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Queen In-hyun’s Man: Episode 9

Who knew angst could play out so sweetly?

I was most concerned about how the drama would handle this next phase of its story development, but as it turns out, I needn’t have, since it handles it (the potential angst and separation) just as it handled the rest: effectively, cutely, and smartly. I love when separations are handled well, since I suppose they so rarely are. Everything in this story feels organic and true to the show, though, and it hasn’t let me down yet. *Knocks on wood.*

As a side note: You guys are killing me with the spoilers. I know it’s hard to contain the squees when others aren’t up to your speed, but consider the reverse where someone jumps in to spoil your fun before you get there—so out of consideration for people who aren’t live with this show, I ask again that y’all keep from spoiling future episodes. I love this show which means I’m going to be a hardass about it, and that includes things like “Omg the end of Episode XYZ is SO SAD!” You think you’ve given nothing away, but you’ve given so much away, and it keels me. Thanks to everyone in advance!

SONG OF THE DAY

Daybreak – “담담하게” (Serenely) [ Download ]

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EPISODE 9 RECAP

Aughhhh! Amnesia! Just kill me, why don’t you.

As we saw in the previous episode, Hee-jin wakes up in great spirits the morning after the car kiss. She heads out in her brand-new car, giddy over the memories and how Boong-do called her his girlfriend.

But then, her vision starts to blur, mixed in with strange flashes of Boong-do’s ambush in the forest. I’m not sure if she’s seeing Boong-do, exactly, or whether it’s that she’s feeling what he’s feeling. In any case the headache distracts her, and to avoid rear-ending a car, Hee-jin swerves and hits a tree.

Hee-jin wakes up in a hospital bed and confirms that she was in an accident. Luckily it was minor and she only has a small concussion, but the nurse insists she rest for several days. Hee-jin worries about causing yet more problems for the drama production, as she tells Soo-kyung over the phone.

Soo-kyung guesses that she fell asleep at the wheel, but Hee-jin says no—all of a sudden, her vision turned wavy and dizzying, and she couldn’t see, making her fear that she was about to die.

Soo-kyung figures that the production will be understanding of their actress’s accident, but Hee-jin argues that she’s already on thin ice. She can’t afford to miss more work, since she’s had two hospital incidents already. Only to get the response, “What are you talking about, two accidents?” Eep, more time-ripples affecting the future!

Soo-kyung insists that they can make a few demands, considering how accommodating they’ve been of Na-jung all this while. Hee-jin protests that she might get fired if she causes more trouble, and this leads to a hilarious exchange where Hee-jin and Soo-kyung squawk at each other confusedly, “What?” “What?!” “What?

There’s a knock at the door, and in comes Dong-min. Hee-jin’s expression reads, Oh brother, not this again, since the last time they interacted he was pissy about her scandal with the new boyfriend. But to her shock, Dong-min grabs her in a bear hug, fretting, “Why do you make me worry so much?!” Dong-min, being protective and unselfish? Clearly something’s not right.

Confused, she shoves him off her and slaps him. Can’t Dong-min take a hint and back off, since she has a boyfriend? But instead of putting him in his place, her comments about the boyfriend make Dong-min shoot his manager a puzzled look and twirl a finger in the universal message for “This one’s crazy.”

Dong-min assumes the accident jogged some mental wires, and his manager asks a nurse whether the diagnosis could be wrong. That concussion doesn’t seem minor…

Dong-min has no idea what Hee-jin’s talking about when she speaks of scandals and love triangles and stalkers. However, since he doesn’t want to upset her or cause more trauma, he eases off and carefully asks for clarification. He takes the role of a concerned friend humoring the mentally unstable patient, assuring her that he just wants to confirm the details.

Hee-jin identifies the boyfriend as Kim Boong-do the graduate student. Dong-min plays along, but takes her doctor aside to consult about her obviously mixed-up mental state.

Hee-jin checks her phone, which is full of calls from “My Man ♥♥.” It’s not a name she input, so she calls the number… and Dong-min steps back inside, holding up his phone and asking, “You called? What is it?”

HAHAHA. Oh, this is great.

Hee-jin’s first reaction is that this is some kind of joke, but in the middle of her grumbled rant, a scene flashes into her memory. It’s the two of them in a spare moment on the drama set, when Dong-min changed her phone ID to its current nickname, and they’d joked around like giddy lovers. It’s a new memory, one that doesn’t belong in her old life… but there’s no denying it exists in her head.

When Dong-min rejoins her, Hee-jin is well on her way to a panic attack. She flinches when he reaches for her hand, and jerks back when he starts to cup her face in concern. Needing space to think, she shuts herself in the bathroom and tries to calm herself, asking everyone for just five minutes alone to gather her thoughts.

Hee-jin scrolls through her phone, telling herself it makes no sense that she would call Dong-min so much. But another new, contradictory memory floats to her brain, showing Hee-jin on the phone with Dong-min late at night, working on line readings.

She does an internet search for her name and gapes at the results: tons of articles about her romance with Dong-min. An accompanying photograph jogs her memory: she was spotted in public with him, trying to hide her face while Dong-min had shouted proudly to the crowd, “This is my girlfriend!” Okay, that’s sweet.

Hee-jin starts to cry, as though she’s betrayed her own self with these memories. A second internet search for Boong-do’s name yields nothing—no scandal with Hee-jin, no photos of their Jeju trip—and makes her cry harder.

Soo-kyung tries to talk to her through the door, and asks the men to step aside for a moment. Dong-min leaves grumbling over this Boong-do guy, whose name Soo-kyung doesn’t recognize.

Soo-kyung enters the bathroom and finds Hee-jin crying like a lost child, wondering how this mess came to be. She asks if Dong-min is really her boyfriend, and if the internet photos are real, and just the fact that she’s asking is enough to worry Soo-kyung. Hee-jin asks if Soo-kyung also has no idea who Kim Boong-do is—she met him in Jeju, and at the library, and went with him to buy her a car…

Soo-kyung reminds her that the car was bought with Hee-jin’s own CF earnings. Doesn’t she remember? Hee-jin cries that it’s impossible, then adds plaintively, “I… do remember.”

Soo-kyung sighs in relief, thinking all is settled. But Hee-jin can’t reconcile her two realities, listing all the things everyone else should remember about Boong-do but somehow can’t. Soo-kyung suggests that she dreamed it, but Hee-jin says she remembers everything in minute detail, spanning the entire past month.

Soo-kyung insists it must be a dream, and Hee-jin repeats confusedly, “It was… a dream?”

1694. Minister Min sits in prison for his crimes, but he’s still got a loyal vassal on the outside. Assassin Ja-soo slips into the jailhouse dressed as an officer and reports findings about Boong-do’s movements, like how he escaped exile in Jeju before he confronted Minister Min in Hanyang. But how could he possibly have made that journey in mere days?

Ja-soo also reports that Boong-do lost his memory a few days ago. A flashback shows us a scene he witnessed, of a healthy (but amnesiac) Boong-do traveling with an entourage, being filled in on the past month’s events by his manservant.

Frustrated Han-dong beats his chest in aggravation because Boong-do laughs at his stories as though he’s making them up. Avoiding arrows shot straight at him? Physically disappearing at will? Ha!

The thing is, Han-dong has that dimwitted fool’s vibe about him, so this just sounds like tall tales. He tells Boong-do to ask Yoon-wol, who knows all about the talisman. To which Boong-do wonders, “Talisman?”

He actually does recall the talisman, but only that first time when Yoon-wol gave it to him. Anything involving an actual leap appears to be a blank. Boong-do wonders where it went, since he doesn’t have it now.

Ja-soo witnessed the exchange from a distance, which has made him reconsider the meaning of the torn talisman. He tells Minister Min that he’s working on getting confirmation; he hasn’t been able to get close enough to Boong-do yet. Once Boong-do’s back in Hanyang, though, it should be easier. Minister Min is feeling antsy and tells him to hurry, because time is ticking; he won’t be kept alive much longer.

A short time has passed, and Hee-jin is making regular visits with a psychiatrist regarding her memories. Soo-kyung informs Dong-min that Hee-jin has almost accepted everything (in this reality); it’s just that she gets confused occasionally.

Dong-min is both concerned about Hee-jin and put out at this really strange love triangle; he asks his manager, “Why do I have to fight for Hee-jin with a man in her dreams?” I’d call it man OF her dreams, but maybe I’m just projecting.

It does suck for Dong-min, though, when you put it that way. He can’t even get angry, since this stems from the aftereffects of her car accident, no matter how absurd the circumstances. Even his manager says that despite always feeling unable to take his side in his romance problems, this is one time when he’s 100% behind Dong-min.

Dong-min complains, “I don’t even know what the bastard looks like, and it’s not like I can enter her head to see. And he’d have to exist for me to beat him!”

Hee-jin sits with her therapist, who has asked her to write down all of her dream-memories. Hee-jin has essentially accepted that Boong-do was a figment of her imagination, but that idea has made her sad and resigned.

She explains that she can generally distinguish what’s real and what’s her dream, tracing the start of the trouble to the day of her drama press conference. She’d been sure that she met Boong-do there, fainted, and missed the press conference—but as it turns out, she was present at the conference after all, which proceeded smoothly.

Then, Dong-min pestered her daily on the drama set to get back together, even kneeling in apology for his past wrongs and begging for another chance. She’d rejected him flat, but Dong-min had turned the full force of his aegyo charms on her, and she’d grumped, “You sure are persistent!” But gradually, and contrary to her expectations, she’d ended up forgiving him.

The drama had proceeded without a hitch, and Hee-jin had scored a CF. That payday got her the car, earned on her own and not a gift from Boong-do. And now Dong-min is the attentive, thoughtful boyfriend that has everyone envious of Hee-jin’s good fortune.

Hee-jin tells her doctor that she still feels awkward, but these (new) memories are slowly coming back to her. Still, she wonders, “If this is reality, why is my dream more vivid?” Every single exchange she had with Boong-do is alive in her memory, and the emotions she felt are still with her.

The doctor explains that this is probably because she got so immersed in the dream. It’s common for actors to find themselves so engrossed in their roles to feel close to the people they portray, or to think they’ve grown close with people from that era.

This is Hee-jin’s last session with the doctor, who feels she’s at a stable place now that she sees the separation between dreams and reality. Doc urges Hee-jin to make sure to put some space between her work and her personal life.

Hee-jin turns back for one last question, because today is the day that she and dream man planned for their date. She adds hastily that this happened in her dream, not in real life, making sure to say that of course it’s not real. But even though it was all in her head, she still feels the desire to go to the rendezvous anyway. “But if I did that, I’d have to keep going to therapy, wouldn’t I?” she asks glumly.

The doctor tells her to go ahead, however, saying that it will help set things straight. Adorably, Hee-jin cheers up at the doctor’s permission, then deflates when she registers that the doctor means it as confirmation that Boong-do isn’t real. Hee-jin asks, “But why do I feel like he’ll show up?” Dejected again, she sighs that she won’t go to the meeting after all, since he’s not real.

Boong-do and his entourage of guards arrive in Hanyang, where Han-dong warns him again not to tell a single soul that he wears a fake topknot. The topknot is an emblem of his noble status, so it would be pretty shocking for others to learn he cut it off. He’d better keep it a secret, Han-dong warns.

Boong-do laughs it off, but Han-dong launches into a hilarious lecture, insisting that nobody must find out.

Boong-do arrives home and takes in the familiar sights… but his smile fades when he sees his father’s sword missing from its holder. That’s the family heirloom he sold to buy Hee-jin’s car, but curiously, his servant assures him that it’s been tucked away for safekeeping. One day it had gone missing, everybody had scoured the home, to no avail. Then, with no warning it suddenly reappeared days later.

Hee-jin leaves her session thinking of something Boong-do once said, citing an adage about how people are the ones to carry out actions, but it’s Heaven that decides what to allow to happen. She puzzles over the illogic of it all: How can she have dreamed up phrases she’d never even heard before? How can her dream-invented person be more educated than she is?

Remembering Boong-do’s promise to return in one month, Hee-jin changes her mind at the last minute. She asks herself, “Then what’ll I do if he shows up?” U-turn it is!

Hee-jin arrives at the meeting spot in the park and waits, fidgeting nervously. Tapping foot.

Boong-do speaks with Yoon-wol, who has shed her gisaeng’s elaborate garb and dressed plainly, as she used to when she was a maidservant. He tells her to make her choice for her future. Since she’s only ever known the gayageum, she may prefer to return to her gisaeng identity. However, since she became one in the absence of other options, if she wants to retire, she can remain here in his household. But after she’s lived as the top gisaeng in the land, he can hardly make her do menial work like a servant.

“Do you mean to make me your concubine?” she asks. Despite the fact that she’s in love with him, and despite my expectation that this would thrill her, his suggestion is met with dismay. She declines the offer.

Boong-do replies that it’s just one possibility. He doesn’t see a perfect solution, but he wants to repay her kindness and protect her.

Does Yoon-wol feel a sense of inferiority, in that she can’t bind herself to him in that way? Or is it the opposite, that she wants more for herself? I don’t mean in a social-climbing way, because becoming a nobleman’s concubine is pretty much the highest leap she could aspire to as a former slave. It’s not a bad life at all—but perhaps it wouldn’t satisfy her. Yoon-wol reminds him that he’d once told her that a world is coming where someone like her can be treated as an important person, and that he wanted to take her there. “If such a place exists, send me there.”

She adds that she knows he sees her as practically a member of his family. So to become his concubine but spend the rest of her life just looking at him—”That is not a position that suits me.”

Boong-do asks if he has hurt her pride, and despite her denial, he apologizes. And then he lightens the mood by saying that it’s too bad he has lost his memory, because if he only knew where that world was, he’d send her straightaway. Yoon-wol asks, “Then… did you not meet that woman?”

That makes him furrow his brow. A woman? Yoon-wol says that there was a woman he wanted to thank, and was going to go “to that place” to meet her.

Speaking of whom: Hee-jin waits at the park, and by degrees, her spirits flag. A sudden downpour sends her running for her car, but she turns back around—she isn’t ready to leave yet, and wants to stick it out a bit longer. So she ducks into the phone booth instead, and keeps waiting.

It’s raining in Joseon too, and Boong-do sits at his desk, thinking over Yoon-wol’s words. He still doesn’t understand exactly what occupies the hole in his memory, but he decides he has to find that talisman, and calls Han-dong. In the event he lost it at home, he sends Han-dong to scour the household.

He asks Han-dong if he ever mentioned a woman who helped him secretly, and Han-dong scoffs a no, then bursts out, “You have a hidden woman?!” Haha. He wonders if that’s why Yoon-wol is crying, which he witnessed on his way in.

Boong-do says no; that happened because “I pulled a dumb move.” The phrase he uses is a modernism that Han-dong doesn’t understand, and when Boong-do stops to think where it came from, he doesn’t know how it entered his lexicon. Heck, he doesn’t even know what it means.

Hee-jin waits in the phone booth, and sees an umbrella approaching in the distance. She perks up—could it be…? She can’t see the face of the tall man carrying it, but she smiles in excitement as the phone booth opens, greeting him with a smile.

And then the umbrella tilts up: It’s Dong-min. He’s disappointed and hurt to be pushed aside by his own girlfriend, and she apologizes, wondering, “Why am I pulling such dumb moves lately?” She recognizes that he’s right, but when he holds out a hand to her, she hesitates to take it, still feeling awkward with him.

Boong-do repeats that strange phrase and figures that he really must have traveled somewhere, like Han-dong has been insisting all along. He gets ready to return to the palace to resume his position—after all, he’s got affairs to get in order, and must visit Queen In-hyun.

Only to get Han-dong’s blank response, “Who’s Queen In-hyun?”

Boong-do knows there’s no person called that (it’s what she would have been called posthumously)—it’s just that the name rolled right off the tongue. He asks Han-dong who Queen In-hyun is, only to get the confused retort, “Why are you asking ME?”

Boong-do laughs, conceding, “You’re right. I must’ve gone off in the head.” Another Hee-jin-ism. (It’s what she said of him when they first met, that he seemed crazy.) Han-dong just asks, “What does ‘off in the head’ mean?”

Boong-do can only laugh at the oddity, assuring Han-dong that he’s not actually crazy. He reminds Han-dong to keep searching for the talisman, deducing, “In any case, I must have lost something very important.”

No kidding. At the park, Hee-jin eventually takes Dong-min’s hand, though it’s something of a forced gesture. She lets him escort her away, looking crushed all the while.

Boong-do dresses for court, puzzling over the strange name: “Queen In-hyun. ”

 
COMMENTS

I liked how this episode handled the concept of shifting realities, as our two characters continue their time-crossed association, thereby changing their own futures and everyone’s pasts. The one main speculative leap we have to make is in why Hee-jin is allowed to retain her memories, although that could be a simple matter of her being the only one in the modern age who knows about Boong-do’s identity and time-leaping activities. I wonder if Soo-kyung would also be able to keep her memory if she actually believed Hee-jin, but since she’s so convinced that the crazy story is, well, crazy, that’s a moot issue.

There are genrerally two narrative threads at play in time-travel dramas, or at least the ones I’ve seen recently. Operation Proposal took one extreme, where small actions effected big changes later down the line, in the way most of us are familiar with the concept of a butterfly effect. The other is that Fate rules in all lives, reincarnations, and timezones, so history will repeat itself no matter what the individuals do in any given lifetime. This drama takes a middle ground between the two extremes, and I like seeing bits of both, rather than going all or nothing.

For instance, Hee-jin believes in the reality she lived out, but the more Boong-do changes in the past, the more her circumstances shift in the present. So while he’s not going to drastically alter her life (in life-threatening or -changing ways), his actions give rise to an alternate version of her life, and it’s an interesting twist to have her slowly “remembering” bits of that other life—the one she didn’t actually live out, but which becomes her new life story as the past changes the future.

Another nice side effect of exploring this alterna-reality is that we get to see more of Dong-min’s charm, without the rascally side (though the rascally part is plenty entertaining). I don’t think he’s suddenly reformed, but while he’s still in the honeymoon phase of the romance, it’s nice to see him show his better side. I like being able to take him seriously, rather than writing him off as a cad and a cheater, no matter how amusing he is.

Amnesia is one of those storylines we tend to groan at, mostly because it’s usually a cheap trick brought in to force conflict in an unrealistic way. I generally consider amnesia a tired trope that needs to be taken to pasture, or maybe sent upstate to live on a farm where old tropes frolic. On the other hand, I actually do love amnesia when it’s not the easy cliché or an eleventh-hour twist. For instance, dramas where amnesia forms the premise, because then that’s the whole point of the story and you get to build and play with it in other ways. (An example: Fantasy Couple.)

A show like this is another example where where amnesia makes sense, and it’s not an excuse for filler conflict or makjang twists. (Ahem, Boys Before Flowers.) Here, it’s a mystical side effect related to a mystical object; it works with the way the drama has established its rules.

Furthermore, the show plays with the amnesia by screwing with Hee-jin’s perception of reality, which I thought was a fabulous mirroring/interweaving of the two characters’ plights, where their own brains betray them. It makes so much sense that she’d be told everything was a result of her car accident that the drama almost has ME thinking she might have dreamed the whole thing up. If it WERE a case of “It was really just a dream,” I’d want to scream and throw things at my computer (or, okay, the writer). But knowing it’s not but seeing why it would be so believable is what makes it a great conflict.

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I need to take a break from this show, no more spoilers, no more pictures until Wednesday-Thursday episodes.

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I made that resolution a couple of weeks ago myself. It's nice to see people excited about the show like I am, but the spoilers are KILLING me.

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But it is SO HARD to avoid the spoiler, especially if you are a fan of QIHM's FB page........

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I KNOW that feeling. i was glancing through QIM's soompi last tuesday night one last time before turning-in (you know...for pretty BTS pics ^^" ) and i get smacked by a spoiler.....simple plain and straight to the point type of spoiler which at a glance you thought was a question asking for directions. ................. it was hard restraining myself from throwing a shoe at my screen.

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There's an FB page???? *scours facebook in a borderline crazed frenzy* Can't get enough of this show!
It's like The Princess's Man meets Best Love meets Quantum Leap, and it makes me so happy!

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Thank you for your recap javabeans. I very much addicted to this drama but I enjoy your recap than the watching it. Somehow, it seems like I am getting more out of your recap than from the actual show. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the show and hav been watching it raw and subbed but I am more anticipated with your recap. I think I really much like your writing style, and it has this one to one in person story telling feel. Once again, Thank you very much for the time and effort you have put through and grately appreciate all the recappers.
Have a wonderful week.

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I too read the recaps because I simply love reading them. Books are still my greatest love. If any of you recapers will write a book, Please, send me one with an autograph. (do you have any columns in a newspaper?)

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I seriously need to start watching this drama. I have only been reading the recaps and I really like the flow of the story. Thanks JB for the recap. :)

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Do it! I started watching the drama after reading the recaps, and I don't regret it at all. It's sooo good!

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Hardest part is finding episodes with eng subs. It seems to take awhile before they are subbed! Ep 1-11 are available, not 12 yet! Its worth your time! Cuteness overload!

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Eps 12 is out MsB. Try Kimchidrama.

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The sub is faster than before and sub for episode 12 is already available.. ^^

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Ep 12 is out now on dramacrazy. :)

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Thanks Beanies! Yesterday it was not!

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This drama is worth obsessing over. I have already watched all available episodes, but I still need the recaps to understand what is going on.
It amazes me how some things make more OR less sense depending on the translation. For example, in episode one when they meet and Javabeans explains that JH says "he looks crazy", wile in the subs I watched it says: "he looks drunk". "gone in the head" makes more sense for his baffled look.
Also, the park where YaWol asks about making her a "concubine", makes way more sense than, "making her his wife" , as it was translated elsewhere.
I'm not complaining at the subbing. I know people spend their own free time to do it as a fanservice. I'm so grateful for their work. Just saying these recaps help me understand and enjoy the show even more.

For some reason out of all the scenes in this episode the one with the most impact for me, that really stuck to my head and be a little in awe, is the one where HJ is in the bathroom crying and speaks to SK full of left over toilet paper from trying to dry her tears. THAT attention to the finest detail is amazing to me. It makes the whole scene seem more organic, realistic and gives it more depth.IMO. Best show ever! I hope they continue being this awesome.

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Agreed. I thought it was so realistic how she just sat there with tissue all over her face while her reality was being screwed with.

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Yup, because we have all had the cry till tissue gets stuck on face issue before. I love the attention to details this drama pays which draws us in.

I am grateful for how fast the subs are coming out but I do wish they were a little more coherent. I've come across literal translations - lost in translation becomes a painful reality.

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The thing is, while subbing, people use translators that give them direct translations as basis and build upon it, and then the proofreading team has to make it make sense. But when people hardsub the videos to put them on places like dramacrazy, everyone's in a hurry for their fix and they take the translation down before it's fully proofread, and then hurriedly fix it to whatever english phrase seems closest, hence the non-consistency. For example, in my version of the subs, Boong Do goes "Ah, I must've eaten the wrong medicine." Instead of "Off in the head." Either way, it's better than watching with no subs, so I'm as happy as a clam, especially after these recaps.

It's an interesting thought about Boong Do shifting a little in the past, and allowing Hee Jin to gain new memories of her "past". I thought that it was that Fate/Talisman was giving Hee Jin both sets of memories, one to use in daily life, and the other the truth, since she was heavily involved with Boong Do. Sort of like an Artemis Fowl/ Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind scenario where the brain automatically fills in the gaps with things that didn't actually happen, only Hee Jin retains the alterna-timeline memories as well. I don't think Boong Do's memories are gone either... they're just super-repressed, and need a trigger, like Jae Shin in TK2H. Too bad we don't have Walkurenritt on hand =__=;;

For once, I don't grumble about amnesia (ok, I do, because it's keeping the amazing OTP apart but it's watcheable...). But for some reason, something about Dong Min rubs me the wrong way. Maybe his reaction to her mentioning Boong Do? It seemed like he was more worried that his toy was going to be taken away from his by another 5-year-old. Shouldn't he be more worried that she's ill than by the fact that he has to compete with a man in her dreams? Because frankly, most boyfriends have to compete with that. I don't know how to explain it, and maybe it's because I simply ship Boong Do and Hee Jin so much, but every time he came near Hee Jin I wanted to stand in front of her and brandish a whip to send him skittering away >.<;;

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I've seen a mv of the preparation of the "cappuccino cream moment" and the director tried himself to figure out the best way of having so much cream on the lips. He is a real DIRECTOR (never watched Vampire Prosecutor, I'm full of vampires at this moment, being a neighbor of them :D)

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Oh Nuttie, how I have missed you and all the other Hearties! It's just not the same ... sob, sob with parrot next to me. Your presence here makes it bearable ... was just rolling my eyes and deciding if I should attempt my 12-step programme again ...

I actually do not see it as amnesia per say but a time-space continuum anomaly. Which makes it all OK for me as compared to amnesia from falls, fake amnesias et al.

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Agree 100%!! The recaps for me are also funnier. I guess I'm so tense from trying to read subs and expressions at the same time that sometimes humor escapes me. But when I read JB et alia, the humor just makes me LOL. Long live recappers!

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If you start watching there is no turning back. Warning: there is a very very loooong lne when it comes to Boong Do but he's so worth it.

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You should watch it... Its awesome and you would not regret it. ^^

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Thank you!!!

I am happy that we still have QIHM after RTP, TH2H and Equator Man ended all at the same week!

Looking forward to the next episode!

p/s: Poor HeeJin.

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me too! i am glad this one is still going on. it gives me something to still be excited about.

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I love this show and I love your recaps! Can't wait for episode 13 :D

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Thank You!

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Thank you <333333333333333333.

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Promise, no spoilers just can't wait to talk about other episodes! I did not look at it as Amnesia! I always felt that there was something significant to the talisman ripping, like a rip in time which is why Boong Do cannot remember everything, just flashes! Hee Jin's presence of memory is harder to explain. Why she remembers everything, I guess may be explain by where the talisman was ripped. Who knows! That is not explain thoroughly! Dong-min, still a tool but less so now! But can I say that I love this show!? Boy, talk about a show helping you get over Hearties/Equator/Rooftop syndrome, this sure does help!

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I hope the writers will explain later why Hee-jin remembers everything. So far they have done a great job covering every potential loop holes. Take for example the fake topknot.
I dont really want to wreck my brains with this show trying to make sense of everything because it has fantasy elements but it has been quite the opposite.

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err didn't....sigh too early in the morning. (Wtb edit button).

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This is a guess on my part, the reason HJ remembers everything is because it happened to her and was a part of her life, not because of the talisman. BD on the other hand had his relationship with HJ because of the talisman. The talisman serves and effects BD. He was able to meet her because he used the talisman, but she met him because she happened to be where he appeared.

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I thought something similar too.. Boong Do was the owner of the talisman, so it affected him greatly. Hee Jin was the second person most involved, so it affected her second, by giving her two sets of memories. And the people whom he contacted with in the future just reverted to what would have naturally happened with Boong Do coming in from the past. And the people from the past (Like YoonWol and Han Dong) remember him disappearing because it's the past, the root of the timeline, so nothing can change, apart from Boong Do not being able to shift anymore. Again, this is only rabid speculation, so who knows?

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First of all, I love your name!!! ^^ and i like your explanation of the disappearing of the memories!

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Oh ehehe thankies~ I had meant to change my name back to Nutella, but I I forgot... and now that I've already written many posts here using it, might as well continue =3

And I just noticed I made a typo: "And the people whom he contacted with in the future just reverted to what would have naturally happened withOUT Boong Do coming in from the past." is what it should have been ^_^;;

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I think Ibelis might be right about why HJ remembers-- that she's living it. In earlier episode, didn't HJ ask he director about some changes to the script? I seem to recall she remembered history the way it was before BD changed it, so the director stared at her like she was already having a break down of some sort. The show seems to be consistent, at least, by having her remember history the way it was, and not just her own personal history.

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waw! I felt exactly about this amnesia: for me is some sort of memories lost or hidden, the effect of the cut talisman. HJ being the only one remembering BD in this new future is, maybe, because she had real feelings for him and their meeting was not a coincidence (like in “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” )

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OMG...so in love with this show! I love all the characters and the plot is just brilliantly executed! Every week I keep wishing Wed and Thurs would come quickly!! Thanks for the recap!!!

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jb does that mean you havent been watching in realtime with QIM? i thought you were up to date with all the episodes but just didnt have enough time to recap it as fast which is totally understandable. by anymeans, no more spoilery for you!

like you said, great conflict and i think thats a great way to explain why heejin remembers and noone else does, cuz only the two of them knew of the timetravel, just like how noone realised that history had been changed except them two. having boongdo forget while ppl over there remembers is a great way to draw parallels, it works beautifully, just like this drama!

but seriously, extension gods of kdrama, plllleeeassseee give us extension! so much goodness to flesh out, so much to explain 16 episodes is not enough!

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It's possible that she recaps as she watches. Some recappers watch, then go back and rewatch/recap, but others recap as in their first viewing.

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Yes, 2 episodes of them simply going on dates and doing couply things would be wonderful. Or they could have a timeskip and show them with Babies~ (all this assuming Boong Do stays in the future, of course ^^~)

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Every thing about this drama is PERFECT!!!

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Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought it nice to see the gentler side of Dongmin (although his arrogance is probably one of the highlights of this drama). Kim Jinwoo is hilarious as Dongmin.

I hope I'm not the only one whose heart breaks for Yoon-Wol. She's a rare K-Drama female second lead who's actually made out to be a nice person - most of the time they turn out to be clingy bitches. I feel her pain every time Boongdo 'rejects' her (I mean in Yoon-Wol's perspective) - her crushed face is so saddening. I think Jin Yesol's killed all the scenes she's been in so far :D

This drama has been the only drama this year (other than SUFBB) that has had me cursing at my computer for not giving me new episodes. I wish I had a talisman like Boongdo that could take me to the future...say till next week XD I'm up-to-date with all the episodes and all I'll say is that I can barely wait for the next one :D

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the same as u here..the only drama i dload this year is SUFbB, and QIHm...altough i watch other drama..RTP, K2H..but it does not touch my HEArt

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Yes, can we talk about Yoon-wol? It has puzzled me ever since I watched this episode. Does anyone else have thoughts?

I don't entirely understand Yoon-wol's rejection of Boong-Do's offer. I think he can't make her his actual wife without flouting social rules (he's a nobleman, she was a slave girl), so within those rules, second wife/concubine is all that Boong-Do can offer, even though he knows it's not perfect. He just wants to protect her life as a woman and take care of her, since she has been so loyal and kind to him.

I like Yoon-wol as a second lead (she's well-acted, as you said), but if her reason for rejecting Boong-Do is pride, that is feminist and very anarchonistic, right?

It could be pride in two ways. One, that she knows he doesn't love her in return (but people didn't marry for love in Joseon, as far as I know?) and two, that she feels like her life would be so limited in sphere as his concubine (confined within the sphere of the home, limited in status and education).

Either way, I admire her self-knowledge and restraint (I mean, it's Boong-Do! Offering the chance to make babies with him!). But isn't her choice weird (no weirder than our gentle, badass Joseon scholar who isn't a chauvinist, but it's weird, right)?

Anyone else have an interpretation?

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Hi JC,

I'm going with your 1st interpretation, sort if. Although it would be an honour for her to be his concubine, she knows he doesn't love her although he does care for her, and she doesn't want him to be bound to her in that way. So it's pride in that she wants him to truly want her, not just to protect her? Sort of 'I don't want you to be bound to me this way'. Plus, it could be that she knows full well he's not offering to make any babies with her, for the same reason. She would be his concubine in name, never in heart. Don't think she'd settle for that.

What must it be like for her to love someone so obviously out of her social class, and to watch him fall in love with some mysterious woman? Poor Yoon-wol.

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I agree. I think she knows that he thinks of her as family (almost like a sister) and so even if he offered to make her his concubine (which I actually was upset about on Hee Jin's behalf), he would not be intimate with her (so she would just end up looking at him ... a concubine in name only).

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Hillary and JC,

I enjoyed reading your insights into Yoon-Wol's character and agree with you that she does not want to settle for life that is not fully complete.

Hillary, don't be upset with BD on HJ's behalf. At this point, I don't think he remembers HJ's existence.

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@CaliforniaGurl: I know in my heart he did not remember but in my mind I just recoiled when I read the translation. Too invested in story.

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i think its a bit of both,i mean she knows she can be a concubine only in name but i think she also wants o be free and accepted in society for who she is that is why she asked him to take her to the future were she can be of importance and not treated as a mere slave.i think it was also a part of reason for her answer.

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Lol I was typing the same thing and had to check before I post it. So glad I did.

Like you I dont get it because it doesnt make sense in this era. I mean slaves knew their place, that they are lower than dirt. Where is this pride coming from?.

The only think I can think of is maybe its not pride but she is concern for him and his reputation as nobleman. We are talking about Kim Boong Do here, the savior of the current queen and the west faction. I'll go as far as crediting him for balancing the king's court giving Sukjong more power over his enemies.

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err thing

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I mean...To say that it's strange for a slave to dream of being with a man who loves her fully and completely on her terms is strange in and of itself, in my opinion. Why this idea that slaves back then didn't have pride? Just because Yoon Wol was a slave doesn't mean she didn't dream of a better world. Suppressing your pride as a human being doesn't mean you don't have it. This is a bit Marxist but how does the world change? Someone finally decides to say 'no' to a system that perpetuates injustice and prejudice.

Yoon Wol has never struck me as someone who was content, so to speak, with the caste system that kept her down. She may not be an out and out rebel but she seems to use the system to suit her needs. When it's convenient for her to be a servant, she's a servant. When it was convenient for her to be a gisaeng, she became a gisaeng. When it was time for her to boldly oppose that corrupt official, she threw off the guise of a demure gisaeng. Her desire for a true love match regardless of that man's social status is just an extension of that pride which she displayed during her espionage as a gisaeng.

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I do understand what you are trying to say but I'm being realistic here. A slave that is not considered a human being in her era turned down a generous offer from a nobleman because of her pride?. He is basically setting her free from being a slave and elevating her status by becoming his concubine.

Yoon-wol was able to make choices because Boong Do allows her to. He is one of a kind even in his era.

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Kiara, rather than seeing her actions as being motivated by pride (which seems to register as impractical vanity, from the way you write of it), consider them as being motivated by self-respect and dignity. Just because the law and others regard a person as mere property doesn't mean that that person ought to let his/her own self-regard be determined by those external, arbitrary terms.

Moreover, being a gisaeng allowed women a certain freedom that concubines generally did not enjoy. Gisaengs were the only women who were permitted and even encouraged to cultivate their intellect. While some noble women were privately educated, their education was limited to texts for women and those who received education in Confucian classics (usually by benefiting indirectly from their male siblings' instruction) were the exceptions. Lastly, gisaengs enjoyed a lot more physical mobility than noble women or concubines of aristocrats. They were restricted to the inner quarters of an aristocrat's estate, which non-family members were not permitted to frequent. It was not an enviable life, especially if the woman was intelligent.

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(I wanted to add one more thing.)

It may be helpful to think of concubinage as a different form of enslavement. Though no longer legally a slave, concubinage itself was by no means freedom. Concubines were subject to the whims of not only their husbands but also their mistresses, who ruled the inner quarter of an aristocrat's estate. The management of the inner sanctum generally was off-limits to even the patriarch.

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I get the whole gisaeng, concubine etc etc etc etc. I just think that maybe pride wasnt the reason she refused his offer. Thats all.

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I think it interesting that she asks to be taken to that other world where someone like her is treated with respect. In such a world, she could have her cake and eat it too. First, she doesn't fully know but, since the modern-day equivalent of top-level gisaengs are actresses and other performers, she could even command fame and stardom. Secondly, without the rigid Confucian, Joseon class hierarchies, she would be on equal footing with Boongdo, making it entirely possible for her to want Boongdo as her own. I don't think she's given up on being with Boongdo and fear that she may turn to the dark side. After all, the second syllable of her name does mean the moon, that ever-changing, inconstant moon that at times serves as a beacon in the dark and at times hides itself in that darkness.

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My perfect ending would be if Boong Do brings both Yong Wol and his manservant with him when he decides to leave Joseon for good to live with Hee Jin in 2012.

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I agree Hillary. I don't know if the magic of the talisman will work that way, but it would be nice if Yoon wol and maybe the monk who was so helpful and curious could "emigrate to the future" with him. Just speculating.

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I think her only chance to be with him is right there in Joseon. If she is taken to the new world she will not stand a chance against Hee-jin. He is in love with her and he can not have a wife #2.
Maybe she should have used the talisman when she had the chance lol. It was hers to begin with.

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If she is taken to the new world she will not stand a chance against Hee-jin. He is in love with her and he can not have a wife #2.

Yeah, but she doesn't know that. :)

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@ anais. But she already know that he met a woman there right?. I want to explain further but that will lead to posting spoilers lol.

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Right, Kiara! Yoon wol does know that there is another woman in the "other place" and that Boong Do calls this other women his "other benefactor", and that he smiles fondly when thinking of her (although he has forgotten all that with the amnesia, Yoon-wol remembers Boong Do mentioning it). She doesn't know the nature of their relationship, though, but she looks uneasy.

That is why I thought maybe my second idea (that Yoon-wol feels confined in Josun by her gender and her social class) might be part of her reason for rejecting Boong Do's offer.

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Yoon-wol does seem to be headed towards taking a more active role. I feel bad for her right now, esp. since she hasn't done anything bad. She's been a very sympathetic second lead. She's not arrogant or entitled like Dong Min (not as hilarious either).

She was the one who enabled Boong Do to meet Hee Jin by giving him the talisman. She saved his life with her loyalty and her sincere desire for his safety, but she inadvertently paved the way for him to become more distant from her. That must hurt.

Like aoiaheen, I want a happy ending for her (without breaking up our OTP, of course).

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I agree with all of you! I want a happy ending for her and HJ, both *sigh* This k-drama feels like a Taiwanese drama, where the second leads aren't evil, just put in awkward positions between the leads. But I doubt everyone's going to hug and make happy in the middle.
I expected her to be the catalyst for conflict, that when she figured everything out, she'd take the talisman away to keep him in Joseon times. (Maybe even for his own good, she'd figure.) And then he'd have to get it back. I had never even considered the possibility of it getting destroyed or ending up in Evil Hands.

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Yes! The TWDrama bit was spot on. It's like... the second lead in Playful Kiss (played by Lee Taesung.. forget his name in PK, but he was known as Failed Villain Forever in RTP). They don't actively do anything bad, they are actually more of pushovers who just have the misfortune of falling for the wrong person. As said, I want a happy ending for her. I'd rather her not to bad-actions-for-the-sake-greater-goods, because for once I don't want to hate a female second lead. For some reason, it seems like ALL female second leads have to be evil, while the same law doesn't apply to male second leads. They can be bitchy, but they can also be good. I never understood that.

As for YoonWol's decision. As a gisaeng, YoonWol seen a lot of the dark side of life, and she knows how the world operates: unfairly. By becoming a concubine to Boong Do, (1) She will feel unloved, although he will care for her. (2) She will be more constricted, and have to do all that the social etiquettes require of her as a Minister's concubine. (3) The political repercussions may be very great, especially for Boong Do, who already has a tonne of enemies. As his concubine, not only would she be giving Boong Do's enemies more political ammo against him, she would also be increasing the danger for Boong Do, and by extension, herself, since she would be the wife. So instead of going through all that heartache, she would rather go into the future where she has heard that men and women are equal. There, she may have a chance to be together with Boong Do as a full-fledged wife, not a concubine, and they would live in a relatively danger-free world. And if she didn't, at least she wouldn't be causing grief for the man she loves, and would be able to live her life more danger-free and independently than she had before.

I'm so sure I could write a thesis paper on QIHM once it finished. I'm not sure I could do the same for many other dramas. Oh, why can't I take classes in *this* at Uni?

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I guess Yoon wol can't know that we don't have polygamy in 2012. Does anyone else in Joseon even know that it is the future that Boong Do travels to, this "other place"? I can't recall if Boong Do told the monk. He's been secretive, since knowledge is so dangerous in his world, with Min and Ja Soo willing to kidnap or cut up people to get what they want.

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I think the monk has some kind of idea what kind of world he travels to. Min and Jasoo knows that he is using the talisman to disappear but have no clue where.
I think Min will figure out a way to use this against Boong Do and the Queen. I can see the writers incorperating history here in the end. The death Queen In-hyun and maybe Boong Do will be exiled and his whole history wiped out. Then it'll make sense why he is not in the history book today.

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The monk doesn't know that it's a different time. He only knows that it's not their world. Yoon Wol knows that there's another woman, but as you've indicated, she only fears not knows that romantic feelings are involved. And indeed, she has no idea that polygamy is illegal in this other world. She doesn't even know that there are no legally established class hierarchies, just that she can garner respect in this other world.

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Since the talisman has power to pull other folks into the future (like the guy who was chasing Boong Do at the end of the second episode) I'm hoping there'll be this mass exodus of folks (well, the monk and yoon wol.) I still feel she can't marry him because of some incestuous reason...being his wife's half-sister or some such thing. Just a guess.

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I think Yoon Wol character is so interesting. Her way of thinking is beyond her era. That's why I buy her excuse to refuse Boong Do offer (if I had hoped to live a life like that, I would have never become a gisaeng).

And I guess I've seen this in other drama, concubine's children will have the same status as their mother (Yoon Wol-> slave), not up to their father's status. And might not get any inheritance if the legal wife and children don't want to. That of course, not Yoon Wol dream life.

and again, Yoon Wol and Hee Jin are so similar. Joseon Gisaeng = Actress 2012, but 1694 can't get Boong Do, while 2012 can. It's like Hee Jin's life = Yoon Wol dream life.

About Yoon Wol becomes a villain, for me that's so unlikely. Maybe she'll be an obstacle for our OTP, but it must be for Boong Do own goodness (or she thinks so).

However, I hope the writer won't forget about Yoon Wol in the end and give her a good ending too (I'm wishing it as much as for our OTP happy ending)

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Wow, good point about Hee Jin's life (she has respect and status as an actress, independence, 2012 women's education and freedom, not to mention Boong Do's love) = Yoon Wol's dream life.

Yoon Wol seems like a good person from what little we've seen so far.

Both Yoon Wol and Boong Do seem very modern in their thinking and Boong Do has not been appalled by 2012 cosmopolitanism and equal rights etc. (They could both adapt well to living in 2012!) That's part of why I like them both, so I'll suspend my disbelief further.

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Actually, if Boongdo were to make Yoon Wol his concubine, he'd have to get her stricken from the gisaeng roster. I don't know how much is involved in doing so, but he would effectively raise her from slave status. The child would not be eligible for certain government posts, but at various times in Joseon history, non-yanbang offspring could sit for the government exams (gwageo) for lower level positions.

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*nod nod*
thank you anais, then I guess wrong about the concubine thing.

it makes me love Yoon Wol character even more, wah.. this drama is so interesting.

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Tari, you are right though about inheritance rights. They are by no means entitled to any property. That said, that was also true of any offspring who wasn't the eldest son since Joseon practiced primogeniture. So, as in the European feudal system, estate property passed in accordance with primogeniture lines of descent. So individual inheritance paled in comparison with estate inheritance. (For example, my father is the eldest son of the eldest son. However, he had only daughters. The estate passed out of my immediate family to the most senior - not to be confused with eldest - male cousin. Yeah, I'm bitter about it.)

That said, Joseon yangban status was a mix of blood lineage and merit. Unlike European feudal system, a yangban enjoyed much of his wealth only so long as he held a government title/post. A lot of estates were technically government land attached to certain posts/titles. Those properties reverted back to the government and passed onto the next person who held that post. Of course, the yangban as a class and as individuals did their utmost to hold onto as much of that government wealth as they could. That is why the yangban went to such lengths to limit the number of men eligible to sit for the government exams, tightening eligibility requirements over the course of the dynasty's history by expanding the numbers of preceding generations that had to be of yangban status or by rendering ineligible children of women's second marriages, thus effectively rendering yangban women subject to early widowhood or spinsterhood (at one point during the dynasty, girls who'd been engaged as children but whose betrothed had died early could not marry without rendering her male offspring ineligible for the gov't exam). Sorry for the long comment, but hope it's helpful.

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@anais: this is why I love reading dramabeans' recaps and comments. So many interesting things to learn from informed people.

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Thank you, anais, for the rich lode of information you have provided. The cultural/historical context makes us (especially non-Koreans) understand so much more the motivations of the drama characters (in this instance, Yoon Wol) that otherwise we would not be able to make. Sometimes, we react to drama situations with our present-day schemas and paradigms, forgetting how different things were in Joseon of 300 years back.

This is what I love most about kdrama watching-cum-DB blogging about them. It's not just the emotional experience provided by the dramas, and the eye candy. So much brain candy as well!

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It makes me wonder if YW has any connection with Hee Jin. Maybe she is an ancestor and that is the link between HJ and Boong Do? Hmm...

That part where she want to be taken to that new world worries me a little. I hope there is no "noble idiot syndrome" anywhere near this drama. So far it has been so perfect.

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I hope not.
no more reincarnation thing a la RTP *aarrgh...!!!*

but again, if the writer do it nicely (like for the amnesia thing), maybe I'll buy it.

I don't know *sigh*

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I thought YW clearly understood that BD has romantic feelings for the other woman. Also knowing that she would have equal footing there she wants to go, believing that she can turn BD towards her if she is on equal footing with her rival.

I foresee some dark side coming.

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I understood yoon wols actions completely. Yoon wol's always been a little more ahead of her time, kinda like se kyung in TPM or kim yoon hee in sungkyunkwan scandal, so she dared to dream of a better world where everyone was equal. and yeah everyones spot on in explaining why boong do offered that to her, but lets not forget he just said it was "one" of the options if she wanted, so esentially it's to protect her and give her a good name.

but she rejected it because of that, i think its very brave herself and doesnt feel the need to be protected by anyone else, and it also hurts her because the method of protecting her is one disregards her love for him and being true to herself, she couldnt accept such a position knowing it would only be in name, calling herself that and everyone assuming theyre together when theyre not, and would only burden him. its kinda like your crush asking you to pretend to be his girlfriend so hide the fact that hes gay, or to make someone else jealous, youd want it but you know itd hurt you more. thats why she was like "just looking at your back, that is not the life i want."

If he really loved her, I dont think she'd hesitate to say yes but kudos to her for not taking the easy way!

what i like is shes not really a second lead and neither is na jung, but shes a wonderful character all the same.

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Hi and Hello to everyone

This is my first time commenting here but this drama is making me do something I'm usually adament about not doing. I'm a devout loner and quit anti-social but oddly enough I will talk excessivlly nonstop when its about something that interest me. And this drama does.

About Yoon Wol, I too agree with your insight of Yoon Wol but I also think she has a calcutive and manipulative nature. (Not that I see this as a bad thing) Its just that from the moment I saw her she instantly reminded me of Lady Jang's same character in the drama Dong Yi before she gained her status as a royal concubine. Which just makes me cautious about her.

Now as for her not accepting Boong Do's offer well in a way she's already been in that situation hasn't she? She wouldn't want to continue living that way, -living in the same home with him and watching him from afar and with someone else. Like she did with him and his wife for however long they were married before he became a widower. So I agree she wants more than just to be taken care of like a family member. And I think she's spent the past 5 years trying to earn a more intimate spot in Boong Do's heart. (Although she's done no different than Boong Do's manservant - risking her life and being loyal.) Is that not what a caring family member would do for family?

I pitty Yoon Wol because no matter what she does Boong Do will never care for in any other way but other than famil love, in my opinion. And if she accepts this and wish him well in the end and not go all evil and want revenge that would be worthy of even greater admiration.

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Hehehehe Thanks JB. I was just thinking when the next recap will came out and when I went to DB, it did.. SWEET!

This is one heart wrenching episode. I really feel HJ when she was crying in the bathroom thinking about BD and why DM is the boyfriend. In Na really bring it in this episode.

Really thank you for this.. ^^

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Omg it was so sad seeing Hee Jin going into that panic attack, crying in fear and disbelief and frustration over the two realiies that just contradicts each other! The way she could only meekly ask Soo Kyung with tissue shreds stuck near her tear-stained eyes, "Don't you know Kim Boong Do? You didn't like him at first, but you warmed up to him and even bought my car with him and taught him to drive." Only to be crushed by Soo Kyung memories of the alternative reality! *CRIES*

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I freakin' love this show. I've like Dong-min all along in spite of his caddish-ness, but I actually felt sorry for him in this episode. And poor Hee-jin! My heart went out to her when she started recalling "memories" of her new reality.

As always, your recaps help me understand each episode better. The subs I'm using translated Boong-do's conversation with Yoon-wol as though he was offering to make her his wife, not concubine. Your explanation cleared that mistake up, so thanks!

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"The subs I’m using translated Boong-do’s conversation with Yoon-wol as though he was offering to make her his wife, not concubine"

Yeah, i was confused about that too. I was wondering why on earth she would reject the offer. And why he thought he may have wounded her pride. I'm glad that was cleared up.

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Thank you for the recap JB!!! I've been looking forward to it :) I love this drama so so much. I found it so interesting that instead of Hee-jin losing her memory, everybody else did. What a refreshing twist on the amnesia trope!

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Regarding spoilers, I'm not sure. I've always been the kind to look at books' endings before buying them and asking friends the ending of movies they watched, so reading spoilers rarely hurt me. But I guess only few people are like me. I'll also refrain from giving spoilery tidbits or at least put BIG marks so people can easily avoid them...

That aside, I felt sad when I watched this episode. Hee Jin crying in the bathroom was certainly heart-wrenching. It's not just about losing a loved one but being the only one to remember. I think the latter part hurts more. It's like those memories you treasure never really happened even though the memories are so vivid and the emotions are so real and deep. :'(

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Yeah, I agree. The gaslighting (being told your reality is not true) of Hee Jin by the time-warping and by the people around her (although they aren't intentionally messing with her) is painfu. Not only does she have to deal with loss, but she's told that she's making it all up in her head.

But I love how she's strong and feels like even if there's a teeny, 1% chance that her dream is real, that it's worth fighting for (and by fighting, I mean a screeching U-turn, waiting for an hour and being willing to risk recrimination and ridicule).

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Gaslighting - dang, not many people know that awesome movie. Great reference.

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Or rather Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman.

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Heh, thanks Anais!

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I got it - great reference!

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I really really love this drama. The bout of amnesia was well thought out - and the way Hee Jin sobbed when she couldn't reconcile her two realities? My heart was being torn apart with hers. It was just doubly sad because her 'new memories' show her being all happy and bubbly with Dong Min, and you sort of see how reality would have played out if she had NEVER met Boong Do - and yet she did. Absolutely shattering.

Okay since we shall have no more spoilers I shall stop myself here and comment again upon the next recap! Thank you JB!! The whole DB team are full of awesome-sauce for spinning out these recaps so quickly!!

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I really liked this double-reality, as well. I had the feeling that this new reality was the way things were supposed to work out - that BD and HeeJin would not fall in love, that he would come and do what he needed to do and Hee Jin and the rest of the world would be mere bystanders, and when it was all over no one would recall a thing.
But contrary to fate's plan, they did meet, and they did fall in love, and so now they carry baggage that neither was meant to have. I really liked how the symptoms were different - she remembered things that no one else did, and BD had forgotten what everyone else remembered - yet the end result was the same, confusion and discomfort and a feeling that something is wrong with the way the world is running...

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I really feel sorry for Yoo-wol. I want a happy ending for her.

Of course I still root for the main couple to be together. I loved this episode! (but then I've loved ALL of them so far)

Thanks JB. You're recaps really help me understand the drama and clear up stuff that I was confused about.

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Same here and thats why I love this show so much. It makes me care about all the characters even the potential jerks.

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The jury is still out on Dong Min where I am concerned. While I do feel sorry for him in this episode that he is getting the short end of the stick, I've never felt that he truly cared for Hee Jin. Instead, he seems to see her as a possession or a conquest and everything evolves around his ego. Even when he is supposedly doing something nice for her, it still seems like a power trip.

On the other hand, Hee Jin is superbly adorable. It's not just her mannerisms but she is so honest and true to herself. It's so nice to see a heroine who is utterly sure of her feelings without coyness or the "let's have a see-saw relationship involving a male second lead".

Even when she is almost convinced that Boong Do is a figment of her imagination, she still would have nothing to do with Dong Min. What an excellent chickie! Love!

And it's official. Whereas it was a budding semi-crush on Boong do ... it is now a full-blown, OMG squeal swoon crush.

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To tie all the loose ends, maybe YW should travel with BD to the future where she can hook up with DM!

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I agree about your Dong Min observation. He's all "me me me me me" and nothing about him makes me feel his sincerity. When he came in and hugged Hee Jin in the hospital it didn't feel it was true concern. He's just that bit off.

(I am trying very hard not to comment on him in relation to the latest episodes hahahah)

As for Hee Jin I think she has NEVER believed that the "dreams" were dreams. She knows in her heart that Boong Do happened, and she is the kind who is true to heart. Which is why physically she rejects Dong Min, and which is why she tells everyone "i know it's a dream", just to get them off her back. Even when Boong Do didn't appear in the phone booth she STILL feels that Boong Do is real and remains repulsed by Dong Min. I love her so much!

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LOL, me too. I think much of our doubts about him stems from the same place.

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A haiku for Javabeans:

Hate you, Amnesia
I want you to know how much!
But you'd just forget...

While I agree, it's a trope that causes instantaneous eye-rolling, I have to say I like this rendition. There just enough there to cause friction between the two realities, especially how it is treated by the OTP: Boong Do, completely forgetting but slowly remembering, and Hee Jin, completely remembering but starting to forget.

This series definitely has me at the edge of my seat rooting for the main couple! Thanks for the recaps as always!!

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LOL! awesome haiku :)

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thanks!

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Woot! Daebak haiku, shuk!

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thanks JB, though. i particularly dont like the lead man's face, at times i imagine his character played by Kim Soo Hyun ( Moon Embraces the Sun King character) but eventually i find him cuter and cuter every episode.
gosh, he's a tall guy 6'1 inches.

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i cry in this ep, hj in bathroom scene.. TT___TT

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Cried so much too it was heartbreaking TT_TT

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"I’d call it man OF her dreams, but maybe I’m just projecting." - You and me both! I'm going to be very surprised if another drama hero manages to to top Boong-do this year - or even next year. I love him more every episode.

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Well, depending on the Korean used, it could well be "man OF her dreams." That would be such a classic meta-play on words. For those who don't know Korean grammar, the only way to indicate possessive / genitive relationship is to use "of (의)" No equivalent of an apostrophe.

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I'm learning something new with every comment you post -- from history to films to grammar. Thank you, anais! I just usually lurk and enjoy comments from like-minded people who love this drama to bits :)

Thank you JB for another awesome recap that brought my appreciation of this drama to another level :)

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I agree. First time in k-drama history I didn't groan at the use of amnesia. (I haven't watched Fantasy Couple). Usually, I just want to kill the writers for using such a cheap trick. I mean, how often do people get amnesia in real life anyway?! That aside, Yoon-wol is an awesome love-rival. I like how she's not blindly into Boong-do. Her not seizing her chance to be with Boong-do gains her a lot of respect from me (and I'm sure other viewers).

I continue to be impressed with this drama. Poor Hee-jin in this episode. Convinced that she's crazy!

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You should watch Fantasy Couple - the whole point of the show is her anmesia and hilarious fallout. It's a Hong sisters drama, what else can we say.

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See, I have this long list of dramas I want to watch. Problem is these equally awesome new dramas keep coming out. And if I want any semblance of a life outside of k-dramas, I have to choose between catching up on my list, or only settling for what's airing at the moment.

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YAAAY!*squeals excitedly* Another recap! Thank you so much JB! :D

"It makes so much sense that she’d be told everything was a result of her car accident that the drama almost has ME thinking she might have dreamed the whole thing up."

Omg, I was feeling the exact same thing after this ep. Poor Hee-jin. :( It must be so confusing and heartbreaking to have all these conflicting memories in your mind, not knowing which to believe in, and clinging to that tiny, slim hope that your "dreams" were actually reality.

I loved the conversation between Boong-do and Han-dong at the end though - it had me cracking up, even though this episode was so full of angst. Seeing Boong-do all confused and Han-dong giving him weird looks - priceless. XD As for Yoon-wol, I actually really like her. She's proven before, and particularly in this episode, that she's really strong and quite independent, especially for a woman of her time. The way I see it, she knows that Boong-do doesn't love her romantically like she wants him to, and so she'd rather not be bound to him in such a way when she could have the relatively freer and more independent lifestyle of a gisaeng. It's refreshing to see.

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Omo this episode made me so sad. :( on the other hand I love Boong-do, it's ridiculous <3 <3

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Episode 9 is one of my least favourite episode,bcoz it is so sad. It makes everyone so pitiful. Boong do has amnesia and offer yeon wol to become his concubine. Yeon wol becomes so sad,knowing that his lord is being too kind, but still never love her the way she is towards him. Heejin is forced to accept dong min as her boyfriend, while dong min got confused since he doesn't know anything. All he knows is : "what happened to my gf? Why does she change? I love her". This is so sad :(.

As much as I love Boong Do-Heejin, I find that the second leads are not bad people. They do care about Boon Do-Heejin. So.. should I call it..fate?

Two thumbs up for the writer and PD who can deliver the conflict nicely, so that it can move the viewer's heart. I really feel bad for everyone :(..

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Although we know the new alternate reality is different from what really happened earlier, this episode confirms one thing: had Boong Do not transported himself into Hee Jin's era, Hee Jin -- the star-struck noob -- would most likely fall for Han Dong Min again. And very possibly have her heart broken AGAIN in the future once the honeymoon phase has worn off.

But after meeting Kim Boong Do -- even if it was in a dream as people around her claimed, Hee Jin now realises the emptiness of such a relationship. And the show makes it clear that this alternate reality is just as real, which means Boong Do could have remained just a memory to her all her life.

A post-KBD Hee Jin is definitely a much wiser person... =)

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Yes! Great observation, and didn't Soo-Kyung say that all of Hee-Jin's ex-boyfriends were scummy? Hee Jin herself called all her exes players.

See, once you've had a good relationship (or more accurately, met a really good man), you can't settle for jerks again, or being treated badly.

Thus we have much of Dramabeans' "beanut gallery" saying that Boong-Do has ruined them for jerk drama heroes...

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You are SO right!

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Nice observation. I agree with you! :)

I also agree with JC. I'm one of those who will have to force myself and sigh with sadness when I see a hero being a jerk to the heroine and a heroine not fighting for all she's worth for that relationship. Always worrying about what others will think, etc. I don't know if that last trait makes HJ selfish or just gutsy, or more likely, knows her worth and BD's as well.

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yep, lesson learnt: don't settle for less!

I would think it's HJ's guts rather than her selfish nature at play. She knows now how to protect herself from a cad's charms...

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My take on hee jin's dual realities was that because the talisman was sliced in two and taken away Tom boong do, the bridge between the past and the present was shattered. I had figured that since there is no bridge between the two eras anymore, reality had reverted to what it would have been without the interference of the talisman.

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That theory works but base on that line of reasoning, that would also mean the reality in BD's era should back to the way it was.

Only it didn't; his present is still the same after his interference making use of the talisman to time jump back and forth to Jeju island (and narrow life threatening escapes) in order to save the dethroned queen and himself.

So why is the past not affected but the future has? That to me is not consistent.

But I love everything about the show and if this is the only flaw, I can live with it=)

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All will be explained!

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@ Bugsy -

I think it is consistent within it's own rules. The talisman is still continuing along its own 1694 timeline, so events that occurred prior to it being damaged would be, for all intents and purposes, set in stone.

For anything in the future affected by the talisman, it's fluid.

Since the talisman cannot go back in time (say, to before Boong Do's family was killed), nothing of that past can be changed or influenced.

My take on it anyways, thanks!

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Yup, that's my take as well. It's hard to say what does and doesn't work in a fantasy/sci-fi story. It's always fake so each story has an internal logic that it adheres to that may not apply to any other story. Even when a story is repeating a common theme/trope it still puts it's own stamp on the idea and creates rules for itself.

Also the writers went for a kind of poetic mirroring where Hee Jin remembers but her world doesn't and Boong Do doesn't remember but his world does. The question now is how to meld the two halves in such a way that everyone remembers again. Time will tell...

*Pun very much intended.

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Thanks for the 2nd take!

That does make sense if we see the past as the so called original starting point. And of course how the rules and guidelines created in the world would affect how the talisman works in both timelines.

But logically speaking, the past should affect the future and if the 1694 timeline is not affected, neither should the future. Unless nothing works in a linear fashion and it's just an unfortunate collateral damage when the talisman was cut.

Sorry, I can't help thinking of movies like Back to the Future where things can be explained in a scientific way. (I know, I know, it's a talisman not a car!)

Still, I hope more details could be explain in future episodes WHY the future was affected the way it has.

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thanks for recaping. at least the mistery of the too knot is solve.... xi..xi..xi..

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Hee-Jin knows what she felt with Boong-do was real. Have faith Hee-Jin!

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Wow. I have no idea what to say to all of this except maybe "Damn Show! Why so good?" XD

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I was super confused about the whole Queen In-hyun thing - needless to say, I was going "wait, did they rip through my reality too? Queen In-hyun's supposed to exist right?!" Thanks for explaining that that's what she would have been called post-humously, haha.

Looove this show so freaking much. Off to watch ep 12 and ready to burst my heart because seriously, the previous ep was magical.

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I love Yoo In na's acting in that bathroom scene ... It was sooo touching that I even cried !

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And was that toilet paper stuck to her face that she'd been drying her tears on?

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i was wondering abt that too! now that you mention, hmm...

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Thanks, Javabeans! It's really happened; thanks to your recaps I've started watching this drama and I'm hooked well and proper :-)

I love the way this drama has been written so far. It's been witty, and - despite being based on a fantastical talisman - is pretty realistic in its portrayal of two people getting to know each other, being attracted, and falling in love. I thought YIN really did a good job in this episode.

It's about at this time that I start hoping and praying that the writers keep the writing and pacing consistently good till the end! Gah! Been following too many dramas recently which were let down by poor pacing and writing towards the end . . .

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The one niggling thing about the side effects for me is why the future (our present) is affected? I get how BD gets amnesia as a direct cause and effect of having the talisman cut into 2 and him being the owner.

But I don't see how that could change the future into what it could be if he never went there in the first place because he has and it just doesn't make sense to undo all his past actions in 2012 by virtue of the fact he lost his memories/damage mystical object.

Having said that, I do like the conflict of having HJ being the only person who remembers two realities. I just wish there's a more concrete explanation than "mystical object is cut so anything can happen" logic.

I hope more light can be shed in future episodes but till then, with such dynamic cast, cute coupling and engaging plot, I'm willing to ignore the small plot hole.

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But I think it makes absolute sense for the future to change constantly, based on the unfolding events in the past. After all, the drama has already established Hee-jin's future changing minutely but constantly with every action Boong-do takes (as a previous episode established with the changes in the Annals of the Joseon Kings that resulted in a completely different script). Boongdo, at this point, doesn't remember time-traveling. As such, unless he recovers either his memory or the talisman, the connection to the future with Hee-jin has been severed and he won't be traveling to the future in this new past reality. (Dang, talking about this phenomenon without getting myself confused - past past, current past, past present, and present present - is going to be challenging). Instead, presumably, a different set of events will unfold for three hundred years. As such, since Heejin's present is so far in the future, the butterfly effect will be inevitable.

I wish I were a physics expert who understood Einstein's theory of relativity because it would be really fun to subject this Show's take on relativity of time to a more rigorously formulated concept.

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Tell me about it Anais!

I suppose if we approach the show from a semi-butterfly effect/ back to the future-esque back and forth travels, it might make sense. Somehow. I hope.

I take your point that some details would change in the future base on BD's action. That's only logical(!) But what I'm having difficulty at is reconciling with the fact that everyone has forgotten about BD's presence except for HJ as the direct effect of the talisman being lost/torn in the past.

Unless something happen down the road or someone travel back to before BD could time travel and stop him from going to the future in the first place; But that's just too complicated for a 16 episode show so there must be some other explanation. Like maybe everything ties to BD's memory but base on that theory everyone should recover their original memory the moment he came back to the..uh...future.

Obviously I'm not making any sense anymore! hah! You can't see it but I'm tearing my hair out. o.o I can only pray the next 2 episodes will shed some light.

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I think it's a bit amusing that people want to reconcile Heejin's retaining her memory with everyone else's forgetting theirs. Isn't the drama playing with the rules it's established for the talisman along with storytelling conventions to emphasize that the connection between Heejin and Boongdo transcends all? Yes, she should have forgotten too per the talisman, but ooooohhh she hasn't. Somehow the alternate universes have converged in her. Isn't that why their relationship is so special?

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It's a poetic thought to see both leads having that kind of relationship that defies all logic. But if that's the approach, I'm not feeling it strongly enough, at least not enough to overlook at the consequences of having the talisman torn. (And I want to so badly!)

Having said that, it's too soon to say what's what till we see more development in the story. I suspect what we've seen so far is just the effects and hopefully we'll get to the reasoning soon enough.

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You're so right about the organic plotting. There really are no false notes or any scenes that don't ring true. Every movement or action is valid and reasonable. I so don't want it to fail me. I have a feeling that although Yoon-Wol is very sweet and sacrificing...she might try to get in the way of his leaving. Maybe I've seen too many lovelorn women get weird and possessive --either to protect a man they love, or to keep the guy away from another woman.

I think she didn't accept Boong-Do's offer because she has more independence, freedom, (and possibility) of being loved if she remains a gisaeng. But she is still hoping for love. I wish she would just marry his loyal servant who actually likes her.

I am so glad the beginning episode of this drama has what looks like a happy ending. In that way, I can breathe happily and believe things will all turn out well in the end. Cause, honestly, sometimes I think..."Dang, this would make a really wonderful melancholy story. Real melancholy, not the churned our cliched melancholy/tragedy that is sometimes doled out in dramas."

Gotta ask again: "Why does Dong Bin say, 'What kind of name is Boong Do?'" Is it a name that is so old-fashioned that it sounds weird to modern Korean ears?

Great recap as usual.

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Her life seems to be revolving around Boong Do. If he lives she may live. If he dies she will die too because none will protect her. She is #2 on Minister Min's hit list after Boong Do.

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oh, it never occurred to me that she might die...even if he were to live. So many people want to leave the Josean period -- the monk, the gisaeng...the adventurous types. For a moment I was worrying, Mr Hunk Assassin would venture into the future. Am so liking this show. I really like the defection sub-text, and how difficult it is for Boong-Do to give up his life in one world and fully join the other. I'm thinking if he suddenly appeared in South Korea, he could always say he defected from the north.

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I also was wondering how BD was going to be assimilated into this new world without any birth certificate, ID, no documentation, no diploma. I don't know how S. Korea handles this, but don't families have to register each birth and marriage with the government? So if BD were to stay in the future, how will they get around his lack of documentation? Even if BD claims to be from N.Korea, the government would be able to check out his story and find out that it is false.

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I can't remember where I read this, but, yes, apparently the word/ name 'Boong' in particular is antiquated. Acceptable in his era, but strange to modern ears.

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Thanks so much.

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Yes, I think it was koala who was talking about it, that it is old-fashioned now and would label someone as a sort of backwoods country bumpkin; I suggested that an American equivalent might be something like Jedediah Smith - common last name, perfectly acceptable but hopelessly old-fashioned first name.

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Like Park Bong-Pal, the male lead in Bring It On Ghost? Remember how the FL thought his name was funny.

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r u foreseeing a happy ending? idk cuz i thought just like RTP no matter how lurvy durvy they were it was inevitable that each had to go back/stay in their respective era. i mean since BD is essentially dead in modern time then it wouldnt make sense that he'd be able to stay here, but then again time travel isnt exactly sth that makes sense plus maybe thats me trying to prepare myself for the heartbreak if they separate at the end and if they stay together then i guess the feeling will be sweeter-either way win win for me!

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*...since BD is essentially dead in modern time..*

but in 1964 he supposed to be death too (poisoned in Jeju)

*...but then again time travel isnt exactly sth that makes sense...*

yes.

*...-either way win win for me!*

no!! I want them to be together!!

since I'm confused too, I'll start preparing myself for now on and swallow everything this drama will give me

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I keep thinking about Boong Do's late wife, now that I went back to episode 2. I guess he didn't love her so much (arranged marriage maybe) or he's gotten over her death. I wonder if he could go back before her death.... but I don't think he can change history if the history occurred before the talisman was in his hands. But he doesn't seem oppressed with grief over his late wife. Which is interesting to say the least...

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I think he's processed and managed the grief; after all, it's been 5 years. We've never been given any hints as to the actual emotions between Boong-do and his wife, but given that she was pregnant when she died, I'd think it was a 'normal' marriage. He has learned to look forward, and thus far, his purpose has been to work towards the Queen's reinstatement and, indirectly, to restore his family honour. I suppose that's what's been driving him on.

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At some point he said something like it is normal in his era for family-members to be killed all together , so the grief for his wife is a part of the grief for his all family.

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the opening sequence of the first episode seems to hint at a timed reunion and meeting place. I'm hoping it foreshadowed the actual end and not something near the end. That would be just so misdirecting of the screenwriters.

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I was hoping it would be like in The Princess's Man, in which the beginning sequence showed us something that happened in the middle of the series instead of towards the end. I think it would be more interesting, but...
THEY BETTER HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR I'LL JKSDBGKJSDBGKJD

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I agree with you about Yoon Wol. She's a woman out of her time, ironically. Strong, willful and prideful. Outwardly she conforms to the limitations of her time and position but deep in, she hankers for more.

Which is why she rejected Boong Do's offer. What woman of mettle would accept that? "Hey, you're kinda screwed up because of me so Imma gonna make a grand sacrifice and take you as a spare tire ..."

Right.

I also think her pride demands that she deserves more. Her love for Boong do is deep and abiding, as evinced by the many years she's hankered after him and denigrated herself to safeguard him (to evil Minister et al). She would not do well relegated to a sitting at the back bench while some other woman waltzed in to take the place she wishes she occupied.

And I agree that while she is all gentle and sweetness now, things may take a dark turn. While she would not maliciously cause harm to the OTP or Boong do, the limitations of her understanding and intelligence, and depth of her possessive feelings for Boong do, could cause her to take drastic actions.

Still, this drama has taken many cliches, twisted and sprinkled gold dust on them and made them all shiny and fabulous. For all we know, Yoon Wol could turn out to be yet another talisman.

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yeah, i've been fearing the appearance of another talisman. I kinda trust the screenwriters though that if the talisman reappears ..well...the monks probably had a yin yang type of balancing thing so the world could be set to rights.

It doesn't seem as if any other monk has used this talisman before. So why should Boong Do get it? What is so special now that he should get it? Because he has a fate that could go either way, probably. And really, should he return to die? If he even managed to live a full life in the Joseon period (with or without true love) he would be messing up history by having kids and other butterfly effects.

One wonders why Yoon Wol was given the talisman in the first place. But I'm thinking it'll be as you said: her limited knowledge of history and of the rightness of his love and her attempts to battle fate or battle his foolhardy love for a woman in another world. More harm has been done in dramas because of misguided over-protectiveness than for any other reason.

-C

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I'm thinking she's his late wife's half-sister or some other forbidden relationship that he's unaware of...so they can't marry. Cause she's so adamant about not telling her hometown. There's a heavy incest possibility.

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Oh, I hope not. There's plenty of obstacles between YW and BD, they don't need to toss in that old trope. So far this writer has been really good about avoiding cliche and giving us a fresh perspective (amnesia made new - who knew?) so I would be really disappointed if all of the sudden we got some Summer Scent or Autumn Tale or whatever the heck those makjang incest dramas are called...

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Actually I do not mean a literal talisman. I meant Yoon Wol herself might be the "trump card" in the end. Noble idiocy has not reared its daft head in this drama yet and she's about the right candidate for that.

Also, she was his ex-wife's servant. I doubt they will pull a birth secret where she is concerned.

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NO SPOILERS!!! I love the fact that JB is recapping this, and itsnot complete until I read her caps..so yeah, lets try to NOT LEAVE SPOILERS and discuss the specific epi now..

Guess the drama is too exciting .

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I thought HJ and BD first met when HJ thought he was an extra and offered him snacks? What happened to that memory?

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Boong-Do's memory of that is gone. As he said to Han Dong, he last remembers being in the library with the assassin after him, right before the first time the talisman transports him to 2012. Everything from that moment to when the talisman is cut is gone from his memory (about 1 month).

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if the writer(s) was rubbish then i can easily see Dong Min being underused a la Sun Woo's gf in Equator Man, thank God for brilliant writers hey?!!

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Amen to that! The writing has been so excellent.

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While we do not understand why HeeJin remembers you guys will note that HeeJin has ALWAYS remembered the alternate reality each time a change happens.

Whenever something is changed she goes to look it up in the online Annals remember.

Remember when the script was different and she asked the Director about it? It was because Boong Do moved up Minister Min's arrest but she still remembered the original history.

So it makes sense she still remembers after the talismen was torn. How sad is it that everyone around Boong Do remembers while he does not while Hee Jin remembers and everyone around her does not.

The whole, "It was a Dream" bit does seem very convincing .

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Death cannot stop true love, I guess.

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I remember how Boong Do said that besides his own life, he tries to change others' as little as possible in his tweaking of history. Aside from Boong Do's own life, Hee Jin's life has been affected the most because of his time travels, which is why I think only Hee Jin remembers him.

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Thanks for the highlight! That does make sense in light of what happens when the talisman was torn.

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found this mv clip of qim on rigpal's haven of insanity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KgNxn4yFfWc

apparently there are alot of mv of boong-do and heejin OTP on youtube too

BOONG-DO & HEEJIN 4EVER!!!

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That was a good one!

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oh and here is the gaegyum that plays in qim. i really love this sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfslkEft3e4&feature=related

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The screencap at the top is such a fitting visual for Hee Jin's predicament-- she desperately wants to keep her connection with her new love, Boong Do, alive-- but she has to keep those feelings boxed in because the whole wide world is raining on her love-parade. Poor Hee Jin! I absolutely love this as a conflict for a drama heroine to have.

jb, thanks again for recapping this despite being so busy already. And many thanks for the reminder that this is supposed to be a spoiler-free zone, and for spelling out that “Omg the end of Episode XYZ is SO SAD!” is also a spoiler. I would add that commenting on anything that's shown in a preview is also a no-no. There aren't many spoilerphobic-friendly places in the k-drama blogosphere, which makes me extra-super-grateful for dramabeans. (I've learned that I need to avoid the OT until I'm caught up on my dramas but that recap comments are generally safe.)

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I am with you.
FB, soompi - you get what you ask for by going there just to "peek." Odds are a BTS photo will be there to reveal something.

I think about the end of ep4, or the library kiss in 5.
I am sooooooooo glad I ddin't see anything about those before hand.
My heart just about jumped out of my body.
I hate hate hate hate when knowing what is coming takes away that feeling - you really can only experience once.

It is interesting to me, also, what folks don't consider a spoiler - For example, comparing what is happening to another version and giving away plot points that happened in that version, and may still happen in this one.
Am making this example up - nobody panic! "I can't believe he lost his memory in this episode, in the J -version, he finds out his mother actually survived and is currently in LA working in the fashion industry. I wonder if they are going to do thiat with the K version."

Thank you JB for underlining this issue!

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This episode really touched my heart and made me fall even deeper in love with the show. Imagine knowing one thing yet having memories of something completely different. Its a wonder she didn't go completely crazy. Logically speaking, it should have just been a dream but the memories embedded in her heart refused to leave.

I really sympathized with Dong Min too. As far as he knows, they went through the pain of getting back together and were genuinely happy together. To have the person you love pull a 180 after an accident must be torturous.

Really, it was so well done. The entire episode touched me.

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Spoiler Alert!!

The link and the html contains all the scenes of Boongdo and Heejin's intimate moments. Just click a bubble, then swf file of the particular clip will start. Depending on the internet speed, it might take a while for it to start. They contains scenes from episode 1 through 12.

Click the scene you want to see. If you click the small scene in a bubble, it will stop. Stop Enjoy!멘붕의 결정판~ 11회 플레이어 달달함의 결정판~ 12회 플레이어  ♪ (인남 임시갤인 이평강갤에서 펌이오~)

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http://gall.dcinside.com/list.php?id=peongkang&no=13482

Sorry here's the link.

http://youtu.be/h1gSD6QqfZ8
Ji, Hyunwoo sings "Instinctively."

I heard he's started to play the guitar since he was a first grader. His guitar play is pretty good. He actually became an actor to make ends meet since he couldn't make a big break with his band.

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Old Miss Diary - movie version with English sub

http://youtu.be/h1gSD6QqfZ8
http://youtu.be/kMsc4zZjoho
http://youtu.be/4Ka6tgnnY7Y
http://youtu.be/7RZgCrojWFw
http://youtu.be/Rf8G17vrsB8
http://youtu.be/2TR3WdeYUq4
http://youtu.be/wDpNGVKwTMk
http://youtu.be/F9t4G_qvNTs
http://youtu.be/5iMSeA-3ZwQ
http://youtu.be/HXQwAtjreIo
http://youtu.be/eaHw7_5javk

I love Queen Inhyun's Man. It mixed up many genres with period drama, mystery, time warp, romantic comedy and situation comedy. The great Chemistry between the main characters is an added bonus.

Boongdo reminds me of Mr. Darcy without haughty pride. He doesn't loose his grace in any condition even if everything is pretty much unpredictable in Chosun and in Seoul 300 years later.

Inna made me feel for Bungdo. It was so real when she sighed while Bungdo hugged her in the library. Did you see her face was blushed? She also expressed her feelings so well when Bungdo hijacked her from the mobs into the elevator and looking at her hand Bungdo was hoiding into. These little details made the drama so real and reminds me of the expectations of budding love.

Whoever suffers from QIM withdrawal syndrome before Wednesday's new episode release, hope the movie helps a little.

Lan

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If Boong-do was a Jane Austen character, he would probably be closest to Mr. Knightley...minus the lecturing...

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i dunno, he definitely reminded me of Mr. Darcy off the bat [yeah, without the foolish pride/arrogance]. Especially that scene where he's walking across the field with horses in Jeju towards the tree where he hid his clothes. Mr. Darcy moment (pride&prejudice 2005 version) where he meets lizzy in the fields at Sunrise.

heheh watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFsgLhx9dxg

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There's no such scene in the actual Austen novel, just so you know. That was the filmmaker's taking liberty.

If we are to go by the novels themselves rather than their adaptations, Tamara is right in casting Knightley as the closest. But why bother? Boongdo is Boongdo. He's awesome as Boongdo.

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I have to agree ..... Boong Do is just Boong Do. I can not compare him to anyone.

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hehee i know. the real scene in the novel was a tad less, erm swoon worthy than the 05' film version. I watched the BBC version too and it didn't hold the same grip.

The real question here is: is there a Boong do in real time?! anywhere? sigh, my standard has been elevated too high now. thanks a lot drama!

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"..and I love..I love ...I love you"
mmmmm Matthew

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...or maybe Henry Tilney?

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I'll go with Henry Tilney, kind, teasing and also knows that the girl is interested in him ^^
On another note, don't Heejin resemble Catherine in a way?

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Thanks for recappig. It's one of the best dramas of this year and I enjoy a lot reading the recaps after seeing the episode ^^

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