Destined With You: Episodes 11-12
by Unit
Our OTP is finally in their dating era, and I’m here for it. Lordy, those two are about to smother me with their sweetness! But the sweetness also comes with side dishes of an emboldened stalker, an office scandal, a near-death experience, and the return of forgotten memories.
EPISODES 11-12
We pick up from where we left off last week, with Red Hand’s return. Shin-yu is quite startled, but he plays off the moment to a worried Hong-jo. On a more exciting note, it’s our OTP’s official first day as a couple, and it’s new year’s eve to boot!
Step 1 of the new couple activity manual: Get a makeover (bear hoodie for the win!). Step 2: Spend the night together — just holding hands. (Get a grip, @Unit! What did you think was going to happen?) Step 3: See the sunrise together (her new year’s day tradition with her dad. May his soul rest in peace). Step 4: Run into Jae-kyung. Oops! Step 5: Invite him over for breakfast and make him cook. He did say that he’s good at cooking and cleaning. Step 6: Act cute around each other and make Jae-kyung lose his appetite. Loool. They’re adorable!
But the more adorable our OTP is, the more betrayed Jae-kyung feels. “How could you [be all lovey dovey] in front of the house? It hasn’t been 100 days since you said you liked me,” a drunk Jae-kyung says to Hong-jo. And she corrects him — having a crush on him is not the same as liking him. Ouch! “You guys don’t look good together. Your height difference is too much.” He continues, and lol! I like drunk Jae-kyung, he’s cute. Unfortunately, when Jae-kyung and Hong-jo leave for work the next morning, Garden Man in all his stalkery glory gets a shot of them, and sends the picture as a present to Na-yeon.
Speaking of sending presents, a potted plant is sent to Shin-yu courtesy of Na-yeon (and Garden Man — who buried the black magic spell items in the pot). Sigh. Shin-yu, weren’t you taught to never accept gifts from strangers? Fine, Na-yeon isn’t exactly a stranger, but the point still stands. Anyway, Shin-yu scolds Na-yeon for playing the daddy card in trying to transfer Hong-jo out of City Hall. “I chased her around first. I liked her first. So take your anger out on me.” In other words, Na-yeon, pick on someone your own size.
Shin-yu informs his doctor that his tactile hallucinations (a.k.a. Red Hand) are back — not that there’s any medical explanation that can account for his curse. As Shin-yu reflects on the curse, Shaman Eun-wol’s words about him killing the owner of the bloody hand floats across his mind.
Shin-yu also recollects a memory of his past life where he wrote a letter to his descendants: “A terrible curse has been cast upon me which will be passed down for generations. I feel sorry. 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?
While being haunted by these memories, Shin-yu asks Hong-jo what she’d do if he was her mortal enemy in the past. Without skipping a beat, Hong-jo replies that she’d break up with him right away, but she’s just kidding. “What matters is the present,” she says, but Shin-yu can’t be too sure. He makes her promise him that she won’t change her mind, and seals their deal with matching bangles. You didn’t need to cuff her, but okay, detective Shin-yu, you do you.
The picture of Hong-jo and Jae-kyung outside their house, as well as one with her and Shin-yu, is posted on City Hall’s online bulletin board, and Hong-jo is tagged a promiscuous woman for fooling around with two men. Tsk. Seriously, these guys at City Hall don’t have better things to do with their time. Hong-jo confronts Na-yeon, but the latter denies posting the picture. “Why would I do that? I still don’t think Shin-yu and I broke up,” Na-yeon insists. And the gold medal for freestyle swimming in the Nile goes to Yoon Na-yeon! Congratulations on maxing out your delulu points, sis.
As it turns out, Na-yeon’s fellow delulu, Garden Man, has been fleecing City Hall with overinflated budgets. Why is he the Park Maintenance Team’s go-to gardener in the first place? Apparently, his wife went missing five years ago, and he was investigated as a suspect. He was acquitted of the charges, but he became a drunken mess due to the rumors that he murdered his wife. The manager of the team back then felt bad for him, so they decided to help him by giving him landscaping contracts. In the present, after learning about Garden Man’s underhand dealings, the team decides to work with another contractor going forward.
Unfortunately, switching contractors starts off a series of strange events. First, a tree in the park suddenly dies. Next, they find human bones while digging up and relocating the tree. Unsurprisingly, we learn that Garden Man was one of the contractors who took part in creating the park five years ago — around the time his wife went missing. The alarm bells go off in Shin-yu’s head that Hong-jo is in danger. And truly, my good sis received a complaint about a pit that was dug up at Mount Onju, and went to check it out alone. *Facepalm*
Hong-jo is just about to pick up Shin-yu’s phone call when Garden Man appears from behind and pushes her into the pit. Well, well, well, not everyone has the luxury of knowing where they’ll be buried. Welp! “I didn’t want to go this far. Why did you have to date another guy?” Garden Man muses, as he starts shovelling sand back into the pit. Thankfully, he doesn’t get to finish up the job, as he gets a call from Shin-yu informing him that bones were found in the park.
In the pit, Hong-jo has flashbacks to her past life. Apparently, she used to be nameless until Joseon Shin-yu (who went by JANG MU-JIN back then) gave her the name, AENG-CHO (a confirmation that she’s indeed the author of the spell book). It’s late at night when Shin-yu finally finds Hong-jo. As he reaches to pull her out of the pit, she has flashes of a similar scene in their past life, and she wonders if it’s all a dream. No, sis, these are your memories!
The excavation of human bones hits the news, and Mr. Gong informs the rest of the team that Garden Man is Shin-yu’s primary suspect. Our fearless OTP run into each other at Garden Man’s place, and Shin-yu scolds Hong-jo for coming there on her own. Like he’s any better! Seriously, are you two acting out an episode of Destined (to Get Into Trouble) With You? Sigh. I don’t know what they were expecting to find there, but the place is locked and Garden Man is nowhere in sight. But out of sight isn’t out of mind for Garden Man, as he watches them through his security camera from the comfort of his lair.
Shin-yu eventually gets into trouble when Ms. Red visits him in the elevator at work, and Hong-jo finds him collapsed on the elevator floor. She rushes him to the hospital, and he tells her to go home because he doesn’t want her to see him in his weak and sickly state. Hong-jo is reluctant to leave, but she does. And when she goes through the spell book to see if there’s anything she can do about Shin-yu’s condition, she has flashes of her past self writing the book. Still, it doesn’t click that these are her memories.
Mr. Mayor and Shin-yu’s dad stubbornly forge ahead with their children’s marriage plans, and it’s time for Shin-yu to play his final card. He calls Na-yeon out for dinner — and no, they’re not getting back together as she hopes. They’re getting a guest, instead. Oh look who it is. It’s Hyun-seo! It’s hilarious how Hyun-seo and Na-yeon act brand new around each other, but they’re not fooling anyone. Shin-yu already knows they were having an affair. How? He saw Hyun-seo’s reflection in one of Na-yeon’s selfies while she was on a date with Hyun-seo. Oops!
By the way, detective Shin-yu brought them to the same restaurant and sat them down on the same table they dined at. He even remembers the exact date and time Na-yeon took the selfie. Lol. He did say that he has a photographic memory. “You look great together,” Shin-yu compliments the cheating duo, and I love his wicked sense of humor. Na-yeon, in turn, tells her dad that it’s really over between her and Shin-yu, but she says she wants to give him a parting gift. How very ominously generous of her.
Speaking of dads, we finally meet Jae-kyung’s dad, and he demands 30 million won to disappear from Jae-kyung’s life. Who wants to bet that it’s not his first time pulling this type of stunt? Coincidentally, Mr. Mayor instructs a reluctant Jae-kyung to give a development project at Mount Onju to Haum Construction (Hyun-seo’s company) in exchange for 30 billion won — and of course, Jae-kyung will get a cut from the money. So, did the drama hype up Jae-kyung’s daddy issues for this kickback plot? That’s kinda disappointing.
The bones are identified as Garden Man’s missing wife’s, and he is arrested. But somehow, I’m still not relieved. After a team dinner, 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. Lol. They end up in bed (doing nothing, of course), and when Hong-jo wakes, she reaches out for Shin-yu’s face… and it’s memory flash time. Aeng-cho and Mu-jin are in a snowy field. From the look of things, she’s hurt, and her blood-stained hand reaches out to him.
Shin-yu wakes up to find himself alone in bed, but before he loses his mind over Hong-jo’s disappearance, she calls him to pick her up at shaman Eun-wol’s place. “Do you want to see the snow with me?” she asks, and you can tell that something has changed in her demeanor. “I’ll be honest,” she says, “I saw something I didn’t want to see.” Grasping at straws, Shin-yu reminds Hong-jo about her promise to keep the past in the past. But he’s the one who flinches when she reaches out for his face. “The blood hand. Did you know that it was me?” Hong-jo asks, and we return to the past.
Mu-jin and Aeng-cho are on their knees in the snow, and he grips a knife in her guts. “Whoever kills me will be cursed,” Aeng-cho sputters at a tearful Mu-jin, and that’s where we wrap up for the week.
The plot thickens, guys. Now we see for sure that Shin-yu killed Hong-jo in the past. But why? It seemed like he didn’t want to do it. Aigoo. My poor OTP just can’t catch a break. They’re finally official and their past life has come in like a wrecking ball. In the present, Garden Man gets released and for sure, he’s coming to add his own havoc to the mix.
As for our side couple, we get an interesting tidbit that Eun-young is Mr. Gong’s first love. However, Eun-young doesn’t want to date him and she doesn’t want him to date someone else either. Sure, she’s got relationship PTSD from her ex-husband, but is that a good reason to hold Mr. Gong hostage in an undefined relationship? The push and pull game is getting stale, so make up your mind, ma’am.
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Tags: Destined With You, Ha Joon, Jo Boa, Kim Ro-woon, Lee Pil-mo, Yura
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1 Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 5:06 PM
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?
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 5:07 PM
*your weecap, @unit…*
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 5:19 PM
Atta girl (woman!). I knew you would be waiting for this!
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 5:25 PM
I’m super-predictable, Emma. It’s one of my most endearing qualities! You never need “wonder” what I’m thinking because what you read is what you get with me…for better, or for worse.
Now…tell me…what did YOU think of these episodes??? I’ve been enjoying our tussles about this show!!!
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 5:33 PM
I believe you have other endearing qualities!
I know you get irritated with my jabs but I also like this drama contrary to your beliefs!
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 5:42 PM
I wonder if female actors still need to be careful not to look like they are enjoying being kissed as Jo Boah was dead fish kissing but Rowoon had his eyes closed and seemed to be enjoying it.
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 5:48 PM
She can enjoy things in his fantasy, at any rate. Baby steps.
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 5:53 PM
Thanks for that Gif!
Feminist KD scholars should and could write many articles about why a decent kiss only occurs in a fantasy sequence as far as the female protagonist is concerned!
Enigmah
September 29, 2023 at 5:55 PM
JBA kissed a lot in other dramas.. have you watched stethoscope kiss in forest.. it’s literally hot and also with LDW.. I observed all kissed are focusing on Rowoon more .. is it because of more unique shape or they are waiting for last eps?
Also with Rowoon, the BtS shows JBA point of view.. in fact I loved the BTS more since she keeps laughing, Rowoon loses patience and says fast fast so she hits him to get back into position !
indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 8:06 PM
@enigmah There’s a lot of fan service going on as @elinor already mentioned. It hasn’t overwhelmed the show yet, but it is distracting at times. Oddly enough I noticed it at the doctor’s office. Who sits like that? Oh right. Rowoon at a photo shoot.
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 8:10 PM
Enigmah: Please post those BTS links so that I don’t have to google them. Thank you!
Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 6:20 AM
https://youtu.be/CIfxuLUwv_c?si=-6stM_tXo_XhKmob
Timestamp from 4:10
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 6:05 PM
Haha re the Subway PPL. Btw, what happened to the little boy who spoke like a little old man and gave advice?
Also and obviously, I much rather have seen the shaman to shaman scene/s rather than the execrable scenes with the 2 hideous co-workers. If only there was a spell to silence them.
And, Jaekyung was indeed cute until he seemed to be thinking about how useful his cut of the kickback would be.
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 6:14 PM
I’m an unapologetic Jae-kyung, um, apologist, at this point. I’m voting that he will not take that blood money and instead will pretend to be on board with the mayor’s despicable plans (Na-yeon, I’m here for you too—your dad is BAD news). Eventually…he will become one of the catalysts that keeps our OTP on track.
It pains me to say this, but I can’t help but want my Jae-kyung to be unabashedly stuck between both good actions…and good intentions. He’s so amazing. Wait for the gifs. Even drunk he’s perfect, worried about what happens to love when it is fleeting...oh right…no SLS here.
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 6:23 PM
Don’t you think I know your SLS fever? I have no objection to this so don’t get mad!
But I’ll pick a fight with you over Nayeon. She is hideous and I have zero sympathy for her. Btw, have you noticed how some Korean female actors have this very rigid (it is not the right word but can’t think of a better one now) way of speaking? The actor playing Nayeon is one of them.
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 6:38 PM
Nope. She’s the best. I hear you, but respectfully disagree.
She should have thought twice before storming out on Chaebol Construction Dude. Yes, she should have done that. But all of her carefully constructed plans for a safe future had just gone up in smoke because she didn’t imagine that her lover would be spotted in a reflection in a glass case.
She only has so much foresight, and she only has so much power as a pawn in her father’s power game.
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 6:40 PM
Yikes! Nope, nope, nope. Let’s agree to disagree on this and carry on.
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 6:45 PM
So you know, I still (Internet) love you despite disagreeing with you!🥰
Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:41 AM
@dncingemma Oh, at this point, we’ve been through k-drama thick and thin so many times, we’re connected for life. Don’t you worry, you’re also very stuck with me in this Internet love.
DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 5:06 AM
@attiton: Life is transitory and cruel so I will hold you to your lovely Internet promise.
sonai
September 29, 2023 at 11:27 PM
I second your predictions for Jaekyung! Of course the dad scene only appeared so there will be a “believable” setup where the bribe money would be of any consequence for him. (He would have refused straight away, if it wasn’t for his dad. He’s a good guy after all…) Soooo, we are made believe that he’s tempted.
Really looking forward how this will play out!
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:44 AM
The dad scene! @sonai has brought up one of the more important points of episode 12!!! We’ve learned a/the central reason why Shin-yu simply wouldn’t dump Na-yeon.
Na-yeon’s Mayor dad is in cahoots with Shin-yu’s a$$hole father. I guess their family needs more (or is out of) money so they want to develop the site on Mount Onju?? Interesting how the city government wasn’t trying to tear down the shrine, though…
sonai
September 30, 2023 at 5:35 AM
@attiton Trope as old as time/Victorian novels: “The family is out of money, so the children have to marry for the sake of business connections” - ooooh yes. My bet was on this since it became clear that Nayeon was cheating on Shinyu - but just wouldn’t leave him. 😩
🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 30, 2023 at 9:53 AM
While I'm not a Jae-kyung apologist, I do believe the shaman lady’s comment “He is honest and strong” to be an accurate character description.
It is unlikely that he would accept any kickbacks ... but he does seem to work closely with the Mayor so ... iffy?
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Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 6:50 PM
"There’s lots of time to turn👏this👏ship👏around." THIS @attiton, this. Hang on to this belief. @ceciliedk said it here https://www.dramabeans.com/2023/09/open-thread-832/#comment-4124197
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indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 7:20 PM
Sometimes premonitions (past life visions too) can lead us astray. I might have been shocked too if I’d seen Episode 12 ending first. But watching the episode first, I did feel it led up to that moment. And there’s been plenty of foreshadowing during the show earlier. It just speaks to the power of the scene (which is quite lacking elsewhere).
I do agree Hong-Jo’s scene with the shaman should have been shown. I don’t know why the show keeps cutting out critical moments. We might see it later as a flashback. But then again with this show…
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Exactly! We clearly need more scenes with the shrieking colleagues so that they can humiliate themselves even more and further push (my) buttons.
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
September 29, 2023 at 7:35 PM
I would give anything for a spell to make them mute. I bet their other coworkers would, too - they keep doing great little reaction shots in the background, rolling their eyes or edging away, whenever Shrieking Sunbae #1 has an outburst.
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 7:39 PM
I am imagining how fun and merited a scene/or 10 of them being silences would have been. Dashed hopes.
DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 11:22 AM
https://www.dramabeans.com/members/CecilieDK/activity/1462654/
DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 2:57 PM
Comment was deleted
sonai
September 29, 2023 at 11:35 PM
Agreed… I’d have loved to see the conversation between shaman and Hongjo. It will surely be shown in flashbacks, but at this point it’s really kind of frustrating, how the major facts are just slowly dripping in. The last scene was not unexpected, that’s for sure - but put too abruptly into the story. I would have liked to be eased into that story arc… Then again, that’s not what the show ever did or does, lol 😂
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:51 AM
Yes, abrupt. Thank you @sonai for the right word. The show dawdles on the city government shriekers, but then abruptly drops us into high-sageuk-level-drama.
Still love this show, tho. 😉
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sonai
September 30, 2023 at 10:30 AM
Who wouldn’t? We’re in too deep now.
It’s like in “Indiana Jones”, where we’ve entered the tunnel that sounds like “walking on popcorn”. No way I’m turning back now. (Dad jokes apologist, excuse me while I show myself out…)
Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:49 AM
Right, in the end, I made a mistake, didn’t I (watching the end first).
I knew it was coming from the foreshadowing of the other episodes (and my own gifs), but I still don’t feel that episode 12 itself led up to it. But, then again, I appear to have been the only grown adult who absolutely adored all the silliness of episode 11, so what powers of analysis do I really have??
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indyfan
September 30, 2023 at 6:42 AM
I often read the ends of books first. And I'd give my left arm (or Jiang Zhan's perhaps?) to know the end of this show. So I'll cast no stones.
As for appreciating 11, a minority perhaps, but certainly not alone. And it's the divergence that makes all this fun.
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 29, 2023 at 9:47 PM
Omo ... same, strangely enough I too was moved to bwatch the last 5 mins first!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 30, 2023 at 9:25 AM
Thank you for your thoughtfully moderated comments Seon-ha. We love you and we love you in all your unfiltered glory even more!
💖
Yes the ship will turn around ... and "show correct". The way you use language is beautifully inspiring.
Looking forward to your gif-ssay!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 30, 2023 at 9:33 AM
@attiton
@DncingEmma
Thank you for stirring the pot and livening up the thread. We are all in awe of your expert comments which we enjoy along with buttered and salted popcorn.
🍿 🛋 🍿
May the entertainment continue ...
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2 DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 5:31 PM
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.
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indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 7:30 PM
But no. It was an octopus clinging a giraffe leg. It did not want to be a bear pairing with an otter.
(Best use of height difference 😂)
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Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 8:04 PM
Absolute gem, this scene was!😂
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 12:21 AM
A giraffe dog of some kind. Because he is a dog.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:51 AM
Greyhound?
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 5:24 AM
Nah, he's like a cute dog. Big or middle size, but with emphasis on loyalty, eagerness, whimping, and doggie eyes.
DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 8:07 PM
Hey all, Please excuse my past and future typos!
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 12:59 AM
It's a horrible place to make a typo! My MO is making mistakes and then posting, gasping and go back and correct them. Only here, you can't correct, so if you're that kind of person, people will think you don't know the third person singular needs an S one their verbs and spell thingd in weird ways .
It's not fair, reallay.
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SooHa
October 1, 2023 at 7:59 PM
and I'm thinking about Koala in the tree LoL
I often called my kids Koala when they hugging my hubby long leg XD
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3 Enigmah
September 29, 2023 at 5:47 PM
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
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4 Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 6:33 PM
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! 😘
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Seon-ha
September 29, 2023 at 6:42 PM
But what about, um…the last, um, scene??
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Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 6:57 PM
Haha, just above... Come on, you said it yourself, tragedy in ep 12 is hardly a tragedy! They do need 4 more hours of story, and I don't think we can tolerate unmitigated lovey-dovey like the side-by-side phone call, much though I love Rowoon and recently, Jo BoAh.!
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 4:54 AM
Oh god, don’t remind me of that phone call.
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 5:51 AM
Yea, that WAS a cringe-fest!
5 luminus
September 29, 2023 at 6:50 PM
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.
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6 indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 7:01 PM
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.
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
September 29, 2023 at 7:26 PM
A lot of episode 11 felt like lazy filler, with the writer plugging in a bunch of off-the-shelf scenes we've all seen a hundred times: beach outing, coincidental appearance of and forced proximity with the SML, shopping, chaste sleeping together, nosy work bullies demanding information, noisy noraebang outing, the nasty SFL issuing threats, villain villaining, and the FL damseling herself (aka being too stupid to live). It was very pretty and pretty boring.
Both episodes were a see-saw of plot progress and FL regression to thoughtlessness or obtuseness, which plagues so many drama FLs in mid-later episodes. But I agree that the final scene was more than sufficiently foreshadowed - it came off as inevitable, and was gorgeously framed. Although the break-up is annoying, it's better in ep. 12 than 15.
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indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 7:47 PM
I completely agree. I oscillate between pity and irritation with Hong-Jo. That naïveté is excessive. As said on the fan wall, she needs a spell to get a backbone or therapy for her self-esteem issues. Set boundaries with those awful colleagues and those petulant boys. Find a hobby. Join a meetup or something…
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Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 8:22 PM
"Hi, I am Hong-Jo and I hate giving offense". Invertebrates Anonymous meeting #1550😀
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bbstl 🧹
September 29, 2023 at 8:50 PM
Every once in a while she shows some smarts and backbone and even sarcasm and I have hope! And then they go back to writing her as so naive and unwilling to even be honest, much less rock the boat. I understand that we’re supposed to sympathize due to her lifelong loneliness but, well, it’s inconsistent at best.
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 6:01 AM
I agree. Love her interactions with NaYeon, tad masochistic of her, but she does gives back. But what does it take for her to push back like that? I think she keeps hoping for the longest time that people will be friends, so keeps trying to please, till something finally snaps.
jerrykuvira
September 30, 2023 at 3:48 AM
She definitely needs to be induction into MLN's Liberation Club, except those people will only provide thoughts and guide but without a nudge. She needs to do better. As a FL and as a character, I find Hong-joo annoying and excessively a pushover. It's really bad that the only time I find her tolerable on screen is when she's sharing it with the guys.
Eun-young putting her foot down for Hong-joo's behalf was nice. I was expecting her to step up on that and speak for herself. Now it seems like Eun-young chastised them for nothing.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:00 AM
I think it might be because I spend so much time cutting frames of Hong-Jo out of my gifs—and noticing that I am doing that—but she’s actually pretty expendable to the plot.
It bothers me a great deal as a real-human, but as a fan-human, it does not. I don’t care if she’s naive or dumb or has no sense of self-preservation, because if not her, someone else just like her.
I think that’s why I’m literally alone in my affection for Na-yeon. At least she’s a real woman doing what some real women actually do from an internal drive to live her life. Hong-jo’s a shell of some type waiting to be filled up by men, I guess. She doesn’t interest me.
Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 6:30 AM
She is kind to people, her level of tolerance is different for each…she experienced a lot with SFL, that’s why she shows her stance to her clearly..while she just talks with colleague trying to clear misunderstandings…
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7 lapislazulii
September 29, 2023 at 7:43 PM
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).
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lapislazulii
September 29, 2023 at 7:44 PM
dang lol formatting error pls ignore the fact that half of it is italicised
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:07 AM
OK. I’m with you (you know that), but do you have it in you to imagine what, if anything, could happen that would be super-exciting??
Let’s get our fanfic ideas out there…I know you’re really inventive on these things, Lapis? How could this show thrill you?
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8 kiddeo
September 29, 2023 at 7:44 PM
the first few back and forth episodes kind of remind me of Dooms at Your Service and current small flashbacks do feels like Bulgasal. But this story is lacking a found family and i believes Hong Jo needs it
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Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 10:24 PM
I swear! If only the Greenways bunch had decided early on to be her friends, any scenes with them would not have been as irritating. For example, in Business Proposal, the team decides to have her back when a "scandal" breaks. Feels wholesome! To adapt a quotation, side characters are like the zero in mathematics, valueless by themselves, but able to add a great deal to the value of others.
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9 Kathryn51
September 29, 2023 at 7:59 PM
"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".
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 8:46 PM
It might just be that shamanism (surprise!) is not like good science able to accurately predict future outcomes, and the writers were trying to get people to infer that from all the other dodgy bits of the narrative.
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 2:06 AM
But we are talking about generations. It's not like she said all the pain would end right now.
I wonder if we will have to wait ten years for good fortune, but I am quite certain Hong-jo will spend a lot of time with Good Boy Doggie.
https://imgur.com/QKxTOzp
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10 Kathryn51
September 29, 2023 at 8:17 PM
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.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:14 AM
They really do look good together. Shin-yu was wasting his cutting sarcasm…
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 9:28 PM
I didn't feel it was sarcasm, felt like he was just happy to be finally shot of NY, and was smirking because they walked into his 'trap'. I mean they could have just said they knew each other before, instead of pretending otherwise. But yeah, in that case the swag payoff might not have happened, so... not complaining.
Now witer should make NY just chill and get with the good looking moneyman who knows her natural self and is fine with it, instead of learning relationship names for a guy who won't hold hands. And leave the otp alone, don't add another doodah to the plot. Mean SLs are out of fashion!
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11 Semma Vetti
September 29, 2023 at 8:17 PM
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?)
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DancingEmma
September 29, 2023 at 8:48 PM
And, dad scene transitions. It is abrupt and a tad bonkers.
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indyfan
September 29, 2023 at 8:51 PM
Have I mentioned I loved that last scene? Of course, at first, much like the Ep. 10 beach scene, I wondered why they chose to go to such a distant, uncomfortable locale. Wouldn't it be cozier Hong-Jo to talk at a coffeeshop or something? Lots of people nearby as well. Less chance of Shin-yu making a fuss over the break-up, or you know, stabbing you again. Also, you are not dressed appropriately (again) for the weather or the terrain.
But details-shmeetails. Unlike the beach scene (@Gikata), the call back was on point and beautiful. And the actors did well to convey the depth of emotions in so few words, such little time. I understand why Seon-ha was so impacted by it. Tho I should know better, I have developed a flicker of expectation of the show again.
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bbstl 🧹
September 29, 2023 at 8:56 PM
Yes. A painful lack of Eun Wol conversation this week 😠
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DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 1:15 AM
Yes! Unless the actor was not available, we should not have been deprived of that shaman to shaman convo scene.
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12 Bunny Sonaki
September 29, 2023 at 9:02 PM
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.
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13 panshel
September 29, 2023 at 9:13 PM
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.
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 1:09 AM
Oh, he is fully intent on being uncomfortably present! I even suspect him of imitating that helplessness that worked so well for Shin-yu.
And in the margins: It's obvious he doesn't like them to be together, but it can be contemplated whether his rival is really Shin-yu or maybe rather Hong-jo.
You know, he would have been happy about her confession if it weren't for "who he is", as he said at the time.
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DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 1:18 AM
Won’t it be great if he has the hots for Shinyu? If so, they better not kill him or turn him into a tragic figure!
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DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 3:56 AM
Yes, please no "The Gay Dies In The End".
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:19 AM
I’m voting that they become besties. It wouldn’t bother me if they were lovers, but they’d have a LONG way to go to get there.
Closer at hand (cf. the scene where JK made food and only cared if SY liked it) is a real friendship. Both of them could use a bonafide friend right now who knows all of what’s going on.
DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 9:53 AM
I don't think Shin-yu is okay.
DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 9:55 AM
NO! I wanted to say not gay!
panshel
September 30, 2023 at 2:01 PM
I agree that Shin-yu is not okay (and I meant okay).
DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 5:20 AM
@attiton: Most def will support that!
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 9:37 PM
I like this thought. Regardless of his orientation though, he is always interested in ShinYu ( even when he was scouting him, he said something like you used to play basketball outside the library, whereas SY hardly knew him). And as @attiton says, he is looking for SY's reaction to the food!
Yup, I ship their friendship. Add Gi-dong too, poor guy, as a third wheel.
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14 hacja
September 29, 2023 at 11:08 PM
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!
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
September 30, 2023 at 12:01 AM
No lie, it took me a few hours to get through these episodes, because I kept hitting pause on the middle-school dipshittery and screeching and working off my annoyance with housecleaning. And gin.
As for the rest, well ... no doubt you have done extensive research, but if it comes down to gender coding and sexual symbolism I'll take spells over Freudianism any day. And if we're going to have a bittersweet ending, I like mine better:
It will eventually be revealed that the spells can’t reverse what happened in the past. SY has genuinely fallen in love with HJ, but his illness isn’t cured. She vows to stay with him as long as he lives. We see touching scenes of them walking on the beach or him sitting by her side under a blanket as his illness progresses and she nurses him through his final days, until at last he weakly gasps out a bunch of solemn nonsense about being happy she’d made his heart beat faster and succumbs to the curse of the Jangs. The end. But no! Then comes a 20-second epilogue with them gazing dreamily at each other in some place suggestive of the afterlife while they say in voiceover “your fates cannot be severed.” Cue throwing sofa cushions at the screen and getting second helpings of gin.
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DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 1:23 AM
Elinor! That is cruel yet might actually happen. But who would actually write an ending that kills Rowoon??
Part of your ending gave me “Uncontrollably Fond” vibes. Terrible drama in many ways but Kim Woobin was just glorious in it. I’m not embarrassed to say I can’t rewatch the ending without bawling my eyes out. I’m in a cult of enforced sadness.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:23 AM
@elinor I’m just ignoring all of your last paragraph. What sort of world are you willing into existence? What internal struggles are you working out through this fiction??? 😂
It might be 8:23am, but where’s MY gin?
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DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 5:28 AM
I’d like a G&T too, please!
Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:24 AM
Um. Emma? Do you not remember a certain drama from this summer? At all??
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DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 5:27 AM
I do (sob sob) but Rowoon has mega star power according to that interview with the bad pics!
Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:30 AM
WAIT, are you starting a fight about who’s the bigger star, 2PM’s Taecyeon or (no-longer-in-a-band) Rowoon???
Not wise, Emma, not…wise… 🤭
DancingEmma
September 30, 2023 at 5:33 AM
@attiton: who, me? No way! I just got you onside.
DK-Drama 🫘 Giffing n Space Cadetting🍉🌱
September 30, 2023 at 1:14 AM
Honestly, I laughed and then not about the 13-year-old City Hall Workers.
Our mayor a few years ago had to go because people started talking publicly about how he groped women around him.
He and several other top politicians had, after worrying their political base with repeatedly being a nuisance, had a babysitter task force attached to them at parties, to prevent them for bothering women and girls at parties. And even that with limited success, apparently.
So like, with the libido of a grown-up and the maturity of a drunk 13-year-old.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:38 AM
This is the best mic drop I've heard in ages, @hacja, no fear of castration necessary.
However, now that the thought is here with us...now all I will ever be able think of when being shown images of Joseon Shin-yu's hand on that stump of a knife handle jabbed into Joseon Hong-jo's goddamned womb, is that this is actually a scene showing his own castration.
And I will have a ridiculous smile on my face while watching.
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bbstl 🧹
September 30, 2023 at 7:22 AM
It makes me crazy that SY’s Dr. puts him through multiple scans and an MRI while saying that if they can’t find a physical problem, SY will have to resort to -horrors!- seeing a psychiatrist! What could be worse than that? Oy, Korea and mental health, 🤦🏼♀️
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 9:43 PM
😂 If they made this ending, they would have my unending admiration😂😂 Thanks for the thought @hacja
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15 sonai
September 29, 2023 at 11:52 PM
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!
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 5:43 AM
I loooved episode 11, so glad not to be totally alone, @sonai. I’m taking votes now—do I post a Fan Wall gif geyser or not? I am actually getting the impression that folks might be done thinking about these episodes…
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 30, 2023 at 5:48 AM
Your fanwall gifs are 🔥 🔥 🔥
Please do give us all you want!
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SP2022
September 30, 2023 at 9:37 AM
Agreed! 🔥
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Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 7:30 AM
I love last 2 eps , it got some very cute moments and so natural..so you have my vote lol..
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sonai
September 30, 2023 at 10:23 AM
The couple moments were definitely novel & gif worthy in these eps! 😇
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 10:25 AM
It's up, @sonai ;)
See you over there?
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 9:45 PM
I am not! I am evolving theories about the spell book, but I am telling myself not to obsess. Please post your gifs, to get me to Wednesday!
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16 Kurama
September 30, 2023 at 12:01 AM
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...
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Kurama
September 30, 2023 at 12:09 AM
...But I wasn’t sorry for him because of Hong-Jo. He had all the time to date Hong-Jo before Shin-Yu came in her life. He always knews she had feelings for him because of her red cheeks and even if he didn’t know, she took the courage to tell him and he rejected her. So he can’t complain she changed her mind. He was an idiot, he needs to assume!
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Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 6:51 AM
Exactly…you have articulated better…I don’t know why there is so complains about HongJo, she is result of her environmental upbringing as she never had anyone…for me everything she does make sense..even the giggling on phone call…lol..it reminds me of my early relationship days…
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KdramaKdrama
September 30, 2023 at 1:31 PM
@kurama I feel like Hong jo didn't intentionally lie to SY about falling in the pit. From the look on her face when she answered (she didn't look guilty) I'm sure she thought she had tripped. She only went to check the CCTV after her colleagues were talking about the bones buried under the tree and Gardenman being a suspect.
I also don't mind the lack of sex, I like that they are going slow. It will be cool if they do down the line but right now they are just enjoying each other. I like their little kisses and the scene Hong jo took the initiative in his office and locked the door (my first thought was "there is another door, go lock that too! 😀).
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Kurama
September 30, 2023 at 1:51 PM
I think she had doubts before. But it's not really important. She understood she's not alone anymore now.
For the sex, it's not like they didn't mention it. The first night, Shin-Yu was pretty clear when he told her she should sleep otherwise he would take action. I like their intimacy for now, how he kisses her in her sleep, puts her her hari back, hold her hand, etc. But again, the red hand already stopped a kiss scene, so it would be weird if it appears in hot scene :p
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Semma Vetti
September 30, 2023 at 9:51 PM
Nicely written @kurama!
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SooHa
October 1, 2023 at 8:16 PM
I agree for most of you said here.
I think Aeng-Cho is a great saman that everyone who kills her will be cursed but Mu-Jin 'sacrifice' himself and his family by killing her, for whatever reason it is. Maybe the Joseon King order him or something else because Aeng-Cho is dangerous saman. Their scene in the snow really touching and I love to see both expression.
Their story seems tragic even though is start so sweet. I hope out modern couple doesn't end like them. I'm pretty sure Hong Jo wants to break up because she makes Shin Yu suffer from the curse.
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17 Olivedreams
September 30, 2023 at 3:26 AM
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!
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Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 6:37 AM
We don’t know what shaman said…it’s a curse from her to him…she literally saw him withering with pain 3 times and admitted to hospital when he was found unconscious..generally i don’t like routine breakup but it makes sense in this scenario..it’s a ill fated destiny they are said they can’t change..
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18 Miju
September 30, 2023 at 7:23 AM
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!
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19 ScreenName
September 30, 2023 at 8:50 AM
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.
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20 🌸 Seeker 🌸
September 30, 2023 at 9:14 AM
@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.
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21 imzadi
September 30, 2023 at 10:07 AM
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.
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Enigmah
September 30, 2023 at 8:36 PM
I am not into Korean historical dramas, but someone commented her hair is of married woman….is gardener really related to her.. also the sentence person who had name died.. is a dead person brought to the home of shaman and there was souls transfer?
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Kathryn51
October 1, 2023 at 11:59 AM
I'm glad there is someone else who believes he truly killed her. From the beginning - and apparently confirmed in the "fictional" Joseon annals - Jang Mu-Jin killed the "owner of the bloody hand" who we have confirmed was Aeng-cho.
When she wrote the book of spells, she knew she was near the end of her life. For some reason, she wanted HIM to be the one who killed her. The box, the book of spells - waiting for her return. Part of a plan to meet in their next life perhaps? ("What took you so long to come?")
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22 vienibenmio
September 30, 2023 at 11:20 AM
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.
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vienibenmio
September 30, 2023 at 11:21 AM
Oh and I still don't get why Na-yeon is soooo set on Sin-yu and isn't satisfied with marrying the other guy. Does he not want to marry her and it's just a fling? Is it because he's a bad person? I imagine it could be one of them, but just tell me!
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Kurama
September 30, 2023 at 2:19 PM
For appearances. She knows that Shin-Yu is a good guy from a very old and rich family. The other is just a rich jerk.
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imzadi
September 30, 2023 at 11:22 AM
Yes, the loose ends are annoying. He get a spell to be cured but doesn't check out if he is cured. An episode ends with him being confronted by the gardener and the next episode he is an an unrelated coma.
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Elinor, Team Glasses team co-captain
October 1, 2023 at 9:00 AM
If we’re going to talk about loose ends: Garden Creep excavated a giant steep-sided pit in the forest, yet there are no heavy equipment tracks - the shovel is the only implement visible, and he’s going to fill it in with that? And then he just walks away and leaves her there? It does feel like there are missing scenes.
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bbstl 🧹
October 1, 2023 at 9:16 AM
The backhoe bucket scrape marks are all over the walls of the pit and he’s gonna fill it back in with a hand shovel, I laughed so hard.
And wasn’t he lucky that she fell in hard enough to lose consciousness?
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23 💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
September 30, 2023 at 12:48 PM
I have Zero Context for this BUT... Otters are one of my favourite animals. So.
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Seon-ha
September 30, 2023 at 2:55 PM
I mean, if you’re interested: https://www.dramabeans.com/activity/p/1462529/#acomment-1462564
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panshel
September 30, 2023 at 6:09 PM
Don't male otters rape female otters and baby seals?
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DancingEmma
October 1, 2023 at 4:13 AM
Yikes! Talk about a dose of reality.
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panshel
October 1, 2023 at 6:28 AM
I thought this was a well-known otter fact.
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DancingEmma
October 1, 2023 at 6:36 AM
I knew it but had forgotten it until you reminded me.
bbstl 🧹
October 1, 2023 at 9:20 AM
Oh nooooes! I thought they floated around in pairs holding flippers! 😲
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💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜