IONTBO ep 5: a bit more coherent thoughts in the comment.
(spoilers ahead!)

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    – JOO-RI: Ah! I found the post-fight crying scene to be funny. Even her mom looks incredulous at her daughter! I do think that Park Gyu-kyung who plays Joo-ri lacks charisma/experience so I wasn’t entirely sold on her performance. And again, I wanted to see more of Joo-ri’s backstory – the brief flashbacks really didn’t tell us much besides the fact that Joo-ri wanted to befriend but somehow things went wrong? I’d mentioned this in a different post but what happened to Joo-ri’s dad? And what if Joo-ri was ostracized as a kid for not having a dad and wanted to be a part of Moon-young’s seemingly perfect family?
    – AND I truly love the conversation between Joo-ri and her mom when she’s sulking and crying in her room post-fight. The fact that Joo-ri’s mom is so supportive of her feelings for Kang-tae, of having Kang-tae as a potential son-in-law, of treating Sang-tae so kindly and without judgment makes me so happy. At least one of the parents in this story isn’t so messed up.
    – The rejection scene with Kang-tae was well done, imho. They talked it out like adults, and Joo-ri didn’t throw another tantrum. (It’s also in this exchange that I found PGK’s delivery a bit awkward.) And AHHH did I want to virtually smack Kang-tae for saying that Joo-ri shouldn’t waste her emotions on him.
    – KANG-TAE: I mean, do we even need to go here today because he makes me feel so many things I’m afraid this will turn into an essay or a rant. But here we go. I appreciate that we get to hear more from him about his own emotional struggle, be it during the conversations with Moon-young (which is great – I’m happy to see that he opens up to Moon-young a bit more) and with Jae-su. We’re starting to see the underlying pain that Kang-tae carries. When he says that he sometimes forgets about Sang-tae and etc (i.e his responsibilities), I just… couldn’t. He’s so stressed, he works so hard, and the struggles he has to carry never seem to ease. Sang-tae still needs care and supervision (but arguably not to the extent that Kang-tae gives and maybe once he realizes this, he’ll feel a bit lighter). They’re still “on the run” from the damn butterflies comes next spring if Sang-tae’s nightmares return.
    – The fight scene with Sang-tae: At first, I thought Sang-tae was just smacking Kang-tae for scaring him about being hit so hard he looks like Mr. Lumpy. But as the scene goes on, I belatedly realized that Sang-tae takes what his brother says at face-value (which says a lot more about my own understanding of ASD than about Sang-tae – oops) and reacts accordingly. Which ALSO makes me realize that Kang-tae knows FULL WELL that this is what’s going to happen but he did it anyway, as a distraction so Sang-tae would stop hitting his head against the wall and hit Kang-tae INSTEAD. Later, when we hear from Kang-tae about putting on a fake smile for Sang-tae’s benefits even when he’s in pain, to say my long-dead heart died again would be an understatement.

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    – MOON-YOUNG: I have way too much fun watching her being “crazy/bad” that I find myself just nodding along to whatever she says and does like it ain’t no big deal or potentially morally wrong. That’s an oops on my part. With that said, I don’t feel bad about Moon-young tricking Sang-tae into signing the illustration contract (as seen in the preview for ep 6). She does it to get to Kang-tae, especially after eavesdropping his promise to stay at Joo-ri’s house, but also because I think she thinks that she can help Sang-tae. And because I understand her reasoning and this specific behavior stays in line with her character, I’m on board with it. Also, I’m super excited at the prospect of a forced co-habitation trope at a cursed castle!
    – I’m enjoying the dynamics between Moon-young and Kang-tae so much. She sure does not mince words and while she does keep her true feelings way deep down somewhere, Moon-young doesn’t hide her desires. While Kang-tae puts on a smile for Sang-tae’s sake out of necessity and care, Moon-young’s “psychotic” front might arguably be dumped on her against her will since she was a kid, and growing up with that as the only perception of self, she really doesn’t have any other choice.

    – On a completely different note, I like how the drama incorporates horror elements and references and moves back/forth between the romance and horror so seamlessly/effectively. Which, really, are two general interpretations of fairy tales = romantic love stories or horrific cautionary tales. And I like that so far, Moon-young doesn’t lose her agency – she’s the force that moves the plot forward instead of playing the role of a princess who passively waits to be rescued. I hope romantic love doesn’t magically heal her emotional traumas and transform her into said princess.

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