Curtain Call: Episode 7

by SugarSnow

Even though we only had one episode of Curtain Call this week, the large-scale chess match for the fate of the hotel is ramping up. Meanwhile, the ticking time bomb of our “actors” getting recognized by someone they know looms in the background.

 
EPISODE 7 WEECAP

Right where we were left hanging last week, Yoon-hee and Jae-heon are freaking out at the banquet due to a couple of unforeseen guest appearances who would blow their entire cover in a second. Jae-heon and Yoon-hee scurry off suspiciously, and Jae-heon pleads for help from Secretary Jung. Then, in a moment of hilarious and desperate improv, Jae-heon drops to the floor acting like he’s seizing in an attempt to get Secretary Jung to pull him from away from the crowd.

Grandma Geum-soon is notified by Secretary Jung while her doctor (Ahn Nae-sang) listens and decides to help out and give Jae-heon a check-up. While taking a look at Jae-heon, he quickly realizes that Jae-heon is faking his extreme “nervous breakdown.” Secretary Jung asks the doctor to play along, without giving away too much of what’s really going on. Somewhat willing, he lies to Geum-soon and tells her that Jae-heon needs his rest as his shock is probably due to the lack of huge gatherings in the North and he was very nervous.

Jae-heon, beginning to actually look somewhat ill, tells Yoon-hee that he is having a harder time differentiating Moon-sung and himself. He brings up the idea of whether his life was all acting before as theater and real life aren’t that much different from each other. Yoon-hee responds and relates, asking if they are really that much different, as everyone else has to deal with the same things in life.

Jae-heon is beginning to blur the lines of his own personality, and as he spends more time with the people around his fake persona, the worse he is beginning to feel. He is starting to cement himself in this new world feeling as though he is leaving his real world behind.

Back at the banquet, Geum-soon gives a short speech and welcomes everyone that has taken the time to show up. In doing so, she also reveals that she only has three months left to live, shocking everyone in the crowd besides her grandchildren. After speaking, she steps down and makes her way around the room greeting each of her grandchildren and the friends they invited – besides Se-joon as he only invited business partners (of course he did).

I love how obvious the differences are between each of the grandchildren just based on who they brought to the banquet. Se-joon only invited business partners, including Executive Director Kim. Se-gyu invited all of his friends, while Se-yeon took a minimalist approach only inviting one friend and Dong-je.

After the banquet, Geum-soon checks on Yoon-hee and Jae-heon. As Geum-soon calls out for Jae-heon to wake him up, we catch glimpses of him sitting at the spot where his mother left him as a boy. Hearing his mother’s voice calling his name, he wakes up to find that it’s Geum-soon calling him. Crying, she is relived to know that Jae-heon is okay and well. Geum-soon’s care and presence comfort Jae-heon.

At this point, it’s pretty clear that he has already started to care for her like she is his own grandmother. In the beginning, I was only thinking about how the blood relatives would feel when they inevitably find out Jae-heon was a fraud — but now I’m worried for Jae-heon’s wellbeing when Geum-soon passes away.

Beginning to feel the guilt, Yoon-hee and Jae-heon ask Secretary Jung to quit. Jae-heon explains that he can’t help but think he is doing something very wrong the longer their charade goes on. Secretary Jung tells them they are doing nothing wrong and have done nothing wrong — he will take responsibility. He convinces them to stay on after sharing how changed Geum-soon is. She laughs and cries, and she finally feels complete again. They agree to stay on so they can continue to make Geum-soon smile.

I like how there is a constant conflict within Yoon-hee and Jae-heon as they know what they’re doing isn’t technically right, but also isn’t technically wrong. They keep moving forward as they know they can utilize their acting skills for good, but at what point does the cost outweigh the benefit? They’re far too deep to jump ship now.

To everyone’s surprise — except ours — Geum-soon meets with all of the grandchildren to discuss changes made to her will. She has decided to add Jae-heon and Yoon-hee to the list of grandchildren who will receive part of her estate. Se-joon’s and Se-gyu’s faces are painted with disapproval, while Se-yeon seems more neutral (but also pleased?).

Adding Jae-heon as an heir means he will hold the same amount of say as the other grandchildren. Outside of how this might change the fate of the hotel, this is the exact opposite of what Jae-heon and Yoon-hee want — they would rather affect the family and family business as little as possible to minimize damages.

As the tug-of-war over the hotel gets worse, Se-joon looks to buy Dong-je’s shares from him. He knows that he needs to stock up on shares as Jae-heon could be an obstacle for him later on. Dong-je has no plans to hand over his shares, and he declines every offer made by Se-joon.

Se-joon persists, though, and meets Dong-je in his office to persuade him. Things get personal when Se-joon brings up Se-yeon and why Dong-je won’t let her go after already failing once. Dong-je says she’s too valuable to let go. We see their dichotomous mindsets as one of them is willing to hold onto something precious even if it has been “damaged,” while the other is quick to throw away anything damaged in his eyes. Another little detail I love about this scene is the way they’re both sitting – Dong-je in a more casual position, while the rigid Se-joon sits upright and stiff. I don’t necessarily like Dong-je, but I like his willingness to stand up to Se-joon.

Finally getting more of Moon-sung, we see him thinking back to when his father died. Moon-sung’s solemn expression tells us a lot about his character. He still mourns his father’s death and wishes to see his grandmother again, which seems partly genuine and partly because he blames her? Either way, I’m still interested to find the root cause of his father’s death.

Also curious about Moon-sung is private investigator JANG TAE-JOO (Han Jae-yeong). Wondering why Secretary Jung closed the case to bring him over, Tae-joo tracks down Moon-sung and seems to have some tricks up his sleeve.

Just when Jae-heon thought he didn’t have to make anymore public appearances, Se-yeon uses him (and his calligraphy skills) for a promotional event for the hotel. Ending the episode, he runs into the same friend of Se-yeon’s who was at the banquet — SONG HYO-JIN (Jung Yoo-jin) — the same women who employed him as fake boyfriend. Although not as high profile as the banquet, this recognition is likely to have a big impact on the truth coming out. And even if they write it off, it’s still another big tease of a cliffhanger.

Sadly, we only got one episode this week, but it was speckled with a lot of interesting plot developments and character interactions. Regarding the fight over the hotel, Se-joon seems to be ramping things up quickly and I can only attribute that to the growing threat of Jae-heon and Se-yeon teaming up against him. His sending Ra-kyung to a different branch is a sure sign the gloves are off.

I’m still not seeing much chemistry between Se-yeon and Jae-heon, and it’s definitely a possibility that she might already know he is a fraud. If this is true, it would be more believable that she would have feelings towards him – especially considering all of his minor slip-ups around her. The only thing unbelievable about it is her lack of a reaction considering how dearly she holds her grandmother. I need the drama to dive more into this.

I’m also growing more intrigued by the relationship between Dong-je and Se-yeon. Even though Dong-je is a bit too forceful for his own good, I think he honestly does care for Se-yeon — he doesn’t understand tact, though. We learned this week that the reason they split up is because his family was disapproving of Geum-soon’s background and felt the family wasn’t worthy. Se-yeon didn’t like the things they said about Geum-soon, so she backed out of the marriage. It’ll be interesting to see how far Se-yeon is willing to go for the hotel — Geum-soon even cautioned her this week to prioritize family over business.

As we near the halfway mark, I’m patiently waiting for things to explode, but it seems like the more the drama teases them, the farther away they get. It’s been a surprisingly slow journey of reveals, though we are seeing that slowly progress, with Moon-sung getting closer to South Korea, and more people being brought into the circle to maintain the lie. Our stage actors and Secretary Jung are doing what they can to seal anything from getting out, but all it takes is one slip-up and down they will go.

 
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