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Shark: Episode 3

We get a taste of past and present in an episode that serves up darkness by the truckload with a taste of vengeance for dessert. Even though we’ve barely begun it feels like so many of our characters have already passed various points of no return, and all of it over one man’s greed and complete lack of conscience. So of course I’m rooting for Yi-soo to prevail, but I’m also wondering how much scorched earth will be left when this is all over.

Ratings are still pitiful, though at least Episode 3 didn’t drop in numbers and stayed at 6.7%. Just keep swimming.

 
EPISODE 3 RECAP

Yi-soo rushes into a phone booth with his father’s envelope in hand and hesitates on whether to call the police. When he works up the nerve, he clutches the envelope and key… only the locker key number isn’t the same as Dad’s.

He readies to make the call, but a truck comes rushing toward the booth. Powerless, Yi-soo is caught inside as the truck crashes into it.

After the cold open, we rewind to find Young Yi-soo sitting in a jail cell for attacking the corrupt police officer. Detective Byun approaches and gains his attention: “Your belief that your father wasn’t responsible for the hit-and-run might be right.”

Oh, this is creepy. Right after Yi-hyun finds the locker key in her music box, Grandpa Jo appears out of nowhere to “kindly” ask her to dinner. (I’m all for respecting elders, but I can give him a few pointers on where to shove that meal of his.) She hides the key in her pocket.

Detective Byun tries to win Yi-soo’s trust, which is a hard thing considering how he’s the only honest cop out of the bunch. He genuinely wants to find the man who killed Yi-soo’s father and insists that he’s paid taxes for that job, to which Yi-soo smartly replies that if someone else paid him more, his job description might change.

Their exchange is touching, in that Detective Byun truly seems to understand Yi-soo and talks to him like a partner, letting him know about as much as he does. After giving his card (the one we saw Yi-soo holding in the phone booth), he shows a picture of the Envelope Professor, but Yi-soo doesn’t recognize him.

It’s then that he tells Yi-soo the man was murdered, and that his father was the last person to see him before he died—and now his father is dead. There could be a relation, but he’s prevented from divulging more when the corrupt Detective Jung arrives to free Yi-soo on Grandpa Jo’s orders.

Hae-woo waits outside the station for Yi-soo, since she was the one who asked Grandpa to get him out. For reasons she’s unaware of, this doesn’t make Yi-soo happy, and after they leave the two detectives go back and forth over investigating the case. For obvious reasons, Detective Jung wants his hoobae to stop sniffing around.

Yi-soo suddenly remembers Daddy Jo stumbling home drunk the night of the accident, along with his gold Rolex, which fits in with the young boy’s testimony of a watch left at the crime scene.

He asks Hae-woo if she’s seen the watch lately, but she’s more confused that Yi-soo is asking about it, and comes to the mistaken conclusion that her dad is pinning his missing watch on Yi-soo. He can’t bear to tell her the truth, so he leaves it at that.

While Grandpa Jo distracts Yi-hyun with dinner, he sends his trusty assassin to search the house for the envelope. Luckily she kept the key on her.

Hae-woo confronts Yi-soo about how distant he’s been, asking for him to let her in so she can be of some comfort. He knows he can’t because it’s her family behind the ugly truth, so he’s forced to keep distancing her even though he’s hurting her by doing so.

Yi-hyun hands her older brother the locker key when he gets home, and Grandpa Jo continues his search by trying to track down the person Yi-soo’s dad met that day.

The locker key has the name of a massage parlor but parts of the phone number are worn away, so Yi-soo sets to writing down different number combinations to fill in the gaps. (If he’s got the name of the place, why doesn’t he just try a phonebook?)

Meanwhile, Daddy Jo hands Detective Jung bribe money to get his incriminating watch back just so he can throw it in the Han River. Evidence-B-Gone!

While Yi-soo works down the phone list and eventually finds the massage parlor, Detective Byun becomes aware that Envelope Professor had—wait for it—a mysterious envelope two days before he died, the contents of which he’d said would turn the world upside down.

Yi-soo waits outside the house for Daddy Jo to return, and in his usual fearless fashion, confronts him about his conspicuously missing watch. It doesn’t take long for Daddy Jo to realize that Yi-soo is pegging him as the culprit, but his usual “be afraid of your elders” tactic doesn’t work on Yi-soo.

“I have nothing to be afraid of,” Yi-soo replies, looking Daddy Jo square in the eye. “Whoever made my father like that, no matter how much money or power he has, he can never defeat the truth.”

Hae-woo confronts her dad at home over framing Yi-soo for his missing watch—but of course, he has no earthly idea what she’s talking about. Points for effort, Hae-woo.

Yi-soo finds Yi-hyun crying alone in her room, because she just wants to see her daddy. He wraps her in his arms like a good brother and gently reminds her, “You still have me, Yi-hyun-ah.”

Hae-woo tries to be cheery as she invites Yi-soo to her family’s summer home, but she’s confused when he refuses so quickly. She just wants to know where he plans on going instead: “Why can’t you tell me? Why do you keep hiding things from me?”

She proves she’s not your usual drama heroine as she reaches out to him, claiming that she understands how he must feel, “But you’re not alone. You have Yi-hyun, me, and Grandfather.” Eek. Not the right choice there.

She doesn’t understand why he won’t accept her grandfather’s help, so Yi-soo snaps just a little: “I don’t need any help from a family like yours.” It’s an insult, but Hae-woo still tries to take it in stride, wanting to understand him. But he knows that she can’t, and tells her so.

This is what finally breaks her down, though she thinks he won’t tell her because she means nothing to him. And poor Yi-soo can’t explain himself to correct her misunderstanding.

Joon-young sees Hae-woo crying afterward and gets ready to tear into Yi-soo about it, asking what could be more important than her. “Nothing is more important than Hae-woo,” Yi-soo reaffirms to his friend, but he still has somewhere to be.

Junichiro runs into Daddy Jo in the lobby of the Jo family hotel where he’s been staying, and curiously asks after Yi-soo, the boy Grandpa Jo claimed was like his own grandson.

The question makes Daddy Jo visibly uncomfortable, which seems to be the exact reaction Junichiro was going for. It’s pretty clear by now that Junichiro has no love for the Jo family.

Yi-soo finds the shady massage/sex parlor, unaware that he’s being tailed by Daddy/Grandpa Jo’s men. He goes from there to the train station where the locker is, only to open the locker and find nothing inside.

Luckily, the lockers were cleared out by the staff, and Yi-soo finds the envelope. He pores over the contents until he’s just left sitting for a while, thinking over what he just read. Whatever it is must be bad enough for Grandpa Jo to kill for.

Now we see the scene from the cold open, only Yi-soo does get a call through to Detective Byun, his voice urgent and even a little scared as he asks, “Can I trust you?” again and again.

Once he’s assured that Detective Byun is on his side, he explains that he knows the reason why his father was killed now that he found the document he left behind. That’s reason enough for our good detective to rush to meet him.

Hae-woo is still taking care of Yi-hyun despite her fight with Yi-soo, but you can tell she’s all bluster. Yi-soo calls while they’re having dinner, and his words to his sister sound suspiciously like his last before he asks to talk to Hae-woo.

At first, he can’t even speak. He just breathes heavily as he fights valiantly to keep himself from completely breaking down. Hae-woo’s anger dissipates completely when he shakily admits that he’s having a hard time. Poor thing.

He asks her if she remembers what he told her at the lake, about how there are certain moments where one can only do what they’re capable of, and nothing more. He warns her that she might have to face difficulties (so he’s preparing her for the truth), but he’s telling her so she can stay strong.

“Just remember this,” he says, his voice growing urgent. “No matter what happens, you and I are together.” She interjects worriedly, but he continues: “Don’t forget what I just said. Never forget what I said, Hae-woo. No matter what happens, we’ll always be together. We’ll always be-…”

He’s still on the line when the truck comes crashing into the phone booth, and the last thing he hears before the glass starts flying is her voice calling his name.

After the crash, Yi-soo lies on the asphalt in a bloody heap, while the driver/assassin carelessly steps over him in order to retrieve the envelope.

By the time Detective Byun arrives, all he finds is blood and rubble. There’s no sign of Yi-soo. But in the rubble, he finds the new locker key Yi-soo had—so maybe he was smart enough to hide the real envelope. Go Yi-soo! (It’s okay, he’s not dead.)

Present day.

Yi-soo leaves while Hae-woo is still enjoying her post-wedding party, but he stops short in the lobby at the sight of a familiar face—Detective Byun. They even make eye contact, but no recognition passes on the older man’s face.

In a surprising turn, adult Yi-hyun (Nam Bo-ra) emerges into the lobby with Hae-woo and calls Detective Byun “father.” Aww, did he adopt her? What a nice ajusshi.

They clearly all know each other since Hae-woo and Yi-hyun have remained friends, and Hae-woo jokes that she’s never seen Detective Byun in a suit. He’s come to collect his daughter, and the pair couldn’t be sweeter as he mentions her mother waiting at home. Yi-hyun got a brand new family.

Hae-woo stares wistfully after them, but remembers Detective Byun’s words from so long ago—that it was Yi-soo’s blood at the scene of the accident.

We flash back to the past when Hae-woo first heard this news in her grandfather’s house, where Detective Byun delivered it. Because they weren’t able to find the body, Hae-woo desperately declares: “He’s not dead. Why would he die? He isn’t dead. There’s no way he’s dead!”

She implores Grandpa Jo to use all his vast resources to find Yi-soo, completely unaware that she’s asking the very man who tried to kill the boy she loves to help her. She refuses to believe anyone’s words to the contrary and vows to find him, even if she has to do it herself.

Mrs. Park comforts a sobbing Yi-hyun at home, who’s been told that her brother is dead. Hae-woo tries to convince her that he’s alive, but she can’t offer a reason as to why he hasn’t come home.

It’s a heartbreaking moment when she gathers Yi-hyun into her arms to urge her not to cry, which only ends in the both of them breaking down. This is when Detective Byun walks in.

And that’s what brings us back to the present day, as Hae-woo pulls herself from her nightmarish memory. Then we reach the point in the timeline where we last left them as adults, when Yi-soo and Hae-woo met on the hotel balcony.

Yi-soo introduces himself with his Japanese name, Jun Yoshimura, and his handshake with Hae-woo goes on a little too long. She’s still willing to entertain this total stranger and small talks him to high heaven, about his time abroad and how much Seoul has changed since he was last in Korea.

“It seems the same to me, in my eyes,” Yi-soo says, even though he’s looking straight at her. Who wants to bet he isn’t talking about Seoul anymore?

He comments on the full moon, a favorite of theirs since they were young, and this immediately sparks Hae-woo’s interest. She talks about the Korean custom of making wishes to the full moon, while he counters that the moon is seen in a much more sinister light where he came from.

She sees it much more positively, an he agrees, even adding that the moon is like the North Star. This sets of a flurry of memories for her, considering how she once named Yi-soo as her own North Star, and she unknowingly starts to cry in front of him in the present.

I know he’s really Yi-soo, but she doesn’t know it, so it’s a little odd that she lets him pull her into a comforting embrace. It’s hard to read him, but he seems to be holding his emotions in check. Did he mean to stir up these memories with her?

Hae-woo pulls away right before Joon-young comes to find her, and Yi-soo simply congratulates them on their wedding before he’s off.

Joon-young is sweet to her, and she’s the same in return. It’s nice to see that they are very much in love as he tells her just how happy he is to be with her—after all, he waited ten years. She gladly hugs him back, her worries temporarily forgotten.

Daddy Jo has to leave the table at a congratulatory dinner for Grandpa Jo because he gets a call from a man asking for more blackmail money to keep his mouth shut. This seems like a common refrain between them, so Daddy Jo (or Prosecutor Oh) decides to end it by having a thug deliver a hard blow to the guy’s head.

We cut immediately to a sinister-looking shot of Yi-soo as he holds a necklace with a metal shark pendant, much like the one Hae-woo made out of wood for him, while she looks out at the city from the same hotel on her wedding night.

When Joon-young looks at her, he’s reminded of when she’d fallen into depression after Yi-soo’s death and how hard he tried to snap her out of it. It all culminated in an attempt on her part to drown herself in her special lake, but he’d been there to drag her back, shake her by the shoulders, and tell her to live if only so she could find out why Yi-soo died.

“I’ll help you,” Joon-young promised. “I’ll be beside you. I’ll be your strength.”

In the present, the terrible memory fades away, and Joon-young musters a bright smile when Hae-woo turns around. Then it’s business time.

Electronic rock synthesizers threaten to turn the scene comical as we intercut between Yi-soo being intense and Hae-woo’s wedding night, but thankfully the music calms down into a ballad after a while.

The following montage-length scene can be described as such: Hae-woo and Joon-young are having sex, and Yi-soo is not having a good time imagining the sex they’re having.

Later, Yi-soo gets an update from his secretary, JANG YOUNG-HEE (Honey Lee), about some upcoming meetings with big-name hotel CEOs. They have a friendly rapport with each other, but some dark instrumentals and her suspicious look to the camera seem to hint that all is not what it seems.

Hae-woo gets a call in the wee hours of the morning by a man who knows her name, and the fact that she’s a prosecutor: “I know why Han Yi-soo died twelve years ago.”

This gets her attention, and the man gives her an address. It’s revealed that this is the man who was beaten for blackmailing Daddy Jo, though he’s currently tied up and being forced to set the trap for Hae-woo by a mysterious captor.

One captor gives way to another as a shadowy figure approaches the prone man… and it’s Yi-soo, decked out in black, looking almost devilishly excited. The man stutters out that he didn’t kill Yi-soo, unaware that it’s Yi-soo standing in front of him.

But Yi-soo just smiles in a very disconcerting way as he reassures the man, more or less, that he’ll have to suffer for the suffering he caused—twelve years ago, he had a chance to tell the truth about what happened to Yi-soo, but he didn’t.

Now, Yi-soo plans to even out the karmic score, but he gives the man one last chance to tell the truth all while clearly enjoying the fact that he’s making him squirm.

The man spills what he knows as Joon-young drives a nervous Hae-woo to the address. He ends a story we don’t hear by reaffirming that he didn’t kill Yi-soo or his dad in an effort to get Yi-soo to believe him.

Yi-soo offers him a false sense of security by patting him on the shoulder and all but cooing “I believe you.” Why is this so creepy?

But as he leaves, giving way for his much-less-kind mystery friend to enter, he grins. The man’s face morphs into a mask of terror.

And as the screen goes black, all you hear are screams.

 
COMMENTS

The transition into adulthood was surprisingly seamless, though I’m not sure we’re quite done with the young members of the cast when there are so many gaps to fill in—like how Yi-soo survived, why no one can recognize him, what took him so long, and pretty much everything else. It’d be nice if we graduated to flashbacks from here on out instead of complete jumps back in time for such long stretches, just because it’ll make the separation easier. But who knows.

I’m really liking the way Shark is differentiating itself from its revenge drama predecessors (and dramas in general, really). It’s a show that’s tangling itself on purpose for greater dramatic effect in such a way that you’re curious as to how it’ll untangle itself later down the line, if at all. The very fact that Hae-woo is now married is already rife with possibilities, especially since Yi-soo was THERE, in the flesh, and he could have stopped it if he wanted to. It’s not a case of him returning too late to do anything, because he made sure to be there just in time.

Obviously, his revenge plan amounts to more than romance (so in that vein, it shows a greater level of commitment on his part that he’d knowingly let her go), and it sets him up as a more dangerous hero than what we’re normally accustomed to. You know, one who may not love the idea of clutching a metal shark while his first love gives herself to someone else in the same building, but one who grits his teeth and bears with it because he’s got bigger fish to fry. I can respect that.

That being said, it still came as a surprise to see Yi-soo in Revenge Mode, even though we hadn’t seen all that much of him as an adult to form a solid opinion. At the wedding he was nothing but quiet reserve and repressed outbreaks of emotion, and then in that warehouse it was like he was finally in his element. It’d be different if he was still sullen and serious while taking revenge, but that wasn’t the case—he was smiling, even grinning at times, and very much enjoying the emotional torture he was inflicting.

It was a complete change from what we’d expect of Yi-soo, but that’s what makes him all the more compelling. Bring on the flaws, bring on the hero that isn’t hopelessly lovelorn, bring on the guy who grins in the shadows while another one screams. If one thing’s guaranteed, it’s that we’re in for one hell of a ride.

 
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Thanks for the recap!

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Thank you, too, for the recap!
Until later I shall make only one comment: although I really like this show for various reasons, I cannot feel invested in it. It is love from a distance, cold. As admiring a great painting. Probably because Incarnation of Money did not end too long ago and I find surprisingly many similarities, obviously, conducted to a different path but still.

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Incarnation of Money began so buffoonish that I find it a bit jarring to hear it compared to Shark, which is so, so, so dark. If anything, Shark reminds me more of the writer-director duo's The Devil, in that both feature irredeemable antiheros.

I hope you'll stick with Shark because I think you'll find it quite the mind-twist. And it's very well shot and directed. The pacing is really great. It's top notch production.

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This is random, but OMGoodness! I've just checked the ages of the two younger versions of Haewoo and Yi-Soo, and the guy is 1995 and the girl is 1987!!! woooooow.

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Wow. They sure did a good job of finding an actress to play the adult Hae-woo who looks just like the young Hae-woo.

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I think that is actually the other way around. They did a great job of finding an actress to play the young Hae Woo who looks just like the actress playing the adult Hae Woo. Sohn Yi Jin is the star and I'm betting she was cast first.

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^^ what you said

Still, the resemblance is uncanny - I thought that teenage Hae-woo was also played by Sohn Ye-jin until someone pointed out that she was actually a different actress!

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I agree that the casting there was perfect. It's crazy how much they look alike. And the younger actress did a great job of mimicking Sohn Yi Jin's mannerisms especially her eye and facial responses. They two really could be sisters.

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Sometimes my attempts at dead-pan humor fly right past the humor into the pan, dead.

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Ha! Yeah, that can be hard to pull off typed. Some humor must be heard to be understood. Sorry for the misunderstanding. :)

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I got it! I laughed!

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LOL! i like this more:)

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Seeing KNG's sinister smile in episode 3 reminded me why i fell for Bidam.

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OMG.. don't remind me of Bidam.. I will not and cannot watch QSD a third time for him

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Uh yeah!! Totally, I want Kim Nam Gil's inner Bidam unleashed. I wasn't much committed to Shark until I saw that smile. Damn! That man knows how to play dark and twisted.

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and here i am, waiting for lee hyuk soo to appear hehehe

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I loved that smile at the end of the ep....that's the Bad Guy i know...I just hope the ending will be diferent...with Kim nam Gil alive..... :)

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Well ita the opposite. Glad they found a young Haewoo who looks the same to adult Haewoo.

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the story is getting clearer now..

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yes n more interesting now, so far i like it

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Thanks, Head! And excellent insights!

I like where we are heading because the drama's bringing us off the beaten track. A love triangle could not be as entangled as this - a female lead who has consummated her marriage with the second male lead now faces the return of her ex. It does challenge my sense of dramaland conventions and convictions but all in a good way because it only makes the plot more compelling and the storytelling so much more exciting.

I'm all for the gaps in the story because it only makes the storytelling all the more interesting to follow. Shark is entertaining from the start because it keeps the audience in suspense - we may know who the baddies are, but the motivations of their actions, linkages of events or people and consequences are hazy at best. There are so many deep dark secrets surrounding everyone, I find myself totally digging our two main side characters, Joon Young and Detective Byun Bang Jin in these two latest episodes. They are probably the last remaining beacons in YS and HW's lives I really want something good to happen to them. They are just SOOO NICE!! And I mean SOOO NICE! As a second lead, I really do want to see more back story to Joon Young. And Detective Byun? Please take care! I don't want you to die too early!! They are probably the only salvation we will get out of anybody in this show.

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A love triangle could not be as entangled as this – a female lead who has consummated her marriage with the second male lead now faces the return of her ex.

YES. This flies in the face of all dramaland convictions, but in a good way - I am all for consensual sex onscreen (another recent drama had its second lead raped, all in the service of Making A Point, and I was not a fan of that AT ALL.)

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Same here. I was really disgusted when I read that. It seemed like there was no option for a woman except in sex, like she's not a human being or anything.

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Couldn't have said it better!

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Thanks for the recap!

I do enjoy the show, and look forward to watch its progress. But I have this fear that it will end like "Bad Guy" which I liked very much except for the ending! I think I shouted, " O M Gosh! I spent 16 hours and this is the ending!!" at my computer screen...
So maybe i will only continue with this after it has finished, read recap of the last episode before I decide whether to invest time into it.

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I am sure it will not be like 'Bad Guy' because I have great faith in writer. I enjoyed all of her (Kim Jee-woo ) previous works I have watched-
Stock Flower, Rebirth, The Lucifer and Fermentation Family which I have watched more than once.
I just hope ratings get better.

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Yeah, I really would be shocked if this fizzled out the Bad Guy or Nice Guy way. The writer-director - even if I didn't always luuuurrrve their works - have always delivered. Resurrection was one of my first kdramas. After catching a couple episodes in Korea, but having forgotten the title, I spent many years tracking it down in the United States at Korean video rental stores. Even The Devil, which I didn't love, was so not your typical Kdrama fare. Antihero much?

So, I hope this drama's ratings come through.

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Dear Heads,

Thanks for the recap! I am sooooo glad you are keeping up the recaps of this show because this is the fist show that has really captured my attention in a long time. Just wanted to say thanks for the hard work!

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Oh btw, I'm not usually concerned about ratings, but the ratings for this show really don't do the show justice. Sadface! I love LSG, but I would really say Son YJ and Kim NG are way better actors, and this show is much more gripping! Dropped JOJ a long time ago...

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Haha JOJ hasn't ended yet??

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Haha, apparently not! Hope those viewers hop right over to Shark once it's over!

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girl, i don't need to wait until the crazy ends to drop it like a hot potato and hop onto the shark train. ;)

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Thanks....

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Brilliant. Just brilliant

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FINALLY!! ^^ Thank you! Just an appreciation comment for now ...

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Thx for the recap!!
btw,i had some questions i hope someone answers them,haha...
1-who killed kang hee soo(the righteous man)?
is it the assassin or Yi soo's dad?
I guess Yi soo's dad,cause the cops said he was strangled based on the marks on his neck but the assassin had his poison pen ..and dad was asking for forgiveness from Hae Woo's grandpa,i wonder why...
2-This might seem strange but i just wondered cause it looked interesting..
this is a scene,53:12-53:16 sth in episode 3,when they show KNG looking from the window of his hotel room..
http://i.imgur.com/snE9qRr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2OlOo6d.jpg
now,in the first pic you can see two KNGs..which the second one's face is not that clear..
In the second picture you can see the back of his,which of course is a reflection on a mirror of him standing against it in a very near distance..
but my question is,on the first pic why we can see two of him with his face seen?if it was one,of course there is another mirror on the other side too exactly against the first mirror,kinda far from it..but two KNG's in the first pic?I don't get it lol kinda strange question tough the scene looks good..
P.S:admins if you do,please don't answer to my e-mail cause it doesn't work..thx kekeke

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I think its just the director's way of using reflected images (mirrors, windows) to add visual interest to the scene. I don't think it was anything more.

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As to your first point - I was thinking the very same thing that it was Yi Soo's dad who strangled the guy in a fit of panic. I mean, why would the Poison Pen Assassin not use the poison pen?

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1. Yi Soo's dad wasn't the assassin. He'd left the professor's in a panic. The assassin was in the closet waiting for him, wearing leather gloves.

2. As for the difference between the two pictures, it has to do with the tightness of the shot. Yi Soo is standing between two mirrors, and so his image recurs to infinity. If you look closer, you'll see multiple reflections receding.

The second picture is shot much more tightly, not allowing us to see the multiple reflections. But even in this shot, you can see that the curtains are reflected multiple times.

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That said, in cinematography, mirror images are often shorthand for split psyche. Some inner conflict that compromises integrity. Duplicity. Self-deceit. Torn desires. Whatever.

What's interesting in this shot is that the mirroring goes on to infinity, as if Yi Soo won't be able to piece himself back together or extricate himself out of the darkness. Like an Alice going down, down, down the rabbit hole and possibly not being able to get out.

Thanks for the pics. Thought-provoking.

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Thx for the replay,but if Yi Soo's dad didn't kill him,then why did the assassin strangle the man?He had his poison pen..and it was the assassin,i guess it explains why dad told the grandpa that he was really indebted to him..maybe besides the deal,grandpa Jo told him that he'd solved the problem by killing the righteous man?IDK..
Damn that part was very confusing,i wish they'd revealed more things in episode 2 about those stuff..
And about the pics,I also thought it had some meaning to it..and yes you're absolutely right there are multiple reflections of Yi Soo..I didn't know that if you stand between two mirrors,your image recurs to infinity!!that's interesting..I wonder if it has a scientific explanation,And your interpretation was quite nice too!!

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im so glad
i was refreshing like crazy for shark recap
more than GFB

scene when YS hugging his sis, makes me cry

but scene in old warehouse, YS smilling SLOWLY creeps me

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It's funny how the young Hae Woo seems to attract the same roles. She also played the young Lee Bo Young in Equator Man.

Loving the story line! I've loved KNG ever since his Bidam days. I'd love him even more if he gets rid of the stache though I won't put my money on it, guess it's part of the sinister look.

Cheolryong from Cheer Up, Mr. Kim, the young Yi Soo, has matured a lot here! So proud of the kid.

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Yunno, somehow it's working here.

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I love this drama!!!!

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Ooh. This is a good one. Not your typical revenge melo. Execution = deft. Tone = dark. me= excited.
Was surprised they're making our heroine already someone who's married.
I watched this episode raw, was waiting for the full subs and your recap heads. Now i'm off to watch+read

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I know, I kept expecting the wedding to be cancelled or interrupted or something to break them up - but she's married, and stays married (for now, anyway). It's definitely unusual for a drama, Western or Korean, and I like that.

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Creepy, creepy! Deliciously creepy.

YS imagining HW's marital sex and swinging the shark pendant to stay firmly on the revenge course. And then his creepy smile at the end of the episode.

Too bad the ratings are low.

I suspect that the woman in the red suit was the killer who entered the room at the end of the episode.

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I thought it seemed like the other person with Yi Soo was a female too. Something about the way the person walked and carried themselves. I thought, "that's a girl." I'm not sure it's Secretary Jang, but it could be.

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I agree. The walk was totally female so I must be Secretary Jang. (Is her name really Honey Lee? Seriously?)

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Sorry, I am not Secretary Jang. Don't know why I typed that.

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Maybe you WANT to be Secretary Jang? ;) If she's going to be sexing KNG, I wouldn't mind trying her on for size.

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@beggar1015; your game is up! LOL, that was very funny.

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@Rashell - I think she may WANT to, but my guess is Sharkman don't like Honey too much. He may even suspect her...I hope!

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@jomo: I agree that she's definitely more into him, but he did seem willing to pretend a bit in front of Hae Woo and Joon Young that it was more. I think if she can catch him in a weak jealous moment he might be vulnerable enough to succumb.

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I think that's Secretary Jang, too. Well, Honey Lee is better than Hanna Lee (..puff the magic dragon lives by the sea..)

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Heads, you hit upon so many things I was thinking about, from the creepy vibe from Grandpa suddenly showing up in Yi Hyun's apartment to why Yi Soo didn't call Information for the massage parlor's number as well as the odd choice of music during the Yi Soo/Hae Woo/Joon Young menage scene. The show has so far done very well with the score until this jarring moment.

But am I the only one who is suspicious of the housekeeper? I am so keeping my eye on her. In fact, I'm so suspicious of her that I'm beginning to believe that she is Grandpa's poison pen henchperson. It's just the way they film the assassin that I feel there will be a surprise reveal that the killer is a woman.

Or I could be totally wrong.

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I think the "housekeeper" (I think she's more than that) is not Grandpa's henchwoman. For one thing, the actress usually takes on characters who are tough to like on the outside but genuinely good on the inside. Besides, the hench person is clearly a man.

As for Yi Soo's henchperson, clearly a woman. Hello, that walk? And it's clearly Secretary Jang. I'd be shocked if she weren't. And she's so not 100% on Team Han Yi Soo. She's got her own agenda.

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I feel like this can't end with any other way than Kim nam gil dying. t.t After he's done with his revenge what else can he really live for? He can't really be with Hae woo since he's done so many bad things and she probably won't approve since he's not the same man/boy she fell in love with or liked back then. Referring to the shark reference, revenge was the only thing that kept him moving and when he's done with revenge he can settle down (aka die?) Can't see it ending any other way D:

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Well, there's always amnesia to rescue him!
He could start again with a whole new brain...where did I see that before?

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Or new face, like Ghost.

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Nice Guy

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That wouldn't be surprising given the writer-director duo's past work. I won't say more than that since I don't want to spoil others interested in their oeuvre.

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wait kng is in here?!?! i gotta watch this now! i love this guy!

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Thank you for the recap!!!

I LOVE this show. It is definitely the ONE for me right now. I love snuggling in under the covers with all these nefarious characters. Only problem, the hour flies by.
I was almost late for work this morning trying to finish Ep 3 and at lunch drove all the way home from work to finish the last 5 mins. We can't stream video on our work campus wireless network.

"It’s not a case of him returning too late to do anything, because he made sure to be there just in time."

I wonder, too, heads, why he didn't want to appear to her before. In fact, this really bothers me. Especially when they make is a point for them to remember him saying they would be together forever, and earlier, that no matter where she went, he would find her. Well, dummy, what happened to these promises?

The other thing that really bothers me is how Joon Young will be treated. The guy has been good to Sharkman since he was a kid. Why would JY deserve any of the fallout from the vengeance? Or is it Sharkman has no intention of romantically interfering? Plus, the JY character is soooo blandly perfect. Unless the writers have something richer in store for Ha Suk Jin, which they very well could, this role is a waste for him. Every time his handsomeness comes on screen, smiling and being ever so supportive, I yell at him to run away. NOW! Before he gets hurt. Go be in a drama where you can be the first lead!

(Did anyone make the connection to Once Upon a Time in Saengchori when Nam Bora and he were on the screen at the same time?)

There were some lovely touching moments between Shark and Hae Woo - even if it didn't make a lot of sense. Maybe she leaned on him because she was drunk?

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Joo Young is the corrupt police chief/prosecutor's son. (The man who got the call from the corrupt cop). Joo Young may end up choosing family over integrity.

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First of all, Heads, thank you for recapping. Because I read along while watching to make sure all is straight in my head (to the extent it can be).

Second, KNG's acting is amazing! He gets those little facial muscle movements that are so subtle, yet on point that, oh, I don't know, he's just so good.

Okay, waiting for next recap to watch next ep since I don't have brain space these days to figure something like this drama out.

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Kim Nam Gil is incredible in this role. This man was made to be filmed. I have never seen any of his previous works, but here I was captivated by the very first scene. Subtle and charismatic.

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From the get go Shark seems to resemble Equator Man - hero's father is killed, he has a close relationship with the child of the killer, he himself is almost killed and badly injured etc. However, Shark is doing a MUCH better job as a drama managing, so far, to avoid almost all pitfalls Equator Man stumbled early on. One thing is how present and past is entangled and shown from very early on. We do spend most of the time of 3 first episodes in the past, but not all so the transition to the adult times is much more smooth and doesn't take nearly as long.

This drama has so many interesting characters. Teenagers were all well fleshed out, well, except for Oh Joong Young. I also like our villains, son-dad duo. At first I really didn't expect grandad to be a villain at all and I really like that it wasn't written on his face from the early on. Also, I like the son who's somewhat a classic bully being whining dog in front of his dad while barking at everybody who's weaker than he is. He's the "pay it forward" type although in his case it's not kindness but shitty treatment. Lastly, can't forget the honest detective. I love that he adopted Yi-Hyun! So sweet! Although her character worries me a bit as there doesn't seem to be much depth in her but maybe we'll see more later. OJY is bigger problem, though, as he's the second male lead and neither his teen nor his adult counterparts have much of character. Yeah, we were TOLD that he's one tough cookie when they were young but he was shown to be a "nice guy". I do hope he'll get more depth in the series but I definitely hope he won't turn to be evil or go to that path at all. Actually, it might be ok if he and JHW stayed together and married after facing this crisis together. HYS could get his revenge but not the girl.

And yeah, the sex. Married couple having nice, consensual sex in kdrama! Heroine having sex with somebody else than mail lead AND it's portrayed in positive light! Yay! It's really

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Hm, I was excited for this one, but I think I'll just follow recaps. Not really feeling it, but maybe I need to give it more episodes.

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First two eps pretty much bored me mostly cuz i didn't come to watch children but their adult counterparts. This ep finally got me, now I am officially on board!
Speaking of cool shows, anybody else watching Cruel City? Seeing as there's no cable show being recapped at the moment, any chance you guys might consider...juseyo?!!! ;)

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i haven't decided whether to watch Shark but is that HSJ topless?

must watch now *wipe drool*

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ah,,SHARK!! Makes my wed-thur seems so longg!!

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why is the man topless and not his wife too ?,

be realistic director ?.

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Not following this series, but the discussion made me go back and work on a few more episodes of Queen Seon-Deok.

Really, as bad as the mustache is, it is better than Bidam wandering around with that terminal leprosy-acne make-up from episode 27.

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Hmm..not too sure about the ratings maybe because it is a three/4 way fight with the existing dramas. Things may change once those 2 end! But anyway, who cares about the ratings. This drama is surpassing my expectation. I was not interested when news about it came out. I guess even if revenge dramas are usually same same in terms of plot, but here the execution is good!

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this show seems similiar to equator man

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