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Big: Episode 1

Big is here!

Interestingly, it has a different tone from the rest of the Hong sisters oeuvre; while still peppered with humor throughout, it’s got a much more atmospheric vibe and a touch of whimsy. I’m as enthusiastic a Hong sisters fan as you might find, but that doesn’t mean that change isn’t good; I’m very encouraged by the spare, moody moments in between the lighter beats, when the Hongs undercut moments with humor, which is their trademark. On the other hand, it means that we’re not at crack-drama levels yet (if ever; I make no assumptions).

I’m not sold on the drama yet, which doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I do, and I actually expect to love it based on what I think is coming and flashes of storylines and character beats in the premiere. It’s not an instant love, and I can feel that difference when it is. But I saw some promising emotional threads that have me looking forward to the next episode.

SONG OF THE DAY

Big OST – “너라서” (Because It’s You) by Davichi. [ Download ]

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EPISODE 1 RECAP

Our heroine, GIL DA-RAN (Lee Min-jung) hurries into a wedding hall to deliver a bridal bouquet. The bride is about to rip into her for being late until they recognize each other, and so does her huge posse of girlfriends. They all used to be classmates, and Da-ran was conspicuously left off the guest list.

The bride (cameo by Best Love’s Lee Hee-jin) makes an empty offer to include her in the bridal photo while the snooty girls look down their noses at Da-ran, the plebe. Da-ran declines and starts to leave, then reconsiders, stuffing cash into a gift envelope and asking for a meal voucher. Heh. She’s here, she’s now technically a guest, she may as well eat.

But then she gets a call from her delivery service boss: The bride got the wrong bouquet. No matter that she already got married with it, because it (being way more expensive) was meant for another bride and Da-ran is responsible for bringing it back.

At least Da-ran has one opportunity to claim the bouquet without making everything terribly embarrassing for everyone: the bouquet toss. Ha. How like this drama to subvert that cliche, so that Da-ran is literally clenching her fists in determination to grab that bouquet, only for the opposite reason as everyone else.

The bouquet is tossed, and Da-ran goes deep. But someone bumps her from the side, knocking her off-course, and offers a hand as she teeters backward. It’s a glorious slow-motion introduction to our hero, SEO YOON-JAE (Gong Yoo), who essentially strikes a music-video pose as Da-ran goes flying.

A radio host jumps in at this point to narrate: This is the “how we met” story for a new couple. Sure, the woman fell down 36 stairs, broke a tailbone and wrist, and spent two months in the hospital. But she got herself a fiancé; he, a doctor, treated her and proposed the day her cast came off. Now she’s set to marry him in a month, working as a high school teacher while preparing for the teacher’s certificate exam.

In exchange for the story, the host awards the sender a a rice cooker as a prize. Da-ran cheers and the gift in her wish list notebook, where everything has a description and price tag. (The host also sends her a song, Lee Seung-gi’s “Will You Marry me?”—get in all the Hong sisters cameos up front, sure why not.)

Da-ran catches a youngster staring at her from a nearby bus seat, smiling at her knowingly. It makes her wonder, and when she gets off the bus he follows her out.

He joins her under her umbrella, placing his hand over hers, looking at her with an intense smolder. It’s hot, but also totally random.

Da-ran asks if he followed her, and starts to explain apologetically that she’s engaged, and way older than she looks. To which he grabs her hand and stops her, saying, “This is mine. You took my umbrella.”

Ha. You kinda saw it coming, but it’s made better by the fact that the kid turns out to be a smartass. He walks on, forcing her to scuttle along with him to avoid getting soaked by the rain, totally unconcerned with the fact that he left her umbrella on the bus. Why would he take hers when it was her mistake?

Now she gets annoyed and they start to bicker; she calls him out for smirking at her on the bus, and he says yeah, she was acting silly while listening to the radio. The whole bus was looking at her, but she only noticed him—it’s understandable, he says, that she’d ignore the ajusshis and only see the young hottie.

Embarrassed, Da-ran parts ways with him upon arriving in front of her destination, a high school. The kid knows something she doesn’t, and says, “Uh-oh.”

As soon as she steps inside the teachers’ room, Vice Principal KIM YOUNG-OK (Choi Ran, a Hong sisters fixture) starts giving her a hard time. Either she has a grudge against her, or VP Kim is just the kind of impossible-to-please boss who doesn’t like anybody.

Da-ran’s jaw drops when the new transfer is introduced: It’s bus boy, aka KANG KYUNG-JOON (Shin Won-ho, who apparently in the past few weeks has changed his stage name to merely Shin, who knows why), a top student from a top school in the States.

VP Kim puts Da-ran in charge of showing Kyung-joon the school. Not her idea of fun, especially since the wiseass asks, “Will it be okay if I follow you this time?” He uses banmal with her, and when she calls him out on it, he fakes an American accent and says, “I’m still awkward with Korean, sorry.” Oh, you are such a punk.

Da-ran knows he’s doing this on purpose and tamps down her annoyance to tell him he’d better remember: “I am a teacher, you are a student, okay?” He obviously understands Korean perfectly, but he still has her scrambling for her dictionary just to make things extra-clear.

Then she gets a call from her perfect fiancé Yoon-jae, ignoring her charge to arrange a date tonight. She’s giddy with girlish anticipation, even as this relationship seems a little… well, less than perfect in our eyes. (Yoon-jae is too busy to meet her for dinner, but she’s happy to bring him dinner at the hospital, assuring him she’s absolutely free and has nothing else to do.)

Kyung-joon guesses this is the guy from her radio story, which she asks to keep it a secret from everyone; she’d rather not have everyone know it was her. She only did it for the free rice cooker.

Kyung-joon agrees, on the condition that she stop pointing out that his Korean is too “short” (banmal, aka cut-down speech), and draws out her name to make his point (gil = long).

With that, Kyung-joon jumps out the window (on the first floor) and walks off. He’s stopped by a trio of students, standing there in the cool-kids stance, led by their jjang, GIL CHOONG-SHIK (Baek Sung-hyun). Choong-shik eyes him up and down like he’s angling for a jjang-vs-jjang confrontation, saying, “So I hear you transferred from America.”

He keeps that cool, badass posturing as he adds, “D’you a guy named Park Min-shik? He transferred there in junior high.” Omg, it’s hilarious. They’re another idiot trio!

Kyung-joon says (in that embarrassing stilted English), “Uh-oh. You don’t even know about States? Whatever.” Except in this case it doesn’t even matter that he’s terrible (and may in fact be the point), because Idiot Sidekick #1 marvels, “He’s speaking English! He’s really good.” So Idiot Boss switches over and says, in English, “My name is Gil Choong-shik. Are you… can… Korea?” HAHA. (He means, Can you speak Korean?)

Kyung-joon calls him “stupid,” and Choong-shik has to ask what that means. His sidekick reminds him it’s the word Krystal always uses on that sitcom (hehe, High Kick 3), which tips him off that it’s an insult. Angry, Choong-shik starts to pick a fight, only his attempt to grab Kyung-joon fails and he goes sprawling. Oh, I love that you’re a bumbling fool with James Dean pretensions.

Choong-shik goes in for a punch, but finds his fist stopped by another hand. Da-ran intercepts, sending him running away in alarm, only to trip over his own feet.

Noona chases him down and starts to scold him for fighting (he yelps, “I didn’t even hit him!”), so much that Kyung-joon wonders if they ought to report the teacher for beating a student. The sidekicks tell him she’s Choong-shik’s sister.

Afterward, Choong-shik threatens to tell Dad on her, but she retorts that that’ll get Mom to scold Choong-shik. The siblings head off together with harmony restored, and Kyung-joon looks after them with an interestingly intense look on his face; I wonder if it’s the sisterly doting he misses, or affection in general.

Kyung-joon goes home to a palatial mansion, makes himself a frozen pizza, and listlessly lies on the ground. Big empty house, nobody to care.

Da-ran goes to the hospital and runs into a familiar doctor: LEE SE-YOUNG (Jang Hee-jin), who seems friendly enough. There’s nothing suspicious about the way Se-young’s part of the photos on Yoon-jae’s bulletin board, but Da-ran adds her own photo to the mix while waiting in his office.

She thinks back to a previous conversation between them, when they’d made newlywed plans like buying furniture. A demonstration of her bed’s length brings them in close contact, and turns into an excuse to put his arm around her. Aw, he’s gentle and sweet, and they really are cute together.

The memory makes Da-ran feel the warm fuzzies, but then she sees the box peeking out from under his cot. It’s their unopened box of wedding invitations, probably neglected in light of his busy schedule, though she wonders somewhat disappointedly whether he’s not even curious to see how they came out.

Da-ran drops by to see her stern father (it’s Ahn Seok-hwan, who’s toned down his exaggerated comic villainy, it seems, to my great relief—he’s so much better being understated that it’s terrible that he tends to go so overboard). He warns Da-ran not to slack off on her exam preparations just because she’s getting married.

Meanwhile, Mom and Choong-shik eagerly present their gift: a cardio machine, which Dad barks is a frivolity. (Mom looks ridiculously young—I thought it might be a sister at first—but the character description explains why. Mom met Dad when she was a 19-year-old student and he was a 35-year-old teacher, which must’ve been scandalous at the time. Still, it’s terribly strange that actress Yoon Hae-young is 40 when Lee Min-jung is 30.)

At the hospital, Yoon-jae finds that Da-ran has gone, leaving a note reminding him of their furniture-buying plans tomorrow. To his credit, at least he looks bad about it, but I’m thinking he’s a curiously reluctant groom.

At Kyung-joon’s mansion, his uncle presents the brand-new motorcycle he bought for him. Kyung-joon coolly points out that to be semantically accurate, Uncle didn’t so much buy it for him as he used Mom’s inheritance to buy it. Ah, so Kyung-joon’s mother has died somewhat recently, all her money passing to her son, who’s now all alone in the world.

Uncle Hyuk-soo doesn’t seem like a horrible person, but it seems likely he and his wife are looking askance at the great stacks of cash his dead noona left behind. Kyung-joon picks up on this and keeps them at arm’s length.

He doesn’t want to replace his old bed, whose car-shaped wooden frame his mother first got him as a child. But as he lies down with his feet hanging over the edge, he figures he’s grown big enough. (Or has he? Title pun, badum-ching!)

Kyung-joon heads to the furniture store and picks out a great big bed, saying that if he can fall asleep on it, he’ll take it. Da-ran arrives to find that another customer is looking over her bed and is in the process of buying, which makes her grumble in disappointment.

She tries her powers of persuasion, which are few, to urge him to pick a different bed since this one’s not so great. In her demonstration of its flaws, she grabs the frame and breaks a part of it, which, on the upside, gets her the desired bed after all. Although she has to buy it as a damaged product.

On the downside, Da-ran doesn’t love the idea of buying a damaged bed to usher in her newlywed life, so she buys Kyung-joon lunch and tries to persuade him to buy it from her at a discount. He says he’s an orphan with no parents to buy his bed for him; he was just trying it out.

Another call from Yoon-jae follows the similar script: Da-ran answers happily, tracing a heart on the table unconsciously, and excuses him for being unable to make yet another date.

At the hospital, shifty rival Se-young sees the photo of Da-ran added to the bulletin board, and tosses it into the trash. Aha, so she does have designs on the groom.

But… does he have designs right back? Eep! When Yoon-jae and his fellow surgeons join her in the office area, she asks when he’s going to send out his wedding invitations—hasn’t he gotten them yet? Yoon-jae averts his gaze and says no, they’re not out, and that puts a smile on her face. Uh-oh…

The next morning, Da-ran arrives at school as Kyung-joon is being reminded by a teacher that he’s supposed to buy a uniform. Assuming he hasn’t bought it because he can’t afford it, Da-ran calls Kyung-joon in and slides over a bag—it’s a school uniform that she managed to find.

Kyung-joon’s amused since he never said he was poor, but he looks pleased enough at the gesture. Inside his wallet is a card bearing a drawing of two cherubs, which is the same image on a book Yoon-jae has on his desk in the hospital, which also bears the title “Miracle.”

The fiancé is looking more reluctant by the day, and he ponders a plane ticket to LA, which he tucks into the Miracle book.

Da-ran starts class, and her students point out a “gift” for her: a pillow on her chair, to help her sore tailbone. Flustered, she goes on with class while the class snickers and uses her radio story as joke fodder.

Kyung-joon notes her flustered reaction, but it’s her brother who reacts first: Choong-shik gets up and warns the offenders to cut it out. Aw, sometimes you wanna kill little brothers, but sometimes they’re just the best.

The teasing gets her down, and Da-ran tells her teacher friend Ae-kyung that she was quite embarrassed. It makes her feel like she scored the perfect man out of pity for her broken bones, though Ae-kyung encourages her to think of it as true love—they’ve made a love match where it doesn’t matter if you’re equally matched or not because you care about each other. A nice sentiment, though it suggests that everyone assumes Yoon-jae’s far out of her league.

It shakes her confidence enough that Da-ran second-guesses herself when texting Yoon-jae about their plans to go house-hunting, which he’s late for. She waits outside school glumly, checking her phone.

I’m not sure if she’d be able to cope with another missed date, and sure enough, when Yoon-jae calls to cancel, she finds herself on the verge of tears even though she excuses him. He sounds concerned and asks whether it’s okay, and she says that no, she’s not actually.

Crying now, she reminds him of his words when he proposed, which sound awfully reluctant to my ears: He’d said he’d felt sorry and was going to “take responsibility” for her, which can sound romantic when we’re talking about true emotional commitment, but terribly hollow when done out of sheer duty. Da-ran asks, “Do you really love me? If you don’t, you don’t have to marry me.”

Sobbing, she hangs up. Watching from a distance, Kyung-joon smiles in approval, saying, “Not bad.”

Da-ran freaks out a moment later, scrambling to call or text back to take back her words. Only to have her cell phone snatched out of her hands by Kyung-joon.

He gives her a ride on his motorcycle, taking her to a pretty park by a pond to cool her head. She admits that it’s better this way, thanking him for stopping her from taking back her words. He plays it cool but Da-ran isn’t fooled, telling him she knows understands—it’s to make up for spreading the radio rumors, right?

She isn’t angry about it, but now he feels wrongly accused, saying he didn’t do it, and she’d better not treat him like she does those idiots in class. She humors him, though clearly not believing his denial, and tells him that all kids are pretty much the same, year in and year out.

He gets sarcastic with her, saying it must be nice to be so old, but thanks to his absence during his study abroad period, he delivers a catchphrase wrong. She corrects him, and asks, “Do you not even know what puing-puing is?” HAHA, are the Hong sisters High Kick fans? That’s awesome. One catchphrase generator referencing another.

Da-ran is demonstrating the aegyo puing-puing maneuver when she gets a call, and Kyung-joon hands over the phone. It’s Yoon-jae, apologetic and now ready to answer her question from earlier, which can only mean good news—that he loves her. (You wouldn’t revisit that topic unless you meant to change her mind, after all.)

Da-ran cheers up when Yoon-jae asks to meet her right away so he can tell her in person, and Kyung-joon takes this as his cue to leave. He checks his wallet to check that he has gas money, showing us once again that he’s got the “Miracle” cherub picture inside—somehow this will be our drama’s miracle-maker, per the painting’s title.

Yoon-jae leaves his office and heads for the pond, just as Kyung-joon drives away from it. Yoon-jae picks up a persistent tailgater, who flashes his lights and honks at him to go faster, then overtakes him on the two-lane road. The car swerves, though, hitting an oncoming car, and that blocks the road completely.

Yoon-jae’s fast approaching the collision from one side, Kyung-joon from the other, and both swerve in to the guardrail, crashing into the water below.

Kyung-joon floats lifelessly in the water, while Yoon-jae finds himself trapped inside his car, which rapidly fills with water. After long, harrowing moments of pushing against the stuck door, it finally swings open and Yoon-jae swims out. He’s about to bolt for the surface—his breath is fast running out—but he sees Kyung-joon sinking nearby and makes his choice.

Yoon-jae swims for him instead, reaching for Kyung-joon’s hand, and in that brief moment the two men re-create the pose of the Miracle cherubs. It’s eerie and quite beautiful imagery.

It seems that Kyung-joon barely gets a glimpse of Yoon-jae swimming toward him before he passes out entirely. Then the two are rushed to the emergency room and doctors rush to revive them, using CPR and defibrillators.

Flatline.

It’s Yoon-jae who goes. The doctors remove the respirator and wheel him into the morgue, just as Da-ran arrives to get the bad news.

She’s led to the morgue to identify the body, but halfway there she asks for a moment, breaking down into sobs and overcome with emotion.

Inside the morgue, a body jerks upright. It’s Yoon-jae, doubled over and gasping on the cold gurney. He gets a glimpse of himself in the mirrored wall and stares in disbelief at himself.

Wrapped in that sheet, Yoon-jae ventures outside and into the hallway, where Da-ran is slumped on the ground and sobbing to herself. She squints at the approaching figure, then rises in recognition. She grabs him in a hug, crying that she was afraid he’d died.

But he pushes her away and asks, “I’m… who?” She babbles on that she was afraid he’d gone, but he says, “Gil Da-ran, who did you say I am? Teacher. I’m… Kang Kyung-joon.”

She’s utterly confused, wondering how he would know Kyung-joon. He blurts that there was this accident on the road, and he’d fallen into the water, and when he woke up everything was like this. Then he has another thought: “Where am I?” Freaking out about his own teenaged body, Big Kyung-joon runs back to the morgue, with Da-ran confusedly calling after him.

Big Kyung-joon finds the body lying next to his slab and wonders in horror, “Is this me? Did I die? Am I totally dead? I’m only 18.”

He turns to Da-ran with aggrieved eyes, saying, “I’m dead. This is me!” And he reveals the body underneath the sheet, looking away in anguish.

But Da-ran just slaps his hand and tries to cover up the body: “What are you doing to this poor dead grandpa?” He’d uncovered a random body, HAHA!

Da-ran supposes he must have been addled in the accident and urges him to think back and remember: He was just about to tell her something before the accident. What was it? Can he tell her now?

Kyung-joon remembers, and she leans forward in nervous anticipation, wanting to her the declaration. He says, “Puing-puing,” and then does the hand gesture for good measure. HAHAHA, best use of puing-puing ever.

She’s disappointed, saying that she wanted him to say he loved her. He says insistently, “No, Gil Teacher, you told me to say ‘puing-puing.'”

Then to add to the craziness, a scream chimes in to their confusion: It’s a nurse, who sees (in her eyes) a woman talking to a supposed corpse in the morgue.

Yoon-jae’s body undergoes tests, and despite the doctors’ confusion for the sudden recovery, they determine that he’s normal. Da-ran says that he seems like a different person, but the doctor says that’s a likely effect of the accident, and that they’ll continue with tests.

Kyung-joon faces his new body in the mirror, slapping his face and wondering where his own body went. Then he hears his uncle’s voice asking about him at the front desk, and follows Uncle and Aunt to a room, where his own body lies unconscious and unresponsive.

He stares at himself in shock, hardly noticing when a patient is wheeled by him on a gurney, getting his blood onto his hand. Kyung-joon sees the blood on his own hand, which makes him tremble, taking him into a flashback of another time when he’d trembled at the sight of blood on his hands: when Kyung-joon had found his mother’s body, broken and bloody on the ground.

Now he wipes the blood from his hand agitatedly, traumatized at the memory and fighting a panic attack.

Da-ran wanders around looking for her errant fiancé and overhears a doctor speaking to Kyung-joon’s guarantors. She sees Kyung-joon lying unconscious in a hospital bed, and the coincidence is enough to make her wonder whether Yoon-jae could really have been telling the truth. She shakes her head, saying it’s impossible, but she won’t know till she finds Yoon-jae.

She heads to his apartment and office, but he’s not there. So she puts in a call to another teacher to ask about Kyung-joon’s address, just in case he wasn’t lying. (The teacher is Na Hyo-sang, played by another Hong sisters alum, Moon Ji-yoon, who played Jae Hee’s best friend in Delightful Girl Chun-hyang.)

So Da-ran heads to Kyung-joon’s mansion that night, where she finds the front door open and a trail of clothes leading to the racecar bed. Where Yoon-jae lies curled into a fetal position.

He opens his eyes, and they stare for a long moment at other. She asks, “Kang Kyung-joon?”

He says, “Yes, Teacher Gil Da-ran.” Well, this is awkward.

 
COMMENTS

As I said, Big feels different to me. Every other Hong sisters show has immediately felt like a Hong sisters show, and this is the first one to not have that manic-comedic vibe. Which, perhaps, may be a very good thing for some people who either don’t usually respond to their shows, or have grown tired of it. I don’t qualify as either, but I’m still encouraged by it since change can be refreshing, and I like seeing them try new things rather than churning out the same plots over and over. (They do repeat some motifs, but I like how diverse their premises have been, especially in recent years.)

This does mean that Big probably has the least outright funny premiere episode of any Hong sisters drama, and that includes the sageuk (Hong Gil Dong) and the fantasy melo (My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho). Again, this may be both a good and a bad thing, depending on your expectation.

Some of this difference in vibe can be attributed to Big’s two PDs, Kim Sung-yoon (Merchant Kim Man-deok and Dream High 1) and Ji Byung-hyun (Delightful Girl Chun-hyang, Hot Blooded Salesman). A lot of the mood is established in the music choices and editing style, and I’m warming to it. I LOVE the image of the cherubs in the water, superimposed over our two leading characters, and it’s probably that moment that had me feeling invested in the show.

Because these high-concept series do take a bit longer to establish the rules of their world than a normal trendy without fantasy elements, I expect that the series won’t really settle into its tone or plot until at least the next episode. Shows like 49 Days and Who Are You took a few episodes before falling into their groove because their characters had to first get into the body-swap scenarios before they could carry out the out-of-body premises, so I’m waiting to see what direction Big takes from here on out.

As yet, we barely get to see a glimpse of the whole concept driving the show, which is Gong Yoo acting like a kid. Although, I’m pleased to see that the premise is more than that, with deeper emotions driving our characters. Or, at least, ONE of our characters. It makes sense that the adult Gong Yoo—Dr. Yoon-jae, that is—has less development than the adolescent Kyung-joon, since the soul that will be inhabiting the body will be the latter, but I hadn’t expected Yoon-jae to be such a cipher.

Yoon-jae seems like a nice guy, but he’s got his shifty moments, and that’s interesting. He doesn’t act like a cheater or a playboy, but he also doesn’t seem all that into her, which suggests that perhaps this isn’t our OTP. And yet, you can’t have our adult teacher paired with the 18-year-old student who’s the same age as her brother, can we? I know we’ve had Biscuit Teacher Star Candy and Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, but this setup seems different than those, somehow. I got the sense that Kyung-joon craves love in a sense of family and belonging, not necessarily romantically.

Speaking of whom, I was pleasantly surprised with Shin Won-ho’s (er, Shin’s) performance, since I hadn’t known what to expect. I’d hoped he would be good, but just because he looks like Song Joong-ki doesn’t mean he acts like him, and he’s such a new face that you can’t predict based on past performance. (Though apparently he was pretty good in Bachelor’s Vegetable Store.)

He gives Kyung-joon a nice depth, though, and plays both sides of his character well—the flip, cool side and the lonely little boy. He’s not an outrageous character in the vein of Cha Chi-soo, but an understated presence. In fact, he reminds me most closely of Jung Il-woo in Unstoppable High Kick, all quietly brooding, keeping his emotions close to the vest. Maybe that’s why I feel like this pairing isn’t an ultimate romantic pairing, either, because of the High Kick vibe. But this is a romantic comedy, so we can’t shirk on the romance, can we?

Gong Yoo didn’t have much time to do much—by which I mean, he was Kyung-joon for a pretty short time—but I love what he’s doing so far. He’s got the same sad eyes as Shin, and I feel like they’re well on their way to getting that character down. I definitely feel like he’s the teenager, but not in a silly, slapstick way; just in the way he reacts, and looks at things. Subtlety is definitely better than broad, in my book.

Which is why it’s disappointing that I’m not liking Lee Min-jung’s grasp of Da-ran, considering how much I love her and think she’s a talented actress who can do comedy and drama equally well. She’s doing that typical rom-com thing by overexaggerating everything—I’m used to that style in trendies, but there’s a fine line between what’s cute and what’s overly bumbling (see: Go Mi-nam, Geum Jan-di).

The thing is, Lee Min-jung can DO cute and winsome (Smile You, Boys Before Flowers) so I want to see her pull back and tone down the stupid. She was wonderful when she broke down in the hallway; she can do it. I hope she recalibrates her settings, and soon. She’s too good to waste on a role that could have gone to just another mediocre flavor of the day.

All in all, I’m looking forward to how Big develops. I wasn’t immediately hooked, but I like it so far and can see myself growing to like it more. *Knocks on wood*

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Finally! Wanted to hear your thoughts about this the most! :D

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Thanks for the recap! The tone was definitely different from what I thought too, but I feel myself getting invested as the episode went on. Definitely have to catch more of this drama!

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So confused as I read from past Big character descriptions that SYJ would go to KKJ's body instead of just KKJ going to SYJ's body. I'm a bit disappointed because I wanted her fiancee to go to her student's body so there would be more hijinks. I'm now 99% sure our OTP is the student-teacher. The doctor isn't even able to fight for the teacher since he is in another body and in a coma. So does that mean there is technically no second male fighting for the teacher?
Well, besides that, I wasn't satisfied with Big. Especially, when my excitement radar was in the air. I wanted comedy like I got from MGIAG but I didn't really laugh at anything here and I thought Lee Min Jung overreacted too much. I hope that changes later on. I'll still keep my eye out on Big.
And even though if didn't satisfied me, I still have my Queen In Hyun's Man~:D

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Will he be in the coma forever though? I'm still not sure of the student-teacher thing, cause it is creepy since she has a brother of the same age as KKJ. Haha. I hope its not.

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Well it is only the first episode.. I like the premise of the show and the main actor / actress.

I do agree there was literally no comedy in the first Episode. The tone was more light to serious.

I'm sure there will be a 2nd male to compete, otherwise the show will become boring after a few episodes...

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I had quite the opposite reaction, I was hooked on the first episode.

She reminded me of Usagi from Sailormoon, actually. And I loved that character so I didn't my myself annoyed despite whimsical ways.

Its a bit strange though, because I disliked this trait from Gumiho. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I find Lee Minjung stunning and extremely likeable. Either way, I'm looking forward to more from this series!

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It'll be good to see something different from the Hong sisters to be honest... Definitely looking forward to whatever new they've got up their sleeve! Thanks for the recap :)

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Agreed. I can't really tell where this story is going, which is a nice change

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From the previews, posters, and Hong Sisters history, I was expecting to get slapped in the face by all the, well, slapstick comedy, which I usually love. However, I loved the shift in tone! I thought the moment where Big Kyung-joon uncovers the body of the old man expecting it to be him would be accompanied by the typical kdrama bells and whistles signaling THIS IS A FUNNY MOMENT. I'm glad it wasn't. That's my main complaint about kdramas -- it's like they don't have enough confidence that the audience will get the humor.

I'm sad I was slightly disappointed in Lee Min Jung too because she made me root for her character in Boys Over Flowers -- and every other role since. I have faith that she'll win me over though. She hasn't disappointed me yet.

And Gong Yoo! Welcome back to kdrama land. I haven't watched a drama since maybe City Hunter and I'm so excited to see him in this. My God, that man looks good in scrubs... and a bed sheet... and nothing. :)

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Especially when he's in nothing...

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Gotta love the post-army body shots. Gong Yoo is in MIGHTY FINE shape!

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Please watch Queen In Hyuns Man!
You won't be disappointed :)

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I second the Queen Inhyuns Maness! If you loved city hunter you seriously can't miss Queen Inhyubs Man. Please and thank you too!

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Hoorah! Thanks for the recap! :)

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What a day for me! After five days bedrest I finally checking out this fancy website and VOILA, my Big is here! Thank you guys for the recap, I'm off to read now! :)

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thanx for the recap, it seems pretty interesting

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Glad to see Big here!

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I didn't know Chun-yang's and DH1 PD's were involved. Interesting. Both of those shows took a couple episodes to really get to me, but then they became some of my favorites, so I've got high hopes for this now.
The beginning was interesting. They got most of the set-up minus Suzy's part out of the way so hopefully it will pick up pace by episode 2. I sense post body swap that same hyper Hong Sisters energy will come back in some form.

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I must say I was a bit disappointed. I miss that crack tone of usual Hong dramas. But, I will give a few more episodes a try

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Thanks for the recap! I have to admit, I like the idea of Da Ran and Kyung Joon falling for each other. I don't know, something about it seems so sweet to me. Either way, I am interested enough to continue to watch :)

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cherubic imagery = "...it’s probably that moment that had me feeling invested in the show"

jb, your thoughts are much more sublime than mine.

the show had me at the nekkid gong yoo. XD.

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Thanks for the recap!

Honestly when i first heard Big... I was super excited because of the cast and of couse because of Hong Sisters however as the days go by my excitement decreases and it's because of the soul swapping thing... I felt like it's not new anymore or rather not original anymore... If other writers wrote this I would think that they want a "Secret Garden wannabe" drama... as much as I love Lee Min Jung I hate the cutesy and idiotic stuff, good thing that her character seems a little bit tough though... Overall first episode I'm also not sold yet however it is better not to have expectations rather than to expect a lot and at the end it's not gonna be good... But I have a lot of faith at the Hong sisters and this drama...

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i think we shouldn't do comparisons with other dramas,i don't know if this drama alone is interesting because i don't watch it yet,i think the main selling point of this is how the comedy plays when they're in the other body,first episode was more about the ordinary than the potential of the fantasy part,is better if they show jokes episode after episode,with the 2011's hong sisters drama,i only laughed with the first episodes and then i didn't like it anymore,i think they did their best only with first episodes,is better if here the quality is more balanced until the final

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Thank you so much. Hong Sister dramas don't seem like Hong Sister dramas without a Dramabeans recap.

I always read your recaps, but this is the first time I watched the episode before reading, which made me love the drama all the more. I think reading your recaps before watching has made me less enthusiastic about their dramas, but this one really got to me. I loved the tone and how toned down the humor was.

I enjoyed your recap. It really made me consider things that I hadn't considered myself when I watched it.

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I agree.. I love the tone of the show and that touch of whimsy.. I loved gy's take on the doctor.. Gy at his subtle best.

LMJ seemed a little too immature but maybe that's in keeping with the character she is meant to portray.

All in all, it shall be interesting to see the plot and character development of this drama.

Love gong yoo. Shin won ho was pretty good too

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Thank you for your thoughts, I was eagerly awaiting your review.

Hmm, I agree with some commentators that this long awaited première was a little disappointing but maybe that isn't fair because I had such high expectations to begin with. When compared to many other dramas, it is still very good but compared to their own past achievements it seems a little pallid.

However I am sticking it out too mainly because it is a Hong sisters drama and though I haven't always 'loved' their dramas, I haven't ever regretted watching one.

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Thanks for the recap!

I didn't really have a problem with Lee Min-Jung. I think she captured the naive personality of her character pretty well. Gong Yoo didn't really have much to do this episode (though the scene where he had the breakdown over seeing the blood on his hands was good), so will look forward to later episodes. Shin was good, and I was looking forward to seeing more of him, but now it seems he will take a backseat for most of the series now that Gong Yoo is taking over, so bummer.

I'm curious to know what happened to Kyung-Joon's mom. They show her on the ground all bloody on the hands and I think back, and Kyung joon crying over her. But then on the wide shot, they show two shadows walking away from them to the right. Something looks fishy here, or my imagination is working too much.

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I agree!
Both of them had to bring the heavy early.
GY with the blood breakdown and LMJ with the hallway breakdown.
That can't be easy to go into a drama with those tears.
I admire the writers and PD for taking us there right away.
It definitely makes me invested faster than a cute intro to the characters.

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I really liked Shin in this episode too - and if he is going to take a backseat from now on (which I am expecting) than that's a real bummer.

Gong Yoo didn't get me interested in this episode. Of course, he had barely anything to do (which made sense - they needed to set up Shin's character so that once it switches into the other body we can see that persona in Gong Yoo's body), but the bit I saw about the doctor I did not like. I don't think he is cheating (though he might have a past with that female doctor) but hey, if you are not that into someone, don't propose to them! So at the moment I can't but help ship the teacher and Kyung-joon together - wahhhh! That's a first with a teacher/student pairing in a drama but they were just lovely.

I suppose there is chance that we will see the doctor-in-Shin (sorry, haven't memorised all the names yet) since the kid is in LMJ's class and that he'll transform and become a more likeable person than what he seemed to be in this episode because of the experiences in the teen body.

Wasn't impressed by Shin's English though (I just think it's lame when they claim "he's the transfer student from America who barely speaks Korea" and the actor opens the mouth and is utterly unconvincing). And I already can't stand the female doctor - and she hasn't really done anything yet (except crumple up the photograph which I thought was pretty daft. I mean, if you are going to do that, at least throw out in a trash bin somewhere far away!)

Not sure yet about LMJ's character. The lovely-dovey girl part I don't appreciate too much, but it does seem that she's really sweet, caring (too much probably) and has a heart of gold. I hope her character develops in an interesting way.

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Agree about Shin's English. Don't know why they have characters that say they grew up in America but end up speaking terrible English. Takes the believability factor out of it. Why not just say he's from a city on the other side of Korea or something so they won't even have to attempt the English? Or maybe the drama wasn't meant for out-of-country viewers who could spot the bad English...

As for LMJ's character, I don't have a problem with her lovey-dovey naive character, but apparently a lot of people do. She's caring, sweet, but lacks confidence and unsure of herself. She's really only doing harm to herself. I really like assertive, strong female characters as well, but I don't "dislike" characters like LMJ's character. Just an observation, but I don't know why some people hate or can't stand a character like this, yet they swoon over characters that are pompous jerks.

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I certainly like her better than that Kim ha Neul character in AGD. Lmj is supposed to be cute and naive and it's acceptable that she behaves as such altho I also think she could tone it down a little.. But the KHN character seems to be getting her panties in a knot for nothing very much. Comp,etely embarrassed and over reacting for nothing much that happened like six months back etc.. Sheesh

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Shin Won-ho is now going by "Shin" because he is going to make his debut with the new boy band "Cross Gene" in a few days. Their claim to fame will allegedly include non-Korean singers in this group, and they've all been tagged as one-name cutie pies. Hope he's been taking voice lessons, since his offering to the BVS OST was less than stellar...

Aw. I'm really liking this so far! Gong Yoo, wae sooooo AWESOME?!? And I missed my little Idol Bachelor, although he's showing signs of the same snottyness in this show as well. Will watch Episode 2 later today and see if I'm still getting the warm and fuzzies! :)

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Maybe the new boy group will be "visual" singers. :)

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My twitter feed was FULL of OMG LOVE comments, and I guess I can see why - those little birdies love a mix of drama with comedy and romance and while they tend to like Hong Sisters, I think everyone is ready for ...mmm...heightened depth? The opener definitely seems to fill the bill. I can't wait to watch!

There's too much good right now and I want it ALL. This MINUTE.

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I'm in this for Gong Yoo, so story is just a bonus. That being said, I actually really liked this start. I like that all the characters are kind of question marks as to their intent. I'm not sure how Yoon Jae feels about Da Ran. I'm not sure if Kyung Joon has a crush or if he's just a lonely kid. I'm not sure who the OTP is supposed to be. I kind of like that in that usually you know long before who's going to end up together.

I'm also not in love with the h yet, but I have hope that she'll develop more as the establishing episodes progress. This definitely feels different then other Hong Sisters dramas, but I expect more wackyness once we get further into the body swapping.

I like this episode, but I'm not sure its love yet. But I'm along for the ride and definitely hopeful.

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I could see the teacher/student pairing being a possibility.

Her actual fiance wasn't in the story for a long amount of time, but during the short period we've seen him, I've come to dislike his character. I can only see him ending up with Da Ran if the two somehow reconcile and he gains true feelings for her. However that's hardly possible because Kyung Joon was placed in his body.

That said, I have no problems with Kyung Joon and Da Ran becoming a possible couple. Their maturity levels coincide. She was really too immature for the doctor.

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The scene in which the kid took DR to the lake on his bike reminded me how GY's character in biscuit teacher star candy took GHJ to the lake side too on his bike :)
All in all i didnt think the first epi was as addicting as the first epi of lets say MGIAG or YAB...but i have my faith in the Hong sisters! I know they wont disappoint us^^

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I agree so much with the Lee min jung commentary. I definately cringed with the puing puing scene. She's a naturally cute woma n so when she trys to act it, its...gross. that's how I felt about ha ji won in k2h. I Loved Lee min jung so I'm hoping she doesn't play the annoying main character. And why does jang. Hee. Jin always has to play the characters I despise? She's making it easy to hate her. As for gong yoo s character I was wondering why I didn't like him as an otp but it makes sense that we don't like him but kyung joon better. I love kyung joon already. I agree shin did a great job. Looking forward to tonight's episode (:

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Me too, love kyung joon already!

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LMJ creates characters so well you'll just remember them forever...but Gil DaRan! seriously! I cannot...for the love of kdramas take a teacher who acts like that...she cannot do stupid. It's like asking Meryl Streep to play a dumb character.

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I love the story! I think the set up is very interesting that made me want to go back to looks for details to predict some mystery involves. Everthing is fast peacing as expected from the Hong sister, and for some reason this reminded me of my girlfriend is a nine tailed fox, which is a good thing since I love fantasy rom-com. genre. I have no problem with the story cuz I know they are going to do some twist somewhere. But I do have problem with the character: I can understand that Gong Yoo put on his cute teenage boy act (even though his English is a bit distracting,and I can overlook that) , but why does Lee Min Jung is acting like a child. Maybe it is part of her character to be a childish nonofficial school teacher, but really it's a bit too much.

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I'm actually really glad that the tone is different. I'm one of those that was getting pretty bored with the repetitiveness of the Sister's dramas.

However I found myself very annoyed by the female lead and i'm not sure how much was Lee Min-jung's fault and how much was that of the writers. Because as overly bubbly and over the top as the actress is playing it, this character is also pretty much the same "naive" "innocent" "shy" stereotypical female lead I find so tedious.

Unless things change with that, I can't see myself continuing to watch.

The writing is also a bit weak, a lot of things just didn't seem to come together as well as they usually do in Hong Sister dramas. But I was entertained and am really curious to see what goes down in the future so we'll see how it goes.

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The female lead is the main problem for me too, or maybe Lee Min Jung is acting so over the top that it diverted my attention from other flaws.
Someone needs to say to Korean actresses that they already look young and pretty enough without resorting to the cringeworthy cutesy act, especially when they're 30, it was already the same thing that put me off King 2 Hearts, with Ha Ji Won acting like a 12 year old...
This makes me so grumpy every single time!

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Was anyone else seriously concerned that Kyung-joon cooked his pizza still wrapped in plastic?

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LOL! I did. I actually yelled at the screen.

I had to hope it was a microwave, and the plastic was perforated...

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Hahahaha, YES. Guess I've cooked enough frozen pizzas to know that that can only lead to disaster.

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Ahahaha thank you, I was thinking the same thing! I tried to convince myself he'd put it in the microwave, where the plastic would act like, uhm, a tupperware container, and not melt. Given the fact that he clearly turned on the OVEN, I'm not holding my breath. Yikes.

But then, a freezer full of pizzas, so what if he destroys half of them because he doesn't realize the plastic should come off?

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Yep! I was like... he is it in the OVEN and not the microwave.

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*putting it in the oven

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*putting it in the oven (typo!)

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ROFL. i was like DUDE. take the plastic offf -- unless you want plastic tasting pizza.

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this post is one reason why I love dramabeans!

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Me!

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LOL I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING X_X

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I was actually pretty surprised he was still alive. That's dangerously unhealthy hahaha

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Enjoyable ep. wonder what dr.Yoon-jae's issue/secret is.
Ah her teacher friend Ae-kyung -another Lee SeongGi reminder (still missing K2H). She was LSG's wife in 'infamouns chil princesses (Somunnan Chilgongju)'. LSG was very childish and immature husband in that drama. Funny how I still remember that pathetic drama..

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Must resist temptation to read...

Must..... wait..... for...... subs.

Gong Yoo in a towel?

Must wait must wait must wait

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There are subs on dramacrazy...

They were up last night, UK time night! I think it was the fastest sub I had ever seen!

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I think Viki has one of the fastest subs ever.
Check that website out! :)

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First episode is fully subbed and softsub available at darksmurfsub.com

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The wait will be worth it:p. He is FINE.

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Thanks for your recap. I am curious to see how this shakes out, if it becomes crack for the masses.
I am pretty sure I am in it for the long run already.

Why I liked it right away – it feels melancholic, not frenetic. Yes, there is some slapstick, but it's not the point of the story - just a side dish.

FBRS did the teacher/student relating better than Biscuit Teacher, although out of the gate, this doesn't really feel like either. As you pointed out, the connection for our OTP is going to be emotional, but not romantic. The final shot of KD curled up in his little bed completely got to me, knowing how he gazed longingly at the sisterly affection between Teacher Gil and her little bro. He is so lonely and trying to be big enough without any warm support. Is this body swap thingie supposed to make him a better man? Are we working on the "If it doesn't kill me, it'll make me stronger" premise? Cause this little boy certainly didn't need a NUTHER thing to deal with.

How the pair met, how they have related so far doesn’t add up to passionate romance to me. I can see DR being extremely tempted physically by the body that houses the boy, but I can also see how she would have to keep reminding herself who actually lives there now.

By the way, it is kind of strange to see Baek Sung-hyun play high school age little bro when he played an older character in 2009 with That Fool, but, whatevs. I’ll adapt.

LMJ has first episode, perm-induced jitters. Hopefully, the chemicals’ effect will wear off soon, and she will be calmer. She was wonderful in BOF. (I am still bitter that she didn’t keep her rightful fiancé and tell JanDi go to to JiHoo…The series would have ended sooner and we wouldn’t have had to hear Almost Paridise as many times.)

The angel idea, I like, but the presentation I don’t. I like my angels disguised, like Warren Beatty or Denzel; Chubby Baby Angels make me break out in a rash.

Looking forward to Ep 2.

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I liked all craziness and weirdness...but need time to see where it's going.

Finally, Hong Sister are giving us OTP with secondary character....I thought this will never happen...

Thanks JB ;)

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My fellow heartie, who is the same age as me! :) I missed you. Ha. Nice to see you here!

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O my once a upon time bruisedmango...I see you're well...
O missed you, my dear hearties...

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*Join the cub* kekeke~
I've commented, so no complain anymore right?

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Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh....

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I was surprised that this wasn't up as fast as i thought it would.

I also felt the tone difference and am really frustrated at LMJ's character in the first half when she felt all bubbly and oblivious to her fiancee's reluctance.

I actually felt that the teenager is more mature than her.

Anyway, BIG IS HERE, GONG YOO IS BACK, SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLL (Sorry had to do it, can't help myself)

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I don't think she was oblivious to his indifference. I felt that his neglect had been ongoing, and her lack of confidence in him as a groom was evident.

It was kinduv heartbreaking that beatutiful beautiful beautiful Kyung-joon picked up on that right away,
Prolly because he spotted another torn-up soul.

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I am glad that immature as she seemed, she at least had the balls to tell him not to marry her if it's not love he feels..i hate how some might wanna marry despite the indifference, if not outright neglect, of their partners

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BTW, I also wanted to add that I'm glad the humor is toned down so far because I felt like the sisters over did it in best love to the point it was annying in my opinion.

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guess all them teaser photos were a big fat lie! loving bf? yeahs right! turns out dude's gotten cold feet, felt so bad for her ; ( not convinced if am in for the ride yet, will give it a coupla more eps i suppose...

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Thanks for the recap! Not having watched other Hong Sisters dramas, it was interesting to watch. I like the young kid Shin already. I think I will continue watching just out of pure curiosity.

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I actually liked that it wasn't slapstick comedy because I'm not that into that thing. I also really like Da Ran and I ship her and Kyung Joo :P Hope that Shin will still appear in more episodes although his character is supposed to be in a coma :(

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I spent yesterday staring at Big, wondering if I should start--because Hong Sisters always give you a rollerocaster--because if I start, then I won't think of anything else for the next two months...but if I don't then what? *sighs*

So I broke down and started this morning--taking a break once in a while so I could savor it. But at the same time, how do you take a break from a Hong Sister's drama?

>.<;; Am I wrong to go back and forth like this?

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Nope, human nature...and yes, they could do that to you...just to think about drama...but fighting!

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Hot DAYUM, that post army body is being put to good use. I mean, when he first wakes up and flexing that BACK. Holy. Bonus points.
But aw-- I half expected Da Ran to just drop kick those childish students when they started teasing her. I wished Da Ran showed more of a fierce side and let them know she was NOT gonna be pushed around. Then again, it probably hit a sore spot – seems like the accident might’ve changed her a bit. She was probably made this way for a reason, and we’ll have some major character development in Da Ran later on.
Aside from that, is anyone else bothered though, that the REAL yoon jae might end up being that typical i-don’t-love-you-but-i-pity-you type of guy?
Very curious though, as to how the Hong sisters will play out this noona-dongsaeng relationship and if Kyung Joon will end up back in his teenage body, how that’d work. He’s 18 and she’s pushing 30. Not gonna say though that I’m surprised that Da Ran and Kyung Joon are the OTP, since the trailers and summary all note that they’ll be falling for each other while Kyung Joon is in Yoon Jae’s body. They do have the chemistry from the get-go. Let the hijacks ensue!

And my, everyone here at DB is recapping so many shows all at once – very very appreciative. Get some sleep!

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O dear, I was like; keep walking just keep walking...

The way she 'beat' up her brother I thought she'll turn around and throw book on them...¤she won't but at least scream
But yes, her character is gonna grow with KJ...I think he's gonna remind her who she was before she met YJ, because she looks like someone who had changed a lot during that relationship. She'll be herself...I have feeling.

But what, when KJ woke up...

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That back flexing scene was.....*swoons...faints....wakes up*...was h a w t.

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We already see a couple in this drama with a substantial age gap--Gil Da Ran's parents. Da Ran's father met her mother, a nineteen year-old student, when he was a teacher in his thirties. Da Ran, like her father, begins a relationship (at least, from what we can see, beyond that of a school setting) with an eighteen-year old student when she is a thirty-year old teacher. The similarities between Da Ran and her father, as well as between Kyung Joon and Da Ran's mother, are striking--occupation and age-wise. Foreshadowing, perhaps? Or does having a relationship with a much-younger partner run in the family?

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Thank you for the recap of Big.

I was thinking... when they show the book titled Miracle with the 2 Cherubs ... the 2 characters (Seo Yoon-Jae & Kang Gyung-Joon) copying the same scene of the front cover of Miracle which reminds me of a painting titled "The Hand of God" by Michelangelo.

I believe the Miracle book lit up. I could be wrong.
I believe this is where the 2 souls switched bodies. Kang Gyung-Joon soul went into Seo Yoon-Jae body while Seo Yoon-Jae soul went into Kang Gyung-Joon body that is in while in the water.

After the traffic accident, (Was CRP being done while in Ambulance by EMS?) before the 2 bodies arrival to ER of the same hospital. Side by side CPR is being done on the 2 bodies. Seo Yoon-Jae could not be revived presumed DOA by the ER doctors body sent to hospital morgue. While, Kang Gyung-Joon body regains vital signs, however, he is in a coma.

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I'm not sure but I think Kyung-joon and Da-ran would be the OTP?
I love watching them bicker!
I'm starting to like Shin Won-ho...

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I don't know where this drama goes but I have when I'm right... Daran is going to fall in love with Kyung-joon (in Yoon Jae's body)... How will this drama end?? I think this is something the Hong sister's have to accomplish... to end this drama in a way the viewers are going to be satisfied.

At the moment I'm more connected to Kyung-joon than Yoon Jae... Am I the only one!?

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Nope, you aren't the only one sistah.
Kyung Joon so far has more depth to his character.. He's orphaned, witnessed his mother's death, is lonely, more mature than kids his age, etc.
So definitely, i can see why alot of us are more connected to him than Yoon Jae. Honestly though, to me, yoon jae has that perfect doctor image that doesn't love our heroine romantically. Unless we get more background info about his life that's where his character for me stands..
I'm also very curious as to HOW these sisters will end up tying things together, but for now, i'll just be enjoying whatever they have to dish out

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Yes, I think we will get some more flashbacks on how both, Yoon Jae and Da Ran, got engaged... so far we saw some/one scene between both... (haven't seen the 2nd episode though). :-)

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2 silly questions
* what do u mean by OTP

*this 'hand towel' joke going around in most comments what exactly is it about? i seem to have missed out on its origin

tnx kind people!

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First questen: OTP = One True Pairing :-)

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sorry... question!XDD

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thank u!

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Not silly questions... I appreciate you asking, because i didn't know what OTP stood for either.

And I don't know the answer the second question, although there were other dramas with hand towels (Flower Boy Ramyun Shop possibly? I didn't watch much of that so I might be wrong).

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I don't know the exact origin, but The Hand Towel is how Song Sueng Hyun is often referred to. I think it has something to do with his acting skills or lack there-of.

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tnx!

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As Rashell pointed out, THT only refers to SSH.
Who, if you say his name
송승헌
in Korean fast, sounds like
손수건
hankerchief
or literally hand towel.
If you plug them in to Google translate, you will hear it.

This nickname is lovingly bestowed upon an actor who could be less limp in his delivery.

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Also for the hand towel he wore in My Princess ~rawwwrrr~ Wet, dripping, and in a hand towel. ^_^

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Sweet memories...

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Sweet, hot, dripping memories. *.*

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Oooo, you tube for quick look... ¤omo

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Man, I learn so much at these forums :). Thanks

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got it, gomawo!

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No spoiler....just ponderings: Am waiting for doc to wake up in kid's body... for true "body-switching" antics to ensue. When I saw the F3 greet our young hero, I thought..."ooh, well, they're waiting to complete the F4, apparently." So it'll be interesting to see how fiance fits in with the group. So yeah, am hoping for two switched guys to act out their frustrations...and joys. I'm imagining how the Doctor the fiance is cheating with is gonna deal with a young boy telling her he's her lover.

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Kyung Joon is just a KID, no matter how mature he pretends to be. Anyone else getting tired of these noona/age gap romances? I've personally had it with Korean dramas and the same old boring themes.

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Can't say I'm bored by it because I dropped all dramas which had this noona-thing in it... here... because it's a drama by the Hong sisters, I have high expectations. :-) So let's see where it goes!

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For some reason, age-gap stories just squick me out irrespective of who the older partner is. I find it odd though that there are so, so many more stories with the older woman - younger man pair than vice versa. I've just stopped watching these dramas altogether because they are usually presented pretty unconvincingly.

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I'm confused, why do you say that age-gap stories squick you out irrespective of who the older partner is, but then below, you contradict yourself by saying you ship Gong Yoo and Suzy with their age difference??

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I was illustrating the hypocrisy rampant amongst some K drama fans. It's ok for a hot young guy to pair up with someone who looks like his mother but not ok for Gong Yoo to pair up with Suzy? Isn't that a bit rich?

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@Livia, but i'm not talking about that, i'm talking about your own opinion, you specifically said you dont' like age-gap stories, but then said you ship Gong Yoo and Suzy fictionally. That just got me confused. And about what you brought up, it mustn't be this forum because I haven't seen anyone object to a Gong Yoo and Suzy pairing. Where have you seen this? They may be Suzy fans (she is an idol) who are "protective" of their idol - fans of guy idols would also say the same if the guy idol was paired with an older woman.

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@ la dee dah, couldn't reply to your last comment so I'm replying to my own comment. I guess my sarcasm didn't translate well - I was just responding to Anna's claim that some members would scream bloody murder if Gong Yoo were paired up with Suzy (their characters in the drama, not in real life just to be clear) and, assuming this is true, I thought it was hypocritical. I also haven't seen this kind of sentiment elsewhere so it may or may not be true - I'm not immersed enough in the K fandom to really know. I'm not sure why my comments sound so offensive since we all have certain tastes. It seems like hating on age gap romances is a minority opinion and I'm ok with that. They're just dramas, after all.

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@Livia, sorry, couldn't detect sarcasm in the writing. Thanks for clearing that up.

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I want the opposite of this, but everyone would just be all like, UGH HE'S OLD ENOUGH TO BE HER FATHER!

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Gong Yoo - Suzy? They look great together and I would totally ship them (fictionally, of course). If Kim Ki Bum and Park Ye Jin can be the OTP in a drama, I don't see what the problem is. Ye Jin looks like Ki Bum's great-aunt! And don't get me started on Kim Sun-Ah and her leading men... ugh

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Count me as someone who will NEVER ever tire of noona-dongsang. I think because IRL it makes sense if two people like each other.

As a noona, why can't I date younger men when my males counterparts can date younger girls?

It is the personalities of the people that matter not the ages.

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You're free to date whomever you want. But the reality is that such relationships are taboo and consequently tend not to work out. Maybe when I get older, I'll feel differently, but I'd rather see dramas that tackle more pressing issues instead of seeing the same tired tropes. Surely there are stories worth telling that don't involve lonely middle aged women and immature young men? Or creepy old men and cutesy young girls?

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I kinda giggle that LMJ is considered middle aged.
Her character is 26, Gong Yu's is 30.
As Koala pointed out, if SJ is 18, there is a 6 year difference either way.

As far as dramas that deal with more pressing issues?
I don't think the romcom's goal will ever be that.
It is popcorn and escapism tied with up with pretty face bows.

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Not talking about LMJ in particular. She looks young enough to fit the bill.

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As I stated to another commenter, I hope my comments haven't come off as offensive. We all have certain idiosyncrasies that define our aesthetic tastes and I have no problem with people whose opinions differ.

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Maybe when you get older you will find that age matters less. I use to think a 30yr old man was an ahjussi...then I lived a little longer and realized that age doesn't work that way and I now laugh at my younger self. Either way what matters are people's personalities and their shared goals and if they love each other. These things aren't determined by age...or race, nationality, class...the list goes on and on.

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@Jomo, fighting...I'm totally on board for this kind of pairing...
When I remember my sweet Cha Chi-soo...
And they don't like 18 to me...

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¤look like

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Anyone catch the hoi-hoi? ^_^ Another slight reference, I believe to Hoi-hoi of Gumiho?

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yup! caught that too. it was cute

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"makes himself a frozen pizza"
OK, I don't know why this part irked me so much. He didn't even take the PLASTIC off?!

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Completely agree with your commentary about everything jb. Firstly lee min jungs character isn't winning me over at all. I like her cuz she's a good person but too bumbly, no depth of character pathos. if she keeps this up shell just go into the typical heroine of bubbly and sweet but ultimately forgettable. Adult women do not act like that in real life But I wouldn't mind it if I bought her character and I don't- it always seems like she's just acting it, her character actually reminds me alot of Ma Hye Ri in Prosecutor Princess except for the fact that I bought Kim so yeons bumbling naiveity completely.

I don't like that da rans a big pushover, with her friends, students, coworkers and in her relationship. I hope this is done for character growth because I can't root for her if she's like this the whole way through. I need me some assertive heroines, ala Choi Hee Jin :P

And yeah I'm really interested to know what the deal is with Yoon Jae. It's not looking good is it? Even if he does love her, their relationship is still so awkward and I can't imagine them having a healthy marriage- I can see her at home doing all the housework and him coming home late and going to bed. They have such a formal relationship, it's cute but hard to watch.

On the other hand I love her relationship with her brother, where she is the most natural, and I'm already invested in kyung joons story and growth more than anyone else.

I also agree that the tonal shift was very surprising in that if I didn't know that hong sisters were writing this prior to watching, I honestly don't think I could've guessed it was their drama. It's got a likable quality to it but I'm not hooked and it actually seems quite.. Average as a drama. But im interested enough to see where the hong sisters are gna go with this, seeing as they're veterans and I'm sure they have a gameplan.

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"if she keeps this up she'll just go into the typical heroine of bubbly and sweet but ultimately forgettable. Adult women do not act like that in real life."

Exactly!

ADULT WOMEN DO NOT ACT LIKE THAT IN REAL LIFE!

This is exactly why I LOATHE this type of character. If any 26 year old woman, a teacher none-the-less, acted like that in real life she would be considered an idiot, and not in a kind-hearted loveable goof way either.

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Cant wait to watch it and after read your recap !! Can anyone tell me how to watch it ? website maybe ? ^^ 'Big' thanks already ^_^

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I watched on viki.

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Thank you ^^ I've tried Dramacrazy and they've already upload the drama I watched from Dramacrazy . ^^ Really great website I watched so many kdramas over there.

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lol...I watch everything on dramacrazy...awesome...

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I watched it on iontv.. Realtime . http://www.ionair.tv/index.php

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Thanks for the recap. When I opened my laptop this morning (EU time) and didn't find it, I was scared that something happened to you, girls, because how else could I explain the missing recap when this is a Hong sisters' drama??? Glad that everything is OK ^^

As you mentioned, the vibe of the first episode was very unHongish. I actually found the episode pretty sad, showing us all that loneliness of our main characters. It mainly focused on Da Ran and Kyung Joon (liked their chemistry btw), but I hope we will get more about the other characters in the next episodes.

The setup offers quite some possibilities of pairings and dramatic arcs, and I like that.
...what if Da Ran pursues her true Yoon Jae in Kyung Joon's body and causes some scandal at the school?? ...what if Da Ran falls in love with Kyung Joon in Yoon Jae's body, marries him and then the souls swap back???

Anything is possible and I wonder what path will the Hong sisters choose.

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Hmmm... To me Shin Won-ho looks like a cross between Won-bin and L from Infinite, and a doppleganger of Sungyeol from Infinite too, lol. But I also see the resemblance to Song Joong-ki. Weird - how can he look like so many people at once?

Once again we have a straight up female characterization paired with a guy who seems to have more of a character arc, but this definitely feels different from other Hong Sisters dramas. The main character isn't an ass, for one thing. That alone is enough to make me want to check this out, since I do like Hong Sister's dramas, criticisms nonwithstanding. None of the other new supernaturals are piquing my interest, anyway, so I suppose I can give this one a try.

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he reminds me of L a lot. similar smirk and eyes.

i don't find he looks like song joong ki at all lol

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shin won ho is such a natural actor. i love him the minute he appear on screen. oh, and i think the reason why shin won ho changed his stage name to shin is because he's now a part of this new boy group called cross gene, which its members consist of korean, japanese, and chinese. i just googled him up. lol.

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I don't know if you guys think this, but when DR first met the doctor his hands brushed pass hers....while KJ actually touched her hands when they first met.....so i think he is her OTP, but i wonder how they are gonna end up together. I like this new freshness from the Hong Sisters and i have seen all of their work

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Wow, you have an eye for details!:-) Thank you!

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oh. Good cath! I like :)

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i did watch bachelor's vegetable store (ugh), and thought shin won ho was cute and did well, but he definitely shines here. i didn't know till just a few minutes ago (when i googled him), that he WASN'T an idol. he has that idol boy look, and with so many of them running around in dramas lately, i'd figured he was one of them. i know next to nothing about the boy group INFINITE, but i'd had the vague impression that he was one of them.

the tone of this drama is refreshing for a hong sisters' drama. it doesn't seem vastly original for an opening episode, but i deeply appreciated the lack of gag humor and for playing many scenes "straight." i'd commented on this before about their style.

while i enjoyed a lot of the jokes in best love, and thought they were clever as always, i did think there was just too much of it, everywhere. it was so riddled with gags and metaphors and equating onions to love that i couldn't watch it without having to decipher/decode every piece of dialogue. it's been my gripe about their last three works or so (you're beautiful, gumiho)...

i'm hoping for more hong sisters' humor soon, but i'm not looking to be barraged with it :)

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Liked Shin in this. Would have liked more GY though. And where was Suzy? Think GY's character is fishy. And so are KJ's uncle and auntie. Look forward to seeing more of Shin and GY.

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