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Shark: Episode 7

Our hero keeps stringing our dogged prosecutor along the path he’s laid out for her, though the reward waiting at the end of her journey is a little more personal to him this time around. I like that he’s not having to shove her toward the truth—he only has to lightly goad her in the right direction before Hae-woo takes care of the rest. You can’t help but love her at the same time you worry for her, because you just know things’ll only get worse for her from here on out. Hopefully she’s up to the challenge. Yi-soo seems to think so, anyway.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Explosions in the Sky – “Human Qualities” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 7 RECAP

Cold open: Hae-woo drags her feet along a forest path, clutching the wooden shark pendant she made for Yi-soo as she cries.

Back at the bar where we left them last week, Yi-soo asks Hae-woo if she would understand the kiss even if he meant to do it, refusing to let her brush it off as a mistake.

With both of them unaware that Joon-young is watching, Hae-woo makes her stance clear: “To be honest, I have no interest in whether or not it was a mistake.” Yi-soo tells her that he’s the calculating kind down to the last detail so that he never makes mistakes, but meeting her at the restaurant was something he didn’t plan.

“Coming up with plans may be a work of the head,” Yi-soo says. “But mistakes are the work of the heart.” Hae-woo asks for clarification, echoing my own thoughts, but he doesn’t really give it. So, the kiss was/wasn’t a mistake that maybe was/was not part of a greater plan. Got it.

Joon-young finally makes his presence known, though it’s not clear how much he heard. He seems to be testing the waters as he tries to get Hae-woo to stay for his drinking date with Yi-soo, but she refuses and puts on a happy face to ease Joon-young’s worry that something’s wrong.

He knows that’s not the case, but he can’t get the image of her standing with Yi-soo out of his mind. Similarly, she can’t get Yi-soo’s words out of her thoughts either, and pointedly ignores a call from Soo-hyun on the way home—even though he’s calling her about a package on her desk, one we know Yi-soo sent.

Joon-young and Yi-soo talk business, with the former accepting the latter’s invitation to attend a hotel opening in Japan, even though he’s not sure if Hae-woo can make time for it. He manages to get Yi-soo to agree to play basketball with him that weekend, as a team. It’s so hard to tell whether Joon-young is being sincere or calculating these days.

He does note that Yi-soo reminds him of “that friend,” which apparently Yi-soo is supposed to know by now. (He’s talking about Yi-soo when they were friends.) He clarifies that it’s not that the CEO before him looks like his old friend, but that they have the same vibe. That’s an odd thing to say to someone who, for all intents and purposes, never knew your dead friend.

Now that Hae-woo knows that Prosecutor Oh was involved in a cover-up, she confronts her father-in-law directly to ask for the truth about what happened twelve years ago, since she already knows that he’s done shady things to protect her family. Now she wants to know why.

At least he doesn’t deny everything wholesale, but he does advise Hae-woo to keep the past where it belongs, because hashing it up again could not only hurt her family, but also her. He claims he only knew about the hit-and-run and the plan to pin the blame on Yi-soo’s dad (which we know is a lie), and firmly denies Hae-woo’s request to be put back on Detective Jung’s murder case.

“That’s beyond my power,” Prosecutor Oh claims.

“You’ve already done a lot that’s beyond your power,” Hae-woo fires back. Burn.

He reminds her that the case has passed the statute of limitations, but she can’t help the emotion that springs to her voice when she stresses that the truth to the present is in the past: “In order to uncover the truth from the past, someone is committing murder. We have to stop it. Before there is another victim, we have to stop it.”

Her words don’t change his hardline stance that if she refuses to back off from the case, he’ll have to force her. She nods, even while defying him by saying that she can’t let the case go.

Afterward, Grandpa Jo presumably gets a call detailing the conversation.

Yi-soo and Joon-young part ways, but not before a handshake that reminds Yi-soo of the good old days. His smile toward Joon-young seems very genuine, as though he’s actually happy to be around his former friend.

But Joon-young is still bothered by seeing Hae-woo with him in the bar. Not good.

Hae-woo finds Soo-hyun waiting for her outside her home, there to give her a formal apology and a truthful explanation. He knows what he said about lying to protect her was an excuse, and reveals that he was just selfish—he did what Prosecutor Oh told him to do because he wanted to earn his favor.

But, after witnesses Hae-woo’s staunch adherence to her principles firsthand, he realizes how wrong he was and wants to do right again by helping her in any way he can. He all but melts into a puddle of goo when Hae-woo agrees to take him back. All is forgiven.

He leaves her with the mysterious package just as Joon-young arrives, ever-supportive as always. Hae-woo finds herself having to lie about having been at work rather than reveal the truth that she saw his father, though she ends up snapping at him when he jokes that his father should give her an easier job.

At least he guesses that it must be hard for her when his father probably knows about her father’s involvement. At least he’s sharp.

Yi-soo goes to his sister’s coffee shop and stands right across from her at the counter. Oof, the look on his face. THERE’S the old Yi-soo, there’s his gentlest of gazes.

He hesitates to place an order, just because ordering is the last thing on his mind—he’s only there to see her. So his stuttering and lack of assuredness is actually endearing, even though he ends up buying way more than he needs.

After running into Detective Byun on the way out, Yi-soo awkwardly delivers all the drinks he bought to Secretary Jang, who invites him in despite his obvious misgivings about the whole situation.

She ignores a call from Junichiro while he’s there, and though she’s nothing but cordial by inviting him to stay for a meal, he looks for the first and easiest way out. At least he’s not giving her mixed signals?

Seeing Yi-soo seems to have reminded Yi-hyun of her brother’s voice, which she mentions aimlessly on the ride home with Daddy Detective Byun. He and Hae-woo are purposefully keeping her in the dark about the case, but she does suspect something when dad asks if she’s received any weird messages lately.

Hae-woo declines the invitation to go to Japan for Junichiro’s resort opening, and makes Daddy Jo extra angry when she has to remind him that she has no plans on succeeding his hotel empire. Grandpa Jo acts like the benevolent middle man (as always) and asks Hae-woo to go for his sake, which gives her no way out when Joon-young promises to convince her.

But, as it turns out, he was just trying to help her out and has no plans on forcing her to go. I’m at this weird stage with Joon-young where I can’t help but be suspicious about how perfect he is. He promises to explain her stance to Grandpa Jo as he pulls her into a hug, advising her at the same time not to rush the case so she won’t falter.

Hae-woo opens the mysterious package to find a locker key with the same number Yi-soo’s father had, which leads to a locker at the same train station he stored the documents in. All the while Yi-soo clutches his metal shark and looks contemplative.

She opens the locker to find a photo of a rural village inside—another clue, another place she has to find. She sends it to Detective Byun and Soo-hyun, charging him with finding the place if he wants to prove he’s sincere. He can only peg it as being somewhere in Japan.

Secretary Jang gives Dong-soo a parcel to deliver to Joon-young, only to be surprised when he reveals that he was friends with Joon-young, Hae-woo, and Yi-soo in high school. He’s got starry eyes for Secretary Jang, that’s for sure. (I know they’re just barely hinting at this possible loveline, but it’s already so adorable. Rooting for these two.)

She does stop him to ask whether he still sees Yi-soo. He nods his head, then points to his heart: “Yi-soo is here. He’s in here.” Aww. “Even though he’s dead, he’s alive and breathing in my heart.”

But she seems shocked(?) to hear that Yi-soo is dead, or she’s just fishing for more info. She guesses that Hae-woo and Yi-soo were close, only for Dong-soo to cut in that they were so close that they would’ve been married by now were he still alive. Ah, I wonder if Yi-soo kept his past with Hae-woo a secret, maybe that’s why she’s so curious.

Hae-woo hands the new clues over to Detective Byun, who finally releases some frustration over being led on a merry chase by someone they don’t know. She’s not as phased, and compares their mysterious puppet master to the North Star: “I don’t know who he is, but he’s guiding me. We won’t know whether the final destination is heaven or hell until we go to the end.”

“Whether it’s heaven or hell, just remember that I’ll always be by your side,” Detective Byun says. Awwww.

Mrs. Park uses Yi-soo’s business card (that she pilfered from Daddy Jo a couple episodes back) to call him out to ask, after much hesitation, whether their first meeting at the lake was a coincidence. Ruh roh.

Even though Yi-soo claims it was pure coincidence, Mrs. Park lists why it really can’t be, considering the isolated location and the very specific date of Yi-soo’s father’s death anniversary. “Is there any chance that you know a person named Han Yi-soo?” she finally asks.

“Do you know him?” she repeats. Yi-soo is clearly nervous, but he hides it well as he chooses to answer that he does know Yi-soo… but that he’s never met him. Sigh. What a fake-out.

Basically, he’s just “heard” of Yi-soo from various people, but that’s it. Mrs. Park heaves a sigh, since she’d clearly been holding onto the hope that Yi-soo was alive since they never found his body. It’s clear that she really cares for Yi-soo, and though it’s subtle, you can see his eyes filling with tears as she talks about the Yi-soo she knew fondly.

Hae-woo and her small task force (including Soo-hyun) work on tracking down the location of the Photo Clue, only to be interrupted when Joon-young delivers food for Hae-woo. And because he’s so thoughtful, he even had food delivered to her two pals in the office. Gah. Why do I feel like his perfect-ness is bound to implode in a bad way? Stop making me paranoid, dramaland!

And then he takes her to a romantic nighttime picnic spot in the park? C’mon, that’s not even fair. At least Hae-woo counts her blessings when she looks at him.

But it’s only when Soo-hyun calls her with the location of the Photo Clue that she decides to join her husband on his trip to Okinawa. Why? Because that’s where the photo was taken.

In Japan, Yi-soo stands outside the lavish residence Junichiro calls a home. We momentarily flash back to Young Yi-soo as he took his first steps into the home, but rejoin Adult Yi-soo just as he passes the threshold.

Junichiro greets him with a big hug, which Yi-soo doesn’t seem all that into. He does most of the catching-up with Yi-soo and seems surprised that no one recognized that Kim Jun and Han Yi-soo are the same person. Yi-soo’s not as surprised, because he made sure he became a totally different person.

His benefactor agrees while giving us some useful information, like how Yi-soo never spoke to Junichiro about his life before he was saved (which might explain why Secretary Jang was shocked to find out about his relationship with Hae-woo), and that he left the house for a whole month before he returned with new determination and a proclamation: “Han Yi-soo is dead.”

Junichiro wants to keep going on about the past, but Yi-soo eventually cuts him off by saying that he’s forgotten all about his former life and that he just wants to focus on the hotel. I don’t think Junichiro buys his lie.

Hae-woo and Joon-young arrive in Okinawa for the opening and are greeted by Junichiro, who claims to recognize Hae-woo from twelve years prior even though she doesn’t remember him. No matter, that’s what gratuitous resort product placement is for.

Junichiro nabs Joon-young’s attention by dangling an important resort CEO VVIP meeting in front of him, which means Joon-young won’t get to join Hae-woo as she searches for the Photo Clue. Hmm. That’s some oddly convenient timing.

Hae-woo convinces him that she’ll be fine on her own, though she’s taken by surprise when Yi-soo arrives outside. Once he finds out where she’s going, he pretty much forces her to accept him as her driver—for safety purposes, of course.

Needless to say, she’s not all that thrilled to be spending alone time with him, and the car ride is awkwardly silent. They don’t even speak even as he follows her on foot through the rain only to supposedly leave her once she finds herself standing in the spot where the photo clue was taken.

Luckily, the man who owns the house in the photo is from Korea, so Hae-woo is able to talk freely with him… even though her reason for being there is as vague as it gets: I came from Korea to find why someone sent me this photo of your house. He invites her in.

Meanwhile, Yi-soo goes for a Very Meaningful Walk and holds his hand out to block the sun like Hae-woo did in their library so long ago. He seems to try to grab something… I want to say that he tries to grab some intangible sunlight, but that would just be silly… right? (Yes, it could be some deep metaphor. But then it could also be nothing.)

The old man tells Hae-woo that she’s his second ever visitor, and that the first was a teenage boy who stayed for a short period around twelve years ago, one who never said a word while he was there.

According to the man, he was found on the side of the road babbling something-like-Korean, which is why the boy was brought to him. Hae-woo seems to know that this was Yi-soo, and asks if he had any scars that might have come from a car accident, to which the man says no. The boy had pain in his limbs, but no wounds he could see.

The boy’s sleeping habits were bizarre until the one day he seemed to come to his senses, after which he threw himself into work. That’s when the camera cuts to Yi-soo, so we know who the boy was.

Hae-woo barely suppresses her tears as the realization starts to hit her that Yi-soo could be very much alive, but she’s still not sure. The old man tells her that he could tell that the boy suffered terrible grief that couldn’t be spoken of: “That child’s eyes were filled with despair.”

He shows her the room where the boy stayed. On one wall is an enormous circle, hand-drawn with hundreds and hundreds of repetitive strokes. It’s the same symbol Hae-woo saw on Detective Jung’s body, and the same one painted on the wall in the Envelope Professor’s apartment.

The boy only left one thing behind, which the man now hands to Hae-woo in an envelope. She pulls out the contents…

…It’s the wooden shark pendant she made for Yi-soo. She crumples to the ground in an instant, sobbing as she holds undeniable proof that Yi-soo was alive, and he was right where she is now.

Now we return to the scene from the cold open, with Hae-woo stumbling numbly along that road. She doesn’t see the real Yi-soo standing at the end of it and cries out the name of the boy she once loved.

“Yi-soo-ya… Yi-soo-ya… Yi-soo-ya…”

Yi-soo turns around.

 
COMMENTS

On paper, Yi-soo is a pretty interesting character. A morally upright and no-nonsense boy who had to suffer through the murder of his father only to be almost murdered himself, one who then gets a new face, a new name, a new life, and a new purpose to make the love of his life seek the truth at the cost of herself, her husband, and her family—that’s all good stuff. We may not know the exact details of his face-switcheroo and of his twelve years spent in Japan, but we have enough to go on to figure out (roughly) what Yi-soo’s probably thinking during any given scene.

The problem isn’t that we have to fill in those blanks in the absence of dialogue, but that we have to keep doing so for almost every scene where Yi-soo isn’t interacting with another warm body only for the net result to stay the same. It’s literally beneficial to no one that Yi-soo is a walking paradigm of repressed human emotion. Here’s why:

Since most of Yi-soo’s life after the accident is kept vague, what we know as an audience—at the moment—is that Yi-soo had a breaking point during his recovery and chose to shed the bonds of being Han Yi-soo so he could become Kim Jun, Revenge Seeker. (Or Jun Yoshimura, whichever.) Fine. He also runs a hotel. Cool. We can deduce that he’s the one leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Hae-woo to find in order to reveal the truth.

And…?

What does he get to do between those scenes? What does he have to do? Nothing. So what does he get to do? Nothing. In his scenes alone, he gets to stare at an aquarium like it’s a crystal ball, or stare at—(wait for it)—nothing. It’s clear that he’s either brooding or contemplating revenge or imagining Hae-woo as she finds his clues, but that’s not enough to drive his solitary scenes forward. It’s barely enough to drive his interactive scenes forward, because he’s always holding back.

In order for a character to really feel real, you have to believe that they’re doing something when they’re not on screen. Something that feels organic to them, a decision that we’d nod our heads to if we were told about it later: “That’s something he’d do for sure!” But because we’re not being allowed to take the smaller steps with Yi-soo and only see a repeat of the larger ones, most of what I take away from what’s shown is that he’s a very unrealistic human being in his spare time.

He’s supposed to be dead inside, and plays most scenes with a stern poker face. But in almost every single scene where he’s supposed to be an emotionless robot, we can see those emotions he tries to suppress bubbling beneath the surface, usually emerging in the form of teary eyes. There are moments where this is played well, like every scene Yi-soo’s had with his sister—those are scenes he manages to make moving with only a gaze. The problem is that when he’s normally hiding the fact that he wants to cry in so many other scenes, there’s not a delineation for his various levels of grief. He’s either holding back tears, or he’s not. Maybe he’ll smile, and those smiles will feel precious. (And they do.)

But in constantly showing us that the real Yi-soo is stuck inside just waiting to burst out, it seems like the show is revealing where his arc will lead (the merging of his past and present selves, rebirth, redemption) while forgetting that they have to make the character he is in the meantime mean something. This doesn’t apply to all his scenes and there’s plenty of room for growth and change, so maybe all this just means that I’m really looking forward to seeing that change. It’s not like he’s a beached character whale with no hope of ever being returned to sea. There’s plenty of hope and lots to go on—I’m just selfish. I want a little more.

The episode was good though.

 
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Thanks for the recap!

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Thank you!! Im super enjoying this show

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Thanks!

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Thanks....

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Someone needs to have a one on one with the director or producer or whoever is insisting on those relentless close ups on the shoes.
Enough with the shoes!
It is like they are shooting a shoe advertisement instead of a drama.

I agree they have great actors so they need to give them the lines and let them act.

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I did find myself wondering about the Prosecutor's clothes, Korean Prosecutor chic, though. I could swear the Prosecutor in Shark and the Prosecutor in I Hear Your Voice were both wearing the same skirt -- at least the same style of skirts.

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I know what you mean by the holding back but I think it is part of the director's style. I noticed everything is in soft lighting and the colours are always green/orange/cream and the furniture is always woody. Many scenes are quiet moments for the viewer to contemplate with the hero.

Hopefully the director knows what he is doing and not make the revelation a let down. I really pray that this will have a good ending, it may not be a happy ending but at least a satisfactory one to make up for the mess that Bad guy left behind. I always thought KNG picked this up as a sequel to Bad guy to have a proper closure.

This time, please take revenge proper and get the girl!

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If he does I hope they do not show him doing it in a clip at the start of an episode. They need to quit those suspense killer clips also.

This could be a good show if the insane people trying to be artsy with the starting clips and doing product placement with all the finesse of a typhoon blowing through would knock it off.

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I love the colors used for this drama but the narrative style is weird. And it's so slow... Watching it takes me 15 mins and I do that when I have nothing else to do.

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Holding back isn't necessarily the director's style. You'll know what I mean if you watch either Resurrection/부활 (more so) or The Devil / 마왕. It's as if the director's chosen to go more cryptic over the course of the trilogy, and with this I almost feel as if he's taken on the challenge of redoing Bad Guy. Yi Soo feels much like Joo Ji Hoon's character from The Devil, but even Joo Ji Hoon's character was more fleshed out/humanized by this point in that drama.

Yi Soo really does need to be humanized in the upcoming episodes. I am hoping that will be the case next week. Otherwise, why should I care?

This drama is turning into Son Ye Jin's tour de force. I wonder if she finds this very stimulating as an actress. Simultaneously, I wonder if Kim Nam Gil finds his role equally draining and stultifying.

I still like the show a lot, but I need something more.

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Now that you mention it, Yi Soo and Oh Seung Ha are alot alike. Perhaps too much alike.

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Exactly.
But honestly, I think I liked Oh Seung Ha much more at this point. He was sweet with Shin Mina's character. There was some humanity to him. Yi Soo, however? Those little itty bitty bits of repressed humanity in scenes with his sister just aren't enough for me.

I do love this drama but I do hope the upcoming weeks do offer more.

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Thank youuu ! Been refreshing the page !

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I like Kim Nam Gil, too but I never understood why Uhm Tae Woong isn't acting in this. It would be great and triology with him. Uhm Tae Woong is the king of revenge dramas.

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It could be because he was already committed to Sword and Flower, and that starts July 2.

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really enjoying this show can't wait for ep 8

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Thank you for the recap and your thoughts.

This drama is the only one I have seen of KNG. I did watch Portrait of a Beauty, and that, was, gulp, beautiful, but KNG's screen time was not so much dialog as other things.

I listened to the podcast and that JB/GF relayed that Sharkman was too much of a cipher to care about, and understand your view that he isn't fleshed out enough for us to be able to see a full picture of who he is NOW.

I find the character fascinating for exactly those reasons.
(Believe me, I do feel that the scarf reach, the sun reach, the star reach and the moon reach are heavy handed artfulness from the director, but that isn't KNG's fault. Checking out mentally on scenes like those is the only way to deal with them. Real people do not pose like statues having deep thoughts. I guess they are prettier than washing-hands-in-sink-looking-into-mirror shots.)

Still, I am confused. Sharkman loves HW but didn't come into her life until after she married. Now that he confessed he plans everything, that means he chose not to postpone or stop her marriage. Ooookay. Beacause why?
His heart, however, did not read the Great Flow Chart of Revenge. His heart wearing the cloak of mistake, kissed her.
Which means, the kiss was not part of a plan to corrupt her, a married woman, and cause her to be pulled towards him. He was just going to lead her with clues he sent to finding the horrible unspeakable truth about Aroboji so the world will know the truth and so that she would finally understand him. He doesn't want to destroy all that she loves, he just wants her to see it correctly.

Meanwhile, he lets her see YS is still alive...sortuv. He sends back to her the token of love she gave him 12 years ago. He wants her to see that YS as she knew him is gone.forever. THAT was his plan, right? Not to give her hope that she could see him again? Well, Mr. Thinks-About-Everything, that was a stupid plan.

Why wouldn't she do everything in her power to track him down? Now we have a married woman after him, one that he kissed, accidentally. He is going to end up destroying her. I am sure that is not part of his plan.

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And that married woman already lies to her husband.

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This show is starting to frustrate me. It is like having a long conversation with a slow talker. Revenge done in slow motion.Or underwater.(maybe that's what the whole shark thing is about) I hope that makes sense.

Not sure what I want ,maybe more forward motion and a little less broody. It's very pretty broody, but still.

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Totally agree. I don't find him mysterious any more just creepy. And by the way how stupid of a prosecutor is she, getting into a car alone with a man who sexually assaulted her? Is anyone going to talk about how he is just a puppet for the man who saved him?

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Not sure if anyone else shared this yet, but I thought it was interesting that the title KBS World is using for this show is Don't Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus (which has just 상어 next to it, which I thought was amusing)

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It seems the revenge thing got start for next week... I hope
this drama is sooo slow.... aghhh it's frustate me...
but I just can't give up this drama... because the narrative pull me in always... there is some scene that i loveeee such as Yi Soo and Yi Hyun meeting, Junichiro and Yi SOo's conversation, and when Hae Woo actually found out about the possibility that Yi soo is not dead and Yi soo's back story when he dissapeared in a month before in the end he come back to Junichiro...
the rest is forgettable for me

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When the premise makes no sense (disappeared for 12 years, came back AFTER the wedding but lingers around a married woman and makes her life hell), I checked out emotionally and mentally continue to note inconsistencies and overload of cliches and cheesy moments.

There are seedling of a typical kdrama; little sister gets cancer or something and they would need blood or bone marrow of a relative; he would have to make a choice between saving her or hiding his true identity.

Oh well. I will watch just for KNG.

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It's getting more exciting than ever.. Love it! Thanks for the recap ... I hope you continue recapping this show. :D

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i agree that this (and episode 8) was too slow...and that the drama in general hasnt really done much but reveal little by little what we (the audience) know....we havent seen any life changing discoveries or decisions made....i mean both of those episodes could have been done in one episode...but im still sucked in...i loved a good revenge drama with a little bit of romance on the side...

u can obviously see that Yi Soo's revenge is not going to go according to plan...AT ALL!!! his feelings are getting in the way already and we haven't even started the actual revenge plot....for the people asking, i think that he didnt stop HW's marriage because he thought he was over her or that he could control his feelings...as we see thats not the case...haha

speaking of, me thinks that despite all her assurances to le husband, miss HW-sshi is still in love with YS...m interested to see her reaction when she finds out that YS is/has been right in front of her...

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If KNG is going to brood so much, then I want a shower scene!

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Gets my vote! :)

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You got a Brooding Bathtub Scene. What more do you want?

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Re: Yi-soo goes for a Very Meaningful Walk and . . .seems to try to grab something… I want to say that he tries to grab some intangible sunlight, but that would just be silly… right?

I thought he was (again) grabbing at her scarf that the wind blew to him when he walked behind her.

I'm not really into tons of symbolism, but this drama seems to be awash in signs and veiled meanings.

I started watching just for "Bidam." But I'm sticking around because now I'm curious as how it's going to end.

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I want to like this drama and I am enjoying it but something feels off. It's well written, well acted, and beautiful to look at....too beautiful. Those music video sciences (i.e the scarf scene, the blocking the sunlight) are too whimsical, artsy, and ruin the flow of things. It cracks my shit up when it happens because it's like really...really...who does this in real life! Also there is a huge disconnect with Yi-soo.

He is too much of a mystery, wrapped in a mystery, cloaked in enigma. At times I feel for him (scenes like the one with his sister) and others it's like is this all part of his plan? Everything (the kiss, the grave visit, the telescope, etc) all calculated? Yi-soo right now is too...to really connect to.

As for my perfect oppa, he is so perfect because he up against a first, soulmate "ghost". He knows he was only second choice and that if Yi-soo were not "dead" or if he were maybe one day found alive it would be the kiss of death to his marriage. I too am suspicious and feel it will one day turn to perfect back staging.

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Thanks for the recap! :D

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Hm. I agree with you Heads.
I feel like Yi Soo is slowly becoming a character that I no longer feel connected to. There are some moments that are done quite perfectly, ie. his vulnerability around his sister, the impulsive kiss with hae woo. But we need more moments of those, and not just because these two women are in the scene with him. I don't think you're being selfish at this point Heads but it's a much needed one if they want to keep their audience invested in this show.
I don't want to admit it but KNG's acting abilities are sort of underutilized in this show. I understand that he's supposed to be a brooding, out-for-revenge, shark-like man but just like you said, in those scenes where we don't see him, I really just think he's sitting in his chair not doing much but thinking up a revenge plan and sulking. I think his vulnerability is what adds flaws to his character, which in turn gives his character more depth, but i really do think those moments of vulnerability are like scrapings compared to what we really need to see in order to connect or root for his character. He's almost close to perfect right now aside from those little moments. I need him to show that he is being emotionally drained as we go on -- yes, i know that he probably is on the inside -- but i need to see it in his face! His expressions! This is where i'm going back to his acting being underutilized. I'll be holding out because we still have 12 more episodes for Yi-Soo to really crack. I guess what i'm trying to say is that in that aspect, we're just going about it rather slow(but that's just me).

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This show is very beautiful, but the narrative is dragging. I don't know if I'll continue watching this show...

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For such an important person he does not do anything that
feels like functioning in the real world on a schedule with a real job. He saunters. He stares. He does it again. He avoids being Yi Soo so much that we do not feel the alter ego is even human.
SYJ is carrying this drama practically by herself, even though KNG is capable of much more emotional nuance than this direction allows which for me is disappointing.

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Thanks for the recap HeadsNo2 :)

There's not a lot of activity in Soompi, so it's great to discuss the drama here and read other people's thoughts.

You mentioned it was weird for Joon-young to bring up Yi-soo to Kim Jun at the bar. I thought it weird at first, but I think it was because when he saw Kim Jun talking to HW, he could pick up a vibe and maybe sense their bond/attraction, and that reminded him of Yi-soo.

I am enjoying the drama a lot. I think KNG is wonderful in that he's not given a lot of dialogue but can express his thoughts through his eyes. He and Son Ye Jin both are such a treat to watch. I love the soundtrack and how it will stop suddenly when the person reminiscing stops reminiscing - as if the moment has left them, the music stops too.

I am so intrigued and wish I can know everything now. But that is part of the attraction of the drama. I care about the characters and the story.

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Thanks so much for the recap.

I like Yi Soo a lot but dang, am i odd because I want to see him crying alone in his room? Yeah, i know...wussy. But it's one thing to be repressed, suppressed, obsessed...but I don't feel his anger and hurt at the betrayal. I see his emotional romantic longing. Which is good. I see his desire to have his old friend near him. I see his love for his younger sister. But if he's going to be dripping clues -- instead of straight-up going to the courts or spilling the beans to Prosecutor-- I have to know why. Emotionally why. He seems so separated from the events now. I want to see him weeping in the present about his past.

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I really hope that this drama doesn't keep kng's character as a cypher till the end like in bad guy. Like you I want see more emotion from him,and to be quite Honest the chemistry between KNG & SYJ is the only thing keeping me interested in this show. I didn't like the childhood counterparts at all since the romance between them felt contrived but KNG & SYJ's amazing chemistry together makes up for it. I will watch a few more episodes to decide whether I'll continue or not,but yeah right now I'm not emotionally invested into kng's character like I want to be..hope to see more development there.

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Agree that the romance with them as kids felt a bit contrived. I was surprised JB and GF said they liked their younger counterpart's romance better because i was rather detached.
KNG and SYJ's chemistry is not smoking hot but i can definitely still feel it when they're in a room together, esp. when it's obvious yi soo is longing for her. That look of yearning from KNG is gold.

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am liking the chemistry between Yi Soo and Yi Hyeona more. I think Nam Bo Ra ang KNG pulled that arc effectively that the mango juice scene got me.

Thanks headsNo!

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Writers, give the dude more to FEEL!

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Waiting for more action from Yisoo. So far, we only see Haewoo moving the story forward although it is due to the clues which he placed in the first place. Overall, I like the slow reveal of what happened in his past and how he came to be the person he is today.

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they shd dress the prosecutor in more stern clothes.. its all too frilly for someone whos "seeking the truth." shes too dreamy in most scene.. and yes, i hope n pray at the end when we find out the motive/s , we can shout oh yea.. no wonder he's sooo pissed.. or whatever..

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I just watch this episode. but will rewatch again later. it hurt to see yisoo want to talk to his baby sis. joonyoung is mighty fine.

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