The Musical: Episode 14

by kaedejun

Well now, looks like this is going to be the second to the last episode for The Musical. Word has it that the series may end at 15 due to the poor ratings. Honestly, I can’t be that surprised – it’s at a terrible broadcast hour, and the story has been flagging in the past few weeks. But WHY must they do this NOW when the story just picked up again!? We’re finally back to the musical part of The Musical! 

Oh well. I demand a time jump. If episode 15 truly is the last episode, I want a time jump. I’ll deal with the choppy editing.

Our leads kiss. So… all is good in the world? Well, Eun Bi does leave her home the next morning a little happier, and chooses to believe in Jae Hee’s promise that he will get them all back together for “Chungdamdong Gumiho.” Perfect timing for Gu Jak to show up too; he wants to meet her to ask a favor. The musical will be performing this coming weekend at a competition in Daegu where, if they win, they could receive the funding necessary to put on the play. Gu Jak desperately needs Eun Bi to perform Do Hwa’s song; not only would it help clinch the win, but it’s his only way of resuscitating Jae Hee’s song even though he’s not around.

Jae Hee is also up early that morning and working on notes for every member of the girl group’s song sheets. Sung Ha is positively alarmed, feeling with each passing minute that she’s losing her hold on him. She wants him to go to the studio, and be present, but Jae Hee won’t. Yoo Jin is also back at work after his mother’s funeral, and his first visitor is Chairman Suh, Ra Kyung’s father. Dropping by suddenly, Chairman Suh just wants to give him some advice about value and timing. He tells Yoo Jin that timing is more important when dealing with women, and similarly, real estate investment requires good timing. So – if Yoo Jin wants to break up with Ra Kyung now, at a time when both are set to marry and Chairman Suh is about to invest in his company, he will lose both the girl and the investment. What a way to put a dude in a bind.

Eun Bi heads over to meet Sang Won and Kang Hee in the hopes of getting permission for the weekend off. Too bad they beat her to the punch: Kang Hee has a prior obligation this same weekend, so Eun Bi will have to take over as the lead for the weekend performance. (Perfect timing!!)  Kang Hee also adds that it’s during times like these that her subs have usually gained notice and gone on to successful careers. Great – what a way to put a gal in a bind. It doesn’t make her feel better when Bok Ja calls about a late night practice, and Eun Bi wishes she were there. Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin spend an entire night thinking in their respective offices. While Ra Kyung can’t forget that he went to another woman for solace, Yoo Jin remembers his mother’s last words about seeking happiness, no matter what. Ra Kyung makes the first move, and asks for a lunch meeting tomorrow.

When they meet, both look worse for the wear. As they sit and eat (or more like nibble), Ra Kyung notes that Yoo Jin is not a person who generally is kind to others, but he is to her. Therefore she thought he must have loved her, but it’s now clear that he was caring for her out of habit. Speaking frankly, Ra Kyung tells him he will lose a lot if he were to break up with her. However, she is no longer going to stay by his side if he’s going to continue hurting her feelings. SHE is breaking up with HIM first. And it’s because of Go Eun Bi. Yoo Jin tells her that Eun Bi isn’t a reason to not get married, but for her it is. He told her he hated Eun Bi, and yet it’s obvious he doesn’t; now she can no longer trust him.

BAM! Yahoo! Girl grew a spine! But then Yoo Jin admits that this is for the best; he wants to be happy, and being married to her would have been more out of obligation than out of happiness. Ouch.

I don’t blame her for calling out Joon Hyuk afterwards to stay by her side and make her feel better for the rest of the day. After all, what Joon Hyuk really wants is for Ra Kyung to be happy, not necessarily be her boyfriend. But poor girl: she falls in the middle of the street crying quietly, and sings mournful songs in the private karaoke stalls, telling herself that Yoo Jin lost something good.

So as one couple ends, another forms. Jae Hee catches Eun Bi in his neighborhood store, and immediately he can tell that she came all this way to visit him, but wasn’t sure if she should call him first or not. Hee. Miffed that he figured her out so easily, she opts to leave, but he stops her and invites her back to his home for some coffee. With his back turned to her, Eun Bi takes this opportunity to speak her mind. Singing next to Kang Hee was her biggest dream, and yet she found herself thinking about Jae Hee nonstop. She admits she doesn’t know what love is, never having loved or been loved by someone. But she’s kind of taking a leap of faith with him now, because he’s willing to give her that love, and she wants to accept it now. Embarrassed, she knocks her head into his back.

Heehee. So cute – I’d probably do the same if I were confessing too.

But Jae Hee has other women in his life to deal with too. Kang Hee asks for a meeting in a cafe – she will loan him the money to pay back the debt, and to remove himself from his contract with the recording company. She also knows someone in that company and will make sure he doesn’t pay a penalty fee. When did she become so nice!? Her reasoning though is that she cannot imagine a world of musicals without Jae Hee, and vice versa. But he rejects her offer. He chose his path, and he will figure out his own way out of it.

Now on to the cutest but weirdest interlude: Kwang Suh brings over some more homemade kimchi and side dishes… FOR BOK JA! He warns her to not share the anchovies with Eun Bi too! I guess their little jaunt after sending off Eun Bi to Daegu resulted in this! So cute that he’s now interested in her. He even cups her face out of worry that she’s lost too much weight from all the stress of rehearsing for the musical!

AAAAND that’s when Eun Bi arrives! They jump a mile apart, afraid that Eun Bi caught them. It’s ok – she’s only mad that Kwang Suh didn’t shut the fridge properly. When Bok Ja hears that Eun Bi is going to be the lead actress for “Count Monte,” she discourages her from coming to the Daegu competition. It’s better to just not show up than to receive the ire of Kang Hee and be kicked out of the musical world forever. Eun Bi then gets a call from Yoo Jin to meet up.

Yoo Jin just wants to be happy even if it means going against his grandfather, and Eun Bi is supportive of his new outlook in life. AT this point, it’s clear that she only views him as a friend. However, Yoo Jin has different ideas. He wants Eun Bi next to him so that he can have the courage to go down this new path. He’s not saying they should be a couple right away, but he does want to be with her eventually. UHMMMM… *twiddle fingers*

Back at home, Grandfather gets a call from Chairman Suh about the kids’ breakup. Grandfather laughs it off, but as soon as Yoo Jin gets home, he yells at his grandson to marry Ra Kyung. They desperately need Chairman Suh’s investment, and they need to open business in China – it’s for the good of the company! He also wants Yoo Jin to quit the Amour Fund, stop running musicals, and go to China. But at least Yoo Jin stands up a little straighter and refuses; he will continue working with musicals and “protect the stage” of the “starving artists.”

Sung Ha hesitantly approaches Jae Hee at his home that evening, broaching on the subject of leaving for America earlier than planned. This is her way of trying to keep him with the record company rather than letting him stray towards the musical-folk. Jae Hee doesn’t want her to worry about all that, since he’s finishing up the writing. That doesn’t ease Sung Ha’s mind at all, and the very next day an article goes out about him leaving with the group Flower for America early. Sung Ha really crosses the line a lot.

Jae Hee heads over to his bank, where he meets the manager who is terrified of his sister. He wants to take out all the money in his account, but she shrinks back and adamantly refuses. So he basically threatens her: he will move to another bank who will accommodate his wishes. Is the manager so afraid of the money inside his account, that she won’t even entertain the possibility that he will make more in the near future, and thus invest back into her bank? Good point – she gets the money ready for him.

It’s finally the weekend. Gu Jak waits nervously at the train station, hoping against hope that Eun Bi will show. She’s at practice for “Count Monte” though. At the same time, Jae Hee presents 1.15 million to the record label president and Sung Ha, along with all the songs for the first album. He has contractually fulfilled his promise for one album, and will pay the penalties for breaking the contract early. Sung Ha is outraged, knowing that she’s losing Jae Hee to musicals and Eun Bi.

The president has to tell her to shut up for once and drag her outside. To the president, it’s a good deal – they got a good amount of interest on the penalty fees upfront, and an entire album of Jae Hee’s songs. He wants to accept Jae Hee’s offer, especially since it works out financially, and Sung Ha can’t give him a valid reason not to. Sorry – “I love Jae Hee and want to elope with him in the States” is not a good enough reason.

Gu Jak’s musical company are rattled with nerves, knowing that it’ll be difficult to impress with Sang Mi’s song, and not knowing who the judges are. And guess what! The judges include Yoo Jin and Kang Hee! (Of course!) At least Jae Hee joins them a little late to give them all that extra boost of confidence.

Back at practice for “Count Monte,” Eun Bi is mightily distracted with thoughts about “Chungdamdong Gumiho,” repeatedly missing her cue to sing one of Mercedes’ songs. The lyrics take on a new meaning for her; as she sings “This is the reality / I have nowhere else to go,” it sounds as if she’s forced to resign herself to the idea that she’s part of the cast of “Count Monte,” and she can’t help “Gumiho” even if she wants to. Life sucks. At the judging table, the president of the competition notes that he’s most excited for one of the productions because it won the preselection round. Yoo Jin sneaks a glance at his program and realizes it’s “Chungdamdong Gumiho.” He smiles.

The group files out from the dressing room to the stage, and suddenly a voice calls out for them to stop. It’s Eun Bi! She just made it!

Kang Hee is shocked to see that the next performance is “Gumiho,” but she’s even more stunned to see EUN BI take the stage as Do Hwa! Dressed in a silk gown, Eun Bi makes her grand appearance, completely owning the role that Kang Hee vacated. The judges watch a small scene where Do Hwa’s love interest gives her a scarf that matches her sky blue dress, and then she breaks into “Do Hwa’s Song.” Oh yeah – the judges are won over. But wait til they get behind closed doors and are forced to vote!

The judges all want “Gumiho” to win, which makes Yoo Jin quite happy. Unfortunately, Kang Hee is nowhere to be found, and so she can’t voice her opinion on this matter. Kang Hee hunts down Eun Bi for a private chat. She’s pissed. off. How could Eun Bi abandon the stage that Kang Hee entrusted to her? How could Eun Bi return to the musical that she claimed to have given up, in exchange for being Kang Hee’s sub? How could Eun Bi so selfish!? Kang Hee swears that she won’t let “Gumiho” win, and she won’t let Eun Bi even near the world of musicals again. She’s going to blacklist Eun Bi because, frankly, she has that much power.

So when she returns to the discussion table, Kang Hee raises the point that Gu Jak does not hold the rights to “Gumiho.” Therefore, they must be disqualified. Yoo Jin sits quietly at his seat, texting. Gu Jak’s cast mope in the dressing room, knowing that all hope is lost since Kang Hee is the judge.

But just as they are all about to cast their votes, a secretary comes in with some papers for Yoo Jin, which he then distributes. It’s a legal document that states the rights for “Chungdamdong Gumiho” have now gone over to Gu Jak’s company.

Heh. Revote, anyone?

Comments:

See – we just got back to the obstacles of “Chungdamdong Gumiho”! And that’s where I like the drama to be – I want Kang Hee to be her manipulative self, and for Gu Jak’s team to regroup and try their best despite the likelihood of failure. It took a while for everyone to reach this point in their lives where all they want to do is support a home-grown musical and see it on the stage. I guess it’s really all about timing!

But speaking of timing, this drama has the worst timing in making the exciting stuff happen now.

While I can understand that it would take a while to reach the point where everyone has grown enough, this is a relatively short drama, and they need to make the most of the time they have. I guess I’m really having issues with the pacing. I feel like this will be the opposite of You’ve Fallen For Me, where the last two episodes of that series fell flat, the middling episodes of The Musical fell flat, and it will only pick up in the last two.

But aside from all this negativity, I’m really glad that Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin split up. They may have been a couple for a very long time, but quantity of time does not equate to quality. I’m proud that Ra Kyung finally stood up for herself and broke up with him, no matter how painful that must have been. I’m also icked out that, immediately, Yoo Jin went to Eun Bi and practically confessed to her. Not cool, dude.

Now all that’s left is perhaps a time jump, a performance or two, a Kang Hee crashing and burning, and another round of “Do Hwa’s Song.” I am severely tempted to do a drunken recap of episode 15. Just sayin’.

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