I had a premonition, something like a dream. It even had a bloody hand in it. The bloody hand spoke to me and said that I should watch the last five minutes of DWY Episode 12 before even THINKING of starting from the beginning. Thank you, Bloody Hand. This information allowed me to sit through all that happened for the 55 minutes prior to that scene, without much worry. The Bloody Hand, you see, was worried about my affect. It knew that I would know what was coming, and therefore I would be ready for the show to give me a solid lead up to that tense, ending moment.

Nope. Turns out, those last five minutes had almost nothing to do with the rest of the episode, so as the episode unfolded, I ended up having this ongoing feeling something like, “Yes, yes, but why are they going to end up on a snowy mountaintop? What will the scene be like when Hong-jo talks to our shaman? Will they have a shaman-to-shaman talk?? Because, I want to see that…that’d be awesome.”

Nope. 55 minutes that included Hong-jo having a few dreams—those were good. And also some dumb kisses—those were not good enough. You know what was the best scene though, IMO? The Subway PPL. I actually clapped when I saw that branding show up on the screen. I’m like a little lonely child, so happy to see my sandwich-shop-friend, **and then also to have Hong-jo call Jae-kyung by his name…after which he swooned a little, and so did I 🥰**

I’m still an unabashed fan-human for this drama. And here’s what I’m going to say to prove it: I am very, very happy that this predicted and predictable roadblock came a full four episodes before the end of the drama, because now we know it will not happen five minutes before the end. There’s lots of time to turn👏this👏ship👏around. And turn it around you will, Show, CORRECT???

ETA: This was originally written in the heat of the moment , just after having finished episode 12. However, since then, I’ve been striving to listen to other Beanies, and have moderated my views a bit. I’m sure this more thoughtful POV will appear in our discussion (🤞). More plot points were advanced than I was able to see at first viewing…frankly, in large part, due to my choice of having watched the end first. I’d do it again. But only if I had my Beanies to back me up. Otherwise, it’s all danger out there…

The way you’ve ended your , @unit, is so very much in line with what I wish my “calm self” could express. I’m really quite taken with our “older couple,” balancing old-school values with a contemporary spirit—very disparate points of view. How do we measure what we’ve been told about love, against what we know from experience?

My favourite scene was the “ Hong-jo hurls her drunken ass to Shin-yu’s house and ends up clinging onto his waist and legs like a lizard to a pole”. I laughed so hard at this as it reminded me of toddlers who I have seen do that. It was funny and ridiculous too. Has this ever happened in another drama or is this a first?
I also have a mea culpa to make. Way back at the beginning, I thought it was too obvious for the creepy garden person to be the chicken blood smearer creep but I should have followed the Occam’s razor prevails.

Bloody Juseon was such a brutal place. Slaves existed as we know and little persons didn’t even have names so am all for whatever hex the shamanically gifted ones could put on their owners and tormentors.

But because I’m clearly in the KD cult, I’ve been brainwashed to also care about Rowoon’s characters. I hope Mujin didn’t kill Mu-jin and Aengcho but their relationship probably signed her death warrant anyway. Sob sob.

I love the chemistry between leads

The octopus scene is so cute.. 1000 times cuter than any scene I watched in kdrama.. no one could do the scene expect JBA and Rowoon.

Also I like the office chair kiss.. they are likely laughing and kissing

The last scene broke my heart.. it was done in so hauntingly beautiful way and even if it’s small glimpse it took me whole day coming out of it

I have been repeating all 3 scenes, I love this drama couple so much and these scene made me fall in love more

Thanks @unit for a brilliant-as-usual summary. As I said elsewhere, ep 12 has to be my favorite! When SY "compliments the cheating duo" - the SWAG🤩! When I thought HJ was going to go on about spells in the office, she suddenly goes "My cursed frog prince, take a kiss!" - I DIED 😅. And the smiles in Rowoon's face every time he sees her! 😘

Thanks @unit for such a witty review!! All of your sidebars and thoughts were also what I was thinking when watching the episodes!

However, I kinda felt that episode 11 was a bit weak, and outside of a few minutes here and there, did not advance the plot much.

I realised at the end of Episode 10 last week when our OTP was on the beach that Red Hand belonged to Hong-jo. So as we are getting into the home stretch of this drama, it's going to be interesting whether the circumstances of why Mu-jin killed Aeng-cho will be believable. Also, there are several side plots, and it will be interesting to see how they will be addressed or resolved over the next four episodes.

I keep teetering on the fence with this one. Episode 11 almost pushed me off. A singular saving grace—the otter-bear-giraffe love triangle—wasn’t enough. But Episode 12 gave me enough to keep hanging on.

Most importantly, we had plot progress. Hallelujah and Amen! Shin-yu ended Na-yeon’s scheming like a boss. The OTP finally had fun moments, which allowed me to Roswoon again. And our Joseon timeline finally connected! The final scene didn’t faze me at all. How many times have we been told he killed her in his past life? How many partial flashbacks have led up to this? I just know there are layers waiting to be revealed.

And as tragic as it was, the scene was beautifully done. I think these two have potential in their upcoming sageuks, which I will cast a spell upon to have better scripting, directing, editing, everything.

Onwards to #13.

I kind of have nothing intelligent to contribute to this week’s discussion. Which isn’t to say that I had intellectual things to say in previous recap discussions but like no joke my head was more or less just empty after both episodes this week. And the predictions have already taken place on various fan walls as to what went down between MJ and AC in the past timeline, so after scraping the bottom of the barrel here is my offering: Shin-yu and Hong-jo are a mess but also kinda really, really (REALLY) cute together and also Jae-kyung is so an otter - you cute too boy. Also annoyed that we have the typical break up sequence incoming, saw it coming a mile away like everyone else but simultaneously - did we reaLLY have to?! Oh and I’m glad we found out a little bit more about the relationship between Shin-yu and Na-yeon’s families, kinda wish we found this out before I started laying into Shin-yu last week for his antics (most of those points still stand I guess though).

"But I have a favor to ask. Leave the shrine on Mount Onju as is. From one generation to the next, take good care of it.” But last I checked, the shrine has been demolished. So where do we go from here?

Jumped. The. Shark.

I'll just add from Ep. 1-2: "What took you so long to come."

AND

"All the pain and curses will end [because] finally the owner of the wooden box showed up."

She showed up. The curse and pain haven't ended. Lazy - not compelling - writing.

Meanwhile, for anyone in doubt, Jae Kyung will be a "hero" even if he doesn't get the girl and in this drama - this is HIS "good fortune".

Hyun-seo (CEO of Haum Construction) is portrayed by a favorite k-dramaer (Kim Kwon) and I wish he appeared on my screen more often. Especially in this drama where he has been fun to watch, evil bad-ass and affectionate towards Na-yeon. I know, I know - he's going down but . . .fun-to-watch actor.

To be fair, the last scene was pretty gory... But can't say I did not expect it. This whole curse with the bloody hand was a lead-up to copious amounts of gore. But the shot composition was beautiful! SY black as ebony, HJ white as snow and Hand as red as blood. Seems like the PD was Snow White's mom in his past birth.
Apropos nothing, the editing/scene selection in this show... Are they ever going to fill up the gaps? Like what did the CGD do to SY to land him in the hospital? What did Eun-Wol halmeoni tell HJ? (This may be the starter next week, possibly?)

I am not invested in the stalker and obsessive girlfriend part of the plot but I wonder if they have a tie to the past life. IMAO, this drama is better as a 12-episode with more focus on past live and less nonsense from City Hall.

In my opinion, our OTP has less chemistry now than before they got together. I don't know if it's because it was a forbidden relationship before, so their desperation of wanting each other translated into chemistry, or because of Hong-jo's annoying aegyo, but there's no love emanating from their eyes. Like the scene of their video call where Shin-yu repeatedly asks when Hong-jo started falling for him, and she just aegyos, it went on for way too long.

Even though Aeng-cho did say, "Whoever kills me will be cursed," I think Mu-jin being the killer is a red herring, and he was just holding the knife handle (à la See You in My 19th Life).

Oh no he did'nt. I know Jae-kyung was drunk, but blaming Hong-jo for breaking his heart and crying "How can your love change?" You broke my heart! You rejected me! What are the odds of Jae-kyung being in the same place at the same time to see the sunrise? Why would he even agree to eat together? Their breakfast was so uncomfortable. Woo-hoo, we meet Jae-kyung's father finally!

Hong-jo's two co-workers are complete caricatures. Their karaoke scene was second-hand embarrassment. Shin-yu had no qualms about wrist-grabbing Hong-jo out of City Hall, so why didn't he sit next to her to make it obvious? Instead of banning workplace dating, Manager Ma needs to be telling them off for bullying Hong-jo like that. Obviously, Hong-jo will win the penalties pot by getting married first.

There's our perennial serial killer in a rom-com.

Thanks for the great recap @unit, its up to your usual hilarious standards, and thanks also to @attiton and @dncingemma for augmenting my evening laughs.

I have to be frank. I fought through episode 11, and my wife had to talk me out of shutting it off multiple times. I’m a 64 year old man. I don’t need to watch a show where EVERY ADULT is acting like a teenagerI I kept thinking: what if you were a citizen and knew that the ENTIRE CITY GOVERNMENT was staffed by immature 13 year olds, it would make you fear for the future of the community.

Episode 12 was better, although of course it’s the perfect setup for noble idiocy, a time skip, and a bittersweet ending to show just how meaningful, important and significant this drama which puts its female lead in a bear hoodie and has her shake her booty at the smirking lead.

But, there was one significant virtue of these episodes: they revealed what I was wondering about from the beginning: why the bloody hand? The question kept me up at night. It was the star of the drama, yet its origins and nature were mysterious.

But after that hotel scene and the two other times the leads were in bed fully clothed because of Shin-Yu’s reticence, it all became clear. The bloody hand only appears when Shin-yu is experiencing sexual desire. That can mean only one thing: it represents castration anxiety.
.
Okay, you are saying, this is way too Freudian. Psychology has long moved on from that sexist and disproven mythology. Yes, you are right. But this is a kdrama that looks to the Joseon era and magic spells for its inspiration. Crude Freudianism represents a step up in comparison.

Furthermore, learning the subconscious meaning of the bloody hand reveals the true nature of the curse, which, I hardly need note, only afflicts males in the family. Sure, the Dad was successful once to produce Shin-yu, but he now values a model ship over his wife. Why? The question answers itself. For some men, impotence results in a regression to childhood. Many studies, which I could look up on the Internet but don’t have time, establish this well known equivalence between sexual dysfunction and toy boats.

Here is my suggested conclusion for the show (not saying its happening, just putting it out there). Shin Yu sees a therapist and gets this message: “Look, its nothing to be embarrassed about. Plenty of men have this issue, and there are widely available medications that can help . Take a pill, approach the next encounter without anxiety, and you and Han-Jo will be back together in no time.” The show ends with Han-jo beginning to unzip her bear hoodie and Shin-Yu grabbing her hand and putting it to his face as they lovingly gaze at each other. Bonus: No awkward ending crouch for Rowoon!

Okay, most of what I was going to say has already been stated (and more eloquently, too, than I could) - so I’ll keep it short:

* I liked how episode 11 brought back some of the humor that we got in earlier episodes. The dynamic between OTP and Jaekyung was hilarious at times (the animal metaphors, lol), and it was a glimpse of dorky-fun-spellbound-Shinyu kind of comedy all over. 👏
* Episode 12 war then all over the place for me. The scene with Nayeon, affair guy and Shinyu fell flat for me. It felt petty, but at the same time Nayeon could not be convinced in any other way that - hello, your relationship is really, truly over. Why was her character written like your typical stereotype? 😐 There could have been much more to her role than this.
* The reversal of the “Secretary Kim office chair” scene was nice! They tried to work with the height difference 😉
* The last scene, while being shown abruptly, was beautifully shot. I so hope we will get to the bottom of the past storyline!

I like these episodes !

I found interesting how Hong-Jo’s loneliness was shown by her actions. She has no family, no friend, no colleague to spend time with. She loves her job and she loves leaving the office to be useful. It’s why she went in the middle of the forest to investigate. It’s her job and she loves it. She didn’t think about the stalker because he never attacked her directly until now.

It was stupid to lie to Shin-Yu but again, it was interesting to see how she doesn’t know what is to have someone who cares about you. Nobody did until now, nobody was worried if she ate alone, went home late, etc.

Her drunken state let her do everything she wanted, she told everything to her colleagues and she stuck to Shin-Yu like a little koala.

They both are falling in love and being a couple for the first time. Shin-Yu was just cosplaying with Na-Yeon. He likes to hold hand but only the person he really loves :p It was fun to see funny Hong-Jo back like when she tried to open the box when she tried every weird clothes or kissed him to get ride of the curse. Shin-Yu trying to tell she needs to tell him everything was very funny.

Someone was mentioning the lack of sex. But I didn’t mind because it’s their first real relationship for both of them and they take their time. The fact to sleep together is pretty intime too. It looks they have the same issue when they’re drunk, they sleep. But there is a biggest issue, it’s the red hand, I’m pretty sure it would appear at the worst of times!

For the past, it was interesting. The one who had a name died. Are you saying you were reincarnated I wonder if Aeng-Cho (shin-Yu didn't change, he still says the girl he loves is ugly when he knows it's the opposite!) entered in the body after the death of the girl in front of the shaman house, it’s why they took her there.
Her sentence whoever kills her will be cursed sounded more like a fact than a curse directly against Mu-Jin, she looked sad by it. I wonder if Mu-Jin tried to stop something for her and was ready to take the curse on him and his family until her reincarnation get back to the shrine. I liked how the curse took over the blood in the snow.

They didn’t remember the same scenes except the end… But I’m really curious about why she’s unique and why they couldn’t protect her.
We don’t know if the creepy gardener was in the past too. But he knows black magic and was interested in Hong-Jo.

Shin-Yu needs to get rid of the plant! He will be busy in the next episodes. He will have to convince Hong-Jo to not break-up (I’m pretty sure she will >_<), to understand the past and the curse, make sure the gardener go to the prison and fight against the Mayor, Na-Yeon and Haum Construction and their development project on Mont Onju. I hope this time, his father will listen to him if they own the land.

I was sorry for Jae-Gyeong and his father. I hope he will for a team with Shin-Yu and go against the project. But I wasn’t...

My thoughts at this point:

Here comes the unnecessary breakup/separation plot device. K drama writers need to go back to the drawing board. It’s lazy writing and as a viewer I will fast forward through the separation nonsense.

While one of the main reasons I love romantic k dramas is the lack of gratuitous sex, does anyone else realize that their only proper kiss was in the ML’s imagination. A young couple in love is exchanging real kisses…see Secretary Kim.

The FL’s female coworkers are annoying and not funny in the least. The romance between her 2 bosses is all a bit silly. Again to the writers, we don’t need side plots that are not entertaining and add nothing to the show.

Just tell a tight romantic story and more real kisses please!

I have come to realize this week how big of a factor food is in relation to me being able to enjoy this show.
Had a dental treatment last week and couldn't relax with my dinner for the episodes and it seriously soured the experience. And then this week, I can eat dinner and relax and voila! Enjoyed this a ton! Could also have to do with a comeback of the humour, an increase in the cuteness factor and overall joy of the OTP buut I do think good food is vital! For me. How odd.
Which is to say I enjoyed these episodes so much more than the last 2 and show is back to being my go to for 'brain-off-chill-and-winddown-over-weekend'. I wasn't even that miffed at Hong Joo's reckless behaviour! Though Destined - to get in trouble - with you seems very apt! 😂
Very happy to see red hand back in action and cant wait to dive into why she's so territorial and vengeful!

We’ve got 2 weeks left-4 episodes. How are they going to wrap up all these storylines in a comprehensive manner? From Garden Man and Na -Yeon’s dastardly deeds, to Mr. Gong & Ms. Ma, to the nasty co-workers, to Jae-kyung’s father issues, Shin-Yu’s parents and their troubles, to salvaging Hong-Jo’s reputation, to reconciling our OTP’s complicated past/present? We haven’t had any true forward movement in the story in weeks.
I wish I could say I was enjoying the show, but I’m mostly enjoying the visuals of our 2 male leads. Hong-Jo’s naïveté and timidity continues to be frustrating. Shin-Yu still treats Hong-Jo shabbily despite buying her an expensive bracelet. Beyond confronting Na-Yeon with her cheating and Garden Man getting arrested then released from custody, too many things are hanging out there. I’m definitely hanging on until the series wraps up, but Destined With You is another example (to me) of 2023’s lackadaisical year of kdramas.
Here’s hoping the writers can pull off wrapping up all the loose ends.

@Unit

Thank you for a lively review. The screencaps are spot on as usual, saving the best for the last ... frog prince and the princess!
👸 + 🐸 + 💋 = 🤴

While Jang Mu-jin is unlikely to have harmed Aeng-cho (despite the framing of the scene) perhaps another [as yet unknown male (!)] member of the Jang family is the culprit, resulting in the family being cursed.

Hopefully the "break up" will not be overstretched.

My first thought seeing the end scene was that he didn't want to kill her and her "Whoever kills me will be cursed" sealed it for me. Herr hands looked all weird. I feel like he had to kill her, not because he betrayed her, but maybe a mercy killing? Knowing that to save her he had to kill his love and take a curse upon himself.

I still like this drama but I'm starting to be more and more bothered by the loose seams:
- They NEVER call the police. At least take Hong-jo to the hospital! She fell in a giant hole!
- I think it's fakey that Hong-jo doesn't remember the gardener pushing her in.
- I hate Hong-jo's two coworkers, especially the one played by Lawyer Dan
- The third act breakup was obvious and feels so tired to me
- Please find a better excuse for them to be in the snow suddenly (for that admittedly cool transition) than an offhanded remark about Hong-jo wanting to see the snow with Sin-yu.

Also, I STILL think the red hand is caressing him romantically.

I have Zero Context for this BUT... Otters are one of my favourite animals. So.

I think I'm in the minority here, but I feel this week's episode were good? Like, I was genuinely surprised that there was good writing in *this* mess of a drama? The love triangles were put to bed (I hope), we got some progress with the (modern-day) villains, lots of cute moments and the writers even remembered that we need to deal with the Joseon storyline. Imagine if they had this pacing in the past 12 episodes.

OK, damned with faint praise and all that, I just enjoyed really our destined otter-giraffe couple having amazing chemistry and just being a wholesome couple. So ofc, they immediately break up because of past-lives based noble idiocy or something. My theory is that Aeng-cho went hog wild on some nobles (which is based tbh. if we can't eat the rich, at least we can hex them) and Mujin had to kill her to stop the rampage. And so, modern!Hongjo feels guilty, etc. etc.

Based on how old-school kdrama this show feels, I foresee a good old fashioned kimchi slap when Hongjo meets his dad down the road.

I do not think his hand on the knife and that entire last scene mean that Mu-jin killed Ang-cho. Why would he kill her and then sit with her in the snow while they both cry and she threatens him with a curse? I mean, OK, it looks bad, but would it look the same if he were trying to take the knife out?

I am embarrassed that it took me until this episode to recognize that the faithless Na-yeon was cheating with the guy who was driving Sin-yu crazy at the law firm. I can't believe I didn't make the connection. I didn't understand why they didn't sit and eat the dinner with his blessing. Was it only fun for her if she was cheating?

I really love the lead couple so much and their scenes are whats worth watching in this drama. I absolutely despise the editing and some parts of the directions of this drama. The flow of the story is missing so much in latter episodes and it is irritating to watch even with beautiful heartfelt scenes are put in between. A good flow of a story is really important for the character development and it attracts the viewers. First few episodes during the "Love Spell" era was good , but later on the editing, writing, character development ,everything is haywire.

I also hate the stupid co-workers in the City Hall. All they do is bully Hong Jo and Hong Jo still have not much of spine sadly. Even though she have said it that they are dating , still the cowokers of them treat her like trash. I wish jang shin Yu comes and says " I am dating her, I am her boyfriend, I am the one who liked her first and chased her first and will always keep on loving her and you people can do nothing about this " and takes Hong Jo is style with him,

I honestly have no idea why im still watching whatever this is. Yet another drama with a strong start and spiraled downwards fast.

These past few eps have been nothing but fillers upon fillers & cringe acting. The only time I had a visceral reaction was seeing Subway on screen.
But it looks like things would be picking up soon seeing how the past is unfolding. I'm just hoping creepy gardener guy would escape and cast more black magic spells to make the plot more interesting.

This drama really bombardier us with cuteness overload that I've never seen in other dramas.
The Frog kiss, Koala in the leg, chair reversal and I bet it will keep going in next episode.

I'm eager to see the full story of our couple in the pas, we know how it start and how it ends but how is the middle, what happen back then?

The shrine was to be maintained until the owner came back (HJ) to get her book
Book of curses may have the clue to breaking SJ’s curse
Cursing the Jang male line enables her to find him
Her murder way back in Joseon times is not what it seems, suspect that garden dude may have played a part…does he have shamanic abilities….
Thoughts anyone’s?

Maybe I missed it but did they explain why the curse doesn't effect his father or grandfather (I think he was shown in 1st of 2nd episode when shin yu goes the his uncles funeral) . I think the show implied that all men in the family are effected and die early but his father and grandfather seem fine. So does it effect only some?

I'm still waiting for an explanation of why SinYu was in hospital after being found in parking lot passed out by NaYeon.

While i almost skipped and fast-forward the whole ep. 11, I enjoy Jae-kyung and Shin-yu's not-so-friendly banter from the sunrise dock until the kitchen.. theyre cute 😂 way cuter than the couple.