Last: Episode 11
by LollyPip
The more loyal Tae-ho becomes to Heung-sam, the more his friends start to distance themselves from him. It’s unclear whether Tae-ho knows he’s being used, but he’s in danger of losing the people who actually care about him in favor of power and money. And as much as Tae-ho’s gutsy attitude has saved his hide until now, he risks going too far to ever come back.
EPISODE 11 RECAP
Jong-gu hands Tae-ho the locker key from Straw Cutter, saying that all he knows is that it’s Heung-sam’s Achilles’ heel. Tae-ho says he’s Heung-sam’s right-hand man now, but he did learn one valuable thing from Straw Cutter — the less he knows of Heung-sam, the longer he can stand by him. He’s not interested in betraying a boss that takes care of him.
He leaves the key in case Jong-gu is curious himself, but Jong-gu stops him to tell him that Straw Cutter didn’t kill that man five years ago — he was taking the fall for Heung-sam. Tae-ho is stopped cold by this, and reconsiders the locker key.
He takes the key after all, though it’s made obvious that it’s not the same locker when he goes to see what’s inside. He finds a piece of paper with Kang Se-hoon’s name, and information that he’s thirty-five and was adopted to Canada.
Heung-sam watches Chairman Yoon greeting a group of men at an airport, and it throws him into a memory from when his father was alive. Chairman Yoon had met with Heung-sam’s father to inform him that he’s now his company’s CEO, having bought up all the stocks.
Heung-sam’s father is furious at having his company taken over, threatening to tell about Yoon’s excessive embezzlement. He clutches his chest and goes for his medicine, but he drops the bottle and collapses. Yoon stands over him and watches while Heung-sam’s father gasps for help.
Heung-sam just happens to look in the window in time to see Chairman Yoon kick his father’s medication under a table. Yoon leaves, and Heung-sam rushes to his father’s side but while he’s straining to reach the medication, his father dies.
Later when Yoon comes to pay his respects, he admonishes Heung-sam to be the head of the family now and to find him if he ever needs anything. Heung-sam is furious and tells his little brother to remember that man — that’s the bastard who killed their father.
In the present Heung-sam calls out to Chairman Yoon, loudly asking if he remembers him and his father. They speak privately and Heung-sam expresses interest in Chairman Yoon’s project, pretending to be friendly. Chairman Yoon says he’s sorry he never acted after hearing that Heung-sam’s mother also died and that the brothers were separated, but Heung-sam says his father would have just been happy his friend helped make his business successful. He’s definitely up to something.
Chairman Yoon asks after his younger brother, and Heung-sam says that he went to study in America and was in an accident and died. Chairman Yoon buys the lie, and Heung-sam’s face takes on a steely expression of triumph.
He brings up Chairman Yoon’s visit on the day his father died, and either Yoon pretends not to remember, or he truly doesn’t — either way, that’s awful. Heung-sam pretends not to notice and asks if Yoon remembers any last words from his father, because he died before he could say anything to his son.
Chairman Yoon claims that the company was losing money, which is the exact opposite of the truth, but he says he doesn’t remember Heung-sam’s father saying anything significant. But Heung-sam notices that Yoon starts to look uncomfortable and considers his job done for now, promising to see the Chairman again soon.
On the drive back to work Chairman Yoon asks Se-hoon about Heung-sam’s company, unaware that he’s talking to the man’s younger brother right now. Se-hoon is deliberately vague about Heung-sam, just saying that he’s got a lot of money. Yoon is unsettled, and asks Se-hoon to let him know if he finds anything strange.
Praying Mantis turns Tae-ho away when he comes to the penthouse, saying that Heung-sam has a visitor. Tae-ho is insistent, but Praying Mantis says it’s boss’s orders. Tae-ho snickers that he must feel slighted that he wouldn’t let Praying Mantis kill Straw Cutter, calling him nothing but a doorman. Ouch.
Heung-sam is having a drink inside with Se-hoon, who asks why he confronted Chairman Yoon like that — he could ruin everything. Heung-sam isn’t worried since Yoon gave Se-hoon the job of digging up information on him, and even crows that he probably gave Yoon nightmares.
Tae-ho does his own digging, and discovers that Se-hoon was apparently adopted to Canada at age three (remember, this is the real Kang Se-hoon’s information, not Heung-sam’s brother who now uses his identity) and ran away from home at seventeen. Tae-ho finds it strange that there’s a drug possession charge on his record, but he supposedly went to an Ivy League school. It doesn’t add up.
Tae-ho also asks Young-chil to look into someone named Steven Kim — the fake-ID seller that Heung-sam killed — and to find out more about Heung-sam’s family. Hae-jin tells him about a party tonight at Granny’s for Ship-jang’s birthday, but Tae-ho says he won’t be able to make it.
Nara goes to Jong-gu’s place and finds one of the hobos there, Mr. Yang, who got kicked out of his regular spot for being smelly in the summer heat. Awww. He says that Jong-gu lets them stay here as long as they don’t drink.
Nara gives Jong-gu the ripped-up address that she salvaged, fussing at him to go meet his daughter then apologize to Mi-joo. In turn he asks about Tae-ho, calling him the biggest of idiots, but Nara says Jong-gu’s bigger for putting off a woman like Mi-joo for so long. Listen to the smart lady, Jong-gu.
Tae-ho finally gets in to see Heung-sam to go over the Mi Rae City project expense report he’s drawn up. Heung-sam gives him a bonus and a week off, which feels more like he’s trying to get rid of Tae-ho for a while when he practically orders him to leave.
Tae-ho asks about the song he’s always listening to, and why he likes it so much. Heung-sam reveals that his father was always listening to it, and hums the tune ominously.
Mi-joo goes on a mission for Heung-sam, where she pretends to have trouble managing her golf equipment to get the attention of Chairman Yoon’s son. It works, and he helps her and starts right in flirting.
Tae-ho walks in on Hae-jin and Young-chil fighting — uh oh, Hae-jin lost money on an internet betting site, and Young-chil is refusing to hack in and give his money back. Ha, but he did delete Hae-jin’s account. That’s a good friend, but Young-chil is ready to leave over it since he’s tired of being taken advantage of.
After Young-chil goes, Tae-ho asks Hae-jin if his gambling addiction is rearing its ugly head again. Hae-jin takes offense to his meddling and says he’s not Tae-ho’s crony, that he’s earned his keep more than anyone else.
Young-chil goes back to Seoul Station and sets up a place to sleep, and a friend tells him that the police have been cracking down and most of them have had to move away. Crocodile wanders by and asks if Young-chil was kicked out of Tae-ho’s little group, and orders him to come with them to get a copy of his resident registration paperwork. Young-chil bravely refuses (and actually licks Crocodile when he grabs his face, HAHAHA) but he’s dragged off anyway.
He ends up at Jong-gu’s place later, bruised and sore. He cries that his father always taught him to use his name only in honorable ways, but Crocodile stole his paperwork for use in his fake ID business.
Jong-gu marches Young-chil down to Crocodile’s headquarters and tells him to get his papers back, then goes for a lie-down, hee. Poor Young-chil is rumpled and intimidated, but he does demand his papers, and of course Crocodile objects. When Young-chil won’t back down, Crocodile decks him.
Somehow Hae-jin gets wind of the situation and rushes in to protect Young-chil, and Jong-gu wakes and says to give him his papers now — he earned them by taking that beating. He warns Crocodile not to get too uppity now that Straw Cutter is gone. He’s still Number Two around here.
They all go to the clinic to get Young-chil patched up by Nara, and Young-chil adorably claims that the beating was no big deal. Jong-gu tries to slink off when Hae-jin says that he knew about the situation because Jong-gu sent Mr. Yang to find him, and Young-chil bursts into thankful tears.
The guys hold Ship-jang’s birthday party that night, with Granny spoiling them rotten with food even while she complains about them, ha. Tae-ho shows up after all, but only long enough to say hello and ask Young-chil to get his information by the next day. Nara looks so disappointed in him.
She chases after him to ask what his problem is, but she says she wants to give him one more chance based on Jong-gu’s claim that Tae-ho’s really not an idiot once you get to know him. She also tells him that she knows where Jong-gu’s daughter lives but that he’s too scared to go, so she’s thinking of going herself.
She asks Tae-ho to go with her, but he says it’s not a good idea. They should let Jong-gu decide when he’s ready. Nosy Nara insists that this might help him get ready faster, and says she’s going on Saturday if he wants to go with her.
Mi-joo finds Jong-gu surrounded by hobos and asks when he got to be so social, but he waves it off as nothing, as usual. She invites him out for crab stew and soju, but he reminds her he stopped drinking, so she turns to go. She admits that she mostly came to rub it in his face that a rich man gave her a golf lesson today, which seems to hit Jong-gu hard.
Heung-sam was definitely trying to get Tae-ho out of town, because he tells Se-hoon that he’s got to finish the project blueprints by the time he comes back. At that point they’ll be ready to make their move.
Se-hoon is distracted so Heung-sam warns him that it’s crucial he make no mistakes. Se-hoon asks for more time, since Chairman Yoon intimidates him and his son Jae-sung is keeping a close eye on his department. He denies that this has anything to do with Jung-min, and Heung-sam tells him to keep focused.
Mi-joo goes drinking at a pojangmacha instead of back to the club, and luckily Heung-sam finds her just as she’s fending off an overly-friendly man. He only cares how things went with Jae-sung since she’s been ignoring his calls, and she says it was almost too easy to get his attention.
Heung-sam can tell she resents him and reminds her that this is her end of the deal in return for Eun-ji’s location, but she’s all Yes, this is how you always operate — it looks like a deal but it’s really extortion. She tells him that Jong-gu ripped up the address, saying that he’s changed so much he was like a stranger.
Mi-joo asks if he knew that would happen, but Heung-sam says he can’t control people’s emotions. Crying, she asks when he’ll let her go, but Heung-sam sneers at her — does she even have anywhere to go? She calls him the devil, and he just says, “I know. Because this is Hell.”
But despite his cruelty, when Mi-joo falls asleep on the drive back, Heung-sam gently cups her face with his hand to keep her from waking. The way he looks at her is so filled with regret and longing, it’s almost painful.
She wakes up in a strange house the next morning, and finds Heung-sam drinking coffee on the patio. He admits that this is his house, the one he lived in as a child. He bought it three years ago, because it’s where he grew up and where his parents died.
He tells Mi-joo that when this is all over, he’s really thinking of letting her go. He says it won’t take long, and that when it’s all done he’ll move out of the penthouse and live here. If she doesn’t have anywhere to go, and only if she wants it, she can live here with him. He says sincerely that this isn’t an extortion, just a dream he’s had for a long time.
Young-chil tells Tae-ho that Heung-sam had a younger brother who studied in America and died in a car accident nearly fifteen years ago. There was even a death certificate and a funeral. Tae-ho asks if he was adopted at the age of three and Young-chil says he wasn’t.
As for Steven Kim, there’s record of him entering the country five years ago, but none of him leaving — he just disappeared. Tae-ho remembers Jong-gu telling him that Straw Cutter went to jail for a murder that Heung-sam committed, and grows even more suspicious to hear that Steven Kim sold clean identities to criminals.
Tae-ho visits the orphanage where Heung-sam and his brother ended up, coincidentally named New Hope (the same name as Heung-sam’s cover company). The orphanage employee says that the younger brother was the smart one, but that he doesn’t know how Heung-sam got the money to send him abroad to study.
He also believes the younger brother, Heung-soo, died in an accident, and he when Tae-ho shows him a picture of Se-hoon, he says he looks exactly like Heung-soo. Tae-ho puts the clues together, that Heung-sam must have sent his brother to America, changed his identity, and killed the man who knew about the identity change. The question is, why go to such extremes?
Jong-gu approaches Ship-jang about a job, and though he initially balks, the Chairman tells him to take some guys to the company construction site and he’s forced to say yes. Ha. Jong-gu gets home to find the hobos bunking at his place having a feast, and asks where they got the money.
Turns out, they all went to Crocodile to get their papers back like Young-chil did, and instead Crocodile paid them for them. Jong-gu screams at them — those names they sold for a few dollars will now get bankruptcies and criminal charges attached to them, and they’ll never get good jobs.
When they argue that nobody will give them jobs anyway, Jong-gu becomes even angrier. He barks that the people who looks down on them the most is themselves, reminding them that they are all still human beings.
Daily collections are counted and found to be short, but Poison Snake explains about Crocodile having to pay off the hobos who all rushed him at once. He tells Heung-sam that they’ve been staying at Jong-gu’s yard and believed he was behind them, and Heung-sam grumbles that Jong-gu sure has changed a lot lately.
Tae-ho meets with Jung-min and hesitates when she asks what he wants, prompting her to note that he’s become very cautious lately. He asks how she met Se-hoon — who approached whom? She thinks he’s just acting like a spurned lover and refuses to answer without knowing why he’s asking.
He mutters that he can’t tell her, and she says to ask Se-hoon himself then, since he’ll be there in a minute. But Tae-ho has to leave by six o’clock, because Se-hoon’s father will be joining them.
Se-hoon sees the two of them talking and hangs back out of sight, listening as Jung-min says it’s true she doesn’t know a lot about him. So she did some research and located his father, and Tae-ho asks if she means his adoptive father.
This makes Jung-min angry that he did a background check on her boyfriend, but Tae-ho is more concerned about whether Se-hoon knows his father is coming today. She admits it’s a surprise, still asking why Tae-ho even cares.
Se-hoon approaches the table at this point and Jung-min ushers Tae-ho away, but he stops to say quietly to Se-hoon that it’s nearing the end for him. He calls him Kwak Heung-soo, and Se-hoon’s reaction is all the answer Tae-ho needs to know that he’s on the right track.
Poison Snake confronts Tae-ho on his way home to gripe about him flaunting their seniority system, but Tae-ho says Poison Snake should feel bad for the same thing, with the way he betrayed Straw Cutter. Poison Snake just says that Tae-ho will die today, but by the boss’s hand. Before he can react, someone knocks Tae-ho out from behind.
Tae-ho wakes in an empty warehouse, with only Heung-sam in the room with him. He’s found out that Tae-ho investigated his past, and he is not at all pleased. Tae-ho tells him about the clue that Straw Cutter left for him, and admits he was curious. He says he needed to know everything in order to protect Heung-sam, but Heung-sam doesn’t buy it. Tae-ho calmly says he can even confirm it with Se-hoon… no, Kwak Heung-soo.
Heung-sam says that Tae-ho is good at climbing back up off a cliff, but it won’t work this time. He tosses a gun at Tae-ho’s feet, telling him it’s the same gun he threatened President Jung with and chickened out. He invites him to be a man today and pull the trigger — at his own head.
Tae-ho points out that he could always use the gun on Heung-sam, asking if he trusts him. Heung-sam retorts that he trusts Tae-ho’s pride not to beg for his life, and tells him again to end this with his own hands.
A wily look enters Tae-ho’s eyes, and he points out that if Heung-sam wanted that, he would have given him bullets. He knows this was only a test of his loyalty. “I’ll show you then, just who I really am.”
Heung-sam says that this is why he likes Tae-ho, and produces a single bullet. He tosses it down by the gun, and Tae-ho picks them up and loads the bullet into the chamber. He aims the barrel at his own head — then slowly turns it to point it at Heung-sam.
COMMENTS
Oh Tae-ho, this blind loyalty to Heung-sam isn’t going to lead you anywhere good, don’t you know that? Willful ignorance never got anyone anywhere in life, and closing your eyes when you know for a fact Heung-sam is bad news is only going to land you in hot water. Again. It’s good that he took the time to do some research on Heung-sam and didn’t completely shut his eyes to truth, but I still worry that he’s only doing it in order to further his own hunt for power. If I felt like he was doing it for the right reasons, I wouldn’t be nearly so concerned for our Tae-ho right now.
Not to mention, he’s so focused on his own problems that he’s starting to lose his friends now. Not being there for them is creating conflict in the ranks, and with Young-chil leaving (even temporarily) and Hae-jin starting to gamble again, it’s all falling apart. Tae-ho’s problem has always been that he thinks he can handle everything himself – it’s never worked before, and it’s not working now. Even Heung-sam did get where he got all by himself, he had six good friends helping him on his way to the top. “No man is an island” is a famous saying because it’s true, and everyone needs their friends, or at the very least reliable and loyal employees, to be successful. If Tae-ho doesn’t figure out fast what he’s doing wrong and change his ways, and win his friends back, he’s going to lose it all. He’ll end up without money or power, and land himself in a worse situation than when he first entered Seoul Station if he’s not careful.
But on the other hand it’s what makes Tae-ho such a great character, because he’s not a clear-cut “good guy” type. He fully embraces the selfish, power- and money-hungry sides of himself, and doesn’t fool himself that he’s really a good person. He knows he’s not, at least not at this point, and he’s honest with himself and with others. If anything, that honesty gives me hope that it will be his saving grace. Once he wakes up to realize that he’s going about everything in the wrong way, that honesty with himself will help him come to his senses and change.
Speaking of changing, Jong-gu is practically a different man these days. I don’t necessarily feel that he’s trying to be a better man, at least not for any purpose like that if he’s better Mi-joo will love him, or that if he’s better his daughter will want him. It feels to me that he’s actually been working at maintaining his image of the rough, drinking, doesn’t-give-a-shit thug, and now he’s just tired. He’s too tired to pretend indifference any longer, too tired to keep up the ruse that he doesn’t care about anyone. It’s as if this better man is who he really is, now that he’s kicked the drugs and the alcohol, and he’s not so much changing for the better as reverting to his true self. We see that he does care, very much, and not just for Mi-joo. He cares about the men in Seoul Station, and it kills him to see them throw their lives away. When he yelled at them that the people who put them down the most is themselves, I felt like that was the most honest we’ve seen Jong-gu so far. No wonder Mi-joo, the one person who truly knows him, loves him. She knows the deeply caring man that he is.
I just hope that Tae-ho hasn’t pushed Jong-gu away so hard that he can no longer help him. If Tae-ho could use anyone’s help right now, it’s Jong-gu’s — he’s the only person who can stop him from going right down the path to Hell that Jong-gu has already walked.
RELATED POSTS
Tags: featured, Last, Lee Beom-soo, Yoon Kye-sang
Interview with Kim Yoo-jung
Hello Dramabeans series
![[2022 Year in Review] The Bean Count](https://www.dramabeans.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/beancount_2022.png)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 christine
September 5, 2015 at 5:42 AM
So good! Last just keeps getting better and better. The background story helped clarify so much. Also, that scene with jong-gu and the men of seoul station?! so good and so true! i'm glad to see him caring more and hopefully he'll find ways to help more later even if he has to feign indifference or have a lie-in as he does it.
thanks for the recap!
Required fields are marked *
2 Joanna
September 5, 2015 at 6:54 AM
The loving attention this drama gives to exploring its characters is so rewarding. It's so rare to find a drama that is so COHERENT.
Required fields are marked *
ohmymoo
September 5, 2015 at 9:01 AM
Yes!!!! Every character gets their own chance to shine. I'm not even sure who really is the main character and I don't really care because I enjoy every single character. And the story isn't all over the place.
Required fields are marked *
3 danarod
September 5, 2015 at 7:42 AM
Thanks for the recap, LollyPip.
This is the drama I'm enjoying the most these days. So complex and full of backstories, moving and entertaining.
Waiting for the next recap!
Required fields are marked *
4 Diana
September 5, 2015 at 10:49 AM
Thanks for recapping this drama LollyPip.
Tae Ho knows who he is, and he knows how to play his cards.
Love this drama..
Required fields are marked *
5 makjangqueen
September 5, 2015 at 10:58 AM
I agree. This is one of the best dramas of 2015. I just like the way we don't just get a typical gangster story but we delve deeper into their background story. Fist was Jong gu and Minjoo and now Heung sam and his brother And might I just add that am really loving Jong gu.
Thanks lollipop, your recaps make it more interesting for me too
Required fields are marked *
6 kalel
September 5, 2015 at 1:10 PM
Thank you, lollipip for the recap and your thoughts. Even though I got on board a little late, I finally caught up on you, guys.
Last is one beautiful journey into a world that looks so real and surreal at the same time. In the beginning everything had been presented through Tae-ho's eyes, hence the characters' long introductory. However, at this point, our hero is one of them at almost every level while we keep watching his efforts to rise back to the top. Lollipip's revelation that the male lead role is somehow a blair right now is so spot on. Even the love triangle is not TH's..!
I think we have crossed the Rubicon by now in terms of plot and various series of decisions have to be made by everyone... literally. The net of people around HS, no matter how safe it keeps him, is just pawns in his game of revenge while JG has decided to rise to the occasion as a caring human being, after the "almighty 7"concept being practically nullified. And JH ended up as (stubborn) piggy in the middle with an alleged personal agenda.
His choice is yet to be seen, although I do believe that the old TH has already died in the river. So, the new (and improved) TH, despite some relapses into his old self along the way as indulging his so-called "plan for a glorious comeback", will finally make a whole different choice. And not because of some "politically correct" morals but because of those real people who have been there for him at his lowest low despite their own misfortunes.
Required fields are marked *
7 Funfair
September 5, 2015 at 3:58 PM
I am glad that the writer is not penning Nara as Jong-gu's daughter.
I know that there are many faces of love and a person should not judge what is or what is not love...however, I can not figure out Heung-sam's feelings for Mi-joo ??? The way he looked at her in the car and cradled her face...his confession at the house. Is it love? Is she a person or simple property? How can he wants to have her live in his suburban home and pimp her out for sex?
Nevertheless, I admit that Heung-sam's back story with Chairman Yoo made me start seeing him in some shades of gray instead of pitch black. I can not imagine the trauma and used the pain/anger to repurchase his home. His house representing love, security, family, support, and protection. Yes, I am now cheering that he is trying to take Chairman Yoo down, however I hat that he is using the least in society - the homeless community to avenge his pain.
Required fields are marked *
Orion
September 5, 2015 at 6:58 PM
I think Mi Joo is one of the few innocent people he has had in his life. She is the hope. The promise that he could be normal and have a normal love and life. But at the same time, he can't see he is ruining her with his actions. Or maybe he does see it, but it's some form of self-torment and insecurity. He treats her badly so that he won't waver or be tempted to be emotional and human again. So he punishes her for his own fear of not being the devil he needs to be for his revenge. He also seems to get jealous over Jong Goo, so he must fear abandonment. He doesn't exactly have many people left who knew him as a better person.
He met her as sex worker so she kept being that for him, but perhaps he also admires and hates that she manages to remain so pure and good despite that life, when his own made him into this monster. He keeps saying he needs no emotions, loyalty and others, but he is clearly keeping "loved ones" close and cares about his brother too.
Could we call that love? Not really. Not in the pure sense. Longing, want, need and somewhere deep inside, caring, but not love. He hurts the ones closest to him the most, because he wants to keep that last bit of humanity and human bonds close, but at the same time can no longer appreciate them. So it's both, I think. Mi Joo and Jong Goo are property to him, means to an end, but also reassurance that he can have positive human contact again.
Required fields are marked *
Funfair
September 5, 2015 at 7:44 PM
I love you @Orion. Your insights totally makes sense. I was so conflicted because in an earlier episode he mentioned how the two people that he care the most for are Mi Joo and Jong Go. Maybe seeing how his father died and his inability to protect his love one (playing outside and not reaching the meds in a timely fashion) built up a wall that love ones leave you - so to survive on the streets you need be be loyal. A person to be feared is also a much. That also explains why Praying Mantis facial expressions/actions are one that closely resemble a robot and not the full range of humanity, however he is loyal and he does fear his god.
Required fields are marked *
kalel
September 6, 2015 at 12:46 AM
I agree with @ Funfare. You gave us a fantastic analysis of a difficult and misunderstood relationship between those three. Besides the obvious Freudian hints here and there, I strongly believe that HS lost his human-compass long ago which made him unable to recognise love, affection and other human emotions. @Funfare is probably right about Praying Mantis and what is HS's conception of loyalty. Because, despite being homeless, people around him "spoiled" HS in a degree, by making him the absolute "king" and taking the fall for him in more than one occasion. So now, he takes everything and everyone for granted; that's why his so-called feelings for MJ is most probably the next best thing to what the rest of us consider love! She will get out of the sewers the moment he decides and with him and him alone.
Required fields are marked *
Orion
September 6, 2015 at 4:27 AM
Exactly. To him, loyalty is being feared, obeyed and at the top. But he probably still remembers what true loyalty was like. Since he knows he is bad, it means he still knows what is good. So he keeps testing his insecurity that he is no longer worthy of such loyalty through his oldest, best friends.
He is afraid they will leave him, so he keeps pushing them and testing them to keep that insecurity at bay. To see if they would still be with him when he can't be someone they deserve. And at the same time, he gets mad at them when they don't obey and mess up his plans. He's making his own fears a reality.
A lot of characters here have traits of one another. Straw Cutter remembered true loyalty and camaraderie and wanted to go back to that time. But he realized it's not there anymore and left. Heung Sam is so far gone, he does not even understand you can't just flip a switch and have a normal life again after all that he has done. To the world, the homeless and his own people. And rather than holding on to that loyalty and his leftover decency like Straw Cutter did, all he can do is maintain a semblance of his old self by keeping those he knew as a better person hostage.
He's a very abusive person. He uses their own needs against them, makes them feel guilty and victim blames them, and in Mi Joo's case, when he realized he has pushed too hard, he tried to throw her a bone so she will not go over the edge. Problem is, this is crumbling and he forgets that even the lower ranked ones have those needs. Someone like Venomous Snake is clearly looking for recognition, but even he has a snapping point. If Heung Sam keeps treating his subordinates like this, they will all leave him eventually. I think/hope that's where he will be by the end of this. Alone, abandoned, just like he feared. I doubt that will open his eyes, given how far he has come, but that's the only way to strip him of his power.
Required fields are marked *
Funfair
September 6, 2015 at 11:28 AM
I do find it interesting the writing of Straw Cutter and Jong Go to be the heart of this community. Both are pastoral functioning in different ways. Straw Cutter first line of business once he regains his freedom is to see about his sheep. He ate and drank with them. You could tell in his engagement of conversation that he cared. How empowering to engage the invisible in our community by listening to their words. Jong Go develops a pastoral heart. The man who was a lone by choice preaches to them regarding their humanity by reminding them the importance of their identities. He connects them to a point in their life before their homeless state and he tries to cast their vision for a different future by employment. Straw Cutter's last words to Jong Go, "I am leaving the sheep to you - take care of them." I hope Straw Cutter returns for Heung Sam's final chapter.
Adal
September 6, 2015 at 5:07 AM
Does Heung sam love Mi joo? I would say yes, in his own way. I am a firm believer that there are many forms of love. Not all of it is pure and innocent. Some of it can manifest as being twisted and self serving such as the one Heung sam has for Mi joo. I think he tortures himself and her because he realizes she doesn't love him but Jong goo and he really is the third wheel in their triangle. Her staying with him is not because of love but one of obligation, because he saved her life though she also cares for him in her own way, too.? Anyway his desire to retire with her in his childhood home speaks volumes of his regard for her, if ever Ryu shi was out of the way, of course.
Required fields are marked *
8 Beverly A
September 5, 2015 at 6:32 PM
I can't take my eyes off Park Won-Sang when he's on the screen. I'm currently watching him in this and 'Hwajeong' and he's utterly believable as either character.
I'll also never listen to Schubert's "Heidenröslein" again without a feeling of dread and apprehension,
Bravo, Last!!
Required fields are marked *