Playful Kiss Episode 3 Recap

For someone who doesn’t give a flying fig about anyone around him because he’s just so darn smarter than everyone else, Baek Seung Jo sure does notice Oh Ha Ni. A lot. Playful Kiss (Mischievous Kiss) is like a slow burn.

Anyone expecting angst and plot twists look elsewhere. I am loving this slow and steady development of Ha Ni and Seung Jo’s relationship, like two moths circling a candle flame.

Episode 3 Recap:

Everyone standing in the school foyer is chanting for Seung Jo to piggyback Ha Ni. Ha Ni tries to demur, but Seung Jo insists since otherwise Ha Ni will have to tell everyone they live together and he tutored her. However, adorably jealous Ha Ni-shipper Joon Gu comes barreling out and forcibly piggybacks Ha Ni to the school yard, while Seung Jo looks on, with a curious expression.

Ha Ni enters the Top-50 self study classroom, and she is a source of fascination and is promptly ostracized. Of course, Ha Ni only has eyes for Seung Jo, and watches as yet another girl pretends that she needs his help while trying to Oppa Pout Wiggle him. Seung Jo rebuffs the female advances, as usual, and Ha Ni turns from seething to laughing out loud at the proceedings.

The teachers decide to hold a classroom athletic challenge in order for the kids to let out some steam and participate in friendly classroom rivalry on the field. As Classroom 3- 7 is practicing for their relay race, Seung Jo walks by and taunts Ha Ni and her class for being pathetic and taking this so seriously, since Class 3-1 only tries hard at academic achievements (seriously boy, you need to clue yourself in – that if you’d even bother wasting a breath talking to Ha Ni, it’s cuz you can’t seem to ignore this little ball of silly adorableness).

Ha Ni replies back that there is nothing pitiful and pathetic about trying one’s best and working hard. She says Seung Jo is pathetic for not caring about the athletic tournament and losing on purpose. The two of them stare daggers at each other, oh I love it.

At the athletic competition, Ha Ni first dresses up in a mascot suit resembling a cross between a duck, a carrot, and a turnip. As the DuckTurnRot walks by Seung Jo, she suddenly turns around and attacks Seung Jo by sticking two fingers up his behind. Then she attempts to run away but falls down and can’t get up, requiring Seung Jo to assist her.

Seung Jo pulls her DuckTurnRot head off by the nose, and when he sees that its Ha Ni, he pinches her cheeks and is about to go postal on her. But then he just gets exasperated and takes off. So. Cute. This sequence perfectly encapsulates their budding hate-love relationship.

At the first event, it’s clear that as dumb as Class 3-7 is, they’ve got a tight comraderie. Whereas the smartie pants kids in Class 3-1 just stands around all awkward and listless.

At the tug-of-war competition, Seung Jo’s Mom arrives surreptitiously to take pictures of her beloved kids. Class 3-7 also wins the tug-of-war. At the relay race, Ha Ni jumps up to grab the baton her teacher throws at her, and takes off running. Seung Jo and Joon Gu are the final leg and are waiting to receive the batons, respectively.

Seung Jo smiles at the incoming Ha Ni and causes her to become disoriented and confused, merging Seung Jo into Joon Gu and she tries to pass Seung Jo the baton instead! As Seung Jo brushes past her, he calls her a fool. Oh Seung Jo, you are so shady. Class 3-7 loses the relay race and Seung Jo is the hero of Class 3-1.

Gah, I LOVE how underhanded Seung Jo is turning out to be. Ha Ni puts on her DuckTurnRot head and her classmates start thumping at her for her boneheaded move. Mom is super-pleased at how the two kids performed, and is getting all warm and fuzzy that Seung Jo is becoming more human the more time he spends around Ha Ni. Mom treats Ha Ni’s class to pizza even though they lost.

That night, Ha Ni is all sore from the day’s activities and runs into Seung Jo in the living room. Seung Jo is surprised that Ha Ni tried so hard, and she states that is all she can do, try hard. Ha Ni is surprised at how fast Seung Jo runs. Seung Jo matter-of-factly states that he simply excels at everything. Ha Ni tells Seung Jo how happy his Mom made her by coming to cheer her on, take pictures of her, and treat her class to pizza, since Ha Ni does not have a mom and longs for a mother’s support and encouragement. Seung Jo asks her what the DuckTurnRot is supposed to be, when she says that it is Fart Leader, Seung Jo tells her it’s cute.

The entire family goes out to eat, and the Dads sing a duet together. Seung Jo spends the dinner checking his cellphone, while Ha Ni mentally reminisces about her long-standing crush on Seung Jo. Ha Ni’s dad tells everyone that Ha Ni’s nickname is the Snail of the Ark (otherwise known as Noah’s Snail), since even the snail must’ve made it slowly to Noah’s Ark on its own.

Ha Ni gets drunk after the family wants the heroine of the day to drink, and rants at Seung Jo for looking down on her all the time. Ha Ni tells Seung Jo that she hates him now. Seung Jo then proceeds to quote her entire love letter to him, which states how much she likes him (comparing him to a wood nymph and how she can’t stop thinking about him). Now both parents know that Ha Ni had a crush on Seung Jo. Ha Ni states that she has gotten rid of her old feelings for Seung Jo.

The parents ask Seung Jo to piggyback Ha Ni home. On the piggyback ride, Seung Jo states that Ha Ni finally got him to piggyback her. He also deflates her announcement that she doesn’t like him anymore by pointing out that he can hear and feel her heart beating so very very rapidly as her chest is pressed against his back.

The next morning, Mom sneaks into Ha Ni’s room and slips a picture of Seung Jo and Ha Ni sleeping on the table after a late night study session into Ha Ni’s book. At school, Ha Ni’s classmates see the picture! The picture goes viral and soon all the computers in the self study classroom have the picture up, which is when Seung Jo sees it. And he is furious. At Ha Ni, who he thinks purposely leaked the picture. Seung Jo gives a little argh of frustration, musses his perfect hair in annoyance, and looks like he’s about to go throttle Ha Ni.

Thoughts of Mine:

I continue to enjoy PK, probably more than most people watching it. I think this version of It Started With A Kiss is the most whimsical in matching the tone and mood of the original manga source material.

It’s official in my mind that I am happy with Kim Hyun Joong’s performance as the Naoki character. He will not win any awards nor give Joe Cheng a run for his money, but that isn’t a bad thing since Joe’s performance was spectacularly awesome. But I love angry, annoyed, exasperated, and sneaky Seung Jo, because that is when Kim Hyun Joong comes alive in his acting – and when his character gets more and more interesting.

Jung So Min, on the other hand, continues to amuse and shine as Oh Ha Ni. She is perfectly cast. What I love about PK is that Ha Ni changes and affects Seung Jo simply by being herself. By having Ha Ni around him, Seung Jo starts to actually give a damn about something, anything, other than himself. And before he realizes it, he cares about Ha Ni, too. I can’t wait for the genius to discover his heart and where it resides.

[credit: the few pictures here are culled from various news articles].


Comments

Playful Kiss Episode 3 Recap — 10 Comments

  1. You know, I’m starting to really love Playful Kiss myself. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it yet, but there have been a few great moments in episode 3. The pacing is slower than what I’m used to, except it’s bordering on adorables for me, rather than snorables! I think I love the interactions between Ha Ni and Seung Jo’s Mom the most. They’re so cute together! On the other hand, I also get some great chemistry between Kim Hyun Joong and Jung So Min. I didn’t initially expect it but I’m glad that there is some chemistry between them. Too. Cute!

    Oh, I was totally thinking the same thing about KHJ; he comes alive in his acting when he’s pissed off and annoyed. Let’s also not forget that pretty-boy smile that can melt millions of hearts. As for Jung So Min, she’s simply killing it! I didn’t like her as much in Bad Guy, but I’m really loving her here. She makes Ha Ni so relatable that you can’t help but cheer her on. Although we already know who the OTP is in this drama, I love how we’re getting to that point. It’s not so much about knowing the ending but the means to how we get there. WHEEE! I can’t wait for more! 😀 Thanks for the recap, ockoala! :runs off squealing:

  2. oh thankyous first off for the recap!

    and second, thank you for the naming of the mascot – DuckTurnRot. The duck portion of it especially killed me! i couldn’t fathom the concept of a mascot where there was such a big ASS on such a little costume.

    and of course your description of Hani – little ball of silly adorableness, makes me love her all the more. I must be the only person who didn’t love her from Bad Guy (helps that I didn’t watch it…) but she seems adorable here. and i really liked her dad’s analogy for her – snail of the arc. it speaks a lot for the kind of person she’s s’posed to be here. and i like the thought that there may be lots of snails of the arc in the world.

    oh and particular thanks for the picture of Seungjo smiling so sweetly at Hani that it causes her to lose concentration. that is a very sweet smile indeed. my own little heart might have pattered a little faster too……….

  3. Maybe it was not watching the great big spoiler trailer that did it, but I enjoyed ep3 a lot more than 1 or 2.

    And, much as I hate to gratify the legions of rabid KHJ fans who flamed anyone who dared diss him, but I have to admit that I think he has upped his game and is delivering the goods. Why, at times, he actually emoted, believably! o_0

  4. i also love this drama now. love the cast, didn’t thought that khj would fit the role at first but he pulled it off. love it when he gets angry haha. main girl is just so freaking cute.

  5. @ endodo4ever, Carol, playful kiss

    Thanks for leaving me a comment, I love hearing from folks watching PK! I agree with everything you guys said about how you are reacting to this drama and the character and the acting. PK fightin!

    @ serendipity

    Ah sis, thank lord you and momosan are watching PK with me, to ground me a little and let me know I haven’t just shorted a circuit with how much I love PK. Not that you guys love it as much as I do, but simply that it really is quite cute and well done (so far) and I’m not throwing my love behind a My Fair Lady or a BOF. *shudders*

    As for KHJ – I really like his Seung Jo. I may become a HUGE Seung Jo lover soon. His performance is decent, he’s no James Dean, but he’s also no Joe Jonas/Taylor Lautner. He CAN act, even if he’s not the best actor in the shed.

    Don’t worry about satisfying the rabid KHJ-fangirls when we confess to liking KHJ in PK. I think PK is doing such abysmal ratings, and the KHJ-antis seem to be doing more damage than his fangirls can crow about him, it’s nice to support KHJ-the-underdog for a change. 😀

  6. I’d be tempted to watch for Jung So Min alone, she’s charm on legs. But the whole package is quite palatable.

    EXCEPT that I absolutely can not BEAR the cutesy closing credits (haha pun). Happily, that issue is easily resolved by my simply stopping the video the moment I hear that cutesy music come on.

  7. I think you missed out something here..Seung Jo was teasing Ha Ni about her small size breast as he can feel it while piggybacking her. Ha Ni was shocked and embarassed to hear that caused her almost fell off from Seung Jo. That is why she used a pair of socks to put inside her bra once woke up in the next morning.haha..

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