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9.2.5 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 5 of Kingdom
29 november 2024 · 1 uur 1 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 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: Lees meer
Joanna’s trip to Italy during the week of Thanksgiving and her Italian language journey.
Sung Hee's Korean language journey.
How the Crown Prince asks the soldiers from Mungyeong Saejae to remain loyal to him, even though their families are about to be executed.
How the military training commander appeared to have betrayed the Crown Prince by telling the palace that the Crown Prince was at the Scholarly Institute, but in reality, the military training commander had shared Lee Seung Hui’s medical journal with the Minister of War and lured the palace guards to the Scholarly Institute where the Crown Prince would NOT be.
Meanwhile, the Crown Prince arrives at the palace, lets his presence be known, and locks all the gates of the palace, thereby shutting out the Queen’s guards.
How the Crown Prince, in his mourner’s outfit and peasant straw hat, looked so noble and kingly as he strode into the palace.
How Cho Beom Pal could not bring himself to order the execution of the soldiers’ families, but he is saved by the arrival of the Crown Prince, who orders the prisoners freed.
We speculate about whether or not the Crown Prince intends to take the throne.
How the tide turns in favor of the Prince, as more people switch over and swear their loyalty to him, including the Minister of War, the former commander of the Royal Commandery Division, and the court ministers.
How the Queen Consort does not seem bothered by the arrival of the Crown Prince. We speculate about her state of mind and think she’s about to burn the palace down because she knows she’s lost to the Crown Prince and she will either be banished or executed.
The Queen’s head court lady releases the zombies from the dung…
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9.2.4 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 4 of Kingdom
22 november 2024 · 1 uur 6 min
Comment on this week’s episode by visiting our blog at KDramaChat.com! Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 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:
We learn the story behind the beef pancakes and how the Crown Prince asked for Mu Yeong’s loyalty to the very end in return for allowing Mu Yeong to steal from the royal meals.
How the amazing Seo bi saves Cho Hak ju by figuring out that the zombies are afraid of water.
The meaning of the tolling of bells in Korean culture.
The Crown Prince makes it to Naeseonjae and saves Mu Yeong’s wife. Later, Young shin guides Seo bi to the Scholarly Institute to care for Mu Yeong’s wife.
Cho Hak ju visits his daughter, the Queen Consort, and asks Seo bi to check the Queen’s pulse. Seo bi confirms that the Queen did not deliver the baby boy in her arms.
Cho Hak ju says the Queen must die for her treachery against the Haewon Cho clan and the nation, but the Queen has other plans because she poisoned her father and he dies!
We learn that the Queen and Cheo Bom Il conspired to fake the Queen’s pregnancy when she miscarried. They vowed to keep the fake pregnancy a secret from their father.
Turns out the Queen is the scariest person in the palace!
The Queen throws Seo bi into the palace dungeon and tells her to keep studying the zombies.
The Crown Prince visits his uncle on Ganghwa Island and asks Young shin why he continues to be loyal to him, the Crown Prince.
We have a new K Drama element: when a character asks another character to stay with them. In this episode, the Crown Prince asks Mu Yeong to stay with him until the end, and the Queen asks Cho Beom Pal to stay with her and her baby boy.
The different types of palace guards, their training, and how they were picked.
We’re looking for suggestions for Season 1…
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9.2.3 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 3 of Kingdom
15 november 2024 · 1 uur 13 min
Listeners, we apologize that Joanna’s audio is not as good as normal. She was traveling and had to record this episode on her phone. Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 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 timeline of the queen’s evil plan to get a baby boy. We have differing opinions about when it all began!
We also disagree about when we think Mu Yeong started spying on the Crown Prince for Cho Beom Il.
What happened three years ago when Cho Hak ju asked Lord Ahn to take the patients in the Sumang Village leper colony, kill them, and turn them into zombies to fight the Japanese army.
Lord Ahn agreed to the plan but he has regretted it ever since.
How this show is an exploration of the lines that we cross and don’t dare cross to protect our families, communities, and nation.
Whether or not Young shin knew the truth about what happened to his brother in Sumang Village.
The Crown Prince’s impassioned speech to the soldiers at Mungyeong Saejae, whose loyalty he wants.
The Crown Prince’s commitment to save the people trapped in the citadel of Sangju by delivering food to them.
We now know that Mu Yeong is the traitor because he has taken Cho Hak ju and is rushing him to Hanyang.
Seo bi’s suspicion that something is very wrong with the Queen and her pregnancy because the Queen had Cho Beom Pal bring her sappanwood from Japan. Sappanwood is known to stop bleeding after a miscarriage.
The soldiers who take Cho Hak ju and kill Mu Yeong.
The Crown Prince’s grief over losing Mu Yeong. When Young shin asks the Crown Prince why he did nothing about Mu Yeong’s betrayal, the Crown Prince said he didn’t want to lose someone else.
By the end of this episode, the Crown Prince has lost the three most important men in his life: his father, Lord Ahn, an…
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9.2.2 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 2 of Kingdom
8 november 2024 · 1 uur 17 min
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: Lees meer
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 …
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9.2.1 - Podcast Review of Season 2, Episode 1 of Kingdom
1 november 2024 · 1 uur 8 min
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: Lees meer
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
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9.1.6 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 6 of Kingdom
25 oktober 2024 · 55 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 6 of Season 1 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryon 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: Lees meer
How Season 2 of Kingdom dropped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - crazy!
The power struggle between Chief State Councilor Cho Hak ju and the Queen Consort.
How Lord Ahn put himself squarely in the Crown Prince’s camp when his archers shot the palace guards.
How the Crown Prince seems like a new person. He’s determined and confident when he strikes down the chief palace guard.
Who might be the traitor among the Crown Prince’s companions?
The thousands of people amassing at the southern gates of Sangju. The magistrate doesn’t want to let them in, but the Crown Prince decides that the magistrate is NOT the person to make that decision.
The Crown Prince’s plan to protect Sangju by taking advantage of the bodies of water surrounding Sangju.
The Queen’s evil plan to have a baby boy by taking pregnant, peasant women and waiting for one of them to have a boy. The queen is not pregnant after all!
Joanna’s theory that the queen might have had a miscarriage or gotten her period the day she asked her head court lady to burn her clothes because they had blood on them.
How the queen punished the court lady who gossiped about her clothing.
Why Cho Hak ju left Hanyang to go to Mungyeong Saejae, why he’s traveling with a zombie, and what his plans might be regarding the Crown Prince.
How Seo bi finds the resurrection plant in the Frozen Valley close to Sangju. But while in the cave, she and Cheo Beom Pal are trapped by zombies, who have come out during the day! Seo bi realizes that it's the temperature, not the day and night, that controls when the zombies come out.
How the Crown Prince and the men have an uneventful evening, but come morning, when they think they have a day’s re…
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9.1.5 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 5 of Kingdom
18 oktober 2024 · 1 uur 6 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 of Season 1 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: Lees meer
K Drama Chat is featured in this month’s episode of Asian American Life from CUNY-TV! Check us out at the 10:30 mark (see link below).
The Korean concept of Han, which is uniquely Korean and represents a emotion that is a form of resentment and hatred.
The geography of Joseon so that we can understand the context of this episode. The Crown Prince starts in Dongnae, which was in the southeast corner of Gyeongsang Province. He was traveling to Sangju, which was in the northwestern corner of Gyeongsang. Dongnae is located in what is now Busan.
How the Five Armies closed the gates of the mountain garrison of Mungyeong Saejae, aka Joryeong.
How the Crown Prince wanted to be different from those who abandoned the weak. He blames himself for the deaths of the villagers, but Seo bi and Mu Young see a brave and noble prince who is risking his life for ordinary people.
How Lord Ahn and his men show up at the pivotal moment when the Crown Prince and his crew are attacked by the village men AND the zombies.
We learn that Lord Ahn was the prince’s teacher when he was young. Lord Ahn taught him and supported him, but also told him that he had to fend for himself AND fight injustice. Lord Ahn means so much to the prince!
We learn more about Youngshin and his background. He is probably a member of the chakho, or the elite group that hunts tigers. He used to live in Sangju, but left during the Imjin War and even left his little brother behind.
The evil Cho Hak ju is conducting experiments on prisoners and a mysterious noble has taken in pregnant, peasant women and is giving them shelter and food! The group includes Mu Young’s wife!
The Queen Consort declares herself Regent, but we know t…
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9.1.4 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 4 of Kingdom
11 oktober 2024 · 59 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 of Season 1 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: Lees meer
Recent comments from our listeners, including Shine, who has attended many K Drama star meet and greets in Manila. Shine says it’s common for fans to walk up on stage to say hello to stars at the end of these events.
The Hero’s Journey framework, which was researched and popularized by writer Joseph Campbell, who researched thousands of myths, stories and legends from around the world. He came up with what he called the monomyth or the Hero’s Journey, which he says is basically the template for so many of our myths and legends.
How exciting it is to map Kingdom to the Hero’s Journey.
We think the Call to Adventure has happened
The Crown Prince at first tried to refuse the call
Mu Young is clearly his guide
The Crown Prince is being tested; witness the people who died by the arrows of the palace guards
But the Crown Prince is also gaining allies in Seo bi and Young shin
The Crown Prince is also an orphan. We see a lot of orphans in hero’s journey movies and shows: Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, Frodo Baggins
In this episode, it seems everyone is headed to Sangju.
How Cho Hak ju had the messenger who delivered his son’s head killed on the spot, which means he killed the messenger. We discuss the origins of the phrase, “don’t shoot the messenger.”
The beacon fires used to alert the country, or bongsu. In Lord of the Rings, there are beacon fires used to alert the Kingdom of Gondor in the event of an attack.
How Cho Hak ju shows the court officials that the king is a monster and proclaims him still alive and still king.
The Crown Prince’s continued evolution. In the previous episode, he was mostly looking out for himself. In this epi…
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9.1.3 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 3 of Kingdom
4 oktober 2024 · 1 uur 14 min
Listeners, we need your help! If you are enjoying K Drama Chat, please encourage a friend to listen! And would you please give us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Thank you! Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 of Season 1 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 Seo In Guk Meet and Greet in Washington, DC that Joanna attended! It was amazing!
The enduring appeal of zombies!
How the opening sequence of the show describes exactly how the king was revived using the resurrection plant, as described in Lee Seung Hui’s medical journal. Although this scene is quite horrific, it is beautifully filmed!
How Cho Hak Ju and the Queen Consort keep the king chained and how they feed him unwitting court ladies. Who are the real monsters in the palace?
The head scholar and Minister of War are suspicious about all the dead bodies in the palace. They want Lord Ahn Hyeon to ally with them, but Cho Hak Ju is confident that Lord Ahn will never oppose the Cho clan.
How Youngshin is doing everything he can to save people from the zombies and Seo bi comes to his defense when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk accused him of crimes.
How we are seeing a different Crown Prince in this episode. HE tried to climb the barracks wall, and he took charge at the magistrate’s office when Cho Beom Pal and the head clerk came up with a ridiculous plan re: the zombie bodies.
We now know of a few ways to stop the zombies: burn them, cut off their heads, drown them.
Cho Beom Pal is clearly the comic relief in the show, especially in this episode when Seo bi diagnosed him as having gonorrhea.
The Crown Prince now knows what happened to the king, how he died, and was brought back to life by Lee Seung Hui using the resurrection plan. He is now mourning the death of his father.
How…
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9.1.2 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 2 of Kingdom
27 september 2024 · 1 uur 1 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Season 1 of Kingdom, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryon 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: Lees meer
We’re learning about how the zombie outbreak started in the first place, that it started in Hanyang when physician Lee Seung Hui brought the king back to life with the resurrection plant and then attacked Dan i. The prince now knows that his father has become one of the zombies.
How the Crown Prince makes some important decisions that almost seem out of character:
Despite the horrible scene at Jihulyeon, the prince decides to go to the Frozen Valley to find Seo bi and learn more about what happened to his father.
When Seo bi explains that the people aren’t dead, the prince tells Mu Yeong to go back to the magistrate’s office with Seo bi, while he will go back alone to Jihulyeon to find physician Lee Seung Hui’s medical journals.
We wonder why Seo bi and Young shin didn’t burn the bodies and we think it’s because Seo bi believed she could save the people, AND it was considered immoral to burn the bodies of the deceased.
The epic fight scene between the prince and Cho Beom il; Cho Beom il now knows that the prince knows what happened to the king.
The flashback that shows the king being pronounced dead by Lee Seung Hui, but Cho Hak ju and the Queen consort tell the physician he must do what he did three years ago.
The mysterious dead bodies being dropped in the lake, which we believe are victims of the king.
Young shin and Seo bi try to convince the magistrate that the dead people aren’t dead but nobody believes them, and they are both jailed.
In the last scene, the prince escapes the zombies, runs through the forest, runs toward the water’s edge and sees Dong Nae burning in the distance.
The amazing Ju Ji hoon, including his education, acting success, and how he wasn’t the…
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9.1.1 - Podcast Review of Season 1, Episode 1 of Kingdom
20 september 2024 · 1 uur 11 min
Welcome to Season 9 of K Drama Chat! In this season, we’ll be recapping and analyzing Kingdom, the zombie historical from 2019. Kingdom is the first original series K Drama on Netflix, produced by AStory. Kingdom stars Ju Ji-hoon as Crown Prince Yi Chang, Bae Doona as Seo-bi, Ryu Seung-ryon 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: Lees meer
Our enduring love for Crash Landing On You, and how we’re finding it tough to move on.
How we can’t seem to find much information on the music composer from Kingdom, Mok Yeong Jin.
How Kingdom is set at the start of the 17th century, three years after the end of the Imjin War against Japan. Although Kingdom is entirely fictional, the Sunjo Annals describe a plague that swept through Korea in the early 1800s. Other annals report on a famine between 1670 and 1671 that resulted in mass famine.
The main characters: Crown Prince Lee Chang, physician Seo-bi, Chief State Councilor Cho Hak ju, the Crown Prince’s body Mu Young, the mysterious peasant Young shin, and the Queen Consort.
The mystery behind the king’s illness and disappearance from public life.
Court hierarchy and how the Crown Prince, as the son of a concubine, is in danger because the Queen Consort is pregnant. If she bears a son, that son will be the Crown Prince, unless the king dies before the child is born.
The Crown Prince’s audacious decision to leave the palace, search for physician Lee Seung hui, and travel the great distance to Dong Nae.
The Crown Prince’s confession to Mu Young that it was HE who committed treason by writing the letter and getting the other scholars to sign it.
Young shin’s decision to take Dan I and turn him into soup, which ultimately leads all of the patients at the clinic to turn into monsters.
References
Is Kingdom historically accurate?
The smallpox epidemic in the US during the 1700s
ASTORY website
Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty - Wikipedia
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8.17 - Special Episode with Jean Rhim to Discuss our Favorites of Everything K Drama
13 september 2024 · 56 min
Today is a special episode of K Drama Chat. Jean Rhim, Sung Hee’s sister, is with us and we share our favorites in a bunch of K Drama categories, including: Lees meer
Best OST
Best Dressed
Favorite Korean Phrase or Word
Favorite Song
Best Supporting Actor and Actress
Best Actor and Actress
Best Villain
Best Abs
Best Historical Drama
Best Modern Drama
Best Ensemble Cast
And many more categories!
Please comment on the blog at https://KDramaChat.com or on Instagram @ KDramaChat.
Next Season 9 begins! We will recap and analyze episode 1 of Kingdom!
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8.16 - Podcast Review of Episode 16 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
6 september 2024 · 2 uur 9 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 16 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. Ernabel Demillo is back to help us analyze the final episode of CLOY. We discuss: Lees meer
The songs we heard during the recap: Same Sky, Different World by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee, Like You by So Soo Bin and Kim Soo Hee, and Here I Am Again by Baek Yerin.
How Captain Ri kept vigil by Se-ri until he knew she was in stable condition.
How it would feel to be given a chance to stay in South Korea after growing up in North Korea.
How Se-ri’s stepmom gave Se-ri a gift when she told Se-ri about Captain Ri’s devotion; this convinces Se-ri to go see Captain Ri before he left.
The heartbreaking scene at the border when Captain Ri and Se-ri manage to steal a few moments and say goodbye.
How General Ri went to rescue his men and his wife kept her own virgil at home, with folded pieces of paper that probably contained poison.
The tragic relationship between Seo Dan and Gu Seung Jun. Seo Dan confesses that she likes Gu Seung Jun and then Gu Seung Jun dies.
How Seo Dan and Se-ri are united in their desire to take down Yoon Se-hyeong. Seo Dan helps Se-ri by getting Mr. Cheon to send records and recordings from China to Se-ri.
How Seo Dan and her mother seem at peace with Captain Ri’s actions, and the end of Captain Ri and Se-ri’s engagement.
The NIS chief with the big heart who allowed Captain Ri to visit Se-ri at the hospital and schedule text messages before he went back to North Korea.
How the text messages allow Se-ri to feel like she is spending the seasons with Captain Ri. Both of them try to honor the other by trying to live a good life.
How life goes back to normal after Captain Ri and his men go back to North Korea, but all of our characters are fundamentally changed.
How Se-ri convinces her brother, Yoon Se-jun, to create a foundation that supports s…
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8.15 - Podcast Review of Episode 15 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
30 augustus 2024 · 1 uur 15 min
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: Lees meer
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 drea…
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8.14 - Podcast Review of Episode 14 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
23 augustus 2024 · 1 uur 15 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 14 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: Lees meer
The songs we featured during the recap: Like a Wild Flower and When That Day Comes by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee.
We learn from Captain Ri himself how, after his brother died, he decided he would never love again, laugh again, have fun again, play the piano again. But everything changed when Se-ri crash landed into his life.
How Captain Ri keeps vigil at the hospital, hiding in the shadows and standing guard at her door.
How South Korea got rid of its gun problem. Today, gun homicides are statistically negligible!
How Captain Ri and Se-ri realize that they each took a bullet for the other. They hug and Captain Ri confesses his love.
How Jung Man Bok bugged Se-ri’s room and his recording proves really important. The recording captures Se-ri’s stepmom apologizing to Se-ri for abandoning her on the beach, and Yoo Se-yeong and Go Sang Ah admitting their collusion with Cho Cheol Gang.
The kiss we’ve been waiting for between Captain Ri and Se-ri!
The physician Heo Jun, referenced by Captain Ri when he’s taking care of Ser-ri.
The growing feelings between Seo Dan and Gu Seung Jun and their epic kiss!
The men in suits who go after Gu Seung Jun corner him on the roof and we don’t know who shows up.
How the former Chairman strips Yoon Se-hyeong of the Chairmanship of the Queens Group and disowns him as his son.
How Captain Ri tracks down Manager Oh and confronts Cho Cheol Gang.
Captain Ri is followed by South Korea authorities and they shoot when Cho Cheol Gang turns around and take a shot at Captain Ri
The five love languages and Captain Ri’s gifts of the recording and food in the pantry to Se-ri.
The K Dramas we’re considering for Season 9 of K Drama Chat. Please keep the suggestions coming!
References
Korean TV’s Unlikely Star: Su…
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8.13 - Podcast Review of Episode 13 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
16 augustus 2024 · 1 uur 11 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 13 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: Lees meer
The songs that we featured during the recap: Someday by Kim Jae Hwan and The Season of Us by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee.
How Se-ri knows that Captain Ri needs to go home; in fact, she’s worried about Captain Ri experiencing Bambi Syndrome.
How the ducklings realize that Se-ri is not a crier. She never cried during the many sad and terrible situations that happened to her while in North Korea, but she’s now crying over a surprise birthday party!
The adorable couple rings that Captain Ri bought for Se-ri and himself!
How “to bunk off” means to play hooky or take the day off. Captain Ri and Se-ri bunk off and go to the movies and visit a beautiful suspension bridge.
Captain Ri’s revelation to Se-ri that they had met on the Sigriswil bridge when she tried to kill herself.
How Gu Seung Jun and Seo Dan are getting closer. Gu Seung Jun has even confessed that he has a crush on her.
When Seo Dan realizes that Captain Ri went to Seoul to save Se-ri, she breaks down. Her engagement is broken and seven years of waiting have amounted to nothing.
The tough decision that Jung Man Bok faces when Cho Cheol Gang finds him and threatens his son.
Kim Ju Meok’s sweet, surprise lunch with the gorgeous Choi Ji-woo.
The former Chairman and his wife are furious with Yoon Se-hyeong and his wife, but the devious couple have one more trick up their sleeve. Se-ri is in real danger as she drives to her father’s house.
We are so glad that Jung Man Bok did not betray Captain Ri and instead collaborated with Captain Ri, Se-ri and the ducklings to protect Se-ri during her drive, and Captain Ri when he went to the warehouse.
The heartbreaking ending where Se-ri, in trying to protect Captain Ri, ends up getting shot by Cho Cheol Gang.
How we need to start think…
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8.12 - Podcast Review of Episode 12 of Crash Landing On You
9 augustus 2024 · 1 uur 19 min
Sung Hee is back from her trip to London! Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 12 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: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap: Seo Dan and Same Sky, Different World by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee
A few shout outs to our listeners who have commented on the blog and given us reviews.
The emotional scene when Captain Ri finds Se-ri in the parking garage. Once again, he’s found her!
Captain Ri and Se-ri clearly love each other but they know they can’t be together. Captain Ri doesn’t try to stay and Se-ri doesn’t ask him to stay.
Geum Eun Dong’s and Captain Ri’s hilarious screen names in the online game they played!
Captain Ri was a shell of himself, not believing he could or should ever be happy, until he met Se-ri. Captain Ri did the same for Se-ri.
How Captain Ri’s men must be absolutely overwhelmed by the wealth of South Korea.
How Yoon Se-hyeong will stop at nothing to become Chairman. It’s an act that he cares about what happens to Se-ri if Cho Cheol Gang takes her!
Why Se-ri’s father wrote his relationship to Se-ri in Chinese or Hanja, when he went to get her from the military.
We get the heartbreaking, soul crushing flashback from Se-ri’s youth when her stepmom left her on the beach. This is why Se-ri has always felt alone and unwanted, and why her stepmom is haunted by her relationship with Se-ri.
Why is the former Chairman, Se-ri’s dad not getting blamed for his extramarital affair with Se-ri’s mom, for conning Gu Seung Jun’s father, and for his financial wrongdoings at Queens Group?
The start of a romance between Seo Dan and Gu Seung Jun. She must be fascinated and intrigued by Gu Seung Jun!
The amazing friendships between the village women.
When Captain Ri found Se-ri’s voice recorder and listened to her confession and his own voice, he realized that they had met in…
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8.11a - Special Episode with Mars from the Moksori Podcast
2 augustus 2024 · 41 min
Today is a special episode. Sung Hee is on vacation so Joanna has a conversation with Mars from the Moksori podcast. We discuss: Lees meer
Mars’ K Drama journey.
Her love of music, especially K Drama OSTs.
Why K Drama OSTs are so amazing and especially effective at evoking emotion.
Our favorite songs from the shows discussed in Season 1-8 of K Drama Chat.
Mars’ favorite OSTs of all time.
The show that Mars is watching now.
References
Moksori podcast on Spotify
Moksori website
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8.11 - Podcast Review of Episode 11 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
26 juli 2024 · 1 uur 14 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 11 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: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap: Here I Am Again by Baek Yerin and Let Us Go by Crush.
In the first half of the show, Se-ri is trying hard to adapt to North Korea. In this episode, Captain Ri and the ducklings are trying to get used to South Korea.
Cho Cheol Gang is now in South Korea and she’s clearly after Se-ri.
Se-ri can’t believe her eyes when she finds Captain Ri on the sidewalk. The hug they give each other makes it clear that they are home in each other’s arms. Now, Se-ri knows that Cho Cheol Gang is after her.
If Captain Ri has one talent, it’s his ability to find Se-ri. Knowing just her neighborhood, he found her in Seoul!
Although Se-ri lies to Captain Ri and tells him that everything is fine with her family, she has to eat her words when Yoon Se-Hyeong and his wife enter her apartment and threaten her if she tries to get in the way of him becoming Chairman.
Se-ri takes Captain Ri shopping for some amazing clothes and a hot haircut. He was so handsome before; now he’s downright debonair!
The reference to the Korean folk tale of Heungbu and Nolbu.
How the ducklings have been dropped into Seoul and they are exploring fried chicken and a South Korea spa.
With Cho Cheol Gang convicted, Mr. Cheon says he and Gu Seung Jun are in danger. Mr. Cheo gets taken by some men, leaving Gu Seung Jun alone and without a place to stay.
Gu Seung Jun gets a phone call from Seo Dan, whom he picks up and who offers him use of her apartment in the border village.
How both Captain Ri and Seo Dan’s mothers ultimately care about their children and want them to be with someone they actually love.
Yoon Se-Jun and his wife tell Se-ri’s mother that Se-ri was in North Korea. Even worse, Yoon Se-Hyeong knew about Se-ri and didn’t do anything about…
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8.10 - Podcast Review of Episode 10 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
19 juli 2024 · 1 uur 5 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 10 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: Lees meer
The songs we feature in the recap: Se-ri’s Choice by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee and The Hill of Yearning by April 2nd.
How Se-ri and Captain Ri have had 5 partings and 5 reunions.
In the end, it was easy enough to get Se-ri home since Captain Ri and his men were back at the DMZ.
Why Captain Ri asked Gu Seung Jun for help and why Gu Seung Jun decided to help Captain Ri get Se-ri back to Seoul.
The Grief Bowl and how the cracked and empty bowl outside the rundown house in the DMZ is a metaphor for how Captain Ri is feeling.
How Se-ri gets back to Seoul and takes back her company, but she is clearly a changed person.
The amnesia game that Se-ri is playing with her family, but Yoon Se-hyeong is not fooled since he and his wife knew that Se-ri was in North Korea.
How Captain Ri gets his brother’s watch from Jung Man Bok, who is guilt-ridden over his part in the killing of his only friend, the man who saved his son.
The trial that got Cho Cheol Gang convinced of multiple crimes, but he is rescued by two Kamaz trucks and is now threatening Se-ri back in Seoul.
How Gu Seung Jun and Seo Dan met at the Pyongyang Hotel and Gu Seung Jun explains how he helped send Se-ri home.
How Se-ri finds Captain Ri on the sidewalk outside her house. He had been looking for her!
How Captain Ri’s men and Jung Man Bok are kidnapped by General Ri and given the mission to find Captain Ri in Seoul and bring him back.
Kim Soo Hyun’s amazing cameo as a North Korea spy posing as a Chinese food delivery man. This is a role he played in Secretly Greatly.
The background and roles of the handsome and talented Ha Seok Jin, who plays Ri Mu Hyeok, Captain Ri’s brother.
References
Vanav facial massager, used by Se Ri when she got to her own apartment
The Grief Bowl…
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8.9 - Podcast Review of Episode 9 of Crash Landing On You
12 juli 2024 · 1 uur 33 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 9 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. The amazing Ernabel Demillo is back to help us recap and analyze this episode! We discuss: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap: My Companion by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee and All Of My Days by Kim Sejeong.
Captain Ri didn’t believe Se-ri when she said she was going home. He was determined to find her!
When Captain Ri punched Cho Cheol Gang, it wasn’t very smart, but he was done and he was out of hope. He felt like once again, he had failed to protect someone he loved.
The language Se-ri uses when she speaks with Captain Ri’s father. She is very respectful and it’s hard to explain the levels of honorifics in Korean.
How Captain Ri’s parents are shocked to find out who Se-ri is, and that she and Captain Ri love each other.
How Captain Ri’s men spread the rumor about who Captain Ri’s father is, and this leads the Senior Colonel to release him from the detention center.
How Captain Ri works out that his father, General Ri, is probably the one who had Se-ri taken.
How Captain Ri and Se-ri discover that they encountered each other in Switzerland and Jeong Hyeok’s Song For My Brother gave Se-ri hope and he ultimately saved her life. This revelation scene was exquisitely filmed and edited.
How Cho Cheol Gang convinced the Military Director to have the Ri residence searched because he thinks Se-ri is hiding there. The search ultimately turns up nothing because Captain Ri and his men did an emergency switch at the DMZ.
Se-ri’s mom and sisters-in-law visit Se-ri’s apartment. Se-ri’s mom is full of worry and regret, while the sisters-in-law covet Se-ri’s things and her business, Se-ri’s Choice.
How our second leads, Gu Seung Jun and Seo Dan, encounter each other at the Pyongyang Hotel bar. They get really drunk and discover each other for the first tim…
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8.8 - Podcast Review of Episode 8 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
5 juli 2024 · 1 uur 9 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 8 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: Lees meer
The song we featured during the recap: Season of Us by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee and Time of Jeong Hyeok for Se-ri by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee.
This is the pivotal episode 8 and it ended on such a cliffhanger!
How Captain Ri feels compelled to save Se-ri and help her get home. He made a promise to get her home AND this is his penance for failing to protect his brother, Ri Mu Hyeok.
He wants to save Se-ri, not so they can be happy together, but so SHE can be safe and happy back in Seoul.
Gu Seung jun and Seo Dan are making the same argument: Se-ri should stay away from Captain Ri to keep him safe.
Gu Seung jun asks Se-ri to marry him so he can keep her safe and bring her back to South Korea. Even if Se-ri would consider this a fake marriage, he would like to make it more than that.
But nothing can keep Captain Ri from Se-ri. He goes alone, unarmed and injured to save her.
How their eyes spoke volumes when they said goodby on Gu Seung jun’s balcony.
Se-ri makes another fateful choice when she takes the car and goes after Captain Ri.
Our new element 48 is talk of first loves.
Captain Ri is out to get Captain Ri, especially now that Gu Seung jun has let Se-ri escape. He wants to get Se-ri convicted as a South Korean spy and take down Captain Ri and his father.
Se-ri pawned Gu Seung jun’s engagement ring and gave everything in the pawn shop to the village ladies. She took the designer men’s watch she had spotted earlier; she intended to give it to Captain Ri as a Christmas present.
We have a double cliffhanger at the end of the episode.
The first was when Se-ri taken at gunpoint. She was asked to make a phone call to Captain Ri to say she was leaving North Korea. She says I love you, a gun goes off, and then the line goes de…
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8.7 - Podcast Review of Episode 7 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
28 juni 2024 · 1 uur 8 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 7 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: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: the regular and orchestral versions of Song For My Brother by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee.
What a joint lock is, in reference to Joanna talking about joint locks in episode 8.6.
Se-ri’s decision to drive to Sariwon Hospital instead of the hospital instead of the airport, and her decision to stay and donate blood to Captain Ri, instead of flying out of the country with the national track team.
Why Se-ri made these choices and what Captain Ri now means to her.
How Captain Ri, at first furious with Se-ri, softens, kisses Se-ri outside, and even confesses his feelings about Se-ri to Seo Dan.
North Korea’s health care system, which the government says is free, but in reality, is in sad shape, and not free. Patients often have to bribe doctors to receive care.
How Se-ri now needs another way out of North Korea, so she calls Gu Seung jun, who realizes that Se-ri is in danger, and comes to get her at the hospital. She goes willingly, not realizing where he’s taking her.
Gu Seung jun and Seo Dan’s meeting and Gu Seung jun’s dating and marriage advice to Seo Dan.
Cho Cheol Gang’s efforts to arrest Captain Ri, which are thwarted by the arrival of Captain Ri’s parents.
The arrival of Seo Dan and her mother. Seo Dan doesn’t accept Captain Ri’s feelings about Se-ri and tells him that he will forget Se-ri since she’s leaving anyway.
Se-ri’s father’s announcement during the shareholder meeting that Yoon Se-ri is dead and Yoon Se-hyeung is now Chairman.
Hong Chang sik and Park Su chan’s realization that the recording of Se-ri’s mayday call went nowhere because Yoon Se-hyeung wanted to be Chairman.
The back story behind the beautiful Song For My Brother, which Ri Jeong Hyeok played on the pier in Switzerland, …
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8.6 - Podcast Review of Episode 6 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
21 juni 2024 · 1 uur 4 min
Listeners, we had to republish this episode without the music during the recap. So sorry! Lees meer
Comment on this episode by going to KDramaChat.com
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 6 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 heard during the recap: Here I Am Again by Yerin Baek and Picnic by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee
Our four leads have all met at this point and there are some interesting triangles forming.
Gu Seung jun, Se-ri and Captain Ri are each trying to figure out what’s going on, but each is missing key information.
Gu Seung jun is hoping to use the fact that Se-ri is in North Korea as his bargaining chip against Yoon Se-hyeung. Little does he realize that his asking Cho Cheol Gang to keep Se-ri in North Korea is putting her in real danger.
How all of our research has led us to believe that listening devices are commonplace all over North Korea, especially in places where foreigners congregate.
We’re not sure if Seo Dan loves Captain Ri but she is certainly not going to let another woman take him away from her.
Captain Ri is a man who keeps his promises. He promised to keep Se-ri safe, so he goes after the Kamaz trucks at the end of the episode. We also see that he intends to honor his promise to Seo Dan, a promise made seven years ago to marry her.
Captain Ri and Se-ri have basically confessed their feelings for each other. She does it through her words, while he expresses it through his actions.
Cho Cheol Gang shows Jung Man bok a photo of Se-ri, saying he needs to have her never leave North Korea. Jung Man bok is in agony because he will be party to another murder, this time of someone who has been kind to his wife and son.
We see that Cho Cheol Gang is untouchable because he’s done favors for, or given money to, all of the senior officers.
Captain Ri protects Se-ri at huge personal cos…
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8.5 - Podcast Review of Episode 5 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
14 juni 2024 · 1 uur 10 min
We had a technical issue and had to re-publish this episode without the recap music. Find the music on YouTube or Spotify, it's great! Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 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 in the recap: Sunset by Davichi and My Companion by Nam Hye sung and Park Sang Hee.
Captain Ri’s big confession to Se-ri that he has a fiancée, which of course leads her to deny that she is at all interested in him.
The lack of love between Seo Dan and Captain Ri; we wonder if she loves him.
How the village women rally around Se-ri when they think she’s been dumped by Captain Ri.
Chimaek (fried chicken and beer) vs. dried pollack and beer.
The story of Gyeonu and Jiknyeo, which is a story from Korean mythology.
Captain Ri driving Seo Dan back to her house and then visiting his parents.
How Captain Ri again went out on a limb to protect Se-ri when he asked his father to help him get Se-ri out of the country; the plan is to get her out through a track team going to Europe.
How asking if someone has eaten is a common way of greeting people in Korea; it’s a sign of caring to ask and then offer food.
How Captain Ri always seems to be confident about his future and maybe it’s because he doesn’t think about his future and doesn’t believe he can ever be happy again.
The really expensive Chopard watch that Se-ri pawns and the watch she sees at the pawnbroker’s shop.
How Se-ri needs to change her appearance for her upcoming trip to Pyongyang. She chooses the “Goodbye” hairstyle, of all things!
How Captain Ri has made a HUGE enemy out of Cho Cheol Gang when he rescued his men and opened up an investigation into the Kamaz truck accidents.
The recurring goodbyes and partings in this show.
The terrible situation that Jung Man Bok finds himself in. He contributed to the murder of Ri Mu Hyeok…
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8.4 - Podcast Review of Episode 4 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
7 juni 2024 · 1 uur 12 min
Listeners, this episode had to be edited to remove the music during the recap. So sorry! Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 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 feature during the recap:
Flower by Yoon Mirae
Spring in my hometown by Nam Hye Sung and Park Sang Hee
How desperate Se-ri must have felt when she missed the boat that would have taken her out of North Korea.
How Se-ri’s desperation leads her to sneak out of Captain Ri’s house to try and paraglide back to South Korea, but Captain Ri saves her and they both manage to escape the State Security officials. Lots of plot holes here!
The finger heart that Se-ri gave Captain Ri. We think she was showing deep and sweet appreciation, but Kim Ju Meok thinks she’s in love with Captain Ri.
Is there anything Captain Ri can’t do? He hand roasts coffee beans for Se-ri’s drip coffee and he makes her bean sprout soup for her hangover.
How during Ma Yong Ae’s birthday party, Se-ri was there to promote Captain Ri, but she still managed to show a true kindness to Myeong Sun by modifying the dress that Myeong Sun made.
How Se-ri is being very clever by calling Ma Yong Ae “unnie.” Unnie implies respect for an older sister, woman or friend, and it also implies a closeness.
How South Korean goods are very likely illegal in North Korea and how hard it must be to keep KPop, Korean Dramas and K Beauty out of North Korea!
How Captain Ri and Se-ri are showing true kindness to Jung Man bok and his wife. We think the show is setting up a big conflict because Jung Man bok is tasked with listening in on Captain Ri and Se-ri.
How we learn that Se-ri is the illegitimate daughter of the Chairman, and there is a sad flashback of Se-ri alone on a beach, counting.
Even though the Chairman has named Se-ri’s younger brother as the new Chairman, the Chairman’s wife, Se-ri’s …
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8.3 - Podcast Review of Episode 3 of Crashing Landing On You (CLOY)
31 mei 2024 · 49 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 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: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap:
Yong ae and villagers by Nam Hye Seung and Park Sang Hee
Photo of my Mind by Song Ga in
How Captain Ri is lying through his teeth about Se-ri and this is so unlike him! He’s actually doing so many things that are out of character!
How Captain Ri and Se-ri are looking at each other in a new light because of certain incidents, including the beggar boy to whom Se-ri gave food, and Se-ri’s gifts to Captain Ri and his men.
Stairway to Heaven, the K Dramas that Kim Ju Meok was watching.
How memories that are lost, that come back, or that are revealed over time are more common than we thought and are a new K Drama element!
How Captain Ri became a K Drama cliche when he kisses Yoon Se-ri in the boat hold, to maybe throw off the Coast Guard about to barge in on them.
How Captain Ri is often so aloof and confident when he’s in trouble. Could this be because of his father? Does this family relationship make him feel untouchable?
Se-ri needs Plan C to get out of North Korea and now we have Seo Dan, who’s come back from Russia and claims to be Captain Ri’s fiancee.
Gu Seung Jun is now in North Korea but it’s possible that despite his money, he may not be safe, because Lt. Commander Cho Cheol Gang threatens to turn him over to his enemies if he’s not respectful.
We get introduced to Jeong Man bok, the wiretapper who helped Cho Cheol Gang murder Ri Mu Hyeok. Now Cho Cheol Gang realizes that Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok is Ri Mu Hyeok’s brother and he wants to take down the entire family.
The Korean idea of “noonchi,” which roughly translates to social skills, and literally means eye measure. From an early age, Koreans are taught to be aware of social status and to read every situation very carefully.
References
Co…
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8.2 - Podcast Review of Episode 2 of Crash Landing On You (CLOY)
24 mei 2024 · 58 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 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: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: But It’s Destiny by 10cm and how 10cm got its name.
Our gratitude to our listeners who commented on the blog, and gave us a review on Apple podcasts. Thank you!
The Korean tradition of doljanchi where babies are asked to pick an object from a table in front of them; the object they pick will influence their future.
How Se-ri is is someone who has learned to trust and obey her instincts, but when she turned left instead of right at the fork, after leaving Captain Ri, she made the wrong decision. Or did she?
How Captain Ri now thinks that Se-ri is a South Korean spy who managed to evade the land mines and electric fence; how did she do that?
How Se-ri uses all of her skills as a woman and business person to get Captain Ri and his men to help her.
The story of Heung Bu and Nol Bu that Se-ri tells Captain Ri.
How Captain Ri is so upstanding and always ready to deal with wrongdoing appropriately.
How Captain Ri goes to Pyongyang to investigate the death of the grave robbers, but is instead investigated until he is saved by General Go Myeong Seok, who knows him and his father.
How Pyongyang is the most modern city in North Korea. Much of the rest of the country is without electricity most of the time, meat is hard come by, and life is really hard.
How Gu Seung joon is about to become Co Cheol Gang’s newest customer.
We learn a shocking fact when we see Se-ri in the flashback, asking a staff person at a Swiss Institute for euthanasia; she was denied and recommended instead to go see the Swiss mountains.
Our favorite K Drama elements, including: the food that Captain Ri makes for Se-ri, a connection from the past (and it’s only episode 2), the many product placements, and the K Drama reference.
The amaz…
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8.1 - Podcast Review of Episode 1 of Crash Landing on You (CLOY)
17 mei 2024 · 51 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 1 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: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Give You My Heart by IU.
The title of this K Drama in Korean is 사랑의 불시착, which translate to Love’s Emergency Landing, or Love’s Crash Landing.
How this show was inspired by a real event involving South Korean actress Jung Yang, whose leisure boat drifted into the maritime boundary between North and South Korea and had to be rescued.
Some familiar elements that we saw in Queen of Tears.
We introduce our characters:
Captain Ri Jyeong hyeok
Yoon Se-ri
Captain Ri’s men, including Sergeant Pyo Chi Su, Soldier Kim Ju Meok, and Private Geum Eun Dong
Se-ri’s father, the Chairman of the Queens Group, and her mother
Se-ri’s competitive brothers and their conniving wives
Gu Seung joon
Why there is a North Korea and a South Korea.
A bit about the origins of the Korean War.
Sung Hee’s visit to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in 2011, with her father.
How the Chairman has just been released from prison and he names Se-ri as his successor, causing anger and angst among her brothers.
Se-ri goes paragliding to test out a new line of extreme sportswear, and she gets caught in a freak tornado.
How Se-ri ends up in North Korea, gets caught by Captain Ri, runs away, and ends up in a North Korean village.
How Se-ri is almost caught by commanding officer Cho Cheol Gang but Captain Ri grabs her and tucks her away inside his gate in the nick of time.
Why Captain Ri would save Se-ri from Cho Cheol Gang.
The grave robbers who turn out to be hired by Cho Cheol Gang, and who orders the grave robbers killed after they disclose the locations of the artifacts.
How we are up to 45 K Drama elements!
What we’re watching right now, besides Crash Landing On You, of course.
References
US Relations with North Korea
Give You M…
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7.9 - Final Podcast Review of Queen of Tears
10 mei 2024 · 1 uur 54 min
Today, we’ll be doing our final review of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. Ernabel Demillo is back to help us analyze this amazing show! We recap the entire show and then we discuss: Lees meer
The song we featured during the recap: Way Home, sung by Kim Soo Hyun.
How we rewatched the first few episodes and realized a few things, e.g.,
When Hae-in was an intern, Hyun-woo would roll up his sleeves whenever he helped her out at the copier; this is probably when she realized he had sexy forearms.
In episode 1, after going out drinking with Kim Yang-ki, Hyun-woo walks home, while pulling leaves of a branch
The character arcs of each of our characters:
Soo-cheol
Cheon Da-hye
Hae-in’s parents
Hyun-woo’s parents
Hyun-woo’s sister and brother
Grace
David Yoon or Yoon Eun-seung
Moh Sul hee
Hae-in
Hyun-woo
How the death of Su-won caused Hae-in’s family to unravel, and Hae-in’s miscarriage caused her marriage to unravel.
How Hae-in’s mom and David Yoon’s mom both neglected their children, but believed they had time to repair the relationship. In Moh Sul hee’s case, she never got the chance because David Yoon died.
How Hae-in had the most dramatic story arc and it’s ultimately Hyun-woo who was the catalyst for her transformation.
Hae-in’s feelings toward Hyun-woo change over the course of 16 episodes and there are key moments in the show when her feelings changed.
When we think Hyun-woo started to fall in love with his wife again.
How the show did a great job of showing the same scene from two different perspectives to show how misunderstandings happen.
Our favorite K Drama elements.
Our favorite lines from the last two episodes.
The show that we will recap and analyze in Season 8 of K Drama Chat. Want to find out? You gotta listen to the episode!
References
Way Home by Kim Soo Hyun - th…
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7.8 - Podcast Review of Episodes 15 and 16 of Queen of Tears
3 mei 2024 · 2 uur 15 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 15 and 16 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. Lees meer
Ernabel Demillo is back to help us analyze episodes 15 and 16! We discuss:
The songs we feature during the recap:
More Than Enough by Kim Tae Rae
Heart Flutter by dori
How crazy it was that David Yoon got to claim that he was Hae-in’s fiancé by donating a lot of money to the medical center.
How Hae-in’s notebook was found by David Yoon, tossed into a fire, salvaged, and eventually made it back to Hae-in so she could read her own words about herself and Hyun-woo.
How we despised Grace but she did manage to redeem herself by encouraging Moh Sul hee to track down Hae-in, returning the pink MP3 player, and making sure that the notebook made it to Hae-in.
How David Yoon’s lies were so evil but because they had elements of truth, they became believable.
But despite David Yoon’s lies, Hae-in is uncomfortable around him. Her body “remembers” David Yoon and Hyun-woo.
How Hae-in decides to learn more about Hyun-woo because she is uneasy around David Yoon, Hyun-woo is clearly an important piece to her life’s puzzle, and her heart races when she sees him.
Kim Soo-hyun’s acting throughout this show, but especially when Hae-in goes in for surgery, when he’s arrested, and when he sees her afterward.
How our hearts just couldn’t take it when Hyun-woo is hit by the car and then later shot in the back.
We learn more about David Yoon’s dark childhood and the secrets he kept about his mom.
The beautiful ending where we see Hyun-woo and Hae-in get married, have a daughter, grow old, and eventually, Hae-in comes to get Hyun-woo and bring him to heaven.
Comments from our listeners about Queen of Tears, as well as their recommendations for shows to analyze in Season 8 of K Drama Chat.
References
Heart Flutter by dori…
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7.7 - Podcast Review of Episodes 13 and 14 of Queen of Tears
26 april 2024 · 1 uur 18 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 13 and 14 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap:
Promise by Choi Yu Ree
Last Chance by So Soo bin
How our predictions about the secret fund didn’t pan out. The most obvious thing actually happened: David Yoon and Moh Sul hee found the money and are using it to buy Queens Group stock illegally.
How we feel about Hyun-woo, Hae-in’s dad, and Hyun-woo’s dad keeping a secret from Hae-in about the possible side effects of the operation that could save her life.
Hyun-woo’s burden throughout the show. He’s been taking care of Hae-in and her family, and battling David Yoon. All the attention is on Hae-in, but his burden is great.
How there’s so much crying in these two episodes – by everyone!
The amazingly sweet segments between Hyun-woo and Hae-in, including during their trip to Gurang-ri, scenes from their honeymoon in Germany, and how the couple is always touching while in Hyun woo’s apartment.
How Hae-in decides against the surgery because without her memories, she won’t be herself. We don’t blame her!
How it was ultimately Hyun-woo who changes her mind about the surgery. When she saw how miserable he was when he thought she had died in the car crash, she decides that she must live.
We finally learn the origins of David Yoon’s obsession with the Hong family and how he fell in love with Hae-in.
We wonder why both sides are still talking to Grace, who is double crossing everyone.
How we’re crushed that Hyun-woo has been arrested and he wasn’t by Hae-in’s side when she woke up from her surgery.
The other couples in the show: Soo-cheol and Da-hye + Beom-ja and Yeongseong
Korean funeral customs.
The importance of kimchi and kimchi making.
The K Drama elements in these episodes, including all …
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7.6 - Podcast Review of Episodes 11 and 12 of Queen of Tears
19 april 2024 · 2 uur 6 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 11 and 12 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss: Lees meer
The songs we feature during the recap:
Can’t get over you by Paul Kim
From bottom of my heart by Kim Na Young
Some recent comments from listeners and mistakes from last week’s episode.
Hae-in’s mother’s regret now that she knows her daughter is sick and she reflects on how she’s been so awful to her daughter all these years.
How and why Hae-in continues to reject Hyun-woo, who knows she loves him and is desperate to show Hae-in that he will stay by her side.
Hyun-woo and Hae-in appear to be working together to take down David Yoon but they’re still keeping secrets from each other.
How Hyun-woo’s small apartment fills Hyun-woo and Hae-in with regret. Could their marriage have been different if they had lived in a small apartment and had to be together at the end of each day?
Kim Soo-hyun’s amazing acting, especially when he was playing David Yoon in the car. He had David Yoon’s stare, mannerisms and tone of voice.
How Hae-in’s dad and brother are going through a transformation.
Cheon Da-hye is back and Soo-cheol takes her back, against his mother’s wishes.
How David Yoon is unraveling. He’s lying to Hae-in, he basically kidnapped her, and he ordered that Hyun-woo be killed!
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because we learn that Moh Sul-hee had David Yoon’s adoptive parents killed, and she burned the orphanage where David Yoon was abused.
The chairman’s ultimate sacrifice when he realized Moh Sul-hee’s treachery and killed himself to end her power of attorney over his assets.
The hunt is on to find the 900B won that both sides believe is somewhere in the Hong residence. It looks like Hyun-woo leads the Hongs to find the secret panic room, but what is inside?
We welcome Naa Evan…
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7.5 - Podcast Review of Episodes 9 and 10 of Queen of Tears
12 april 2024 · 1 uur 51 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 9 and 10 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, and Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We are joined by Ernabel Demillo, a frequent guest on K Drama Chat and Department Chair of the Communication and Media Culture Department at Saint Peter's University and host of the Emmy-award winning "Asian American Life" show on CUNY-TV. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Fallin’ by Isaac Hong.
Queen of Tears is now the second most popular K Drama of all time on tvN, after Crash Landing on You; both shows are written by Park Ji-eun.
tvN has announced two extra episodes at the end of Queen of Tears; what will the episodes be about?
Kim Soo-hyun has been nominated for Best Actor in the Baeksang Awards; we feel that Kim Ji-won, Han So-hee, Park Seo-joon, and Kim Tae-ri were snubbed.
The Hong family is in a terrible situation. They’ve been locked out of their house, they don’t have cars, their credit cards have been canceled, they’ve lost control of their company, and they’re lost their jobs.
Both dads are having an identity crisis: they have lost their jobs and purpose.
Hyun-woo and Hae-in are driving us crazy because they won’t communicate with each other!
We think their lack of communication stems from the time Hae-in emptied the nursery and Hyun-woo left the marital bedroom. When this happened, they stopped talking to each other and then their pride wouldn’t let them ask the other back into the bedroom.
Hyun-woo and Hae-in kept missing opportunities to patch up their relationship, including when Hae-in overheard Hyun-woo talking about wanting to be by her side, when Hyun-woo came home all beat up, and when Hae-in realized the pink MP3 player was hers.
There are many in Korea who think the story of Hae-in and Hyun-woo is based on the true story of the granddaughter of the Samsung chaeb…
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7.4 - Podcast Review of Episodes 7 and 8 of Queen of Tears
5 april 2024 · 1 uur 22 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 7 and 8 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Love You With All My Heart by Crush.
Soo Cheol calls Hyun-Woo “maehyeong” 매형, which means older sister’s husband.
How Hae-in loses her will to live when Hyun-woo admits that he wanted a divorce.
How Hyun-woo decides to make Hae-in hate him so that she has a reason to live.
How Hyun-woo wants to stay by Hae-in’s side even if it means being the subject of her rage, humiliation and hatred; he has powerful reasons for wanting to be by her side.
Both Hae-in and Hyun-woo are left wondering if everything the other person said and promised was a lie.
Through the flashback of the marriage proposal, we can piece together how our couple got engaged, broke up, got back together, and finally married.
How we held our breaths when Hyun-woo discovers that Hae-in has lost her memory of Germany and Hyun-woo wanting a divorce, which means Hae-in has to relive this trauma TWICE.
The crazy divorce settlement scene with Song Joong-ki as Vincenzo Cassano.
How Hae-in realizes that Hyun-woo was suffering during their marriage; she learns this when she overhears Hyun-woo at Grandma’s Home Cooking restaurant.
The Chairman wants Hyun-woo fired by Hae-in defends him from the Security Team.
How Hyun-woo followed David Yoon when he was following Hae-in. We see a very different Hyun-woo in that scene. We think we will see a very different Hyun-woo from now on.
How David Yoon pressured Soo-cheol to sign the resort deal with David Yoon, and then the deal went south, giving Pione Investment the chance to swoop in and pretend to save the deal.
But when the investors pull out and the Chairman’s embezzlement investigation comes out, David Yoon ends up with control over Queens Group.
Meanwh…
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7.3 - Podcast Review of Episode 5 and 6
29 maart 2024 · 1 uur 24 min
Today, we’ll be discussing episodes 5 and 6 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We recap the episodes and then we discuss: Lees meer
How some Korean families have a pattern where the children share one syllable of their name. An example would be: Baek Hyun-woo and Baek Hyun-tae. This helps us keep the characters straight and know who is related to whom.
How Hyun-woo is increasingly ambivalent about his wife. Despite his anger and hate toward his wife, he can’t help it, he begins to fall in love with her all over again.
What is probably the root of the couple’s problems: Hyun-woo came home one day to find staff clearing out the nursery. When he got a cold response from Hae-in, he ordered his things moved to the bedroom and the couple started to sleep separately.
Hyun-woo and Hae-in keep missing opportunities to patch up their marriage.
Hyun-woo’s sister says Hyun-woo likes soft women, women who need to be taken care of. Is this why he was attracted to Hae-in in the first place and why he’s falling for her again?
Hyun-woo’s confession about his tears when he found Hae-in Germany was his last ditch attempt to figure out his feelings toward his wife and to see if they could patch things up in their marriage.
Hae-in doesn’t understand why he’s pulling away. She keeps saying, “I never said that.”
Hae-in’s tough armor is starting to crack. She is being nice to others and noticing happy, loving families around her.
Hyun-woo keeps abandoning Hae-in and Hae-in, for her part, has been abandoned by her husband and family.
The crazy plot by David Yoon, Grace, Cheo Da-hye and the former employee. We think David Yoon has a ponzi scheme that he’s running, that he doesn’t really have a fund that is returning 90% to investors.
The evil things that David Yoon is doing to the Hong family, especially Hyu-woo, incl…
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7.2 - Podcast Review of Episodes 3 and 4 of Queen of Tears
22 maart 2024 · 1 uur 18 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 3 and 4 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss: Lees meer
The three versions of the song Tell Me It’s Not a Dream by 10cm.
Why the show is called Queen of Tears.
How our leads seem not to care about each other much BUT they defend the other to anyone who criticizes them and Hyun-woo definitely doesn’t like seeing Hae-in with David Yoon.
How we learn that Hyun-woo was a sharpshooter in the military.
How the Netflix website says that Hae-in has never stopped loving her husband and she can’t understand why he’s pulling away. We see lots of things to back this up: she seems happy that Hyun-woo is jealous of David Yoon, she defends him against her family, and she wants to cuddle with him.
David Yoon turns out to be quite the snake. We think he’s out to gain control of the Queens Group. He’s plotting with two associates; the three of them have bought shares; they’ve convinced Queens Group directors to purchase shares in a fund and use their Queens Group shares as collateral; they plan to have the Queens Group Chairman investigated for embezzlement. David Yoon may also be setting up Hae-in to fail.
Hyun-woo seems to be the only person who is suspicious of David Yoon. Even if he says he doesn’t love Hae-in, he won’t lose her to David Yoon.
Joanna thinks there is some nefarious connection between David Yoon and Moh Sul-hee, the Chairman’s mistress and she explains why.
Hae-in’s seems to be looking at Hyun-woo differently since the reception with the Hercyna Chairman. She is definitely hot and bothered when she sees Hyun-woo in just a towel after his shower.
Hae-in and Hyun-woo have a sweet scene in bed and we see a sweet flashback from when Hae-in visited Yongdu-ri.
We also learn about a tragedy in their marriage: that they were expecting a baby on O…
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7.1 - Podcast Review of Episodes 1 and 2 of Queen of Tears
15 maart 2024 · 1 uur 8 min
There was an issue with music licensing, so we're sorry that there is no music during the recap. You can find the songs discussed on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music. Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episodes 1 and 2 of Queen of Tears, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in, Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo, Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-Seong, Kwak Dong-Yeon as Hong Soo-cheol, Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-Hye. We discuss:
The song we featured during the recap, The Reason of my Smiles by BSS.
We introduce the characters of this show and stumble over their Korean names.
How there appear to be five main leads, which seems to be common in K Dramas.
The show is set in the modern day, in Seoul and the village of Yongdu-ri.
The central premise of the show, which is that Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in are locked in a loveless marriage. Hyun-woo wants a divorce but nobody is on his side on this matter. Then Hae-in announces that she has a rare brain tumor and she has three months to live. Hyun-woo sees a way out of this marriage and maybe a chance to inherit some wealth, if he can convince his wife of his love.
Whether the couple was actually in love at the time of their marriage, and their motivations for marrying.
How Hae-in was initially suspicious of Hyun-woo, but between his actions, his Internet searches and his shooting of the wild boar, she is looking at him differently.
How cloud cytoma doesn’t appear to be a real disease.
The origins, structure and power of the chaebol conglomerates in South Korea.
How this show is a real study on marriage because there are so many different perspectives on marriage, many of them not very positive.
How village life is so often romanticized in these K Dramas.
Arranged marriages and whether the practice still exists today.
How the royal tradition of having sons-in-law prepare the food during jesa appears to be made up by the Hong family in this show.
Kim Soo-hyun’s amazing acting and comedic timin…
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6.10 - Review of Episode 10 of Gyeongseong Creature
14 maart 2024 · 1 uur 5 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 10, the finale of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joong-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Forever, instrumental version, by SUHO
How Yoon Chae-ok is nowhere to be found until Beom-oh says he knows where she is. Mrs. Nawol and Mr. Gu are dubious but Jang Tae-sang believes him.
We have a disagreement over who Jang Tae-sang intended to use the tickets to Shanghai. Did he intend for Yoon Chae-ok and her father to use them? Or did he hope he and Yoon Chae-ok would be able to go to Shanghai?
The sadness, loss and betrayal Yoon Chae-ok must have felt when she learned that her father had gone to her mother and blown up the hospital.
How Sachimoto helps Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok escape the hospital. He is the only Japanese character who apologizes for the atrocities being committed at the hospital.
How Yoon Chae-ok tried to break things off with Jang Tae-sang because she didn’t want to be a burden to him and she just can’t see a future where she can be happy. She’s been on a suicide mission for most of this show. He, however, can’t live without her, so he will devote himself to keeping her safe.
Lady Maeda’s confrontation with Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok and her orders to her men to kill our leads. There is also a language shift here, with the conversation starting in Korean and shifting to Japanese.
We learn that Lady Maeda lost a friend because of Seishin. Does this explain why she’s in Joseon and why she had Seishin taken prisoner so many years ago?
How the creature escapes the fire at the hospital, tracks Yoon Chae-ok, slices through the Japanese thugs, and ends up accidentally killing her own daughter!
How Yoon Chae-ok told her mother that it’s time to stop, and confessed that Jang Tae…
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6.9 - Review of Episode 9 of Gyeongseong Creature
8 maart 2024 · 57 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 9 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joong-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
How Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok are reunited and they manage to sneak a few moments of joy together.
How Yoon Chae-ok doesn’t want to be forgotten and she makes Jang Tae-sang promise that they will always remember each other.
The amazing kiss between Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok!
Jang Tae-sang’s plan to blow up Ongseong Hospital.
How the Japanese control the news; the killings by Myeong-ja aren’t reported until Ishikawa is dead and then he is reported as having died honorably while going after the Joseon serial killer.
How Yoon Chae-ok was on a suicide mission when she killed Dr. Ichiro. She can’t see a future, while Jang Tae-sang is motivated by a better future.
After so many years of looking for her mom, now that she’s found her, Yoon Chae-ok can’t imagine a future life, and she certainly can’t imagine a life filled with happiness.
How Lady Maeda didn’t seem too upset when she heard about her husband’s condition; in fact, she asked Dr. Ichiro to put an end to his misery.
Yoon Joong-won has gone back into the hospital to end his wife’s misery; he lets himself be imprisoned, but then manages to get away from his captors and is now loose in the hospital.
Nobody can find Yoon Chae-ok but we learn that she is at Lady Maeda’s house.
Jang Tae-sang has figured out that Lady Maeda has Yoon Chae-ok, and he challenges her, saying he’ll never stop looking for Yoon Chae-ok.
When Lady Maeda tells Jang Tae-sang about his staff’s betrayals, he counters that his people would not have had to betray their loved ones if it weren’t for the crimes of the Japanese.
Jang Tae-sang confesses to Mrs. Nawol that he knew about her betrayal a short time after his mother …
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6.8 - Review of Episode 8 of Gyeongseong Creature
1 maart 2024 · 59 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 8 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-hun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
How Jang Tae-sang was able to escape from Ongseong Hospital by getting the better of the Japanese soldier and holding up Lady Maeda to let him leave with her out of the hospital.
Lady Maeda’s motivations for nursing Jang Tae-sang back to health.
Lady Maeda calling Seishin, the creature, sensei or teacher.
Commissioner Ishikawa confronting his wife about what is happening at Ongseong Hospital and what she did to Akiko.
How we’re learning that Lady Maeda is the silent power behind what happens in Gyeongseong.
How Jang Tae-sang negotiated with Ishikawa for the release of the Bonjeong merchants.
How Mr. Gu was tortured and now we understand Mrs. Nawol’s warning about betraying your loved ones with faced with torture.
How Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok are reunited and their hug said so much.
How Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok are able to steal a moment of happiness together while buying dumplings but it doesn’t last long.
How Myeong-ja has been on a killing spree through Gyeongseong and now Ishikawa knows she’s the murderer responsible for killing people and eating their brains.
How Yoon Joong-won, Yoon Chae-ok’s father, now knows what happened to his wife.
The K Drama elements in this episode, including: crying, lots of triangles involving Lady Maeda, Jang Tae-sang’s confession to Yoon Chae-ok, umbrella scene, and JTS pulling YCO out of the way of a speeding car when they’re chasing Myeong-ja.
What we think of the title of the episode: Awakening, between Justification and Excuse.
What happened to Unit 731 after the war.
The shows we’re watching now and the shows we’re considering for Season 7 of K Drama Chat!
References
The Na people
What happened…
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6.7 - Review of Episode 7 of Gyeongsong Creature
23 februari 2024 · 48 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 7 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We also talk about Wi Ha-jun, the actor who plays Kwon Jun-taek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Forever (instrumental version) by SUHO.
The growing feelings between Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok, although it’s not exactly the time or space to express their feelings.
The conflict between our leads when Jang Tae-sang asks Yoon Chae-ok to go down to the truck with the other women and she refuses.
The ultimate sacrifice of the Joseon soldier who helped our leads fight off the Japanese soldiers.
How Jang Tae-sang made a big sacrifice when he decided to not escape from the hospital and instead create a diversion so everyone else can escape. Is he being a martyr or does he have a plan to escape?
The elaborate plan that Jang Tae-sang sketched out to Mrs. Nawol to help all of the prisoners escape.
How the prisoners escape via the waiting rickshaws and Mr. Gu ends up getting beaten and arrested.
How Mrs. Nawol seems to be everywhere, including when Kwon Jun-taek was returned to his father through the expensive vase from the House of Golden Treasure.
Mrs. Nawol’s assertion that Master Jang has a hand in everything that happens in Bonjeong.
How Jang Tae-sang met his deadline of finding Myeong-ja before the cherry blossoms fall.
How Lady Maeda, through Dr. Ichiro, was responsible for Myeong-ja and Yoon Chae-ok’s mother getting picked up and imprisoned.
How Lady Maeda had a huge role in the building and funding of the hospital.
How Col. Kato is wracked with curiosity because *someone* drank the water with the najin in his office.
The K Drama elements in this episode, especially the connection from the past between some of our characters, Jang Tae-sang he…
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6.6 - Review of Episode 6 of Gyeongseong Creature
18 februari 2024 · 53 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 6 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-hun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we featured during the recap: Time by Baek-a.
Our upcoming, fun-filled weekend with Ernabel in New York; follow along with our adventures on Instagram @kdramachat.
What we think of Jang Tae-sang thinking that he was busy staying alive and only caring about himself and his business until he met Yoon Chae-ok.
Jang Tae-sang’s origin story, including how his mother saved him and told him to stay alive, and how he came to meet Mrs. Nawol when she was thrown out of the local jail.
Jang Tae-sang is clearly influenced by his mother: his mother made him promise he would do everything he could to stay alive, and perhaps his reluctance to join the Patriotic Society was because his mom was killed because of her involvement in the independence movement.
We know now what Mrs. Nawol meant when she told Mr. Gu to betray her and everyone else if he ever finds himself tortured.
Jang Tae-sang’s argument with the rebel leader in Ongseong Hospital, who unlocked everyone’s cell and didn’t for Jang Tae-sang.
Hannah Arendt’s The Banality of Evil and Eichmann in Jerusalem. Eichmann was a normal, law-abiding person who followed the rules, and obeyed the law when he was told to round up Jews and have them killed.
How Jang Tae-sang tells Kwon Jun-taek that he will turn a blind eye if Kwon Jun-taek gets in trouble at the hospital, but in the end, Jang Tae-sang devises a plan to get everyone out of the hospital, including Kwon Jun-taek and the other prisoners.
We wonder why Commissioner Ishikawa is so motivated to save a nobody like Myeong-ja.
Yoon Chae-ok holding Col. Kato at gunpoint, and how he outmaneuvers her and ultimately has her chained in the cell with the creatu…
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6.5 - Review of Episode 5 of Gyeongseong Creature
9 februari 2024 · 1 uur 2 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 5 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-hun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we featured during the recap: Forever by SUHO, instrumental version.
Kwon Jun-taek’s background, motivations and relationship with Jang Tae-sang.
Kwon Jun -taek’s father now knows that his son is a rebel. He tries to bribe Dr. Ichiro with a briefcase full of money.
How Col. Kato is the scariest man in the base. He doesn’t care about the soldiers or the Joseon people being killed by the creature.
How Col. Kato realized that Yoon Chae-ok is the creature’s daughter and is now wondering how he can use her.
How Yoon Chae-ok wants to fight to the end, while Jang Tae-sang is going to do whatever he needs to do to stay alive.
The heartbreaking realization by Yoon Chae-ok that her mother had been, or is, at the base.
How Jang Tae-sang finds Yoon Chae-ok and while he wants to escape and find another way to learn about her mother, she can’t give up the search for her mother.
The possible kilig moments in this show between our two leads.
How Jang Tae-sang is a planner, while Yoon Chae-ok has a bias for action.
What’s happening with the other characters: Yoon Joon-won, Lady Maeda, Commissioner Ishikawa.
What our K Drama elements are and why we talk about them.
The K Drama elements we find in this episode: Crying, food, wrist grab, triangles, flowers.
The title: Desperation: Between denial and truth.
The beautiful and talented Kim Soo-hyun who plays Lady Maeda. She spent time in the US, speaks perfect English, and has played roles in American movies!
References
Claudia Kim in Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald
Claudia Kim in Avengers: Age of Ultron
41 Important Japanese Honorifics
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6.4 - Review of Episode 4 of Gyeongseong Creature
2 februari 2024 · 56 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song that we feature during the recap: Time, electric version, by LEAFY.
We thank listeners who recently commented on the website.
We now know what Jang Tae-sang was really doing when he was goofing around Gyeongseong: playing mahjong, riding a rickshaw aimlessly, ordering a new suit at the tailor shop.
Why Sachimoto risked his neck and help Jang Tae-sang; we think it’s related to Yoon Chae-ok’s mom.
What we think of Kwon Jun-taek: where he came from, his relationship with Jang Tae-sang, and why he entered the hospital (to look for two comrades who were recently picked up by the Japanese Army).
Why Jang Tae-sang didn’t reveal who Sachimoto was when Yoon Chae-ok first met Sachimoto
The heartbreaking scene where Yoon Chae-ok talks to Sachimoto about his drawing of her mother. Sachimoto admits that he drew Yoon Chae-ok’s mother but he says he doesn’t know where she is or what happened to her.
How Sachimoto is the only person who has the full picture: where Yoon Chae-ok’s mom is and what happened to her.
Jang Tae-sang’s flashback of a boy in the snow.
How Jang Tae-sang changed his mind and helped the children escape the hospital.
Why Yoon Chae-ok continued to insist on looking for Myeong-ja.
The growing feelings between Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok.
How Dr. Ichiro is trying to train the monster.
How the monster broke out of her prison and managed to take the elevator upstairs, killing scores of soldiers in the process.
We now know why Lady Maeda wanted Myeong-ja kidnapped: she wanted the baby!
The cliffhanger of an ending where Jang Tae-sang is face to face with the creature.
The K Drama elements in this episode, especially the brewing triangl…
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6.3 - Review of Episode 3 of Gyeongseong Creature
26 januari 2024 · 53 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 3 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
The song we feature during the recap: Time by Baek A, the acoustic version
Whether or not we think Jang Tae-sang had an affair with Lady Maeda
Jang Tae-sang’s plan to re-enter Ongseong Hospital
The game mahjong
The drawing of Yoon Chae-ok’s mom and how it landed in Jang Tae-sang’s hands through the tailor
Jang Tae-sang’s encounter with the samurais who beat him up
How Sachimoto helped Jang Tae-sang and Kwon Jun-taek re-enter the hospital
How Yoon Chae-ok doesn’t hesitate to kill the doctor when she saves the children
The significance of fireworks to the Korean military and Korean culture
The amazing cinematography in this episode, particularly during the fireworks scene
How Dr. Ichiro is trying to train the creature
What anthrax is really is and Joanna’s anthrax story
What we thought about the title of this episode: Signal, Between Obsession and Perseverance
The amazing and beautiful Han So-hee
References
Rules of Mahjong
FBI Investigation into Amerithrax Case
Han So-hee in Wikpedia
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6.2 - Review of Episode 2 of Gyeongseong Creature
19 januari 2024 · 59 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-hun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss: Lees meer
How we are grateful to our listeners! We have listeners all over the world and our audience is growing!
The song we feature in the recap: Forever by SUHO.
How the Japanese and Korean characters in this show speak both Japanese and Korean and it can be very confusing.
How knowing what language our characters are speaking gives you a sense of who has the upper hand in the conversation.
The sleuths, who are really good, because they figured out where Myeong-ja is and how she got there (she was sent there by Lade Maeda).
How Mr. Gu wonders if Myeong-ja is another of the many women and girls who have disappeared in Gyeongseong, a reference to the Japanese Army practice of kidnapping women and girls during WWII and turning them into sex slaves, or what they called “comfort women.”
How we now know that Lady Maeda had a powerful motive for getting rid of Myeong-ja AND she has some relationship with Dr. Ichiro.
The few lighthearted moments of the show, especially when Jang Tae-sang is dumbstruck when he sees Yoon Chae-ok all dressed up in the light blue suit and pillbox hat.
The secret hand signal that the Korean independence army members use to signal each other.
The significance of Manchuria because it shares a border with what is now North Korea.
The origin story of Sachimoto, including the fact that he drew Yoon Chae-ok’s mom!
How we know that the creature is Yoon Chae-ok’s mom through her swollen left eye and wooden flower pendant.
Our thoughts on why Jang Tae-sang decides to go back into Ongseong Hospital.
The K Drama elements we see in this episode, especially the triangle between Lady Maeda, Commissioner Ishikawa and Myeong-ja, and the umbrella scen…
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6.1 - Episode 1 of Gyeongseong Creature
12 januari 2024 · 47 min
Welcome to Season 6 of K Drama Chat! In this season, we will recap and analyze Gyeongseong Creature! Lees meer
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 1 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-jun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. Gyeongseong Creature was written by Kang Eun-kyung, directed by Chung Dong-yoon and Roh Young-sub. The first seven episodes were released on Netflix on December 22, 2023. The last 3 episodes dropped on January 5, 2024. We discuss:
The song we feature during the recap, Time by Baek A.
How the setting of this show is personal to both of us because our parents were kids in Asia who lived under the Japanese occupation during WWII.
The Japanese Army retreating from Harbin, China. Turns out Unit 731 of the Japanese Army, which was based in Harbin and was later discovered to have been doing human experimentation and biological weapons manufacturing. This is absolutely horrifying!
After the war, the US basically hid the atrocities and pardoned the researchers in exchange for their data because the US was doing its own biological weapons research.
How Korea had been under Japanese rule officially since the annexation of Korean in 1910.
The characters who are introduced in this episode, specifically:
Jang Tae-sang, the self-made man and owner of the House of Golden Treasure, a successful pawn shop in Bukchong, a fancy neighborhood in Gyeongseong (what we now know as Seoul).
The three staff members of the House of Golden Treasure: Manager Gu, Mrs. Nawol, and Beom-o.
Police Commissioner Ishikawa, husband of Lady Maeda, who is the daughter of General Maeda.
Hospital Dr. Ichiro and Colonel Kato, who look like they run the hospital and are in charge of the human experimentation.
Sleuths Yoon Joon-won and Yoon Chae-ok, who are known to never give up when looking for missing pers…
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5.21 - Special Review of Mr. Queen with Ernabel Demillo
5 januari 2024 · 1 uur 17 min
Today, we’re doing a special recap and review of Mr. Queen with Professor Ernabel Demillo. For those of you who don’t know Ernabel, or Ernie as we call her, she is Department Chair of the Communication and Media Culture Department at Saint Peter's University and host of the Emmy-award winning "Asian American Life" show on CUNY-TV. We discuss: Lees meer
Why we chose Mr. Queen in the first place for Season 5
Our favorite scenes from the entire season
The scenes we found the funniest, all of them involving Shin Hye-sun, of course!
That we think the show is ultimately about identity, change and transformation
How every one of the main characters was transformed in some way
Whether the king will love the queen in the same way, now that Jang Bong-hwan has left her body
The small issues we had with the show
How King Cheoljong DID try to enact some reforms, but was not successful
Asian-American Life (AAL), the only monthly TV show devoted to the Asian-American diaspora, life and experience in the US
How the theme of identify keeps coming up in episodes of AAL
Ernie’s favorite AAL segments, how they find stories, how they convince people to be featured, and how they
How Ernie manages to be a full-time professor at St. Peter’s University AND be a producer and host of AAL; she’s also writing a book loosely based on her mom’s experience as a child in the Philippines during WWII
Why we chose Gyeongseong Creature, the show that we will recap and analyze in Season 6 of K Drama Chat
References
Why do some Joseon kings have a title of Jo and other Jong?
Blog with recipes from Mr. Queen
The person behind the hanboks and jewelry in Mr. Queen
Cheoljong of Joseon on Wikipedia
Asian-American Life on YouTube
Feedspot's List of Top 40 K Drama Podcasts
What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report
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5.20 - Episode 20 of Mr. Queen
30 december 2023 · 1 uur 6 min
Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 20 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jung-hyun as King Cheoljong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan. We also reveal the show that we will recap and analyze in Season 6 of K Drama Chat. Lees meer
We discuss:
Our thoughts on this final episode of Mr. Queen: it was thrilling, satisfying and touching.
How the king and queen managed to enter the palace, get all dressed up, and fight off guards.
How the king and queen looked so regal and badass as they walked into the palace courtyard.
How the scarred eunuch shoots both the queen and the king and it looks like it’s the end for them, until we learn that their bulletproof vests protected them.
How this real danger situation for the queen sends Jang Bong Hwan back to Seoul, this time for good.
How the king fights off Kim Jwa-geun and then retakes his throne.
How Shin Hye-sun does an amazing job of becoming Kim So-yong the minute Jang Bong-hwan leaves her body; her acting was amazing!
How the queen and baby almost die but recover overnight, and that’s when the king (and us!) start sobbing.
How the king metes out punishment to the Kim and Jo family ministers by not killing them, but confiscating their assets and letting them lead lives of humiliation.
How the Grand Dowager Queen and Dowager Queen are banished to the West Palace and will never be allowed to leave again.
We discuss: Who did the king ultimately fall in love with?
And now that Jang Bong-hwan is gone, what is Kim So-yong left with? Does she have Jang Bong-hwan’s memories? What about his cooking skills?
How the combination of Jang Bong-hwan and Kim So-yong is who the king ultimately fell in love with.
The amazing K Drama elements in this episode, including all the crying, the OST, the resolved triangles, the Google product placement.
The show that we will recap and analyze in Season 6 of K Drama Chat! (You have to listen …