This was the first episode of Cheongdamdong Alice since the uneven episode 1 that I didn’t like. I don’t hate it, but some of the characterizations really annoyed me even if the seeds were sprinkled earlier on. I guess what stood out for me in this episode was all the weaknesses in the narrative that were highlighted because finally the shit hits the fan and Se Kyung finds out who Seung Jo really is. After the heart pumping elevator door opening scene in episode 7, all of episode 8 felt like a balloon with all the tension and air let out. Se Kyung spent the episode moping and deciding to do the wrong thing even if it means following through with her original plan, and Seung Jo freaked out so badly all over the place I wondered how he’s holding down a real life CEO job, or how he’s not committed yet. What I loved about his off-the-wall behavior really rankled me in this episode, because he really needs to get a grip on his emotional sanity otherwise he will be destroyed once he finds out all the secrets everyone has been hiding. Yes, he has his own secret, but in the grand scheme of things his is probably the least devastating.
What I still love about CA is how complicated all the interconnected threads are. We have Tommy working to bring Royal and GN together through marriage, and finally he’s stepped up as a second male lead in becoming the only person aside from Ah Jung who knows the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Sadly he’ll be working to break up Se Kyung and Seung Jo, and I can’t say I’m not all for that. Much as I like Se Kyung has every right to be a golddigger, she is fooling herself and setting up Seung Jo for a world of hurt once he realizes Se Kyung is a Candy-not Candy-pretending to be a Candy. Or something like that. I wish she would come clean with him because she has so far done nothing wrong to him. Even if she intended to use President Cha as her White Rabbit, and fell in love with Secretary Kim in the interim, no harm no foul. But deciding to make President Cha her target and thinking its going to be a win-win on the love and business front leaves me sick to my stomach with worry. There is going to be so much pain to go around soon we might need a support group to watch upcoming episodes. Speaking of which, next weekend’s episodes are preempted for SBS end of year award shows so episode 9 won’t air until January 5th.
Episode 8 recap:
Seung Jo hears from Secretary Moon that Se Kyung likes Secretary Kim. Se Kyung reads Ah Jung’s text that reveals Secretary Kim is actually President Jean Thierry Cha of Artemis. The elevator doors open and they stand facing each other. Se Kyung immediately averts her face and ducks into the corner of her elevator. Apparently Seung Jo is either blind or stunned by what he just heard that he is in a daze and doesn’t see Se Kyung.
Seung Jo is welcomed as the President to the party and Se Kyung hears this confirmation of his identity. She also sees him wearing the bracelet she gave the President. Seung Jo steps out of the elevator and Secretary Moon comes to greet him. Seung Jo repeatedly asks like a broken record “if it’s true” and “is it’s really, really true” over and over again like a little kid hearing that there is no Santa Clause. Se Kyung stands in the elevator trying to process this shock
Seung Jo is in the waiting room and he finally smiles and presses his hands on his face because Se Kyung likes him. Dong Wook arrives and wonders why he’s like this? Seung Jo asks what he should do.
Se Kyung flashes back to all her previous interactions with Seung Jo and starts to connect the dots and notice all the odd moments. Seung Jo grabs poor Dong Wook for a bear hug and also pats him on the butt as he excitedly shares that Se Kyung likes him. Dong Wook wonders when that happened and Seung Jo doesn’t know but he’s pretty excited nonetheless. Se Kyung arrives at the party.
Dong Wook tells Seung Jo to confess his real identity to Se Kyung today and confess how he feels. She will definitely be shocked at his real identity. Seung Jo suddenly realizes that Se Kyung likes “Secretary Kim.” Se Kyung enters the party and is escorted to her seat. She notices Jean Thierry Cha’s name plate at a seat.
Seung Jo is freaking out because he’s not Secretary Kim, he’s Jean Thierry Cha. Dong Wook tells him the calm the heck down – he’s not Secretary Kim or Jean Thierry Cha, which isĀ an identity he wears like a fashionable outfit. He’s Cha Seung Jo! Today Cha Seung Jo is merely telling the woman he likes that he likes her. Se Kyung sits at her seat and gulps down an entire glass of water. She looks into the empty glass and sees Seung Jo’s smiling and waving face.
Dong Wook and Seung Jo hide behind the curtains looking into the party to see if Se Kyung is there. Seung Jo freaks out and runs away, right past Tommy Hong who is just arriving. Poor Dong Wook chases after him. Tommy enters the party and sees Se Kyung sitting there and he remembers Se Kyung saying the President finding out will mean things are over.
President Nam confirms Yoon Joo is the daughter-in-law to GN Fashion. She gets on her knees and begs him to keep her secret (about her previous relationship with Seung Jo). President Nam says of course the secret must be kept so that the marriage between Seung Jo and In Hwa will happen. Both of them need to keep this secret to their graves. Yoon Joo begs him that this marriage cannot happen. President Nam reminds her that she said it was all a business, that was what he liked about her. She was all business and knew how to cut a deal. He leaves and Yoon Joo cries kneeling there. President Nam thinks to himself that Seung Jo already knew about GN wanting a marriage alliance with him, and he sighs calling his son a poor kid.
Yoon Joo leaves the building crying. She gets a call from her brother that she doesn’t answer. She gets into a cab asks the driver to just drive. She passes by the Artemis building and she looks up sadly. Se Kyung is nervous while Tommy continues to observe her. Min Hyuk and In Hwa arrive and greet Tommy, with In Hwa and Tommy exchanging a sly look. Min Hyuk notices Se Kyung and In Hwa walks over to ask why she is here? Se Kyung admits she was invited by the President as a guest. In Hwa asks if they know each other? Se Kyung is about to explain before the MC calls all the guests to be seated. The first speaker begins while Seung Jo continues his freak out back stage.
Secretary Moon comes to get Seung Jo to prepare but he is seriously having a meltdown. Secretary Moon gets annoys and yells at him to be serious and live his life! Secretary Moon amends that to say Seung Jo needs to be honest towards the person he loves. Dong Wook agrees that Seung Jo needs to be honest with Se Kyung today. Seung Jo agrees on the honesty part.
Seung Jo is introduced and he steels himself before walking out. As he walks out, he wonders if Se Kyung is looking at him right now and is shocked. He introduces the Bouche de Noel and wonders if Se Kyung remembers. This is how people make a wish during Christmas time.
Seung Jo reads a poem called “The Real Woman” about hopes for things that haven’t happened yet. There are many stories to be told in the future, and he thinks to himself that his story with Se Kyung still needs to be told. There are wonderful times to be spent together, and thinks to himself that he has many wonderful times to be spent with Se Kyung. There are voyages to be taken, and thinks to himself that he and Se Kyung will have many voyages to be taken together. He blows out the candle and makes a wish for the future, this is his most sincere and honest wish.
After the lights come back on, Seung Jo looks around and his face falls when he can’t see Se Kyung in the audience. He meets Dong Wook’s eyes and Dong Wook mouths back and he doesn’t know where she went. Seung Jo has to toast the guests and he raises his glass for a joyful Christmas. Tommy drinks and smirks as he remembers how Se Kyung darted out of the party right before Seung Jo got on stage. And she left her cell phone behind and he took it. OH NO YOU DIDN’T ASSHOLE!
Seung Jo has to mingle with the guests and whispers to Dong Wook about where Se Kyung went. Dong Wook says it has nothing to do with his real identity since she left before he was introduced on stage.
Se Kyung meets with Ah Jung who tells her to cheer up, the poor dude turned out to be a prince! Not to mention the prince likes her and she likes the prince back. Ah Jung remembers even more about what she said to Secretary Moon that night, she told him that Se Kyung likes Secretary Kim. Ah Jung says the President likes Se Kyung because of her real life Candy personality. Since he doesn’t know that she knows his real identity, they will need to pretend this never happened and Se Kyung needs to go back to being a Candy.
Se Kyung needs to be a hard working Candy who doesn’t know Secretary Kim’s real identity and likes him back. Se Kyung doesn’t look happy AT ALL during this conversation with Ah Jung and she notices and tells Se Kyung to cheer up. Se Kyung asks if she’s really lucky and won the grand prize? Ah Jung says yes but Se Kyung continues to not smile and instead starts to cry. She wipes away her tears and says she’s happy and musters up a small smile.
Min Hyuk is talking with another guest who recognizes Jean Thierry Cha as Cha Seung Jo, the son of President Cha Il Nam of Royal Group. Min Hyuk looks at Seung Jo and then sees his sister In Hwa approach him. In Hwa tells Seung Jo he did well on stage and confirms the poem is “The Real Woman”. Seung Jo gets a text and he’s distracted. In Hwa asks if she’s waiting for someone and Seung Jo says no. He suddenly notices Tommy and excuses himself to go talk with him. In Hwa turns around and sees her brother looking at her and averts her eyes.
Seung Jo approaches Tommy saying he wasn’t invited. Tommy says he is here to apologize for before. Seung Jo asks if Tommy saw Se Kyung here. Tommy says he saw her but she left before Seung Jo entered. Tommy didn’t have a chance to apologize to her yet. Seung Jo says the best way to apologize is to never show his face in front of Se Kyung or himself. Seung Jo walks away and Tommy sighs before taking out Se Kyung’s cell phone.
Se Kyung walks down Cheongdamdong and heads back to her college design room. She sits down and starts to write. 1. Jean Thierry Cha is the President. 2. He likes Candy Han Se Kyung. 3. But I am not a Candy anymore. 4. The President doesn’t know I have changed. 5. The result is that the President likes the me from before I changed. 6. I have to pretend to be the me before I changed.
Se Kyung starts to cry now as she writes. 7. I like Secretary Kim. 8. But, the person I need to conquer is not Secretary Kim, its President Jean Thierry Cha. 9. Because this is a lucky thing, because this is winning the grand prize. 10. So I have to pretend to be the Han Se Kyung I used to be. Se Kyung cries and cries as she reads out loud what she is writing.
Se Kyung walks to Seung Jo’s house and stands outside looking up into his unit. He’s back at home and looking perplexed. Se Kyung stands outside and thinks to herself that she has to pretend to be the old her. Seung Jo grabs a content emoticon rabbit and sits down looking at it before hugging it close to his chest. Se Kyung sits outside her own house wiping away tears before standing up and saying that from now on, she’s going to be the her from before.
Ah Jung reads a letter Se Kyung wrote to Seung Jo, Se Kyung remembering that Secretary Kim said the President was touched by the letter she wrote on behalf of In Chan oppa. Ah Jung says Se Kyung is so unlucky and Se Kyung agrees that this is the first time she’s gotten lucky. Ah Jung cries that Se Kyung is returning all the presents she got from Seung Jo, but its necessary since a Candy has to be poor and plucky. Dad walks in and asks why Se Kyung isn’t answering her phone. Se Kyung looks around and realizes her cell phone is missing. Dad says a friend is outside waiting for Se Kyung. She walks out and sees Yoon Joo who is crying.
Seung Jo sits with Dong Wook and doesn’t know why Se Kyung would leave since she wanted to see the President wearing the outfit and she’s really thorough. Also why isn’t she answering her phone. Why is she pushing him away when she likes him? Dong Wook laughs and says Seung Jo is going crazy because he likes her so much. Seung Jo admits that he likes her and wants to see her as soon as possible and tell her the truth. He wants to tell her everything.
Yoon Joo brings Se Kyung to a fancy hotel room where she saw girls partying when she was a personal shopper. She vowed to herself that she would spend her next Christmas here. Now to rent this room is peanuts for her and asks if Se Kyung envies her? She asks if Se Kyung still wants to go down this road? Se Kyung hates people who ask that after they’ve walked the road. They have done it and are encouraging others not to go down the same path.
Yoon Joo agrees because she felt the same way and asks how things are going? Se Kyung says it wasn’t a danger after all. The secretary of the man Se Kyung wanted to be her White Rabbit is in fact her White Rabbit. Yoon Joo asks if Se Kyung was deceived and she nods. Se Kyung says he likes her as well and now she thinks perhaps she can mix love with business. Yoon Joo looks at her and says Se Kyung is so similar to her.
Flashback to Paris and Seung Jo and Yoon Joo’s unofficial wedding ceremony. Yoon Joo admits that she loved him a lot, asking if that is amusing since Yoon Joo is all business. She admits that she loved him before knowing that he was a chaebol heir. To her love was everything back then. But he gave up everything to be with her, his parents and his inheritance. So she ended the relationship – she loved him when she didn’t know he was rich and loved everything about him. But if it was for business, then all she needs to love is money.
Se Kyung says that if people can have both love and money, it will make them greedy. Yoon Joo says that is right, and right now Se Kyung won’t listen to whatever Yoon Joo has to say. Yoon Joo tells Se Kyung to do well. Se Kyung asks if something happened to Yoon Joo, who admits she wanted to say something but thinking about it she is not that close to Se Kyung. She wishes Se Kyung well and tells her to succeed.
Seung Jo arrives outside Se Kyung’s house and sees her room is dark. He thinks about calling her but doesn’t. Se Kyung stands in that hotel room deep in thought.
Seung Jo arrives at work the next morning and Secretary Moon shows him all the presents Se Kyung returned along with a letter for him. Tommy hears from his assistant that Artemis sued Se Kyung’s ex-boyfriend for the grey market goods so Se Kyung asked Seung Jo for help and he agreed. Tommy says Seung Jo fell for Se Kyung because she was a Candy. But then Tommy has a revelation that Se Kyung isn’t a Candy anymore, but then why is Se Kyung trying to worm her way into Cheongdamdong through Tommy instead of the President of Artemis? He looks through Se Kyung’s phone.
Seung Jo reads Se Kyung’s letter which is addressed to President Jean Thierry Cha – she cannot work for him anymore because she has fallen for Secretary Kim. To her, loving someone is very precious but she is afraid of how to love when she has nothing. She thanks the President for everything he did for her, but right now she can’t afford to fall in love so she can’t be around Secretary Kim anymore.
Seung Jo rushes out and heads to GN Fashion. Outside the building he calls Se Kyung, which is when Tommy looks through her cell phone and sees a call coming in from Secretary Kim. He answers and hears Jean Thierry Cha’s voice calling out for Se Kyung. He hangs up and checks her text messages and sees Ah Jung’s message revealing that Secretary Kim is Jean Thierry Cha. Driver Kim runs out and say Se Kyung has taken a few days off because she’s sick. In Hwa also hears that and thinks back to seeing Se Kyung at the party.
Seung Jo arrives at Se Kyung’s place that night and runs into her sister and mom. They say Se Kyung took a few days off and went out. Mom wonders what is wrong with Se Kyung because she’s acting weird. Se Jin offers to pass word for him if he’s looking for Se Kyung but Seung Jo declines. He calls Se Kyung’s phone again and goes straight to voicemail. He asks her to call him back, he has something to say to her.
Se Jin watches Seung Jo outside and calls Ah Jung who tells her that she did well. Ah Jung and Se Kyung are at a jjimjalbang and she hears that Seung Jo just came by. Ah Jung tells her that this is necessary to grab Seung Jo’s heart tightly. Se Kyung nods but doesn’t look happy. They discuss her missing cell which shows its within Cheongdamdong but can’t pinpoint the exact location. Ah Jung says to stop service on the phone first. Seung Jo arrives at Se Kyung’s college design room and notices her sketches of the emoticon rabbits on her desk.
Tommy tells his assistant that Se Kyung is now undercover because she’s starting to use Cha Seung Jo now. Tommy tells his assistant to find out where Se Kyung is right now, it might be very easy to end this immediately.
Min Hyuk sits with his mother and reveals that Jean Thierry Cha is the son of Royal Group and now he knows why In Hwa is so interested in this marriage alliance. Mom is happy with it as well because if In Hwa takes over Royal Group then the siblings don’t need to compete anymore at GN Fashion. Min Hyuk says he needs to investigate Jean Thierry Cha now. Yoon Joo hears this and she is secretly freaking out. She vows to find a solution, she can’t fold like this.
Seung Jo is at home dancing around a roomba and asking Dong Wook what to do? He reminds her that Se Kyung is probably avoiding the situation just like Seung Jo tried ti. Dong Wook asks why Seung Jo didn’t come clean earlier with Se Kyung? Seung Jo says he didn’t trust her, there is a corner of his heart that is afraid Se Kyung is just like all the other women out there. He grabs a sad crying emoticon rabbit and hugs it close. He was scared so he wanted to wait until he knew her true feelings before telling who he is.
Se Kyung sits in the jjimjalbang reading Yoon Joo’s diary and sighing. Seung Jo says he was so into his own feelings that he didn’t take into consideration how she might feel. He calls himself an idiot, desperate to see her as soon as possible now to tell her the truth. Dong Wook gives him a sad pitying look.
Dong Wook goes to Se Kyung’s house and runs into Se Jin, who is wowed by him being a doctor and gets him to buy 7 pairs of glasses from her work place before telling him where Se Kyung is.
Seung Jo is in a meeting and tells the team to set the price again, it must be higher or lower not some middle tier where anyone can afford it. He gets a text from Dong Wook to Se Kyung’s location. Se Jin calls Ah Jung to tell her that she revealed Se Kyung’s location to Dong Wook, Seung Jo’s good friend. Ah Jung calls the jjimjalbang and warn Se Kyung. Seung Jo leaves the office and Tommy’s spy reports back to Tommy where Seung Jo is headed.
Se Kyung gets Ah Jung’s warning call and prepares to leave the jjimjalbang. She runs out in the parking lot and Seung Jo spies her and gets out of the car. Tommy also arrives and chases after them. Se Kyung runs into the rooftop parking lot and hides behind a car.
‘
Seung Jo looks around frantically for her. Oh god my heart hurts for this earnest puppy. He runs around and calls her repeatedly but she continues to stay hidden. He screams out that he has something to tell her. Tommy stands to the side and stares over at the unfolding situation.
Seung Jo decides to give his confession now and reveals that there was something he didn’t tell Se Kyung. She wonders what she should do. Seung Jo admits that he is….., and as he’s trying to confess you can see Se Kyung’s anguish so she walks out from her hiding place and faces Seung Jo. They just stare at each other.
‘
Se Kyung calls him Secretary Kim and he says he needs to apologize to her. If after she hears all this she doesn’t want to see him again, there is nothing he can do. But he needs to apologize to her for being President Jean Thierry Cha. Se Kyung tells herself to do well and act surprised when she hears this. Once she hears it, her eyes widen and she wonders to herself if she did well?
Thoughts of Mine:
I hate what Se Kyung is doing to Seung Jo, but damn if the drama doesn’t have the balls to go for it. It showed us Se Kyung choosing this path and she’s not suddenly going to abandon this path just because something so unexpected happened. But part of her clearly hopes she can have both love and money, plus she can’t tell Seung Jo the truth without risking losing everything. Oh what a tangled web they weave. Seung Jo needs to calm the heck down and get some inner confidence and peace first, just like Yoon Joo told him, in order to even have a chance of succeeding with Se Kyung in the face of the upcoming tsunami of plotting all around him. I have no clue how the second half of the drama will develop but I hope the tears are kept to a minimum and we gets tons of substantive twists to keep the story churning. Perhaps next week’s hiatus is a good thing, to whet our appetites and keep us on our toes.
This episode feels like unwrapping christmas x birthday present then found out it’s a knitted scarf again….. So much excitement and let down at the same time.
Everyone merry christmas! (and happy birthday to me!)
I have to agree, this was probably my least favorite episode, although I still love the drama to bits. But it just felt like this ep everyone was just a little too much. SK was first too mopey, then too calculating. SJ was a little too manic to just chalk up to eccentricity. TH was too sleazy. Even AJ felt too interfering. The only one I didn’t feel annoyed with at some point this ep was YJ. Oh well, I it’s a small blip in the whole scheme of things. Hope ep 9 gets CA back to being its fabulous self. Thanks for the recap!
this episode is surprisingly bad and boring š hopefully it get much better next week. oh, NO ! next TWO weeks ! sob
been refreshing your homepage since last nite and thanks a bunch for you, Mrs Koala.. will wait the subs like crazy girl XOXO
The wedding flashback btw Seung Jo and Yoong Joo looked official to me esp. with the priest presiding. I thought Seung Jo was divorced. Seems 3 girls will be vying for the main guy.
i think the maRRIAGE HAS TO BE REGISTERED to be official
not sure if it was
In France, only a civil ceremony is legally binding and is performed by the mayor or his legally authorised representative at the City Hall, after processing the demanded documentation and a 11-day wait. For a religious wedding ceremony to take place, the marriage certificate issued by the City Hall must be handed otherwise it is illegal. š
oh dang this drama crack is good
Hi koala unni, First merry Xmas to you and your family… thank you for the recap of episode 8. Personally, I like this episode as now at least one secret is out. I hope this will be a quick resolves so
We get some cuteness before next angsty secret out. I wonder now that TH know the truth what will he do with it. The sister is tolerable but the other sister is a bitch.. I glad the break so I can catch up School 2013 and king of dramas.
I loooved this episode… It may not be a funny/full of cutesy ep but a needed episode…. Cant believe we have t wait 2 weeks for ep 9
I agree..For me, It showed Sekyung’s internal conflict, the path she chose to take and to go against the core of who she is. I find this drama compelling, and all the characters complex. I hope they give us some cute bts footage to tide us over the next two weeks…. Thanks for the recap!
I am glad for the break that is what i Meant to say..
Same exact thoughts. Can’t believe Tommy took her phone!! UGH. and the ending??? What? She’s coaching herself to be a Candy girl? Just be yourself he already likes you…
I can’t believe the next episode isn’t until Jan. 5th, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m the biggest advocate for this drama to all of my friends…then this episode happened. Gah. Poor Seung Jo…
Also, I can’t decide if I like that Yoon Joo really loved Seung Jo while in Paris…that is annoying me because I feel like the drama is hinting that she still loves him and she’s just married to her husband for money. But that’s just such an unnecessary conflict.
So we get one episode next week? did i get that right. I at least need one episode I mean they don’t even give us previews, are they trying to kill us :(. lol I really love this show so far. Today’s was a bit of a let down cause i didn’t really want SK to consciously set out to hurt SJ. I feel like he is an innocent child and so for her to consciously make a decision that could possibly hurt him makes my motherly instincts flare and want to slap her silly. Even though I know she has suffered i don’t see that as a free pass to hurt an innocent who has already been hurt in this manner before. so I think something has to give. She is going to have to do something incredibly selfless in the end for me to see her as a heroine again.
Why is it that the author wants us to hate our heroine half way through the series? I agree, she better do something to win us back. But I hate that I don’t like MGY’s character… =(… I’m getting an ulcer because I had envisioned that SJ would be in on SK’s plans after they start trusting each other. I really had wanted her to use him as her white rabbit. That way, he can grow and learn more about human relationships and she can slowly learn to realize that marrying for money will make you end up with an anxiety disorder like Yoon Joo.
Agree on your take for 8.
It was around and around that list of sentences SK wrote at her atelier. The list I expected SJ to find when he was looking at the sketches.
**** OK IDEA HERE!! What if he DID find the list, and is now testing SK to see how she acts? THAT would make the yuck of this episode totally worth it. *****
PSH’s peformance of desparately trying to find SK was wonderful and heartbreaking. He is so earnest and wants to make it right, while she seeminly has every intention of effing with him. But with Tommy out there what chance does she have?
I totally agree. I hope he did see the list that HSK wrote….help! In another 2 weeks? How can I survive?
Thx, cap koala for this recap!
I also believe that se kyung is being such a typical gold digger. I hope she realizes that love is way more important than money and that she will fall for seung Jo like in the beginning.
Jean Thierry Cha is so funny, awesome and handsome! Keep doing what your doing Park Shi (ė°ģķ)
I forgot to ask this, are there really cafes inside optical stores? That PPL throws me every time. It just doesn’t compute.
lol. i tot abt the same thing when they first show the cafe, a new concept of shopping for glasses?
Thanks for the recap. You are fast! Nice picture that you use for this episode. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
Not my fave episode, SK disappoints me when she wrote & sent that letter to SJ. And also I can’t believe TH took her cellphone. He is really BAD.
Okay… no interaction between SJ/SK but at least we have SJ/DW bromance. lol
Thanks Ms. Koala and Happy holidays!
I think for the first time I’m super scared of the male lead getting hurt. I wish Seung Jo was a lot more strong emotionally. I get that he is very naive but at least the female leads had endurance and strength that they went back to. I desperately wish for Seung Jo to have it once the drama calls for it.
AND I wish Se Kyung to actually suffer for what she did. I feel for her, or at least did, because I totally understand the frustration of “even if you work hard, you can’t always succeed” philosophy, but that doesn’t automatically warrant a gold-digger mindset. I want her to have the heart break that Seung Jo will have.
I’m also liking Yoon Joo a little bit more after knowing that she loved the real Seung Jo. She doesn’t try to rationalize her behavior, at least not in front of Se Kyung. She wanted money and she went for it.
I want to see more of SK’s transformation and not the mopey one. I want to see how far MGY can flesh out HSK. In a way, i agreed with HSK. Money and love can exist together. But without money, love can turn into something quite burdensome. Water can only keep ur tummy full for a while. Bread is something more solid. And I really really love MGY!!! Please don’t hate her bcos her character is hurting PSH. It’s just an act afterall!!
I totally agree. I’m her biggest fan…she’s a great actress, that’s why people are mad knowing that she would hurt SJ feelings….. :-[
I knew the big reaveal was coming and still I wasn’t ready for the aftermath. I know it’s necessary and it had to happen but to see Seung Jo’s emotions all over the place…. Add to that the possibility he found Se Kyung’s list of thoughts….. Good grief!! AND THEN to have to wait all the way to Jan 5 for the next episode?!?! Here’s hoping our OTP gets back to being sunshine and rainbows again soon.
P.S. DOWN WITH TOMMY. I’m sick of him already and his “real” meddling hasn’t even started yet. LOL
Hmmm I don’t get it guys.
It is not like she deceived him from the start. He did saw her real self, the real cady SK, and she fell for him before knowing who he was.
Yes, she is going to pretend to be her old self to win him back, but we all kwon she does likes him.
Yes, she is going to hurt him but is not like she was after him just because of his money, she does likes him so she thinks it is a good idea.
We also know she will end up being he
r true self with him even when she knows she must be the candy girl…
I don’t think SK is not the candy girl anymore, sure she is trying hard not to be but we know at the end of the drama, she will realize this is not the right world for her and she isn’t like this and will leave it, I bet she will be honest about loving him not because of the money but for who he was, just SJ, not president…
maybe he will lose everything again but this time SK will stay by his side and not be a second YJ….
I don’t get why you are disliking her so much, it is not like we don’t know she liked him first before knowing who he really was…
I just hope SK cheer up because I want just tears when the times of the truth to come, before it I wish so see some happiness in this new world before anything.
Plus, SJ needs to think about others too not just him….. and control himself.
It’s just annoying that she’s basically going to lie to him and pretend to be a Candy, when she really doesn’t want to be, in order to get an in with him. The right thing to do would be to explain everything to him and be true to herself but that’s not going to happen. While we understand why she’s doing it, it doesn’t mean we agree with it. So it’s a web of lies and self-deception continues and shit will hit the fan hard. SJ will probably be the most hurt of them all in a storm of hurt feelings. It’s just really upsetting and the root of the issue, now that SJ is coming clean, is her. Though SJ being the way he is is also an issue but not as big a player imo.
Also we have no idea what the end will be like. We can’t assume stuff like that, especially in dramaland.
hum… but I think that is how going to end… because of what this drama is being based…
And plus, how she can come clean now? Yes they like each other but they aren’t even dating or anything.
You guys want her to say ”Hi, I like you back too, but after my break up with my long time poor boyfriend I saw money is also important, I want to marry a rich guy and I not only like you but your money too, you are okay with it?”
lol who would say it?
I expect her to say something about it when things get more deep between them, no?
@lizzie – RE: “I donāt get why you are disliking her so much, it is not like we donāt know she liked him first before knowing who he really wasā¦”
True! …and more so, I’ve read comments (not just here but elsewhere too) that focus on “how could she deceive him?!”
pssssttt ~ HE has been deceiving her from the very moment they met. After the car wreck he tells some minion to prepare legal papers in case she might try to sue him for false injury —-AFTER he has lied to her about being a Secretary. His first thought was to falsify himself and then to set up a legal safety-net against that lie. (hurrrrumphhh)
I think it’s because we’ve advanced enough in the story to embrace and adore this crazy guy(based on his stunning previous heartbreak) that we tend to forget…he started it — by being a lying, liar who lies.
BOTH characters should admit to each other that they are responsible for EQUAL deception. then they should KISS..a lot. (heehee)
SK is disappointing me but that’s what makes this real. People don’t make the right choices all the time. As long as the narrative makes sense I’ll be content. Still my least favorite episode like you said. I just wanted to scream at her to tell him about her issues and what’s happening and BE HER OLD SELF. Why pretend to be what you once were? Just give up on that dream you JUST recently had and go back to working hard to show your worth but also have a rich boyfriend/potential husband in the mix that you’ve explained everything to. Just TALK to him. I understand why she won’t but it won’t stop me from yelling it at my screen.
I’m hoping for a wonderful twist in the story to break all the web of lies…and all the characters can come clean so we can have a happy ending. If Moon and PSH don’t get together in the end….I’m going to bawl my eyes out and then hunt down the writer.
This episode kinda boring, with less of our couple romance…and the party! I imagine it will be different when I saw the preview, but never thought they didn’t see each other…*sigh* Tommy Hong getting my nerves, how I hate his bossy! No CA next week! *cry*
Ohh.. just shows how good these actors really are. We feel what the story wants us to feel and I’m so loving it. I sincerely hope that story won’t go down the drain like most of the dramas are going now. I love weekends and I love it even more now.
i dont understand why are some people complaining about this ep… i mean, what did u expect? se kyung to tell him everything she was and is planing? if she did that then he drama could end next week and they would live happily ever after… Thats the core of this drama, -her decision of becoming a Cheongdamdong wife no matter what.. It had to be that way!!! FREAKING LOVING this drama… it hearts so good!!!
pls SBS, pls pls pls give this drama an extension!!!!
I agree! I don’t really understand why people are not liking this episode, but to be honest, it needs to happen and thank god the writer is letting one of the lie exposed!!! I was first confused with why SK left the party, but I finally understood why when Tommy Hung explain the story and that SK is actually using that as a way to get to SJ’s heart!!! the writer is really brilliant here!
By the way, this is a rom-com, but I am really worrying about where the story is gonna go because right now, I don’t know how the story is gonna unfold without tears….b/c we all know that SJ is already on medication with depression from his lost of love with YJ, now you have SK is trying to gain his love b/c of his money…but then SK also loves SJ, but she can’t really let him knows her why all along she wanted to meet the President (himself…)…
Also, if you watch SK’s scene at her school with her 10 lists, it’s really sad…. she has already change into someone else, but here’s somebody who’s in love with her old identity, she can’t simply just tells him because 1) she’ll push away her love for him 2) she’ll also push away her new goal in life because she has realized that life is not that easy without money… 3) Now, she has to live like herself in order to gain the life that she needs in order to support herself and her family…
I actually quite like this episode. We can’t have comedy from the cast in every episode. This episode was needed to further solidify SK’s inner struggles and determination into the road to lies and expose SJ’s lack of security/consideration for his other half. So what we have here in this episode is the immaturity of both leads, the weakness of the main leads which we as viewers don’t like to see but is definitely a reflection of reality. It is through the interwining of lies and truths that the characters will grow by learning from each other. How they do it is what’s keeping me on my toes as there are so many possbiilities this show can take from hereforth. I just hope the writer keeps the storyline as realistic as possible.
In an alternative view to the alice theme, it could be that SK is also SJ’s white rabbit. I think the definition of the white rabbit here is to bring alice (both SK & SJ) into a journey of unknown, to learn and understand themselves.
THIS!!!! MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!
This drama is very very complex…
Very well put.
Well said. š Happy holidays!
Ahh I’m so scared about what’s going to happen when he founds out *whimpers*
WHY CAN’T THEY BE HAPPY? š
Dear Koala, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU for putting up a recap despite it being christmas eve (not sure which day it is in your time zone), because that is some seriously powerful time management. Also, thank you for your wonderful cheongdamdong alice recaps because I only started watching the show after your brilliant recaps (only watched episode 3, 4 and 5 so far) and I’m loving this drama. I haven’t watched episode 8, but I’m rather excited about where this brings us and I think you got it absolutely head on that “damn if the drama doesn’t have balls to go for it”. While, it’s obvious to all of us that honesty should be the rational choice when it comes to love and relationships, I think it’s very real and understandable how Se Kyung will fear making that choice. It’s never easy once you chose a route, to have enough sense to return, to have enough conviction to overcome your previous conviction. And, I think it shows that Se Kyung does care for Se Jong, and fears losing him. She doesn’t believe that something “so lucky” can happen to her, and I think it makes sense that she doesn’t feel confident enough to bare her real soul. I can’t help thinking of the parallels with Alice and her wonderland (and I often think of Yoon Joo as the Cheshire) and how Alice will have to find herself again, to find out what is true, before it’s too late and Wonderland becomes a nightmare. Excited for it all! An early merry christmas š
Thanks Captain K. for this recap! Me too, I felt this episode a little sluggish. And why did SK had leave the party? A momentum killer…I’m also hating Tommy Hong’s character right now. I really hope SK’s character will discover right away his evil plans. I hope also that YJ will help SK be together with SJ, even though YJ appears to still have feelings for SJ.
I hope in the next episode SK will not be mopey anymore. Good or bad girl, she should go for it 100%. She should not listen to much to AJ who is also kind of irritated me in this episode. Why does she have so much say on what SK should do?…
I wonder if now that SK’s decided to return to her old self again, she can setup her own fashion company without any help from the rich characters, except maybe YJ, proving that hard work does lead to success. If she does, then she can compete and take away all the clients of GN and Artemis companies, and really posing a strong competition against InHwa for marriage with SJ.
Thanks for the recap!
I predict that Yoon Joo will *somehow* become clued to the OTP and while it may crush whatever heart she has remaining, she’ll become a behind-the-doors Champion of Se Kyung. (she can’t let Royal-Chairman-Dad know she’s doing it)
…. but~ it’s in her interest to NOT to be discovered as SeungJo’s kinda-first wife — plus become a sister-in-law to that former husband — she will bite the bullet and manipulate things in favor of Se Kyung.
Odd as it seems…for Yoon Soo —Se Kyung is a better choice than In Hwa in terms of *how to keep her place in society*.
PLUS +++ bonus points for how many ways there are to have Tommy Hong and Yoon Soo combat each other!! These two are PROS– it could get really outrageous.
We all know the OTP is gonna make us cry several times before they get their Happy Ever After — I sincerely hope we also get MOAR of the funny along with it.
(That hospital scene! “Aigoooooooooo DRIVER KIM !!!! WAEEE?!!”)
Oh yes, it’d be great if YJ the pupil, will out do her teacher TH. I really hope in the end the power of love trumps greed, otherwise there is no hope for this world…or at least in Kdramaland…hehe.
O God… pls don’t make it more complicated… anyway eps 8 really slow… hope they can fast the rhythm again
http://www.facebook.com/KoalasPlayground
— koala’s facebook fanpage š PLS LIKE š
reading your recap make me feel like i’m justified to skim the episode (which i did before i read the recap) this one was a boring episode for me. The only thing I like in this ep is the conversation Yoon Joo has with SK. I’m happy to learn more about Yoon Joo, and hope that SK doesnt end up like her. But i guess im the only who was wondering about what could have been for Yoon Joo. I know SK is our heroine, but Yoon Joo was in her exact spot, who say Yoon Joo doesnt deserve the happy ending instead?
Wow, this sounds too dangerous almost, but I can’t wait to see it all on the screen, thank you so much for writing this up for us, I LOVE YOUR work
Hi, gutterbud! Can’t wait for u to watch eps 7 & 8. Report back to joonni…lol!
Will absolutely do so , I am crazy about this show š
I think some ppl haven’t read the synopsis. SK’s character is supposed to be manipulative so I’m not surprised this episode will come. You can’t always expect lovey-dovey scenes all the time.
I agree, but the challenge is how will she remain “likable” throughout this process? In other words, how “black” or dirty is she willing to get but not go completely to the dark side? The more I hear about YJ’s back story, I think she really did love SJ and sacrificed their love to preserve his inheritance. She didn’t take the $30,000 but asked for a reference letter and started from scratch? That is wild. If she were greedy she would have taken the money AND asked for a reference letter. Why not? SK might just surpass her mentor and go darker because I think that is where the show is going…like she said, she never lost to YJ in her life…she might just win at being a gold digger too but find out that she lost everything in the process to gain everything.
That is exactly what I am thinking about as well, I think what I so dislike about SJ is that she lost everything. I imagine myself loving to shop initially and loving to acquire new things, but sleeping next a man I don’t love for the rest of my life, I can’t see myself doing that at all. I would hate it. So I think all this riches and glory fades away when you don’t enjoy day to day living with your husband. At least starting that way, I know life brings us so many challenges and it might not always be lovey dovey but the essence should be there somewhere I hope. I so hope in my heart that it will end well for them. I am buying tons of tissue for the tears I anticipate shedding š
Seems like everyone is motivated by money and status, YJ, SJ, TH and In Hwa. Who is the voice of reason on this show? Does no one have any morals or redeeming qualities? Aren’t there any foil characters to compare and contrast? I guess this is what makes this show interesting, all the gray areas.
I respectfully disagree, koala. I think CSJ makes a fine CEO because we’ve seen his seriousness and ruthlessness as a person like trying to get revenge on YJ and his dad, threatening SK with legal action after the car accident, pouring soy sauce on TH. I think his weakness is love bc he is a romantic at heart and he has become scatterbrained because of it otherwise he’s been really grounded and lucid.
I don’t understand why everyone is complaining about this episode. 5&6 focused on SJ and SK falling for each other so these 2 episodes focused more in the plot and character development. We can’t have it all. CA is still awesome, IMHO.
I just want to say that I’m a fan of your writing though I have not posted a comment before. What moved me to post today is the headline photo of the Seung Jo, Secretary Moon, and his doctor friend with their pointer fingers in the air. I saw that scene and thought what a great cover photo it’ll make for your site. Yes, that’s how much I visit.
Lol
Thank you to the other commentators for your insightful thoughts on this and other korean dramas. They’re all a delight to read.
Gnight and Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all.
Yes, love that picture so much!
Tommy has become a VERY nosey b***. He has no sense of privacy, why is he reading someone else’s text messages?
I sense a very dangerous road for both SK and SJ. The betrayal is going to hit SJ really hard when he finds out. I think I’m going to get really frustrated at SK for choosing money over love and for breaking SJ’s heart.
I have enjoyed CA a lot up to now, but this ep just brought so many negative feelings. TH made me sick with his super NOSYYYY acts. He had SK’s phone password unlocked, sneeked at her ms and took her call WTF????
And SK, I understand that for the sake of plot development, they need to make it dramatic but what SK did in this ep totally turned me off. She was seriously manipulative towards SJ’s feelings considering that she was well aware of all the helps she had received from SJ (both as JTC and Secretary Kim). I hope the writer solves this conflict well since SJ and SK’s relationship has been based on 3/4 lies and 1/4 sincerity up until now and I just can’t look at SK favorably as I used to.
Btw, does any one know if this drama is labeled as melo type or not? coz I kinda foresee lots of heartbreaking moments later.
The Character I don’t understand Is Tommy Make me want to kick him from the roof Seriously He annoying me and I don’t find his role important any one could do these stupid things I wish this character won’t appear any more š
I was really annoyed with this episode cause I just felt like everyone was completely wacked. Sk – I don’t think is thinking straight at all. Does she even realize what kind of crap she’s doing here? I still like her because I think she can realize the error of her ways eventually but I am still not liking it even though I knew it was coming. Sj – I agree with ms koala. He needs to grow some and really smarten up and smarten up a lot!! He’s really cute and awkward when falling in love but on his shoulders, he really needs a level head to fight these opposing forces against him properly. And these folks are going to be all evil on him, that’s for sure.
These two have way too many lies and secrets and things against them. I am tiring of all these lies and half truths already. I hope that they can hash these out like adults. I’d seriously like to see an honest and good fight between in hwa, tommy, cha il nam, sj and sk.
Tommy hong – you were on the poop list before and you are even more on the poop list after the phone theft and invasion of privacy thing. Looking at others phone messages is so wrong on all sorts of levels. He comes off as super sleazy and seems like he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
Lol – I think I care a little too much about ou fictional characters. Writers – please don’t forget to give us more of the comedy part of the show.
Forgot to add happy holidays to those that celebrate and to ms koala!!! Thank you for the recaps!!!
I know I just ranted about the episode but I do still love CDda. There are a lot of different directions that this could go so I am hoping in two weeks when we can see what happens next that this episode flows well. But stand alone, I can see why people would complain about it š I would really like to see sj properly fight for his position in the business world and for his love – to show that he had matured in 6 yrs. and not give up on either one. It sounds like sk believes that she could have both even though everyone tells her, it’s one or the other. That would be a great way for sj and sk to join forces both on a personal level and on a business level. The synopsis says that the two of them will grow through love and marriage and I hope we can see that. š
LOL at Tommy on the poop list. That is the nicest thing you can say about him at this point. Guy’s a JERK!
Iām starting to think of Tommy as the spectator at a poker game who has more invested in the gameās outcome than the players. Not only can he see everyoneās cards, he understands each playerās style and strategy, and he knows the motivation behind each hand. His character has shades of Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. It is neat that he just seems to know everything.
Tommy knows:
ā¢ SJ is Pres Namās heir.
ā¢ SJ is supportive of and possibly in love with SK.
ā¢ SK is a gold digger after SJ ā and Tommy thinks she only pretended to fall in love with him as Sec Kim.
ā¢ YJ was a golddigger who married herself out of poverty.
ā¢ IH wants SJ as a business husband.
To get what Tommy wants: the marriage of GN and Royal, he really needs to destroy any trust between SJ and SK. Or he can simply threaten to reveal certain truths. Threaten SJ to reveal his marriage to YJ. Threaten SK to reveal her motivations to Pres. Cha.
Thing is, the text only shows she found out immediately before the party. Her confession of liking him precedes that by days. As far as SJ and YJ – would SJ and SKās relationship really get hurt if SK finds out he loved another woman before her? She was in a relationship, too, in the past.
I do like that we keep seeing things from Tommyās POV, and thus, we have an unreliable narrator in him. Someone asked who the voice of reason is, and who is the Greek chorus to keep us on track? I think we take whatever Tommy thinks and says, and flip it. That is the truth, and that is what our OTP really thinks. I hope this, fervently, and I canāt wait to see them all struggle through this mess!
Thank C. Koala for your great reviews and super quick updates. I don’t know how you do it but I am certainly most appreciative!!!
I think the writers are brilliant because they have us, the audience, so personally involved, with our own vested interests. CDDA is a great piece of work so far to rouse such intense emotions and strong opinions, and it continues to fan the fire. Seriously, I think 16 episodes is just insufficient to drive down on the characters and the plot. I really hope they extend the series – I can’t imagine weekends without CDDA! Good grief, it will be damn boring with nothing to pump up the adrenalin all week!!!
I love PSH though imhad inertia about MGY pairing with him at first. Now I think they make a fantastic pair! Love their onscreen chemistry but I won’t be surprised to see sparks fly off screen too š I think the rest of the characters have roles to play – and these will unfold with each episode. Eg: In Ep8, SJ’s dad said something like “My poor son” – wonder if there is deeper nuances eg: reconciliation between estranged father and son aided by daughter-in-law? Maybe we should have faith that SJ and SK can work out what the other half values and make the relationship work, ‘helped’ (in the reverse sense) by TH who commented in Ep8 that it would be quick work to break them up – so maybe their relationship can take a step forward quicker than what we imagine…so many possibilities, just too few episodes!
Thanx koala unni for this!Ā
It’s raining sooo heavily here and the water has flooded into my work place aigooo but I was so panicked I couldn’t get to watch CA. But after reading your recap for this episode, I’m kinda glad I didn’t watch it. It’s heartbreaking..
As a fan of MGY, what I can say is that she would choose the non-typical characters for her career. This character of HSK is not like every heroine in a typical-girl-meets-cheabol drama who would do all the right things and next challenge would be the opposition of the family. But HSK character is where the heroine who chooses all the wrong decisions despite the hero is right in front of her eyes. She would rather choose the dark side instead and makes us all urghhhh with her actions which is what I feel for this episode. But I still have faith in this character..
Hmmm. Poor Seung Jo, if I were in his shoes I really don’t know what I would do. But I think that Se Kyung might be feeling some sort of remorse because she is soft-hearted and that who she is. My typical guess would be, SK will make some BIG sacrifices without SJ knowing it. And when the truth comes out, SJ might get very very mad at first but then after realising the sacrifices SK has made for him, he might earnestly looking for her and BAMMM they kiss passionately! And the rest is up to my imagination~~^^
Merry Christmas Koala unni and to those who celebrate it! Eat till you drop! Haha!
5th January come pali!!
I read from the the CA baidu that if a competing broadcast station is airing the final bits of a drama (i.e. May Queen), then the other tv station will make their current drama’s storyline simpler to capture the potential viewers?? I guess this is what happening now to CA. Although I still like this ep, I feel like SK weeped too much…and the story dragging for most of it until the ending when the truth is revealed….sigh….these two weeks are going to be difficult with no previews…
Noooooo! No episodes next weekend?? That’s just terrible. I love this show and also School 2013.
Indeed this episode felt wrong somehow…And regarding the story, I can understand Se kyung wanting money for her and for her family because being poor isn’t that fun in the real world but still, hurting others in the process of becoming rich is NOT ok.
thanks for the recap!
I love it when Seung Jo says “I miss her, I need to see her…” Keep repeating the same scene over and over again…, aaaaaaahhhhh….I’m so into this!
Yeah…sigh…The pair feel good when they are together, and have shown that they care about and like each other. In that way, the relationship is sound and hopefully that is what they will focus on in the end.
Not that he lied about being poor – that is better than lying abut being rich!
Not that she decided to go after Cha for his connections at the lowest point of her life – Doesn’t that make her realistic and smart?
When she cried writing the ten points, she was saying,
“When you finally found me, I am no more who I was.”
Although this episode is not as funny as the earlier ones but I do like it as it revealed JTC’s identity to SeKyung and moved the plotline further to show SJ’s vulnerabilities when he is in love and SeKyung’s inner struggle and conflict when she decided to become manipulative.
The chasing scene at the last part of the episode was so intense and I could really feel SJ’s eagerness and desperation to find Se Kyung. Kudos to PSH for his ability to portray a love sick guy who is hopelessly in love and vulnerable.
I do have some sympathy towards YJ as she actually did love SJ and like her growing friendship with SeKyung. I just hope that the writer does not make SeKyung’s character to be so much worse as it will be difficult to root for a heroine that deliberately hurt our hero who is so sincere and earnest in his love.
What YK did to SJ was worse. After SJ gave up his father and wealth for her, she left him. I still have hope for SK. She’s a candy by nature. That’s her core and even if she’s acting the opposite right now, her real self will prevail.
She got her white rabbit and prince charming in one, so what’s the big deal with the charade? Okay, if SK knows SJ like/loves her, why not just reveal herself? Maybe like someone mentioned that she’s not confident that he likes/lovers her enough at this point. Well, since the show is on hiatus for 2 weeks so the next episodes BETTER be awesome!!!
I was going to say, Tommy Hong should be careful when stalking Se Kyung because he might fall in love with her. She hasn’t gotten rid of all of her candy stripes just yet. He thinks she’s the conniving type but she may just prove him wrong and be an M&M, a hard outer shell with soft molten chocolate inside…LOL! I want to see Se Kyung make TH cry next…LOL!
Tommy Hong and In Hwa might fall in love too, seeing how similar they are and he seems to respect her ballsy attitude and head for business, i. e. strategic marriage of convenience proposal to SJ/Royal Group.
Wow Pam, that is super, super insightful, what a thing that would be if TH fell in love with SK…that would be super cool, I would love that. As of now, who is the second man after SK’s heart? Isn’t there always something like that ?
I meant YJ.
So sad there will be no episodes next week. This episode was a little slower, but I think it is just the author setting up all the pieces for the next act. I have to say I really felt for SK in this episode, especially during the scene where she was writing the list. I mean everyone is angry with her for deceiving SJ, but it is kind of tragic that he fell in love with the “idea” of her, the Candy, not SK, the real person, and now she has to pretend to be someone else. Also, cut her a little slack, everyone is talking about SJ’s past trauma, but c’mon having your boyfriend of 6 years leave you and drain your bank account (no matter how cute and/or tragic his life has been) is pretty traumatic too. I can understand SJ making the decision to marry for money after it was pretty blatantly demonstrated to her that love doesn’t withstand every storm. When you are young, you think that love is everything, but as you get older you learn, as an earlier poster pointed out, that love doesn’t fill your belly or keep a roof over your head. Can’t wait to see what future episodes will have in store for us – I’ll have to keep the tissues handy.
I really love this episode as now it is slowly revealing SK’s inner conflict and SJ’s vulnerabilities being in love.
After all, love is a 2 way street especially when 2 parties love each – if one is in pain, so is the other. From what I am reading some of the comments here and elsewhere, how can it only be SJ feeling the pain? Is SK not a person too?
@ PAM I support your idea on SK making TH cry. That will be a real treat!!
As a man, SJ should learn to grow up instead of whining and groaning. Action speaks louder than words. At least SK is taking steps to improve her work and home front although it may not be the right and wise move.
Merry Christmas everyone!
This episode is sad and disappointing. Sad, coz of SJ and SK feelings have to denied for the sake of SK plan. Disappointing, due to what SK is still planning to SJ adding to that is asshole TH for his plan of destroying things..aisst!
I need to prepare my heart to be broken once the next episodes comes out. I know it’s going to tough watching both of them hurting when the truth and secrets are revealed.
Why is everyone hating on SK? If she comes clean with SJ she might lose everything.
I cried when she was writing the list. She’s suffering too…
I didn’t see anyone hating SK, maybe just disappointed, but definitely not hating. She sure is suffering but her manipulative letter to the president was a hard one to hear as a viewer. Stating that or criticizing her actions doesn’t mean I hate her.
I understand that it’s not easy to take the unCandy-SK, but she just did what she had to. She didn’t have any choice but to take this path, and in the end she’s going to pay for this.
The love SJ and SK have is just developing, they’ve only known each other for a few days, and there’s no guarantee, that SJ will accept what she had become. After all, he fell in love with the candy SK and hate the type of woman she is now.
Like YJ said, SJ is immature when it comes to love, he’s naive, I don’t think he will accept what she did in open arms. He also need to mature and learn lots of lessons from all these mess for them to work out in the end.
Love this series
I guess from now on we are going to see how dark SK can go? As much as I dislike what Tommy did by stealing her phone, he is the only one who can stop her game!! She deserves it, by crying out loud how much luckier can she get? She doesn’t need to continue with this game if she comes clean totally with SJ, after all he loves her and would understand her initial intentions. But, traveling through this path will really bite her back and I hope she realizes it on time!! I don’t like her character at this stage of the drama, as in my eyes she is a pretty leveled headed type of girl who knows what she wants, but with integrity. I’m not sure what she needs to do to win me back. I like more YJ cause she walked away as she didn’t want to hurt SJ by him renouncing to his fortune and start from scratch again…but now her husband when he finds out?…I like her husband, he is a very likeable character…Anyway, CA has now captured my attention and can’t wait till January 5…
I thought the same about YJ not wanting to hurt SJ and therefore leaving. But then again, there’s was no point for her to stay with the poor him. That is why as SK will pay for what she’s doing now (though she has sincere feelings for SJ and wants greater good for her family), so YJ will pay for what she did to SJ and her own husband, who seems to be a nice rich guy YJ approached with ulterior intentions (though she may like and respect him). I guess both of the girls equally deserve what they will get as a repayment. That is why I don’t see any objective reason to like one girl more than another. But subjectively, I do hope everything will be easier for SK, since she worked so hard all her life and now it’s time to get a repayment for all her hard work.
I totally agree with you, yet YJ had to leave SJ as SJ’s dad forced her to do it, they did a buss transaction! But SK will face same scenario again, it may be that SJ be more protective this time, but then again Sect’y Moon will remember that he also told on the true identity of sec Kim to SK’s friend, so SJ will figure out that SK is lying by pretending that she didnt know….big unnecessary mess in my eyes!!! All I know SK will regret it big time if she continues with her game of greetiness!! She already has the guy drooling for her…anyway we just have to see
I tought the same about YJ not wanting to hurt SJ and therefore leaving. But then again she had no point to stay with the poor him. That is why as SK will pay for what she’s doing now (though she has sincere feelings for SJ and wants greater good for her family), so YJ will pay for what she did to SJ and her own husband, who seems to be a nice rich guy YJ approached with ulterior intentions (though she may like and respect him). I guess both of the girls equally deserve what they will get as a repayment. That is why I don’t see any objective reason to like one girl more than another. But subjectively, I do hope everything will be easier for SK, since she worked so hard all her life and now it’s time to get a repayment for all her hard work.
Sorry for double post. was in a hurry
@Sandra’s comment #2:”Sectāy Moon will remember that he also told on the true identity of sec Kim to SKās friend” – Yes, that bothers me too, and I hope Sec Moon will also remember that SK’s friend told him abt SK’s feelings for Sec Kim before she found out abt Kim’s true identity (I hope AJ told it before, not after she found out the truth, if it matters at all).
“She already has the guy drooling for her” – Yes, and poor SK is not sure abt it, I guess. But, yes, she did no good by writing him letter and pretending not to know. I would prefer her to tell the half-truth and to omit the part abt her original intentions.–. But there is no place for half-truths in kdrama land.
“it may be that SJ be more protective this time” – I am with you there.
Omg poor seung jo.. how is he going to cope with the situation once its all out there… His poor sensitive romantic heart!
3 heartbreaking scenes in this episode:
1) se kyung writing the list and crying
2)seung jo saying he misses and wants to see sekyung and
3) seung jo yelling se kyung’ s name and saying he is jean thierry cha
Initial I was also pissed with Se Kyung’s manipulative decision. Why choose to continue down what I see as an unnecessary path? Blaming the writers along the way as well.
However, putting aside my viewer’s point of view of knowing all that is happening and see myself in her shoes, I realized where she’s coming from.
So here goes…
1)She just dumped Secretary Kim stating that it’s just business for her. 2)When she got to know that he’s actually Jean Thierry Cha, her intended white rabbit, whom she unintentionally dumped earlier, which means she will conclude that he probably thinks she’s not interested in him. 3) She doesn’t know that Secretary Moon told Seung Jo that she likes him. It’s no surprise that she panicked, right? 4) Se Kyung most likely thinks that she has to leave the party without seeing him probably for two reasons – to collect her thoughts and think of a way to salvage the situation. 5) Se Kyung is a ‘candy’ at heart and I hope she’ll realize that that is her true self. But by dabbling into the ‘dark side’, it has changed her somewhat even though she is still not comfortable with it. She is now a suppressed ‘candy’ with a wicked streak and that explains her breakdown. 6) Leaving her phone behind as a plot of course gives TH a way to mess things up for them later but it also pushes Se Kyung to write the awful letter. From her perspective, because she didn’t know that she lost her phone, she didn’t receive any of the calls or msgs from Seung Jo obviously. With no immediate calls and msgs, surely a girl can’t possible remain feeling confident of a guy’s affections for her since she was the one who told him to bugger off first. 7) She doesn’t know that Seung Jo actually knows about her feelings for him so she has to create an way to get back into his life hence the letter. 8) Her confession regarding her affections towards Secretary Kim wasn’t a lie though the intention behind it was calculated. 9) Se Kyung is not a wishy washy person. She’s tenacious and focused. When she puts her mind into something, she’s in it completely. Choosing to stay put on the path is within her character and she thinks is the only way to fulfill her dreams. 10) Se Kyung is also not guilt-free. It’s so obvious in her expressions that she’s uncomfortable with her decisions. She has to keep telling herself mentally what to do to still her heart, to keep her conscience at bay. She lost one ‘Too Kee’, she can’t lose another especially the ‘Too Kee’ she loves and who loves her back. 11) To Se Kyung, to come clean means risking losing everything. She’s not totally confident that his love for her right now is strong enough to overcome the falsity.
That’s my two cents. š
I hope the writers would let Seung Jo find out about her deception like asap. And instead of just anger and feeling hurt, he will come to understand her and her reasons for choosing to change for the worse. Then decides to rein her back in.
As he is older and someone whom has also experienced similar disappointments and pain, I hope he will use the depth of his love for her to help lead her back into the ‘light’. Writers, let him be someone whom will not fall prey to the schemers at all. That he has his head above water and is ahead of everyone. And also that he is willing to believe that his love is strong enough to keep them both safe from the scheming of others.
Is that wishing too much? š
Great! Deep analysic
God help me, we are now in the part of the country where they are not giving us internet at the hotel for more than 100GB so I can only watch 5 min of video! I am never leaving my hometown again :). I have to watch my shows more than I have to visit with family ha ha ha
Sorry the hear, minozlove. I too feel handicapped without the internet. Hurry back to the States before next weekend so you’ll be just in time to see episodes 9 and 10! Safe travels, dear!
Sometimes when a drama promises too much pain and tears I will drop it. Unless I’m already very attached to the characters. I dropped IMY. And I don’t know about CA anymore….I’ll wait for the next 2 episodes to decide.
I love your background koala. One of my favourite mgy”s picture