Hey beanies, I’ve read somewhere on DB that there are some who ship Jungwon and Songhwa (can’t remember who, i’m sorry XD). May I know why you ship them? Not planning to start a fight, I’m just curious. Maybe you saw some things in the episodes that I might have missed.

2
31

    Comment was deleted

    1
    0

    I’m one of these people. Definitely not keen on a fight. 😀

    But let me first correct myself. I’m not on the ship per se, and I’d love for SeongHwa to be on her own, or even with Capt. Ahn, but the way I see it, the show is building up towards JW and SHW as one of the endgame ships. It’ll be slow burn (at least 1 if not 2 more seasons), but it looks like it will get there. Why? (in short – there are long essays and defences being written up in other forums, which I can’t compete with, honestly!):

    1. General character sketch compatibility – both have an altruistic streak, are great mentors, empathetic, love the outdoors, share the same faith, bass and drum players (especially since the director mentioned the instrument choices are deliberate!), etc. This equivalency doesn’t exist between SHWa (poor thing, she’s the only female, so is being subjected to this analysis) and any of the other guys in the group, or outside it even.

    2. Hints in the various episodes – stylistically, this seems to be the director-writer’s USP, i.e., of dropping hints throughout the show to build up towards the endgame. So, most recently, there was what I have termed the ‘housebuilding scene’, where JW and SHW talk about marriage and kids, holding a woodstove (hearth and home!), carrying a carton that has an image of a house, etc. There have been suggestions through songs (introduce me to a good person/ confession is not flashy – note how they are filmed and who are in the close ups when the songs are performed) and dialogues (reliable person) as well that feed this hypothesis, and general filming clues (the way JW treats SHWa at mealtimes, or how much she regards his views, etc).   

    3. Elimination of other pairings with these two – Jang and JW look like they will remain a mentor-mentee relationship, and Jang and IJ is a likely endgame on that front (starting with “pick me pick me”, and the bouquet of flowers, “pretend your boyfriend gave it to you”, etc. – he’s far more interested in her than JW is).  Similarly Chi-hong is likely to be relegated to a mentor-mentee ship only, although I really feel for the actor (he hasn’t got his partner of choice in either Prison Playbook or One Spring Night, poor guy).
      
    This is my take so far!

    4
    3

      Thanks for your thoughts! Yeah, I’ve been noticing how Jungwon is particularly thoughtful of Songhwa when they eat out together. But I thought he’s just being a gentleman. And as much as I ship Ik jun and Songhwa, and Gyeo-wul and Jungwon, I am always afraid that this PD-writer-nim duo is playing with us again (hi Reply 1988 lol).

      2
      1

        There is a whole theory on Ik Jun and Jang Gyeol uh on bitches over dramas and even if I’m totally on the winter garden ship, that one is still quite convincing because the blogger looks in so much depth. However, I’m not sure if that theory is just for fun or theh do really mean it.

        1
        5

          Yeah, I’ve also been participating occasionally in the discussion over at BoD. It’s all fun and games, of course! She does an awesome job with breaking things down. I’ve been enjoying it so far.

          0
          0

          More than anything else, and besides the characterizations and how real the characters feel, I am really enjoying this show for how it shows off the Director and Writer’s craftsmanship. They clearly enjoy their job, and they’re having a lot of fun with the making of this show. Having watched R88 and R97, I think they have fine-tuned their art considerably.

          1
          0

          Oooh, thanks for this! I’m gonna search this one!

          1
          0

          I just finished reading this one, and damn, it looks very convincing. And damn, it really looks like it’s Jungwon and Songhwa endgame.

          1
          6

            There’s a series of posts on the show – they’re all super convincing 😀

            1
            0

            To be fair, there are sites and posts up on other places, like soompi, where there’s an impassioned defence for both IkSong and Winter Garden. So it’s all a matter of perspective. You see what you want to see, or you interpret it the way you want to. (That’s another thing I like about the writer-director collaboration – it’s truly a masterpiece if they can use the same piece of work to elicit wildly different opinions from the audience, AND keep them interested till the end!)

            2
            0

            thanks so much!! <3

            1
            0

            That’s true!! To be honest, I wasn’t gonna pick up on this drama. But I saw the recap on DB and subscribed on Netflix just to watch this lol. Was really worried about R88 happening all over again but when I saw how precious their friendship is, I stayed. And now I wish Songhwa can be just her independent self with 4 loving friends. hahaha.

            Thanks btw for all your input! That was a new perspective!!

            1
            0

            And now I just realised how the preview from Ep 10 will play out in the future (with Gyeo-wul laughing with Jungwon)…

            1
            0

            You’re welcome! Yes, friendship goals are definitely the ones to root for, even for me. It’s very endearing and so normal. My own friend circles come to mind every time I watch them together.

            Let’s see how eps 11 and 12 play out! The show has done its job in keeping everyone engaged and interested, for sure. I haven’t seen this degree of active viewership for anything else (except maybe TK:EM, which seems to be tiring people out already with the PPL, though!)

            2
            0

          Some of her theories are pretty convincing but others feel far fetched, no..?

          0
          6

            Yes I read them for fun because I do think there’s an over analysis there. But her analysis is pretty good if you see from a writers lens that it could’ve just gone this way too. But I do think the probability of those theories coming true in the drama is quite less. So yeah that way they can be far fetched and looking into much into the source material.

            3
            0

            Oh jbtw I think that way for The King. For Hospital Playlist though the PD Writer team is very smart. And they love to trick the viewers. So I don’t think packmule’s theories are so far fetched regarding that show because they can surprise the viewer anytime.

            1
            0

            Theories that I especially found convincing (for HP don’t watch eternal monarch so didnt read those) was IJ and Jang Gyueol being end game (even if I’m a strong winter×garden and IJ×SH shipper) and the only reason I’m even entertaining it after the low key confession scene is because of the history of the writer director duo. If it were any drama, I would have shot them down in one go.
            Theory that I think she over analysed is the scene where Song Hwa refers to Jung Won as “Father Ahn” when she’s getting ready to go to her friend’s wedding (the exact thing she said was “ofc I should come, Father Ahn is buying after all). The blogger establishes a long chain of how song hwa knows about Jung Won’s plans because she called him “Father Ahn”. I feel there’s a simple explanation for it. The friends all know that Jung Won is a devout catholic and they know that at the end of every year Jung Won seriously considers joining priesthood which is why she called him “Father Ahn”.

            2
            0

            Another analysis that I liked was when she interprets the conversation between Jung Won and Ik Jun about kids (that kids don’t lie and pretend but adults do) as Ik Jun fooling himself that he isn’t attracted to Jang Gyueol and Jang Gyueol pretending to still like Jung Won so that she will have reasons/excuses to interact with Ik Jun. And then she links that convo with the car scene!! It was really solid and well done.
            But then I felt like she went overboard when she said that Ik Jun left immediately after Gyueol’s call “like a boyfriend would”. Again I feel like there’s a simple explanation for this behaviour. Because Gyueol is a resident, she definately must have called because of an emergency patient and since he’s a doctor it is required that he drop everything and be there as fast as he can!

            2
            0

            Agree with you on the the “Father Ahn” and going to Gyeo-wul like a boyfriend would. At the very least, Ik jun and Gyeo-wul have established a mentor-mentee relationship that’s very comfortable (kinda like Songhwa with her residents but Songhwa’s more professional and establishes boundaries and unlike Ik jun who treats everyone as his close friends).

            And that’s the thing about this PD-writer duo… can’t they have another interesting formula besides the one that they’ve used three times already? XD hahahha

            thanks everyone for your viewpoints! This has been an interesting discussion and I am learning a lot!

            2
            0

            I’m not following TK:EM, so I don’t know what her theories for that show are like. HP is convincing, because, like I said, it’s a matter of wanting to be convinced 😀 I thought this ship was the one that would eventually sail, and she’s feeding that idea! Equally, I felt early on that IJ-Gyeo-ul would sail (starting with “pick me pick me” – so obv.), and this feeds that.

            I reiterate what I said earlier – the writer-producer are basically practicing and perfecting their art. They’ve used the formula before (5 friends + guessing game), and now, it’s just a matter of seeing how cleverly they can disguise the same formula in new ways. They’re both having a lot of fun. The best we can do is have fun with them. That’s exactly how I’m looking at this show. I’m especially in awe of how they can use the same piece of work to get the audience swinging between extremes and get passionate about their positions. As an observer of the ‘form’ of dramas (i.e., as a work of fiction meant to entertain, amuse and engage the audience), this is playing out beautifully.

            I watched both R88 and R97 fairly passively (I didn’t live watch), and honestly, didn’t even know this guessing game was a thing until after I finished and started reading about the shows. But when I got into it, it seemed like a lot of fun. It’s like a childrens’ puzzle, and keeps you engaged.

            I haven’t seen any other drama do that in the same way. Usually, other dramas tend to elicit emotional responses (happy/sad/hate/anger/joy), or empathetic responses (exactly like my life/ I know people like that), and while this show is doing all that as well, it’s got an added flavour, and a change like this from the usual fare is always welcome.

            2
            0

      Oh and what’s with the bass and drums thing?

      1
      1

        So the director mentioned somewhere that the characters were deliberately matched to their instruments, and the actors had to learn to play whatever instruments their characters were supposed to play.

        Now, in bands, the bass guitar and the drums form the heart of the rhythm section, and are supposed to know each other really well, and play together like “they are one”. This analogy is used in some places: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21539-on-bass-drummers-get-personal

        To extend the analogy to the characters, hence, QED. (that is, if you want to make a case for the Andrea-SongHwa ship). 😀

        1
        1

      And I also find it weird that Gyeo-wul never smiles at Jungwon. Her face always looked tense. And I thought that shouldn’t be the face if you like someone…

      1
      1

        Yeah she’s too nervous around him, not at all relaxed. Unlike when she’s with IJ, where she seems to be more herself.

        1
        1

          I dont mind the winter garden couple but i dont get why Ik Jun is so convinced they would make a good pair to the point JW would give up his dream? I mean the guy hasnt really shown much signs that he likes her, and even if he did I’m not sure it’s strong enough to give up a life-long dream.

          0
          1

            Agree. The show hasn’t really shown us what would make him give up his childhood dream. I guess that’s why it has seasons. Or something going on behind the scenes which has not been unveiled to us as yet.

            1
            0

    This is honestly the one ship theory I don’t understand even after reading the beanies’ thoughts here. What I could see between Jungwon and Songhwa is the best platonic relationship to the extent of his passing on the Daddy Long Leg torch to her.

    While on the HP ships, has anyone seen this analysis “Why did they always meet at the 5th basement floor”?
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yt5wV53WpRI

    2
    0

    My sincerest apologies to @waterhyacinth for spamming your wall. I don’t think you expected this long a thread when you solicited views in the original post. :/ Thank you for humouring me.

    All the best for your grad school essays! 🙂

    0
    1

      No, no apologies needed! I really enjoyed discussing these things you! And thank you so much for indulging me with such views! I’m really thankful that someone answered and it broadened my perspectives really 🙂

      Thank you for the best wishes! And please be safe and healthy!!

      1
      0