Moon in the Day: Episodes 9-10

by lovepark

Even after all these years, our vengeful ghost is still learning things about himself and the curse that plagues him and his love. However, he believes the only way to break this cycle is to kill her with his own two hands, which means any lingering feelings he may have will need to be tamped down. Without much time left, will our spirit be able to end this cycle or will the curse continue once again?

 
EPISODES 9-10

After spending the last 1,500 years as a trapped ghost, you would think Do Ha would have a better plan (or resolve) about breaking this curse. Alas, our vengeful spirit cannot even bring himself to kill Young-hwa in his imagination, but while our hero waffles, his enemy does not.

Chul-hwan sets his latest pawn into motion, and desperate, delusional Min-oh accepts the crazy deal to kill Young-hwa in order to bring his brother back. Though Do Ha notices Min-oh’s change in demeanor, Young-hwa remains oblivious and agrees to help him patch up his relationship with Jun-oh.

That night, Young-hwa goes for a stroll with Do Ha and suggests one last trip together before he leaves forever. He accepts her offer, and to seal the deal, Young-hwa teaches him how to pinky promise. He smiles at her as she shows him the steps, but then Do Ha remembers the task he must complete and turns grim. He tells Young-hwa that she no longer has to dream since the curse will lift soon.

Their camping trip starts off lighthearted with Do Ha showing off his ghostly powers and teasing Young-hwa for over-packing. He makes her carry all her items, but as they make their way up the trail, the big ol’ softy holds everything, instead. Curious about their previous conversation, Young-hwa asks how he will break the curse, and he says that he realized his lingering feelings for her. It’s not much of an explanation, but Do Ha refuses to elaborate since the rest of his musings are a bit of mood killer.

The mood, however, takes a dip anyways as Do Ha finds Min-oh waiting for them at the campsite. He was the one who chose this location since the brothers used to live here after their parents passed — and it also happens to be the place Min-oh tried to abandon Jun-oh. Of course, the current Min-oh cannot live without his little brother, but Do Ha thinks Jun-oh would have wanted him to stay strong even after he passes.

Dropping the ruse, Min-oh says that Do Ha almost sounds like Jun-oh, and then watches him faint as the drugs finally kick in. By the time Do Ha regains consciousness, the campsite is empty, and Min-oh has already led a clueless Young-hwa to a cliff. As he pushes her off, he passes along a final message: “This is karma for your past life.”

As with so many villains, Min-oh leaves without making sure the deed is done, which means Young-hwa is still alive and hanging on for dear life. She screams for help as her body gives out on her, and the moment she loses her grip, Do Ha grabs her hand. After pulling her to safety, he takes her to the hospital where Min-oh arrives looking flustered over his botched mission.

Do Ha corners him in the stairwell and demands to know why he tried to kill Young-hwa. Min-oh tells him that he did it to save his brother, but Do Ha calls him crazy since no one can be brought back by murdering another. As his words sink in, Min-oh falls to his knees and finally accepts the truth: his brother is dead.

Angered, Min-oh finds Chul-hwan, asking if he tricked him, and the latter berates him for wasting his time. Since Min-oh failed, Chul-hwan needs to find his next pawn, but before then, some loose ends must be tied. Though Min-oh tries to run away, Chul-hwan catches him in the hallway and chokes him.

In order to learn why these cursed relationships persist, the show returns to the past, a couple of days before Do Ha and Ri-ta’s wedding — more specifically, the pond scene from Episode 2. He offered her a chance to escape, but she refused to believe this was the solution he wanted. Thus, the two made a bet about their future, and as we all know, Ri-ta won. He asked if she would not regret her decision, and she told him that she would but cannot make any other choice.

While the couple enjoyed this brief respite, Do Ha’s father reared his ugly head. He told Ri-ta that he would fulfill her mission for her since the day after their wedding, he planned on sending Do Ha back onto the battlefield where he would die in his honor. Whether she married him or not, Do Ha will die.

Back in the present, Young-hwa overheard everything at the hospital about their curse and confronts Do Ha about it. Despite his warnings, she insists on knowing the truth, so he reveals their curse: she is destined to die before thirty, and he is fated to watch it happen every time. She asks how he planned to lift the curse, then, but this secret he keeps to himself.

Their conversation gets interrupted by a phone call, and they learn that Min-oh was almost killed. The two of them split up to investigate, and Do Ha uses the attorney to dig deeper into Chul-hwan while Young-hwa returns to the temple to ask about her past life. Like her previous visit, the head monk answers none of her questions but offers her some advice: the past and present are connected; if she wants to break the cycle, then she needs to find the solution within herself.

Mulling over the monk’s words, Young-hwa recalls all the moments she shared with Do Ha and admits to herself that she loves him. As she stands lost in thought, Chul-hwan approaches her with a smirk on his face and says that past connections are hard to sever. His voice changes suddenly, and as the episode closes, Young-hwa looks up in horror as she recognizes Do Ha’s father.

One of this drama’s consistent flaws is its pacing, which stems from a lack of cohesion. Since the story deals with two main timelines, the writing as well as directing need a firm grasp on the tone, but the show is all over the place, making it feel directionless at times. While these two episodes were a bit more consistent overall since the main plot has taken center stage, it has also become glaringly obvious that the show has too many unnecessary plot elements and bloated characterizations.

Take Min-oh, for example. The show introduced him as a ruthless CEO who ousted Chul-hwan from his position yet this point was only used to establish the animosity between the two characters which didn’t seem to matter that much anyways. The flashback on the cliff was also a haphazard attempt at explaining Min-oh’s obsession with Jun-oh, but it felt so disjointed because the show never bothered to set things up or give his character any nuance. The issue is that the show has too many “Min-ohs” and wastes time on tertiary story threads with no payoffs. As a result, the pacing suffers, and instead of spending time developing its leads (the main draw and arguably the only interesting thing about this drama), the show jerks its viewers around from plot point to plot point.

Though Do Ha and Young-hwa/Ri-ta’s relationship should be the heart of this show, I have a hard time connecting with them because the time frame feels too fast. As we see more of the past, I’m even less convinced of their tragic love story, and don’t understand their attraction to each other. They barely know the other person (let alone themselves), but now they are suddenly willing to upend their lives to save one another. I was hoping with more context, I would understand them better, but instead, the repeated scenes still feel jarring even with more information.

The present is no better, and the flashbacks of their “moments” only made it clear that their relationship is built on a flimsy foundation. It feels like Young-hwa loves Do Ha because of their past, and he loves her because he sees Ri-ta. However, the show tries so hard to sell their love as something inevitable, as if they were always meant to be… but why? What does Do Ha see in Young-hwa that makes him hesitate, and what does Young-hwa see in present-day Do Ha that makes her risk her life for him? I definitely see the budding attraction in both timelines, but I’m not really buying the epic love story that show is trying to sell.

 
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