20

Air City: Episode 9

As an episode on its own, Episode 9 wasn’t bad. It was cute, and there were fun moments between the characters. As a part of the series as a whole, however, I find it odd and out of place. I just don’t know what they’re going for anymore with the overall series. Is it a thriller, is it action, is it romance? It should choose, because although it has elements of all of those, it’s doing a poor job mixing them together.

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Younha – “Audition (Time 2 Rock)” [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

EPISODE 9 SUMMARY

On the flight back to Korea, Ji Sung wakes at the flight attendant’s alarmed reaction. She points to his bleeding side injury, but Ji Sung waves her off. And that just pisses me off. I hate these dramatic fake-outs — what a cheat of a cliffhanger ending. Anyway, Ji Sung presents himself to his bureau chief, who angrily punches him in the stomach for disobeying orders.

.

Ha Joon gets a slightly different reception, being called heroic by supervisor Min, and despite his humble protests, Ye Won speaks up for him and says he was really cool in Hong Kong.

Do Kyung’s surprised to get a message from Yi Kyung, who has moved into her apartment while she was gone. Sure, why not? I don’t know about you all, but I always move into places inhabited by other people without them knowing about it while they’re out of the country, and then announce it in a text message upon their arrival. Is there another way to do it?

.

Back at work, Do Kyung is reprimanded for her foolishness carrying someone else’s luggage, and as a result takes a temporary cut in salary. Everyone worries over how she’ll react to the harsh punishment, but to their surprise, she throws herself into her work, taking it upon herself to obsess about the airport’s cleanliness. She inspects the water treatment plant, the incinerator, the terminal, etc., which wears out Manager Noh. Do Kyung thanks Ha Joon for coming to her aid in Hong Kong.

Do Kyung’s last stop is the hospital, where she chats with Irritating Dr. Lady Myung Woo, and tells her that Ji Sung went to Hong Kong and was injured. She doesn’t know the details, just that Ji Sung hasn’t gone home yet. Myung Woo thanks her for the info, and goes to the bureau chief to ask about Ji Sung’s whereabouts. She’s directed to a nearby island, which carries a special meaning for her/them. From the reaction of the lodgings proprietor, it seems they used to be frequent visitors.

Myung Woo tends to a sleeping Ji Sung, setting up her handy-dandy travel IV kit and seeing to his stitched-up wound. She spends the night watching over him. In the morning, waiting for her boat to arrive, Ji Sung asks why she never married. After she tossed him aside, she should’ve either married or become a (much more) impressive doctor, so he wonders what happened.

She tells him, “Ji Sung, stop hating me now. I’m being punished enough as it is. When I think of the hateful words I said back then, I hate myself. I wonder why I said such horrible things when I didn’t even mean them. I must’ve thought I could end things cleanly that way.” Ji Sung asks if he’d let her go because of words that she didn’t even mean, but she corrects him: “I chose the separation. I hope you won’t be hurt anymore because of me.” She wants him to return to the Ji Sung from before, who laughed a lot, sang well, and joked around. With that, Myung Woo leaves and Ji Sung stays.

Back in Incheon, supervisor Min tells Do Kyung he’s sending her along on an employee retreat. She asks why, and he answers that he knows she’s not close with the other employees, and this is a chance to bond.

.

Ye Won is thrilled to be called out for drinks by Ha Joon, although she deflects when he tries to ask where Ji Sung is. They’re interrupted by Nan Young, asking if he’d respond the same if she was the one who was wrongly accused of drug smuggling. She asserts her claim on him over Ye Won, who in turn calls her an ajumma. The two women stare each other down, forcing Ha Joon to interfere and insist that they stop. He’s interested in someone else, so there’s no point liking him.

(I’d find his romantic entanglements so much more interesting if only Lee Jin Wook didn’t look like everyone’s kid brother. He’s cute, for sure, but I find it hard to believe he’s supposed to be the same age as Do Kyung and older than Ye Won.)

.

The employees arrive at the island for their retreat, surprised to see Ji Sung there. Apparently Ha Joon was the only one who knew Ji Sung would be there, and he admits to Do Kyung that he chose the location because he was curious to see how Ji Sung would be coping.

But seeing him there in person, he’s unsure if he made a mistake. Particularly when he buys a hat to replace the one Do Kyung lost on the ferry ride, but is beaten to the punch by Ji Sung, who offers his own.

In any case, everyone enjoys themselves, and Do Kyung watches as Ji Sung laughs along with the others. (Ha Joon’s pretty adorable singing, too.)

.

.
Do Kyung is distracted by work when her boss calls her and asks for her to email a report back, and Nan Young takes the opportunity to mislead her by giving her the wrong boat departure time. She tells the others that Do Kyung returned early because she had work to do, thus resulting in Do Kyung being left behind.

Nan Young feels guilty, and on the ferry back, admits to Ha Joon that she lied — Do Kyung is still back on the island. She (seemingly honestly) says that for some reason, she wanted to help Do Kyung and Ji Sung along by forcing them together. Ha Joon’s furious, but he can’t do anything about it, since their ferry is the last for the day.

Meanwhile, after Ji Sung and Do Kyung get over the initial alarm at being left behind, Ji Sung laughs, remembering his own parents. He says this is a ploy his father used: “‘The trains stopped running… The boats are gone… Let’s just hold hands and sleep.’ That’s how I was born.” They laugh together, as Ji Sung playfully wonders, “Hm. What’ll we do now, just the two of us?”

The answer, of course, is fishing.

Ji Sung instructs her how to prepare bait on the hook, but Do Kyung knowingly says, “This isn’t the first time for you, is it, coming to night-fish with a woman?”

She asks what made him go to Hong Kong, and he answers that he’s not sure himself. Maybe it’s his need to avenge his friend, maybe it’s his inborn fighting nature. “Or maybe it was because of you.” He’s about to continue, but she cuts him short, saying she knows what he’s going to say: “You’re a good woman, but I just don’t have space in my heart for another woman.” It’s a polite rejection that she understands — she’s experienced enough to know that.

Walking along the pier, Do Kyung asks if he’s going to leave the airport now, and he says if he stays, he’ll just bump into Myung Woo more. He has to leave. Do Kyung tells him, “Don’t run away. You did that before. You went to Cairo to run away, didn’t you? Did that solve your problem? People have to pick themselves up where they fell in order to stand.” He says he doesn’t have the confidence anymore, and she asks, “Then if you have to run away, why don’t you come to me?”

.

The next morning, Do Kyung responds to Ji Sung’s awkwardness by teasing him for being old-fashioned, saying she grew up in France and it’s not that big a deal. He says he’s sorry, he can’t help it, and she answers, “That’s why I like you. You’re the guy who has to catch the bad guy even if that turns the airport upside-down. You can’t ever date two women at once, and it takes you more than three years to forget a woman you’ve broken up with. I knew that’s the kind of person you were from the start.”

He suggests going for breakfast together, but she makes her casual goodbye with a handshake. She turns to leave, just as a police car comes by looking for Ji Sung. He’s been called into action by his chief.

Making a hasty return to Incheon, Do Kyung looks worriedly up at the skies as they approach the harbor (Incheon is both a harbor and home to the international airport, located just outside of Seoul). She tells Ji Sung there are no planes flying overhead — something’s strange.

.

Additional thoughts:

By itself, I suppose Episode 9 was decent enough. There was some character development, and some advancement in the romance department. I suspect that alone is enough to appease many fans. But I still find it lacking, because there was very little fluidity coming out of the previous story run. The first four episodes were all about Charlie, the stolen weapons technology, Ji Sung motivated by his friend’s killer. It was good. After a weird disjointed filler episode about birds and a North Korean defector, the next three episodes were about Do Kyung being accused of drug smuggling, and people running amok in Hong Kong who had no business running amok in Hong Kong. Whatever.

But now we have another weird disjointed filler episode about Do Kyung getting preoccupied cleaning the airport and Ji Sung recuperating and Do Kyung and Ji Sung meeting on an island and… meh. I suspect we’re about to get another three- or four-episode story run and the writers are just really awful at transitions.

First off, given that the first half of the series was super-high-stakes, life-or-death stuff, such a mundane story here feels weird, especially coming out of a (supposedly) intense string of events. I like the smaller moments between the airport personnel, and the lulls of calmness between various aiport crises, but that’s when it’s interspersed between the high-stakes action stuff, not occupying an entire episode. It makes me wonder, You guys were SO BUSY and SO IMPORTANT to the airport’s welfare, and the series made it seem like you were the ONLY THINGS keeping the airport safe in the face of imminent disaster after imminent disaster… and now you’re ALL just going to mosey on over to some island for employee bonding camp? WTF?

And where’s the emotional payoff now that Ji Sung has caught Wang Wei? Aren’t they going to address this at all? I remember the intensity and barely-contained fury of a man possessed to do nothing else until he caught his friend’s killer. It was cool. He finally accomplishes that, and we don’t get one single mention of how Ji Sung copes with the aftermath. I’m really annoyed by that, because that’s a huge part of Ji Sung’s character work, and they’re just going to ignore it?

And are they just giving up on the idea of having any sort of meaningful conflict and/or tension between Yi Kyung and Do Kyung? Honestly, little sis swallows 21 years of bitterness and hurt over a measly bird painting and all of a sudden wants to move in and set up house together with big sis? Arrrrrgh.

You know what I’d do?

Still hurt from her inability to grow closer to her little sister, who remains cold and indifferent to her attempts to make up, Do Kyung finds comfort in Ji Sung, who’s single-minded in his determination to capture Wang Wei. It’s a union for the wrong reasons — consolation and distraction — but still, they find comfort in each other’s company.

Ji Sung finds out through some faraway contacts that his dead friend Young Jae was onto something deeper, darker, and more dangerous than Ji Sung had imagined. It’s not something he can take down on his own. But he’s got some crazed death wish, so he persists, doing his work at the airport during the day, while working his way into the crime syndicate’s seamy underbelly at night on his own time, which both fuels his drive but drains his energies. Until, that is, the day he makes a huge breakthrough — but is forced to make a choice: he’ll get valuable information but he’s got to sell out Do Kyung to do it. He needs to use her access to the airport to aid the crime syndicate in the hopes that it’ll help him bring them down. He hesitates for a brief moment, but he does it.

His actions get Do Kyung in trouble for misusing her authority, and she takes the punishment silently, refusing to give Ji Sung’s involvement up, thinking he wouldn’t have betrayed her. She’s shocked to find out the truth. Ji Sung is more afflicted with guilt than he thought — he’d rationalized that everything is for the greater good, for avenging Young Jae’s death. But strangely, he’s increasingly bothered by his choice, and he tries to apologize to Do Kyung. By then, she’s done with him, betrayed and hurt.

So Ji Sung tries to make it work with Annoying Lady Doctor, who’s more than happy to have him back. But things aren’t like they used to be, even though both try to go back to the way things were before, when they were happy. They both realize they can’t live in the past, and Ji Sung realizes he’s chasing a futile goal, because no matter what he does, Young Jae isn’t coming back.

When Yi Kyung is abroad on a flight, she gets caught in the crossfire of the crime groups that Ji Sung’s working to bring down, and he finds himself faced with another choice — his last chance to avenge his friend or help Yi Kyung. This time, he doesn’t hesitate and he rushes to save Yi Kyung, givig up his last connection to his friend’s case. His sacrifice touches Do Kyung, and also enables the sisters to reunite. After all, Yi Kyung realizes that if she meant so much to her sister that her sister’s ex-lover gave up something to save her, her sister must really love her. As the series comes to a close, Do Kyung and Ji Sung embark on a fresh start together. Insert airplane imagery to solidify metaphor. The end.

That’s the action-y, high-stakes version. I’d go in a different direction if I chose to go instead for lower-key character drama. But if you’re going to mix genres, please do it well — you have to integrate themes and emotions, not just plot. Otherwise you get a mixed-up jumble of jigsaw pieces to two different puzzles — no matter how well you assemble the pieces, there’s no way the two puzzles will fit together perfectly.

Tags: , , ,

20

Required fields are marked *

omg javabeans i love ur sarcasm...especialy about how her sister moves in while the owner is out of the country....hahahahaha i love reading ur post!!!!! keep it up :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I don't usually read fanfic, but I would TOTALLY read your version of Air City!

> setting up her handy-dandy travel IV kit

Dang... I need to gets me one of those :) !!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

thanks javabeans

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Jessica, I don't write fanfic, but Air City totally makes me want to! hehe

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thank you for these summaries, I kind of gave up watching Air City and resort to just reading your summaries instead. Thank you!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

hah thats exactly what my mom said: lee jung jae is so musheeshuh! but compared to him lee jin ook is a baby. a baby. hah!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hahaha you should totally write a fic for AC Sarah. Loved your version more..I liked Ep 9, but as you said, if it was for part of the whole story, it came abrupt and dismantled in a sense. But LJJ just made up for the lacklustre plot.. his smiles..ahhhh....XD

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

sarah, thanks for this. at least you havent given up on this one. hehehe well, ur right it can appease some fans. but somehow i feel i cant see how they are all connected? i mean really. i think if they were to follow maybe something sort of CSI-y/alias in a way they could achieve their mixed genres. id love ur versions! id actually love a story from you. it be great. hehhe well, its really not a winner for contuinity but i guess itll work.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hehehe.. BC kinda steals the limelight off of AC this week, even though I still watch AC as soon as it finished downloading, and watch it again and again just to see LJJ.. =) luv ya for still continuing this series and hanging there to support LJJ ^^

Oh btw, this is totally on random note:
I just found out that Yi Kyung actually played in "Into The Storm" drama with Kim Suk Hoon, Song Yoon Ah and Kim Min Joon...hehe just when I thought she's probably a newcomer or somethin' since I've never seen her :D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hehehe.. BC kinda steals the limelight off of AC this week, even though I still watch AC as soon as it finished downloading, and watch it again and again just to see LJJ.. =) luv ya for still continuing this series and hanging there to support LJJ

Oh btw, this is totally on random note:
I just found out that Yi Kyung actually played in "Into The Storm" drama with Kim Suk Hoon, Song Yoon Ah and Kim Min Joon...hehe just when I thought she's probably a newcomer or somethin' since I've never seen her :D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hi! Thanks a lot for the summary! I'm starting to like this drama again! Thanks again! I'm going to miss you so much when I go on a vacation! Because I won't be able to use to computer 24/7. lol. It's already 3 in the morning right now! Thanks again!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

thank you so much for your summary of 9. I love reading your take on things :D
In general this episode does not disappoint me too much, but as you pointed out I am most puzzled by the the way they treated the capture of Ji Sung's friend's killer. It is a HUGE part of his character setup and the fact that they just moved on to another storyline is just amazingly strange.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks for your effort of summarizing. I really like it.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Thanks Sarah for the summary. I like your comments and suggestions.

As I was reading the comments, I thought back to those good old Hong Kong dramas I watched many many moons back. I am not sure if people remember these classics made in the 90s by TVB such as File of Justice. They are episodic and occupational (lawyers, judges, criminals) but the character developments and plot run side by side. In the midst of a plot involving a twist between A and B, they successfully mixed character development, lovelinks without sacrificing the plot at all. And their conversations are meaningful because it gives clues to that specific episode's crime/case study and yet everything they say reflect their personalities. They don't randomly say things or randomly do things because this episode has to end in the next three episodes and we need a cliff-hanger!!!

I still think K-dramas are better with emotions, beautiful sceneries, beautiful songs, attention to detail and subtle performances by the actors...

Gotta give it to Air City for trying to be different and wanting change instead of doing what is easy.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

sarahbeans.. since this blog has been my 24/7 hang out.. i decided to drop by to say hello here too.. to be honest.. I still adore the hotties so much.. and i would watch this just for them.. but i really really LOVE your versions better.. week after week.. i'm crossing my fingers and hope that they would just let the writer of "All In" write the whole thing and not mix the writers around. Even better, I was hoping that you will join the team and just finish this series off.. to include more scenes of the hotties doing more practical stuff.. haha.. I loveeeeee LJW.. but I gotta agree that next to CJW & LJJ.. he seems like a youngster * but he's as adorable as ever still*.. I won't make more comments about the plot.. * especially the sister relationship part that really irks me*- but I love the actress playing the sister.. she's really cute.. I hope to see more of her or to see her in upcoming dramas. Thank you sarahbeans for all the things that you do for us... :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

just saw episode 10 and air city is getting cheesier. for dramatic effect, choi ji woo and the main actor drive out into the airfield to watch planes fly overhead when there's absolutely no reason to do so. i'm beginning to think the problem is that flashy cinematography is driving the show and not good story development.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i love how you blog thisXD and i spoil things for myself knowing it. hhaha oh but im curious where do you watch your dramas cause i only finished watching til' ep. 6 and looking for 7 and up. just curious:D this is becoming my online hangout as wellXD

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

shenny, BC totally wins the drama deathmatch this week!

em, i'm watching for the hotties too ;) thankfully they seem to be getting hotter even if the story's getting colder.

summerpicnic, i noticed that too with the airplane shots. it was pretty but pointless, for sure.

heartss, i download mine from clubbox. if you want more details, click the "where to watch" tab up at the top of the page. hopefully one of those options works for you.

;)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I thought Air City ep9-10 download here...

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love Air City and can't wait to see the rest of the episodes with English subtitles.
It's so different from the other Korean dramas I previously saw. It's very interesting & very intriguing.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *