– I love the perspective Joo-ri’s mom provides on motherhood. Her presence and wisdom are what Kang-tae really needed. I totally understand Kang-tae’s feelings of being disregarded by his mom – we did get to see his side of the story after all. His mother’s death left so many things unresolved between them, and Joo-ri’s mom is able to help bridge the gap a bit with her own experiences as a single mom. I’ve always thought that Kang-tae’s mom did love them both, but it is hard to raise children on your own, let alone that one of them is autistic. That’s an added challenge on top of everything else. I’m also happy to see that Sang-tae, with his memories, is able to remind Kang-tae and fill in the gaps of what actually happened (I’m thinking of memories of the noodles place).
– I also appreciate that both Kang-tae and Moon-young are taking steps toward handling their traumas and help each other along the way. They’re equals and balance each other out beautifully. Kang-tae isn’t the stereotypical Candy who helps Moon-young realizes her innate goodness and magically erases her traumas just by being his “cheerful” self. That’s what I truly appreciate about this drama so far – how fully fleshed out the characters are (our leads, mostly). I like that Kang-tae and Moon-young are able to openly acknowledge their weaknesses and traumas to one another if only it is to explain their behaviors. The conversation they had when Kang-tae came back drunk is so eye-opening. You can see the honest and direct way they talk to one another. There isn’t a need for any dramatics.
– Jae-su’s being such a good friend, and I hope he’ll get a happy ending too. Joo-ri is so much more interesting during her drunken episode and lashing out at CEO Lee. They make one hilarious couple and I hope they’ll continue to be the comic relief.

Yay 😁

Thanks for this – I’ll find it and add to my list today!

I love the cast additions of Jeon Hye-jin and Choi Moo-sung.

just give me Lee Joon Hyuk and i wont need anything else to live with.. he is absolutely fab in here.. i am WAITINGGGGGGg

Yes! 🎉

Awww it feels so good to hear and see Kim Soo Hyun laughing so heartily and having so much fun on set 🙂

I feel like, imo, after the success of “My Love From the Stars”, Kim Soo Hyun had ALMOST reached this Won Bin and/or Bae Yong Joon hallyu level stardom that made him come off as ‘untouchable’ and ‘unattainable’ and more and more unrelatable, in the eyes of a viewer, as time passed… So it’s really good to see him be more laid back, being goofy, and having so much fun 🙂

Hahaha so great

It must be hard when all their scenes are so intense – so they find ways to laugh and be silly. It’s good to see this.

– I enjoy watching both of these characters a lot! They’re different from the typical female (lead or not) characters in K-drama (and in media in general, but rarer in K-dramas). Liking these two characters doesn’t necessarily mean we condone or excuse their behaviors. Truly, by no means do I want to say that because they’re women and/or because they were abused as children, all the hurt they’ve caused other people as adults are excused. The fascination and enjoyment for me come from the fact that these women are portrayed as fully fleshed out, complicated people with agency. They’re the force that drive their own stories, not some passive pawns in the grand scheme of things.
– Both Moon-young and Geum-ja’s behaviors in their respective stories are problematic to various degrees, I won’t argue with that. But what I want to point out is that they’re not problematic for dramatics’ sake. We’re given their backstories and we understand their motivations and reasonings. More importantly, their behaviors, no matter how problematic, make sense within the frameworks of their characters. And their male leads, Kang-tae and Hee-jae, can hold their grounds and give back as good as they take. I’m glad to see more and more complex and layered female characters in K-dramaland recently!
(There are so many other dramas in the past year or so with strong female casts that I haven’t gotten to yet, so these are the two recent ones that I’ve watched/am watching and more familiar with.)

– 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.

– 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.

– I wonder what happened to Joo-ri’s dad and if he was in the picture at all? While watching this episode, it occurred to me that this might be important – 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? I do hope we get to see more of Joo-ri’s childhood interactions with Moon-young. What we saw in this episode isn’t enough to explain her current behaviors and I’d be more disappointed if Joo-ri turns out to be a very flat second lead. (I also do think that Park Gyu-kyung, who plays Joo-ri, lacks charisma/experience. But maybe things will change later as the drama progresses.)

These are just my spazzy comments immediately after finishing ep 5. I might add to this later, once I’ve digested what I had just seen. :3
– I love that we get to see all the different perspectives of the fight between Moon-young and Joo-ri. I also love that we get to see a lot more of Joo-ri this episode! I love the conversation with her mom and the rejection scene with Kang-tae. Both are so wonderful and make me appreciate her character more than in the previous episodes.
– Kang-tae’s letting go of emotions – telling Joo-ri to not waste hers on him and asking Jae-su to bring him back to his senses since he’s “forgetful” these days, parallels Moon-young’s struggle with being repeatedly told (via the ASPD diagnosis and subsequent mistreatments from others) that she doesn’t have feelings. 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. I find this interesting – maybe I’ll give it some more thoughts later and write something more coherent.
– ALSO, the scene with Kang-tae telling Sang-tae about being slapped and looking like Mr. Lumpy to distract him and make him stop hitting his head against the wall, only for Sang-tae to take it literally and gets mad that Kang-tae is lying and turns to hit him. AH KILLS ME. It sounds like Kang-tae uses himself as a literal punching bag a lot.

Thank you!
😍😍😍
🤣 😆 😂

Very thoughtful 😍

– Joo-ri: I still find her dead eyes uninteresting, but the saving grace for her character in this episode has to be when she realizes how petty she was being in the hospital’s director’s office. Also, that pizza and beer scene with CEO Lee cracks me up! I’m all for this pairing, or maybe a potential secondary love triangle happening in the future. That would collectively make these 3 characters more fun to watch!
– Kang-tae is making me cry with him today. From the moment he hesitates when Moon-young screams that she loves him, to when he reads Zombie Kid and bursts out in tears. I have no words. Kang-tae and Ki-do from ep 3 are more similar than they appear. Kang-tae devotes his life to be a caretaker, for his brother and for his patients and keeps nothing for himself. He needs his own chance to dance and sing, to be free and honest, in order to heal.
– Moon-young also makes me cry today. I am so intrigued to find out what happened with her parents that led her dad to acting like this. It can’t just be because of her ASPD diagnosis…? I’m skipping over all the creepy flashbacks with her mom so I’m willfully being in the dark about that because I’m a wimp and I can’t handle the ghost of the past. I’m not surprised that Moon-young is so perceptive. She’s great at manipulating people to get what she wants, and in order to do that, she has to be able to read people well. Her stories cut me deep. AH.
– I’m so on board with this ship now, and very much ready to go down with it.

It was a really heavy one today.

– I love seeing Sang-tae’s drawings in Moon-young’s books. They’re so colorful, and referencing the way he perceives the world around him, which we did get to see a glimpse of that in episode 2 when the brothers were on their way to Moon-young’s book signing event. To see him drawing over and adding to Moon-young’s bleak ones with his own colorful lines and shapes is somehow so touching. It’s his own version of the butterfly hug.
– Moon-young herself is a hoot to watch! She’s aggressive, manipulative, and deeply hurt. Her aggression and manipulations make up her cover, like Kang-tae’s tight-lipped control and constant self-assurance that his brother is all he needs. The bits and pieces of her family trauma we see so far are so interesting, and I hope the drama goes further with that and explore the ways in which external/environmental factors influence one’s mental health. I’m thinking about how Moon-young’s parents’ treated her, maybe because of her diagnosis of ASPD, perpetuate her behavior. I love the moments of vulnerability we’ve seen so far, especially the dream-Kang-tae’s butterfly hug.
– I want to learn more about Kang-tae and Sang-tae’s childhood. Seeing Kang-tae losing his temper around Moon-young in this episode makes me think that she’s hit the right button. Kang-tae is a caregiver for his brother out of necessity and his familial love. But that is a lot to take on, especially now that we know the brothers ran away when Kang-tae was still quite young. For however long it has been, Kang-tae has puts all his efforts into taking care of Sang-tae and slowly letting that takes over his life. He’s not willing to develop deeper relationship with people because, like Jae-su said, what’s the point when they’re basically on the run from their traumatic past? (Those damn butterflies!) He also has to control his emotions around Sang-tae. The way Kang-tae marvels at how free Kwon Ki-do is running around on stage and screaming his frustrations and hurt to everyone makes me feel so sad for him. I don’t think he’s ever had the chance to be free and honest with himself and others.
– It’s kinda gratifying for me to watch Joo-ri’s surprise at seeing Kang-tae lashed out when Moon-young “kidnapped” Ki-do. I’m not really like Joo-ri’s character and what we see of her so far. I don’t find her as fun or interesting as some of the other supporting roles.