Let Me Hear Your Song: Episodes 17-20 Open Thread

10 September 5, 2019September 5, 2019

by missvictrix

Our heroine gets the confession she’s been longing for, but our couple can’t be together until the mystery that drives them apart is solved. With some more clues revealed, our hero’s investigation moves on to other players from that fateful night last summer.

EPISODES 17-20 WEECAP

Yi-young sits in the local convenience store waiting for Yoon, but it turns out he’s been clobbered in the back alley. Luckily, his attacker doesn’t have the best of aim, and he survives the attack and is chatting with Yi-young in the hospital in no time. She makes him crappy porridge, sings him to sleep, and they are quite adorable as an almost-couple.

Yoon’s recovery in the hospital turns out to be a perfect break in the action for him to confess his feelings to her. Yoon tells her that he knew in his head he couldn’t forgive her for what she had done, but his heart was saying the opposite. Even though his affection is what Yi-young has been hoping for all along, once he confesses, she pulls away. Ugh! Still, I get where the girl is coming from.

Crushing on him was one thing, but having mutual feelings and wanting to date each other is another. Yi-young can’t live with what she did to hurt him and his family, and tells him they can’t be together until they solve the case. Then she does her utmost to ghost him, which turns into a little war with herself, craving to see him and be in his presence, and then turning away and renouncing him.

While I’m all for a tortured we-can’t-be-together romance, it doesn’t fit as well in this story as it does in others with a little more melodramatic flair. In Let Me Hear Your Song, I’d rather see these two band together (with a dash of chemistry) and use their quirkiness and pig-headedness to solve the case instead of forcing themselves apart and moping. Can we go there instead, show?

At last, Maestro Nam gets some more screen time, and even if his story doesn’t develop that much, he begins to have a bigger role in what’s unfolding. He also ups his pursuit of Yi-young, even though he knows she’s not interested. Is he really into her? I can’t decide yet. Either way, Maestro Nam is not subtle — he tells her he’s going to pursue her, he makes no effort to hide his interest around others, and he even tells Yoon that he likes her, and only realized it thanks to him. But there’s also Ha Eun-joo’s perspective, which is that Maestro Nam is just pretending to like her, and has some nefarious need to keep Yi-young around that no one knows about yet.

I tried to like Eun-joo, but she’s really become your standard (and irrational) femme fatale. Things haven’t been going well for her, and as her circumstances sink, so does her behavior. Instead of doing anything and everything to achieve her dream of being a long and successful career as a violinist, she switches her tack completely. Now, all she wants is to tear down Maestro Nam, and she’ll do anything to make it happen. One of those things is to tell Yoon what she knows about the accident last summer. This quickly shifts Yoon’s suspicions to Maestro Nam who we’re told got in a car to follow Kim Ian and Yi-young that night.

Yoon takes this info and runs, confronting Maestro Nam and basically declaring him Kim Ian’s murdered. It seems a little ridiculous, but it also sheds light on how desperate he is to prove Yi-young’s innocence.

There’s a lot of other confrontations as well, and the fact that Yoon’s father is now a director of the orchestra comes to light and creates a giant drama ripple. Bucket Hat Baddie keeps showing up at every turn as well, pressuring the orchestra higher ups, getting himself a job at the flower shop that Yi-young’s uncle runs, and threatening Yoon, Maestro Nam, and yes, even Yi-young. At the close of the episode, our heroine is finally able to stitch together all her patchwork memories — she finally ties Bucket Hat Baddie to the terrifying ordeal she blocked from her memory last summer.

While I wasn’t thrilled by this week’s episodes, I’m glad to see the plot continue to escalate, and a few good questions still need to be answered in the weeks ahead. What exactly did Maestro Nam do the night of Kim Ian’s death, and is it true he was victimized by the orchestra higher ups when he was just starting his career? What is Bucket Hat Baddie all about, and can he please just go away? Does Yi-young’s family hold some vital clues about the accident?

In terms of tone and overall feel of the show, I find I’m missing the comedic, quirkier start to the drama. I’m hoping that element will find its way in again, along with some more timpani practice. Less angst, more weird! Less Romeo and Juliet, more mallets!

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1 liar song #PuppyNotPuppyLeeJaeWookIsBack

September 5, 2019 at 6:28 PM

I agree that we need more of Yi-young and Yoon trying to solve the case than them trying to be justified noble idiots! It was a pretty smart move of the show to make Yi-young go to the police station and tell the police that she is involved in Ian's accident a year ago because this girl might easily trust people but she ain't dumb! The comedy and weirdness of the show are the few things that I missed this episode but character developments are great too, if only it moves the plot a little bit.

I'm ending this comment with a poorly-made poem for Yoon and Yi-young:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
You might've killed my brother
But I think I like you

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bluekitchen

September 5, 2019 at 8:55 PM

LOL I am still deciding to watch this based on recaps, but this poem may just be the best story pitch ever. I wonder if the writer/producer put it in their Powerpoint pitch to the station?

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2 PMSahjumoni

September 5, 2019 at 6:36 PM

What you said summed up my entire feelings regarding this show, missvictrix. The pushing and pulling is really wearing thin. I also feel that they could have used the time on more character developments instead of a lot of repetitive flashbacks that brings nothing new to the tidbits of information strewn about. That way, I'd at least feel more attached to the characters and their relationships with each other.

As it is, I don't really feel too sympathetic towards the tragicness of Yi Young and Yoon's relationship. I feel like just slapping them and saying, "Get over it, you two! The only thing stopping yourself is you!" Especially when all evidence point to the unlikeliness of her having actually killed Ian.

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3 latebloomer

September 5, 2019 at 6:45 PM

Isn't it strange that Bucket Hat isn't identified in the cast listings? Not even as "truck driver"? How could they just leave out the most sinister character in the show?

So this is what the puzzle looks like now: the "highers ups" think Ian stole something important to them (incriminating evidence?) and they hired Bucket Hat to get it back. Bucket Hat somehow kidnapped Ian and YY on their way to the party, and tied them up in the warehouse as a step to getting "the item" back. Maestro Nam barged in -- to set them free? Because he already liked YY? Or to grab the item for himself? But YY kicked him away from her and got his knife. Big gap in the action, and then YY wakes up with Ian bleeding to death from the knife wound, another gap, and she's running through the woods with Bucket Hat on her tail, until she falls and rolls down the hill. (Why would he just walk away after that?) Bucket Hat took the fall for Ian's death, but he needs the item to get paid. He thinks she has the item, otherwise the "higher ups" would have had her killed. (Wouldn't it more likely be the other way around? She's only dangerous to them if she still has the item.) Maestro Nam is full of regret, but he's helpless against the "higher ups" because they sent him abroad to study when he was a nobody, because somehow that helped them launder money. Maybe he's protecting YY, or maybe he just wants the item so that he can negotiate his freedom. Or maybe a little of both.

And what about Papa Jang? After that speech about not wanting to see his son living as a ghost, I'm starting to think he's playing a part in order to get revenge for Ian. I hope I'm right, and that father and son can reconcile in the end. Romance aside, the thing I want most in the end is for Jang Yoon and YY to escape this living nightmare and not to be alone and lonely anymore.

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4 parkchuna ❤️🍉

September 5, 2019 at 6:55 PM

She said this isn't a love story so why are they focusing on the romance? I agree with @missvictrix, we need more weird & timpani playing. And awesome BGMs. If the mystery turns out to be lame old money laundering I demand my time back from Show!

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5 Ida

September 5, 2019 at 7:06 PM

I am glad you are recapping. Quite enjoying this little show and wish others did too.

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6 irmar

September 6, 2019 at 4:04 AM

I love the love story. It's heart-breaking. I usually hate noble idiots, but here they have a really valid reason. I mean, come on, what if she really killed his brother? That's quite serious, we shouldn't underplay it and say "hey, get over it, you two".

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7 dany

September 6, 2019 at 4:59 AM

The show is not bad at all, quite enjoyable, I do not like the male lead but it is bearable.

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8 lemoncello

September 6, 2019 at 6:41 AM

When Maestro Nam mentioned to Professor Kang about "money laundering" involving "poor student" who's desperately to succeed his/her dream, did Nam talk about himself being used by Kang?

I guess that the item they're looking for from Ian is the evidence of the money laundering done by Professor Kang.... I hope there will much progress next week....