Noonas Over Flowers: Episode 5

by javabeans

EPISODE 5. Broadcast on December 27, 2013.

javabeans: We resume the morning after the Great Dinner Raid, which was their last night in Zagreb, in the early morning at the hostel. Mi-yeon’s things have somehow just spread out in the hallway, and Ja-ok comes out to begin what the captions inform us are “Mom’s Meddling No. 1” (cleaning up trash and organizing the mess). Mi-yeon comes out and takes over, and it’s such a mother-daughter dynamic, with the daughter all, “Thanks [trying to be patient], I’ll do it, no I’ll really do it, I’ll do it!”

girlfriday: And then when Mi-yeon comes out dressed for the day, it’s time for Ja-ok’s “Mom’s Meddling No. 2,” where she decides she dislikes how Mi-yeon’s jeans are cuffed and fixes them, only to have Mi-yeon un-do it straightaway. Ja-ok sighs in hilariously dramatic fashion like a real mom who can’t get her daughter to listen to her.

javabeans: It’s cute because Ja-ok’s complaint is I don’t like that style on you, and Mi-yeon’s response is But I do, and in a non-familial relationship Mi-yeon should win… but we’re so in Mom territory that I feel that conflict. Okay, then there’s this thing with apples that is cracking me up. (She does this thing with fingers and strength and grabbing apples and decides that neither of the two are actually compatible with apples.) Is Ja-ok like New Age hippy mom?

girlfriday: Apparently. I don’t think either of the daughters understands a word she’s saying, but they sure do try to give her their full attention. Meanwhile, Yeo-jung greets Seung-gi and Na PD with a new emergency: her curling iron is broken. This is going to be a disaster because they’re not going to react properly.

javabeans: Yeo-jung cracks me up because she’s like those actresses that dramas make fun of where she uses random English words, although in her case I do think it makes her seem more educated (in dramas it’s always the opposite, a dumb star trying to seem bright). She’s all, “They discontinued the model!” and Na PD says, “Isn’t it thirty years old?” She tells the other noonas, who have the same reaction (Uh, it’s because it’s OLD, unni), and then we have this whole montage showing her fixating on her broken iron.

girlfriday: Seung-gi tells them he booked their first hotel in the next city, and we go back to last night where he tells Na PD he’s looked at every single place available and found two rooms with two bathrooms. They ask where he’s going to sleep and Seung-gi says the minute he stops counting himself as a person in making plans, things go better. Ha.

javabeans: He explains the rooming situation to the noonas in the most confusing terms ever, and it’s especially confusing because he’s trying extra hard to be simple about it. Ha. They all look at him blankly and say they don’t know what he just said. So then the show actually animates what he meant to say, hahahaha.

girlfriday: If only they could do that for him in real-time. The car he rented arrives and everyone’s impressed that it’s a nice big van, so Seung-gi gets to revel in some more praise, which he totally eats up.

javabeans: I enjoy that Na PD seems slightly peevish whenever something goes Seung-gi’s way.

girlfriday: I know, like he can’t exactly blame Seung-gi, but is annoyed at the universe. Seung-gi gets his notebook out to take detailed notes for the route to take, and even has the brainspace to check the rental car for dings, which is so not something he would’ve done two days ago. The start of the journey is a little rocky (half the narrow street is taken up by a tramway which you can’t drive on, which Seung-gi finds out the hard way) and already you can see him wondering how he’ll get through the drive with a car full of backseat drivers.

javabeans: I do think the worst thing is trying to do stressful things while pretending you’re cool. Okay, maybe there are worse things like losing team members, but it’s definitely on that list.

girlfriday: Ha, it cracks me up that Yeo-jung points out that it’s a good thing Hee-ae is sitting shotgun instead of Mi-yeon, and says she would’ve drained Seung-gi with her nagging and stress. Then they all start imitating Hee-ae’s calm, placating manner: It’s okay, Seung-gi. Good job, Seung-gi.

javabeans: I do think road trips are way more fun with the noonas than the halbaes, who were so often silent and stern (or sleeping), while the noonas start singing and chatting. There’s a brief tangent as Yeo-jung starts talking philosophically about growing older as an actress and how there are different stages at different ages, just as you have in life. Then the car pulls up to a quaint neighborhood with neat houses and a river running right next to it.

girlfriday: This place is so pretty. They basically built houses in and around waterfalls, like it was made for postcards.

javabeans: Seung-gi turns his attention to finding a lunch spot, and asks a resident whether she speaks English. She doesn’t, but instead of accepting that and moving on, he has this whole Charades-like conversation with her to ask where to eat, and if it’s big or small, and if you have to walk a lot to get there.

girlfriday: They tour the village and follow the river down to the waterfalls. I want to live here. Yunno, if they have internet. And a couple of restaurants that deliver.

javabeans: It’s a really picturesque village, like something out of a fairy tale, with little hidden caves and charming nooks and crannies everywhere. Then there’s a bit where Ja-ok explains how hard it was for her to come on this trip, because she has a sort of difficulty taking them at all. She’s a cancer survivor (and not acted much in recent years because of it), but more than the physical demands of travel, she says she lacks the nerve to actually go, constantly canceling at the last minute, to the point where her family worries about her never going out and doing anything because she’s so scared to go.

girlfriday: Aw, it’s really cute when she says she was so grateful that Yeo-jung insisted she had to come, because she was surprised that unni really liked her, and wanted her to come along enough to push her to travel.

javabeans: Wow, they’ve known each other since their school days (Yeo-jung is four years older). Ja-ok says this is going to be her turning point, and now she thinks she’ll have the confidence to travel wherever she wants. Then it’s time for Seung-gi to explain his lunch plans (just head in the general direction and pick what looks good), and Na PD asks if there are definitely restaurants around. Seung-gi pulls another slip of the tongue and says, “I hear that they slightly exist.”

girlfriday: Hahaha. That’s so my favorite thing that Seung-gi does now.

javabeans: It’s so hilarious. You know what he means—there are a few, he hears—but it sounds so ridiculous when the words tumble out all wrong.

girlfriday: Hee-ae gets behind the wheel to drive for a while, and Seung-gi gets all worried about every little thing, now suddenly acting like the dad who’s taking his daughter out for her first drive.

javabeans: Seung-gi is totally the worst backseat driver of them all! Hee-ae just laughs, but she makes her point in effective fashion by asking when he was born (1987), and telling him, “Seung-gi-ya, I got my license in 1985.”

girlfriday: Pffffffft. That is the best comeback ever, and said so pleasantly with a smile. They get to an area that’s supposed to be really touristy, but it’s totally empty and the restaurant looks closed. This does not bode well.

javabeans: They all just laugh at the situation (so at least they’re not yet hungry enough to be totally cranky), and at one point Ja-ok comes up wearing a strange beanie and chirps that she picked it up off the ground. Lol.

girlfriday: Wow, there are even bigger waterfalls. This place is crazy beautiful.

javabeans: And tiny ones too, which they coo over as being adorable. There’s a long stretch where all you see is the cast walking amid the waterfalls and trails, but it’s actually really interesting in that it’s just so beautiful to watch.

girlfriday: Yeah this is stuff I could watch for hours. But then I’m the person who busts out the Planet Earth DVDs for fun. There’s a sweet moment between Mi-yeon and Ja-ok who walk hand-in-hand and tell each other how great it is that they got to meet on this trip, and then we get a montage of all their bonding over the trip and how they went from being awkward to adoring each other.

javabeans: Then they run into a couple of Korean tourists, young guys who’ve been on their European backpacking trip for a month now. They explain how they’ve been getting by with minimal baggage and staying at hostels, and Yeo-jung is all, “We’re in a hostel too!”

girlfriday: That’s so cute. They hear that the noonas brought Korean food from home and are all, “Can we have some? We miss Korean food!” Yeo-jung quips that they don’t have enough but then offers to take them out to eat, though she hilariously adds only if they happen to run into each other (they’re both headed to the same city next).

javabeans: Aww, and then we see a flash-forward to three days later when the boys run into them again, and they go out to dinner as promised. Those kids are adorable. I’m assuming they’re legal adults but they look about fourteen. And then, the day after, they meet coincidentally again on the bus! Hilarious. This ties into the conversations they’ve been having about how nothing in this life is coincidence, and how brief encounters become a connection.

girlfriday: Then the group drives on to the next city, and as it gets dark Seung-gi asks the noonas to tell stories so that he doesn’t fall asleep. Ja-ok asks if he’s ever liked an older woman, and he says that most guys do until they’re of age, and Hee-ae points out how that means basically all men, older and younger, are into women in their early twenties. Ja-ok says boys can’t help it because they think about sex ‘round the clock (she says girls but the meaning is clear) and Seung-gi cracks up: “I’m all awake now!”

javabeans: As they approach the city, Seung-gi notes that the speed limit here is 130 kmh, and Hee-ae wonders why the other sign said 100. He explains how larger vehicles have the lower limit, and they nod, all, Ah, so we can go 130 km and continue on their way. And then we get the view from the producers’ bus, which is a larger vehicle, which is falling farther and farther behind as the noonas’ van gets more distant in their view. HAHA.

girlfriday: Oh noes! Don’t they have phones for this kind of thing? Na PD, where’s your trusty walkie-talkie? The flash-forward to what happens next is even worse, because apparently on top of losing the crew, the group is about to lose each other in windy streets. Ack.

javabeans: When the cast arrives in the city, they check with Na PD who tells them to take a few cameras from their car mounts to shoot themselves as they find their lodgings. So far the mood is optimistic, but… I fear this goes away quickly.

girlfriday: The Blair Witch camerawork doesn’t help ease the worry, as Seung-gi asks Mi-yeon to stay with the noonas while he goes to look for their hotel alone. Meanwhile Na PD tries calling again but nobody’s answering their phones (creepy) and the audio director says he’s recording sound from Seung-gi’s mic, which at least means he’s close.

javabeans: I think Seung-gi would be the most competent VJ but he’s got to go and find the place, so it’s extra dizzifying from his perspective, given that they’ve gotta use that footage or none at all. Finally they’re able to meet up (almost coincidentally), which is a great relief, only to have Seung-gi realize, “I… forgot how I got here.”

girlfriday: Aaaaaaaah!

javabeans: It would be hilarious if he weren’t totally serious about it. Okay, it’s a little hilarious still, but only because I know he hasn’t died or anything since.

girlfriday: I love how he says it as if on cue, but the whole thing happened so fast that in his momentary excitement over connecting with Na PD, he completely forgot to keep track of where he came from.

javabeans: Oh man, is he really going on “I ran for two minutes” to guide him back? I enjoy the look of unvarnished panic on Na PD’s face, which probably makes me a bad person. Also, I wonder what the process of editing this show is like for him—does he finally get to laugh at everything, or does it make his blood pressure spike?

girlfriday: I’m pretty sure Na PD half-laughs about horrible things even as they’re happening, just imagining the good cuts that he’ll get out of Seung-gi’s pain. So then Seung-gi runs back to the point in his journey that he remembers, and tells the staff that if they run straight down one street, they’ll find the noonas waiting in the car. Meanwhile he has this hilarious nonsensical conversation with the hotel and somehow (very painfully) manages to communicate where he is so that someone can come find him. I’m just glad he keeps finding places to stay that are willing to come fetch their guests. Is this a thing?

javabeans: You have to give him credit for his indefatigable nature, because I would give up long before in shame, but Seung-gi has no shame, or maybe he pushes it way, way back into the corner of his mind to deal with later (in private, maybe with tears) while he deals with the problem now. As far as problem-solving tactics go, it’s crude but effective.

girlfriday: But then oh crap, the staff that he sent after the noonas run to where he told them, and there’s nothing there. Augh. Na PD does look a little panicked, because he’s lost both Seung-gi and the noonas all over again.

javabeans: You can hear the VJs panting as they run, frantic and nervous as they report back that there’s nobody there, and then when they finally get a glimpse of Mi-yeon she just says sunnily, “Hello there! Nice to see you!” all calm and cheery. This is where I want more VJs to film the VJs so I can see their reactions.

girlfriday: I know, right? After all that running and panicking. So Na PD and crew all gather with the noonas, and in the meantime Seung-gi meets up with the people renting out the apartment and they lead him there. I totally don’t trust him to find his way back.

javabeans: While he gets shown the place, which is quite spacious and comfortable, the noonas wait at the car and realize that they’re in a towing zone. Eep. His landlords give him a map (thank goodness) and directions to a parking lot where he can park the van. I suppose the trouble will be toting all their luggage, but it’s better than getting towed. Then he takes off running through the city streets, and with the song playing it totally feels like a scene in an indie romance movie, lol.

girlfriday: If only. But this is more entertaining.

javabeans: Na PD is waiting with concerns and complaints, but I do love how Seung-gi just knocks ’em aside with answers. Towing is only enforced in certain hours, he’s going to repark, and the apartment is “luxury itself.” Where’s that Na PD reaction shot?

girlfriday: I know they don’t have enough VJs to film VJs, but can we just keep one camera on Na PD at all times?

javabeans: They get back in the van to drive to the parking lot, and Ja-ok murmurs, “That’s our Seung-gi-ya.” Immediate cut to Seung-gi’s face, all puffed up with pride. He is too adorable. He stammers, “Th-that’s the first time I’m hearing that” and Ja-ok bursts out laughing.

girlfriday: Yay, the car is finally parked, so all that’s left is getting the luggage to the apartment. At least now they can be leisurely about it and enjoy the view.

javabeans: It’s so pretty. I wonder if Croatia’s going to explode with a sudden influx of Korean tourists.

girlfriday: That would be hilarious, especially from their point of view, wondering where they all came from and why. I love that Yeo-jung is still obsessed with her curling iron, wishing that they could just pass by a store that sells one by chance, and then she actually stops by a salon to ask, ha.

javabeans: They arrive in the apartment and ooh and ahh over its features, which include a terrace with a killer view. Everyone’s amazed and relieved, and even Na PD has to marvel at Seung-gi’s find.

girlfriday: The terrace right under the giant clock tower is pretty damn cool. Seung-gi’s all excited about the rave reviews, and gets all showy about guiding them through the rest of the place, only to get stuck on the lock, ha.

javabeans: Oh right, there are two apartments. I assumed it was two rooms, but it’s two whole apartments—one has a couple rooms and sleeps three, and the other is a large studio that they say is large enough for all of them.

girlfriday: Oh, so that’s what he failed to explain earlier.

javabeans: They decide to rock-scissors-paper for choosing privileges… and that’s where we cut out. Gotta wait for next episode! Which looks like it has its own tribulations in store for us. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that moments scored by Nice Guy’s soundtrack aren’t meant to make us relax.

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