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Curtain Call: Episodes 9-10

As our drama slowly chugs along, our stage actors work to cover their tracks while more and more people are leaning about the big lie.

 
EPISODES 9-10 WEECAP

Curtain Call is beginning to take a personal toll on my patience. The characters are great at their foundation, but none of them have seen any big developments. The looming secret in the background has been revealed, but not opened up yet. Everybody is scheming but nobody is moving the chess piece forward. The best way I can describe this drama is that it manages to diffuse tension really well. Isn’t that the opposite of what’s supposed to be happening at this point in the plot?

Aside from that, a few minor plot points this week were interesting. As we inch closer to the end of the drama, I can’t help but hope that the next few weeks will be the firework weeks — but then again, I thought this week would be one of those as well, and we got the opposite.

To start this week off, we see Se-yeon hiding in the background watching over Jae-heon without confronting him, as she now knows his secret. In a meeting with Geum-soon’s doctor, it was brought to their attention that her condition isn’t improving despite her better mood and outward well-being.

Conflicted about whether to bring up Jae-heon to Geum-soon or not, Se-yeon takes into account the happiness he has brought into their lives and decides not to tell her. Later on in the courtyard, she talks with Jung-sook regarding her thoughts of a “justified lie.” Jung-sook surprises Se-yeon when she tells her that “Not all lies are bad” and “It isn’t a lie to the person who believes it’s the truth.”

Now in South Korea and told by Tae-joo to hide out in the a tiny room he’s provided, an emotional Moon-sung thinks back to a time where the woman he loved was sick. I like how the drama is adding more and more humanity to him as we go. Even after being told to stay put, a restless Moon-sung defies Tae-joo and marches into the Nakwon hotel demanding to see the chairwoman. Hearing the commotion in the lobby, Jae-heon runs out realizing it’s the real Moon-sung. Locking eyes, the two recognize each other. After the situation is diffused, Moon-sung leaves and Jae-heon instantly notifies Yoon-hee and Secretary Jung.

Knowing exactly who was behind Moon-sung’s arrival, Secretary Jung takes matters into his own hands. Paying Tae-joo a visit, he warns him to pick up his calls as he better not be hiding anything. I really really like seeing fierce Secretary Jung go to work.

Tae-joo, following through on his promises made to Moon-sung, reaches out to Se-joon over the phone to notify him that Jae-heon is a fake – taking into account how he would latch onto the real Moon-sung to oust Jae-heon for leverage in his fight over the hotel. But Se-joon shuts him down and threatens to take legal action if Tae-joo does anything else. Not willing to take no for an answer, he surprises Se-joon in the parking garage urging him to listen. Taking them back into his office, Se-joon is persuaded to take Moon-sung to get a DNA test. The test: a 99.99% match.

Now knowing that Jae-heon is the fake, Se-joon acts cordially around him at the house – a drastic switch from how he acted before. Meanwhile, Se-yeon cocoons herself every time she is in Jae-heon’s presence. These two drastic characteristic changes set off alarms in Jae-heon’s head.

Anxious, Jae-heon gathers Secretary Jung and Yoon-hee outside to explain the differences in Se-yeon and Se-joon’s personalities and how it would only occur if they have caught on to them. Confirming that they have been caught after seeing Moon-sung meet with Se-joon, Secretary Jung tells them that he is going to end it and tell Geum-soon the truth. But the two ask for more time, as they have grown to love the family and Geum-soon. As Geum-soon doesn’t know yet, they would rather exhaust all of their options at mending the situation before they tell her the truth.

It’s interesting to see how they have become less worried about the money and more worried about Geum-soon’s wellbeing (and the family’s) as time has gone on. They went from being merely stage actors on a huge stage to being genuine grandchildren in the family – even though not actually blood related, the feelings are there. Especially Jae-heon as he’s now worried about how much time he has left to be with Geum-soon and is kept up at night thinking about her. The two want to finish strong and do as much as they can rather than just quitting and leaving — the opposite of what they wanted before.

Showing up unannounced at Tae-joo’s, Secretary Jung meets Moon-sung. Moon-sung introduces himself politely, but Secretary Jung asks Moon-sung to go back to where he came from, saying that he isn’t the grandson Geum-soon needs right now as he is rash, violent, and hot-tempered. Flying off the handle, Moon-sung throws a punch at Secretary Jung only to get choke-slammed against the wall. In a fit of anger, Moon-sung flees the scene. Turning his wrath towards Tae-joo, Secretary Jung throws more than a few connecting punches his way and then tells him to reach out regarding everything he and Moon-sung do.

Bloody knuckled, Secretary Jung lies in bed conflicted over whether his actions were right. Persuading himself that this lie was not his to make, he decides to tell Geum-soon the truth. Walking to her room, right before he knocks on her door, he thinks about Jae-heon and Yoon-hee and pulls his hand away, willing to keep going just a bit longer.

Secretary Jung was already a good character in my book, but the layers being added to him interest me and I’m curious to get more insight to his full backstory – like, why is he a hand-to-hand combat master? I’m definitely getting ex-gangster vibes from him.

In the background, the battle over the hotel rages on – albeit very slowly. Se-yeon, now having lost her leverage on Se-joon (what with Jae-heon being a fraud), next moves into Dong-je’s arms for his shares. Even though it hurts her to do so, she tells him over dinner that she is willing to consider the idea of marriage if she can have his shares.

On the other hand, Se-joon has now gained the leverage and has dropped his pursuit of Dong-je’s shares. He hires a reporter to put pressure on Se-yeon as he is conducting interviews to gain information on Moon-sung (Jae-heon). Picking up on this drastic switch, Dong-je convenes with Se-joon to ask about it. Talking to Se-joon, Dong-je puts the pieces together and reasons that Jae-heon was a fake. Se-joon brings up how Dong-je has the upper hand on Se-yeon, too, and he can basically strong-arm her into marrying him. Dong-je has shown me that he has some sense to him, but I’m wondering if his heart eyes for Se-yeon and newfound grasp on her will lead him down the arrogant and forceful path again. Ugh, I hope not.

With the reporter probing around asking about Jae-heon, Se-yeon tries to change the subject with the announcement of her and Dong-je’s engagement. The reporter, totally dropping the Jae-heon subject, instantly engages with Se-yeon regarding her possible marriage. Ready to take the bullet so Jae-heon’s secret doesn’t get out, she is willing to even marry Dong-je and talk about the matter with a reporter – that’s crazy.

Ending the episode, we see Moon-sung approaching Geum-soon alone at a cafe, intercut with Jae-heon pulling Se-yeon out of the room with the reporter. In the hallway, Se-yeon blatantly reveals to Jae-heon that she knows he is a fake. I don’t know where the scene between Se-yeon and Jae-heon will go, but I can’t help but feel like the Geum-soon/Moon-sung situation will be a cop-out. The drama has burned us before promising big moments and then giving us very little, so I don’t think Moon-sung will even tell her he’s the real grandson when he sits down with her. At the same time, I won’t be sorry if this drama finally decides to ramp up the pace, and do what it teases!

 
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The first thing I did when I accessed ep 10 was to check the ending and once again, I was disappointed. Using the reveal as a bait for 3-4 episodes straight now is tiresome. There are many other things to worry about that I fear won't be fleshed out enough if the revealed is delayed much more than this. I don't want a choked penultimate and finale week.

That aside, it was sugar watching Secretary Jung place 'ducks head' in a chokehold, and teach Tae-joo a lesson or two. He has the gangster vibes, and I'm curious to see what managed to suppress that vibe...well unless he has to unleash the dragon in him, and the feeling of guilt and responsibility. I am not surprised but I was a bit taken aback when he offered to end the charade.
And while I understand Jae-hoon and Yoon-hee deciding to give Guem-seon the very best familial love ever with any luck available, I worry. Just as Jung-sook said 'Honest confession or a feeling of betrayal'. Timing is of the essence. I fear their chance at a honest confession has just been thrown in the dustbin. And, I worry more for Secretary Jung than Jae-hoon and Yoon-hee cause Jung has more consequences to navigate than our faux duo. I don't think even with his rough persona that he will sail through in half of one piece.

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The real Ri arrives then is put into dry dock for two episodes while the family learns the Truth but does not know how to deal with it. It is quite cowardly on their part considering the stakes. My presumption about Secretary Jeong was wrong: he was not the little boy saved in the water but he is former detective/thug who used violence against his former partner while previously loathed the real Ri’s horrible reputation. We actually meet the real saved kid who is still grateful to Grandma but she is as proud of him as much as her own son.But the foreshadowing was clear in that brief conversation: children never turn out as you expect them to.

The guilt of the fake couple is at the breaking point, but instead of confessing their deception they try to think of a soft landing for themselves. Everyone is concerned that the truth will kill Grandma but everyone forgets how tough she is: she survived the war, the Korean separation and built a business empire with her own two hands. Mr. Jeong continues to accept full blame but that is not his call. Se-yeon’s diversion story of marriage really was a sore spot, especially to Jae-Heon but any romantic feelings towards her should be dead in the water since she knows he deceived her. We still don’t know the reason she left Dong-je at the alter, but to face a life of misery for the sake of keeping the hotel needs to be addressed immediately. She cannot trust Jae-Heon more than Dong-je unless she is out of her mind.

Yoon-Hee continues to be the most analytical and caring character. She has befriended the family well because she listens to their concerns and gives sound advice. She was the first to feel the unease about the deception but was later convinced that it had a noble purpose of comforting Grandma. She is the one that can solve the situation if given a chance.

The real Moon-Seong finally meeting Grandma while she was in an introspective place is the right way to tell Grandma about the past.... with the truth. There are two results that I would find unacceptable: Moon-Seong does not tell or if he does, she has a heart attack and is unable to find out the truth about her son’s life.

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Hell is paved with good intentions

Secretary Jung had good intentions, he wanted Grandma to die in peace knowing she could spend time with her grandson.

But at the end, he did more wrong than good.

He took Moon-sung's last chance to see his grandma and vice versa. He made Se-yeon loosing the battle against her brother too...

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I feel like I'm an outlier, but I find the pace and tone of this drama to be very satisfying. These two episodes were excellent, imo. This isn't makjang where it's all about shocks, twists, and surprises; this is a clearly a character-driven drama where the point is to get to know these people and then watch as each one reacts in a human and nuanced way to the unraveling of the world they thought they knew. That greatly appeals to me.

The central theme seems to be that when it comes to family, as Se-joon puts it, we both want to protect and resent them for standing in our way. And when it comes to truth, there are times when a lie is much kinder. So it made perfect sense to me that after toying with his "cousin" a bit, Se-joon couldn't bring himself to actually spill the beans about the fraud. Instead, he acted in a way consistent with his character: he worked behind the scenes to help ensure an outcome he wants (no more hotel) while leaving it to his sister to ultimately decide how this story should unfold. For her part, Se-yeon is also acting exactly as I anticipated; she's hurt, angry, and a little embarrassed that she trusted in her "cousin" so completely but at the same time, she doesn't want to hurt her grandmother. She's trying hard to act as she did before, but as she's not an actress, and is feeling very emotional over the whole thing, all she can do is avoid Jae-heon. But faced with him maintaining the farce and strong arming her away from the reporter, I also understood why she couldn't take it anymore and let him know that she is fully aware of the fraud.

The only thing I struggled with in these episodes was Secretary Jung being so cruel to the real Moon-sung. He's essentially telling him that he's a worthless human being and because of the cultural and geographical divide between them and their experiences, it almost smacked of a kind of racism, where he deemed Moon-sung as too much of a thug to be worthy of meeting his own grandmother.

I also don't understand Se-joon's relationship with his wife. I suspect the writers don't have the capacity to develop that relationship so it's hard to know what I'm supposed to see there. It appears that he's the most indifferent of spouses, and it was very hard to watch him delight his wife with mention of her taste at the breakfast table (and so sad to see her light up like "Finally! He paid attention to me!") when we all know he was just saying those things to mess with Jae-heon. In general, I find that kdramas don't seem to know how to depict married couples who are not either a) parents of adult children who relate to each other more as siblings than lovers or b) crazy, cheating spouses. But I find myself wondering why they even bothered making Se-joon a married man if all he ever says to his wife is "Go rest."

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I think the pace of the show is better suited for a long weekender than a 16 episode drama. I feel we are getting little short rib tastes of character backstory, motivation and actions when a 50 episode series could give a meaty porterhouse, such as how the grandchildren coped with their parents sudden death, how Granda dealt with the tragedy, how housekeeper Yoon became their de facto mother, how orphan Moon-seong survived in North Korea and like you said why Se-joon got married (for love or business reasons).

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I could not agree more. I find it far more interesting to see how carefully the people involved are reacting to the impostors and pursuing their plans nevertheless. Nobody, even the violent Moon-sung, wants to rock the boat too hard and upset Grandma. The consequences are unpredictable and setting off a bomb could easily backfire.

It will be a difficult act for Jae-hoon and Yoon-hee keeping up the pretence in front of Grandma knowing full well that the rest of the audience knows who they really are. It is too late for them to disappear with the excuse of an expired visa.

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I've wondered if Grandma might actually know at some level that the actor grandson is a fake. I would think that the kinder direction would be to actually give her time with her true grandson. He might be able to tell her more about her own son and her first husband. He would be able to tell her about the village she came from. Treating her as someone too old and sick to handle the truth takes away her agency. The pace has been slow, but these two episodes moved much better for me. I really enjoy the actor playing the true grandson, he has a kind of commanding presence. I've been thinking that they are saving all the good stuff for that last few episodes with more then the first half of the drama being just a set up.

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I thought it was only me who was disappointed in the show's slow pace. The scenes between the characters feel too repetitive, especially the verbal sparring between Se-yeon and Se-joon without taking any actual actions in their fight. I thought the second half will be different after the cat got out of the bag but that wasn't the case. I started this drama with great expectations but got disappointed instead. There are many ways the drama could have been better. Getting more to know about the characters than just surface level. We could have gotten more insight into why Se-joon hates the hotel, Se-yeon and Dong-jae's past relationship, and Se-gyu who has little screen time. We could get more of the side characters like Mrs. Yoon and her special relationship with Se-joon, or Ji-hyun who has barely any role in the family. I hope we get more excitement in the last three weeks, making up for this slow ride.

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Secretary Jung had no right to decide Moon Sung isn't good enough for his own grandmother. I absolutely hate his line of thinking, though I do understand why he wanted a soft lie for her. But he had no right to deny both of them the opportunity to know each other.

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I like it when the show refers to elements of drama and acting methods/techniques. A good connection to Jae Heon and Yoon Hee's acting. Made me chuckle when he talked about character inconsistency!

Secretary Jung was surprising when he become physical. He has some moves. O:

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