K Drama Chat – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Season 2 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:

• How this episode is full of betrayal: someone betrayed the Crown Prince, Cho Hak ju betrays Lord Ahn, and the Queen Consort betrays her father and the rest of the Haewon Cho clan
• How Seo-bi violated our rule of never opening mysterious chests without knowing that what’s inside is a friendly person or a cute, furry animal.
• How the Crown Prince must kill his zombie father, thereby honoring his father’s words to him from so long ago: Stay alive!
• We learn more about what happened three years ago and we learn that Lord Ahn has deeply regretted his decision to create zombies ever since.
• Cho Hak ju had Lord Ahn killed, something that the soldiers do with hesitation, given that Lord Ahn is a national war hero. So now, the Crown Prince’s mentor and guide has left him.
• Lord Ahn makes himself a weapon against Cho Hak ju when he asks the Crown Prince to turn him into a zombie.
• Back at Hanyang, the Minister of War orders the queen’s residence searched and the soldiers discover the bodies of seven mothers and babies. Curiously, the baby boy died of natural causes, while the baby girls were strangled to death.
• The court officials debate the line of succession in light of the king’s death when the head eunuch announces that the Queen Consort has gone into labor.
• The Queen, of course, is not in labor, but waiting for a baby boy to be born.
• The ID tags that all men over the age of 18 carried around during the Joseon dynasty.
• The desire for revenge by Young shin and Lord Ahn’s men, which leads them to try and take down Cho Hak ju when they are taken out of their jail cell to be transported to Hanyang.
• We wonder where Mu Yeong is.
• The crazy ending where the zombie Lord Ahn takes a chunk out of Cho Hak ju’s left cheek!
• The K Drama elements in this episode, including the Crown Prince sinking to the ground with great emotion, and the queen’s amazing abs in episode 1 of season 2.
• The enduring popularity of zombies, from around the world!
• How Korean zombies are different from Western dramas in that they often focus on the relationships between the humans and the zombies.

References

• Worn Identity, or information about the ID tags worn by people during the Joseon dynasty
• King Cheoljong and his family, who were banished to Ganghwa Island
• 30 Zombie TV Shows Ranked by Tomatometer
• The Last Of Us: A Closer Look at the Zombie Genre

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 1 of Season 2 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryong as Cho Hak ju, Kim Sang-ho as Mou Young, Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong shin, and Kim Hye-jun as the Queen Consort. We discuss:

• The Kingdom wiki that Joanna discovered!
• How we start to learn what happened in Sangju three years earlier and the roles that Cho Hak ju and Lord Ahn played. We wonder if Lord  Ahn has regrets over his decisions at the time.
• Deok Sung’s act of sacrifice and how Young shin gave him his dignity by killing him.
• The Crown Prince’s suspicion that Mu Young is the traitor working for Cho Hak ju.
• The moral dilemmas in this show that ask us just how far we’ll go to save our loved ones.
• How Seo bi and Cho Beom Pal make it to Mungyeong Saejae and are given shelter because Cho Beom Pal is a member of the Haewo Cho clan. We also find out that Cho Beom Pal is now the heir to the clan.
• The palace guards are on to the Queen’s evil plot to get a baby boy, but she’s counting on her baby boy to protect her.
• How the Crown Prince has decided to travel to Mungyeong Saejae and kill Cho Hak ju. Cho Hak ju is in Sangju to kill the Crown Prince.
• How extreme crisis can push people to do extreme things they didn’t know was possible.
• The actress Kim Hye-jun, who plays the Queen Consort.

References

• Kingdom wiki
• Crash Landing On You wiki
• Open Source Wiki Software
• Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) - Wikipedia
• About - Aftermath of the East Asian War of 1592-1598

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 15 of Crash Landing On You, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Hyun Bin as Ri Jyeong hyeok, Son Ye-jin as Yoon Se-ri, Seo Ji-hye as Seo Dan and Kim Jung-hyun as Gu Seung joon. We discuss:

• The songs we featured during the recap: Wind of the Day by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee and Give You My Heart by IU.
• The meaning of tsundere and how Captain Ri and Se-ri are tsundere who were transformed by the other.
• The cruelty of Cho Cheol Gang’s words that made Captain Ri doubt his father’s love and intentions, took away his newfound happiness, and made him consider shooting himself.
• How Captain Ri is arrested, at first refuses to eat, drink or talk, but then takes the blame for everything that has happened.
• How Captain Ri’s men are likewise rounded up. They are worried they will be tortured, but instead, they are given clean clothes, medical exams, and as much food as they want.
• Se-ri leaves her hospital bed to try and help Captain Ri’s men as they are being taken away, but the men think only of her and her health.
• How heartbreaking it was when Captain Ri coldly rebuffed Se-ri and told her that the sight of her bothered him.
• When Se-ri collapses and is taken to the ICU, Captain Ri is full of regret and allowed to visit her at the hospital.
• We loved the loyalty and bravery of the village women who prevent Myeong Sun and her son from being taken away by Cho Cheol Gang’s men.
• Gu Seung Jun is abducted by Mr. Cheon and his thugs, but Mr. Cheon allows Gu Seung Jun to escape back into the border village, where some orphans further assist him.
• Gu Seung Jun confesses to Seo Dan that he has feelings for her and he will try to return and win her heart in the future. Is he setting her up for everlasting longing and pain?
• Gu Seung Jun gives up his chance to leave the country to save Seo Dan and in the process, gets shot. He is at least happy that someone is crying over him.
• While Se-ri lies unconscious in her hospital bed, she has a dream where she is transported back to the day she decided to go paragliding. Even knowing everything that happened to her, she makes the same decision to go paragliding, crash in North Korea, and meet Captain Ri.
• Captain Ri, for his part, wishes he could go back in time and not meet Se-ri so that he could prevent her being so close to death.
• The actors who play Captain Ri’s men: their backgrounds, acting careers, and shows.
• How difficult it’s going to be to decide on the next show for Season 9 of K Drama Chat!

References

• Tsundere on Dictionary.com
• Price of Seo Dan’s Engagement Ring
• K Dramas and K Pop Fandom in the US

Joanna and Sung Hee introduce the show that K Drama Chat will cover during Season 3 - Mr. Sunshine. Mr. Sunshine is a hit show on Netflix from 2018. The show is about Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun), who was born into slavery in Joseon. After escaping to the United States at the time of the 1871 Shinmiyangyo, he becomes a Captain in the US Marine Corps. He gets sent to Joseon by President Roosevelt, under the guide of “taking care” of an American allegedly selling secrets to the Japanese. Captain Choi meets and falls in love with Go Ae-shin (Kim Tae-ri), an aristocrat’s granddaughter who refuses to sit quietly, marry, have children and embroider butterflies all day.

Jen is taking a couple of months off from the show so Joanna and Sung Hee are taking this opportunity to recap and review a historical (saeguk) K Drama, which Jen is not a fan of. Before diving into Mr. Sunshine, Joanna and Sung Hee are taking it easy for a couple of weeks. In this episode, they talk about Mr. Sunshine, and the shows they are currently watching.

Listeners, start watching or rewatching Mr. Sunshine now so you’re ready when we start analyzing the first two episodes in a couple of weeks!

References:

• Mr. Sunshine on Netfllix
• Korean History series on YouTube from LoonyTricky
• The 2 Koreas according to Crash Landing On You (CLOY)

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 16, the final episode of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is Find the Real, Real Faces by Meun Young. Sang Tae convinces Meun Young to publish her final book, which is about three friends (an emotionless princess, a boxed man, and a masked man) whose faces were stolen by an evil shadow witch. After a long journey and meeting many characters, the friends realize that what the shadow witch had stolen from them was not their real, real faces but their courage to find happiness.

This episode was ultimately about Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Meun Young finding the courage to be happy. Gang Tae learned to be vulnerable, to ask for help, to love and be loved, and to believe that he wasn’t born to take care of Sang Tae because Moon Gang Tae belongs to Moon Gang Tae. Meun Young was able to shed the narrative that she is an empty can, unable to care about others’ feelings. Meun Young came to care about the brothers, rejoin the community, love, be loved, and write again. Sang Tae was able to overcome his trauma, paint over the murderous butterfly and paint his own butterflies, and leave Gang Tae to pursue a career as an illustrator.

This episode also revisited the stories of some of the patients at the hospital, including A-reum and Jung-tae, who are finally together; the assemblyman’s song, Kwon Ki-do, who is studying for the national civil service exam; Pil won, who has a new pair of shoes and the courage to leave the hospital for good; and Eun-ja, who has accepted her daughter’s death and has opened up her own restaurant.

Even the second and third couples look like they’re going to make it. The publisher is opening up his new office in Seongjin City to be closer to Ju-ri, and Jae-soo appears to be getting closer to the art director.

At the end of the episode, Joanna, Jen and Sung Hee reveal the show they are going to recap and analyze in Season 3 of K Drama Chat – Mr. Sunshine! We wanted to do a historical show and decided Mr. Sunshine had a lot to discuss, including Korea during the Japanese occupation, how Japan and the US fought over Korea, the rebellion against the Japanese, the role of women during that period of time, gender identity, and Korean language.

We will have a few in between episodes before we start talking about Mr. Sunshine, so keep listening and start watching Mr. Sunshine!

Jen is back, yay!  In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 15 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is The Tale of the Two Brothers. We think this story is about how Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Meun Young all love each other and they just need to stop bickering, stop wasting time trying to stay apart, and decide to stay together.

This episode answers questions about Nurse Park and why she killed the Moon brothers’ mom and how she manipulated Park Ok-ran. Nurse Park tries to hurt Sang Tae, Gang Tae and Meun Young, but Sang Tae hits her over the head with a book. The police finally come and take Meun Young away.

Meun Young tells Gang Tae and Sang Tae to move out of the house because she doesn’t think any of them can get over her mom killing the brothers’ mom. But Sang Tae and Gang Tae are determined to stay. The show comes full circle when Gang Tae’s hand is cut again, and this time, it’s Gang Tae who tells Meun Young that he loves her, but she just walks away.

At the end of the episode, Joanna and Jen talk about the three shows they’re considering for Season 3 of K Drama Chat.

Jen is sick, so Sung Hee is filling in. In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 14 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is The Hand, The Monkfish. We think this story is autobiographical for Meun Young, whose mom thought she was perfect and protected her and kept her in the cursed castle.

We learn that Nurse Park is Meun Young’s mom and turns out that she killed the Moon brothers’ mom. It also appears that she killed Meun Young’s dad by pulling the plug on the machines keeping him alive. Meun Young runs away when she learns who her mom is. We learn more about Meun Young’s mom, including her medical background and how she stayed at the hospital for 20 years to watch her husband suffer. At the end of the show, Do Hui Jae convinces Sang Tae to go with her and they end up at the cursed castle, with Sang Tae unconscious or dead.

We talk about how Gang Tae, Sang Tae and Meun Young are processing the fact that Nurse Park is Meun Young’s mom and how they are protecting each other. The publisher and Ju-ri are starting to show their feelings toward each other. We also get an update on some of the patients at the OK Hospital.

At the end of the show, Joanna and Jen discuss the shows they are considering for Season 3 of K Drama Chat.

References:

• Butterfly by BTS
• What is makgeolli?

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 13 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is The Father of the Two Sisters. There are parallel stories here involving an abuser and someone who allowed the abuse to happen.

We learn that Meun Young’s dad knew that his wife was cruel to Meun Young, but he tolerated it, only reading a single book to Meun Young. There is also a side story about patient Sun-hae. Sun-hae was abused by her mother and her father stood by and did nothing, despite pleas from Sun-hae. We also learn that Meun Young witnessed her father throw her mother over the staircase and then dump her mother’s body in the lake. Similarly, Sang Tae witnessed the murder of his mother.

Meun Young’s dad dies. Before he died, he confessed that he killed his wife and tried to kill Meun Young because he worried that Meun Young would turn into a monster like his wife. At the end of the episode, we have a huge surprise: Nurse Park is Meun Young’s and the murderer of the Moon brothers’ mom. 

In addition to analyzing this episode, Joanna, Jen and Sung Hee also talk about common and useful phrases to use when traveling in Korea or eating at a Korean restaurant. 

References:

• Korean Braised Quail Eggs
• Shamanism in Korean
• Book Series from It’s Okay to Not Be Okay on Amazon

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 12 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the story is Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Are Gang Tae and Meun Young fated for each other? Are they in an ill-fated relationship?

In this episode, Gang Tae and Meun Young get closers. Meun Young is happy to have the brothers in the house and she likes her house again. She and Sang Tae are working on her new book. But the episode turns dark when Gang Tae finds a family photo in Meun Young’s room. Meun Young’s mother is obscured in the photo, but Gang Tae realizes she is wearing a butterfly pin.

Later, when Sang Tae recounts to Gang Tae and the directory the story of how their mom died, Gang Tae realizes that Meun Young’s mom is very likely their mom’s murderer. He feels like he was just starting to live a normal life and now he just wants to run away. Worse, he found an envelope on Sang Tae’s desk with a butterfly and a note saying, “I’ll come for you soon.”

There are side stories involving a PTSD patient, Ju-ri and the publisher, Jae soo and Sang Tae, and Meun Young’s dad. We also talk about the low birthrate in Korea, the two numbering systems in Korea, and the BTS members going into the military.

In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 11 of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the hit K Drama on Netflix. In this episode, the children’s story is The Ugly Duckling. Family comes up a lot in this episode. Jae-soo is upset that Sang Tae doesn’t consider him family, even though he’s been following the brothers around for ten years. Gang Tae wants Sang Tae to be the adult in the family, able to accept others, including and especially Meun Young, who he says is the loneliest person he’s ever known.

This episode opens with Park Ok-ran visiting Meun Young and the two of them getting into a confrontation, which leaves Meun Young with a cut on her hand. Gang Tae rushes to the cursed castle and is relieved to find that Meun Young is okay. When he tries to go after Park  Ok-ran, Meun Young gets upset. Gang Tang tries to calm her down, tells her to count to three, then gives her a long, passionate kiss.

Gang Tae tells Meun Young the story of Sang Tae’s traumatic memory, tells her that he must stay by Sang Tae’s side, and she must stay by his side. Meung Young tries talking to Sang Tae, urges him to come home and be her illustrator, threatens him with breach of contract for moving out, and ultimately asks him to be her older brother. In the end, Sang Tae becomes the older brother to both Gang Tae and Meun Young. 

At the end of this episode, a dark figure enters the cursed castle, sits at Meun Young’s dresser in the basement, and looms over the sleeping figures of Meun Young, Gang Tae and Sang Tae. Who is she? What is the butterfly pin that she pulled out of the dresser? Is it related to the butterfly that Sang Tae is so afraid of?

In this episode, we also talk about the Korean family register and the multi-balms that Korean women put on their faces and necks to make themselves look dewey and glow.

Reference:

• How multi balms became Korea's biggest beauty trend in 2022