Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece: Episode 6

by girlfriday

javabeans: We resume with Ji-woo and Seo-jin on separate trips for the day, with Ji-woo accompanying Soon-jae and Gu halbaes as they tour some ruins. She crammed with her guidebooks while on the bus to Corinth, and hilariously we see her listening to their tour guide explain the sites and chime in with him, all, I totally know this, ooh, I know this too!

girlfriday: She’s so cute about wanting to show that she studied. Basically, I think Ji-woo is just cute about everything.

javabeans: I think it’s because of her attitude, where she is just earnest and eager about everything, and very transparent about her feelings. She’s also not trying extra-hard to be cute, or trying to force your impression about her image. I think the glamour queen is actually the manufactured image with her, not this cute girl next door.

girlfriday: They tour the statues in the museum, and Ji-woo sneaks over to the one of Aphrodite to take a picture and then comments casually, “She’s pretty. But her face is kinda big.” Ha.

javabeans: Lol, Korea and its obsession with freakishly small faces. Why is “Her face is tinier than a CD!” a marker of beauty? Who knows.

girlfriday: Seriously, don’t you sometimes find it disconcerting and not at all attractive?

javabeans: Especially when the Tiny-Headed One is in a scene with a Normal-Headed One, and then they both look weird.

girlfriday: Soon-jae halbae goes over to sign the guestbook, and leaves a nice message that they were here with a signature and today’s date, and Gu halbae watches thoughtfully as he does all this, then comes over to add his signature below: “Shin Gu. Same day.”

javabeans: And of course Ji-woo adds below it, “Me too!” At a statue of Apollo, Gu halbae notes that he’s good-looking, Ji-woo adds that she agrees, and Soon-jae halbae says, “Put on some clothes.”

girlfriday: They head to lunch, where Ji-woo trots out her English skills while secretly checking her notebook, which is full of English phrases organized by restaurants, hotels, and other situations.

javabeans: There’s a random sequence involving the neighborhood dogs, and for some reason when the halbaes are talking to them, it feels like a conversation. You almost expect the dogs to reply to the extensive conversations.

girlfriday: It’s because the halbaes speak to them as if they’re people. Gu halbae even says to one of them, “Move aside, man!”

javabeans: Yeah, none of the baby-talking or “Ooh who’s a good doggie, good boy!” with them.

girlfriday: It’s all, “Who’s the boss? Is it you? Is it you?”

javabeans: Then we cut over to the other group, which is Seo-jin driving Geun-hyung halbae and Na PD to the airport. The whole drive must be silent because we see nothing else, and Seo-jin looks vaguely worried the whole time. After dropping Geun-hyung halbae off, Seo-jin breaks into a smile, relaxes, and turns on the radio, telling Na PD that it no longer matters if he gets lost since it’s just the two of them now.

girlfriday: It’s so funny to see Seo-jin relax SO visibly as soon as the halbaes are out of range. He’s just so concerned about doing his best around them that it’s like instant happy freedom the second they’re not around. He actually starts whistling, and Na PD keeps pointing out how gleeful he seems, like it’s wrong.

javabeans: While Seo-jin looks up dinner places, Na PD seems to fixate on this one buffet restaurant, to the extent that when Seo-jin argues that it’s a drive out of the city, he keeps talking him into it (and the PD chimes in too). It’s almost like Na PD wants a vacation too, haha.

girlfriday: Seo-jin sighs when he sees that it’s raining, putting a damper on the faraway dinner plans, then Na PD offers before he can even complain: “I asked and they say it’s even better in the rain!” What are you even talking about? You never spoke to them! Now he’s just making shit up.

javabeans: Then as they head out, Na PD adds, “There’s room in the car, so we can take more staff, right?” Seo-jin barks, “Am I your driver?!” As they walk along, Seo-jin pauses for roasted chestnuts and corn, and does it feel like now he’s on a date with Na PD?

girlfriday: Yes! Why isn’t this a show, all on its own?

javabeans: Wow, that’s quite a crowd they pack into that van. It’s so absurdly off-kilter to have your star celebrity acting as the errand boy for your crew. He even notes that he’s the oldest one, while the others are having fun snacking in the backseat.

girlfriday: Which Seo-jin promptly points out, to complain. Na PD just shoves a corn on the cob in his mouth and sighs that it’s nice. Na PD keeps trying to offer snacks to Seo-jin, and he refuses out of stubbornness until Na PD forcibly hand-feeds him like he saw Ji-woo doing earlier. But this is so much better.

javabeans: They drive along the coastline, and Na PD offers Seo-jin a hundred Euros to take a dip in the sea. Ha, I swear you can see Seo-jin considering it for a second before declining.

girlfriday: They get to the seaside bluff where the restaurant is, and Seo-jin and Na PD have this random argument about a random bird, trying to identify what it is. After Na PD calls it a “chicken of the sea,” I kid you not, he asks if Seo-jin wants to take it to raise on the farm.

javabeans: Then Na PD makes Seo-jin do random promo bits for the show against monuments and the sea (“Watch Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece every Friday!”), which Seo-jin does with the least amount of enthusiasm possible, complaining that it’s freezing, and I’m pretty sure Na PD is just making him do it to be a punk now.

girlfriday: He totally is. Then we cut to a preview of Three Meals a Day, where Seo-jin tells Taec all about his trip, with the advice to see monuments from far away ’cause they’re way more impressive that way, and then Taec actually goes a few days later to Greece.

javabeans: Wait, does he drive 100km away just to buy dinner for takeout?? That’s insane!

girlfriday: He does. I’m so confused by it at first, because I expected them to sit down and eat, because why else do you drive to the ocean for seafood? But he takes it away in boxes.

javabeans: He makes it back to the city and joins the other group with food in hand, and hilariously the first thing he does is take out this massive handful of spare change and give it to Ji-woo. She’s confused as to why, but totally not about to turn down extra money, and I love that this was just Seo-jin’s natural response to seeing her now.

girlfriday: Aw, she notes that it seems like they haven’t seen each other in a really long time. Did she miss him?

javabeans: The dinner mood is bright and relaxed, and Il-sub halbae even starts singing. Ji-woo says she wanted to spend freely today but didn’t have enough money to do that with, and tells Seo-jin (lest he pester her about her spending habit), “I didn’t even spend 100 Euros today!” To which he returns, “You were going to spend a whole 100 Euros today? On what?”

girlfriday: They head back to the hotel in the rain and get ready for bed. Why am I not surprised that Soon-jae halbae is the type to plan out his outfits the night before?

javabeans: Not only that, he tries it all on to make sure it’s exactly right! That’s planning.

girlfriday: In the morning, Seo-jin has to run up to Ji-woo’s room to hurry her up, and she complains that she totally hurried and even woke up an hour earlier to be ready on time.

javabeans: Then we get a sequence cutting back and forth between the halbaes and Ji-woo, comparing their routines. Even after all that extra prep, the halbaes are always waiting in the lobby first, ha. She mumbles sleepily, “Why do I always run out of time?”

girlfriday: And of course all she wants is a little sympathy, but Seo-jin just grouses, “Hurry, let’s go! What were you doing?”

javabeans: She didn’t get to eat breakfast and is hungry all the way to the airport, where they’ll be departing for Santorini. Her eyes are glued to all the food around her, and she spies a staffer buying himself a coffee and pleads pitifully for one too: “Just buy me one! Why are you being like that over one coffee?” At least it works!

girlfriday: She seems much better after she gets some caffeine in her system, and she sits with Seo-jin as they look through their guidebooks on Santorini. She wants to ride the cable cars, and I dunno why it’s so cute, but Seo-jin just keeps asking if she won’t be scared, and inventing imaginary scenarios where he’ll jump around until she IS scared. Such a child.

javabeans: The captions point out as much, saying it’s like a grade schooler picking on a girl for attention. Then in the airplane, we see Seo-jin confusedly wiping at himself, and Ji-woo asking if he drooled. He admits sheepishly, “I think I did.”

girlfriday: They land in Santorini, which makes me super jealous, because whenever I see pictures of this place, I just wail, “I WANT TO GO TO THERE!” Except… when they arrive, it’s totally gray and windy and rainy and freezing. Oh noes.

javabeans: There’s a whole rigamarole as Ji-woo gets in last, and the halbaes in the backseat keep shifting to the other side JUST as she gets to the door, so she scuttles over to the other side as they do too. Finally she gets into the car and slams the door on her hair.

girlfriday: It’s like a rake gag. By the time she finally gets in, I’m crying from the laughter. They make it into town, but not only is the weather bad, but every restaurant seems closed today. Why does it seem like such an ordeal to find a lunch place?

javabeans: I dunno, but I’M starving by the time they finally sit down.

girlfriday: It’s this endless buildup, where finding a place takes forever, then deciding to stay takes even longer, then ordering takes EVEN longer than that, and by the time they finally pick things from the menu, I’m just like, Bring them all of the food! Soon-jae halbae’s getting a little buzzed from the wine with lunch, and I find it funny that it always makes Gu halbae happier to see him drink. He’s all, “How many years do you have left? Drink some more!”

javabeans: Don’t you love that moment when a PD asks if it’s bad that he’s offering him so much liquor, and he barks, “WHY?” Why would that be bad? What are you saying?

girlfriday: He looks ready for a beatdown. I love how he can turn into Gangster Gu on a dime.

javabeans: After eating, it’s on to the cable cars, which travels high above the cliffside and has some amazing views of the landscape and the sea. They pause to look out at the Aegean Sea, and hilariously, Il-sub halbae farts just as Ji-woo is passing him. She laughs and moves upwind, then says that she was just thinking how romantic this all was when Il-sub halbae interrupted the moment.

girlfriday: They walk around by the shoreline, and on the upside, there are no other people out in this weather.

javabeans: Ji-woo and Gu halbae stop to stand by these pillars for a moment, and she strikes a pose and waves Seo-jinnie over to join them in posing. He protests, “It’s embarrassing!” and then casually poses anyway, because of course he does.

girlfriday: I love that she points it out to him.

javabeans: Soon-jae halbae wonders what the building on the cliffside is, and heads up the steep stairs to see for himself. It’s cute how everyone down below looks up in surprise to see him, wondering when he managed his way up there. I love that the others were content to just look at it in the distance but he wanted to see it up close, and he interviews that he always wants to get as close as he can, to just go until he can’t, because seeing something up close is different than seeing it from afar. You can see his intellectual curiosity in his whole overall outlook.

girlfriday: And that travel is never wasted on him. He really experiences everything that he possibly can, wherever he goes.

javabeans: Ji-woo marvels at the super-clear water and calls Seo-jin close to look at it. She dangles her feet over the edge, then looks around suspiciously, warning the staff not to do anything like push her in. Seo-jin asks, “Do you think they’d really do that to you?” and she adds that they might mock-push and startle her. Seo-jin: “If anyone were to do it, it’d be ME!”

girlfriday: She finally convinces him to sit next to her, and their dangling shoes side-by-side are just adorable.

javabeans: It’s a pleasant and breezy moment, which of course he interrupts to say he’d really like some sashimi and soju right about now. She complains that he’s always ruining the romance of things. I’m pretty sure that’s his unspoken life mission.

girlfriday: Meanwhile Il-sub halbae sees them sitting together and tells the PDs to let them play on their own until it gets dark. Heh. Then Na PD comes over to whisper in his ear, “When we get back to the hotel, tell them to go out on their own at night.”

javabeans: They’re hilariously unsubtle about it and tell Ji-woo and Seo-jin point-blank to leave the hotel for an hour or two after dinner. Seo-jin breaks into this huge grin, it’s so funny.

girlfriday: His dimples have dimples right now, I swear.

javabeans: Ji-woo points out a lamppost on the pier that’s perfect for photo shoots, and Seo-jin suggests, “Then shoot a melo with me.”

girlfriday: Dude, he’s totally proposing! Practically.

javabeans: That line was in all the media headlines over the weekend! Ji-woo gets into character by standing close and looking dramatic, which of course he ruins by smiling too hard. You can hear Soon-jae halbae off-camera going, “Just act like you’re shooting a movie!”

girlfriday: He gets within kissing distance, and it startles her, but he looks so pleased with himself. And then afterwards he’s all, “It’s ACTING!” Oh sure, that’s what you say to all the girls!

javabeans: The halbaes just sit back and say knowingly that sure, it’s acting. They’re so indulgent, like they’d be with their grandkids.

girlfriday: This is so like that moment in a rom-com, where two people are in a contract relationship and playing up their fake romance, and egging each other on to do it because it’s just acting, and then it leads to babies!

javabeans: They really need to just date already. I mean, at this point the country wouldn’t allow them to date anyone else, so might as well enjoy it by actually dating.

girlfriday: Right? Gu halbae totally cracks up while watching them: “He likes her!”

javabeans: Then they drive on to the town where their lodgings are. Wow, that view is amazing. It’s pure ocean, nothing in between. And like that, we’re at the end of the episode and the end of the trip — the previews show the halbaes sighing that the ten days flew by as they spend their last night here in Greece.

girlfriday: And a preview to Seo-jin and Ji-woo coming to meet Na PD in Seoul, arms linked!

RELATED POSTS

• Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece: Episode 5
• Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece: Episode 4
• Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece: Episode 2
• Grandpas Over Flowers in Greece: Episode 2
• Grandpas make their comeback as Greek gods
• Choi Ji-woo joins Grandpas Over Flowers as surprise guest
• Grandpas Over Flowers plans next season in Jordan
• Grandpas Over Flowers: Episode 1