City Hunter: Episode 12

726 June 30, 2011January 24, 2016

by javabeans

Somehow the phrase “I wanna be like City Hunter” doesn’t quite have the ring of “I wanna be like Mike,” even though, DUDE, I totally want to be like City Hunter, by which I mean AWESOME. And exciting, and intriguing, and sexy. Damn sexy. Though that’s mostly Lee Min-ho’s doing.

SONG OF THE DAY

Kim Bo-kyung – “Suddenly” from the City Hunter OST [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

EPISODE 12 RECAP

Nana tells Yoon-sung that she’s glad he wasn’t the one to get shot, and her body goes limp. Yoon-sung cradles her to himself, crying.

If anything were able to inject the tiniest smidge of humor into the moment, it’s the sight of Shik-joong, bursting into the room after finding a crate to wield as a weapon, surprised to find the enemies all neutralized. Thus they’re able to escape, so when Kim Jong-shik gets the word that his captives have fled, his upset quickly turns to fear: “It can’t be…the City Hunter?”

Sae-hee answers the clinic door and quickly takes in the sight of Yoon-sung grimly carrying in a bloody Nana. Without batting an eye, she immediately locks the door and tells ajusshi to close the blinds. Gotta love a woman who’s fast on the uptake.

Lying on the table, Nana opens her eyes, and OH THANK GOD. (It’s mixed with the tiniest bit of disappointment, narratively speaking, which I’ll talk more about below. But yes, mostly relief. My blood pressure can return to normal now. I mean, I was pretty sure they weren’t going to kill her. But…what if?)

Sae-hee sees the wound and says with censure, “Guns, again?!” Even as she starts to clean the wound, she tells Yoon-sung urgently to take her to the hospital, because Nana’s lost a lot of blood and they have none here. I half-expect Yoon-sung to go flying out the door to steal blood packets from a hospital, but his response is even better: “Take my blood.” He’s Type O, the universal donor, and with tears in his eyes he overrides Sae-hee’s concerns. He insists, “I’m fine — just save Nana.”

They lie there, facing each other, while his blood supplements hers. Oh man, taken as an isolated gesture this is poignant, but it’s made all the better by the fact that we’ve established that Yoon-sung’s blood is his kryptonite — at least to his secret cover. Of all things, it’s the one that puts him in the most danger. And the two people to whom he’s offered it, despite his revenge and his scary scary father, are his mother and Nana. GOD I LOVE THIS DRAMA.

Just before Sae-hee administers a sedative so she can operate for the bullet, Nana tells Yoon-sung not to worry about her, because she’s plucky like that. Honey, after this you won’t ever have to prove that again, ever. Her hand extends from her side, and Yoon-sung takes it, holding on as she goes under.

He keeps holding it while Nana sleeps after the procedure. He wonders to Shik-joong, “What kind of person is she? Why is she so fearless? She looks just like a normal woman, but she doesn’t stand back, and doesn’t spare her health.”

Shik-joong mumbles sleepily, “It’s ’cause she’s strong. That’s how she’s lived like this all this time.”

Yoon-sung asks, “Will she live well…without me?” (I don’t know what you’re thinking, but stop it! Right! Now!) What’s lovely about this conversation is that Shik-joong is half-asleep, so he doesn’t read into Yoon-sung’s words and just murmurs unthinkingly, “The living just keep living. That’s what living is.”

Yoon-sung: “I don’t think I can do that anymore.” Do what? DO WHAT?! You mean live without Nana, right? You mean forgo your happiness for the sake of revenge, right??

Yoon-sung takes Nana home with him, since she won’t be safe at her place. He tells her not to go to the Blue House, either, since Kim Jong-shik will know where she works, and Shik-joong calls in sick for her (citing an injured arm).

Nana asks Shik-joong why he lied all those years ago, and he tells her regretfully that he caved to Kim Jong-shik’s threat to imprison him on false charges. Asked how he knows Yoon-sung, he explains about Yoon-sung saving his life in Thailand. He adds that he’d asked Yoon-sung to look after Nana when he got to Korea, because he’d felt guilty all these years.

Yoon-sung confirms that the money hasn’t moved, since the tracker he snuck into the stash is still at Kim Jong-shik’s mansion. By his calculations, there was a staggering 200 billion won in that room, which translates to roughly $185 million. It also accounts for the missing university funds that they’d been unable to trace.

Shik-joong settles back for some light reading (a home shopping catalog!) and flicks the light switch, which doesn’t work. He gets up to replace the bulb…and spots the bug planted there by Bad Daddy’s minion Sang-gook.

(You know what’s a fantastic detail that really makes this moment for me? The fact that the bug was planted while Shik-joong was distracted with his home shopping fixation — and now it’s discovered because of it. Awesome way to weave a minor point into the larger fabric of the show. It’s what gives the drama texture.)

They realize where the bug must have come from, although Jin-pyo’s already gleaned a lot of information from it, such as the fact that Nana took a bullet for Yoon-sung (ahhhh, that will never stop being satisfying to say), which suggests that they’re in “no ordinary relationship.”

Yoon-sung arrives outside Dad’s lair all ready to burst in with righteous indignation, but thankfully he catches Dad and Sang-gook’s conversation in progress, which gives him pause.

Jin-pyo says that his warning not to fall in love has gone by the wayside, so now “I’ll have to take care of Kim Nana. I’ll get rid of her.” He then asks for an update on Kyung-hee’s whereabouts, and Sang-gook reports that he’d searched hospitals far and wide, but turned up nothing. Jin-pyo orders him to find her, “Before Yoon-sung finds out she’s disappeared.”

Okay, so yes, it’s a little convenient that Yoon-sung happens to eavesdrop on this crucial bit of information. I’ll admit it. Yet the content of this eavesdropping is so awesome that I’m thrilled — this drama doesn’t drag secrets out far past their expiration date, but instead exposes them and twists them into something even more interesting. On a regular basis. This explains the crack-like addiction.

Furthermore, I appreciate that Sang-gook is starting to show glimmers of hesitation, as though even he’s uneasy with the extent of Jin-pyo’s badassery. He asks hesitantly, “But telling her that Yoon-sung died — isn’t that going too far?”

Jin-pyo shuts him up, saying, “When I stole Yoon-sung away from her, I’d already crossed a river I couldn’t turn back on.”

Stunned, Yoon-sung walks inside to face his father, and asks why he lied that Mom abandoned him. Jin-pyo answers that Yoon-sung represents his father to him, and that if he hadn’t stolen him away, Jin-pyo would probably be living a normal life right now. But every time he felt the desire for revenge ebbing, he’d look at Yoon-sung and be reminded of the betrayal.

Jin-pyo’s selfish logic is completely warped, yet makes sense in his own solipsistic, mad-for-revenge way. In his mind, the revenge has become so paramount that everything else pales in comparison.

Yoon-sung isn’t buying his explanation, saying that Jin-pyo’s mission has ruined his life. “I didn’t want to live like this! I will never, ever forgive you for this.”

Jin-pyo reminds him that they have work to do, but Yoon-sung tells him, “I will carry out my father’s revenge alone. You called this a war. I won’t run from it.”

Jin-pyo: “Yoon-sung, you can’t beat me.” Yoon-sung: “No. You can’t beat me.” Ooooh. Them’s fightin’ words.

Yoon-sung warns Dad that if he touches Shik-joong, his mother, or Nana, he’ll stake his life to fight back: “This is my last warning to you, Father.” Jin-pyo actually chuckles as Yoon-sung stalks off: “But you still call me Father.” Well, sure, if we’re going to argue semantics…

Yoon-sung arrives home as Nana is about to leave, and she tells him, their backs turned to each other, that she’ll stay with Sae-hee. She’ll return his borrowed shirt via mail, and she’ll disappear from his life, per his request and her promise.

But everything’s changed now for him, and how refreshing is it that he no longer has to keep Nana away to protect her. In fact, the reverse is true. Yoon-sung grabs her wrist and asks, “Don’t go. Please. Don’t go.”

Nana shakes off his hand and walks away anyway. He follows, and gently holds her to him.

Drinking alone, Jin-pyo relives his last moments with Mu-yeol in the ocean massacre, and promises his friend to see the revenge through: “Whatever gets in the way of that revenge, I’ll kill. Even if that’s Yoon-sung.”

I love the way he says this with sadness, not wild-eyed ferocity, because he’s not actually insane, or irrational. Maybe he’s just grieving, in his twisted way that doesn’t allow him to see that he would be willing to kill Mu-yeol’s son out of love for Mu-yeol, which is the very definition of defeating the purpose.

Kim Jong-shik worries that the City Hunter saw his mountain of cash and orders his man to recapture Nana and Bae Man-deok (Shik-joong), to lure the City Hunter. Too bad one of them is off the grid, and one is a Secret Service agent, which complicates matters.

Yoon-sung tends to Nana’s shoulder, and she asks about his life back in Thailand, wondering if he had friends there. I love that their old camaraderie is back, now that they’ve smashed the whole I’m-being-a-dick-to-protect-you facade. He cheerily describes someone there who was like Nana — who was also strong, ate well, “and enjoyed whenever I touched [her].” Nana blusters that she’s not all about the skinship — well, maybe except now, but that’s only because of the injury, uh huh.

Yoon-sung warns Nana to keep out of his business, but she asks to be included in his mission against Kim Jong-shik, “Because he’s my enemy, too.” He’s prepared to argue, but she shuts him up with the simple, “I won’t leave you to do dangerous things alone anymore.” Gotta love a girl who’s as intent on protecting her man as he is about protecting her.

She backs off a bit by offering to find Kyung-hee while he works on Kim Jong-shik. It’s great how quickly she takes to this line of work, instructing him to hack into the hospital networks so she can start looking. She finally wears him down by pointedly picking up the tonic bottle Kyung-hee had given him, saying she misses her too.

Giving in, Yoon-sung pulls up a chair for her and shows Nana the list he’s compiled. The image below totally makes me happy, with Nana proud to join in as part of his mission.

At the Blue House, Eun-ah smells something fishy about the timing of Yoon-sung’s resignation and Nana’s injury, wondering if they’re playing hooky together. Eun-ah has always sensed something in the way he looked over during Da-hae sessions. Unless…he’s interested in HER! Ha. So close, and yet so far.

The IT chief asks Ki-joon and Eun-ah to help convince Yoon-sung to return to work, so the trio heads to Yoon-sung’s personal castle with mouths agape at the grandeur. (Nana scrambles to hide, lest she blow their cover.)

Evidence of Yoon-sung’s riches means the boss can’t exactly appeal to his need for a salary, so he asks Yoon-sung to come back as patriotic service. But Yoon-sung is firm about not changing his mind.

Hilariously, Shik-joong is smitten with Eun-ah at first sight, which is all the funnier since she’s thinking Yoon-sung’s into her. She offers to replace Nana in judo practice and go easy on him (getting Ki-joon’s hackles up), then flounces off to give herself a tour of his place. Yoon-sung jumps up to stop her, since Nana’s hiding upstairs, and dives to cover her from view. And then gives Nana a cheeky wink, gah.

Shik-joong sends off the trio with some homemade food, giving the men a small box and Eun-ah a huge one. (I do wonder if there’ll be any complication with the fact that Shik-joong called in for Nana as her uncle, and is introduced here as Yoon-sung’s uncle… Or maybe “uncle” is just his default cover.)

Jin-pyo knows Yoon-sung has bugged the money, and readies to steal it once it’s on the move so he can send it to to the prosecutor — but it’s not surprising that his primary motivation isn’t a sense of justice. Instead, he does it because he’s anticipating the entertainment factor of watching the fallout — will idealistic Young-ju prosecute his father, or protect him? “This should be fun,” he says.

Nana listens as Yoon-sung and Shik-joong discuss the likelihood of the money being transported within the next day. She’s still fuzzy on the details of this whole City Hunter operation, and asks whether Dad knows his secret identity. And why Jin-pyo doesn’t live with Mom Kyung-hee.

That’s a whole kettle of fish they aren’t inclined to get into right now, so Shik-joong merely says that Jin-pyo and Yoon-sung are having a “difference of opinion.” Nana’s sharp enough to suppose that such a “difference” equates to Dad offing Lee Kyung-wan.

Students stage another sit-in regarding the forfeited tuition promise, and Kim Jong-shik walks in to address them in his (falsely) earnest way. He says that he feels their pain, and is doing what he can to find more funding support, asking them to end the demonstration. But the leader, while thankful for the offer, says that they must see that the promise is honored.

Kim Jong-shik accepts that decision graciously and wishes them well, bowing deeply. But as he walks out, he sneers that they dare quibble over that measly money, in light of the school’s reputation as the top university in the country? If those students drop out, there are students for miles who’d be happy to enroll, AND pay full tuition.

In his paranoia (well, maybe it’s not paranoia if his fears are founded), Kim Jong-shik calls techs in for daily sweeps of his office, searching for wiretaps and hidden cameras. Kim is so nervous that he orders all phone and internet access cut off in his office.

Yoon-sung scopes out the situation from the lobby (“reading” a book titled Romance Novel, haha), deducing that Kim is readying to move his stash.

Kim is also fighting a toothache, and heads to the dentist for an appointment. One step ahead of him, Yoon-sung precedes him to the dentist’s office and delivers supplies, which then get implanted in Kim’s tooth. Hee!

Kyung-hee turns up in a monastery some distance away, but she decides to head back to Seoul to take care of something. She’s managed to remain hidden, and the prosecutors are likewise unable to locate her. Young-ju tries to look up Mu-yeol’s records, but finds that they don’t exist and wonders if they’d been purged.

Nana asks Yoon-sung to pick up her clothes from Sae-hee’s clinic, where she left her luggage. Once there, he sees Sae-hee being questioned by a minion and remains out of sight as she lies, saying she doesn’t know anything about Nana.

Shopping time! Yoon-sung starts out by asking the saleswoman for some “comfortable clothes to wear around the house,” but a dress catches his eye, and another, and another, until he’s cleaned out the racks. But he can’t give a sincere compliment to save his dorky hide, so he tells Nana that he bought things to hide her lack of a figure, ha.

But Nana’s on to him now, and smiles that he’s like her Daddy Long Legs. Which reminds her of her actual Daddy Long Legs, and she reveals that it’s Young-ju. She asks if they can go to him for help, still unaware of the Daddy-Son relationship, and Yoon-sung barks at her to remember that the prosecutor is on his tail. (He calls her Gom Nana, a play on her name which means “Bear Nana” and refers to her denseness. But I think I’ll call her Nana Bear instead, ’cause that’s just ridiculous and adorable.)

Shik-joong offers Nana some nifty (home-shopped?) shampoo, but she says she can’t shower because of her shoulder. He offers to wash her hair for her, and Yoon-sung immediately overreacts, jumping up in protest. Shik-joong: “Then you do it!” Yoon-sung: “I will!” Cute cute cute.

He washes her hair for her, taking his time and being gentle, which has got to be one of the sweetest romantic gestures ever. Nana playfully flicks suds at him (prompting another “Nana Bear” exclamation) and they engage in a play-fight.

Then it’s time to listen in on the bug implanted in Kim Jong-shik’s tooth, as he takes a meeting with a prospective donor. Who is…Kyung-hee?

Eek! She’s here to hand over the funds Jin-pyo had sent her over the years, now that she believes she has no son left living and is not long for this world. She tells Kim to use it to help the troubled students to continue their eduction. The amount: 1 billion won, which is just under $1 million.

As soon as he realizes it’s his mother, Yoon-sung runs out.

Kim Jong-shik smirks at this easy get, because Kyung-hee’s request to remain anonymous works out perfectly for his desire to pocket the funds. He can leave it unreported and just enjoy the spoils. You bastard!

Yoon-sung arrives at the school and passes by his mother, who’s hidden in a group of students. Noooooo! Turn around! He does, but a split second too late, and returns home in dejected spirits. His team reads his disappointment clearly, and Shik-joong confides to Nana that Yoon-sung had snapped when his surrogate mother died in Thailand. Nana asks for an explanation, but he tells her to hear it from Yoon-sung directly.

Kim Jong-shik wastes no time spending his money, taking his wife shopping for expensive bags and clothes. Posing as a shopper, Yoon-sung follows him along and overhears him confirming his plans to move the money tomorrow.

Young-ju goes over the university account records, finding discrepancies between the actual numbers and the recorded ones. There’s 200 billion that’s unaccounted for, and that suggests the possibility of a slush fund.

With that suspicion bouncing around in his head, Young-ju drops by to see his father — and finds him busily boxing up his money. My, isn’t that a satisfying “Oh shit” look on Kim’s face when his son calls out to him, looking stunned and disillusioned. Also furious.

Upset but also pleading, Young-ju says he doesn’t want his father to turn out like Lee Kyung-wan or Seo Yong-hak, and tells him that it’s still not too late. He gives him two options: “Return this money to the school, or turn yourself in.”

Dad says no, actually using “Everyone else does it” as his defense. What’s so wrong about him doing it too? If your friends all jumped off a bridge…

Young-ju replies with all earnestness, “Because it’s the law. Because it should be upheld. Because there are people who are hurt by your greed. I beg of you, please return to the father I respected. Please.”

Dad sighs that he’s come too far to turn back, but adds that his son is a prosecutor, and “You have to do what you have to do.”

Aw, I love this. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s another intra-family declaration of war, even as both parties acknowledge that they love each other. But not enough to back down — one believes in the value of justice, and the other can’t give up his selfish greed. Dad had wanted to preserve both his power and his son’s respect, but when push comes to shove, he chooses power.

Young-ju stalks out. Yoon-sung listens on the other end — having sent Nana away purposely to avoid this discovery — and muses, “Prosecutor Kim Young-ju, your dilemma has begun.” That’s a mild way to put it.

And then, D-Day.

Team City Hunter follows the tracker to the prepping grounds for the money move, which has been loaded onto a freight truck. Yoon-sung declares that they’ll have to return the money to the honest people who sweat blood and tears to earn it, and warns his team that Jin-pyo will be on their tail the moment they take the money: “No matter what, we have to protect it.”

The plan swings into motion, and it’s so genius-simple that I love it. Yoon-sung strolls over to the van and tosses some kind of teargas bomb inside, and when the window rolls down, he elbows the driver in the face. Then Shik-joong strolls over to the freighter and knocks on its window. When the driver rolls down the window, he tosses another bomb inside.

The driver jumps out quickly, and Nana steps in, flipping the guy to the ground — she’s only got one good arm, but the arm sure is good. It makes the guys gape in wonder, cutely.

Yoon-sung commandeers the truck, with Shik-joong and Nana in the car behind him. He’s soon joined on the road by Jin-pyo and Sang-gook, who pull up alongside them, and Yoon-sung begins Phase 2.

That means Shik-joong and Nana drive between the truck and Jin-pyo’s car, running interference and allowing Yoon-sung to speed up and drive on. Dad’s car tries to overtake the lead, but Shik-joong swerves back and forth to remain in front, and both cars get stuck at an intersection when the light turns red.

Dad catches up soon, overtakes the truck, and stops in the middle of the road — a direct echo of Yoon-sung’s own move in Episode 4. Eee, I love the parallel! But Yoon-sung isn’t his father, and may not have the balls (steel though they may be) to actually run him over.

And sure enough, he screeches to a halt just a few feet shy of collision.

Yoon-sung gets out and faces Dad, who tells him he’ll be taking the money, thanks. Yoon-sung intends to return the money to their sources, and then continue his Kim Jong-shik revenge.

Jin-pyo: “And then you’ll fight me?” Yoon-sung: “I warned you, didn’t I?”

Dad whips out his cane and whacks Yoon-sung with it, bringing him to his knees. Yoon-sung won’t hit him, so Dad challenges him to fight back, saying, “War means needing to win no matter who your opponent is.”

Jin-pyo gets into the truck and drives off, leaving Yoon-sung stranded in the road alone. He’s down, but not out — because when Dad pulls over a short distance later, he finds the truck empty. Muahaha!

Even Jin-pyo has to laugh, impressed even as he scowls, “Yoon-sung dares to fool me?”

Kim Jong-shik is much less amused (as in, not at all) and flips his lid when he hears the money has been stolen. Panic, rage, shock.

Shik-joong swaps out the license plates on his truck, applauding Yoon-sung’s forethought in procuring the exact same truck to act as decoy. With that, Team City Hunter gets down to business, boxing up money to mail back to the appropriate students. The accompanying note states that the City Hunter is returning funds hoarded by the university chairman for his personal use, in order to honor the tuition promise.

An interesting aside: One of the demonstrators is the bitchy girl from the previous episode, whom Yoon-sung had chided for her bad attitude. She’s the only one of the demonstrators who hasn’t received a package from the City Hunter, and wonders why.

Feeling celebratory, Shik-joong sends Yoon-sung and Nana to the supermarket for party ingredients. Shopping for groceries is such a delightfully mundane, domestic activity that it never ceases to put a smile on my face, especially when the sample lady refers to Yoon-sung as Nana’s husband and he smiles adorably in response.

As they’re heading to the parking lot, however, a cart knocks into theirs, and Nana darts forward to retrieve fallen tomatoes. Which is when the automatic sliding doors slam shut, separating the two, and the lights cut out. OH NO.

A motorcyclist speeds into the darkened garage, heading directly for them. Jin-pyo.

COMMENTS

I didn’t really think Nana would die, but there was enough uncertainty to make me mighty uneasy for a good half-day. I doubted this drama would go that dark, but thematically speaking, it would have worked wonderfully with the direction the story is taking. Thus far, Yoon-sung is the voice of justice (and reason), while Jin-pyo is driven by bloodlust. Killing Nana would have spurred Yoon-sung to revengey thoughts, and driven him close to — or over — the edge, much as he’d lost it when his surrogate mother was killed in Thailand. That means this not only becomes a son-vs-father battle, and a City-Hunter-vs-baddies-vs-The-Law battle — but a Yoon-sung-vs-himself battle, in which he fights to claim himself from the dark side. How great would that be?

Plus! Could you imagine the additional angst of Young-ju finding out that his father not only killed Nana’s mother, but also Nana? I would have been massively impressed had they gone that route, definitely.

On the other hand, I want SO BADLY for Yoon-sung to be happy, and I can’t see him ever being light and free without Nana by his side. So I’m not terribly disappointed, even though I still think it would’ve been an awesome way to go. Even if it would have broken my heart.

You know, I don’t want City Hunter to be extended, per se — I’ll take one if they give it to us, but that’s not what I mean when I say I want more, more, MOAR. I want them to wrap up this season as planned, then take some time to plot out a Season 2 with a new arc and a new set of character development issues, and see that complete story through as badassedly as they did this one.

Which, I think, is entirely feasible, possible, and desirable given that this season — imma call it Season 1 because I blindly refuse to give up the idea of a Season 2 — is really an origin story. It isn’t really until this episode that we have the assembly of our City Hunter Scooby gang, and with it now in place, I can totally see this structure playing out over multiple seasons, like Buffy or Angel.

Extending it into more seasons would also bring us closer to the original story, though I’ve long since stopped worrying about the manga ties as a requisite for enjoying this one. Consider that this season establishes Yoon-sung’s playboy alter ego, as well as setting him up for the Girl Friday relationship he has with his sidekick, and introduces the XYZ code as a call for help. The Blue House stuff was an invention of the K-drama, and it’s what gets our hero here at the beginning of his journey — but from this point on, we could even drop it and not lose anything. In future stories, all we’d need is a new Big Bad for the season, broken down into smaller Bads per this season’s five targets, to keep up the steady buildup-and-payoff rhythm we’ve established.

‘Cause really, this is a sustainable premise. I’m loving this team, and the characters, and the possibilities that this world has created. It would kill me a little to know they won’t get to realize the full gamut of stories built into the world.

Ahhhhh Season 2, where are you??

726

Required fields are marked *

151 hanibato

July 1, 2011 at 10:02 PM

I knew it.. I knew it.. I just knew it!
The shopping scene is too peaceful that I felt uneasy..
It'd be impossible for the story to end without the an-expected-must-have-every-episode cliffhanger!!

arghh this drama's driving me crazy~

Required fields are marked *

marin

July 1, 2011 at 10:11 PM

She won't die, I mean think logical.. The father will just kidnap her so that Yoon Sung does whatever he want's him to do.. If the father kills her then Yoon Sung won't do anything.. The father is not that stupid either, he just kidnaps Na Na, maybe she'll get hurt, but still she won't die.. OMG I'm totally in love with this drama too, So far ep 12 is the best episode <3 i love kim nana and yoon sung there perfect for each other and soo cute!!!

Required fields are marked *

152 Hana

July 1, 2011 at 10:08 PM

sigh city hunter and your cliff hangers, i love and hate you for them. I am so glad Na Na didn't die~

Required fields are marked *

153 tanzia

July 1, 2011 at 10:08 PM

By now, after successfully standing by and watching 12 eps of City Hunter as they air...

I have finally gotten used to the weekly cliffhangers... which mainly translates as:

I have finally gotten used to extreme pain and suffering I experience every week because of the wait that is terrifyingly terrorizing my daily routine and my school in those 6 days.

So, help me God.

Required fields are marked *

smashingalou

July 5, 2011 at 7:44 AM

tanzia, you are definitely not alone... :)

Don't worry we're holding on for every cliffhangers, DB can definitely help with all these lovely, lovely comments :)

Required fields are marked *

154 oreocrush

July 1, 2011 at 10:57 PM

Contrary to many, I feel that the recent episodes (ep 10,11 excluding ep 12 hehe since the 2 are so sweet together) have been boring in the middle portion of the ep but nearing the end, something will definitely and always happen such that the cliffhanger KILLS me. I would like to see the writer-nim to bring us back all the fun and excitement throughout the whole episode and not only towards the end.

Required fields are marked *

scarlet

July 2, 2011 at 8:07 AM

Haha actually those sweet scenes are the ones that bore me, I felt they slows down the plot for me. I'm definitely in the minority of wanting more revenge and action scenes rather than the cute.
TBH the cliffhangers at the end of the latest 2 episodes are really, no cliffhangers at all. We all know NN will not die, at least not so soon in the middle of the drama. I would really applaud the team's ballsiness if she did, but alas, that's not to be.

Required fields are marked *

Birdie

July 2, 2011 at 10:34 AM

How many times are they going to play this card before the viewers have enough of Nana 'near death" scenario? Initially the tension between crazy dad and YS was interesting, but this drama is turning out to be fighting crazy dad and not so much on taking revenge. The revenge cases seem to have taken to side stage,too simple and conveniently solved. SHOW-more action scenes and better revenge plot please.

Required fields are marked *

Corn tea

July 3, 2011 at 6:26 PM

Totally agree.

Required fields are marked *

155 koreandramalover/kay

July 1, 2011 at 11:19 PM

smashingalou dearest ;)

you are right! perhaps after losing our minds over the ep 11 ending, many of us probably need time to recover from the emotional trauma and mind-blowing awesomeness of Ch and LMH...hehe ;)

i myself felt rather deflated after the high of that ep 11 ending and have since needed to receover from the emotional upheaval....hehe...;)

Required fields are marked *

Little Lulu

July 3, 2011 at 4:52 AM

Exactly KDL, and SHOW just lived up to what it has. BALANCE.

Required fields are marked *

koreandramalover/kay

July 3, 2011 at 7:27 AM

@Little Lulu dearie ;)

yes, sweetie, making a drama that manages to provide much-needed balance and levity will be a far better drama than one that slants too much on either spectrum... ;)

Required fields are marked *

156 Fasiris Fay

July 1, 2011 at 11:47 PM

absolutely frickin-fantastic! I just started this drama this week and am so addicted!

I really hope Nana is safe, but also want the romance between them hyped up. Its like they've admitted it to each other, but I want MORE MORE MORE!!

Required fields are marked *

157 jubilantia

July 2, 2011 at 12:46 AM

Just so ya know, that wasn't me spazzing out in the last episode's comments. Nope, not at all. I toootally knew Nana would survive. Ahem. Yup.

*snort* Anyway, I am deliriously glad that Nana did not die. I see your point about the potential for character development, but I think they can elicit plenty of emotions without resorting to major character deaths. Plus, I am seriously not sure I could have handled where it would have gone. And I know it would have been a gutsy move, I don't think it would have fit with the tone of the drama. The slick James-Bondy music, the superhero smirks- none of this points to characters dying. I HOPE.

I think certain dramas called "tear-jerkers" because they use death as a cheap tug on the heartstrings, in a way that's almost comically ridiculous. A good drama should be able to tug the heartstrings without necessarily doing that. There are exceptions, but from what I see, ol' Death is called way too frequently into Kdramaland. Anyway, that's the great thing about dramas- we can have our cake (suspenseful emotional investment) and eat it too (happy ending. Hopefully).

Woooo drama! Thanks for the excellent recap and review, jb!

Required fields are marked *

158 Kreahaddict

July 2, 2011 at 1:33 AM

After episode 11, i did think that killing nana would have been really badass. However, that will be the death of yoon sung and um, also me. An interesting thought however is that although it didnt happen in ep 11 doesnt mean it's not gonna happen at all. I sonehow have this bad feeling that her death could be the season ender. I'm crossing fingers coz i totally want yoon sung and nana to be happy. Pls dont make it a sad ending, Show! I beg of you. My heart can only take so much. Plus, i also want a season 2 - still with nana and an even hotter lee min ho (is this even possible?!) : )

Required fields are marked *

159 Pandaaaed

July 2, 2011 at 3:16 AM

Jin pyo please don't do anything to Nana! I hate to see yoonsung in pain so please :(

Required fields are marked *

160 funnygirl24

July 2, 2011 at 7:37 AM

Hi,

Please enlighten me are they "together now" like GF/BF level? I'm slow with these kind of things ( a Gom maybe).
It was cute when the woman in the grocery store offered Nana tomato and mistakenly thought YS is her husband and YS smiled and liking the idea.

Thanks for a great re-cap...until next week...

Is it only me having these thoughts that perhaps not until the 18th episode that the writer will eventually kill Nana in this drama? or YS will die just to save Nana?

I hate when SBS does these kind of endings. Killing one of the leads or giving open endings in their dramas..it's not right. I want cliche I guess...the good old ones... : )

Required fields are marked *

Little Lulu

July 5, 2011 at 12:58 AM

I don't think they are already OFFICIAL, but it's what we MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.

Required fields are marked *

161 scarlet

July 2, 2011 at 8:18 AM

As much as I'll love to see LMH forever in City Hunter, it pains me to see his tired look and bloated face now. I guess I should be contented with the 20-episode run of this series and not let greed take over me :(

Required fields are marked *

Birdie

July 2, 2011 at 10:43 AM

Ditto. For his sake and health, I do not wish for Season 2. Action dramas are very tiring and with the kind of tight schedule they have, it's a killer. Also LMH has the potential to be a great actor,and to get there, he needs to be versatile and do a great variety of roles and not be stuck in CH mode.

Required fields are marked *

scarlet

July 2, 2011 at 8:34 PM

Actually I meant I'm not keen on the extension of this run, for the sake of LMH and the rest of the team. With live recording mode on full fledge even before the midway point is hardly a good sign of a promise to the continued quality of the show. Seoul has been experiencing some erratic heavy downfalls which impede outdoor shoots, adding more stress to the already stressful schedule. Maybe that explains some of the sloppiness we see in the more recent episodes. So I say, yes, let the guys take a break after this run, they deserve it.
However, i do welcome a season 2 if granted. I love the premise and the collaboration of LMH-PD Jin Hyuk to bits (to a lesser extent Writer Hwang Eun Kyung). LMH is a gifted actor. He has his young age to his advantage againt the stereotyping effect. Besides, the boy hasn't really chanced upon BOTH good director AND writer in his previous works. Like you said LMH has the potential to be a great actor, but he's hardly prolific when he comes to accepting new projects. So instead of waiting another long year for his drama/movie return only to be greatly disappointed on his hardwork being marred by poor directing and writing, I'll rather go for some assurance like CH season 2. That is, provided the they get the same ensemble cast and more time for the preparation. To be fair, Hwang probably was not given enough time to research on the script, according to the thank you message she wrote to LMH fans at his DC. I choose to ignore some minor inconsistencies and plotloops in her writing, and remain hopeful that she and her writing team, after reading fans' comments and criticisms, will deliver for the rest of the run. I hope she doesn't misplace my trust in her.

Required fields are marked *

Birdie

July 2, 2011 at 9:55 PM

Sorry I may have misunderstood you. In any case we are both concerned about LMH's health. I think he is thinking of doing a movie after this which will be great. Hopefully he chooses well. For me, I have yet to see a great season 2 in any series and I fear that if you stay too long in 1 character, you will always be remembered to be that guy.

Required fields are marked *

scarlet

July 2, 2011 at 10:45 PM

Hey no apologies needed :) Like you said, we are all concerned about LMH. CH is defnitely not the best drama out there, but it's his best thus far. It's a joy to watch him totally immersed in a character, something I only see in the first half of BOF and now, in CH. Somehow, I felt he was a little inhibited in PT, not giving his all, which puzzles me. IDK, just my 2-cents.
Much as I'll like a CH season 2, I don't see it happening. He probably wouldn't agree to it anyway. Like you, I think he hates to be stereotyped. He chooses his projects carefully, avoiding repetition as much as possible. He said he'd like to pick up a movie project after PT, so I was surprised when CH news came out. He hasn't mentioned about his plan after CH yet, but i think its about time he makes his break into the big screen.

162 meenuby

July 2, 2011 at 8:21 AM

Just wanted to point out something interesting I noticed after a rewatch...

The scene at the end of ep 12, where our Scooby gang is boxing up the money, you see Yoon-sung with a list of some people's names crossed out. The interesting thing is, the first name on the list isn't crossed out and I'm wondering if it's the bitchy girl's name since I can't read Korean. If it is, then I LOVE this drama and its little details. :D

Required fields are marked *

supeng

July 2, 2011 at 10:43 AM

nope, you can see that he actually crossed off the first name, just that the marker didnt have much ink that time haha.

The name of the girl is Kim Hye Ji, but the first name is Kim Sang something(i cant recognise the last word of the name, dunno korean much.)

Required fields are marked *

meenuby

July 2, 2011 at 11:19 AM

lol i think you may be right...although on a second look, it still doesn't look crossed out to me. but if the name's not the same, then i guess it doesn't matter. lol

Required fields are marked *

Mandelbrotr

July 5, 2011 at 7:46 PM

I was thinking during that scene, "Good Lord people, learn to use mail merge!" Or maybe they thought the handwritten addresses would add that little extra personal touch.

Required fields are marked *

163 supeng

July 2, 2011 at 10:39 AM

goodness the cliffhangers of this drama. LEE JIN PYO you are such. a. bastard.

I do think that he may not hurt Nana but kidnap her and use her as a threat to get Yoon Sung obey him.

Why is Nana so useful? damn lol. Awesome awesome recaps done by the two of you Javabeans and Girlfriday! :)

cant wait for the next Wed and Thursday to come

Required fields are marked *

164 bubbleyum

July 2, 2011 at 10:40 AM

1. a little concerned at that the focus of the storyline is shifting from lee min-ho as city hunter and doing robin hood-esque revenge missions to fighting his all-of-a-sudden-turned-illogically-evil father. also that now on top of having to go after the 5 people (including president!), he has to constantly save/protect nana. his mother, and shik-joong ajuhsshi from his crazy dad... i just hope the writer does not get carried away and try to pursue too many stories at once.

2. thought it was sad that for all his evilness, kim jong-shik actually showed that he had more genuine love for his son prosecutor kim young-joo than kim jin-pyo had for yoon-sung. maybe cause he's not his real blood-related son? i still don't get how jin-pyo turned all crazy all of a sudden, saying to his dead friend moo-yul that he will avenge him and kill everybody who gets in his way, even if that's his son yoon-sung. what the heck, how is that something that moo-yul would want?? i just don't get it.

3. i don't know if the actors are not getting their scripts in enough time, since now they are half in live-shooting phase, or if they are just very tired... the two young leads' acting is getting a little sloppy these past two episodes. which is too bad, because some of the more dramatic stuff came off as cheesy, like when na-na was shot. also the cutesy romantic scenes between na-na and yoon-sung... for me it lacked the comfortable flirtatious chemistry that they had in the earlier episodes. what a shame. i hope this gets better, especially since more people are watching in korea after best love ended.

4. the old actor that plays kim jong-shik is soooooooo TERRIBLE. ugh. he is in almost every other drama these past few years, always playing some kind of "evil dad" character, where did he come from?? i cringe every time he is on screen in any drama, but since these past two episodes focused on his story i have to suffer through watching even more of his bad acting.

5. why did they make shik-joong ajuhsshi go all googly-eyed over eun-ha? up until then he was the adorable cute uncle type, now he has an added ick factor!

6. weird how kim jong-shik's men-in-black showed up at the vet office to grill sae-hee instead of going to nana's aunt first, hmph. then that would have alerted prosecutor young-joo that his dad is trying to get rid of nana too!

Required fields are marked *

Birdie

July 2, 2011 at 11:00 AM

The last 3 episodes weren't good.Cliffhangers-not believable cliffhangers.The holes in the plot got wider, more conveniences and illogical incidences.The romantic part were boring and cliche(hair washing, buying girls clothes, grocery shopping,don't go-backhug -all seen in kdrama before). The revenge plot is sloppy now. There were some beautifully shot scenes though. Please writers go back on track and give us a good revenge plot drama.

Required fields are marked *

165 faintsilhouette

July 2, 2011 at 1:20 PM

COMPLETELY OBSESSED WITH THIS DRAMA. It's not even funny. This episode KILLED ME. The scene where Yoon Sung was giving blood to Nana and how they looked at each other, and how she extended her hand for his. Oh.my.goodness. and the Ending?!?!?!?! wow, city hunter really knows how to work its cliffhangers. Also, not to mention how this episode reminds me of some personal taste scenes too. Like the back hug (ep 16 of personal taste) or the hair washing scene ( in personal taste, he blew dry her hair) ahh, Lee Min Ho, you are too good!

Required fields are marked *

166 bananabee

July 2, 2011 at 2:46 PM

A lot of people here are thinking about the possibility of whether Nana would die... But my gut is telling me that there is also a chance that Yoon Sung will die as well. Specific examples of some sort of foreshadowing: When Yoon Sung's mom asked the doctor if leukemia is hereditary and what YS said in the scene in this episode while holding Nana's hands while she was sleeping.

Also, I'm imagining an ending where YS might have to sacrifice himself in order to kill/get rid of Jun Pyo (just a gut feeling, since it seems like the only one capable of standing up to Dad is him).
But who's to know! Obviously the public would be outraged if that were to happen... so maybe NaNa is a safer bet...

Required fields are marked *

bananabee

July 2, 2011 at 2:53 PM

Ok so just read through some other comments and am second thinking whether YS will die or not... Cause if they are thinking about a second season obviously the main can't die! (Or NaNa and Ajusshi for that matter!)

Required fields are marked *

Peeps

July 3, 2011 at 4:04 AM

YS will die......no he won't....he will...he won't... dats how my heart beat is like these days.

Even Harry Potter managed to live despite Voldemort,didn't he? Then I think it'll be much easier for YS...(say yes pls even if its only to console me..)

Required fields are marked *

167 thameryst

July 2, 2011 at 4:02 PM

In the grocery scene I was just like "Whoa, Min Ho, can you get any taller?" He looked so goreously tan and with that royal purple shirt setting off his complexion. I def had a fantasy sequence that it was me in Na Na's place, strolling around the grocery store with my hubby LEE MIN HO!!!!

I won't go into too many details about the rest of my fantasy sequence though...here's a clue: it involves Lee Min Ho NEKKID!!!!

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Required fields are marked *

Celexa

July 2, 2011 at 4:27 PM

thameryst... you naughty girl! *wink wink*

oh wait... that's every woman's fantasy. LOL

Required fields are marked *

thameryst

July 2, 2011 at 4:33 PM

oooh read the comment 108 on pg 3 and my reply. LOL

Required fields are marked *

olsen

July 3, 2011 at 7:00 PM

I read ur comment and laughed my head off!

Required fields are marked *

thameryst

July 3, 2011 at 8:23 PM

Yaaay! I didn't have much time to be too creative. Too busy rewatching city hunter eps with everyone I know. And with summer school (calculus and MCAT: ugh). Anyways, its great to hear from you, Olsen.