Big: Episode 15
by javabeans
Oy, my head hurts. This wasn’t a straight-up bad episode, which I might have even been fine with, given the entertainment value of bad. (See: Dr. Jin.) Instead, it was outright incomprehensible, leaving me scratching my head in confusion and wondering if I suddenly lost a few brain cells in the story comprehension department, because I felt like everyone in the drama was acting like stuff made sense… only IT MADE NO SENSE. I don’t understand. I don’t understand. I don’t understand.
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EPISODE 15 RECAP
Kyung-joon initiates the blood transfusion with his body, leaving us to wonder: Did he swap? DID HE SWAP?!
In a dream-limbo state, Yoon-jae sits beside the racecar bed, reading the Miracle book to sleeping Kyung-joon as with a bedtime story. Big Kyung-joon observes this as an out-of-body experience from the sidelines. He comes face to face with his hyung, although it’s trippy that they’re both wearing the same body, and Kyung-joon wonders, “Seo Yoon-jae? Were you waiting for me, remaining just as you were when we met in the water?”
Now we see that this dream state has a watery feel to it, with light bending and reflecting around them as though they’re both still underwater. Little Kyung-joon is awake too, but Big Kyung-joon wonders if he’ll lose all his memories once he leaves this place.
Yoon-jae holds out his hand, and Kyung-joon hesitates: “If I take that hand, I’ll wake up as a happy kid.” This is one of the better twists in that Kyung-joon is facing the ultimate ignorance-is-bliss scenario—the only thing is, his unhappy, fully informed self has to be the one to choose to let go of that knowledge in favor of that ignorance. Like Charly, peering into the fate of Algernon.
Kyung-joon reaches out a hand to take it, but before they make contact, Da-ran’s voice calls out his name. She’s at his bedside, and he opens his eyes. Still in his shell body. Ah, so the switch wasn’t an automatic side effect of the transfusion?
He sits up and she checks that he’s still Kyung-joon. He gets up and heads for his hospital room, Da-ran hot on his heels. Mari’s at his bedside, and his body is still asleep.
Da-ran joins them and calls his name. Kyung-joon looks at her for a long, long moment—and we return to dreamland, where the two hands are still outstretched. Take it or not? Kyung-joon thinks, “If the me that was here disappears, there’s somebody who becomes unhappy. Give me a little more time.” Yoon-jae registers the request and lowers his hand.
In the real world, both ladies anxiously await proof of his identity. He says in this cool voice, in stiff jondaemal, “Yes, I am Kang Kyung-joon. Gil Da-ran Teacher.” He acts like he doesn’t understand what happened—and furthermore, he pretends he’s lost all his memory post-accident.
Ah, interesting. So he’s going to prepare Da-ran for the eventual blank-slate version of him, only he gets to have control over this scenario. I’m not sure if that’s shrewd, or a terrible idea in the making.
He turns to Mari for an explanation over Da-ran, feigning indifference to everything. It’s a totally unnatural way to respond to being told you’ve swapped bodies with the brother you never knew you had, but I suppose portraying a realistic response isn’t really his priority.
The parents arrive and Mom embraces him worriedly. Mari notices how Kyung-joon doesn’t react to her touch—he must really not remember a thing.
They go home, and Kyung-joon acts like this is all new to him. Mari’s chipper about Kyung-joon’s no longer being in love with the teacher, while Da-ran tries not to act crushed. Kyung-joon keeps up the distant act though he does stop upstairs to hover his hand above Da-ran’s head (twenty feet away from it), as if wanting to pat it comfortingly.
Mari pushes her luck by informing Kyung-joon that they’d fallen in love, but he scoffs at her: “Don’t lie. I remember everything.” What, you’re going to share this big secret with the bulldozer? He explains that the lie will become true when he really wakes up, and that suddenly disappearing on Da-ran will be too much for her. So, he wants to undo everything now, to help erase what they shared together. Which, wut? How does that even make sense? Just rip the band-aid off and do it for real, rather than going through the pain of a practice round.
Mom watches at Kyung-joon’s hospital bedside and tells Se-young she wishes he’d be able to accept them easily when he wakes, with a face as peaceful as the one he wears in sleep. Well, duh. That’s the easy way out where you don’t have to account for any of your sins, of course that’s what you want. You get no insight points for that statement, lady.
Kyung-joon tells Da-ran that Mari filled in all the gaps of his memory—like how he married Da-ran so she could be with Yoon-jae and also look after Kyung-joon. Anything other than that, Mari has supposedly told him not to wonder about, since it’s painful. He figures that his lost memory is good for both of them, a comment that has her looking hurt. He adds that he’ll keep up the Yoon-jae act, but she doesn’t have to look after him, “Because I hate when other people interfere.”
It’s jarring and hurtful for Da-ran to suddenly be relegated to an “other,” an outsider with no influence or importance in his life. He says he’d rather do things alone—being around her is awkward. He even knowingly eats pizza with mushrooms, to emphasize the memory loss.
Da-ran asks if he’s just making good on their promise to pretend not to know each other, but he feigns ignorance. She asks, “Are you really going to act like that? Do you really feel nothing when you look at me?” He replies, “Yeah.”
She keeps looking for a crack in his facade, wanting to believe it’s just an act. She reminds him of the ten-ten clock and asks him to throw away a bag of trash—the stuff she’d rescued previously. Kyung-joon complies, but pauses by the curb to look in the bag, finding the moon ticket she’d printed out among their other mementoes.
Da-ran comes outside and tells him she knows he’s faking, but that there’s no need to rush the scenario even if it’s going to happen later. Well thank you for speaking sense for once, Teacher. She says, “When you said you’d lost your memory, I was so scared. When you said everything we went through together had gone away, everything in my sight turned white.”
He sticks to his denial, so she challenges him to throw away the bag. He tosses it in the garbage truck—goodbye flowers, panda, 20-year-old Hyungnim liquor. Stunned, she watches the truck sweep up the trash and crush it.
She’s near tears, unwilling to believe it, but he tells her that he really can’t remember and therefore her reactions just make him uncomfortable: “So don’t act so burdensome and just throw it away.”
Finally, she tells him fine, she’ll throw everything out: “But there’s so much trash to clear, it might take a while. So even though it feels burdensome, put up with it.” On his side of his whited-out door, Kyung-joon fights his own tears and forces himself not to go after her. I guess I might have more sympathy for his pain if it weren’t so stupidly motivated.
Da-ran cries, “How can you turn everything into nothing?” That’s what I’M sayin’.
At the hospital, Mari has Choong-shik take photos of her glued to Kyung-joon’s bedside so she has proof of her devotion. She imagines that he’ll be touched at her loyalty, picturing the fairy-tale scenario where he wakes up as the sleeping prince and she’s the Snow White waiting for him, telling him, “The person you fell in love with while you were asleep is me.”
He blinks at her confusedly, so Snow Mari grabs his face and growls ominously, “Believe me. MARRY ME!” Okay, the fact that she can’t even be nice in a fantasy cracks me up, but more so the fact that Mari seems to consider this scenario an ideal one.
Mari instructs Choong-shik to erase everything in his head about, say, the fake-ring she bought and replaced for Da-ran, and only remember how she spent every day taking care of Kyung-joon so he can play eyewitness. He points out that that means she’s copping to spending every day with Choong-shik, but she says blankly that she’s erased all such thoughts from her brain.
Choong-shik tells her that insisting on it doesn’t make it true. Love doesn’t stick around in your brain, but in your heart. “Jang Mari, no matter where you are or what you do, I’ll find you not with my memory, but my heart.” Then he ruins his cool exit by bumping into a table, ha. It’s okay, Choong-shik, you’re still the most mature character in the bunch, even though I’m not sure that’s a compliment to anybody.
Kyung-joon and Da-ran meet with Mom, who says she’s trying real hard to accept Kyung-joon as her son. Oh, congratulations, you get a cookie. Kyung-joon points out that Kyung-joon may not accept HER as parent; how would he feel knowing why he was conceived and then abandoned? Mom says that’s why it’s best for Kyung-joon not to be told, but he jeers that it’s an excuse for Mom and Dad to feel better.
Da-ran looks at Kyung-joon suspiciously—this rings false to her. Or rather, perhaps too true for someone who supposedly shouldn’t know this. Afterward she asks if he remembers this, and he says that the moment he saw his parents, he felt such anger that the memory tagged along with the emotion.
She sighs, “So you remember all the things I wish you wouldn’t, and say you’ve forgotten everything I wish you would.” He asks if she’s referring to something about herself, and then says, “When I see you, I don’t feel anything coming to mind, so I don’t remember anything.” Aw, and ow.
At home, she points out all the ramyun she’d bought for him because he like a particular brand, which he again says he doesn’t remember. She says that memory or no, his liking of it should be there, so they sit there eating ramyun together. And then to extend the point into a metaphor about herself, she tells him, “See, you like it. You don’t have to say so, I can just tell. That’s enough for me.”
Kyung-joon asks Mari for a favor: Once he swaps back to his body, don’t let him meet Da-ran, or tell him a word about what happened all this while. He tells himself it’ll be okay if they make things as though they never were: “I’ll erase them in advance.”
Which, again, huh? I so don’t get his train of thought. Are you doing this for her sake, or your own? Because if you have to play God in your own life like this, it just seems like you’re going through a lot of trouble to keep everybody unhappy. Bah. It’s not even noble idiocy because I can’t see where it’s noble. It’s just… idiocy.
Da-ran continues making plans to switch schools to one outside of Seoul, which coincides with the Seo family’s impending departure to Germany as Yoon-jae seeks treatment. Oh, so he’s still going even after the blood transfusion? Her parents don’t understand this separation (I’m with them), but she says she’ll explain it all later.
Da-ran finds Kyung-joon at home, typing up a report to be given to his family regarding Kyung-joon. He’s not going to just let them jerk around Future Amnesiac Self; he wants them to do some of the work getting to know him and trying to be attentive parents.
He adds that Mari informed him that there were some feelings between the two of them, but that he has no memory of them to get over. But he advises her to get over hers, and that pushes her over the edge.
Angry now, she says sarcastically that there’s nothing to remember: “It’s just a scandal. Ah, you won’t remember, but you liked me. I said I didn’t like you, but you brought me flowers and blew the wind to me and sang me songs. I was so won over that I found it cute. But I have no intention of drawing out this child’s play any further. I’m just ashamed of myself and afraid that someone will find out. Since you’re offering to act like nothing ever happened, I’m the one who’s grateful.”
She storms off to cry, leaving him shaken as well.
Kyung-joon drops off a journal with his aunt and uncle, telling them that it’s because Kyung-joon won’t remember stuff when he wakes up—like uncle selling his house.
The Gil family hears about Da-ran’s job interview and search for a home near the new school, worrying about the state of the marriage. Choong-shik seeks Kyung-joon out to ask if he’s really just going to send her away and go to Germany, without a care: “Brother-in-law, you’re quite cold.”
That rattles him, and he sits at home in agitation. Da-ran had told him she’d be home late or not at all given her interview, and he worries that she won’t come at home at all before his departure next week. Her belongings have been packed and she’s been cleaning up, which has him feeling uneasy.
Kyung-joon tells himself it doesn’t matter since he’ll forget soon enough, but saying the words aloud gives them a sad finality: “I won’t see her today… or tomorrow…”
That gets him moving, at least. He gets in the car and drives, arriving at the school just as Da-ran arrives for her interview. She pauses to look at sunflowers, remembering the bouquet he threw out. Are you going to pick them? You’d better pick them.
Da-ran exchanges pleasantries with a teacher while waiting to meet with the principal, and Kyung-joon overhears that teacher then chatting with another. They wonder why the Seoul teacher’s coming here in the wake of her divorce—here in the sticks, she’ll be under more scrutiny and face more gossip than at her current school.
It’s those magic words that spur Kyung-joon into acting—that coming here will be more painful for her—and he interrupts the interview to take Da-ran away.
He accuses her of running away to the boonies—she said she’d forget everything, but if she hides away here after changing jobs, losing her husband, and leaving her family, she’s hardly forgetting anything at all.
Da-ran cries, “Yeah, I wish I were like you, able to get over everything in one shot. I wish what I said about loving you could go away, that I could take back admitting my wayward feelings. No, I wish I hadn’t met you at all.”
Kyung-joon says, “Since I messed everything up for you, everything will be fine once I leave.” Da-ran: “Yes. I hope that’s what happens.”
You people! I just. Don’t. Get. Is it me? Tell me it’s me. That this all makes sense and this angst has purpose and I’m the idiot for missing how all these pieces fit together perfectly into a solid narrative whole. Because I’m not following anything so far in this episode. It’s frankly hurting my head.
Da-ran’s parents find a bit of encouragement hearing that Yoon-jae asked about the rural school. But it’s not enough given Yoon-jae’s impending departure, and Mom urges Dad to step in and talk with her about it.
So Dad takes Da-ran out for a drink and asks if her running away to a new job is an attempt to cast away the husband, or grab onto him. If you say you don’t know, I am going to slap you. Da-ran says she knows what she mustn’t do, but asks about his struggle from years ago when traveled to an island trying to send Mom away. What if she had told him she didn’t care, that she forgot all about him? Then would Dad have been able to say he forgot too?
Dad says no, he would have stayed on that island for a long, long time. Da-ran figures that since Dad is like her, he wouldn’t have been able to leave that island for the rest of his life.
Dad says that with things you mustn’t allow yourself to do, running away to the countryside isn’t far enough. Are you trying to comfort her, or send her away? She wonders if going farther would work—Dad’s island trip didn’t work, after all. She sobs, “Father, I don’t think it would work even if I ran to the moon.”
Kyung-joon gets a call from Dad, and heads to the pojangmacha to tend to a drunk Da-ran. She starts to stumble off, but he stops her before she trips over her own feet.
She mumbles, “You may be able to erase it in one shot, but I can’t do that. But I’m good at enduring things. I can endure because I like you. And I can let you go because I like you. But if I’m supposed to forget about liking you, what strength can I use to endure? You asked me to just remember you. Can’t you just remember me too?”
Yoon-jae’s parents wonder about the kids’ relationship, like why Da-ran told Mom that they hadn’t yet filed the marriage registration paperwork. There’s a big family dinner tonight with both sets of parents, so they’ll have to see how things play out.
Da-ran tells Kyung-joon of her plans to announce the end of the marriage. Saying it’ll be harder with him around, she tells him to use the hospital as an excuse to stay away. She’ll take care of the rest.
Choong-shik worries about the big family dinner, sensing that noona’s going to make a big announcement. Ah, at least I can relax a little, because I swear, Choong-shik is the only character I still understand. Mari declares that she’s going to go to the family dinner too, because why draw boundaries with the girl who doesn’t see any?
Kyung-joon demands the watch back from Mari, saying it’s the only thing he has from Da-ran and he needs to return it, “And return that time to her.” Erm… you know that’s not how time-space works, right? I get that it makes for nice wordplay, but there are some rules to punning: First off, the words have to make sense before you play with them.
Kyung-joon uses Da-ran’s explanation of how she’d let go of her “mental strings” to be with him, so once she realizes that he’s gone, things will return to their original places. Yes, if emotions were chess pieces, which they aren’t, because feelings aren’t little wood figures you move around on a board! Lordy.
Kyung-joon offers her a ride, assuring her that he’s not tagging along to her announcement dinner. But she realizes he’s driving away out of Seoul entirely. He says that there’s something they have to take care of first.
They arrive at the lake where they’d gone the first day, just before the accident. He tells her that when he returns to his body, he’ll return to this time in his memory. Oh thank you, you’re finally telling the truth. It only took 50 excruciating minutes to find some sense.
He tells her that the Kyung-joon who’d been with her will disappear—the reason Yoon-jae never woke up was to stop time for him on his return. “So turn your time back to that time too.”
He returns the watch and sets it to 10:10: “Your ten-ten will disappear forever, and the Kang Kyung-joon you loved will also go away.” He throws the watch into the water, telling her to do that with her feelings, to return to the time she stood her hoping to hear Yoon-jae’s confession of love.
He leaves her at the lakeside, taking in the realization that everything will soon erase whether they want to or not. (Begging the question: Why the need for this episode, then?) She thinks back to their times together, such as the time Kyung-joon had asked her not to forget him—back when he’d been afraid she’d only have eyes for Yoon-jae upon their re-swap.
Then she tromps right down into the water, fishing for the watch.
The in-laws convene at Uncle’s restaurant that evening, sitting uncomfortably while waiting for the kids. Choong-shik and Mari arrive while Da-ran hitches a ride back, caked in mud and clutching the watch.
As she runs, Kyung-joon arrives to address the adults, explaining that he and his parents will be going to Germany. His parents will stay after his surgery, and he’ll return to Da-ran. But he doesn’t mean as himself, but as Future Yoon-jae: “When Seo Yoon-jae returns, everything will go back to their rightful places. I’ll return and hold on to Da-ran again. Right now you have the wrong idea about Da-ran being in love with someone else, but there is no such person.”
But Yoon-jae’s mother remembers KKJ as the Other Man. Kyung-joon confirms, “He does not exist in this world.”
Just then, Da-ran bursts in through the doors, exclaiming, “No! That person does exist.”
But at the same time, the vitals spike on Little Kyung-joon’s hospital monitor.
She continues, “Because of him, my heart will always be stuck at the time ten-ten. We’ve held hands and crossed the uncrossable sea. We’ve been to the moon together, and the city on the ocean floor. I’m crazy, aren’t I? Because it couldn’t be erased, I’m telling you all. So that it can’t become erased, everybody please listen up and remember it.”
She smiles up at Kyung-joon, and declares, “I love KKJ.”
COMMENTS
It’s amazing how much one episode can change things. Previously, I was watching Big with a sense of detached amusement—maybe not everything flowed smoothly, and maybe there were some plot points I didn’t care for, but I was generally along for the ride, bumps and all. And then Episode 15 hit and not only slammed on its figurative brakes and screeched everything to an abrupt halt, it basically shoved you out the door, ran you over, backed up and ran you over backward, then forward, and back again a few times. Leaving you broken and confused, wondering Kerrigan-style, “WHYYYY?”
Aside from the very obvious reason that we needed to fill the time, I see no reason for Episode 15 to have existed. What was the purpose of the fake amnesia, given the impending real amnesia, especially if he’s just going to pretend that the fake is the real? Was it to ease Da-ran into a (false) sense of… what’s the opposite of security? Shoving you off a cliff without warning, only you feel sorry about it while acting like you meant to do that all along?
I actually think the amnesia bit is pretty spiffy, if it would only just play out already. Why do we have to mess with the whole practice round? It’s like doing a dress rehearsal for a funeral: Let’s get into character with the sadness now, to make the real thing worth it! I mean, WTF?
Alternately, you could use the impending amnesia as a wonderful ticking clock, making the lovers appreciate the teeny sliver of time together before he’s gone. It would have been way more understandable if Kyung-joon hid the amnesia bit from Da-ran and enjoyed their last moments, keeping her from the pain of discovery so they could bask in the glow just a few days more. That would be dumb in a different way, but at least it makes sense from a story and a human-psychology standpoint: You protect the ones you love. Instead, he’s trying to deal with future amnesia… by hurrying it up faster, and inflicting intentionally the pain upon Da-ran that he doesn’t want to inflict upon her unintentionally. WTF? I repeat, WTF?
The problem is, if Kyung-joon was going to reject the body-swap from his underwater-dreamland exchange, he should have gained something from it. Even if it was something that brought pain, there had to be a reason he needed that time—some benefit to prolonging the body-swap limbo. At least when Harry Potter went back he defeated Voldemort.
So you have Kyung-joon pretending he doesn’t care because it’s all for her good. Because hurting Da-ran now is supposed to somehow help her not hurt later… when you repeat this whole pain-a-thon anyway when the fake becomes the real like the Groundhog Day from hell? Apparently one can erase feelings that way…? Honey, the only way that works is if you hit somebody so hard that you damage their ability to feel anything ever, and I’m talking in a literal brain-damage way, not in some sort of twisty metaphor for emotion that involves time and erasing and tens of clocks and stupid people.
All series long my heart bled for Kyung-joon, because he was the emotional center of the show. But as it turns out, you can’t suddenly make him do stupid things and have that sympathy extend, because once you start bringing needless pain upon yourself for reasons that make no sense, I totally lose sight of your character and I’m stuck in Not-Caring-Land, party of one. Basically at this point the only character I remotely can comprehend is Choong-shik, and he barely does anything.
This drama, I swear. I went from pleasantly enjoying myself, brain checked halfway at the door, to RAGEFIT.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND. I CAN’T EVEN.
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Tags: Baek Sung-hyun, Big, featured, Gong Yoo, Lee Min-jung, Shin, Suzy
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51 rosgadini
July 23, 2012 at 9:50 PM
this drama makes me crazy. why hong sisters, why??? i thought big will have the same vibes like secret garden. kkj and hj wake up and body swapped. they both will play their different character. i know it sounds plain but it will be much better than this story that making you headache. i won't buy the dvd if they end up like 49 days. you know, killing one character.
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52 seriously wtf jin and now big
July 23, 2012 at 9:50 PM
At first I thought that this practice amnesia would somehow be explained as noble idiocy, but nope....and it seems to me KKJ's repeated rejection of DR and their past together just went into total douchebaggery. And again, without a point. Unless he was trying to make her hate him so much that she wouldn't be hurt at the actual amnesia - but he didn't go that far, and should know that wouldn't happen anyway.
I don't see any possible reason/justification that this was better than SIMPLY ENJOYING THE TIME THEY HAD LEFT. Yeah, that doesn't move the narrative along either, but it wouldn't have been so STUPID.
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Mystisith
July 24, 2012 at 4:28 AM
You should be careful with your nickname... You will end up writing an essay. :))
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Soso
July 24, 2012 at 5:41 AM
lol, you have to admit that dr. jin's wtfery is still much greater than big's wtfery...
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seriously wtf jin and now big
July 24, 2012 at 7:23 AM
Ah, yes, Dr. Jin will always be first on the scale of wtfery.
He *wrote down* future events and gave it to people in the past? Seriously, wtf.
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53 Dee Dee
July 23, 2012 at 9:54 PM
I have a good feeling that tomorrow's FINALE is going to be extremely rushed. This is absolutely insane! I can't believe that they have not switched back yet. I do not understand.
By the way, did the scene by the lake remind anybody of 49 Days with Yisoo and Yikyung? Instead of the rings being thrown, it was the watch. Now, the scene in 49 Days had me crying buckets. Unfortunately, no tears in this episode. Just a ton of screaming at my computer monitor. I immediately face-palmed when I saw Daran trying to search for it. I can't believe she found it in the time given. More things that do not make sense in Big.
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YY
July 23, 2012 at 10:42 PM
That searching for the watch scene - was it supposed to tug at our heartstrings? Well, didn't work for me cos I was just so annoyed! When I saw the stills over at Koala's, I thought she had been involved in an accident from her muddy appearance and the souls had switched back. Instead we get this silly scene. Gah!
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54 oren-ji
July 23, 2012 at 9:59 PM
So,Shin Wonho hasn't wake up yet. :( I miss that boy.He's really got me in the 1st episode.I keep waiting for him to wake up.Doesn't matter as YJ or KJ.Just wake up! But the Hong Sisters keep teasing us.I'm confused. For some weird reason i like this KJ who "lives" in Mari's memories and imaginations. I'm loving all the flashbacks. Snow Mari is really funny..lol Shin and Suzy really a cute couple. Can they have another drama with the two of them as the main OTP. Oh~Choongsik can join too. I like him. I'm glad it's gonna be over soon.This is not what i expected when i first read the synopsis. For sure,i'm gonna miss Jang Mari and her hairbands...lol
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55 bd
July 23, 2012 at 10:10 PM
I'm really starting to think that the Hong sisters are overrated.
'Hong Gil Dong' and 'My Girl' were mediocre and at times cringe-worthy bad, and MGIAG had numerous flaws, but was well worth wbatching b/c of the character of Mi-ho and SMA's portrayal of the character.
'Best Love' was their most complete drama/romcom - having the most consistent storyline and better fleshed out secondary characters than the norm (for them).
'Big' is just a huge step back for them; not good when Gong Yoo's performance can't save the series.
Instead of this dreck, people should check out 'I Need Romance 2012' - which is well written and acted and a lot of fun.
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Patricia Koh
July 23, 2012 at 10:25 PM
ITA. I Need Romance 2012 is great!
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crazedlu
July 23, 2012 at 10:37 PM
hong gil dong was great. although, there's a sort of understanding you have to have to really appreciate it. many don't.
anyways, bleh to big.
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bd
July 24, 2012 at 12:23 AM
What 'understanding'? The type where one overlooks bad writing, directing and acting?
All 3 leads were boring and/or annoying.
And Kim Ri-na's character was more interesting than any of the 3, despite being a smaller part, and she is a way better actress than Sung Yu-ri.
The attempts at slapstick comedy were painfully bad and as sageuks go, HGD is behind even average ones.
The best thing about HGD was the 'merry band of thieves' w/ Park Sang-wook and Cha Hyun-jung.
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crazedlu
July 24, 2012 at 7:48 AM
ha. chill dude. the directing, acting, and slapstick was what made the tone of the story. it wasn't supposed to rival all those epic sageuks. it was a good story with heart. i like it when people try to make fans of hong gil dong seem stupid. heh.
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bd
July 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Sorry, but bad is simply bad (and bad overacting is still bad overacting).
'Two and A Half Men' was a hugely popular show; but that didn't make it a good one.
crazedlu
July 24, 2012 at 10:57 AM
ha. sure. i have nothing against 'i need romance' but maybe i'm just one of those people who care more about heart. shrugs.*
bd
July 24, 2012 at 4:11 PM
INR2 has a lot more 'heart' than dreck like this, HGD, LTM, RTP and SG.
bd
July 24, 2012 at 4:15 PM
In INR2 - the emotions feel real and aren't forced/made up in some artificially constructed conflict where one is supposed to feel something, but in reality feel little b/c it is so badly done (where it actually starts to induce boredom or even laughter b/c of how bad it is).
lenrasoon
July 23, 2012 at 10:59 PM
i agree with you, i loved "Best Love" and "MGIAG" but i'm starting to see that they're overrated.
with the drama preemptions this next 2 weeks i was looking for a new drama to start watching so thanks for recommending "I Need Romance 2012" :)
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eslene
July 23, 2012 at 11:02 PM
Yep..thinking back i dont even finish watching MGIAG..and i hate my girl.. I must be the only one..
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zodd
July 24, 2012 at 12:29 AM
If anything it proves that Kim Eun Sook (Lovers in Paris, City Hall, Secret Garden and currently A Gentleman's Dignity) is a better writer than the Hong sisters. She has her flaws as well but overall I find her to be a better and more mature writer than the Hong sister's.
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Vicky
July 24, 2012 at 2:09 AM
Agreed. These have much better storyline going on and more character development in those dramas. Hong Sisters seem to just be having fun in their own fantasies doing whatever they want regardless of if it makes sense or not. Arg, frustration.
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Mystisith
July 24, 2012 at 4:41 AM
I so agree with you, which will not surprise everyone. From the HS I only loved YAB (9/10), MGIG (8/10) and BL (9/10). The rest including this one is awful to me. How can writers be so changing and not trustworthy? Some will argue they have the "courage to try new things" but when it's a fail, I don't see the point. They are good at slapstick comedy and should stick to it. Isn't it funny that I find AGD more deep and heartfelt when I first thought it would be the other way?
PS: Does anyone know if drama writers lend their names to unknown writers sometime? Ghost-writers anyone?
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bd
July 24, 2012 at 10:48 AM
Have only seen SG and let's just say my view on SG is about on par with LTM.
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zodd
July 24, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Secret Garden is her weakest work but it's nowhere near as bad as Lie to me. Awful awful show. SG had many great moments, shame the show falls apart towards end of the show.
sally_b
July 24, 2012 at 3:19 AM
@bd - re"Instead of this dreck, people should check out ‘I Need Romance 2012′ – which is well written and acted and a lot of fun."
I am the eternal cheerleader for I Need Romance, Season 2. ...it's actually, really...GOOD.
I've been confused as to why it hasn't made the re-cap list, in my mind, it eclipses not one but two of the latest public-station shows.
TVn cable = Awesome.
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daniela
July 24, 2012 at 4:22 AM
I was wondering the same thing, but the screen-caps would be less than "normal" That is an adult drama :))
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Lisa
July 24, 2012 at 10:40 AM
Every other show they do is enjoyable IMO. There's not a single drama (or tv show from any country) that is without flaws, it's just a fact. What matters is if it can be watched and enjoyed.
I actually felt nothing for Best Love, it was so...blah. Couldn't get past ep 2. And I'm practically in love with Gong Hyo Jin!
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Lisa
July 24, 2012 at 10:42 AM
I mean every other, like this year is bad, last year was good, the year before was bad, the year before THAT was good etc. Not every drama besides BIG.
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56 Pitch
July 23, 2012 at 10:11 PM
I stopped watching around episode 11 (would have been a lot sooner, if it hadn´t been for Gong Yoo) and this isn´t encouraging me to give it another try. *Sigh* Such a waste...
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57 booboo
July 23, 2012 at 10:15 PM
This episode makes me want to just ditch this drama behind and watch a rerun of Rooftop Prince instead. At least the way the characters deal with the possible loss of loved ones make more sense and felt real. I can only hope that tomorrow's episode won't be such a letdown
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bd
July 24, 2012 at 12:28 AM
I'd say RTP is just as bad as 'Big' (similar in many ways in being full of cliches, overly stereotypical characters and idiocy preventing the spilling of the 'big secret' sooner).
They each have one good thing going for them (RTP - the Joseon Power Rangers'; 'Big' - Gong Yoo's performance), but that's not nearly enough to make either a decent, much less a good drama/romcom.
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Tunmi
July 25, 2012 at 8:06 PM
The power rangers were the best part of Rooftop Prince for me. It did help that for once, a lead character actually figured things out. I'm going to check out I Need Romance 2, I seriously need to stay away from "popular" dramas
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58 Philosophe
July 23, 2012 at 10:18 PM
I checked out at episode 13, which was when I went up against that wall of incomprehension. But I came back after I read in your ep 14 recap that KJ'd lose his memory after switching back - because that at least rationalized his desire to stay in YJ's body.
On the contrary, this episode makes a tiny bit of sense to me. KJ's going through this 'practice round' with Da Ran because he's sure he'll lose his memory when he decides to switch back. Since his loss of memory is inevitable, he's preparing her for the big shock while still remaining in control of things, in a way that eases the transition. Of course, we all know that's not how things work, but for someone who's only 20, distraught and not thinking clearly, KJ's perspective is easy enough to empathise with.
However, JB raised an interesting point: why not just bring forward the amnesia bit and have them switch back FOR REAL, so we get REAL emotions? From a plot standpoint, I think there's only one explanation - KJ's not going to lose his memory. It doesn't happen at all, somehow. (Maybe upon returning to that limbo that we saw at the start of this episode, KJ brokers a deal with YJ such that he returns to his own body with full memories of his time with Da Ran.) For now I'm just gonna pray that we get a satisfying resolution.
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Enz
July 24, 2012 at 1:25 AM
Ya I thought it was not inconceivable that he could possibly think that being mean to her might make it easier to forget him when ( although that should be an if, for now) the actual moment came that he did swap and lose all memory of her.
I felt he was really so alone and lonely in his misguided action, so I felt for him.
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Soso
July 24, 2012 at 5:46 AM
Interesting point... I guess it does sorta kinda makes sense to bring the on the fake amnesia is there's actually not going to be real amnesia... but I still feel that this episode was mostly WTF.
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59 heh
July 23, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Totally ridiculous for an episode nearing to an end.....
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60 Patricia Koh
July 23, 2012 at 10:23 PM
Yikes JB I feel your rage... the first Hong Sisters drama that left me high and dry.
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61 AC89
July 23, 2012 at 10:25 PM
I've stopped watching around episode 6? 8? and have been going through recaps instead--a bit disappointed.
Honestly, when I started the drama and as I continued it til ep 6, I expected that KJ would be a catalyst to YJ and DR's romance, helping YJ get the girl again after the misunderstandings DR encounters. I was hoping for a body swap midway through, with hijinks at the high school where YJ trapped in a teenage body tries to charm DR and win her over.
I guess I was expecting more comedy...and less tragedy.
&
I'm a huge fan of GY and LMJ, but ack this story really prevents me from enjoying the either of them on screen.
&
I do agree with the previous poster, BD-- the hong sisters are really overrated. The secondary characters are far too extreme for my taste and when the angst hits in their drama...its the worst sort of feeling, that feels highly unrealistic to me. Really not my cup of tea.
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62 Ella Zala
July 23, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Kang Kyung Joon ah~~~ **Crying rivers~ Sob2**
why is this happening? how headdeskkingly ridiculous!
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63 YY
July 23, 2012 at 10:34 PM
Dumb and pointless episode. At least Dr Jin makes me laugh when it's being dumb. This one just makes me angry.
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Florentine Lily
July 23, 2012 at 11:10 PM
Agreed!
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64 invisibelle
July 23, 2012 at 10:37 PM
I'm just here to get your Flowers for Algernon reference.
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65 DEE
July 23, 2012 at 10:43 PM
THANKS FOR THE RECAPS..
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66 dong
July 23, 2012 at 10:52 PM
LOLed at the last pic!! *facepalm*
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67 lenrasoon
July 23, 2012 at 10:54 PM
this is the most disappointing episode ever, i can't even believe that tomorrow is the finale 'cause the writers could do so much with this episode and they choose this mess, i felt like i was running in circles. I hope the ending tomorrow turn out a bit better.
thanks for the recaps.
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dbsklove
July 23, 2012 at 10:57 PM
oh what? tomorrows the finale?
after seeing the state of this episode... i assumed it was 20 eps 0.o
i wish the real body swap had happened today...
such a waste :'(
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lenrasoon
July 23, 2012 at 11:02 PM
yeah at least what i've read on dramawiki page "BIG" it's stated for 16 episodes and yeah i was hoping for the body switch :(
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68 dbsklove
July 23, 2012 at 10:55 PM
Unfortunately I'm still not 'hooked' to this drama yet T^T
WHY??!!?! WHY?!???!?! its a hong sisters drama... why aren't I hooked T^T
i guess it's also because im really sick of daran and how she treats kyung joon badly and then tries to be the good person again and cares for him.... seriously
if this was a situation in a different drama (that I was addicted to) i would be uber sympathetic and like "it must be so difficult to restrain your love like that
but for big, it's just.... SIGH.
and im not getting the love vibes ... SIGH. i wish i could... i was hoping it would come to me.... :'(
all i get are overly close teacher and student vibes
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69 Yon Yih
July 23, 2012 at 11:04 PM
the whole ep is oni about :
KJ say he cannot remember, then emphasized he didn't remember and finally say he will not remember
Conclusion, DR announce to the whole family she will remember she love another man named KKJ
So the whole 1hr oni tryin to tell me the last 10mins. I hope the last ep will not be like this, oni doin the swap at the last 10mins & try to close everything in the last 5mins
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70 eslene
July 23, 2012 at 11:09 PM
I didnt think the swap will occur..
How can daran say he love kj when he is still in yj body..
Wasted of actor..
Thank god only one ep left...
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71 Metrogeekythinker
July 23, 2012 at 11:22 PM
4 words to describe this episode. "A WASTE OF TIME!" I think viewers can skip this episode lol.
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72 crazykel
July 23, 2012 at 11:29 PM
You summed up everything I was thinking with this episode. Make that Not-Caring, party of two, though, on the Kyung Joon empathy scale.
The whole episode was a giant "WTF?" moment. So much crying, lying, and idiocy that it gave me a worse headache than the one I had.
Choong-shik is the only one making any sense now...and you know a show has lost it when the one that makes perfect sense is the one that's not supposed to.
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73 saranga
July 23, 2012 at 11:39 PM
seriously, what the heck...
i don't even know what's going on anymore. been at least four to six episodes since i've been really engaged. tomorrow is the finale, right? i've no idea how this is gonna get wrapped up right.
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74 daniela
July 23, 2012 at 11:52 PM
The only thing I need to correct from your recap is : SYJ did not receive yet KKj blood. The procedure they used was to take some cells from KKJ blood, not all the blood.(I know because I was almost a donor, but they could get my blood due to low blood tension).
They will make the treatment of SYJ in Germany (thanks God not USA).
And I believe this will be the moment of the swap back of the souls.
At this point I need to tell to those who are mad about this episode : this is just a drama! (if my 6 years old daughter understands that giant mad squirrels exist only on tv, you can do it too!!!!).
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crazykel
July 24, 2012 at 12:19 AM
I completely understand that this is just a drama, but my disappointment stems from the fact that it is so unbelievable and ridiculous that for me, I have no other course than to be upset that we've been carried on this monotonous trail for 15 episodes with little to no character development or maturation. On top of this, those characters which made sense until now no longer do; this is a giant flaw in the development of the show, and goes beyond the verisimilitude that is respectful to the viewer.
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daniela
July 24, 2012 at 2:00 AM
I know, it's harder to accept when you truly love it from the start. Let me send you a big hug <3 After this show ends I'll virtually treat every body with a good portion of tiramisu!
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75 YY
July 23, 2012 at 11:56 PM
The Hongs keep dawdling - heck, it's the second last episode and THEY STILL HAVEN'T SWITCHED!!!!!ARGHHHHH!!!!!! and I am so frustrated and going nuts I can't wait anymore so: Dr Jin, if you're out there somewhere in the universe , could you like zip over here RIGHT NOW and switch the dang bodies back like right now this very moment arghhhhh cos I am going crazyyyyy!!!!!
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76 Florentine Lily
July 23, 2012 at 11:57 PM
JB, Thanks for the recap! I agreed with you. Can I take a ferry to Not-Caring-Land too?
I wanted to slap someone after the first ten minutes. What an unnecessary filler episode. The last five minutes should have been within the first ten minutes. Then everything should have moved on. I felt like we (the audience) kept seeing the same "OMG-I'm so conflicted over my feelings" play out every episode. It lost its flavor around the second time. It would have made more sense had KKJ chose to spend more time with her. It would have been in-character. Writers, do you remember he lost his mother so suddenly? He would have wanted to spend what little time he has left with GDR, leaving precious memories so she doesn't forget him!
I don't know what happened with this drama, but it just went downhill after episode...8? How can I fully accept GDR and her feelings towards KKJ when her situation with YJS is not fully resolved? Even if YJS ends up dying, I wanted that situation resolved without it being rushed in the final episode. I felt this whole GDR-in-love-with-KKJ is unfair to him, regardless of if he was going to marry her or not.
The writers should have woken YJS up before the final episode to explain himself and legitimize GDR's love for KKJ. I feel robbed because I never really met him and was never told what he was going through. Did he know he was that sick? Is that why he was looking for KKJ? He seemed to be a great guy from the flashbacks and memories so what was the point of us never actually meeting him? He, quite frankly, was the catalyst for this "BIG" situation. KKJ was born to save him and GDR was set to marry him. So why, dear writers, did we never met the guy excluding episode one and flashbacks? And if your answer is "because he's dead" I don't want to hear or watch it. That answer was satisfactory five? Six? episodes ago! Now, it feels lazy.
Kudos to the actors and actresses. Everyone was fantastic! Hong Sisters, I know you can do better than this. You’re Beautiful (sometimes I face-palmed but it still made sense and was sweet) and My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (one of my all time fav show/drama, and as an added bonus it introduced me to Lee Seung Gi and Shin Min Ah) is a testament to this. I never finished Delightful Girl Choon Hyang (I did a marathon some years ago but I'm still stuck on episode 13) but what I watched of it was quirky, funny and made me love it. Please, take a breather and come back with something more stronger and less cliched.
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77 sD
July 24, 2012 at 12:05 AM
I actually thought this show to be one of my favorites. Idk why many people dislike it. It's charming and the heorine is actually a strong female lead. She went from weak to strong.
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zodd
July 24, 2012 at 12:40 AM
It just means you have lower standards. That's all.
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lili
July 24, 2012 at 2:18 AM
Woh, you're harsh! Ever heard of "to each his own"?!? You may not like it and it's fine by me but at least respect people who have different taste than you...BIG may not be Hong sis best drama but it's not the worst either (I hated "Greatest love" though many people loved it, couldn't get past the overacting of the main actor)
My main problem with BIG is that the switch has not happened yet, this is a big flaw imo and frankly speaking I don't know what could have held back the Hong sis from doing so...a switch at the end of this episode would have been perfect but no they keep teasing us o_o They better make up for this filler episode tonight because I'd be greatly disappointed if DR don't end up with KJ (in his body) after all the drama we've gone through...
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78 love
July 24, 2012 at 12:21 AM
I like Jang Mari...she's so likable even though she's weird and possessive..
She makes me laugh hard, cry, sympathetic and annoyed at times...
If she's written good..she might have been my ultimate character...
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oren-ji
July 24, 2012 at 2:30 AM
she's pretty cool at the beginning and sweet when she's not in her crazy stalker mode.i really wish the Hong Sisters pay more attention in developing her character.
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79 ilikemangos
July 24, 2012 at 12:27 AM
huhwhat?
calling: the OTHER hong sisters to come and bedazzle this impeding ending, or atleast spare us the noble idiocy.
aissssh. making a young girl sound like an ahjumma here.
episodes like these that age me.
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80 Melru
July 24, 2012 at 12:57 AM
Javabean, I'm so relieved to read your recap because like you, I thought it was just me who didn't get.
I really hope tonight's episode brings us to some kind of satisfying conclusion after all, we invested several weeks into this drama.
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81 Gom
July 24, 2012 at 1:22 AM
I have no plans of watching this episode. Just went here to read the Comments part of the recap. I'm glad JB finally said all these things. I felt like the recaps have been very nice to this drama. Is it just me?
Also, love reading everyone's comments. Maybe I'll watch the finale just to make the past 1-12 worth it. I mean, did I just waste all that time for nothing? Yes. I did. The least I can do is watch the finale.
By the way, I agree with you, bd:
THE HONG SISTERS ARE INCREDIBLY OVERRATED.
Sigh. I'm glad I let that out of my chest. I've been wanting to say that here but given the fact that everyone seems to rave about their previous dramas, I always tried to hold myself in, thinking that maybe I'm just the one who doesn't get all the hype about them.
Again, THEY'RE OVERRATED.
I can sleep now. :)
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paj
July 24, 2012 at 2:20 AM
hehehe, truthfully I thought that too. I just didn't want their fans to stake me through the heart but yeah, I thought some of their dramas was good and fresh but many of them miss their mark. and yes, now I can sleep too. =)
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Ginnie
July 24, 2012 at 7:48 AM
Yay for finally being able to say that! I've been wanting to, but knowing that even JB and GF are fans themselves, I didn't want to take the risk. Lol. I love you, JB and GF!
Perhaps even I will myself into thinking that THS are not overrated, that they really are super great, but Big made me open my eyes.
I'm not saying they're the worst but they're not much of a cut above the rest either, which is contrary to what I always read/hear before I got into kdramas. :)
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lili
July 24, 2012 at 3:06 AM
I would say their dramas have good start but they have a hard time wrapping up their stories...(I'm often left disappointed by their endings)
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Soso
July 24, 2012 at 5:51 AM
I agree with you... they start out usually well, but they can't sustain it throughout the entire series. Also they tend to belabor a point/conflict way too much and we get a lot of conflicts that are in essence repetitive.
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82 SYR
July 24, 2012 at 1:51 AM
Wow. This drama hurts my brain...
Definitely my least favourite Hong sisters drama.
I Enjoyed most of their previous works so this is really a disappointment.
It had so much potential in the beginning. But now...*sigh*
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83 Tara
July 24, 2012 at 1:58 AM
Thank you for the speedy recap.
Was watching the drama even though I didn't understand the language... but the acting made me feel every emotion and kind of understood what they were saying.... but WTF!!! Why?? What's going on? and time to time in between "I wonder what he said, or what she said??" totally unnecessary for KKJ to witness Gill teacher go through that emotional trip faking amnesia... idiocy!! total idiocy!!
The determination and final announcement of Gill teacher sounds soo not right... how can she being adult persist on falling in love with the student? imagining them being lovey dovey with small KKJ's body is sooo unattractive and so wrong... the idea of true love and going through all those pain looks soo wrong that all the emotional acting of Gong Yoo didn't actually have any weight and felt like being wasted for nothing....I didn't feel sad with the character as I usually do with the story.. Just want to finish with this drama and get on with the other new ones now.
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84 Vicky
July 24, 2012 at 2:02 AM
I agree. So frustrated that this episode was so useless. I hated it. I don't understand the story line and it was a real let down. As you said, if he was going to refuse the swap he really should have made it count but it was just a useless waste of time. Arggghhh. I don't know if the final episode can pull everything together. I just don't think it will be able to, but I hope it does.
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85 DangCinDee
July 24, 2012 at 2:03 AM
Lol I'm so confused and torn with this drama I don't even know where to start. This drama is the ultimate mind fudge.
First, the kid who plays KKJ just looks wayyyyyy too young for Da RAN. I just can't picture them together after he wakes up in his own body. It feels so ....illegal lol. But why does gong yoo have to portray him so well! Oh drama, you torn me in two.
Second, What? I think I'm too stupid to understand the concept of this episode. What was even the purpose of the whole episode? He wakes up and pretends he doesn't remember anything because this is supposed to help her feel less sad and everything will become all dandy with rainbows and unicorns again? Lol how? In what world or right mind would someone think this up? I swear the accident is catching up to him.
This drama really had all the typical Korean crazies lol. Amnesia, sibling secrets, love between sibling sharing, moronic confusing sacrifices that makes NO SENSE, Perfect male lead character that does no wrong and sacrifices everything for the sake of love. What else now drama? All that's missing is idiotic death. Oh no, I hope u don't go there.
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mamasan
July 24, 2012 at 4:29 AM
I think they'll go to that trip...haha...then..BINGO... the perfect worst drama ever witnessed!!!
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Mystisith
July 24, 2012 at 4:52 AM
Can I add my bet? 50$.
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86 faith
July 24, 2012 at 2:04 AM
i know everyone is entitled to their opinions..but if you dont enjoy this drama, why still watch it until episode 15..why invest so much anger and dissapointment on the writers and actors..just don't watch if you dont enjoy it, it will lessen your stress and worries and your effort to make rants since most says this is a nonsense drama..
this is a just a drama for heavens sake..the hong sisters said this is drama is somehow the same with the movie BIG (which stars tom hanks), in this movie the young tom hanks just appeared short as well, only few scenes in the beginning and in the end..which is why SWH has the same scenario as well, though SWH is still being shown in the drama episodes though only sleeping or in dreams (still lucky SWH for still having exposures on this drama not unlike the young tom hanks in the movie)..and btw, the drama posters and plot focused on GY (KKJ in his body) and LMJ's (GDR)character..KKJ in GY's body..and not switch characters and act where in SYJ will be SWH's body and KKJ in GY's body..
so i assume, the switch will happen in episode 16..just like what happend in the BIG movie, where in the switch happened in the end..
the only thing i worry about, is that there will be no happy ending for KKJ and GDR in this drama just like in the movie BIG..
LMJ portrays GDR's role perfectly..i like the way she acts, particularly when she cries..i can feel her pain..hope to have more drama's with GY and LMJ on it together, as they have great chemistry..
can't wait for episode 16, the finale episode! crossing my fingers for a nice and happy ending for GDR and KKJ! fighting!
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cindy
July 24, 2012 at 2:22 AM
Well, because some wanted to know ow it end? Like ''I'm going until the very end, be it happy or not'' I do it lol
My reason to stick to it is because I want to know how DR and KJ will end up BUT my main reason was because of YOUNG JAE. I wanted to know more about him.
I wanted to know why he acted like he did and if he loved DR or not. I wanted to hear the truth from his own mouth and wanted to DR and him clear things up even though they won't end up together.
But if they just kill him, it is just so disappoint and all.
WHy make us interested on his story to then not end it and let us curious? So annoyed by it.
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mamasan
July 24, 2012 at 4:43 AM
its because we liked it first and I personally invested myself beforehand thinking about the comeback in small screen by my gong yoo (after coffee prince) and found myself dumbstruck at the progression of the story...somehow I manage to accompany him ....and I personally LOVE the character of Yoonjae and it disappoints me that I only get a glimpse of him in this drama...that's why I rage...I want a piece of HIM for God sake!!!! before this drama ends!!!
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87 paj
July 24, 2012 at 2:15 AM
I stopped watching this at episode 10 and just read the recaps because I just couldn't get into it. Though i am curious if they'll cop out and make Hyung die and if so I hope he does die in his own body. But if he doesn't die and switch his body he'll wake up with everything in turmoil because even if kkj loses his memories the people around them don't and the events will still be there right? So then how will they tie everything up in one measly episode? Unless it automatically goes back to the time when they (brothers) are miraculously rescued in the nick of time, erasing anything that happened. . .which I will start to rave, what was the point of the story? If everything reset? But it will be a fail ending if they do not return to their body. And personally I think seo Joon Hyung got the short end of the stick even though his mother love him so much.
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88 mint
July 24, 2012 at 2:26 AM
I think I am the minority here who enjoys this episode.
I was actually quite afraid to watch this with all the negative comments....I was not expecting or hoping the drama to go in any particular direction and was actually surprised to find my self enjoying the emotions and development to the characters as well as the acting chops of the leads.
Character wise, KJJ had always strike me as being too cool and smart and wise beyond his years throughout the drama. He is, after all a 20 yr old boy who have just had his world turn upside down (having to live inside the body of the fiancee of his crush, finding out that is his brother, learning that his mother is not his mother, learning that he is just a test tube baby born out of necessity, figuring out that he will lost all memories of his love and worrying what will happen to her if that happened. )
So, I am okay with cutting him some slack with going silly (for less than one episode) for a thinking that 1. ) it will be better for GDR if he cushion the impact of what he believe will be his memory lost. 2.) She will be better off with YJ who, he believes she love till 2 episodes ago.
This plot point strikes me as being no less silly from when Do gu jin from Best Love thought he does not love Gu Hui Jang because his heart monitoring device stop working.
For GDR, I am glad her character have turned from a wimpy girl who let people walk all over her to someone who will fight for the person she love and telling every one the truth sure took lots of guts.
The acting of the leads are extremely touching and convincing I am hopeful that tonight's episode will have a satisfactory conclusion.
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89 sajatokki
July 24, 2012 at 3:14 AM
Heh, I'm watching for Baek Sung Hyun! Chooong shik <3
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90 sally_b
July 24, 2012 at 3:33 AM
After watching this season's crop of time traveling, body switching, Dr.McGyver-ing, pregnant shoe designer-ing, grown men making grown women cry...shows~ ~~
I can confidently say that any and ALL of these shows could have been rightfully concluded in 10 episodes.
The industry standard of 16 to 20, under live-shoot conditions -- CLEARLY has the nation's writers 'phoning it in'.
Consider that the average theater movie is about 2 hours......TWO. For a complete, fully rounded, character rich....robust plot-ted...show.
I truly think kdramas could benefit from being *episode reduced*. Tighter writing...lest angst about filler and drag from viewers....my two cents ~ :)
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daniela
July 24, 2012 at 4:41 AM
"Consider that the average theater movie is about 2 hours……TWO. For a complete, fully rounded, character rich….robust plot-ted…show." - you read my mind :)) in 2 hours they have time to meet, bicker, fall in love, merry, have children, divorce, re-merry and have grand-children.
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Mystisith
July 24, 2012 at 4:58 AM
Amen. If there is one thing I love about J doramas, it's the 10/12 episodes system, 47 mn per episode. And yes, a script ENTIRELY written before shooting. I can't even know how producers choose their projects: They basically sign for white sheets.
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Lisa
July 24, 2012 at 10:47 AM
This.
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GONEINSANE
July 24, 2012 at 6:20 AM
which reminds me of a question someone asked many episodes ago...why, oh, why did Gong Yoo sign up for this?....He wasn't given an entire script...working with Lee Min Jung and the Hong Sisters was motivation enough.
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Amanda
July 24, 2012 at 8:54 AM
I'm guessing it was for money. It's his first job out of military service, so he probably needed to work for cash. It's common for actors to take up crap shows and movies for that reason.
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Brain Dead/Brainless
July 24, 2012 at 5:57 PM
I think GY did 2 movies already after his MS, and i think he has modelling/endorsements as well so i don't think he's hurting for cash that much...
if i have to guess on his motivations for accepting this role, i'd say he accepted it just based on the popularity of the hong sisters. gy's popularity is waning a bit because he has not been in a drama for a number of years, so he needs a popular drama to boost his popularity again. hong sisters dramas may not be the best out there, but they are always popular and tend to increase the popularity of their leads. unfortunately, BIG is a big failure....
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Lisa
July 24, 2012 at 10:46 AM
A lot of Jdramas are 10 episodes long and fantastic! YES, I DEMAND SHORTER SERIES!
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91 ry
July 24, 2012 at 3:37 AM
agreed... this episode tests our patience... the last better be good
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92 oftheshore
July 24, 2012 at 3:38 AM
Alright, since this drama has been somewhat disappointing to many K-drama fans (note: I'm not saying it has disappointed everyone, I'm sure there are people who love it still), let's think of what could have been done with the drama's great premise. My ideal version of BIG would have been a zany comedy, with YJ waking up early in the series (and not being ill). DR would then have to choose between a geeky doctor and her student.
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93 irib
July 24, 2012 at 3:41 AM
Thank you for this recap. Its brilliant and sane. Unlike the k-drama. Damn the Hong sisters. It feels like a couple of 13 year olds wrote it.
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94 Sailorenigma
July 24, 2012 at 3:47 AM
No wonder Kyung Jae is 19 years old. I kind of understand what he is going through but ultimately that is not best way to solve a problem...but anyway, I can't blame a kid for his actions!
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95 Rose
July 24, 2012 at 5:28 AM
Perhaps the whole stupidity of the plot in this episode was to show how KKJ is still a kid in the end who can't make wise decisions? Being only 19 he's bound to try to take the whole responsibility for the matter in the most immature ways! I can kind of understand why he would want to fake amnesia in his kid like naivety. One, to make Da Ran resent him so she wouldn't feel the want to be with him when he wakes up, thus saving her the embarrassment, or scandal from society which views such a relationship as improper. And two, to save her the pain of receiving his indifferent attitude to her when he wakes up in his body since he won't remember a thing. But yeah, can't say this episode wasn't disappointing!
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96 stella sonjo
July 24, 2012 at 5:46 AM
thnx jb..
Looking forward for a good ending!!
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97 MsB
July 24, 2012 at 5:55 AM
I'm going to put it out there. I Love Lee Tai Ri did a better job! It does what Big failed to do. Talk about being disappointed in the Hong Sisters!? That's me! Okay, everyone can't havee a hit all of the time but I think this failed miserably and if GOng Yoo was not in it, people would have checked out way earlier. Okay, I checked out/checked in/checked out.....
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98 Soso
July 24, 2012 at 6:01 AM
I wish ep. 15 could have been more satisfying, building up to the finale instead of leaving us reeling with confusion, but it is what it is. In that IDID, which has flaws as well, did a much better job. The final 2 left me feeling satisfied.
I worry that 1 hour isn't going to be enough to resolve all the issues, the body switch, whether someone dies, the love triangle, the married to one but in love with the other mess... it just seems all too much to resolve enough 1 episode where the viewers can feel satisfied.
Oh well, I guess we'll know soon enough!
Thanks for the recap JB!
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99 GONEINSANE
July 24, 2012 at 6:15 AM
Hanging in there because of Lee Min Jung and Gong Yoo, but i literally had a headache after watching this episode.
Is Kyung Joon's decision to "erase" things for Da Ran a product of inexperience?...He's young, only 20, it's his first love, just trying to do what he thought was best for her even though he had to rip her heart out first and then stomp on it. I mean, they weren't exactly given a manual for how to handle complicated relationships during body switches, right?
Or...just bad writing choices...the Hong sisters did the let's-enjoy-what's-left-of-our-final-days-together in MGIG. So, let's do the opposite this time. (Oh, yeah. There's still the final episode...they may still pull that one yet.)
Because I've fallen for the actors, not exactly their characters, I am going to stick it to the very end. I will even rewatch it just coz I get a kick out of those...Hana, tul, set scenes when KJJ practically terrorizes Da Ran into action. Which reminds me....I really miss that song that nobody seems to know the title of...that crazy song they play when something funny is about to happen...sigh!
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100 Engshi
July 24, 2012 at 6:52 AM
I feel sorry for all of them...oh darn what a beautiful cast but what a bad story! (sorry for this but it's just my opinion). So sorry for Da-ran & KKJ to be in twisted in this kind of situation...oh man faith really got them twisted literally! WHAT KIND OF A "HAPPY???" MIRACLE IS THIS??? So sorry for Yoon Jae as well...i really thought the last two episodes will be about him..WTH we are watching most of the episodes with beautiful moments with the right body but with the wrong soul. I can't even swoon knowing that it is the younger brother inside =(( how is that a teacher & a HS student. Too bad we didn't even get to know who the real Yoon Jae is and what he is like. In this drama, all i understand is that he was also interested when he found out that he has a brother & went looking for him....which explains why he is so unreachable to Da-ran because he got disoriented with their child birth revelation. Sorry to all KKJ & Da-ran fans but I just can't picture out Da-ran ending up with the boy KKJ =(( give him to Mari PLEASE!!!
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