This is the end of the line for me on Gu Family Book recaps. Maybe I’ll continue with the baby recaps if the episodes remain as ludicrous as this one, with characters and plot elements written with the subtlety of a sledgehammer pretending to be carving an ice sculpture. There is a certain amusement in pointing out the absurdity, though I also rub folks who love the drama the wrong way with my brand of humor. Despite how truly dreadful Man of Honor was (which was the last drama from the writer of GFB, let’s not forget), my recaps for that drama was so funny towards the end. Not because I’m funny, but because all my bewilderment at how insane everything was and just venting about it brings back the memories of experiencing a freakish trainwreck into a field of hay. No one got hurt except my brain and pride. I can’t stress enough how adorable Lee Seung Gi is here Choi Kang Chi, and Suzy is so pretty I sigh looking at her. But Seung Gi’s acting has regressed since The King 2 Hearts, where even in the first four episodes he was pretty darn impressive already. Don’t even get me started on Suzy, she is so bad she makes Kim Tae Hee in Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love look like a Baeksang worthy performance. She cannot do sageuks, and should never ever attempt one ever again. I’ll still look forward to her future dramas as long as it’s a modern one, because girl is just 18 years old and stranger things have happened in previously bad actresses learning to act in later years (see Hong Soo Hyun). In this episode, magical ninja assassins make an appearance and the villainiest villain in all of Joseon arrives in town and promptly has the hots for wee lass Chung Jo, who apparently reminds him of Seo Hwa. Like, what? Nothing happened other than more random plot devices are set up while the actors run around saying their lines and trying to make things make sense when it might if presented with more intelligence.
Episode 4 recap:
A flashback to Seo Hwa and Wol Ryung’s star-crossed lovers story. Again. Which admittedly should be epic, but instead came across as unconvincing. He falls for her on sight, she reciprocates quickly, and then it all goes to hell with one major fang-out and buckets of mistrust and misunderstandings.
Kang Chi is being chased out of the Inn and is incapacitated by sleeping powder. Lucky for him Yeo Wool is nearby and runs to the rescue. They end up rescuing each other as Kang Chi stabs a guard to protect her and in his delirium thinks she’s Chung Jo and vows to protect her forever before fainting on her shoulder.
Yeo Wool looks startled. Or clueless. I can’t tell with Suzy’s acting. She flashes back to her childhood when a boy protected her from a menacing dog and said the same thing. Sigh. Of course they knew each other as kids.
Kwan Woong has arrived in town and descends on the Inn, demanding his large group be housed and when he hears there isn’t enough available rooms, demands other guests be kicked out. Good lord is he just ridiculous. Tae Soo doesn’t know what to do and asks where Kang Chi is?
Yeo Wool watches Kang Chi sleep and wonders about him. He snores and scratches in his sleep and she’s not keen on such an crass man being her destined soulmate.
Gon reports that the coast is clear and sees Kang Chi still sleeping and no amount of jostling will wake him. Gon pulls his sword and stabs it towards Kang Chi and the real danger causes Kang Chi to awaken and jump up.
Kang Chi is in a foul mood and bickers with an amused Gon, demanding to know who they are. Yeo Wool says they saved his life and he doesn’t believe her. Yeo Wool roundhouse kicks him and asks if he believes them now?
Yeo Wool and Gon have tied up Kang Chi like a puppy on a leash demanding he lead them to the Inn since he claims to be Mu Sol’s son and lives there. Kang Chi can’t exactly go back so Gon thinks he’s either done something bad or has girl issues at the Inn.
Tae Seo’s servant finds Kang Chi and tells him to hurry back to the Inn because there is trouble. Kang Chi hesitates which makes Gon tease that the woman trouble is dire indeed. Kang Chi makes up his mind and begs Yeo Wool to untie him, and his pleading puppy eyes remind her again of someone.
Tae Seo stands his ground and refuses to kick other guests out to make room for Kwan Woong’s entire group. Kwan Woong asks if Tae Seo knows who he is? Tae Seo doesn’t care, all customers are equal here, even if the King arrived he would not get better treatment. Kwan Woong grabs onto that statement and declares Tae Seo a traitor to the country. Good lord, does his villainy only have one method?
Chung Jo and Mom are informed about the situation happening at the Inn. Chung Jo wonders where Kang Chi is and Mom looks away all guilty. Ha, this would be perfect karma if the Mom realized that danger arrived the moment she tried to kick Kang Chi out.
Kwan Woong is ready to ship Tae Seo off when Mom arrives and gets on her knees to beg forgiveness and defuse the situation.
Kwan Woong isn’t interested until he lays eyes on Chung Jo and suddenly looks very interested in her because he mistakes her for Seo Hwa. EW. Seriously, ewwwwwwwwwwww. And also – what the fuck with the convenient history repeating itself lameless.
Kang Chi returns and steps between Kwan Woong’s line of sight at Chung Jo. He claims to be the protector of this Inn and everyone looks relieved that he’s back. Yeo Wool and Gon arrive and sit on the roof to watch the action.
Kwan Woong sends his men to take out Kang Chi but he easily subdues them all. In fighting his bracelet begins to glow faintly. Kwan Woong is bested this time and leaves to go stay at the gisaeng house, but he makes note of Kang Chi.
Mu Sol returns the next morning to hear about the blow up at the Inn. He wonders where the guards were (chasing Kang Chi, obviously), so Kang Chi lies that he caused a problem and the guards came to get him.
Mu Sol can tell there more to the story but Kang Chi doesn’t want to out Mom’s attempt to remove him from the Inn, while Mom looks all nervous.
Mu Sol and Tae Soo go to see Kwan Woong and apologize. Kang Chi asks Mom why she hates him so much and Mom claims he gives her a bad feeling and she doesn’t even know if he’s fully human.
She doesn’t elaborate and Kang Chi is sad and confused, especially when he sees Chung Jo preparing her wedding trousseau.
Yeo Wool finds Kang Chi and reveals she’s staying at the Inn now. She hits him with a stick to see if he can react as fast and he can’t since she’s not really a threat to him. Yeo Wool confirms Kang Chi is the boy from her past when she pretends there is a spider on the ground which freaks Kang Chi out.
Kwan Woong keeps the Park father-son waiting until he finally sees them. He wants to punish Kang Chi with 200 strokes of a beating which Mu Sol says is unduly harsh. Kwan Woong asks what Mu Sol will give him then? His Inn? His daughter? If not, then just give him Kang Chi.
Mu Sol remembers what Pyung Joon told him about Kwan Woong’s acts of villainy, how he makes people into traitors and takes everything they own. Mu Sol offers to take the beating in Kang Chi’s stead. After he leaves, Kwan Woong orders Mu Sol killed and made to look like Kang Chi did it.
Kang Chi follows Yeo Wool and Gon but they easily shake him and head to their meeting with an unnamed Lord who is keeping tabs on all of Kwan Woong’s murders. The mystery man thinks Kwan Woong is has a bigger conspiracy in mind. Kang Chi finds bullies shaking down villagers and he subdues him and returns the money to the villagers and is beloved by all.
Yeo Wool watches Kang Chi play savior to the villagers and spots So Jung in the crowd. She tracks him down and wants to know more about the fate she needs to avoid. What if she can’t avoid it? So Jung says one of them may die but he cannot say anything more.
Kang Chi returns to the Inn and watches from afar as the Park family spend some quality quiet time together. He’s clearly wistful and envious but understands that he is not a part of the family.
Kang Chi sees Yeo Wool practicing her sword in the courtyard and is impressed with her skills. He wonders how she knew about his fear of spiders and even with probing he doesn’t remember meeting her before.
Suddenly Kang Chi and Yeo Wool are attacked by men in black. Ninja assassins? I dunno. Kang Chi calls for guards as more and more assassins material out of thin air right before them until they are completed surrounded.
Mu Sol hears the commotion and suddenly So Jung arrives in his chambers. He thinks So Jung is here because Kang Chi is almost 20 years old. He asks to know who Kang Chi really is, he saw what Kang Chi can do without the bracelet on. So Jung asks for specifics and Mu Sol starts to talk about the self-healing wound when suddenly he stops and realizes the person before him is not So Jung.
Mu Sol calls for guards as fake So Jung turns into a ninja assassin and demands to know more about Kang Chi and the magic bracelet as he holds a knife to Mu Sol’s neck.
Yeo Wool and Kang Chi face off against a band of ninja assassins.
Thoughts of Mine:
I don’t think GFB is that bad of a drama, not by a long shot. I think it won’t even come anywhere close to the abomination that was this writer’s last drama Man of Honor. It’s pretty enough and the fantasy elements have some appeal since very few sageuks tackle that angle, but it really falls short for me to in context of some recent similar dramas. For a drama with a fantasy bent, Arang and the Magistrate really set the bar high. It was eerie, it was pretty, it was interesting, it was compelling. That drama lost me because it really did well on the supernatural and mythical bits but didn’t develop the romance side believably. For a sageuk with stakes, look no further than the currently airing Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love, with well-developed layered villains and conflicts, not to mention costumes and set design that really makes GFB pale in comparison. I plan to keep watching both dramas, but because GFB comes off neither visually or intellectually interesting, it’s a drama best watched as casual entertainment. My recapping would require I discuss it, and boy its not worth discussing other than to snerk about its heaps of coincidences and leaps of pathos. I’m happy GFB is doing well in ratings for Seung Gi’s sake, and maybe this is the drama world making it up to him for TK2H being so underrated IMO. I hope for the sake of fans of this drama that the writer at least maintain this current level of limited standard and not descend into convoluted madness later on. I can’t even say this drama should be better (it can’t even if it tried), only that I wish I could love it more (I can’t even if I tried). I might continue with baby recaps to save up screencaps of Seung Gi, so read only if you enjoy my snark otherwise don’t grouse that I’m writing about it because heck I can write whatever I want to.
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lol.
Lee Seung Gi's acting is really pretty awful for the level of fame that he's built up.
Don't say that. T___T This is not what he's capable of! He was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. in The King 2 Hearts. Seriously so so so SO heartbreaking and breathtaking.
I dunno... there's no restraint. That really bothers me.
I understand. I think he needs A LOT of guidance. A good PD and a sunbae co-star brings it out. He was beautifully restrained in the second half of TK2H. Plus his emotions are raw and many actors can't conjure up believable raw feelings.
Totally agree Koala. I think he works best when surrounding himself with his more experienced sunbaes because he feels more pressure to be better and not the weak link. And i also think he learns alot from them. Which is why he was stellar and much improved in K2H.
TBH, i feel like GFB is a such a downgrade from his previous K2H and he should have chose JOJ if he wanted to make way into saeguk for the first time. Kang Chi is adorable, but I'd rather have the handsome brooding king anyday. He's pretty much established he can do the adorable, but I'd like to see him continue to take on much more mature roles, like K2H.
Then if you don't like it when we talk about Lee Seung Gi, don't talk about Suzy like that either. Seriously!nI hate people who won't give Suzy a chance, annoying. Go ahead and hate me!!!
llac - my dear, koala and many people have given Suzy some major chances, but you have to be seriously immature to think she deserves a neverending supply of them after the way she's proven repeatedly that she really can't emote. And even Seung-gi at his worst isn't as bad as her, if anything his flaw was overacting in MGIAG and he needed to rein it in.
@pogo : funny, coz I thought kim tae hee is an actress that she proven repeatedly that she really can't emote except popping her eyes, but she got a neverending supply of chances. And look now.. we love her in My Princess and JOJ. :)
NOOOO!! My boo's acting couldn't have regressed SO much. ughh, this saddens me a LOT. T_T
I concur with Ms. Koala: Seung-gi was mind blowing in TK2H.
Hi Saima. Miss spazzing with you. Btw, have you watched the drama yet? Please do. His acting has not regressed. He's just playing a different role. If you are looking for Jaeha, of course you'll be disappointed. Just give the drama a chance and go in with an unprejudiced mind.
No, he isn't regressed at all Saima eonni. That's what I can say.
As @crazyajummafan eonni say, it's different role, different character, moreover GFB writing doesn't ask him to emote the character much (yet). At the end of 4th epissode in TK2H we met a lonesome and doubtful Jaeha toward his status, in GFB we just know that the real form of Kang Chi will surfaces.
If I want to compare, I'd like to compare Kang Chi with Dae Woong in MGIG. While looking at this, I can understand that he work hard, and keep progressing :) Tbh, I'm not that interested in first two episodes, not because there is no seung gi, I swear! (I'm also liking CJH ever since pasta) but I can't relate to them. And... It's so different with Ms. Koala, thus I respect her, my interest pick up after the Park household introduced.
Well, let's back to square one. Different person, different preference. ;)
What? KTH and Suzy acting are so alike. I don't understand how you can say KTH is so much better. Maybe because she always pick the ''innocent'' roles for her and does well on this? Suzy needs an innocent role and bam! She is good enough for these kind of roles.
You're kidding? I'm not even a KTH's fan, but she definitely has more range than Suzy. KTH does evil well. Suzy's acting has always been a bored to me. She's so bland, not saying she's completely terrible, just boring.
Noooooo. It's the opposite - Suzy's acting is blank, robotic, bland, while Kim Tae Hee has a tendency to over-act and over-emote (see her crazy wide-eyes acting in Stairway to Heaven) to over-compensate and avoid being blank or boring. Both are bad but in completely different ways.
Suzy is more like Han Ga In.
Anyways, KTH is restrained in JOJ which makes her doing better than Suzy who is even more blank and clueless than usual in GFB. Neither will win any awards but in a head-to-head KTH shows her edge. It's not much but at least she's not dragging JOJ down which is what I thought she would do.
I seriously can't wait until the current child actresses grow up and push some of these talentless hacks out to pasture... Kim Tae Hee at least looks like she's trying no matter what she does. I have no words for Han Ga In.
I'm honestly ready for the next crop of promising child actors/actresses that have the potential to be wow factors.
I'm dissapointed in everyone in this blog and comment section.
Wow, I just came and read all the comments but damn, @Llac, you have got to be the most annoying person here. Even more annoying than the people who are critizing the cast's acting...
Back then when the teaser images released, everyone just 'ooooh he's so cute!', and now everyone suddenly don't like EVERYTHING in GFB. Haha.
Just idiots who take all these comments esp Koala's seriously. You can't judge a drama by only reading recaps or read comments about it. YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT BY YOURSELF. Then you can judge it fairly.
Now if Koala says GFB is bad, but Dramabeans has good review about it, which one will you believe?
Lasy year I watched Nice Guy, that Dramabeans made bad review, I don't care and kept watching, and I love it till the end.
Don't let just Koala's review or anybody's affect your view. Just watch those dramas and enjoy them.
I will follow both GFB and JOJ, since both are beautiful for me. But maybe I can't stand watching if later JOJ make In Hyun and Dong Yi evil, haha
Han Ga In...she couldn't even make a light thing like Witch Amusement float. Gah! Was turned off the moment she stared blankly at the girlfriend of the male protagonist (played by Jae Hee) when the girl asked her to stop getting close to him. Her other roles have been unmemorable.
Suzy looks way too modern for this show, though she is beautiful, as you've pointed out.
Seunggi ah...I've seen him emote better.
Looking at the numerous replies, people really do love their idols and take it personally when their acting is critiqued but YMMV.
Thank you again, for daring to say something negative about what seems to be a top show. Nothing wrong with loving it but not everyone has to.
(Still bleah-ing at SH - could she not have stabbed GW instead of going for his face?! Dolt.)
Han Ga In was decent in Bad Guy, or at least not as blank as she was in everything else. Shame she regressed after that though.
And Llac, go make your own blog to sing Suzy's praises/do some virtual stamping of your feet about people who don't give your bias a 'chance' if you don't like what people say about her here.
One way we can avoid all this "This blogger doesn't agree with me! Waeeee!" thing is to just read the blogs of the people whose tastes you trust. I feel that Koala's taste coincides with mine, so I'll continue to read her blog and respect her views. Perhaps we can all consider doing the same, and not getting uptight when views differ.
lol wtf, how are they alike. suzy is more like han ga in than kim tae hee. kim tae hee is slightly better than the both of them.
Are you kidding me. KTH at leaset has years of experience and has been in many different roles before come into saeguk while Suzy with just limited experience in drama just jump into saeguk just like that. Not hating or not that we didnt give any chance, but one have to know their ability and their skills before make a decision. That what we called an intelligent decision
I agree.. "Breath taking" in KTH, what happenned to this Lee Seung gi? Where is he now? I just can't. It hurts so bad lol seriously i won't watch the show. Bye Bye GFB
I'm loving all these difference in opinions of GU Family Book. It's not the drama that everyone agrees on. I'm getting more and more neutral. I will watch a couple more episodes. 4 episodes are not enough (for me) to judge the drama, but so far I'm not getting as hyped.
I do agree that KTH is better than Suzy. However, isn't it expeted? KTH has been acting for 10 years now, so how to compare her to a rookie that just started acting?
I think it is unfair to compare Suzy with KTH, better compare her with another rookie actress. Right?
KTH was really bad when she started too - and after 10 years she just improved a bit. Of course she knows at least what she is comfortable and able to do now, since she already tried 10 years to improve. I prefer actors that don't overact, at least they don't distract me.
It is her first Sageuk, same for LSG, so I'm waiting before judging them more, lets see if they get better at the end of the drama.
*Expected
Better to compare Suzy with Kim Tae Hee she will come out less damaged! If we compare her to other rookie actresses like Eunji or Sulli she will look even worse!
Sulli is as bad as Suzy.
Sulli is not as bad as Suzy! I mean she is bad but not AS bad lol!
@liz, no sorry. sulli is a bit more natural and expressive than suzy. afterall, she was a child actress.
Well okay not KTH then compare her to idol actors like Jung Eun Ji then she's pretty bad or if you're looking for a sageuk comparison Eunjung in Queen Insoo.
Suzy is bubbly and pretty but you cannot deny her acting is bad. I'm sure she will improve in the future though.
omg you are SO CORRECT.
this is SUZY's FIRST sageuk and she has poor acting BUT WHY is she the FEMALE LEAD? i don't get it. since her acting is worse than kim tae hee she should do some more modern dramas before diving into sageuks which are so much harder.
shut up and stop talking about Suzy's acting. It seriously makes me annoyed and i know y'all going to say "If you dont like it read it" but hey i dont like suzy as a fan but i freaking hate it when these people typing on their computers hate people who have such a better life than them
LOL girl, shut up. if you don't want to see people telling the truth about suzy's atrocious acting then go back to dramabeans, i know you love that site more. why stick around here?
Suzy got the lead not because she is a good actress - she is epically horrible - but because she is an idol with a bankable name and plenty of people will tune in just to look at her cute face. I am not saying this because I hate Suzy - I could care less about her, really, except that she is a part of this continuing, annoying trend to use idols instead of actors because of their popularity. And I am not saying this because I envy her - I shudder at the thought of being 18 again, even if I were prettier, more well off, and famous. I am saying it because I believe we should be honest about acting as a profession versus "acting" as a commercial grab for ratings and money. An 18-year-old, in her first sageuk, with very little acting experience and even less talent is given the lead in a big-budget, major production...c'mon, we need to get real and admit that talent has nothing to do with it.
And I dare someone to defend her by saying she is "improving." The idols are always "improving" but very rarely do they actually reach the level of "good."
I agree.
She should know better not to take a role as main lead not to add in a saeguk. She can do better if given chances in in side roles or modern drama to improve her skills. But she just jump in saeguk make her limited skills and bad acting really shown.
fateme - not even dramabeans believes Suzy is actually good here, the comments have more than a few people who are critical of her acting (and I admit I am one of them)
I think LSG can act better if he's with actors who are really good like Ha Ji Won. However, when he's paired with newbies like Suzy, it's probably hard to find the inspiration to go deeper. He probably just wants to stick to his gayo roots.
I dunno abaout the gayo roots, but please don't say so :( I think He isn't capable show off his capability in this drama yet...
I actually don't have a problem with LSG's acting, but have to agree this role (not his acting) is disappointing because he really shined in K2H. I think he plays KC fine, but it's really similar to MGIG style. It would have been nice to see him take a role outside of the comfort zone.
As for Suzy, to me, she's kinda like a "place holder" - every drama needs a main actress, so she's there to fill that role. However, she doesn't OWN her role and I could probably picture several other actresses/idols that could've played that same part. I don't feel any empathy or emotional connection when watching her character. And for those who argue, she's still young or new... not really. There are many child actors (Moon Embracing the Sun comes to mind) that are alot younger and proved much more talented in minor, supporting roles, whereas Suzy has had two big roles already. If she really wants to improve, then she should probably focus on acting and not just do it in between albums.
I do agree it's heartbreaking considering what could have been, if another actress had taken the role instead. She was billed as "much improved" in Dream High, but I'd say a large part was the rewriting of her character to fit her acting style (or lack thereof), not the other way around. Koala is extremely kind on Suzy. I still can't work up the sufficient energy to like her, and her acting (especially in a sageuk) just rubs me up the wrong way.
You know how bad Suzys acting is when Lee Yeon Hee looks like future Osacr winner compared to her!
I meant to say Oscar winner!
No matter what Kang Chi's parents so did not have an epic love story!
I find it weird that your recaps is so contrary with any other blogs about GFB.I'm really not against it since I also like Seung Gi like you Koala and it's totally fine to write your own opinion since it depends on your preference of course. But as much as I read many blogs, I think I seldom find you have different opinion with the other bloggers. Anyway, I watched 2 episodes of GFB,and I like it. Maybe I need to watch JOJ also since you said it's good and God of the Workplace as well.