Witch Amusement: Episode 15

by javabeans

I was mildly concerned that in its last week, Witch Amusement would for no reason regain its sanity and fall into a sudden abyss of logical, comprehensible blandness. Having seen Episode 15, I laugh at my naivete. I worried for nothing. All is well in the land of entertaining crazy. I loved this insane, silly episode because it made me laugh. Who cares if most of it was the inappropriate kind?

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Blue Sorbet – “그남자가 자꾸…” (That man keeps on…) [ zShare download ]

[I apologize in advance for the grainy quality of the caps. I miss SUN rips. They were reliably high-quality. I hope they get back online soon, because some of the other rips from other sources aren’t as good.]

EPISODE 15 SUMMARY

Yoo Hee, having heard from Joon Ha’s ex-fiancee that Joon Ha is using her to get the hospital, storms into Joon Ha’s office ready to give him a piece of her mind. She’s got her angry game-face on… or she would, if Han Ga In had any range of facial expression. (One of the most gorgeous actresses around these days, and not a horrible actress… but damn if I can see her emote something, already!) Instead, she just looks mildly unhappy.

To my disappointment, Yoo Hee doesn’t slap Joon Ha, or call him out on his behavior, or otherwise verbally castrate him. Instead, she asks leadingly, “Before we marry, is there anything you want to tell me? Why did you pick me? Of all people, why did you decide to marry me?”

Joon Ha guesses she probably wants to hear something childish like, “Because I love you.” (You THINK, Joon Ha? The girl’s marrying you in a day, and you think she’s not going to want to hear that sometime soon?) She asks if he does love her, and Joon Ha takes a moment to answer, “Well. Do I have to answer that in words?” No, Joon Ha. You can answer that with your long, awkward silences and frowny faces.

Still, Yoo Hee wants to hear Joon Ha say it (or catch him lying), because she persists: “Still. Why are you marrying me?” He answers, “Because you’re you. Because I think you’re my match.” She says she heard about the hospital, and Joon Ha tries to backtrack to cover his ass. He says if she heard the nurses gossipping, she should ignore it. Joon Ha does that thing where he turns the situation around on Yoo Hee, somehow making her the bad guy, saying he’s really disappointed in her. There are some weird rumors floating around, but they aren’t true. She should trust what he says, not the rumors. Yoo Hee realizes Joon Ha’s not going to come clean, so she lets him off the hook.

As Joon Ha turns to leave, Yoo Hee grabs him by the lapels, in a threatening (?) gesture (and I say, WTF?), before she lets go, brushes him off calmly, and sends him off. I have no idea what they were going for. I am getting used to this feeling.

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Disappointed, Yoo Hee thinks of Mu-ryong as she visits their old meeting places — the fountain park, the bridge. Likewise, Mu-ryong thinks of Yoo Hee getting married, and despondently wanders the same places.

I know it’s supposed to be a sad scene, but all I could wonder is if that little bridge feels sad and inferior next to the big bridge like that.

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Predictably, they end up meeting — at the restaurant where Mu-ryong once “surprised” Yoo Hee with a meal and balloons. Yoo Hee sadly wonders if she’s someone who won’t ever be loved. Maybe a witch like her just can’t be loved. Mu-ryong tells her she’s plenty lovable. Yoo Hee: “Then why did you dump me?” Mu-ryong deflects, saying it doesn’t matter, since she’s getting married — she’s already in a loving relationship.

Yoo Hee tears up as she tells him no. “Joon Ha doesn’t love me. He’s pretending he does because he wants the hospital.” Mu-ryong’s angry to hear this, and starts to storm out intending to talk to Joon Ha, but Yoo Hee stops him. He tells her to cancel her wedding.

This is perhaps not the best time to point out Han Ga In’s acting flaws, because it’s so near the end… but I can’t watch her attempt to cry another time without at least mentioning it. I actually think Han Ga In is a fairly decent actress. Not great, but perfectly adequate. She’s not going to win any awards, but she has enough presence and beauty to get far. This role also suits her very well, because for the most part, Yoo Hee’s a contained person who doesn’t have to show a great range of emotion. But the crying! People don’t usually cry wanting to cry. They’re usually trying NOT to cry. But Yoo Hee always looks like she’s trying so hard to muster tears that she’s so proud of herself when she actually summons them.

To succeed in kdramas, you really need, above other things, to look pretty and cry well. There are some sob queens who really make you believe their pain is real — that’s a talent. Lee Da Hae does this wonderfully — it really seems like she’s someone who’s trying to suppress her tears but is unable to hold back.

Kim Jung Eun is another, even if she sometimes looks like a constipated monkey. Ooh, did you think that was mean? Really? You still think I’m mean?

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Digression over. Mu-ryong faces Joon Ha and demands he call off the wedding. How dare he use Yoo Hee like this? Doesn’t he care about her happiness?

I could take a moment to point out the slash-worthiness of this scene (oh look, I just did) but Jae Hee and Kim Jung Hoon have nowhere the level of man-chemistry that Jae Hee and Dennis have. But fear not! There is plenty of that to come.

Yoo Hee tells her father she wants to cancel the wedding. She’s heard all about the hospital, and knows her father’s involvement. The President admits that his methods weren’t fair, but he did it to bring them together. “Don’t you two love each other? Isn’t that enough?” He tells her not to shame him at the wedding. After Yoo Hee leaves, he informs Joon Ha that Yoo Hee’s found out. He’d better find her and make things right.

Joon Ha rushes to Yoo Hee’s apartment, but she doesn’t answer the door or answer his calls. So he’s forced to profess his deep love for her via text message. Aw. How romantic.

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At the Cordon Bleu cooking battle, Mari and Mu-ryong both advance to the finals. Mari’s so excited she gives Mu-ryong a hug… and note how uncomfortable Mu-ryong is at her touch. On the other hand…

…Mu-ryong is rescued by Johnny. And he just can’t resist copping a feel in gratitude. Heh.

Johnny tells Mu-ryong he’s going to Yoo Hee’s wedding, and Mu-ryong’s shocked to hear the wedding’s still on. He tells Johnny they were right — Yoo Hee’s being deceived by Joon Ha. He wants to rush to the wedding together, but Johnny tells him no. Mu-ryong has to stay and finish the competition; Johnny will go.

At the wedding, Yoo Hee looks so obviously unhappy that everyone tells her to smile. She doesn’t comply the first time she’s instructed to smile, so everyone assumes that repeating the dictate over, and over, and over, will do the trick. It doesn’t.

Mu-ryong is distracted throughout the competition, which is an Iron Chef-style cook-off whereby each contestant must make a dish using preselected ingredients. Only without Kitchen Stadium or any of the flash and glitz. So maybe more like Aluminum Chef. Finally, just as the competition is nearly over, Mu-ryong can’t take it anymore, stops in the middle of plating his dish, and rushes out. Seung Mi, observing this, runs after. Because, huh?

Anyway, Mu-ryong leaves his dish among some of the most unappetizing looking concoctions ever. If this is the future of French cuisine in Korea, man are they screwed. (That third one looks like vomit. And the fourth one looks like burnt vomit.)

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Mu-ryong’s taxi gets stuck in traffic, and it’s hysterical to see them pan over from his frustrated face… out to the traffic scene… to Seung Mi, stuck in a taxi TWO CARS BEHIND HIM.

Impatient, Mu-ryong dashes out of his taxi and runs to the wedding. (You mean just like in Choon Hyang?? I’m sure that’s just a coincidence.)

Unfortunately for Mu-ryong, he’s running late, because the wedding is already under way. Fortunately for Mu-ryong, Yoo Hee cannot say her vows, and announces she can’t go through with the wedding. Joon Ha, lovely groom that he is, grabs her arm forcefully and tries to get her to stay. But Yoo Hee pushes him aside and runs away, down the aisle…

…causing her father’s heart to act up. Insert inappropriate laugh here! It’s absurd. But so funny.

She runs into Mu-ryong, who’s just arrived. He grabs her hand and they take off together…

And Manager Lee attempts to run after them, only to (WTF?) fall down. What happened? It appears the GROUND TRIPPED HIM. Or maybe it was the air.

The couple run out together, and for some inexplicable reason, they are chased. By men in dark suits. Lucky for them, Johnny pulls up to the curb in his car and tells them to get in.

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The men in dark suits get in their own car and continue the chase. Does no one stop to wonder what’s going to happen when they actually catch the couple? What can they do? Force them to marry other people? SERIOUSLY.

It might seem that PD Jeon Ki Sang wants to be an action director, seeing how he keeps forcing it into a simple romantic comedy. Just look at all the thriller-action weirdness of Episode 14. I think he might have the talent for it, but WTF? It’s like he got so bored of the nonsense plot (okay, you can understand that) and he was damned if he wasn’t going to give us a car chase, no matter the logic.

So Johnny’s driving, being chased by these dark-suit guys, weaving in and out of traffic, when he tells Mu-ryong and Yoo Hee they should get out of the car and leave somewhere else. He hands them his wallet because now they have skipped over from Runaway Bride to The Fugitive.

Mu-ryong and Yoo Hee escape on a train to the countryside. I DON’T KNOW WHY.

But finally the happy couple have a chance to be together at Mu-ryong’s grandma’s place in the country. (Kind of like in Choon Hyang? Just sayin’.) Safe for the moment, they share in an almost-kiss, only to be interrupted by… Dal Ja’s granny!

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Back in the city, Seung Mi cries. GOOD LORD. I like Seung Mi and all, but don’t you think she would’ve figured out it was over when Mu-ryong admitted he liked Yoo Hee? Or when he told her he couldn’t marry her? Or when he BROKE UP WITH HER?

Johnny tries to comfort her, saying it’s not a bad idea to stay being friends with one you love. He understands how it feels when you can’t have someone you love. It hurts. “But if you stop seeing them… In the end, it hurts more to lose someone so valuable.” (I assume he’s talking about Yoo Hee to relate it to Seung Mi’s situation with Mu-ryong, but who else thinks *winkwink* they’re really both talking about Mu-ryong?)

Joon Ha’s ex-fiancee tells him she informed Yoo Hee about everything, which angers and shocks him. Joon Ha looks like he’s attempting to cry, but as he cannot follow the convoluted plot, he is unable to find the adequate emotions.

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Mu-ryong and Yoo Hee lay next to each other, both awake. Yoo Hee asks what he’s thinking, and Mu-ryong takes her hand as he tells her, “I was thinking I should never let go of this hand.” Yoo Hee tells him he’d better keep his promise.

Mu-ryong: “Yoo Hee, I’m sorry.”
Yoo Hee: “For what?”
Mu-ryong: Just everything. For hurting you. And in the future, you might have a hard time if we’re together.”
Yoo Hee: “Mu-ryong. I’m thankful.”
Mu-ryong: “For what?”
Yoo Hee: “Just everything. For liking someone like me. For coming to get me.”

But they are interrupted from kissing at the appearance of Manager Lee and a pissed-off Joon Ha. He tells Yoo Hee her father’s in the hospital, and drags her off. Mu-ryong tries to stop them, but Manager Lee gets in the way…

(WTF?)

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At the hospital, President Ma tells her she can’t be with Mu-ryong. He just won’t do; get rid of him. She tells him she cannot obey: “I care deeply for him.”

Joon Ha apologizes to Yoo Hee, defending his actions saying he thought she was better off not knowing about the hospital. He thought she’d misunderstand. Yoo Hee’s unmoved, saying she can’t go back to him. He blurts out to keep her from leaving, “I love you.” (Faker! He may care for her more than he was willing to admit, but I don’t buy his act at all.) She leaves.

Mu-ryong likewise meets with familial opposition. His father is sympathetic, but doesn’t Mu-ryong remember how her family opposed the match so much they wrecked their restaurant? His father advises him to think about it seriously.

Mu-ryong pays a visit to President Ma in the hospital. The President asks about his cooking education, and attempts to buy off Mu-ryong, saying he’ll send him to France to study. If he breaks up with Yoo Hee, he’ll send him to Paris, or anywhere he wants. Mu-ryong: “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I understand how you feel about Yoo Hee. But this isn’t the way to make her happy.” The President objects, but Mu-ryong continues: “I love your daughter.” The President tells him to leave nicely when he asks, and cautions him: “Let go of her, before people get hurt.”

Don’t you just love the grave, life-or-death implications of what should be a simple, low-key romance? Ah, the melodrama!

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Mu-ryong meets with Yoo Hee and assures her that he won’t ever let her go. Angered to find out they’re still seeing each other, President Ma exerts his influence and causes important clients to pull out of their contracts with Yoo Hee’s firm. (Which, WTF? Isn’t that his own firm too? Way to cut off your nose to spite your face.) He tells Yoo Hee that he’ll stop it if she breaks up with Mu-ryong.

Yoo Hee: “Don’t badmouth him. He’s an outstanding person. He’s someone who sees strengths before flaws. He’s someone who says thank you even if you give him nothing. He’s someone who understands what’s truly important, and how to really love. I won’t break up with him. I can’t be without him.”

Mu-ryong gets some news of his own when Johnny informs him he’s being sent to Paris. Although he lost the competition to Mari, the chef was impressed with Mu-ryong’s cooking and has invited him to be his student. Johnny says he’s a great chef — he learned from him.

At home, they both sense something’s up with the other. Mu-ryong tells her he’s been invited to train with a famous chef — in Paris. But he’ll have to go away. For two years.

He asks if she’s okay with that. He suggests forgetting about it and staying behind, but Yoo Hee tells him he has to go. She’ll wait for him. So they go watch-shopping, because Yoo Hee wants to buy him something to remind him of her. Whenever the clock hits 11:11, he’d better think of her. (It’s a call-back to an earlier episode, when Mu-ryong tells her 11:11 means someone’s thinking of you, and 4:44 means someone’s insulting you.)

Unfortunately, Yoo Hee’s credit card is rejected…

And she goes home to see all her belongings are being repossessed. Oh, her spiteful father! The red tags are everywhere. It’s freaking ridiculous. Are they seriously going to repossess her flowers? Her bottle of soap? Her FAUCET??