a compelling protagonist. Hyun Bin is knocking it out of the park, playing a broken man whose spirit remains unbroken.

The writing is not without its faults, but combined with the thoughtful directing, there's sort of a synergy imbued in each scene. I love the slow-burn, layered storytelling at display here, with details from the newer episodes slowly trickling down to make sense of scenes that were introduced in the beginning. I don't think we learned anything groundbreaking or wholly new in this episode (we didn't even find out what was in the parchment!), yet the tension built up over the last 15 minutes was so thick I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until the credits started rolling. I never perceived Junghoon to be vulnerable, assuming he'd be protected by plot armor. But wow, oh wow, that last scene with Jinwoo watching helplessly from the train as Junghoon got slashed by the NPCs was both horrifying and heartbreaking (doubly so, because it was evident in Junghoon's pleas to Jinwoo to save him that he knew he wasn't going to make it out of this one alone).

It's really such a shame that Heejoo remains so severely underdeveloped and sidelined from the main story. It stings more when you realize there are absolutely no female characters in the show who have been given even a fraction of depth and substance Jinwoo possesses. That's my only gripe with the show, and viewers are completely justified in not wanting to stick around until the end for this reason. I'm here for the long haul though, come rain or shine.

So I did a play by play of this episode in the car while my husband was driving and I was watching. And my daughter joined me in the back seat. Shoot, it was way more fun that just watching it on my own. I think most of us had already concluded what Jin-woo hypothesized had happened to Se-joo and Marco. And also knowing that Se-joo was in hiding. Although, it surprises me that he is still in Grenada. I would be as far the hell away from there as possible seeing that the second they arrived they were ambushed. Anyway, probably another plot device, but hey, it’s still entertaining. I’m also still fine with PSH. I’m glad this is the only thing I’ve seen her in though. I might not watch anything else she’s in as a result of this though. She’s pretty to look at, but that’s about it so far. And now that there are a couple Zombie NPC’s in the game I’m thinking that the other NPC’s are also affected and can really kill people. Like the zombies are viruses in the game. Can that happen?

Hyun Bin during the scene where he comes in just as she's yelling at her sister over the phone about a proposal--those DIMPLES. "Should I go buy a ring right now?" OH MY GOD. I ACTUALLY SWOONED. I feel like a complete fool, but I truly swooned, and then could not stop giggling. I am so djfa;lsdjfl;asdjfla;. Just kill me already why don't you.

I literally had to pause the episode to come over here and comment this, so don't mind me heh

Wouldn't it be hilarious if Hee-joo is the key to reversing all of the crazy going on in the game? Like what if the ominous guitar music was really just a hint that Hee-joo/Emma's guitar playing is like the safe word needed to do a reset. I know, probably not even close, but God I wish she would do something more functional and less decorative in driving the plot forward. Right now she feels like a NPC "in real life" too.

Thanks for the recap!
I went from giggling at Jin Woo cheekily asking if he should get a ring to my heart screaming nooooo at the idea that Secretary Seo is dead....
Another heart racing episode!

I think that Hee-joo, Min-joo, and even Grandma could excel in an AR game.

Min-joo would be a natural in AR, since her matchmaking persona is already in an alternate reality. But fix the really-kill-the-players but before you let her in.

Hee-joo's special skills would be crying and vacuuming until the NPCs die laughing.

my god this was one good episode! i've been having drama slumps lately..like when watching other dramas, i'll be half browsing on my phone but i was totally in it for this episode!

this episode and episode 10 was so gripping. WHY MUST WE WAIT ONE WHOLE WEEK

So did some enemy imprison Se-ju?
1a: And prepare the quest as a trap for Jin-woo?
1b: Or did Se-ju arrange a rescue quest before he was locked up?
2: Or did Se-ju create the dungeon and zombie guards to protect himself from Marco or some other badie?? Then the quest would be a way for Jin-woo to prove he is worthy and that with him around it is safe for Se-ju to come out.
2b: Then how pissed would Jin-woo be about losing his secretary/friend that way???

the recap's mention of the game going haywire as 'bugs' made me snort, thank goodness i have never found bugs of this caliber in my 15 years as a programmer lol. wouldnt it be hilarious if this whole thing was started because there was an extra colon somewhere int he code? XD

idk why people keeps saying the story is inconsistent tbh, i find it pretty tight if somewhat confusing. but we are supposed to be confused, because the drama has constantly put us in JW's perspective, so everything we know is what he knows, which are in bits and pieces and make up the rest with hypothetical scenes. he will only get real wounds from HS, the rest are just normal gameplay to level up.

this trip to granada and the attacks on the train is NOT normal gameplay though, it's part of the secret quest, which is why it only happens in granada, and with real wounds. the secret quest is like on the same thread with what happens with HS

What Hee Joo said "it’s more distressful to distrust him. He warns her that she may be being fooled again, but she cries that it’s more distressful to try to not be fooled." is Jin Woo's catchphrase. I wonder When exactly Jin Woo said in which ep? I could not remember at all???

No to your First Question Dramallama
The game as an entity is trying to prevent Jinwoo to compete his quest given from
Sejoo !!!
1) It seperated Sec Seo so that he would be
ally less
& 2 ) The game attacked him in the train so that he would not be able alight Granada
Thereby reducing the the time he needed to compete the Quest. This would result in Mission Failure

It's Simple Divide and Delay

As to your premise Of Ladle chasing grannies and Kpop hopeful dance-off . Im highly Intrigued by it

You should write a spoof / premise on it if you have the time for it.

Id love to read such a story !

Who else notice Jin woo reaction when prof Cha suggested he and Sujin remarry since Hs is gone?
Sujin hands were trembling but Jin woo had this expression that was :
1.What?
2. Wtf
3. I cant be hearing this
4. Omg, I have enough in my life now to deal with this crap
5. i have to level up, NPCs to kill, a quest on my hands, and the thunder is going strike anytime soon
6. I give up (got to end this lunch - I’m going to the toilet to wash my hands and escape)

I swear Hyun Bin was able to convey all these in the few seconds of expression!