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The Last Scandal of My Life: Episode 11

Last Scandal is a great example of a successful romantic comedy in that despite what is a pretty familiar (and predictable) setup, the series manages to keep its entertaining energy going. I know a lot of people (particularly, ahem, of the male variety) look down on chick flicks and romance-centered storylines, but I think it’s just as much of an achievement to get this genre right as it is to do any other, not in spite of all the really bad, cheesetastic examples in the genre but because of them. Given the propensity for these kinds of romantic Cinderella stories to degenerate into tired cliches and embarrassing corniness, it’s a welcome find to see one example of the form done well when, admittedly, many others of its kind flop so spectacularly. But that’s true of any other genre as well — I’ve seen my fair share of horrible slashers, testosterone-fueled action crap, failed attempts at “serious art,” and so on.

SONG OF THE DAY

Spicy Soda – “My Love.” A newish four-piece rock band. [ Download ]

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EPISODE 11 RECAP

Jae Bin asks his brother if Sun Hee knows he has feelings for her, and Dong Hwa answers, “I’ll have to work to let her know.” Jae Bin watches Sun Hee sleep, frustrated at this turn of events — it’s like he’s waited patiently for her husband to leave the picture, and just when he thinks it’s his turn, his brother swoops in. Poor Mr. Movie Star with the horrible timing.

His irrational jealousy leads to more nonsensical ranting as Jae Bin unceremoniously wakes Sun Hee up and proceeds to scold her for falling asleep instead of waiting up for him like he told her to: “If you fall asleep in a place like this again, you’re fired!”

Sun Hee returns to her room and finds the shoes Dong Hwa left as a gift. Wanting to thank Dong Hwa, she texts Jae Bin to ask if Dong Hwa is still up, which exacerbates Jae Bin’s frustration. In an immature fit, he texts back: “He’s pooping!”

In the morning, Sun Hee thanks Dong Hwa for the gift and asks for one more afternoon to go out on personal business — she has to tell Jimin about the truth of their family circumstances now that the divorce is final.

Overhearing the pleasant exchange, Jae Bin predictably overreacts, and attempts to convince Sun Hee that Dong Hwa’s not at all interested in her type. They bicker back and forth and are overheard by Won Tak, who notices the familiar way they talk to each other and puts the pieces together.

Won Tak realizes Sun Hee is Jae Bin’s first love, which also leads to the discovery of Jae Bin’s true age. Won Tak feels awkward, having thought he and Jae Bin were the same age all this while, as well as hurt that Jae Bin didn’t include him in the secret. Jae Bin warns Won Tak to keep the secret, which isn’t as easy as it seems because now that Won Tak knows the truth, he automatically reverts to formal speech when addressing his elder. He has to remember to act normal in front of Su Ho, who still doesn’t know.

Jae Bin charges Won Tak to keep a close eye on Sun Hee, so when Sun Hee leaves to meet Dong Hwa later that morning, Won Tak sneaks after her. Yoo Shik sees Sun Hee with Dong Hwa, and in a mixture of curiosity and irritation, also decides to follow. The two followers remain unbeknownst to Sun Hee and unbeknownst to each other as Dong Hwa accompanies her to the bank and sets up accounts for her (with direct-deposit pay).

On their way out of the bank, the employee gives them a free gift — two movie passes — which Dong Hwa offers to Sun Hee. She politely refuses, and he suggests they go together sometime. She accepts. Won Tak reports back to Jae Bin.

Jae Bin’s next move is both typical yet unexpected for its ridiculousness: He starts acting like his brother. He puts on Dong Hwa’s understated cardigan and adopts his brother’s mannered politeness, down to the crossing of the arms, the slow and deliberate movements, and the deep vocal tone. It’s freaking hilarious. Bewildered, Sun Hee wonders if he’s been drinking.

While cleaning, Sun Hee comes across the cake Jae Bin had bought for her the night before and left in the workout room. She smiles at the gesture.

However, Jae Bin is still playing Dong Hwa, and continues to confuse her with his overly polite act. Sun Hee thinks he’s playing another game and starts to retort, “Who do you think you are, your bro—?” and realizes what he’s doing. She tells him to cut it out, and that he’s doing it all wrong: “When your brother’s angry, he doesn’t express it in his face, and he’s so charismatic. But you — everything shows on your face. Look at you, furrowing your brows like that…”

Finally Jae Bin can’t take her criticism anymore and reverts to his old, hotheaded self, insisting she wait for him to finish work so he can accompany her to meet Jimin. He knows she won’t be able to say anything and intends to prod her along, but Sun Hee demands that he stay out of her family business. A bit stung by that, he steps aside and lets her leave.

Sun Hee takes Jimin out for a mother-daughter afternoon and tries to summon her nerve to talk to her. A call from Dong Hwa interrupts her first attempt, but he encourages her to pluck up the courage. Sun Hee also mentions something Jimin had told her, that Na Yoon had picked up Hoon from school to take him to eat. Dong Hwa, unaware of this development, goes to the restaurant to deal with the situation.

Na Yoon takes Hoon to a fancy dinner and asks him how he likes living with his father, as though looking for an chance to insert herself into his life more. But Hoon is perfectly happy with his family situation, which feels like it’s doubled with Sun Hee and Jimin living there too. She asks, “Have you ever wondered what it would be like living with a mother?” Hoon answers, “Till kindergarten, I’d look at my friends’ mothers and think, ‘I wish I had a mother too,’ but now I don’t. You know my father, don’t you? He’s the person I respect most in the world.”

It’s at this point that Dong Hwa arrives at the door to overhear his son’s statement, and smiles to hear it. Hoon’s happy to see his father; Na Yoon is disappointed to have her dinner interrupted.

Sun Hee makes another attempt to broach the subject of the divorce with Jimin over dinner at a local ddukkbokki restaurant, but is interrupted by the appearance of Jae Bin, which naturally throws the entire place into chaos. He’s really going all out in his attempts to tag along, even having his managers man cameras to give the event the look of a (fake) “guerrilla event.”

Jae Bin takes the mic and the role of DJ for the night, rankling Sun Hee and thrilling everyone else. Sun Hee suggests leaving, but Jimin is too enthralled of her idol to move.

(Sun Hee scrawls a message and sends it to Jae Bin, telling him to get lost. In response, Jae Bin announces his first “request” made by Hong Sun Hee and plays the song “Don’t Go.” Hehehe.)

Jae Bin — probably in another misguided attempt to “help” — encourages everyone to be forgiving of loved ones tonight: “If you all promise to do so, I’m buying all the ddukkbokki tonight!”

Sun Hee continues to be irritated at Jae Bin for forcing his way into her activities for the night when they get home for the night, where they are seen by Yoo Shik, who has arrived in a snit.

Yoo Shik has let his suspicion get the better of him (not that that’s hard for him), especially when Sun Hee ignores his call, and lurks at the house while Sun Hee arrives. To Sun Hee’s horror, Yoo Shik enters Sun Hee’s quarters and assumes the air of concerned father to Jimin. Sun Hee sends her daughter to bed before venting her displeasure.

Since Yoo Shik refuses to leave, Sun Hee runs out, and he chases her (both don’t see Jimin rise, overhearing their argument). Yoo Shik is angry that she continues to live in this house despite his demands that she move out (as though he had the right), and she’s so angry that she just runs away from him. Yoo Shik chases her across the property, attracting the attention of both brothers in turn: first Dong Hwa, then Jae Bin. Dong Hwa sees them while walking outside, and Jae Bin walkie-talkies Sun Hee and hears about Yoo Shik’s arrival from Jimin.

Yoo Shik: “Do you know how I feel? Sending my kid to you makes me uneasy as hell. A woman with a daughter runs around with Jang Dong Hwa in the day, Song Jae Bin at night! Just what is your relationship with the Jang brothers? Get your act together! Aren’t you even embarrassed in front of Jimin?”

Jae Bin gets there just as Yoo Shik is snidely telling Sun Hee that the brothers are just playing around with her because she’s so easy, and Jae Bin raises a fist to hit Yoo Shik — but Sun Hee shouts, “Don’t hit him! He’s Jimin’s father.” Jae Bin sees her protecting Yoo Shik and defeatedly lowers his fist, giving the cowardly Yoo Shik the opportunity to catch his opponent off-guard and strike him across the face.

This time Sun Hee rushes to Jae Bin in concern, as Yoo Shik makes a hasty retreat.

Now it’s time for the other Jang brother to step in: Dong Hwa chases Yoo Shik down the road, cuts him off, and forces him to stop.

Yoo Shik tries to act like he’s the one being wronged, but Dong Hwa’s too infuriated to bother to listen and punches him in the face: “You’ve made a mistake. If you touch my brother Jae Bin, you’re dead.” When Yoo Shik blusters that he’ll sue for assault, Dong Hwa sneers and accepts the challenge, telling him to come with Jung Sook to his office. That puts Yoo Shik back on the defensive, because if there’s one thing he can’t have, it’s Jung Sook knowing about this.

Back at the house, Sun Hee apologizes to Jae Bin for everything, and he answers: “Do you even know what you should be most sorry for? It’s that you were Jang Dong Chul’s first love and you went off and thoughtlessly married a jerk like him.”

He scoffs at her horrible choice in men, and tells her, “Don’t choose your men in the future. I’ll choose for you, got it?”

Sun Hee goes to Jae Bin’s room to tend to his bruised face, and he quietly envelops her in a hug. Dong Hwa returns home and steps into the room just as Jae Bin tells her, “I’m hurting. But when I’m here like this, it doesn’t hurt.”

Sun Hee: “Dong Chul, do you know? When I was 19, I could think solely of you, but now at 39, I can’t. I want to leave Jang Dong Chul as a friend, and Song Jae Bin as a dream. Can you let me do that?”

She works her way out of his embrace and leaves. Jae Bin shoves his brother aside to follow her out, but she exits quickly and Dong Hwa stops him, asking, “What the heck is wrong with you?” Jae Bin answers, “You said this was impossible for Song Jae Bin. But it’s not for Jang Dong Chul.”

 
Additionally…

Have they got the swoony dramatic endings down pat or what?

By the way, for those of you who are wondering about the resolution of the drama, I have seen the ending and found it a little over-the-top but still satisfying. And if you’re not watching this series yet — why not?? 😉 There are only so many things I can describe in a recap, and trust me, there’s a lot more good stuff in the drama itself. Jae Bin’s reactions and adorably immature behavior is worth watching just for itself. If you’re into that sort of thing, I mean. And who isn’t?

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on the last episode, when hoon walks in on them isnt his expression just priceless? :D lol could u get a screencap of that please :D

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I'd love to watch this, but I haven't found an english subbed version yet.

Does anyone know where I can watch it without doing the torrrent thing?

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I love your recaps. I get to enjoy one of my favorite drama all over again.

Thank You!!!

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Dramabeans, I was waiting for you to watch the last episode to see what you thought about it. I was somewhat disappointed with it because it was over the top. But nonetheless, I was really happy with the overall success of this drama. Now I'm just trying to figure out what to watch now.

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the 2 main actors playing JB and SH are so hilarious. i hope they both get awards for their roles. the only thing about this drama that bothers me is all those almost moments regarding SH's husband, like will SH run into him and will the brothers realize that is him. i'm around ep 9 now.

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yay! summary's up, i thought maybe u had given up on this series or something.... im in the same boat as all4movies, any english subs out there yet?

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I've been waiting for this :D .. thanks a lot. I love it.
Hope it won't be long for you to post the next summary

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thanks for the caps n reviews! ;) i'm glad that this drama is still very fun and entertaining to watch... i can't wait for the subs n thanks for subbing it...

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The daughter's crush reminds me of The Houseguest and My Mother which also stars Jeong Joon-ho :)

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i loooooove this drama. my mom and i loved it. like jeon joon ho could be the george clooney of korea soon. i mean i know he's still in his 30's i think? but he's still gorgeous.

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jae bin's impression of his brother had me DYING from laughter. it was so funny. this drama keeps on piling on the brownie points in my heart

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so you finished it yet?
Yes the ending is quite ridiculous, but hey I like it! Almost all things were solved, and HAPPY ENDING!
( well I couldn't imagine this kind of drama has sad ending tho. )

Anyway...this epi is damn good! I like the mixture of drama and humor, how Jae Bin tried to imitate his bro- hilarious, and how Jang brothers handled Yoo Shik-it just great!

This is random - Jang Dong Hwa, Jang Dong Chul, they should add Jang Dong Gun too as brother heh? :P ( I know, I know, it's lame..:D )

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I just want to say it AGAIN - this is the most enjoyable drama in recent times!

I love how they turn a played-to-death plotline into refreshingly delightful, especially when the leads are all over 30s and not the young hotties. Jeon Joon Ho is never better and I note that Princess Lulu -which I haven't seen due to the so-so review - is now re-gaining attention due to LS.

We audience are really a hard-to-please bunch. If a more subtle ending is used, people would say it's too open ending, not satisfying etc etc. Whereas the ending of LS which covers almost all grounds you want to know, it's labelled too over the top. I wouldn't mind either way although over the top wouldn't necessary be a bad thing if it's a happy ending.

I guess Javabeans is doing the recaps on a weekly basis so that the gap between the summary and the release of WITH2 sub can be reduced somewhat.

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You're definitely right! The director and writers of this series definitely have the swoony dramatic ending down pat. My heart arched when I was watching that last scene! I absolutely love, love, love this drama. And I definitely have to agree with you that Jae Bin's immature behavior and childish yet adorable reactions are reason enough for me to watch this series and wholeheartedly recommend this series to any and everyone I know.

And THANK YOU for continuing to recap this adorable series!

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happily lurking...
but darn it all!
reading your recaps... just seems to be better than watching the show itself!
and really, when you were recapping coffee prince, that was what i did sometimes...
but back to this show, yes, the reason why i am not watching it YET is because the english subbed edition isn't out yet, right? or at least in its entirety...
with your recaps - it's enough to make me wait a bit.
so keep up please - i've been checking this site everyday now to "see" the next episode.
and thank you for recommending dooce.com - my daily web intake as well :o) i LOVE chuck!

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I totally agree...

Cliches become cliches is because so many people tried them. The reason why they tried them is because they thought of the idea as good, so the idea does have merit. But the novelty value is the lost, partially because the copycats never bring anything new to the table. Then it degenerates into fantasy, half-hearted attempts at melodrama and character development, which then makes the story lose even more.

I'm glad there are still shows out there who does romantic comedy correctly. Round characters, new twists on the concept, dialogue and situations that are both heartfelt and funny, plus a slight bit of originality is all it needs. It astounds me how impossible series maker find the right balance here.

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really ? you thought the ending was over the top?
i really liked it - even tho it was a little awkward...heh...but i guess that comes with the price of fame =D
my heart broke at the end of this episode - jae bin wants to be with sun hee so badly...
OHMIGOD i burst out laughing when jae bin pretended to be dong hwa - and the ltitle bubble that told the audience who exactly who he was mimicking LOL

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thank you for introducing me to this drama.. like you said its the epitome of what a kdrama should be, addicting, funny, and heartfelt.

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hrm is it just me or is this sentence a little hard to understand?
"Yoo Shik chases her across the property, attracting the attention of both brothers in turn (Dong Hwa sees them; Jae Bin walkie-talkies Sun Hee and hears the truth from Jimin."

thanks for any clarification ^^

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it's trish, I reworded that sentence. Hopefully it's clearer now.

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did i mention i absolutely loveeeeeeeeee this drama?

dj bin.....lol hilarious!

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what's the name of the song at the end of episode 11? it's not on the ost (typical). JDC rocks!

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waah...totally love this series...
finished 12 episodes in two days...
i have to take it slow now since i have to wait for the subs..

in any case, thanks so much for your summaries!

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oh, that part when jae bin was imitating dong hwa was so hilarious!
i was laughing so hard that my mom had to tell me to shut up otherwise i would wake our neighbors up (twas 10 pm then)...

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i just finished this drama yesterday and i didn't regret watching this drama one bit! thanks so much for recommending this drama!

this particular had me crying from laughter, from Jae Bin's imitation of his brother (freaking hilarious, especially the face twitching at the end when he can't contain his anger)...and Jae Bin's dance!!! hahaha, i don't know why that part was suddenly inserted (hopefully i get the episode right) but my stomach just hurt from laughing the whole time!

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omg. that yoo shik is such a MCP! male chauvinistic pig! cant he just stick to his woman... >< anw, thanks for the overview! it's very insightful :D

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I never thought I'd say this of a K-drama, but this series is actually well-thought through. Too many seem hastily thrown together, plot-wise. But this one has been quite carefully built up and wonderfully edited. I cracked up at the scene where Jae Bin is practising his on-demand-crying skills to a timer. Great comic moment. Then at the end, we see Jae Bin cry effortlessly FOR REAL, in a moment of real (believable, adult) poignancy - and I thought "pure genius!" (and mind-bendiness, since of course in real life the tears were produced on-demand...)

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again, this is terribly late but i must say,
i loved the brotherly interactions in this episode, especially dong hwa's protectiveness of jae bin when punching yoo shik. i also think hoon and dong hwa make a really lovely father-son couple. you can see how dong hwa really dotes on hoon, in his own subtle ways. and jae bin's tears at the end. ♥
thank you for your recap!

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you know it was your site that convinced me to watch this show - and i'm on this episode now, AND I LOVE IT. seriously. my mom and i love it sooooooo much. it's hilarious!

thanks! :D

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Ok JB, I have to say you were totally right. I am finally watching this series and I'm glad it am. It is absolutely hilariious and a well done rom com, about as perfect as any korean series can be in this genre.

I needed some laughs right now, and this really hits the spot.

Thanks for your funny insights too.

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shouldn't it be the other way around?
ie sdj as a dream, and sjb as a friend? o.o ;;

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