I couldn't agree more about the phone conversation between MJ and DY. Kuddos to the actors and their emotion-filled acting.

"Captain people are trapped under the building we have to help them"
YSJ:"wait she has an undone shoelace I have to help her first she might trip and fall.. oh ! We need it for poster too "

Ah yes the time travelers phone call was such a tear-jerker. I liked that Daeyoung respected her father enough to follow his orders and said that he lost not because of rank but because he can't compete with a father's sincere love. That gained him so many brownie points that the dad wanted to sent him to her when something happened. It is clear that as much as he doesn't approve, he knows that Daeyoung's love for Moyeon is strong enough that he would give the rescue 200%. When he was informed that Daeyoung already volunteered himself, he had that same look of stunned but admiration look on his face when DAeyoung made the sincere heart comment.

Quite exciting that the girls will be put in the same position of worry next week. Praying against an earnest bot situation!

I would like to add something to my comment about SJ asking MY what he should do about the kiss. I have just thought that (to me), he got teary-eyed b/c when he asked MY if her feelings were still complicated (viki’s translation), and she didn’t answer, he knew right then and there, that she would not accept him, they would not start to date. I felt that he wanted to cry (he got emotional), however he held it in. He wanted to cry (maybe not a “boo wooh” cry, but a silent one, with tears streaming down his face for a minute or two) b/c he REALLY wanted to hold on to her, however it does take two to tango, and if she is not ready (to date him), if she won’t accept him, he needs to respect that, and he did. So then he asked her what he should do, though I suspect that he knew she would not ask him to confess to her. That was also what made that scene poignant to me. And let’s not forget that it was her 2nd time rejecting him, that had to be hard, and that had to sting. That was why I felt for him during that scene, b/c he also managed not to crumble/break down in front of her, and he kept himself together.

I also now suspect that he might have left the night before (instead of the next morning, as scheduled) to get away from her, and the pain he would feel if he had to see her again. As he said, with time he would have been OK, but when she turned him down, that was painful for him, considering how much he really liked her. I found it interesting that MY did not seem to think about SJ’s feelings, and about how him liking her affected him as well. I felt that the writers and SJK made a point of showing how affected SJ was by MY. Most of the times when he paid her a compliment, he was dead serious and he meant it, and he wanted her to know it. He constantly let her know how he felt about her (since ep.1), and every single time he did that, he was being vulnerable. Yes he jokes often, and he also showed that he has self control, and he is good at his job, he is respected, etc… However I feel that it must not be easy to do what SJ did, not knowing if you will get the girl for sure or not. When she came to Urk, I would not have pursued her as aggressively as he had, maybe b/c I would not want to be as vulnerable as he was, without being sure of the outcome, but that might be just me.

I said I would mention my questions, here they are:

1--SJ’s dad told him, “In a soldier’s life, sometimes being in confinement is better than being promoted.” Do you think SJ’s dad meant that literally? (Since that was what SJ went through).
2—DY said, “but I think us being a set is creating some synergy?” After SJ told him that they were fools (WRT their women). What do you think DY meant? I was confused by that.
3—MJ told SJ, “Who did you call as, as my sunbae, or as my superior?” How are those terms different? (I thought they were the same? (This is 25mns in).
4-The little boy when he was in the tank, isn’t it metal he had in his mouth? (before the earthquake hit).
5—29mns in, did anyone spot the Urk flag, in the office? That’s what it was, right, next to the Korean flag?
6—Do you think Mr. Kang is going to die (the young one, who works for Haesung)?
7—What was that thing SJ had in his car, a tv? (He saw the news of what happened in Urk on it).
8—Minami is the capital (of Urk), and Mohuru the military base, or is it where the medical team is? I thought it was Taebaek (for the military base), or something like that.
9—They actually used “KBS” news, for the news report, when they
usually change at least one letter of the TV station in dramas.
10—DY asked SJ, “Did you hand in your vacation,” (when they were going back to Urk, I think), meaning?
11-SJ said that “He still needed to be respected,” to DY. Do you know why?
12—Does anyone know if the power plant is filmed in Korea, or in Greece? I have a feeling it might have been filmed in Korea. It was a big scope, the earthquake, though I know they used a lot of CGs.
13—I was confused, will MY open her clinic in Gangnam after all, or does she plan on mostly volunteering? (After she reminded us of her oath in the voice over).

@ GB Unni,

I have a few more questions for you:

1—To answer one of her questions (to me), yes, I am watching DotS on Viki. Where is she watching? Email me the link please. So when I ask questions about the subtitles I have read, I got them from Viki.com.
2—Why do you think SJ started taking pictures of DY when he saw that he wore a matching TShirt? I didn’t understand that. Was that to punish DY (when he sent the pix to MJ), for wearing a matching shirt?
3—In ep.5, why did SJ keep asking MY not to do anything funny when the lights went off for 30secs? (“If you do, I will shout,” was what SJ told her). What did he think she was going to try to do? I didn’t get that. Some said that he became aware of the two of them being alone in the dark, and of how much he might have been attracted to her. Some said that he blushed. I didn’t see him blush, did you?
4—Have you noticed that MY seems to speak in formal speech to SJ (ep.5, 37mns in, and then she uses the “Yo” form often when she addresses him) whereas SJ seems to speak informally to her. Why is that? And what do you think it says about how they see each other? Is SJ trying to feel/get close to her, while she is trying to keep her distances? I am very curious about that. If you watch the earlier episodes, you will see that she does that often (I think).

Thank you to anyone who chimes in.

Now GB Unni, I am going to respond to this (reminds me of our Liar Game days :-) ): 3.5.2 Growingbeautifully March 13th, 2016 at 6:35 PM Part 1:

1-Your 1st #: GB Unni, after reading your comment, I too rewatched the end of ep.5, and the beginning of ep.6. And this (to me), is what I saw: when he talked to her, his right eye (for us, but his left eye for him), got red and moist, as if he had gotten a little emotional. He was quite solemn. I still agree with @ LollyPip, his eyes (mostly his right eye) welled up. I still stand by that. I actually think that both of his eyes welled up, but I could see it more on the right eye. I have also read comments on Soompi about his eyes welling up, and the tone of his voice changing, when he was talking to her in that scene. And when he said, “should I apologize or confess?” His voice (to my ears) changed a little, the tone was different, especially as he said, “or confess?” To me, it conveyed that sadness you mentioned (that he felt).

In the end, he did respect her wishes, but one could tell that he was hoping for a different outcome, so yeah, I still think that he was affected, very much so. I personally think that he wanted to hold on to her, yet he HAD to respect her wishes. She was clear about what she wanted at that moment, and I was glad to see him abide by it. Some of us had been complaining about KES’s male leads not respecting the female leads’ wishes, so I feel relieved (and I am personally glad) when I see SJ respect and do what MY is asking him to do, even if he wishes for something different at that time.

And as we know, he left the night before (instead of the next morning as planned), and we saw him reflecting (brooding maybe?) in his room that night, while MY was in hers, when she lit her candle. I might have been a little (melo)dramatic in my (1st) description of what happened, the drama is having an influence on me as well, LOL! But I still feel that SJ had strong feelings for MY, and that even though over time he might have been OK, he REALLY really liked her, and he REALLY really cared about her (and he really really wanted to be with her).

@ GB Unni, Part 2:

2-WRT the 2nd part of your #: yes, I agree with you, although she had be dithering before, this time she was very clear, and I was very glad to see him respect her wishes, and do as she had asked. I am thinking that she might have still been emotional (strong in her emotions) when she asked him to apologize. She did tell him that she was angry with him, as he was the reason (and his circumstances were also the reasons) why she was confused, and felt that she was not having enough time to sort things out the way she wished to. The next morning however (hindsight being 20/20, and with him being gone), she realized that she had made a mistake (an important one), and her anger with him seemed to have lowered (or dare I say vanished? I wish that was what happened). Like you, I would have tried to negotiate with him: a relationship has to start somewhere, and even though they are the kind of people to get serious in a relationship (I think it is also an age thing), I don’t feel that they needed to be that serious at the beginning. She already knew enough about him to mull over what she wanted to do, I don’t feel that SJ needed to be by her side all the time.

If I were in her shoes, by that time, I would not need SJ to be around me all the time to process my thoughts and feelings. She knew how she felt about him, she also got some answers from him (even when he didn’t want to share much, she could guess what the answers were), and she talked to Daniel (which helped a lot). She could have worked on sorting out her feelings at that time. I would have said something like: “look, I really like you, however I can’t help but have some reservations because of the nature of your job. What you do, the situations you have to jump into are dangerous, and a lot of the time, you can’t share what they are. There is a lot of danger and a lot of secrecy that come with you. I am not sure how to handle that (at this point). I don’t know if I want that in my life (at this point), and I am honestly not sure what I want to do. So when we see each other, could we still please go on a few more dates, interact with each other more? That might help me in sorting out my thoughts and feelings, and that would give me more time. If things do not work out, and I feel that I can’t handle it, or I feel overwhelmed (or way in over my head), we might have to part ways, unfortunately. Maybe we should (tentatively) give us dating, a try? I can’t give you a clear cut answer right now as to whether I see a future with you or not.”

@ GB Unni, Part 3:

GB Unni, your interesting detail is yes “interesting,” though I also thought that the scene in his room could have also been the angle that the PDs started out with when they started shooting SJ in his room, on his bed. Your perspective is an interesting one, I agree, though I do not see their perspectives to be that different, really. I feel that SJ still values life, very much so (he put his job and his career [and Col Park said “his life could go down the drain]) on the line, so that MY could operate on the Arab prince. He wanted to shoulder her responsibility yes, but he also wanted the Arab prince to have a chance at living. When the Arab bodyguard was threatening him, SJ said, “the Dr. is simply operating on a patient who needs surgery [to survive]” or sth along those lines. And when SJ gave his orders to his men, it was clear that yes, he wanted to protect MY, but he also wanted for the Arab prince to live, if it were possible. SJ also disarmed the bombs (in an earlier ep.), WHEN he saw the children close by. He also decided to go save Argus before they left, even though they were short on time. He was the one who insisted that they go and save him that day (and he questioned his decision in ep.6). So to me, MY’s and SJ’s means and ways might not always be the same, however I feel that they both value life, and they both (at times) might have to decide who lives and who dies (MY with the triage, after the earthquake, SJ by killing an enemy or “a bad guy”, so others might live). I have not seen their perspectives as complete opposites since ep.2 (the “break up” scene), and I still don’t now.

Yes SJ left earlier, and it could have been to avoid seeing her again, as you mentioned. But really, why would he have stayed? He had said his goodbye the night before (and he saluted her), and he had a dad who was waiting for him at home. I totally understood his decision. There was no reason for him to stay longer there. I will say more about this in my response to Val, so please also read there.

About your 5th # (the one before the last one), I have a different perspective on this. When SJ 1st kissed MY, I felt that he thought that she was giving him the go ahead to make a move forward (or at least that it would be OK with her), since it was the 1st time (I felt) since they had seen each other in Urk, that she was admitting having thought about him (a lot and often), and that was after an 8 months time. I can see why SJ did that. He had been open and vulnerable with her since seeing her again, and when it looked like she was reciprocating (finally), he started having hope.

@ GB Unni, Part 4:

Only, she gave him mixed signals during that kiss scene b/c at 1st she didn’t push him away, and she even closed her eyes (to feel the kiss better) at 1st. It was only when he tried to kiss her again that she finally turned her face away, clearly rejecting the (attempted) kiss. I felt so bad for SJ, and I felt 2nd hand embarrassment as well (through SJ). That was kind of hard for me to watch.

The next day, per viki’s subs, SJ said, (to MY), “Please don’t feel attacked. I had to work some courage to kiss you. I had been thinking of doing it a thousand times.” And I personally loved that extra info, b/c it made me realize that SJ did not just want skinship with her, he had actually not always felt sure about whether it would be OK to kiss her or not. And he had wanted to do it for a long time (probably going back to 8 months ago). So to me, when he asked her at night, “are your feelings still complicated?” I felt that (and took it as) SJ wanting to know how she felt, and where she stood. I didn’t hear pressure in his voice (like he was trying to have her give him a clear cut answer right there, about them dating now). Sometimes you just want to know what someone is thinking, which direction s/he might be leaning towards. SJ already knew she was having a hard time making up her mind, he said so in the restaurant. He also asked her if he had not been a soldier, would it have been easier for them to be together. So SJ knew. And when (at night), she didn’t answer, he knew he had his answer, he had lost (her). So THEN, he asked her what she wanted: an apology or a confession (and you and I have agreed on the implications of both).

So to me, a (quick) answer was not the only thing SJ was looking for. As you and I have mentioned, she could have (maybe) negotiated something with him. We will never know if he would have agreed to it or not, b/c that kind of conversation never happened. I felt that SJ would have liked to hold on to her, and as such, he might have been willing to compromise/negotiate sth for a period of time.

About your last #, I think you might have read me wrong: I honestly do not have a problem with MY being of two minds about a possible relationship with SJ. I have had a problem with how she came across to me: not realizing that it was also hard for SJ, and sending mixed signals/doing push and pull, even if she might not have meant to do so. I felt that that was not fair to him, as he was hurting as well. We could tell by how sad he was, how teary eyed he got, and the way in which his voice changed, when he asked her what he should do. I was hoping (and I wanted) for MY to realize that SJ was having a hard time as well. Yes, he would flirt with her, and tell her often that he really liked her (in different ways). One has to realize though that in so doing, the one doing that is being vulnerable and open, time and time again.

@ GB Unni, Part 5:

And as Val pointed out, joking for SJ is often a way of pulling his mask up, so he can retreat behind it. I can understand that. It is probably one of his coping mechanisms. I just wanted to see MY being more sensitive to the fact that SJ was affected by her, and by what they were going through. Yes, he admitted that he would (in time) be OK, however that does not preclude that he was also having a hard time. He was trying to gauge where she was at, while trying to understand her (and he did), while also trying not to (overly) cross her boundaries. I personally don’t think SJ is perfect, I would never say that. I do think he is human (and flawed), and that is one of the things I am interested in, when I think of him. I might say more about this in my other responses, so please look for them (above, I think).

Oh god, I agree exactly on your words! "No creepy stalkerish male lead and female lead don't spend half of every episode tearing up". That is what I love in the female character in Dots!! Eventhough all my friends watched Heirs, I am not interested at all.

+10000 I really loved that scene.

ALSO this is a small gripe but I still find it... a bit... off that she's wearing high heels in a war-torn country's peacekeeping base, like the country is 90% desert and rough terrain; I don't rly think anyone with doctors without borders would be wearing what she's wearing. But then again, some medical aspects of this drama aren't too realistic either, so I guess my point is moot in the context of this drama lmao.

Also I feel like people should take the drama for what it is because if we look at the writer's past works, I'm not sure why people are expecting something above and beyond her style. I'll just say that in terms of her male and female characters, she's improved because both men are respectful and the women have backbone and think clearly about what they want. Let's leave it at that. I think it will make the drama easier to digest lol.

I hope so. *Fingers crossed* @Eva Lee

omg yes. the couple tee scene made me actually laugh out loud-- the pics shijin took of daeyoung were even cuter... and myungjoo's distracted face as she tended to that soldier... so cute

SJ is in the track for commissioned officer and DY is just in the enlist rank. SJ is a graduate from Korean "West Point". That is why SJ is in higher rank than DY. SJ's father is retiring as a top rank among the enlist ranks.
SJ lost the eligibility for promotion only for this time, he might be eligible next time.
I think this drama is showing many corrupt doctors, business man and army officers because that is the problem in Korea (at least many Koreans feel like that). There have been big scandals in the army related to the defense lobbying, and also it is known that the doctors who have connections are easily promoted for university professorship which is the most of the doctors in the university hospital want, especially in top schools.

Me too! I actually think Song Hye kyo did a very good job in this episode. Her teary eyes after the shoelace scene was great.

I like that we missed the love triangle completely. Whatever issues the three of them might have had, they're so far over it that we know exactly how they'll align: the love connection, the bromance, and then the prickly friendship between MJ and SJ. We got to miss the entire love triangle part of the show and moved right on to the double-dates.

I love that SJ reacted to the matching t-shirts by instantly getting his phone and sending pictures to MJ. When you add that to the proxy-phonecall and the marriage threats, they have a very funny connection that I am extremely glad we get to see fully-formed, rather than the creation process.