Air City: Episode 6

by javabeans

Um, yeah, so my complaint with Episode 5 still stands in Episode 6, although 6 was a little better than 5. I think my explanation of the issue was a little confusing, but here’s a simple way to put it (I hope): Air City is cutting up its episodes into weird chunks, ending storylines in the middle of the episodes rather than at the end. I suspect the reason for that is to have these nifty cool cliffhangers, but it’s annoying me because in order to do that, it messes up the flow of the rest of the episode.

I don’t have a problem with the stories themselves. It’s the presentation of the stories that bothers me. For instance, you could have the funniest joke in the world, but if you mess up and say the punchline first, you’ve ruined the joke. Air City is totally ruining the joke for me. Wah.

But who knows, I may be alone in this complaint. Since the series is moving along at a nice pace, and the actors are good-looking and the chemistry building up, this may seem like a small issue to harp on. But to me, it’s such a glaring fault that I can’t ignore it. How can you just end a story in the middle of an episode, then start a new story at the halfway mark? It feels schizophrenic.

(Random) SONG OF THE DAY

Shin Hye Sung (of Shinhwa) – “Buen Camino” [ zShare download ]

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EPISODE 6 SUMMARY

The airport greets North Korean officials and is put under stricter security guidelines over the next two days until the summit is over. The bird issue is still present, which is a problem because heightened security limits their response possibilities. The operations team is pressed to come up with ideas to get them through so they can reopen the runway.

Do Kyung spends most of her time researching about birds while being noticeably downspirited about something, which we can attribute to her hearing Ji Sung admit his lingering feelings for Myung Woo. Ha Joon adorably brings her dinner and notices her bird drawing; Do Kyung explains that when they were kids, she used to draw birds to cheer up her sister.

Ha Joon leads the airport crew in a round of a welcome song as the VIP North Korean guests pass through, and Do Kyung and the other airport staff extend their greetings as well. Do Kyung asks how they manage wild birds, and they mention painting a large image of a hawk on the ground, with outstretched wings, to scare the other birds away.

Myung Woo, meanwhile, assists in transporting an in-flight patient and takes an immediate flight back to Incheon to make it to a meeting. Ji Sung arrives early to see her there, and the two sit in awkward silence. Do Kyung walks in and witnesses a moment of intimacy as Ji Sung offers Myung Woo his glass of water. Seeing that, Do Kyung walks out, remembering Ji Sung’s admission of being unable to forget Myung Woo, and buries herself in the library to research some more.

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Later that night, however, Do Kyung sees Myung Woo exhaustedly awaiting the bus, and for a moment struggles internally whether to ignore her or not. She decides to approach, and offers Myung Woo her place to stay for the night, since Myung Woo’s house is so far away. Do Kyung explains she’ll be working late all night, so Myung Woo should be undisturbed.

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Do Kyung returns to the runway, where a huge swath of cloth has been laid out with the outline of a hawk like a huge stencil, which she intends to spend the night painting. Ji Sung arrives to offer his friendly assistance, but she coolly turns him down, saying, “This is my work. And Seo Myung Woo is currently at my place. Go see her.”

She writes down her address and hands it to Ji Sung, who stares intently at Do Kyung, not sure what to make of it. Meanwhile, she busies herself with painting, trying to act cool.

Ha Joon sees Do Kyung working alone via the security monitors, and can’t believe she’s so prideful/superior/aloof as to insist on doing everything herself, when all she had to do is make one phone call for help. Do Kyung says she didn’t want to subject herself to everyone’s looks, and Ha Joon tells her fine, do it all by herself, then.

He goes back to the office where the team managers are sitting around, wondering if Do Kyung’s serious about painting the entire drawing herself. They’d all heard about it and think the idea’s silly. It’s pretty funny because Ha Joon merely stands there, not saying anything in particular, and the team managers all come around because of their guilty consciences. Manager Noh credits Ha Joon for coming to persuade them to assist Do Kyung (although Ha Joon hasn’t said anything about it). And so, everyone ends up following Ha Joon back to the runway.

Do Kyung thanks Ha Joon for coming back — she thought he was going to leave her to do it alone. Ha Joon, who’s been sensing Do Kyung’s mood, tells her, “Let me be your trash can. Dump everything on me. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

He figures she’s not close enough to Ji Sung for him to have hurt her, and Do Kyung agrees, they don’t really mean anything to each other. Still, she admits that when she heard Ji Sung talk about another woman, she felt embarrassed — she doesn’t know why she’d feel so bad when they aren’t in any relationship, and it makes her feel stupid. She says that Myung Woo’s at her place right now, probably accompanied by Ji Sung. Ha Joon asks why they’d be at her place together, and Do Kyung replies, “Because I sent him there.” Ha Joon sighs and tells her she really is a dummy.

Meanwhile, Ji Sung’s drives on his way to see Myung Woo… but I must be getting better at this telepathy thing, because today he makes a U-turn and drives back toward the airport. Woot woot!

Too bad the super-stealthy secret agent isn’t more careful, and his return to the airport isn’t exactly what we’d call graceful. Damn. He should be lucky he didn’t get shot. Ten times over. But he assists the team in their all-night stakeout as they manage to catch the poachers.

After the bird drawing is finished, the employees wonder if such an idea would really work. Do Kyung answers, “Of course it’s ridiculous.” They ask what she means, and she admits smilingly that they’ve all been tricked. She’s actually just drawing the picture as a gift to her younger sister. She doesn’t expect it to fix the bird problem. Her revelation is met with a mixture of disbelief, humor, and bafflement.

Still, in the early light of morning, everyone watches as the drawing does in fact succeed in repelling a flock of birds, to their huge relief. Do Kyung relaxes next to Ha Joon — who feels her gesture much more keenly than she does.

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Yi Kyung, piloting her plane down to the now-open runway, looks down at the large picture with her co-pilot in confusion. She gets a message over the radio that it’s a present to a younger sister from her unni. With tears in her eyes, Yi Kyung knows exactly what that means.

Upon arrival, Yi Kyung goes to see Do Kyung: “You and your grand gestures. Who asked for such a big drawing? Just a small drawing on a piece of paper would have been enough. And that was when we were little. How old am I now?” Both sisters tear up, and Yi Kyung says with a choked voice, “Thanks.”

With this gesture of reconciliation, the sisters walk off together. And Do Kyung’s little trick redeems this rather empty bird storyline for me. It’s a cute little plot, and I don’t mind its relative silliness — but what I disliked was how it seemed pointless in the larger scheme of things. Plot that does not affect any of the characters or their emotions is, to me, wasted storytime. At least now there’s an emotional payoff.

Having settled that, Do Kyung goes to see Ha Joon, who’s on his way home to sleep off his all-nighter. Sensing she’s stalling because she’s afraid of going home and finding Myung Woo and Ji Sung together, Ha Joon mentions casually that Ji Sung apparently stayed out all night with the team on their stakeout. So Do Kyung goes home to see Myung Woo cooking breakfast, and they eat together.

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Meanwhile, two-thirds of the way through the episode, we pick up a new story, because these writers are doing their best to drive me crazy with their story structure. Have they never watched American television? Koreans are masters at miniseries (or “limited-run drama series”), but if Air City can be used as an example, they still have no idea how to handle episodic television. (Episodic meaning each episode is a self-contained story, rather than serial/ongoing stories like traditional kdramas.) Each episode should contain a story with a beginning, middle and end. Simple concept, right? Instead, what they’ve been doing is having the episode contain the middle and end of one story, then the beginning of another. Seriously, writers. Go watch the first season of Alias. It’ll help, I promise.

Anyway.

The new story is about drugs. And this is what I mean about telling the punchline first and ruining the joke, because if Ji Sung is debriefed on a drug case, and then you cut to a shifty-looking passenger clutching his stomach in pain, you’ve given away your whole plot before you’ve even begun. Plus, now that you have announced we are in the DRUGS! story, everything that happens after this is going to be tainted with the “drugs” tag, and that means I have figured out the entire rest of the episode already. I am not saying I am clever — I am saying YOU, writers, fucked up what could have been a clever plot by giving it away from the beginning.

So NIS has their eye on some snazzy-dressed passenger who’s taking secret photos of the airport, and interferes with airport security who also have their eye on Snazzy Suit. That causes friction between the two sides (NIS versus airport), because NIS power trumps the airport, and they allow Suit to leave the airport, monitoring his movements to a hotel.

Furthermore, Shifty Stomachache Guy is taken to the hospital under suspicion of smuggling narcotics. They see that the guy has ingested balloons of drugs, which he’s tied with floss to his teeth (to aid in their removal), which — ewww. They assume he’s a low-level lackey and ask who sent him, but the guy just begs them to save him. Pulling up the drugs using the floss lines is too dangerous, so Myung Woo goes in and operates.

Meanwhile, Do Kyung meets a high school classmate from Singapore, who’s passing through the airport on business. They catch up, and the guy tells her she’s changed a lot — she looks prettier, and he guesses she’s in love, or dating. She denies it, but he can tell from looking at her. He tells her wistfully that he truly liked her a lot back then (the last time they met, she’d told him to get lost and never talk to her again, calling him a stalker), and Do Kyung apologizes for treating him so harshly.

He gives her a pair of sneakers, which are a special sample of the brand he’s selling, and thanks her for delivering them for him, since he’s short on time and can’t go himself. Of course, Ji Sung passes through the terminal just in time to witness the guy giving Do Kyung a hug goodbye.

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And it looks like Do Kyung has just been Brokedown Palace’d, since she’s apprehended when the sneakers she’s carrying set off the drug-sniffing dog, and she’s brought in for questioning.

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Both Ji Sung and Ha Joon run through the airport, as the officer rips apart the shoe lining to reveal the drugs hidden within.

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