Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 13
by javabeans
We’ve spent this series hoping for Dok-mi’s healing and rooting her on toward reclaiming her interest in the world outside her room, so it’s downright rewarding to see her making such significant strides, even acting on her own now without the pushing from outside forces. We’re watching her grow into her own, and it’s a lovely progression—not just because she’s learning about herself, but also because she’s using that to in turn do a little pushing of her own, turning that encouragement right back when it’s somebody else who needs it more.
SONG OF THE DAY
Yoon Shi-yoon – “사귀고 싶어” (I want to date you) from the drama’s soundtrack.
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EPISODE 13: “Should I dream a new dream?”
This episode starts with Enrique bouncing around his living room in a literal panda suit. Oh my god. This much cute and we’re only ten seconds in?
He shakes his big padded butt around and looks SO pleased with himself, dancing absurdly in front of the window for Dok-mi’s benefit. He does the whole finger-point-glare move he did the first time he caught her peeping… and then huffs in annoyance when he realizes she’s not watching. Her curtains are closed. Hmph!
He gets a call from a colleague back in Spain who asks when he’s coming back. Enrique insists, “There are things more important than animation!” and states that he’s staying.
He heads over to Dok-mi’s door still grumbling that she missed his big show, and it’s now that he sees the scary red “DIE” spray-painted on her door.
Dong-hoon tells Jin-rak that he left a note telling Dok-mi to check out their webtoon, which has Jin-rak shouting at him in outrage. Dong-hoon says he did it to help, to encourage him to keep trying because there’s hope—Enrique has to go back to Spain, and Dok-mi’s hardly going to be able to follow him there.
When Dong-hoon sees the graffiti on the door, he alerts Jin-rak about it and the boys all stand there worrying about Dok-mi. Enrique tries calling, to no avail. Then they’re joined by the security guard escorting prospective new tenants to see the apartment, though one look at the blood-red graffiti has them scurrying away. Y…ay? If we’re looking for silver linings, at least there’s that.
The ajusshi asks if they did it on purpose to chase off the tenants (thereby keeping Dok-mi there), and Dong-hoon says indignantly that they’re all reeling in shock… then concedes that both guys have been acting funny lately and might possibly have stooped that low. Ha. Jin-rak shoots him a look.
Enrique pleads to be shown the CCTV footage, only to be told that the security cameras are just hung there for show. Lol. Desperate to find out what happened to Dok-mi, Enrique enters using the guard’s spare keys and looks for clues—his first hunch is to look at her wall of travel spots or maybe track down her grandmother.
He finds the note informing her about the Flower Boy Next Door webtoon, and starts reading it. Feeling helpless, he sighs, “Ajumma, please stop running away.”
Dong-hoon wonders why Jin-rak is just standing there at the door, not entering, while Jin-rak makes a sad realization: That he knows so little about Dok-mi that he would have no clue where to even start looking for her.
Do-hwi arrives (on a flimsy pretext, as usual) though today she doesn’t stick around to inflict her presence on Jin-rak. She leaves a brunch basket for them and heads out, though she perks up right away when he calls her back.
But he addresses her in a harsh voice and points at Dok-mi’s door, asking if it’s her doing. Do-hwi’s genuinely shocked to see the graffiti and offended to be accused, saying that she may have lied but she isn’t that low. Which might be more believable if she hadn’t pretty much shown us that she is, in fact, that low. But she says that it hurt when Dok-mi told her she had considered their friendship enough for her, like that’s proof that she’s still a good person.
Enrique joins them and is just as angry at her, biting out that if Do-hwi felt hurt at those words, perhaps she ought to think of how hurt Dok-mi felt. Do-hwi leaves smarting from the dual contempt, and Dong-hoon chides Jin-rak: “If your love is important to you, other people’s love is important to them.” That’s sweet of him… but nope, still don’t feel bad for Do-hwi.
Dong-hoon chases her outside, and in his haste he collides with someone around the corner. It’s Enrique’s fangirl stalker, and she’s literally red-handed, stained from her smear job. He recognizes her from Enrique’s lecture and calls Jin-rak to bark at him to apologize to Do-hwi, since he’s caught the real culprit.
Enrique confronts the fangirl, who says defiantly that she did it. She speaks so fiercely that you’d almost think she were the one wronged here, rather than being the perpetrator. She quotes lines from Enrique’s old interviews about how making animated adaptations of his games is one of his dreams. And now there’s an animation project in the works, only he has declined to be a part of it. He’s got to go back to Spain, she insists.
He says that this isn’t exactly her concern, but says, “Why do you assume I’ve given up that dream?” Plus, there’s nothing that requires the dream to happen right this minute. Fangirl demands, “Is that woman that important?! I hate her.”
She… is crazy. Legit unbalanced in the brain. Fangirl storms off, (thankfully) missing Dok-mi on her way back, safe and sound after all.
Enrique sweeps her up in a hug and blames himself for the incident, apologizing for shaking her up. But Dok-mi looks quite fine about it, even smiling a little as she assures him that she even knows how to get rid of it, since this isn’t the first time she’s had to deal with something like this. She holds up her bag, armed with cleaner.
It’s touchingly sweet that it’s Enrique who’s rattled by the incident, and he asks if she can just erase the hurt to her heart—or the confusion she felt after seeing Jin-rak’s webtoon. “Why are you okay about seeing DIE written on your front door? Why are you used to this kind of thing? It’s upsetting.”
Dok-mi says she doesn’t want to bring him down with darkness. At least he dismisses that notion readily, and urges her to go to his hyung’s apartment while he cleans her door, not wanting her to have to read it again.
Aw, but Jin-rak’s already at work, painting her door. He, unlike Dok-mi, does blame Enrique for being the liaison to Crazy Girl and shoves him against the wall, threatening that he’d better not bring any more of this into Dok-mi’s life.
She arrives (having followed Enrique) and breaks the two of them up. It really is sweet that mostly she’s worried about Enrique’s injury from his car accident, and I think Jin-rak gets that. Which makes for an uncomfortable moment as they all stand there.
At her office, Do-hwi sobs while Dong-hoon offers words of sympathy, like how Jin-rak knows she’s not the culprit and is probably feeling really sorry right now. Her friends tell her to stop crying as well, part sympathetic but also frustrated at her one-track-mindedness in pursuing Jin-rak. One friend insists on outing the whole story now and blurts that Do-hwi’s liked Jin-rak for ages, back when he was Jae-won… and that’s as far as she gets before Do-hwi glares her into silence.
It seems like she liked him as Jae-won, not that she liked him because she found out he was rich. Okay, that is a little less low than I was thinking of her… which at least means she’s not a gold-digger, though she’s just as supremely self-absorbed and selfish as ever.
Enrique has taken over the painting of Dok-mi’s door while singing to himself. HAHA, this cracks me up (though perhaps only me): He starts out singing a Kim Dong-ryul ballad (“Like a Child”), which morphs into Koreana’s Olympic anthem “Hand in Hand,” and he has to stop and shake his head. Ha, they really do have the same melody. It’s a throwaway bit that feels like it was ripped out of my life.
He looks askance at Jin-rak’s door, knowing that Jin-rak and Dok-mi are chatting inside, and tiptoes over to try to eavesdrop. Enrique supposes this is what Jin-rak must’ve done and sighs at the way jealousy works.
Dok-mi apologizes for barking at Jin-rak earlier, and Jin-rak apologizes for reacting harshly, having forgotten Enrique was hurt. He also asks her not to let the webtoon upset her, saying that the story will be changing—he doesn’t want her to think of herself as his heroine Rapunzel.
She agrees, not agreeing with the similarity anyway—she isn’t Rapunzel, but the witch imprisoning Rapunzel, she says. She’s not pure and sweet like his heroine: “I’m the opposite. I’m dark and grim and sharp. I don’t love myself, or other people. That’s why I shut myself away and didn’t intend to leave.”
Jin-rak can relate, saying he knows that feeling. As a child, he’d hide himself away when his parents fought and thought he was incapable of giving people happiness, and blamed himself of being the problem. He worked for a long time at loving himself, “And I’m still working at it.”
When she leaves, Enrique cheerily presents her with the painted door. Inside, she reads up on the latest news of the animation project and flashes back to the confrontation with the fangirl, which we now see she witnessed. Ack, you’re not going to let guilt push him away, are you? I hate that storyline in everything.
Dok-mi shakes her head and tells herself not to overthink it, and to follow her heart. Phew for that, but the fact that she seems to struggle with the idea doesn’t bode well, does it?
Enrique presents her with his new “problem” of sending his luggage on to Spain and not having any clothes here (“Especially underwear!”), telling her to go ahead and restyle him to her taste. Cute. She’s thinking of more serious things, though, and asks what he meant earlier when he’d admitted to wrestling with difficult, complicated thoughts.
I suppose Enrique must on some level recognize that he’s giving up his dream project because he evades the question and talks in circles about tangential things, hoping to distract her from the conversation and deciding to take her to the zoo.
Dong-hoon packs his things, brimming with angry hurt now that he knows the full story about Jin-rak’s background. So he was really the son of a rich businessman all this while, was he? Did he enjoy acting the part of the poor loser while watching Dong-hoon, the actual poor loser? Dong-hoon had thought they were similar guys from similar backgrounds, putting their heads together to build something out of their ideas. But all this while Jin-rak was really Jae-won, famous in U.S. chaebol circles.
Jin-rak is chagrined, having intended on telling Dong-hoon himself, but also says that the stories have it wrong. Dong-hoon doesn’t want to hear it, though, pointing out that he had every single day of their acquaintance to explain things.
Enrique and Dok-mi head over to the bus (he’s so eager to show her the elephants, it’s cute) and he explains his habit of filming the world. He wants to infuse a sense of reality into his games, and so he films reality to get a sense of how to translate that to the screen. He encourages Dok-mi to give it a try, and she says she will.
Jin-rak stops Dong-hoon before he storms out the apartment, wanting to get the record straight. He clarifies that he wasn’t a chaebol, and neither was his father a businessman. In fact he doesn’t know how they got their money—only that every so often there was fighting and run-ins with the law. (I’m guessing some sort of gangster or loan sharking, then, which would explain the suited guys always out looking for him.)
That shadiness is why Jin-rak chose to study abroad, and on the plane ride to the States he decided he’d cut ties to his family.
But then Jin-rak’s father died and his older brothers came to him with official documents to disinherit him. That’s why he changed his name, and now he’s totally alone in the world, and totally empty-handed.
Dong-hoon’s anger mollifies somewhat, but he’s still hurt and says, “But you have a place to go back to.” He heads for the door.
Jin-rak stops him and says that if he leaves now, it’s over between them. Aw, it sounds harsh—and I’m fearful that ultimatums are just going to blow this thing up bigger—but he’s talking in desperation and adds, “I may have lost my hyungs, but I don’t want to lose my dongsaeng.”
He admits that he’s the one who envies Dong-hoon—he has a family that calls and nags him about what he ate, and drawing talent, and isn’t burdened with a one-sided love.
Dong-hoon drops his bag (yay) and turns to face him, advising Jin-rak to give up on Dok-mi if he wants to be rid of his one-sided love. He draws on an analogy he knows well, saying that Jin-rak needs a more realistic woman who’s capable of being his guarantor (say, for loans and debt), and that Dok-mi couldn’t do that.
Jin-rak narrows his eyes—did Dong-hoon take out some kind of loan? Ha. Now their hyung-dongsaeng dynamic is back and he’s nagging him for the unwise move, and he tells Dong-hoon to unpack. Dong-hoon mutters, “I just kicked up that fuss, how can I unpack? So embarrassing.” Haha.
Turns out there are no elephants at the zoo this winter, to Enrique’s disappointment, but he’s just as happy with the polar bear exhibit—he wants to show her animals that like winter. He says they’re lethargic in summer, but you can’t judge them based on how they are out of their element, and that’s why he comes in the summer to cheer them on. That’s so like him.
Then he confides a story about coming to the zoo at ten years old in Spain, and being told, “Go back to your country, you monkey!” His mother didn’t know how to explain it and they never spoke of it afterward, but he encountered more of that racism regularly, whether at school or work.
Recalling Dok-mi’s high-school despair that led her to ask why people had to discriminate, he says he’s been wondering that since the age of ten. He doesn’t have the answer yet, but wonders hopefully, “If we meet lots and lots and lots of people, maybe that answer will come?”
Dok-mi guess that Enrique really wanted to come to the zoo to share that story with her, and he admits that it’s his first time confiding it in anybody. He supposes that although he thought of himself as being her elephant trainer at first, she’s really the trainer. “We’ll both be each other’s trainers.”
Dok-mi says that she always thought people hated her, and that she was why her parents fought, and therefore she never liked herself. Enrique points out that on the beach that one day, he could see the way she looked at the ocean and how she gives her heart to the things she sees: “You like so many things—why can’t you like yourself?”
Dok-mi replies, “Because I’ve never received love, I don’t know how to love.” Enrique says, “Then just receive what I give. Start with receiving.”
At the sound of a girl crying next to them, Enrique bounds up to cheer her up. Dok-mi takes her phone out and starts her process of filming the world, beginning with him.
Thinking of that day on the beach, Dok-mi starts to write a new passage of her book, but deletes the words “That woman” and revises it to:
“The wind and the waves tear down the sand castle. That man is able to love even the wind and the waves. He says that the castle hasn’t been torn down, but that it has been permeated. That man knows how to be healed.”
As they leave the zoo, Dok-mi tells him that she has realized that working at home is a form of locking herself away, although she had previously thought of it as working the way she wanted. Therefore, she has contacted her publishing office, and told them she wants to report to the office every day like a regular employee.
Enrique is amazed at the huge step this represents, though part of him (the petty, petty part) can’t resist noting that Jin-rak’s one webtoon was more effective than all the dragging around he’d done. Dok-mi corrects him: “I realized I was shut in. That’s why I’m leaving.”
Enrique gives her a hug: “Good job.” And then, it’s time for our Pretty Woman shopping montage, though I suppose he is taking both of those words loosely with his goofy modeling.
Of course, she gets the obligatory pretty-dress transformation too, and then he picks out ridiculously cutesy couple tees for the both of them. It’s a smile-inducing date for its ordinariness, although the mood sours when Dok-mi catches a glimpse of his phone when the animation studio in Spain calls. Reality intrudes and wipes the smile from her face. Aw, don’t feel guilty!
Dong-hoon resumes his nighttime job by hanging out outside the nightclubs for his clients to call. With the income, he can resume making payments to his PD, who is hilariously reviewing her “dating notes” as she primps and wills her phone to ring. Is it funnier that she’s studying how to date, or that her notes come from Jin-rak the Hapless?
When Dong-hoon calls, the PD actually squees to herself, even though all he does is tell her that paid back another installment of his debt. I think he’s actually expecting her to rip his head off, as per her usual, but she’s reminding herself to speak slowly and gets a confused look out of him. Heh.
As Enrique and Dok-mi head to a movie theater that evening, we catch a glimpse of his stalker fangirl, recording the date on her phone. Ack, you again! I thought we’d done away with you. Haven’t you fulfilled your crazy quota?
Enrique suggests watching the newest animated movie for their date tomorrow, and Dok-mi notes how passionate he is about the world of animation. And now she can’t keep silent anymore, asking how he can give up his dream because of her—she can see plain as day how much he loves it.
Assuring him that she’ll be fine now that she’s started to venture into the world, she encourages him to return to Spain. After all, everything he has is there, with nothing for him here.
He points out, “You’re here.” But it’s not enough of a reason to convince her, not after she wrote his book and understands his feelings so well. She can’t be the reason for him giving it up.
Enrique scoffs at her to quit lying to herself, but she knows that this time he’s the one who’s fooling himself. And he can’t deny it, although he pleads with her to ask for what she wants for once, not acting just for the other person’s good. Can’t she ask him to stay?
It’s something of an impasse, and she shakes off his arm from hers. But he doesn’t let her go, and instead takes her in a hug, right there in the lobby.
Holding her close, he asks, “Come with me to Spain.”
COMMENTS
Character-wise, we had a lot of turning point moments in this episodes, which were both angst-ridden and rewarding. I really couldn’t care less about Do-hwi so I don’t count her in the bunch, though I suppose you could say it extends to her. Sorta. I’ll concede that she’s not quite as horrible as I thought her previously, but being “less hateful” isn’t really that much of a difference from being plain hateful.
Jin-rak and Dong-hoon, on the other hand, are just adorable. I love that they had their big blowup, and that Dong-hoon got a chance to fume about being the dead-broke artist instead of just being sunny about it. And we could feel that it made a difference that Jin-rak wasn’t really as broke as he was, because it made Dong-hoon feel lesser, like he was being humored. But that misunderstanding also gives Jin-rak the chance to show Dong-hoon just how much he does care about him, as much as a real brother (and more, if you consider how mercenary his real bros were). Just, awww.
It was a nice bit of connection to have Jin-rak and Dok-mi both identifying with each other’s pasts and their inability to love themselves. Fitting that once again they’re on the same side of the situation, totally in accord with that sense of bleakness and able to understand what that feels like—but I think today’s confessions highlight that being exactly alike don’t really work to bring them together romantically. Dok-mi’s afraid of bringing her darkness into Enrique’s life, but really, it’s the complement they need. I love that Jin-rak is able to help Dok-mi a little by having trod that path before and having come to the realization first that he needs to work at loving himself, but for once he’s not putting himself in the position of her savior. I want him to be a co-traveler on this path with her, friends and confidantes who don’t have to cut ties once he’s given up his romantic aspirations. He’s such a great hyung figure, I want that to remain constant.
I didn’t love the whole fangirl segment, and I groan a little to see that we’re still not done with it, even though I was relieved at the swiftness of the arc in this episode. I was afraid they’d let it be a bigger plot point than it was, and happy that it resolved so early on. I can deal with it being the catalyst to bringing the greater issue to the table—the Spain-Korea divide, literally—and only hope that the next segment is used in a similar vein. Fingers crossed.
RELATED POSTS
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 12
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 11
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 10
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 9
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 8
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 7
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 6
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 5
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 4
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 3
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 2
- Flower Boy Next Door: Episode 1
Tags: featured, Flower Boy Next Door, Kim Ji-hoon, Park Shin-hye, Yoon Shi-yoon
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1 Russe12
February 18, 2013 at 8:41 PM
Thanks so much for the recaps! Off to read...
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Russe12
February 18, 2013 at 9:13 PM
One thing that I've really noticed about this series is how nobody is exactly who you think they are from first impressions. Dok-mi isn't just a really shy girl, Enrique isn't just an outgoing, happy person, Do-hwi isn't just a well-dressed mean girl (well, sorta...?). I've really really enjoyed all the character development in this series so far, and I'm excited as to what will happen in the last few episodes. I just don't want it to end!
I was a bit annoyed with the whole fangirl plot at first, but I will see where it goes from here and make further opinions later. But I am seriously looooving the cute between Dok-mi and Enrique. They could win an award. And even though they're already together, I feel like the focus isn't necessarily on their love but rather on how they are helping each other become a better person. I love this! Of course, I won't really mind more smoochies....*crosses fingers*
I may be one of the few who doesn't mind Do-hwi being redeemed. She may not 'deserve it' persay, and she reaaally doesn't, but if we all had to live under our past mistakes (and hers was huge, so not making light of that), we wouldn't be able to get anywhere in life. But I guess it's an opinion thing, and I really do understand where everyone else is coming from. I'm soft...sorry. xD
And lastly...I'm first?!?!?! Sorry, had to have a minor freak-out. The end.
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Wishful thinking
February 18, 2013 at 9:40 PM
I agree with you. I may not like Do-hwi but I believe that everyone is capable of change and that everyone deserves a second chance. It only depends on her if she is willing to work for that second chance and become a better person.
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S a r a h
February 19, 2013 at 2:02 AM
Have you noticed that in the episodes since Dok Mi and Enrique have been together, there has been A LOT of hugging? :D
Now I want more smoochies. heehee.
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redfox
February 19, 2013 at 3:59 AM
nobody is exactly as they seem at first impression. impression is taken on, the true face is something else, and the heart is completely different. only if we would be able to read each others minds could we perhaps describe exactly what kind of people they are. but the thing is, most people can´t read minds and make wrong conclusions.
this is a really melancholic show though. especially cause by statistics one third of people in megacities is completely alon, with no connections at all. either migrated, untied the relationship with their family, traumas etc.
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 6:51 AM
So true. Everything you said. Loved your comment. Although I am not really wanting Do Hwi to "get off" and be rewarded for coming clean, I do want her to be somewhat redeemed because it would go well with one of the underlying themes of the drama: the effect of our words or non-words upon other folks.
Again, Do Hwi has been hit with the realization --or with a "new seeing" in which her eyes are literally being opened to seeing what she was blind to. She is finally seeing the effect of her words on other people. Same with Jin Rak. He hasn't seen or understood how his non-speaking has affected his life. HE's got to learn to speak up and he's learning. And Do Hwi -- she still is trying to hide why she likes Jin Rak -- uh, Jae Won-- so she still is in major need of change.
So as Dok Mi tells Jin Rak about what she really is like and not what his impression of her is, we all have to deal with the fact that Do Hwi has a heart, that Enrique is wounded and that pretty much everyone in the world is walking around because of some wounded childhood. So we can't go judging anyone by first impressions.
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redfox
February 19, 2013 at 7:38 AM
this is kind of crazy, but I actually re-wrote part of my story thinking about prejudice and hidden personalities, and I intend to open up some of my own characters and their past and present ambitions because of the influence of this show. like a person we might consider boring and annoyingly normal might have been a student activist in his youth and published an underground newspaper. or a country guy who seems like a bum with 2 grades of education actually grows rare and beautiful roses.
thanks, show. I feel like I dont even know my own characters well enough! I had the wrong impression. this is weird. maybe it is my own brain that I dont know.
CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 8:05 AM
Sometimes you have to rewrite a story in about eight or nine drafts before you fully understand a character. Sounds like your book is coming along nicely and wonderfully.
Carrie
February 19, 2013 at 9:46 AM
(in response to redfox and your subsequent comment - not sure the order that this will post)
ahhh! this is so in line with a conversation i've been having with my step-mom! i watched the movie "the perks of being a wallflower" and then read the book (because i almost never like a movie if i've read the book first). but this time i felt like the book wasn't as good as the movie, like the movie got the characters better. the book's author (stephen chbosky) wrote the screenplay and directed the film, so it wasn't a reinterpretation from another point of view. i felt like he knew the characters better in the movie, so they made more sense.
ok, glad to see that other people think that sometimes authors don't fully know their own creations. glad i'm not alone!!
am
February 19, 2013 at 4:47 AM
I'm right there with you with Do Hwi. I don't hate her but I don't like her either. I can forgive her but never forget what she's done. But Do Hwi did kind of made sense, somehow, when she asked Dok Mi why she didn't defend herself or something. Why not say anything then. I'd still like for her character to have a good ending. Doesn't matter where you started, what matters is where you end.
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redfox
February 19, 2013 at 7:07 AM
exactly. worse people have turned a new sheet and started over and become mind-bendingly different. yet there are doofuses who are engaged in some unbelievable dark and suspicious affairs and walk on and keep being the same kind of bastardos they were. we judge ordinary folks so easily yet close the eye for true criminals, who might not be wielding a knife at our face but they back-stab the whole society.
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 8:06 AM
LOL!!! Wow, you sound like me when i watch the politicians on CNN
redfox
February 19, 2013 at 8:32 AM
yeah. politicians, sleek lawyers and stuff. People like the ones in this show or ordinary people, our neighbors, we are so close yet we dont know them at all. pass these doors every day and know more about some TV celebrities who we never met
skelly
February 19, 2013 at 8:41 AM
I still don't like Do hwi, I never will, because once again we are being forced into this stupid redemption arc - really, this is disappointing to see fresh characters forced to cover the same plot points. I'm not saying that bad people are beyond redemption - although a lot of times in real life they are - but do we have to see the same thing time and time again?
I foresee noble idiocy on the part of Dok-mi, a redemption arc and probably Jin-Rak for Do-hwi, some last-minute heroine-in-jeopardy hijinks - sigh. This has all been done a million times before. It's a waste of some decent characters. I'm not a huge fan of cute, so Enrique can dance around in a panda suit all he wants and I will still be unsatisfied with the turn the story is taking.
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Brittni
April 7, 2013 at 7:55 PM
As far as the Noble Idiocy Conundrum goes, I think it's more understandable here than in other shows. Enrique didn't bring her back to life or back to the world, because she has never been in it. She has always felt self-loathing and isolated, even in her friendship with Do-Hwi. We see that when Do-Hwi is sobbing at her desk and Dok-Mi looks on helplessly and worried. I have to admit, it made me wonder if part of the reason she did not defend herself was due to not wanting to call her ex best friend a liar, but in the end the experience is still poison to any ambition for happiness she might have begun to nurse while having a best friend and an encouraging teacher.
Once Do-Hwi committed to her new role as a mean girl, she had no choice but to be immersed in it utterly. I think we see that when she tries to manipulate or cajole others into thinking she's a good person for rescuing cats or bringing over clothes. But I also think she wanted confrontation from Dok-Mi. She wanted to be accused of her actions and her cruelty, to not have it permitted through silence, because only then can she stop lying to herself.
What Enrique has done is give her the world anew, fresh, crisp and beating. He didn't return her to it, he brought her into it for the first time in her life. The webtoon simply put that in sequence, but it has been Enrique who has done all of the heavy lifting. For someone who has been privileged enough to witness her own birth and the seeding of a world full of her own dreams, she would be heartbroken thinking she had stood in the way of a lifelong dream for the person who made all of that even possible. Frankly, I'd feel a little disappointed in her if his dreams meant nothing to her after all he is done by dragging her wet, red, and kicking from her safe little womb into the world.
kumi
February 19, 2013 at 7:13 AM
I want Do Hwi to be forgiven by Dok Mi. Because that's what Dok Mi needs even more than Do Hwi. One can't become genuinely happy, if one can't give others a chance to be happy.
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Sunshine
February 19, 2013 at 7:24 AM
I love the character development which is hard to find in kdrama it kinda like the characters announces themselves as grown up when the impression you get is they're still acting as the same from ep 1.
flower boy next door is definitely one of the series that i have grown to love so far, i just hope it doesnt disappoint me. so far i think this series is a rare gem. it kinda actually reminds me of the japanese genre slice of life. i am actually hoping to see the japanese do a remake on this...which is weird but i totally can see a remake of it!
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camille
February 19, 2013 at 10:01 AM
dok mi and enrique can go and be whatever, i got a bit bored... jin rak already conceded so what now... blood flowed back to my veins when Dong hoon was somewhat expecting a call from webtoon boss, and was disappointed when she seems like she wont be calling. and she is not calling... coz she was wishing he would call, and he did!!! LOL , her expression was just - precious! that was more exciting for me..
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kaye
February 19, 2013 at 6:47 PM
me too, i got bored with dok mi and enrique. i only lightened up with dong hoon and boss (i really wish they'd progress)
youtube to mp3
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2 June
February 18, 2013 at 8:42 PM
Thanks so much for the recap! ^____^
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3 Wishful thinking
February 18, 2013 at 8:42 PM
Thanks for the recap!
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Wishful thinking
February 18, 2013 at 8:50 PM
Enrique's panda dance at the beginning of the episode really made my day. I now have the urge to go find an animal suit now. lol. Enrique really makes his egocentricity look like its part of his charm and I actually think that it is. Haha. Only he could say that he was cute since he was young and I would not be annoyed by the fact that he said that. I feel so bad for Jin Rak. He is such a martyr. I hope he also gets his happy ending.
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marid
February 18, 2013 at 9:08 PM
Panda dance... It was just cute overload...
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secretlyaddicted
February 19, 2013 at 4:34 AM
Cutest dance in the entire universe. LOL.
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4 Ivoire
February 18, 2013 at 8:42 PM
Thank you!
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5 Tera
February 18, 2013 at 8:43 PM
HNNNNG Can't wait for subs!!
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Ace
February 18, 2013 at 8:48 PM
It's already out on dramacrazy. Surprised me that it came out faster than recaps here on DB. =)
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austriandramalover
February 18, 2013 at 9:06 PM
I watched it approximately 7-9 hours after the broadcast on viki.com. they are really fast with the subs :)
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Ace
February 18, 2013 at 9:33 PM
Well, some of us can't view it on viki anymore. I used to watch it there too but now due to their reqional restrictions... :P
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Maricel
February 18, 2013 at 9:17 PM
On vikii, it was ready 7 hours after it was aired ...I think they are the fastest subber of this show....before they got licensed I had to wait one or two days...
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Kiara
February 18, 2013 at 9:20 PM
Most of the time Dramacrazy gets their subs from viki. They dont have subbers.
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eternalfive
February 18, 2013 at 9:36 PM
Yeah, the subs are crazy fast for this show. Definitely not complaining though. Wuv all the subbers, hee. <3 XD
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6 hawoojinruinedme
February 18, 2013 at 8:45 PM
It's here! Thanks jb!
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7 Ace
February 18, 2013 at 8:47 PM
Yay! Thanks!
I'm not really hating on Do-hwi right now as I did at the beginning (thought back on my high school days and man, I did lots of stupid and thoughtless things). I'm just glad that a "villain" was written well and the redemption won't be at the last minute like in so many kdramas. Also, the actress playing her has improved since her BOF days. At least I liked her a little better than No Min-woo's character in MGIAG. And she's playing Do-hwi good even if her earlier scenes were cringe-worthy. Makes me want to see the NGs.
But the fangirl got off easy. Enrique should've made her at least apologize or something to Dok-mi.
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eleanor
February 18, 2013 at 8:58 PM
Yeah, I was wondering why the crazy fan didn't get prosecuted or something. Ack!!!
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shukmeister
February 18, 2013 at 9:25 PM
The stalker chick was a good plot device to stir the pot a bit so that Dok-mi can think about how to support Enrique's dream, but please don't bring her back, especially for trying to drive a wedge between them. Someone get me some pest spray!!!
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eleanor
February 18, 2013 at 9:34 PM
Amen!
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8 sartorius
February 18, 2013 at 8:49 PM
I could see noble idiocy coming from a mile away, except in this case it really isn't.....UGH what is going to happen....especially with the preview for next episode!!!
Thanks for the Recap!!!!
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Conny
February 19, 2013 at 12:13 PM
My guess is that she wants JR to possibly kiss her when Enrique is around, since obviously he won't leave on his own and may need a little shove.
To be honest, it didn't seem like she was as convicted as Enrique about their relationship, and maybe she has realized that she's really the rebound girl and that his heart is still (well actually, again) in Spain? So what better way to get him to leave and live out his dreams (and be with the girl he's pined after for 10 years) than to break his heart...
Sigh. I don't like where this is going because either way someone is going to get hurt.
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9 owl
February 18, 2013 at 8:55 PM
Waited all weekend for this, yay! But, I don't want Dok Mi to push too much for Enrique to go his way for his dream while she ventures into the world. I liked her comment that she trapped herself and now she can free herself. But please, please please Dok Mi, just say 'yes' to Enrique's request, "Let's go to Spain together." You are so good for each other! Don't do the "I don't want to be the reason for you not going to Spain for your dream." Start a dream together, we shipped you, now be shipped!!!
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10 dubokki
February 18, 2013 at 8:57 PM
hate that stalker chick
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11 eleanor
February 18, 2013 at 8:58 PM
Yay!!! Thanks for the recap!!! It was a sweet episode with some absolutely adorable moments. Really, YSY dancing in a panda suit!!! Ridiculously adorkable!!! It makes me just want to hug him!!!
One of my favourite scenes in the episode though was the Hyung-Donsaeng "love" spat. It was filled with such emotion and both Kim Ji Hoon and Go Kyung Po filled the scene with such moving and heartfelt love and a sense of wanting to belong. It was just lovely!!!
I really hope that they manage to subvert expectations again and not drag out any noble idiocy crap. I have faith though that the show can deal with the Korea-Spain divide, and let them pursue their dreams together!!! Dok-Mi and Enrique 화이팅!!!
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12 austriandramalover
February 18, 2013 at 9:03 PM
First things first: I WANT MY VERY OWN PANDA ENRIQUE PLEASE :D those first few seconds had me in stitches^^ SO CUTE <3
I am such a sucker for bromance so I was on pins and needles when Dong Hoon was about to leave. But thank god they were back to their bickering in no time :)
The preview...makes me a bit anxious but I guess in the end we will all get what we want. Enrique and Dok Mi together, because that's just how it is supposed to be :)
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lily
February 18, 2013 at 10:04 PM
can i have a panda suit instead? i really,really want one. :D
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Carrie
February 19, 2013 at 9:49 AM
i only want a panda suit if enrique comes in it . . .
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13 leaf
February 18, 2013 at 9:03 PM
hate dok mi and enrique. because of them ji rak is sufferning!! dont worry ji rak. u deserve better
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14 whatis
February 18, 2013 at 9:05 PM
man that episode just zoomed by!
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15 marid
February 18, 2013 at 9:06 PM
The panda dance... Please someone make it a gift!! ( I don't know how ) it was just too adorable!!!! That and the question I kept asking myself in the past 10 episodes, why does Enrique not speak Spanish?? Then he does... Adorable again... I'm going to be a mess next week... I don't want it to end!!!
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eleanor
February 19, 2013 at 1:16 AM
Here's a link gif that the awesome kakashi made: http://dr-myri-blog.blogspot.ch/2013/02/flower-boy-next-door-gif-time-episode-13.html
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Shellybean
February 19, 2013 at 5:26 AM
Butt-wiggling panda boy gif FTW!! lol
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nova611
February 19, 2013 at 7:02 AM
how to save gif in my com?
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16 lechugas
February 18, 2013 at 9:11 PM
was actually waiting for a back hug from ji rak to dong hoon :)
proud of dok mi for overcoming her hurdles...
love enrique's contagious positivity... and his aegyo's!!!
thanks for the recap JB....
and i can't believe how fast this drama flew...
we're onto the last 3 episodes.... :( :)
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17 ajj
February 18, 2013 at 9:19 PM
I love the I dont want to lose my dongsaeng moment.
My favorite bromance.
Anyway because of this K drama I started watching New Girl again because Nick is so like Jin-Rak in many ways. lol..Im getting crazy.
Thanks to these recap I got to keep up with the drama
since I havent watched it for weeks. I'm gonna marathon it from episodes 5-14 this weekend.Fingers crossed.
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Mari
February 18, 2013 at 9:46 PM
I agree! he is so like Nick Miller! So he needs a quirky Jess in his life :)
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ajj
February 18, 2013 at 11:11 PM
IKR...
Nice to know Im not the only one who noticed.I've been bugging my sister about it but she doesnt get my flow.
They're both funny losers..but cute nonetheless.
What Jin-Rak and Dong hoon needs is a quirky roommate, a New Girl.
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Mama J
February 19, 2013 at 4:15 AM
Exactly right about Jin Rak - Nick Miller but hmmm...Enrique is most like Jess, LOL. New Girl is probably one of the funniest shows on US tv, ever.
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ajj
February 19, 2013 at 6:12 PM
You are right,Enrique is Jess..this is really funny...
Indeed ,New Girl is one of the few US shows I still watch.
18 Maricel
February 18, 2013 at 9:25 PM
I loved this episode, i thought they were going to make a big deal out of the harsh words on her door, i was glad it was solved so fast... the way they edit the preview led us to expect things to happen in a different way, it' nice. I hope it happens with this one too, i would hate to see her using Jin Rak to make Enrique leave...besides, wouldn't be Korea a better place to make movies than Spain is? It's far more technological, i believe...
I adored how he spoke in Spanish...love it!!!♡♡♡♡♡
That pic of them in the aquarium will be my next facebook cover XD
Thanks for the recap -)
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19 dobabado
February 18, 2013 at 9:28 PM
Finally! "We'll both be each other's trainers."
I am so totally pleased that the elephant story's been revised into something better. I think I was the only one ranting about how "training" someone to be normal sounded like complete bullshit and I'm glad the writers are slowly rewriting everything I disliked about Enrique. Isn't it interesting how they're adding phrases like "If you want to" to Enrique's dialogue when they weren't there before? How lovely.
Dok-Mi is developing so fast; it's uncanny! Goes to show how far someone can get with someone else holding their hand.
Jin-rak tsk tsk still so overprotective, almost aggressively so. Hopefully he backs off from now on since it's almost clear that E and DM are together. Still keeping my fingers crossed for his happy ending. I'm surprised the writers are keeping consistent with DM's character and how she really can tell JR stuff about herself easily.
High-five, characters, high-five (except you, creepy stalker girl)!
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20 Do-ra-ma
February 18, 2013 at 9:38 PM
I care more for the bromance between Jin Rak and Dong Hoon than the romance between Dok Mi and Enrique. I think I would like the show a lot more if it just didn't flat out have any romance. Like the Ouran High School Host Club anime (NOT the manga) - it could hint at it, maybe flirt at it, but never really go there. I'd enjoy it more, I know that.
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ks
February 18, 2013 at 10:05 PM
Yep, I care so little about Dok Mi and Enrique as a couple that I find Jin Rak and Dong Hoon's bromance and Dong Hoon and PD's chemistry much more interesting.
Still can't feel any romantic chemistry between Dok Mi and Enrique. Those hugs - no physical chemistry whatsoever. He's just too boyish and overly "adorable" that he has no sex appeal. That panda dance, yes, funny and adorable, but not sexy at all. I also find Enrique too overbearing sometimes - all I see is Enrique going chatter chatter and chatter, while Dok Mi says barely anything and just smiles. It's getting kind of repetitive that I might just drop this drama altogether.
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Ace
February 18, 2013 at 10:23 PM
Re: romance - I'm sort of meh about it too. I'm not as excited if they get together or not as I did with the leads in FBRS & SUFBB. I squealed so much back then. Reminds me when I was watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal when I didn't care at all about the leads' romance too. It was all about the second lead for me. Ah, missing Geol-oh...
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sally_b
February 19, 2013 at 3:23 AM
wow. and here I thought I was the only viewer who was receiving ZERO attraction-vibes from the OTP.
I think the two actors are doing a good job of inhabiting their characters, but when skin touches or faces nearly meet....nah, not even a tingle.
...it's like they could be school-mates who are study-buddies for a REALLY hard exam. But honestly, even brushing ankles under the library table is sexier than any connection so far between these two.
(le sigh).... they're still cute tho.
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Shellybean
February 19, 2013 at 5:28 AM
There are a few moments of chemistry, I think. Like the way Enrique looks at her when she's in the white dress (he lowers his phone from his photo taking and has to just look). And in the previous episode, the way he looks at her when he's saying just keep liking him more, more, more, more.
Romantic chemistry or not, YSY is killing this role.
Lexi
February 19, 2013 at 10:00 AM
I completely agree! Enrique's animated antics and expressions are cute sometimes but it also hinders how he is perceived romantically for me. He just acts so much like a kid that I can't take him seriously most of the time.
I understand that he has more depth to his personality than his bubbly exterior but I don't know... all the panda hats and overly cute aegyo doesn't make me see him as a romantic interest. That's just my opinion though!
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lili
February 19, 2013 at 12:57 AM
Same here...the main couple lack chemistry imo, there's no spark between them. Anyway, I keep watching it for the bromance and Kim Ji Hoon... crossing fingers for KJH to come back with a leading role for his next drama, he is definitely leading male material.
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Laura
February 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM
lol. I think you might want to read the recaps at Couch Kimchi. I think you'll find a kindred spirit there.
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ys
February 20, 2013 at 12:23 PM
Agree! Jin Rak and Dong Hoon are so much more interesting. When watching the episode I skip to their scenes and when reading the recaps I scroll right to their scenes. I'm finding that the writers are giving Dong Hoon more and more layers. His screentime is short, but he leaves his mark on us, doesn't he?
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21 Mari
February 18, 2013 at 9:41 PM
Honestly, I cannot wait for this drama to be over. I love it to bits but I am not hoping for an extension. I was agonizing all week trying to distract myself with my other favorite shows, (This is the only Kdrama I am currently watching, I am picky with my kdramas and not into makjangs or melos) but it’s not working, my mind keeps wandering back towards FBND. So what I did was I rewatched FBND from episodes 1 through 12. To somehow ease my growing frustration that Monday was still too far away. With other Dramas I’d be really impatient that the OTP didn’t get together till later episodes, but with FBND I have no such feelings. Rewatching from the start I realized how this drama got the pacing perfectly. That you won’t have any complaints of it being too slow on progress. It’s a big deal for someone who is as impatient as I am. I tend to skip scenes a lot! But here I just sit back and relax and before I knew it I was already at the ending of episode 12.
It is fascinating to watch Enrique and Dok Mi’s relationship grow from the start to where they are right now. It does not feel forced or contrived. It was natural and right. But conflicts arise not only in Dramas but in real life as well. And now it’s the your dream vs being with the love of your life.
Enrique and Dok Mi both have their own dreams. And it seems Enrique needs to go back to Spain for his dream to be fulfilled. Why can’t he just do it in Korea?! I know, I know because it’s a drama so it has to be that way. But come to think of it, it can also happen in real life, that sometimes in order for you to follow your dreams you have to go away and leaving someone behind cannot be avoided. The offer for Dok Mi to go with him to Spain is sweet, but I doubt that Dok Mi wants to do that right now. She has her dreams too. She just started rediscovering what it feels like to be in the outside world again. Slowly opening herself up. I am guessing they are kinda going towards the same direction as the webtoon ending which I really don’t mind. That ending is really awesome IMO. I just hope they won’t add something like DM using JR to make Enrique leave, you know the pretend that you chose the 2nd lead male so that he’ll back off and fulfill his dream even if it hurts you so bad. Ugh! But I have a lot of faith in this Drama. I hope that Kaegeum and Dok Mi would be honest with each other and really assess on what they should do to make it work. If they have to be apart for a while, it’s ok with me just as long as they make everything clear with each other. Coz sometimes you need to grow by yourself first before you can grow with someone.
Words have the ability to hurt us and question everything. We may try not to get affected by other people’s words but sometimes they are too strong that they mess up our way of thinking. That crazy fangirl’s words is somehow affecting Dok Mi but she’s trying to fight it off and listen to her heart. She’s afraid that she is making enrique dark, connected with the ojung/fairy thing that crazy fan girl told her previously. I hate crazy fans. What gives that girl the right to not like Dok Mi for Enrique. Who does she think she is? that she thinks she has a say on who Enrique should date or go out with. Tssss!
The scene with Jinrak and Dong really made me go awww. How Dong is really trying to help JR win over the girl of his dreams because he knows how his hyung pines for his rapunzel. How he encourages him to also go inside DM’s house, and Jin said he doesn’t know anything, or what to do, Dong saying so go and find out, just shows how much care there is between the two. And JR talking about his family. They may have lots of money but he still felt empty. It’s actually a cliche, Dong’s family is poor but full of love, JR’s family is loaded but empty. But it doesn’t matter because their bromance together totally rocks. Just like DM and Enrique it feels so natural.
The zoo scene kinda reminded me of Mary stayed out all night. Where mary said that in order to replace bad memories from certain places you need to create good memories in those places. The zoo comes with a bad memory for Enrique, I heard from my eurasian friends that racism is worse in European countries. So it must have been really hard for Little Enrique growing up in spain. And him opening up about that, got me all teary just like DM. They both carry different facades but inside they have the same pain from getting discriminated upon. Enrique is looking for an answer as to why people discriminate while Dok Mi chose to lock herself up.
And lastly more PDnim and Donghoon scenes please. I really, really, really like them together. It seems Dong is smitten already. Him saying that Jin needs to find a girl who can be his guarantor, just like his "girl". squeee!
Three more episodes, then I can try to fix my sleeping pattern. Drama you are not helping my insomnia problem at all! teehee!
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 6:43 AM
Wow, exactly how I felt about Enrique. The woundedness of racism. Sometimes the most seemingly-happy-go-lucky people are the most wounded. That doesn't make their peppiness fake but it makes it surprising that they have such heart.
It's like what redfox said earlier about first impressions in the above comments. In this world we tend to judge by first impressions. (not if you watch dramas of course, cause we've been trained by drama/story that people are often more than they appear to be.)
But in real life, we find certain people overbearing or ditzy or flaky and we can be very unkind to them in our hearts. Or assume there is nothing deep about them. I think one of the reasons Enrique is so kind and generally gentle with everyone -- even stalker and Do Hwi at the beginning-- is that he had people disliking him for no reason except that he was Asian. Thus he understands woundedness/discrimination/alienation/the cruelty of first impressions to such a degree that he will take people as he finds them. A great gift that. A possibly dangerous gift but a great gift nevertheless.
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owl
February 19, 2013 at 12:30 PM
I think what we are seeing in Enrique's happy hyper personality just another way (his way) of keeping people at a distance. A person has to reveal less about himself or herself when happiness and lightheartedness is portrayed compared to a quiet, thoughtful personality which seems to more quickly invite inquiry. "What's up?'
A penny for your thoughts." questions like that come at a quiet person. So, Enrique can avoid those questions with hyperactivity. People back away from his personal space for a different reason, but they still back away. And he doesn't have to dig deep.
I like how Dok Mi and Enrique are digging deep together, and the thing is, she is taking the lead and he is following.
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skelly
February 19, 2013 at 8:54 AM
Yes, what Enrique said about growing up in Spain was pretty realistic about growing up as a foreigner in Europe. People seem to think of racism as an American thing, but actually it is because we have so many different races all living together, there are so many more "opportunities" to display racism that we are hypersensitive about it, picking at it like a scab that never goes away. For this reason it gets so much press and is so well known. A country where the populace is racially similar will also have trouble with feelings of racism because the "otherness" is so much more obvious and cultural standards may be more rigid.
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22 Toystar
February 18, 2013 at 9:41 PM
Thanks for the recap. Oh the panda dance so cute.
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23 Naomi
February 18, 2013 at 9:43 PM
THANKS JB,
I am not spanish but I think enrique spoke korean slang
spanish, funny pronounciation !.
I am still hoping for oh jin rak/dok mi pairings.
Enrique has many unresolved issues in spain, and
also confused mind, can't imagine how he will cope with
having a permanent girlfriend like dok mi.
I cried between jin rak and dong hoon man to man talk,
it hurts to know about their plight.
Pd getting fresh on her subordinate, don't get sexual
harassment card !! like we read the recent news.
fighting oh jin rak !!,
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24 eternalfive
February 18, 2013 at 9:46 PM
HAHAHA, Enrique's Spanish was adorable. :P And his panda dance was adorable. And his eagerness to do generic couple-y things was adorable. And omg just why is he so adorable. I LOVE this couple so much. Not just because they're plain adorable together, but because they also change each other for the better, and help each other and understand each other in such a sweet, opposites-attract kind of way.
Seriously, say yes Dok-mi, please say yes!
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25 Tanya B!
February 18, 2013 at 9:46 PM
ysy speaking in spanish made my week, no my month! SO FREAKING ADORABLE (especially since I'm a spanish native speaker), I know this might have looked just as an excuse to relate, but I found really interesting that they put the racism issue on the table...it was more or less like that in Chile as well durng the 90s. Thankfully things have changed for the better!
I'm so scared about the preview...I feel a time jump is coming!
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altair
February 18, 2013 at 10:37 PM
As someone who has never experienced racism in any way, shape or form, I am shocked everytime I hear about/see racism, real life or not. People can be so cruel to other people.
I am afraid Dok Mi is going to try to make Enrique leave by using Jin Rak and pretend to be caught in some sort of romantic situation with him. Poor Enrique! Fighting!
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Maricel
February 19, 2013 at 6:49 AM
XD! I'm Chilean too, and I have heard the same things Enrique said meant for Chinese people. What is worst is that people dont make any difference between Chinese, Korean , Japanese or so., which is utterly disrespectful u.u
Yeah, YSY spanish was lovely
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26 Abbie
February 18, 2013 at 9:48 PM
Great episode. As always. The stalker fangirl plotline is a bit annoying, but it does help to accentuate the bigger issue of Enrique going to Spain to follow his dream, and Dok-mi being unable or unwilling to leave Korea. I'm not sure which it is for her. About the mid-point in this episode, I wanted Enrique to ask Dok-mi to come with him, and he did, but I doubt she will. She's already making big steps of venturing out into the world, but leaving one's apartment and leaving the country are two different things. She may not be ready to do that for awhile, and yet, she's already making huge strides out of her comfort zone, so who knows?
I like that the Jin-rak/Dong-hoon argument was handled so well and was brief. If they had dragged it out for three more episodes until the finale, I would have been very upset with this writer. As it is, where the hell is Ryo? You get a talented young actor from Japan, and you do almost nothing with him. What's up with that? I get that his character holds almost no relevance to the overall story, but still, he's one of the Flower Boys in a show about Flower Boys. Common sense.
I'm glad that Do-hwi seems to be coming around to being a better person, and my initial thought that she was after Jin-rak for his money was (seemingly) wrong, but I still hate her. Also, how do we know she doesn't have him confused with another guy named Jae-won. I mean, it didn't seem like she recognized him in that first (?) episode. I think she just recognized his name. I still don't trust her.
Only three episodes left! NOOOOOO! Love this show so much. I'm already looking forward to the next Flower Boy show from TvN.
Thanks for the recap, Javabeans!
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Wishful thinking
February 18, 2013 at 9:54 PM
I thought that this was the last installment of the Flower Boy Series, correct me if I'm wrong please. I really wish that TvN would continue the series though.
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Abbie
February 18, 2013 at 9:56 PM
Oh, I don't know. I hope not, cause that would suck. As far as I know, there will be more.
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Ace
February 18, 2013 at 10:16 PM
It'll be great if they continue their Oh! Boy series after FBND. But I was also under the impression that there would be only three. As for favorites, I think I like SUFBB best even though I love quirky characters (Cha Chi-soo & Enrique) like in jdramas. There was something about the atmosphere in Shut Up that appealed to me. Plus the soundtrack rocked!
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dayoldbagel
February 18, 2013 at 11:30 PM
Yeah, as i understand it TvN's flower boy series will end with FBND. I definitely hope they end up continuing it though since SUFBB is one of my top 5 favorite kdramas and FBND is on its way to maybe being my #1. I can't say much about FBRS since although i tried to on several different occasions i couldn't make it through the first episode...just not my type of drama i guess.
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bjharm
February 19, 2013 at 4:54 AM
yeah same here the fan girl and his 'dream' are linked for me. Fangirl and from the preview of next epiosde his other fans want him to live his dream, and of course as crazy we own you type fans, theirs as well. Now we seem to be headed to the classic second guy pretending to be boyfriend act so first lead gives up the girl to live his dream. How I hate that line..'How can you give up ? just for a girl" you hear it all the time in Korean dramas { I not go into the sexism of it and korean culture } but really can not they just understand that his dream may have changed or expanded, why force him to live a dream that may no longer be all that important to him?
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27 crazedlu
February 18, 2013 at 9:52 PM
Why is Yoon Shiyoon not at all winning me over? Kind of feeling meh about the two together. I mean, they make sense together, but I think I'm just way over Yoon Shiyoon. Hope the story ends fittingly for Dokmi. I care about her lots.
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Conny
February 19, 2013 at 12:17 PM
He's so bouncy... and she's a more laid back, quiet thinker. She'd be much better suited to be with Jin Rak to be honest.
I can't help but love YSY in this series though. He's just so funny.
I feel the same way though. Character wise they're just mismatched. They honestly just don't do it for me.
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28 nomad
February 18, 2013 at 10:00 PM
I LOVE THIS EPI!! Just one biggest consistent problem I have with PSH, which is...HUG HIM BACK, whydontcha??
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ks
February 18, 2013 at 10:09 PM
It's bad enough that their kiss was so flat, now I see those hugs and I kind of cringe.
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eternalfive
February 18, 2013 at 11:46 PM
I KNOW RIGHT? She doesn't even...Idk, LEAN into him, let alone hug him back. She sort of just holds herself like a wooden plank in his arms. *cries* D:
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Stardust
February 18, 2013 at 10:48 PM
That was what I noticed...that everytime Enrique initiates a hug, its almost always slightly awkward lol... but I feel that its precisely because its not in Dok mi's character to suddenly become effusive or super romantic... I think that she is still unsure if what she feels is love... and the feeling I get is, she is not necessarily like...bowled over by Enrique... she is more collected and just seemed touched etc...
My favorite part to this ep was actually between Jin rak and Dong hoon lol The bromance is awesome and I love the fact that Jinrak isn't some kind of fairytale prince who will at a whim suddenly come rescue everyone on a white horse... but all the characters feel really...real... and thats why our hearts break for them...
Thank you for the recap as always ♥♥♥
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haha
February 18, 2013 at 11:16 PM
I think you expect too much from Dokmi (for now)
The girl already said she didn't know how to love... and that's why Enrique asked her just to receive his love for now
Now it makes complete sense that she didn't kiss back
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haha
February 18, 2013 at 11:20 PM
you meant Dokmi, not PSH... lol
Sometimes we don't differentiate between actors and characters don't we? If it was for PSH, don't you think the PD'd ask her to hug him back if the writing ask her to do so....
As in character, I think you expect too much from Dokmi (for now)
The girl already said she didn't know how to love... and that's why Enrique asked her just to receive his love for now
Now it makes complete sense that she didn't kiss back
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nomad
February 19, 2013 at 8:10 AM
I kinda wish it was for Dok Mi alone, though...but for pretty much all of PSH characters I've seen (granted, I haven't seen every single one of them), that's pretty much how she hugs... I mean, at least pat in the back, or something. I just totally hate board stiff hugs. I'd rather someone just said "I don't really feel comfortable hugging" rather than hugging like that. Ugh.
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skelly
February 19, 2013 at 11:58 AM
I don't know why we should bother differentiating between the actress and the character she is playing when this is how she acts, in this instance, in every single drama she is in. She plays Dok-mi, when it comes to romance, in every instance unless you go back five years to some obscure CF where she actually seemed to enjoy being kissed.
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Minty
February 18, 2013 at 11:57 PM
the fact that Dok Mi (not PSH) doesn't avoid or cringe when Enrique hugs her is already great strides for character growth... during the first few episodes, she can't even stand to look straight in other people's eyes and takes great pains to avoid human contact...
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29 yohan lei
February 18, 2013 at 10:14 PM
Thank you very much for a very concise recap. Thanks a lot JB, awesome.
I sooooo love this drama and there are only 3eps left...oh so sad that it will end next week. Can't there be any extension or special hahaha...i hoooope so.
I love all the characters except that fan stalker. I love PSH, YSY, KJH, Ko Kyung Pyo and...where is the adorable Kouki Mizuta (Watanabe)?
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30 Rockyroad
February 18, 2013 at 10:22 PM
thanks for the recap.
english sub for this drama is fast. i watched it in gooddrama.net ahead of dramabeans recap.
3 more episodes. i don't think there will be an extension. park shin hye is going back to school.
i love the characterization in this drama, especially that of dok mi and enrique.
i wonder what the ending will be next week.
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31 kdramapedia
February 18, 2013 at 10:43 PM
Am I the only one who thought YSY's Spanish was terrible? And how Enrique ended the convo in English? But I do admit that YSY was super cute trying to make it perfect.
And Dok-mi's "omg I can't believe you're acting like this in public" embarrassment faces were PRICELESS!
Enrique reminded me of Dory from Finding Nemo in this episode. Loved it.
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Y.
February 19, 2013 at 6:34 AM
Well, I needed to read the Korean subtitles (and later, the English ones) to fully understand it, and I'm Spanish xD;; To me, it kind of sounded more Latin-American Spanish than Spanish from someone living in Spain though (nothing against LA, mind you).
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kdramapedia
February 19, 2013 at 12:06 PM
Yes, that's probably why it sounded off to me! I am used to Latin American Spanish, too, so it sounded weird coming from someone who is supposed to be from Spain
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skelly
February 19, 2013 at 12:25 PM
Yes, Spanish-Spanish is much different than Latin-American/Mexican Spanish - it is a problem at my daughter's school because one of the teachers teaches Castilian Spanish and the girls have a hard time transitioning to the classes taught by Latin-American speakers.
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32 ladida
February 18, 2013 at 10:48 PM
Thanks for the recap! Such a lovely episode!
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33 varms
February 18, 2013 at 10:49 PM
I love the sleepless editor! Story of my life but not to such extremes. We are both terrible at dating. Haha
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34 Pakykul
February 18, 2013 at 11:09 PM
Thank you for the recap. Can't wait to watch it.
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35 Almontel
February 18, 2013 at 11:12 PM
Thanks again for a great recap....
Highlight of the show for me was the bromance between JinRak and DongHoon...made me sniffle a bit...
and the blooming romance between the PD and DH..ke ke ke... at least the PD's black undereyebag doesn't look as bad as before...guess, she's getting a few sleep here and there after all...
i do wish that the stalker would just go away, unless there's a bitter plan about her hanging around still..oh wells...
i did like the panda dance and couldn't help but laugh a bit...
and i love the dress up part since i get to see Shin Hye suited up better...
khamsamhida!
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bjharm
February 19, 2013 at 5:00 AM
the fans are there to put more pressure on him to live his 'dream' koreans can not seem to handle peer pressure all that well and you often see them bowing to the will of the many rather than doing what they personaly may want to do...all this is just to built up the melo drama before the end of the series for me, and through in the girl also trying to force him to make his dream come true..and there you have the big melodramtic ending set up...
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mokimchiplz
February 19, 2013 at 7:43 AM
Oh, I really hope they're trolling us again with the melo setup :(.
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36 xianzhongfan
February 18, 2013 at 11:44 PM
anyone knows the ratings? still waiting for that kiss from YSY and KJH.
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lili
February 19, 2013 at 12:27 AM
I heard they dropped a bit...
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37 weenah
February 19, 2013 at 12:34 AM
I really hate Enrique's character...tooooooo childish...like a 5year-old kid...tsk tsk...so disappointing...
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Minty
February 19, 2013 at 1:16 AM
i would say child-like, not childish... Enrique has already proven that he has this mature and sensitive side, and the way he understands and relates to other people is way more mature than most of the other characters...
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38 dany
February 19, 2013 at 12:36 AM
I can't believe there are only 3 episodes left. :(
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Ivy
February 19, 2013 at 12:40 AM
Seriously?! Yeah :( How are they going to resolve everything and how are everyone going to get their happy ending???
I'm sorta worried now, I forgot that this is a 16 ep series
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Minty
February 19, 2013 at 1:12 AM
i have faith in the whole production (esp director and writer) that they will resolve and wrap things up in a logical and convincing way... they have delivered well so far... :)
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39 Ivy
February 19, 2013 at 12:38 AM
Love, love, love this series! Man it's hard to find anything so full of cute, heart and character growth these days and this series has it in spades! :)
Haha, the panda suit is awesome and Enrique is so cute!
What I really loved about this episode, though, was Jin-rak and Dong-hoon's relationship
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40 SuziQ
February 19, 2013 at 12:43 AM
How does the fan girl psycho get away it it? She's a crazed stalker to Enrique and writing threatening message on Dok Mi's door and defacing her private property! Dong hoon caught her red handed, so why doesn't anyone call the cops and haul her off to jail?
Why should Dok Mi be so easily persuaded and listen to the nutcase fan girl about Enrique being and fairy and not able to pursue his dream.
The preview shows Dok Mi asking Jin Rak for a favor. I hope it's not to make Enrique leave Dok Mi for Spain without her.
Sometimes, the logic just doesn't make any sense.
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boholAnna
February 19, 2013 at 5:58 AM
Also annoyed and frustrated with this fangirl psycho stalker. It seemed she got away with what she did scot free. It seems like a hole in the story line.
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41 maryam
February 19, 2013 at 12:44 AM
Thank you so much for the recap, I enjoy so much
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42 iZzie :)
February 19, 2013 at 1:55 AM
Yay! Thanks for the recap!
Decisions, decisions...
Enrique stays = giving up his dreams. But then again, what's the use of the internet? Here in the Philippines we've got lots of animators and illustrators who work for companies in the US (like Marvel, Pixar) and just sends their work thru the web. Can't Enrique do that? Work from SK and send his works thru the web? I don't think neither SK nor Spain's digital infrastructure can't accommodate that kind of work setting.
Dokmi goes to Spain = won't that be too drastic for her?
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iZzie :)
February 19, 2013 at 2:02 AM
Haha! And it's flower boy next door vs. panda boy next building.
An Enrique Panda-Dancing Geum neighbor would make me sit on my window all day. And the day after that if he keeps on dancing.
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Ennayra
February 20, 2013 at 7:50 AM
You have the perfect solution. Skype anyone? I understand that he'd have to physically be there at least initially, but it doesn't have to be for anybody's 2 year time jump.
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43 Nallali
February 19, 2013 at 2:21 AM
Noble idiocy coming up...ugh!
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lili
February 19, 2013 at 2:46 AM
I just hope Jin Rak won't play along with Dok Mi's plan...stop using him already, why hurt him more?
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bjharm
February 19, 2013 at 9:53 AM
because he is the second guy it is his fate, poor thing.
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44 Sue
February 19, 2013 at 2:26 AM
I love the characters in this show. The characterization is amazing.
Anyway, loved the bit were Enrique was speaking Spanish. His accent was so cute and yet very understandable. Much better than when Korean actors speak English in a show.
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Ennayra
February 20, 2013 at 7:49 AM
I thought so too! I took 6 years of Spanish, so it was nice not to need the subtitles in a Kdrama for once, lol.
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45 ss
February 19, 2013 at 2:28 AM
during the fangirl part. kind of reminded of the big bang theory episode when sheldon got a new assistant. and tt assistant insisted that he completes his studies even if it means forgoing any sort of entertainment/ "fun" in life.
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Ennayra
February 20, 2013 at 7:48 AM
I agree! She had that crazy driven look in her eye too. Enrique wants to make games that have great stories. Well how are you supposed to write great stories if you don't live and gain new experiences, feel all the emotions? If you don't go into the world, away from your craft, you'll always be missing something.
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46 minhoswife
February 19, 2013 at 2:51 AM
Enrique is handsome and all but I think he has to tone down the "trying to be cute" sometimes. Just saying :)
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skelly
February 19, 2013 at 8:56 AM
Don't get me started. Not fond of the cute at all. Enrique annoys.
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47 Waca
February 19, 2013 at 4:17 AM
Thks so much for the recap! I loved that episode! So much character development!
I loved the blowup between Jin-rak and Dong-hoon, and I love the connection between Jin-rak and Dok-mi. Now I can see how much they can help each other as friends, and that's really nice. I also liked Enrique better in this episode, I dunno, he felt less hyper and was so cute with Dok-mi.
I'd also like to say a big thank you to GABY, UNIK, GIDGET, STEPH, and IZZIE!
I had been working last week and forgot to check dramabeans for new posts, and when I did yesterday, my eyes went big as saucers when I saw the number of posts following my comment on FBND ep12! I was like "woah! What's this??? 1, 2, 3...11 new comments??? woah!!!"
So I read your comments carefully, but because it was so late I wasn't sure you would see it if I answered them. So I will answer them here.
First, thank you so much (again)! It was very nice of you and it helps to have advice. What's funny is that in fact, I didn't intend of speaking of myself in particular, I was more like wondering things on the show, but when I reread my post...yeah, it was mostly speaking of myself... O_o
To UNIK:
"Having childlike qualities doesn’t mean childish". Yes, I do agree! I know a lot of people who act childish because they already had tough things to go through. When I said I thought Enrique was too childish for Dok-mi who looked mature, I was actually thinking that he ACTED too childish. My bad for this one, I did not express myself well! I fully understand that Enrique IS mature, but it's his constant hyperness and child-like behaviour that I found very tiring and not fitting for someone used to be alone. However, I liked Enrique much in this new ep 13, so we'll see how he'll evolve. I do hope he'll be less hyper though. Not as gloomy as Jin-rak, but still less childish!
So, no, I don't think people pretending to be happy are empty people, not at all. :)
"Is someone who agrees with you always and accept you for all your fault better than someone who sees them as what they are as “faults” that may need righting?"
I have very good friends that are completely opposites from me. I don't reproach these "empty people", as I had said, to be mean with me or whatever. I reproach them of being unfaithful. Whenever someone needs me, I am always here. I lend money. I drive that person to the train station or I go to pick her up. I bring her pet at the vet when she can't. When I go out shopping for food for the week-end, I always pass by the others' room to ask them if they need something. If someone needs a room to sleep for a night, I'll tell them to come. That's the kind of person I am. But all I got, as usual, just like when I was in High Schol where nobody would lend me a sheet of paper, was NOTHING in response. They say they are my friends, but when I got sick (depression), they didn't help me out. Now they're out of college when I'm still stuck in college having a few things to sort before being graduated, and I have zero news from them. They are scaterred through the country, I know, so I thought it was normal at first...but each time I go on Facebook, I can see all the proofs that they keep being in contact and seeing each other without telling, without inviting me. They know I'm sick, but they won't ever ask me for news...that's how people are. It's not that they are mean because they want it, they just don't realise they are being mean by being selfish and uncaring. That's I meant by empty people. I am perfectly ok with people being honest and telling me "hey, you should change this". But most people won't tell you that. They will tell it to others in your back.
"If people out there are all so bad, how far out there have you gone and how many have you associated with? To those you were with, how did you treat them?"
Oh. To answer this, I have to speak of my life, which I did not intend to. But well! Consider it like a mini-show or a social case! ;) I spent most of my life abroad because of my father's job. That meant I stayed in one country for about a few years and then would leave in another. There was even once where we came 5 years later to the same country...that was the worse time because people I knew had changed; I had left that place as a popular child and came back as an unpopular teen. So I was used to having to start it all from scratch. Then I came back to my birth country in the end of Middle School. Since I've been back, I had to make new friends again four times: one for end of middle school, one for high school, and two for college. But each time, it ended in the same way; people scattered through the country and it was hard to stay in touch. I am still in touch with friends from abroad and from high school, but I did not expect my friends from college to turn their back on me only because I got ill. And about how I treated them, well, I think I've already said that. ^^
"Is being mature more important than being on the same page?" No. The problem is, nobody can be on the same page than me. It is not that I am not trying, but I lived a life completely different from them. You could almost say I am a stranger in my own country. I don't care about that, but they do. Each time I don't know something, they make fun of me. Each time I say a word in English by mistake because I'm bilingual, they will lash out at me. They will never let me forget that I am different from them. And the worse thing? They don't even realise they're being rude and mean.
I don't have a past trauma from my childhood or teenage life. I just had a hard, very hard time in college, added to two dear olders from my family who died recently. That made me fall into depression and not realize it until even my body became sick. Now working is hard as Hell and my body is always tired. But when I gt the diagnostic I was sick, all that my friends did? Blame me because I was too tired to get up in the morning. Not taking me seriously when I told them I couldn't eat in the middle of the dining hall because the crowd made me sick. Not waiting for me when the medication I was taking made my legs so heavy I couldn't walk faster than an old granny. And now that they have graduated, they won't even ask for news. It is not the moon I was asking them...just some simple stuff.
"To be honest, writing this is the most dramatic/exciting my life could ever get." When I was abroad, I used to visit a lot of places. I got to see wild animals from very close (grizzlies, mooses, alligators, caïmans, marina iguanas, all kind of birds...). My life has never been boring. I love nature and I don't stop venturing outside to fill my eyes with nature. But, most of the time, I stay inside all alone. My problem isn't to go outside. It is to go outside with people. ;)
Thank you for your comment!
To GIDGET, STEPH and IZZIE: this post is getting too long, so I'll make it fast. Thank you so much for your words. I do know I have a tendency of hating myself and it is very hard to work on loving myself, so thank you for reminding it to me, it is nice to have people like you giving me advice and believing in me more than I do. Your comments made my day! Thank you! I also read your post about the bullying, IZZIE. I have a friend who got through the same bullying than you, but she did not have the support of her family and ended up trying to kill herself. She still has a lot of problems today...I admire your strength. Thank you for sharing!
Hum...I wanted to speak of the show more than of myself, but it ended like this. Sorry people for this!
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Carrie
February 19, 2013 at 10:49 AM
hey waca. as a fellow person who struggles with depression, sometimes people just don't know what to say or do. also, attitudes towards mental illness varies greatly by country and by age. i'm lucky to be in the usa, where i think people are slowly getting the message that depression is an illness, not a character flaw.
i think of it as diabetes of the mind. juvenile on-set/type 1=bad luck (genes wise) depression. some of us are just born to be depressed, and telling us to buck up or have a stiff upper lip is about as helpful as telling a diabetic to just try harder at making insulin. we need medical help to live an average life, and we might need help for the rest of out lives.
adult on-set/type 2 = situational depression. you're going through a divorce or your parents are, you just got fired, your house burned down, etc. you need some medical help, definitely, but you can also make some life adjustments like exercising, finding a better relationship, moving into a stone house, whatnot - and after a bit you probably won't need medical help to live an average life.
for me, the more blunt and honest i am with people about my depression the easier it is to talk about it. and a lot of the time (for me) i hear stories of friends or family members with other mental illnesses. it's not as rare as it can seem - it's just that it's often hidden.
lastly, i hope that find some good friends. there are lots of jerks in the world, but there are also lots of great people. they are our insurance against the meanies, snobs, idiots and jerks. hold them close to your heart (even if they live elsewhere) and let them comfort you when you need it.
fighting!!
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Conny
February 19, 2013 at 12:30 PM
Funny.. are you me? The way you described it is exactly how I describe my depression and anxiety issues to anyone who asks.
The funny thing about me is that I also suffer from social anxiety disorder, meaning that being in a large group of people, or having to give a speech ... can bring on a full scale panic attack. Here's what's strange though. You'd never know. I'm usually the bubbliest person in the room, making friends left and right. It took me years to realize that something was wrong, even longer to put a name to it. My defense mechanism is simply to appear happy and outgoing when it reality I'd rather crawl into a tiny hole.
It's hard for my husband to understand this. He often says that I just need stop thinking about that something bad may happen, but he doesn't get that I can't just tell my brain to shut up any more than a diabetic can tell their pancreas to quit acting up. He insists those two are totally different. But, both are related to our body's inability to make or sufficiently absorb certain hormones.
Once I started to be more open with people about how I feel, I was amazed by how many were suffering from the same issues, or even worse. It's hard to go through depression/anxiety alone, especially with the stigma of mental illness attached to it. You purposely don't want to talk about it because you don't want to lose the few friends you have. Then suddenly you open up and realize.. you're not alone.
I'm still suffering from panic attacks and the likes. But I have also learned that caffeine is my trigger so I avoid it. Certain situations could trigger it, so I never go alone. Breathing exercises help a lot, and just being prepared does too. Sure I still wish I could live my life carefree, but I've been dealt these cards and I'm going to play them to the fullest.
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Carrie
February 21, 2013 at 5:53 PM
hey conny.
nope, not you - two r's, not n's!
i was lucky because even though my parents were initially reluctant to admit that i had depression, they eventually came around. it was mainly my mom who didn't want to believe me and my older sister, but luckily (so not the right word!) my mom had had postpartum psychosis after my older sister was born.
postpartum psychosis is the big bad older sibling to postpartum depression - my mom could hold my sister and honestly think that she was still pregnant. so, after realizing how bad things were, my mom allowed herself to be checked in to a mental institute, where she ended up staying for several weeks. my dad was freaking out (first born child, wife/baby momma in hospital = not good!) so his mom and younger sister came up and moved in for a few weeks. long story short, mom got better eventually and was dang impossibly brave enough to go through with a second pregnancy (aka me) that didn't drive her quite literally insane.
anyway - point is, at the end of the day my family believed me, and helped me find help. i generally think of myself as the happiest depressed person i know. i used to be insanely shy (i couldn't order for myself in restaurants until i was maybe 15 or so) but now can and will talk to anyone. i'm lucky to not have regular social anxiety issues. i often have to force myself to go to parties or events and will tel myself that once i talk to five strangers i can go home - but i can make it through. i know i am lucky, and i'm grateful.
i don't know if you've ever heard of jenny lawson, aka thebloggess.com, but she suffers from depression and social anxiety and yet manages to be HILARIOUS about it all. she's kind of my hero, so maybe she'd be helpful to you, too.
giant metal chickens for everyone! fighting!! :)
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Waca
February 23, 2013 at 5:42 AM
Woah! That must have been tough on your dad! And your poor mom! I knew about postpartum depression, but not about postpartum pyschosis...it's horrible! She's very courageous to have gone through another pregnancy!
Never heard of Jenny Lawson...So I'm gonna have a look at her blog! Thanks for the link! :)
Waca
February 23, 2013 at 5:56 AM
It must have been hard, being an usually bubbly person! I am more the shy one, who doesn't like going to parties, so people tend to think I am too shy and have a boring life and don't enjoy myself, so I suppose they would feel it is normal for a person like me to be depressive...but really, my life isn't boring. I just don't like having pointless conversations or going to parties (because there's too much people and all they do is drinking and stuff...yeah, they're young people).
But being bubbly...they would have difficulties to understand why you would suddenly have panic attacks as if you were a shy person.
It's great that you're not alone! :)
"You purposely don’t want to talk about it because you don’t want to lose the few friends you have. Then suddenly you open up and realize.. you’re not alone." Well...it did the reverse to me. When I noticed something was really wrong with me (and my friends had noticed it too, even if they didn't ask me about it), and when I got the answer about it (depression), I talked about it with my friends to explain them what was going on. At first they were ok. But they just did not support me...I wasn't asking them to listen to my problems or to share them, just to support me when my body was betraying me. I just wanted them to understand I couldn't stay in crowds, that I couldn't walk fast anymore, that I needed support for my work, and that now that they are scattered through the country, they could from time to time ask me for news or giving me some. They did not understand that and they simply left me out. No news.
Well, it isn't that bad. I do have some real friends that support me, just that they are living far away so it's hard keeping in contact.
Thank you for your comment, it was very interesting. I hope you keep doing well. :)
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Waca
February 23, 2013 at 5:37 AM
Thank you for your comment! :) It is nice to come across people who suffers the same illness than me (even if you wished nobody would suffer that, because it seriously sucks).
It is funny in a way that you would illustrate it with the example of diabetes, because that's the illness I had chosen when I tried to explain to my friends, as one of them precisely had diabetes. I only used it to try to make them understand that it wasn't my fault if on really bad days I could not get out of my bed. They only thought I was ditching classes...but that wasn't it. I was so tired I could not get up, and when by miracle I would force myself to, I felt like I was turning crazy just by being surroundered by people and trying to comprehend what the teacher was saying. So I tried to explain t them that reproaching me my absences was as stupid as reproaching his fainting to a diabetic person, but it didn't work. It appeared that whereas they were fine with diabetes, they did not seem to understand, no matter how many times I tried to explain it, that depression really was a physical illness as well...they still seemed to believe that it was all a matter of will. I could barely climb up the stairs and they still didn't get how exausted I was...or maybe they thought I was pretending. The friend that hurt me the most by letting me down was precisely my friend that had diabetes...
I think the problem, as you said, was about the age of my friends. About my country, well, I live in France, which has one of the highest rate of people under anti-depressants. So I really did not expect my friends to be so immature. However they were, and it's one of my teachers who bluntly told me: "they are simple not mature. They cannot understand it." I was flabbergasted. For God's sake, we were 23-24 years old! Wasn't it high time that they would be mature??? It appeared that I was the one being bizarre here. It is very often people would tell me "oh you're thinking very mature for your age!". Both my doctor and my psychologist even told me: "you're very aware of what's happening to you. You analyse it very well." Well duh! I'm thinking about it 24 hours a day! It turned out that the psychologist was no help for me because I already knew what was wrong with me...
So apparently, I'm too mature about some things, but when it comes to the matter of trusting and loving friends, I am told I need to grow up because I'm a naive child! :D
I really like your analysis of depression, with having two types. With my great luck, my case is both types! Yeay! Well, not really-really, but my family does have a tendency to depression. For now I got situational depression, but I know I have to be careful when I get out of it, 'cause our family has real bad luck genes! ;)
Thank you for your comment! Fighting!! (aww that's what I love in Korean dramas...that expression: 'fighting!' I don't think I ever heard in the US though...is that an asian invention??) :)
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lovestodream
March 12, 2013 at 10:12 AM
hey again waca. not sure if you're still checking this thread or not, but hello!
last question = first answer. no american i know use "fighting!" as a "go do it!" phrase. but maybe i don't know the right subset of americans! i think we'd be more likely to say "you can do it!" "kick some ass!" "break a leg!" or similar. maybe in some sports they'd use "fighting"? i am the least sporty person i have ever met (yes, despite my dad owning a sports store - go figure. they do say that god has a sense of humor . . . )
regarding friends maturity level vs acceptance of depression as a real thing: i was diagnosed when i was 16ish. so while i was probably mature for my age, i was NOT mature. and nor were my friends. honestly, what i think helped them accept my sobbing late night calls was that they had already been getting them, because of my mom's cancer. the focus just shifted. also, these were four girls i had known since 1st grade (age 5-6) or before. three of the four are still my bestest of friends, and they know they can always call me for help / advice / sympathy / ANYTHING because i owe them so many hours of loving telephone support! plus they're my friends so i'd do it anyway no question.
regarding unfairness of illness vs life re. timing:
why is it that when we are at our lowest we also have the most work to do?!? if you're in the middle of a bad depressive state / fugue, you're also supposed to take the initiative to set up an appointment with your doctor, get new meds, sign up for more counseling, etc. it stinks. it's worse for patients of terminal diseases who then get depression due to their diagnoses. for them in addition to the numerous specialists they already have to see they need to add a shrink and worry about yet more drug-drug interactions. so not cool. we have the most time and energy to devote to our well being when we're doing well, and yet that's precisely when we don't need it. so annoying!
re. postpartum psychosis:
yeah, it's scary stuff. my mom became convinced that her parents, brother and my dad were all "out to get her" and their attempts to make sure that she was ok were an insidious plan. she eventually allowed her sister-in-law to drive her to the hospital as she felt that my aunt was a more neutral party. needless to say, i'm quite grateful that mom decided to go through with another pregnancy - and that my whole family watched her like a HAWK for several months after i was born! as a true younger sister, i use this to taunt my sister with "well at least i didn't make mom go crazy!" because, hey. it's what we DO. anyway - since my mom had first hand experienced that the brain can do wacky things and that we had a family history of depression (which in older generations can often be masked as a drinking disorder - if great grandad drank to much and was a maudlin drunk, he could have just been self medicating in the time before ssri's). so i had family support from her and my sister, and my dad told me that if they had a better handle on depression when he was in his twenties he definitely would have been diagnosed. so yay, bad family! (yes, total k-drama plug)
re. friends who you think should understand vs friends who do understand:
sometimes an illness can set you apart from other people. you become the "the girl with x" and depending on how you play it, it could be your ticket to more attention. so maybe (just maybe!) your friend with diabetes who you thought would understand but didn't was afraid of losing her "special" status, or at least having to share the limelight. it's just a guess, but people can be very weird.
good luck! fighting! if you ever need a penpal, let me know and i'll give you my generic email address.
- carrie
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48 Maggie
February 19, 2013 at 5:48 AM
tq jb,
enrique trying to be cute but I said not natural at all,
forced cute.
Dok mi don't make jin rak be your duff (manipulate) we
don't like it, deal it yourself.
dong hoon is naturally cute !!.
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 7:03 AM
I hear what you're saying but I don't think it's Enrique trying to be cute. Could it perhaps be that the actor who PLAYS Enrique is having a hard time doing the cute? It feels that way to me. I have several actor friends and being asked to play a cute character is one of the hardest things an actor can be called upon to do.
I've never seen this actor in any other drama or in any other drama where he is called upon to be a fairy/cute, but I've seen a lot of dramas -- especially Chinese and Taiwanese dramas-- where the actor/actress is called forth to cuteness and aaargh! it's like they simply can't do it.
Of course that's a cultural thing, but I do feel it takes a certain lack of self-consciousness to being a "cute" "fairy" character. And there are moments there when I feel it's either the director or the actor not quite being able to do what's necessary. A lot of posing and "mugging" for the character.
Anyway -- I do really think in this case, the unnatural cuteness is more a product of the actor and not the character. Choi Siwon and maybe Ji Hyun Woo would've been able to carry this cuteness off. Siwon, because i think he can throw himself into a character without looking back...and Hyun Woo because he is so phenomenal an actor.
But I do see what you mean. (Other than the unnatural cuteness scenes, this actor is fairly good at being Enrique.)
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49 CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 6:31 AM
Oh my gosh, this episode's so haunting. My heartstrings are all worn out from being tugged on. So naturally and organically. And the end...wow! If what the preview hints at is actually gonna happen, the only thing worse than noble idiocy is when folks are actually noble for an intelligent reason.
First: donghoon. Wow!!! Love him! And Jin Rak has been so wounded or so restrained by life and his own issues that when he sees the error of his ways in so many areas in one episode....I can feel his stress and grief. Heck, if he now gets a chance to help Dok Mi, he'll get the chance to imprint on her life. Hey, maybe she could fall in love with him. That's the somewhat scary part if Enrique actually goes.
Second: Enrique. What a proposal! Go to Spain with me! It's not like he's saying come to paradise with me. He's saying, "Come to this racist place where people will say nasty things to your face even now in 2013." That's an invitation to join him in his dream..in hell. I think I've only seen maybe three dramas where the protag comments about racism toward Asians in some western country. In Spain, Dok Mi would either have to be totally brave and walk outside in that cruel world everyday or she might retreat back into feeling unloved.
Third: Complications. Wow, all the searching for what the heart really wants when there are rules about friendships, business, debts, shoulds, common sense, and the like. This drama does such a great job, SUCH A GREAT JOB!!!, in showing how hard it is to see clear or to live one's life simply by following one's heart. This is good art. Everything works together to create such a wonderful story showing a particular issue and yet the entire thing doesn't seem contrived at all.
This is gonna be one of my FAVORITE FAVORITEST FAVORITESTEST dramas in the world!
And it betta end happily. I understand that it's trying to be realistic and to really talk about real issues and that there is a possibility that the OTP might part after making prints on each other's lives...and the nervous drama-watcher in me is hoping Enrique or Dok Mi doesn't get murdered by stalker fan just so the perfect "innocent love" can go on forever. If this were a j-drama I'd be waiting for that...but am keeping my fingers crossed for happiness.
Can't Enrique go back and do the film then return later? The typical two year separation break for true love?
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PeepsLeAwesomePotato
February 19, 2013 at 8:38 AM
"He’s saying, “Come to this racist place where people will say nasty things to your face even now in 2013.” That’s an invitation to join him in his dream..in hell. I think I’ve only seen maybe three dramas where the protag comments about racism toward Asians in some western country. In Spain, Dok Mi would either have to be totally brave and walk outside in that cruel world everyday or she might retreat back into feeling unloved."
*cringe* Is Spain really that bad? I mean, racism happens everywhere, but you make it sound like it's extra bad over there... I dunno, I, an asian, went there last december and the people were fabulous... or maybe because I was just a tourist who can speak some spanish...
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM
I'm just judging by what Enrique has gone through. I have several friends from Spain who aren't racist. But I DID meet one incredibly racist lady from Spain and she was very cruel to me. So the way I'm seeing it is that there are some places where folks are racist and (hypocritically) quiet about it and there are places where someone will call you a "monkey" or a "N*gga" to your face. It's not just the cruelty of being racist in your heart and not caring about another person's heart, but it's the cruelty of being so heartless that you could say something cruel to someone.
I really do think that Europe DOES have a very verbal racism, though. I recently saw a BBC report on racism in European sports.
Anyway, I was merely distilling Enrique's experience into a succinct sentence. He said that even now when he's in Solar Studios (the place that wants him to do the animation) he gets called a Monkey. For the life of me, I cannot see someone in Pixar (or whatever the American equivalent of Solar Studios is ) calling someone a Monkey or saying someone smells like garlic. Let alone it being a regular situation that Enrique seems to face fairly frequently.
So, yeah, according to this episode, the racism in Spain is pretty bad...your own personal experience notwithstanding. It's Enrique's story, after all. Not yours or mine, really.
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Ennayra
February 20, 2013 at 7:45 AM
My 2 cents in this is only that one of my sisters studied abroad in London last year for 4 months. She made time to go with the British friends she made to France and Spain for a few days. My sister is black, and her friends were black, Indian, and white. Travelling in that group, she found that the people were friendly in France, not so much in Spain, so I'm not surprised by Enrique's story. I know that emigrating to Europe is a different experience depending on your native country, race, language, gender, etc.
I do think that Dok-mi's past has prepared her to better withstand any racism she might receive in the drama's version of Spain than say a character like Do-hwi who has never been treated that way. That said, even with her character's lack of strong family ties, I don't think she'll hop on a plane the next episode and go.
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kdramapedia
February 19, 2013 at 12:19 PM
I don't think it's that racist. Enrique says that it would happen right when he had forgotten about a previous incident. As someone who has experienced racism in the US, where I was born and raised and still live, it's not something to the extreme where you would want to leave. I would never tell someone not to move to the US because of a few dumb idiots that can't see past what someone looks like. Enrique is not experiencing racism on a daily basis and is doing very well outside of those occasional incidents. I don't think that he's inviting her to a place where she'd be constantly uncomfortable. And if she's learning to deal with negativity without withdrawing, as shown by her confrontation with Do-hwi, then she'll be just fine, and maybe a stronger person.
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 12:40 PM
You wrote: "Enrique says that it would happen right when he had forgotten about a previous incident."
That's still too much for me. Waaay too much. Once in a while is way too much for a sensitive person or even for a non-sensitive person. There are still towns I never visit because someone shouted the n-word at me. I haven't been called the N-word in my present town in 30 years. In a town slightly north of here (the slang for upstate NY is upsouth NY) I was called the n-word about six or seven times a year. So, quantitatively, there is "more" racism in some places than in others. One really shouldn't have to go forgetting and suddenly remembering. Seems weird to me. So while it doesn't sound "that" racist to you, it sounds "that" racist to me. I would hate to have to tell someone they will "only" be called a monkey every once in a while.
But I understand what you're saying. Maybe I over-spoke ..a little...but I would suggest that some news stations and minorities living in certain European countries might disagree with you.
I guess it's about how kindly and respectful you expect your fellow humans to be. When my mother and sister and I moved into a certain town, people put dog turd on our door step "once in a while." Although I think one should not live a life fearing to travel, I am quite averse to racism once in awhile. As Enrique said, Dok Mi should not get used to being treated badly. She should not get used to being called bad names or to being insulted. Even once in a while.
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CaroleMcDonnell
February 19, 2013 at 3:15 PM
Apparently the UN thinks Spain is pretty racist
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44013
And here
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12954&LangID=E
Apparently the nature of their racism shows up a lot in the Soccer games.
See here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130131/dani-alves-racism-barcelona-real-madrid.ap/
So yeah...if the head UN guy in charge of battling racism calls out Spain on its racism ...I guess they must be pretty bad. Apparently, the UN hasn't called out any country on its racism since South Africa.
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50 sweetspring
February 19, 2013 at 6:48 AM
I think it was a very good thing Enrique didn't wear that panda suit to the zoo coz someone would have locked him up (maybe next to the polar bears) and he'd be forced to dance his ridiculously cute dance so little kids would stop crying. Now that's a twist- Enrique + panda suit in zoo/prison (crime being better at being a cute panda than an actual panda) thus separated from Dok Mi & Jin Rak goes in for the kill. well, its a dog eat dog world & what on earth am I blabbing about?!?!?
Ending with something that makes sense- I luv this show!!!
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