I’ll keep watching as we are going to find out about Yu Ra’s secret next week, and I hope they explore the toll/consequences of a double life - how can someone do that kind of work and also have a ‘normal’ family life. The weight of keeping so many secrets alone, plus the risk to your loved ones without them even knowing…it’s a life choice that I find hard to fathom so how did they both get here?

Re: the spy storyline:

There are a lot of people being killed and I just can’t seem to follow why, or which organisation the targets are from, and who is on whose side!😅 There was the delivery guy with the tattoo, but now there are also people with scars vaguely in the shape of that tattoo - are they part of the same underworld organisation (in which case, isn’t it a bit weird to have a tattoo that identifies you? Surely you’d want to be incognito, rather than wearing your team jersey around?!)? Or are the people with the scar from some other group of spies/criminals? Or is the scar an indication that you’ve cut ties with the tattoo organisation? As you can tell, I am very confused!😵‍💫 Either way, isn’t having that scar on the neck a bit too obvious?!?

Also, there are probably very good reasons not to share all your intel right away, but isn’t keeping teammates partially in the dark in the middle of an operation a very bad idea? I liked that we learned a bit more about our ML, though, and his cautious approach to the work. Can’t say I’m keen on Director Oh’s approach as much, but I’m sure we’ll find out more. Anyhow, any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!!

I am so glad to hear that they sorted the subs this week but I wonder if it’s too late for the vast majority of viewers who felt like they were doing a cryptic crossword trying to make sense of week one’s subtitles. The first couple of episodes are crucial for selling the story as a worthwhile investment of our precious time so if the story is confusing or characters unlikeable it’s going to be a hard sell. It seems like both these factors were at work and remain present up to the four episode decision to stay or go mark. I hope that somewhere in beanie land there is someone who can answer your questions.😊

1. Oh, the whole thing with the kids was so creepy for me. I just kept thinking "so this is how you raise people to become stalkers one day", they never teach her what boundaries/rules are or to respect someone's opinions and decisions.
When they followed the kid home/kidnapped him... Jesus.

2. "I’m not entirely convinced the two very different genres are meshing that well". Same. I was expecting something like Terius Behind Me, but I feel like all the things that made that show work are being missed here.

3. Heck yeah, Chae Jung Ah is gorgeous.

The subs were revised where I watched the show, so it’s worth checking back.😊

I hope I won’t be all alone here in this hangout - I need help understanding the spy storyline! And someone who speaks German needs to let me know what they think of Jang Hyuk’s German!😁

I’m so sad that the reunion of the two Jangs, whom I adore together and individually, has been a bit disappointing.😭 I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it right now (after 4 eps), but I’m going to try and stay the course and hope for a miraculous turnaround.

I’m so sorry to hear that the subs are still awful for you.😔 I think it’s a mystery to all of us what D+ is doing.🤷🏻‍♀️ Is HiTV an option for you?

I *am* still watching and I’m so happy you are, too!😁 Decent subs were up for episode 5 already, so I’m keen to catch up to episode 6 tomorrow. I found episode 5 better than the previous episodes, and am relieved that there was a little less of the family antics (may the trend continue). I’m enjoying the spy activities, as well as getting a glimpse of Jang Na Ra’s secret. It’s not what I expected, and I’m not sure I fully understand yet. Did you see episode 5 as well? I have questions about Wolf!!

But can I just say WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! You’re in Seoul right now? And watched a show live without subs?! How cool is that!?!😎 I am ridiculously vicariously excited!😁 Please share anything you’re happy to share about your trip!

SPOILERS BELOW!

So first off, Wolfe (codename: Dominic)! I really enjoyed the intrigue of this brief storyline, maybe because he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing and managed to infiltrate our leads’ home in a benign way? Assassins are just like us - they have friends they visit whilst they travel for work!😅 His explanation of the lamp to Yu Ra was intriguing because it so clearly pressed her buttons - did he do that intentionally? He had just killed the priest with the tattoo, so would his next target have been Yu Ra? But if so, it doesn’t make sense that he would warn her by letting her know how close the net was closing in…so my guess is that Wolfe didn’t know Yu Ra’s or Do Hoon’s (Jang Hyuk’s) secret identities.

Wolfe’s death and Director Oh’s cageyness about the circumstances surrounding it has set Do Hoon on a bit of a warpath. Previously, we saw how cautious, moral and measured Do Hoon is by nature (even escorting Wolfe out of his home calmly as a friend, after finding out that Wolfe was the one who had shot Jae Yul), but the more he was kept in the dark, the more rogue he went. I was disappointed to see how easy it was for him to torture Gu In Bo for information.😔 Did anyone see whether Gu In Bo had the tattoo as well? All we know is that he’s somehow connected to Director Oh (and maybe Butterfly as well?), and that Director Oh ordered his assassination whilst he was being held by Do Hoon in secret.

Codename: Butterfly (played by Lee Mi Sook) - I’m not actually sure if this is her name, or whether my understanding of her storyline is correct, but let’s go with it. So I *think* that Butterfly may have killed an assassin called Bullet back in her day as an active agent/assassin. But Director Oh knows that Bullet killed Wolfe (the bullet Yu Ra used must have given her away), which means the wrong person was killed back then (ostensibly, murdered). This seems to imply that both Butterfly and Director Oh are in trouble, because whoever was killed was killed illegitimately. Butterfly also has a daughter and granddaughter she wants to protect, so Director Oh is using that as leverage to lure her back from retirement to kill Bullet.

Jae Yul’s ex-wife Chae Ri (played by Lee Chae Young) - we don’t know much about her, but we were led to believe that she was a comedic side story. However, she asked Jae Yul to kill someone for her and the episode previews show her looking at a file about Jo Tae Goo (our SML)…so there’s more of Chae Ri to come, and our second male lead has finally arrived!!

Jo Tae Goo (played by Kim Nam Hee), like Yu Ra, was trained from childhood to become an assassin. In the flashbacks, we see Yu Ra was an excellent shot, even as a child, and was the one to give him the scar on his temple. It seems they were both part of this rogue assassin-training, tattoo-bearing organisation, but whilst Yu Ra left that life behind, Tae Goo is still very active. If the previews are accurate (they have been so far) then we will see him pose as Yu Ra’s brother and abduct Min Seo in the next episodes, so that he can force Yu Ra to kill for him again. I’m wondering whether this is when the Bo Seok storyline can finally be useful (rather than annoying and icky)? Are Bo Seok’s parents also in the business, and will they help the leads save Min Seo?

The last couple of things I wanted to mention is the interesting relationship between Do Hoon and Director Oh. It seems she saved his life in the past, and he explicitly acknowledges that he owes her a life and is willing to help her, even as both of them lie to each other about what they’re doing. So there’s a lot of loyalty between them, if not trust. But honestly, how do people survive in an environment where you can’t truly trust anyone?!

Also Do Hoon was injured in his fight with Gu In Bo, and it seems that a national spy agency doesn’t have its own doctors!! They have cleaners who can make deaths disappear, but when there are injuries, the agents sew each other up!🤷🏻‍♀️ I wonder how Do Hoon explains his injuries and scars to his family? They are clearly not papercuts!

SPOILERS BELOW!

I am blocking out how awful the training camp in the backstory is. It seems to be a proper Lord of the Flies sort of set up in the name of national security(?!?). I don’t get it (because why would you train your agents to brutally beat each other, rather than work as a team and trust each other?), but I don’t watch a lot of shows of this genre, so I’m not sure if I’m just daft and naïve, or if the show is a bit lazy on the rationale behind the backstory.

I really enjoyed seeing how almost everyone is connected. It’s a rather tangled and densely populated web! There seems to be 3 generations/intakes at this camp - the trainers, the older kids, and the youngest kids, and Tae Goo from the latter vintage seems to be on a mission to kill everyone who was at that camp except Yu Ra (although she might just be last on the list). Is it revenge? Is it a desire to stop the atrocity of such a training camp from ever happening again? Do we know yet?

Perhaps the biggest reveal was that Director Oh was one of the ruthless older kids (codename: Wind). She seems to be the only one who is officially working for the government, but even she is under orders from someone higher up. I thought she had gone rogue but it seems she was following orders for the most part. I still don’t quite understand why she kept so much from Do Hoon - was it to protect him?

The other big clarification for me was that Yu Ra is not Bullet, but his protégé. I thought they had killed the wrong person thinking a man was Bullet, but they just have similar methods (because he trained her), and she continues to use his bullets. Episode 8 clarified how desperate Yu Ra was to leave the sniper/assassin life behind, and for me, it explains why she is such a great daughter-in-law (acting as the family lynchpin), and also puts up with Do Hoon’s lack of predictable presence at special occasions. All she wants is a safe and loving family life.😢

Still more SPOILERS

I think what stands out to me so far is how little teamwork there is. Almost everyone has started splintering off on their own in terms of their decisions and actions. I think now that Yu Ra and Do Hoon have learned of each other’s secret identities, this will be a key turning point - we need some of the characters to start working together.

Also, is it just me, or are Min Seo and Tae Goo’s interactions foreshadowing his death? It seems to me that despite his using Min Seo to control Yu Ra, he will ultimately put his life at risk (or sacrifice it) for her. But I honestly don’t know what other kind of ending is possible for him, and indeed, who might be left standing at the end of all this. Everyone’s hands are dirtied now.

I like that the show is quite morally ambiguous. I cheer for the characters I like even though I have no idea whether they are good, bad or grey. With Butterfly dead, only Director Oh, Tae Goo and Yu Ra remain of those who were at the training camp. What is the end game? And who is giving Director Oh orders?

Thanks @mellowarmadillo. The plots are getting intriguing and “The Unbreakable Bond” makes total sense now.

It’s so unfortunate that the drama title and its trailers set up the ‘wrong’ expectations of this drama. Everyone thought it’s a sweet comedy of sort and got frustrated that it’s not. Viewers had no idea of what’s to come and dropped it like hot potatoes. It was only into these latest episodes that the true story is revealed - which in fact is a very interesting story. Can’t really recall another similar k-drama.

Having seen the latest clips here and there, I’ll dive in probably from ep 5 and pretend the previous episodes didn’t exist.

Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I was a bit underwhelmed with the ending, to be honest, as it felt a bit incomplete to me!😢 But I thoroughly enjoyed it from about ep 5 onwards and am glad I stuck with it! I’ll write a review too!🤓

SPOILERS

We actually know nothing more about his family or marriage. It’s so sad and weird - like things must have been cut!😔