It was yet another noticeable leap forward in ratings for Descendants of the Sun as episode 5 notched 27.7% AGB which marks a 3.3% increase from the previous episode. This drama isn’t only guaranteed to break 30% it might even do it this week, though chances are likelier to happen next week. With that said, DotS rise in ratings is hardly at the expense of the competition dramas which have stayed mostly unchanged, which means DotS is that rare beast of an event drama that brings new viewers to the tube rather than shuffling around with the same pool of eyeballs. I think that’s good for K-dramas in general even if KBS is the network benefiting directly.
Episode 5 didn’t exactly wow my socks off or move the needle much in terms of increasing my interest in this drama. Maybe it’ll just stay at this like but not love state, which is just fine with me and really a hard place to be since most dramas lose my interest in the first episode nowadays. I can’t say either couple also made any progress, but at least Shi Jin and Mo Yeon keep talking which is a nice hallmark of Kim Eun Sook romantic interactions. They aren’t talking over each other and make really nice attempts to process what the other says and respond thoughtfully. But that doesn’t change the quandary as Mo Yeon remains firmly in refusal and Shi Jin doesn’t even toy with trying to convince her to give it a shot. Bummer that a kiss didn’t kick start things again.
Episode 5 recap:
Shi Jin uses the offer of red wine to seal the deal, swooping in for a kiss ostensibly to sample the red wine from Mo Yeon’s lips. The man’s womanizing skills clearly have not grown rusty in the last 10 months. He ends the kiss and is about to move in for round two when Mo Yeon regains her critical functions and turns her head away, abruptly ending the fun times ahead by wishing Shi Jin a good night.
Each goes back to their respective rooms to mildly brood.
North Korean Ye Hwa is awakened in the middle of the night by a presence in her room who turns out to be her hubby Daniel. Ye Hwa is upset that he just went off for a month like that and asks about another person Chen Jiang. She hears that he’s gone “back to his country” and the news upsets her.
Construction is underway for the Haesung funded power plant in Urk as the ahjusshi from before who came to the medical facility is the Team Leader Go leading the construction.
A fellow Korean introduces himself as working for the Urk electric commission and is here to also supervise the construction. His name is Jin Yong Soo and it sounds like “come get your registration”, lol. Manager Jin keeps trying to make himself seem important and wants to speak to someone of the same rank from Haesung like a professor. Everyone walks away leaving him standing there.
Mo Yeon takes a call from Chi Hoon with good news that the lead poisoning boy is all better but the bad news that he’s gone. All he left was a drawn note that may be telling the doctors that he’s gone home.
Chi Hoon tells Mo Yeon that he asked the soldiers for help and who else saunters in than Shi Jin. He explains that the drawn note says the boy went back to his village but it’s quite a long trek. Chi Hoon wants to atone for losing the boy and go look for him. Mo Yeon wants Chi Hoon to handle the energy construction with Dr. Song and she’ll go with Shi Jin.
The mood is awkward between Mo Yeon and Shi Jin and she orders him to keep his eyes on the road when he turns to look at her. Shi Jin’s question about whether she slept well gets the snappish answer that he’s the reason Mo Yeon didn’t sleep well last night. Shi Jin wants to talk about last night but Mo Yeon cuts him off, not wanting to talk about it. She directly admits she wants to avoid the topic until she figures out what to do.
Shi Jin is fine with avoidance as long as she doesn’t think it was a bad thing he did. It’s something he’s been thinking about thousands of times and finally got up the courage to do it.
Mo Yeon and Shi Jin keep driving until the spot the little boy. Mo Yeon goes back to his home to drop off the medicine and draw instructions on how to administer it. Talk turns to how Mo Yeon has a great memory in recognizing some of the other kids from earlier, and she uses that opening to ask Shi Jin not to do anything memorable to her or say anything that will leave an impression with her. Gah, so bossy!
Myung Joo is impressed with the top quality supplies given to her on the Urk base and hears from Colonel Park that that it’s donated items from the big corporations in Korea so that the Korean army doesn’t seem backward compared to the other countries armed forces.
Myung Joo gets a call and she excuses herself to take it, and it’s from her spy back in Korea that she’s tasked with literally tailing Dae Young and making note of his every single move during the day. It’s not cute but since they are in love and can’t be together I’ll cut Myung Joo some slack. Dae Young arrives and Myung Joo’s spy stops the report and tries to act nonchalant but Dae Young doesn’t buy it.
Myung Joo is so happy today because she can hear Dae Young’s voice chiding her spy for tailing him. She lets her spy go and he’s naturally given some hard times by Dae Young who orders him to go run laps or else cook ramyun with his own sliced off meat. Ooooh, scary Dae Young lol.
Shi Jin takes Mo Yeon to the same bar from earlier to dine and the sexy waitress lets Shi Jin know that a new shipment of fine wine just came in. Mo Yeon eyes the sexy lady and Shi Jin quickly explains that Dae Young frequents this place whereas he likes the commissary food because it’s expedient. Mo Yeon doesn’t believe him but offers to pay for today since he took her here.
Mo Yeon wonders why Shi Jin became a soldier, was it to put on a uniform? He explains that someone needs to serve as soldiers. Shi Jin can tell Mo Yeon doesn’t like his profession but she just thought that only super patriotic men would do this job willingly. That’s not the case, Shi Jin counters, there are also folks who want to protect women, children, and the elderly. This is what Shi Jin believes to be loving one’s country.
Shi Jin turns the question back to Mo Yeon – would their relationship be easier in progression if he wasn’t a soldier and was a second generation chaebol? That’s not interesting to Mo Yeon either because it’s too trite.
Shi Jin walks out of the restaurant when he notices a man who he remembers as the fake UN delivery guy. He sends Mo Yeon off to Ye Hwa’s store first and tells her to borrow a car to drive back to the base, claiming that he needs to go to headquarters to provide an update.
Mo Yeon arrives at the store and runs into Daniel who was expecting her from Shi Jin’s call. Daniel turns out to be a doctor as well but he explains that he also tinkers around and even done vet work here.
Shi Jin walks up to the fake UN guy and points his gun at them first before shooting out a tire. He demands to know why they purposely showed up her to draw his attention? A bunch of men exist the building and is led by Argus, Shi Jin’s former comrade-in-arms.
Daniel and Mo Yeon hear the sun of gunfire and Daniel calls a contact to find out what is happening. He assures Mo Yeon that everything is fine. Mo Yeon wonders how Daniel knows Shi Jin and hears that they regularly attend the same funerals. Mo Yeon knows that her question is sensitive but if she doesn’t ask now she won’t get a chance – she wants to know what Shi Jin does specifically?
Cut to a scene of Shi Jin getting tortured by enemy forces before getting rescued. Shi Jin tells his partner to help another captured soldier from his squad ad that other soldier is Argus. But Shi Jin’s partner is killed by a rogue bullet before he can get on the helicopter. Daniel asks Mo Yeon if she’s asked all her questions and gotten the answers she needed to either stay with Shi Jin or leave him. Mo Yeon has no answer for that.
Argus unapologetically explains to Shi Jin that doing the right thing doesn’t pay the bills and he goes where the money is now. Plus he doesn’t even have a country to serve so who cares about honor and loyalty. That pisses Shi Jin off and he warns Argus to keep out of his sight otherwise there will be a price to pay.
As Mo Yeon is driving back to the base, she’s distracted and runs off the road, nearly going over the cliff into a picturesque ocean that is surely a deathly freefall. She calms down enough to answer an incoming call from Shi Jin, screaming for him to come save her. Shi Jin tells her to calm down and drives off to go rescue his girl. Again.
Mo Yeon’s car is half on and half off the cliff and all she can do is scream for help. She manages to call her mom and leave a voicemail will and tearily says she loves her mom. She doesn’t forget to ask her mom to get the deposit back for her office building leave.
Shi Jin climbs in the car from the trunk and tells Mo Yeon to open all the windows. He moves her seat all the way back and orders Mo Yeon to keep her eyes on him and take his hand tightly. Shi Jin promises that he will save Mo Yeon
Shi Jin releases the car brakes after activating the air bag, sending the car hurtling over the cliff with both of them in it.
Shi Jin fishes Mo Yeon out of the ocean and does CPR on her inert body until she regains consciousness. Mo Yeon calls him a crazy bastard for how he saved her but Shi Jin is all smiles seeing that Mo Yeon has the energy to get mad at him. Mo Yeon admits she can’t stand right now and is not a soldier so she was so scared back there. Shi Jin just smiles and parts her on the back as she tries to compose herself.
Shi Jin drives Mo Yeon back to the base and drapes his military uniform coat over Mo Yeon, explaining that she’s wet and rather see through. She’s upset he’s giving it to her now but he already saw everything so it didn’t matter earlier, and now they are back at the base he doesn’t want other people see. Shi Jin saunters off with a jaunty hand wave.
Argus has killed yet another of his Urk sources and now Manager Go is his contact. He hands Argus a packet of diamonds and Argus wonders if all Korean men are the same since there is mandatory military service, one meeting and it’s a quick comrade friendship. Manager Go is threatened promptly with a demand to transact every week.
The power plant construction Team Leader is admonishing his subordinates on doing a better job. Manager arrives at the site and the Team Leader wonders where his driver went? Manager Go says the driver quit but the subordinate notices blood on his socks as he walks up the stairs.
Shi Jin brings Mo Yeon instant coffee to warm her up but teases that her bra was black earlier. Mo Yeon offers to write him a prescription to help calm his nerves since she’s still rattled herself. Shi Jin asks if Mo Yeon is worried about him and she is because he saved her life. He pouts that he needs to save her life for her to care about him.
Mo Yeon wants to talk about what Shi Jin said before to her about saving a former comrade of his, wondering if he did it? Shi Jin’s partner was killed by a sniper on the roof during the rescue evacuation of Shi Jin and Argus, and died in Shi Jin’s arms. Shi Jin confirms his comrade was saved but today is the first time he’s come to regret it.
Mo Yeon knows Shi Jin lied that he had to go to headquarters, she heard a gunshot go off from the store and asks if Shi Jin did it? He constantly does things to jumble her up like this. The electricity goes out but Shi Jin assures her that it’ll be back in 30 seconds as this is a normal occurrence. Shi Jin warns Mo Yeon not to do anything to him in the dark. She laughs and thanks him for today but he counters that she still can’t do anything to him. She laughs some more and promises not control herself.
They stare at each other in the dark until the lights come on, and Shi Jin wonders if Mo Yeon has been staring intently like this at him the entire time. Mo Yeon thinks Shi Jin must have a lot of women around since a man with a good sense of humor is very attractive. All Shi Jin has are men around him, and Mo Yeon has been staring at those men every morning during their morning jobs. Mo Yeon doesn’t even blink before saying that is her very reason for existence these days, lol.
Shi Jin nearly growls at that until Mo Yeon brings back the car in the ocean. Shi Jin’s taken care of it, placing a call to have it fished up from the water.
The soaking wet car is returned to Daniel at his shop and the poor dude stares in disbelief at the wretched state. Mo Yeon is super apologetic but can’t help but wonder why Shi Jin had to send the car into the water to save her. A glare from him gets her to pipe down since he saved her life and all. Mo Yeon promises to pay for the repairs from her salary but Shi Jin assures her that Daniel can repair anything. That’s when the car grill and door fall off its hinges.
Daniel hands over a box to Shi Jin containing walkie talkies that he asked for. Shi Jin explains that walkie talkies are more reliable here than cellphones in cast something happens again. Mo Yeon offers to pay, for the car that is, but Daniel wants to try and repair it first. Mo Yeon is incredulous that he can resurrect the car and Daniel tries to play up the situation by saying that he feels bad for the car since he never gave it a new paint job or filled it up with highest grade gasoline.
Shi Jin sits down with Mo Yeon to explain how to use the walkie talkie, and how he’s preset 3 for the medical team and 7 for the army. He demonstrates for it and starts off identifying himself as Big Boss. Mo Yeon learns that Big Boss is Shi Jin’s call sign and he asks her to think of one for herself. He suggests Pretty Girl which makes her happy.
Their chit chat is interrupted by the arrival of Myung Joo who has been taking the scene in earlier. She announced her presence here to get married to Shi Jin, which rattles him and she takes note of that. Myung Joo reports that she’s been assigned her as the medic support. Shi Jin points out how she’s pulled rank for her personal reasons but Myung Joo doesn’t feel bad since she’s facing tough odds to begin with.
Mo Yeon takes her leave but Myung Joo wants to exchange greetings and put things behind them now so they can work together here. Mo Yeon blows her off claiming her hands are full holding the walkie talkies.
After Mo Yeon swans off, Shi Jin asks Myung Joo how exactly she knows Mo Yeon. Myung Joo asks Shi Jin back whether he met Mo Yeon here or have been dating Mo Yeon already and is pretending to meet here? Shi Jin is nothing like Myung Joo and chides her for disrespectfully referring to Mo Yeon by her full name in banmal. Myung Joo calls herself the little sister and disapproves of Myung Joo for Shi Jin. He can’t figure out their weird family relationship since she earlier claimed to be here to marry him.
Mo Yeon is trying to eavesdrop on the conversation with her stethoscope against the door. Chi Hoon sees her and gets her to quickly drag him off lest she is discovered.
Shi Jin brings up how Myung Joo’s dad called and asked him to take care of Myung Joo, i.e. torment her so she is willing to go home. Myung Joo hears that Shi Jin’s return date has been moved up so that he can attend his dad’s retirement ceremony, which means Shi Jin is also from a military family. Shi Jin urges Myung Joo to try harder, if the other guy wasn’t Shi Jin then Myung Joo would have already been married off. Myung Joo sasses that she should just marry Shi Jin and that freaks him out. He wants to know if Myung Joo has spoken to Dae Young? Myung Joo brings up how Dae Young doesn’t take her calls so Shi Jin tries to call him to show how Dae Young always takes his calls.
Too bad no one answers since Dae Young is in special forces training in Korea. His type of training is to place himself as a direct target to see how accurate his men are and how willing they are to accept absolute orders.
Dae Young is called in to report to General Yoon about whether any of the men in training are suitable for Alpha Team. He wants Dae Young to train the men hard and create future team leaders. He’s also planning to bring Shi Jin back after he breached protocol last time, stashing him in army training to lay low and also build up his connections.
General Yoon asks if Dae Young also believes like Myung Joo does that he was transferred back here for unjust reasons? Dae Young agrees so General Yoon tells him to lodge a complaint. Dae Young will never do that because General Yoon has one weapon that Dae Young cannot counter – his sincere love for his daughter’s future and wellbeing. That’s why Dae Young has lost already because he wants the same for Myung Joo.
Dae Young walks off and remembers back to happier times with Myung Joo, going on dates and having their dad farewells. Myung Joo apologizes for being a woman who blocks the future of her man but she still wants to be with him. She regrets not holding his hand or hugging him more, but she still loves him. Dae Young sees a call from Myung Joo and ignores it. She wishes they could be together in Urk but wonders if they will be sent apart again.
Chi Hoon approaches Myung Joo to ask about joining the army and whether army doctors will get guns. He’s soon to enlist for his military service and wonders if army doctors will practice in the field if there is a war? Myng Joo wonders if Chi Hoon is trying to pick her up but Chi Hoon quickly shoots her down, he just thinks being an army doctor is cool plus Myung Joo isn’t really that pretty.
Mo Yeon walks up having overheard that and is super pleased. Myung Joo points out the expensive Hae Sung group medical facility and compares it to rich kids going on a field trip, they will do some perfunctory medical work before leaving in a short time so why bring so much. Mo Yeon pulls sunbae rank and answers all of Myung Joo’s questions with a pointed reference to her as the hoobae, lecturing her that the extensive supplies have been shipped here so the remainder can be donated to the UN facilities once they leave. Myung Joo takes off and Mo Yeon loudly wants to smack her for being rude. Mo Yeon declares to Chi Hoon that they won and marches off with him following behind but Chi Hoon doesn’t know who won what.
Mo Yeon sits with the team to parcel out staffing assignments for the day. Mo Yeon gets a call over the walkie talkie with the code name Pretty Girl asking what she wants for lunch? She’s so giddy until Shi Jin walks over asking to talk which sends the rest of the medical team scattering. Mo Yeon tries to mask her embarrassment over her code name but claiming Shi Jin shouldn’t be talking to her because it will upset the woman who wants to marry him.
Dr. Song wonders to his wife Nurse Ha if something is going on between Shi Jin and Mo Yeon? Something like what was between them? His wife snarks that it’s something regretful then which hurts Dr. Song’s feelings and he runs off in a huff.
Ye Hwa thinks Daniel should give up on the car, there is no way he can fix it. She is impressed that he looks like a real mechanic right now though she finds him even sexier with a scalpel in hand. Daniel thinks Asians find a suit and wrench sexiest which riles up Ye Hwa that he’s so flirty. Daniel manages to fix the car and successfully start it.
Chi Hoon is playing war games with Dr. Song using the walkie talkie in the medical facility and it’s being broadcast over the medical team channel so Shi Jin is listening in on it. He is packing and finds the rock from the island in his drawer. That’s when Mo Yeon starts singing a patriotic song over the walkie talkie to her playacting colleagues. Shi Jin sits down to quietly listen to her sign and playing with the rock in his hand.
The next day the medical team and the soldiers all gather around for a cake farewell celebration where Mo Yeon is shocked to hear that Shi Jin is leaving tomorrow to return to Korea.
Mo Yeon is pacing around that night all upset that Shi Jin said not a word about leaving tomorrow. She turns the walkie talkie to the army channel and is tempted to talk to him on that line. She doesn’t and just yells at him without pressing the talk button but then is startled when she hears Big Boss asking if anyone saw Dr. Kang. She speaks up and Shi Jin wants to meet to talk.
Shi Jin asks if she’s upset about him leaving and not saying a word? He was going to tell her during lunch but she ran off, remember? Mo Yeon argues that he should have stopped her and told her. Shi Jin thinks Mo Yeon being mad at him is to his advantage but she disagrees. Shi Jin asks if he’s still jumbling how she feels and she remains silent to that question.
Shi Jin once again cuts to the chase wants to use this chance to ask one final question – that kiss without her permission, does she want him to apologize or confess his feelings? Mo Yeon stares at him and says nothing. God, I hope she doesn’t start lying but at least say she likes him but doesn’t want to like him because he’s always running off, which is true. Or something like that.
Thoughts of Mine:
Like the needle hasn’t move any on either main couple, it’s the same sense of ennui that permeated this episode a bit. Just a noticeable smidge on both the emotional and action story line, which when done right feels quietly reassuring but here felt a bit protracted. Perhaps the story line has been moving at a certain pace for the first four episodes so this change initially felt jarring and I needed to realign my bearings. I appreciate the continued quality in filmmaking, with the action scenes continuing to look top notch sleek, and those who find the story cheesy aren’t wrong either but both are really separate elements of this drama and shouldn’t conflate to either good or bad on one or the other axis. Pretty visuals and smooth editing didn’t do as much to beef up the thinness of the story seams that are starting to show though – I still don’t quite know what Alpha Team or Shi Jin does concretely, Hae Sung’s medical mission feels increasingly silly, and Mo Yeon’s attitude took another step in stubborn mulishness. Thankfully Myung Joo and Dae Young buoyed the ship as a whole in this episode even if they didn’t have any scenes together in the present.
I really do like Myung Joo even if she’s got plenty of faults and certainly does her share of line crossing activity. Siccing a junior soldier to tail Dae Young and report back to her on his daily minutae is all sorts of wrong, yet kinda cute in her dogged puppy dog way. I can cut her slack because Dae Young clearly loves her as much as she loves him and is only suffering from a severe case of noble idiocy. I wonder if he fought back and contravened General Yoon that might actually be the key to breaking the impasse. General Yoon wants a leader and right now Dae Young is forever a military rule follower. Sure it’s a double edged sword because he has to take that leap of faith first, but his method is certainly not working right now. But I also buy that he wants Myung Joo to be with a guy that’s better than him, so it isn’t just General Yoon keeping them apart. He’s such an idiot because having a good staff sergeant soldier as her hubby can’t be a career killer for Myung Joo’s military future. Heck, plenty of five star generals are probably married to stay at home wives for all we know, it’s not like Myung Joo needs to marry up to climb the ladder.
If Myung Joo and Dae Young are stuck in a rut of Dae Young’s own making, Mo Yeon and Shi Jin are stuck in a rut of Mo Yeon’s creation. I wonder if her aversion to soldiers was there from the beginning or because Shi Jin abruptly stood her up twice in a row when they started. If their dates are gone fine and ending on great terms, would she seem to dislike the soldier life of running off when duty calls? Her tending to Shi Jin’s wound and the bullet wound also seemed to bother her. What if he were a regular military recruit rather than a career officer, would that make a difference? I find Mo Yeon’s issues simplistic and not terribly thought out, hence her continued push and pull with Shi Jin is growing so frustrating. If she’s not interested then what’s with the jealousy, and if she’s interested then be a grown woman and just date the guy for the time being and see where it leads. Even if she’s certain it’s not forever why can’t she just enough an overseas fling? I like her personality in most other ways but when it comes to her issues concerning dating Shi Jin it’s not the easiest to buy into.
Shi Jin remains the character that is easiest to identify with because he handles issues with such a direct approach. He’s loyal to his friends and consistent with his ideology whether in serving his country or in love. I can’t even say he’s in love with Mo Yeon, or vice-versa, but he doesn’t play games with her aside from the constant teasing and joking. When it comes to his interest it’s candid even if he doesn’t force it on her. The action sequences in this episode from the car over cliff rescue to the previous military operation scenes continue to impress with how believably Song Joong Ki pulls it off from the acting rather than any physical plausibility. All the existing and new side characters are nicely presented and immediately make an impression, I’m especially curious about Daniel and like how Argus found a new henchman to do his bidding. I’m wondering why narratively Shi Jin needs to be shipped back to Korea, and in fact was hoping Dae Young would have a return ticket back to Urk by now. If the medical team is on Urk then the story plays out so much better with everyone slapped together in close environs and forced to figure things back. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before all the major characters are assembled in the same place and maybe all it will take is a large natural catastrophe.
Click here to watch Descendants of the Sun.
Yes this is your blog and you have the right to write anything you would like to write. But I really wish that you stop recapping about this drama.
I really wish she continue recapping this drama.
+1
…. Why should her?
Because I think “Come Back, Ajusshi” would deserve a recap more.
Let us stop feeding the troll. Peace
It’s my first time reading a recap from this blog. And my impression is that the blogger is not fond of this series. It would be right to assume that the person who will take time to seek and read the episode recap is a person interested with it. To the blogger: Like the sponsors of this show, the show itself is a product. With a target market. It is however to their advantage that it invited a good viewership rating. You smarts seem to be beyond the smarts of the target market of this show. Your sensibilities seem to be more sophisticated than ours who find this show interesting. Your present life circumstances does not call for this kind of ‘shallow’ distraction it seems. People are at different stages of engagement to entertainment media, thus our choices will vary accordingly. The way this entry presented notably the personal ‘thoughts’ included is disencouraging to people who are new to these ‘products’. You do not condemn a child when she starts reading and loving a book like Captain Underpants nor a teenager for liking John Greene books. Instead you encourage them to read on and eventually and inevitably expand and grow towards possibly a Micheal Pollan book later on. I am with the impression that this blog is aiming for that too. Feed interest. Encourage support to Asian shows. But here you are making me feel bad for liking this show. I even have to take time to write this and justify myself towards watching episode 6. I did not expect this from reading a recap. I had a rough day I was only looking for a no-brainer boost. Instead I came upon a cerebral critic. Judging the characters, egging their choices- it might help to wonder why they are making these choices. We all know foolish people in our lives. And their stories are told and retold. No one tells the story of the cerebral logical and reasonable person and yield burst of life, laughter or fun among men. Even Micheal Moore presents serious topics in sometimes silly and simplistic ways. I was worked up on this. I must really have had a rough day, I should have just extended my pilates hours instead of writing a blogg-ish blabber on this. To the blogger. All the best to you!
Same goes to high and mighty in the comment tread. In behalf of the people in for the hype. We are glad to get some adventure and travel with this two young working individuals with their priorities and ideals spanning beyond man-woman love. I hope for a strong conclusion for this show. For someone working away from the city I love, my country, my people, serving underserved population in a foreign land. With all its cliche, I am grateful for the hardwork invested on this project. Besides, I think it’s a very good ad for Hyundai.
oh please. Don’t drag Michael Moore into this. I’ve been to Michael Moore speech in person. When Michael Moore talks silly, there is still an “intention” and an explicit kind of “campy” irony in his speech.
You talk like that it’s only you are the only one who has a rough day. Koala has a full time job and most importantly, she is NOT paid, like those public accounts over in China Weibo paid by Qiyi, to advertise and promote this particular drama. Therefore, of course she is entitled to her opinion.
What’s wrong with a cerebral critic critiquing TV dramas? So should we say only good things about a popular culture product? The internet is not run or governed by dictatorship. No wonder critics and commentators are concerned about the relationship between the rise of fascism and the internet, particularly with the recent American primaries.
It’s nothing wrong that you like this drama, but there is nothing wrong with koala and many others who dislike this drama. End of the story.
I only typed these many words only for the sake of defending koala’s right. I am least concerned about this drama, particularly witnessing the attacks and “preaching” at the blogger.
You are right Mengwen. It’s my first time writing a comment to blog like this. I belatedly realized that I got worked up after reading some comments that aligns with the writer’s thoughts. Which is not her fault. I apologize for the preachy tone on my comment, the blogger might be busy and won’t be reading it. But I am sending my apologies however. After an evenings rest I see my folly there. I, however -though not against it- still have reservations about ‘cerebral’ critiquing of shows directed towards mainstream media. An evening weekly show at that. I have fast-food expectations to it. Filling but necessarily healthy. However people who hopes for better media contents have every right to do so. And we have every right to seek and support it for it to flourish. Cheers!
Erratum: … Filling but not necessarily healthy.
Hey what wrong with that?
To Princess: Same to you. I really wish that you stop coming to koala’s dramaland. Honestly, I appreciate her candid opinion about this drama since there are a lot of us feeling the same way about KES’ dramas!
Ok. So you are now speaking for “a lot of us”. Thank you very much.
She is speaking for me I can tell you that. Also honey, this ain’t Heirs, so unless you don’t want ‘alot’ of people angry, just keep quiet and move on.
and me as well
I actually enjoy Please Come Back Mister more than this drama. I find Dots somewhat boring; even the conversation and scenes between the OTP were boring as well. The plot seriously could have been carried out better. And this is purely my opinion.
Let us stop feeding the troll. Peace.
I appreciate her opinions too. Maybe this blog is too “low class” for a princess. I recommend trying Dramabeans. They are definitely more “politically correct” than Koala and I hope for the sake of appeasing your wrath to reading these recaps that you find your unicorns and rainbows there ^^
she speaks for me as well
Mengwen: so you are now speaking for “a lot of us”. Thank you very much.
Nothing much happened in today’s episode in terms of moving the story of the two couples forward. It was more exposition. But kudos to SJK, he never ceases to amaze me with his talent!
And yummyness.
Thanks for the recap! I enjoyed 1-4 tremendously. This is the weakest episode for me. Still excited about ep 6 even though the earthquake preview looks like light paper weight props from the 80s. Hahahaha.
I take it back. Ep 6 was good. Totally okay with the effects. So happy ep 6 for me was back on track. 🙂
Okay, so she drives the car up a mountain, on a narrow road, by the edge of a cliff and she doesn’t look ahead. All this for the sake of prince charming coming to save the damsel in distress. I’m officially out. I find it puzzling that so many people like this, maybe the pretty is just that strong lol, not sure. I have no problem with mindless entertainment or cheesy romance, but here the writing is so atrocious and the cheesiness so supreme, it makes it impossible to suspend disbelief. Just can’t get lost in it if there’s a cringe worthy moment every 1-2 minutes. This is a comedy to me or a parody, not a quality drama. Too bad though. Was really looking forward to this.
I concur. I dropped it after watching ep 4 and decided to come here to check out to see if ep 5 could lure me back to watching it. It is supremely boring and frankly I really dislike SHG. She has sporadic sparks of interesting, a lot of pretty and mostly just bland. I wish it was Han Hyo Joo or Go Ara or just anyone who has a bigger range of expressions than her. Then again — there’s also the terrible script to contend with. Korea is generally pretty superficial and material. Give them a Lee Minho or just a beautiful cast of top name designer actors, the ratings will be good (case in point: Heirs bleh!). To me the top quality drama out there now is SIX FLYING DRAGONS. I thank it constantly for exercising my brain and is constantly blown away by the level of writing, cinematography and solid ensemble cast which makes it close to perfect. Seriously – that show imo has NO flaws… You may wanna try that one instead.
Six Flying Dragons is top notch!
Six Flying Dragons is very dry and dull. LOL
No 6FD is not dry or dull to many, many people.. It’s fine if you don’t like it.
+1
I really did try to like this drama but the storyline is a big joke. Dots is way too overrated. People may go gaga over pretty girl/handsome boy cast but i just can’t force myself to watch nonsense for the sake of beautiful cast and scenery. I’m OUT!
+1
I already dropped DOTS after first episode.
Then why were you still reading recap? Do you still have lingering feelings? LOL
I was so hoping for a TRUE crack romance drama to really squee over. It’s been too long…
I try to watch but I still don’t see what the hype is over this drama!
Every episode I say the same. Every episode on, I eat my words of’ I’m not watching this!!!’ Why? 100% song joong ki. Song joong ki.. You are my evrrythiiiiingg. Hahah
haha…I feel your pain. If your bias is there, what’s a girl to do…
Funny how I find MJ is annoying and probably get bashed from her fans but that is what I felt.
She is honestly. Yeah, it’s cute, but she’s kind of a disgrace as a solider. She’s like a high school girl in love, not a grown adult woman. That’s her focus and nothing else really matters. I don’t know if it’s the actor or the writing. Regardless, her actions aren’t ones of a high ranking military officer.
I really wish Mo Yeon character would get stronger. So far si jiin has always been coming to her rescue. i was really wishing that during the cliff scene, she would somehow manage to save herself for a change, that would impress me and si jin for sure, but didn’t happen. Although i appreciate that she was actualy rational in her own way, making important calls to her mom not just to cry but to give instructions. I was just hoping there would be more.
Kinda getting tired of characters moving back and forth from uruk to korea, I would be disappointed if they finally got together but with the sole reason of missing each other, or worse, bc si jin comes to her rescue once again. My nightmare.
Somehow i can still understand moyeon’s confused state of mind, may be bc i am someone who thinks a lot before jumping into a relationship. I think a fling is only possible if you have casual interest in each other, but she obviously likes him more than that to settle with a fling. And i doubt sijin would want a fling anyway, he’s too sincere. I also don’t mind her taking a bit longer to say yes, in fact im quite happy that she made things clear about her state of mind and heart, so sijin knows she likes him but it’s just their situations that is stopping her. Honestly, guys from the special forces are not the best candidates for dating in so many ways.
Finally starting to like the second couple as well, for me myeongju is sweet without overdoing it. All in all, I pray I don’t have to settle for a moyeon that cries every episode.
I can understand MY’s reservations because SJ, as charming as he is, still doesn’t tell her much and lies to her at times. He’s cute and wonderful, yes but to date a man like that takes a lot of courage. He could die at anytime, and she’d never know what ever happened because his job is such a big secret. I do like they both know there is something there, and they talk about it too. So the kiss didn’t ruin anything. These two actually have good communication, which is nice to see.
I think next episode is when the love lines really start moving and the arguments going on with both of them will end for awhile.
I think Ye Hwa’s life with Daniel is a small window into what it would be like dating or married to a man like Shi Jin. He is the knight in the shinny armour on a white horse(even his car is white) with all the charm, great lines and moves but when he walks out of the door, you won’t know if he is ever coming back.There may not even be government records of where he was if he happens to die somewhere, unknown. Mo Yeon even had to ask his friend Daniel, what really is his job. From the beginning, she treated him, as she had said, not a boyfriend so she really didn’t do much to specifically attract him. But after the car rescue, she seemed to look at him in the dark with affection in her eyes. So I guess, this episode is part of their journey in their relationship.
I find MJ, not believable as a trained soldier, whose only drive, so far seems to be with Dae young. She acts cute to Dae Young, maybe even to Shi Jin, but rude and disrespectful to others.She seems to wear a perpetual smirk and look of disbelief when talking to others.
Yes, exactly. SJ is totally romance novel worthy, but is that a life a practical and normal doctor in her 30’s wants? I’m not so sure. Right now SJ would make a great fling, but I’m not sure a good husband or someone to comfort her when she’s down.
And I agree with MJ. Her mannerisms, expression and everything about her just isn’t believable as a trained high ranking military officer. I’ll see if I can believe her as surgeon next. And following her ex-boyfriend around the world in hopes he’ll hang out with her more is not cute. Give her something else to do. Though she has so little screen time, what time she does have is all romance related.
Agree with your analysis about MJ. Perhaps only teens without much real life mundane to worry about would hot-headedly swoon over someone who makes your heart flufter with flirt and quips. Nobody as a grown up would like to settle down with a guy without concern that he may be gone forever next moment after your date.
Yes this is your blog and you have the right to write anything you would like to write, please recap “Come Back, Ajusshi” instead. I love that one but no one is recapping it.
If you feel so strongly about it recap it yourself. Or go to the soompi forums, you can always find fans there. What you’re doing is harassing people for your own selfish benefit.
Your demands are so…princessy….
heol. saw ‘ur comments above and unexpectedly saw again down here.
thanks for this recap….I don’t have time to watch it….. I need to get ready for college…..
Here’s my opinion on MY. I like the way they are showing her character… she is not the same type of heroine cut out we’ve seen in many dramas. Yes she is stubborn in her views, but at least she is thinking about it. She talks to SJ about it too. It’s not like she hides what she is feeling. She’s asking questions, and even though she doesn’t like what she hears, she is at least working it out. I feel like that is a very realistic adult way to handle something your heart is feeling while your mind is thinking up of all these scenarios. She is at the age for a serious relationship, and I feel like she won’t want a fling with SJ. SJ knows this as they have talked about the situation.. So even though she might get jealous (and people are asking why) they both have feelings for each other, but the questions is if those feelings can turn into something real, and that is taking time… like Koala mentioned, maybe it might have to take a natural catastrophe (which we know is coming). I for one am glad there is conversations between the two leads, and no “other man” to help the heroine discover her feelings. I’ll take a stubborn let me work this out girl over a candy type girl any day. Sj is attracted to MY for that reason, and that’s why he keep thinking of her. Just look at his looks towards her *swoons*
I for one am on the addicted train! I haven’t been into a drama this long. Ep5 was less interesting but still kept the chemistry going. I’m in it till the end and can’t wait for more!
P.S. I don’t mind her crying. Who wouldn’t cry when they almost fell off a cliff, got their job taken away with all the hard work you put in, and a guy basically telling you off? haha. but it would be nice to lessen it 😛 more kissing less crying please
Oh and who else teared up when SDY was talking to the general?? Come on father, who wouldn’t want to marry their daughter to such a caring and handsome guy!
actually i much prefer SDY at the moment.. just makes me wanna hug him with so much hurt he’s hiding..
I’m on the same addicted train as you. It’s been a while since last time I was able to sticke with a K drama from the very start and follow each episode closely while longing for more. Aĺl the MY’s (seemingly) calculations and hesitation to go forward for a relationship makes sense to me. I just hope this won’t hold up too long and there is no IRIS ending.
The story of this drama is getting more interesting. Can’t wait to watch next episodes. And you know guys my heartbeat have been doubled wondering what Dr. Mo Yeon will say to Shi Jin .
And I’m really happy that this drama rating reach 27.7 .
Hope to see this drama being the top .
Haha. The car hanging off the cliff was a stretch but their acting pulled it off. How weird is it that I liked that Mo Yeon called home about her insurance??? Ahhaha. I am also terribly curious with how Daniel and his wife will fit into the drama. HE IS HOT!! :PPP
It was great imo. I think some are taking that scene too seriously. It was 100% supposed to be campy/funny. And it was all done so we can get a CPR kiss. KES spending that budget wisely.
And calling her home insurance just shows how rational and normal she is (and points to another reason she’s having issues being swept off her feet).
Found the cliff scene ok, sjk was hot saving her bt was nt a fan after that. Where he resuscitated her w cpr and their conversation after tat. The feelings in that scene didn’t scream omg i just fell off a cliff in a car. Expected some strong emotions there.
Mo Yeon chatacter is so damm annoying childish immature has ego omg i can’t stand her.is she a doctor? doesn’t fit at all and at the scene when she eavesdrop when they were talking..bitch just stop it..mind your own business.such a brat for a doctor..
Usually the kiss where the girl stands there with lips together bothers me, but it didn’t this time because it was a surprise and then she didn’t want to go there. She was an adult and grabbed the wine and retreated. I think the writers are in danger of making the lead female too wishy washy, but I kind of liked the fact that she is really thinking about the ramifications of going all in on a relationship with a special forces guy and everything that entails. We all know that they like each other but in the real world, that doesn’t mean the relationship will automatically work. Having said that, the story needs to move forward, and I take it that the earthquake puts these two together again and brings back the other guy from Korea. The writers so far haven’t spent a lot of time with the secondary couple, and I’m ok with that because the story is a thin as skim milk.
I’m glad for the ratings, deserved or not, but also that it’s not taking viewers from CBA which is really good.
When I first saw the screencaps and read the live recap on Soompi I felt very sure that I was going to hate this episode and probably even drop it for good considering all the cheesy scenes esp. how they had to force the CPR scene to happen. But I gave it a shot (for SJK!) and watched this episode and I ended up loving it more than I could ever imagine.
I would say that the writing for ep 5 was subpar compared to the first 4 but in the end the acting made up for the thin plot. I actually enjoyed the cliff scene. I was expecting the reaction to be serious since it was a near death experience and not one the character (i.e. Shi Jin) should laugh off easily, but I found the whole thing quite relatable and believable. I mean, SJ faces death pretty much every second so that car jump was really nothing to him. And MY’s reaction was pretty epic. And I would do the same thing if I were her, recording my last message and all. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to try anything in her position and risking the car to fall off faster. I guess I belong to the weaker group. Boohoo
Anyway, thanks Koala. Looking forward to tonight’s episode.
I’m hanging in there for His Hotness song jong ki! Ohmygah, he’s hot???
@koala I tried to watch ep 5 but gave up. I dont feel the spark between leads. Story and characters feel “off”. Thats the best way i can describe it.
Is the drama really deserving the excellent ratings or is there a lack of a good drama in the same time slot?
Just a thought !
I plan to watch it though SHK and SJK pairing does not sit well for me. A pity since I really like both a lot….only not as romantic pairing with each other. DOTS will be a test of them as good actress/actor if they can make it believable for me.
Does anyone else feel that the main OTP does not have any chemistry? Or am I the only one.I also like come back ahjussi more than DOTS.I hope writer does not go to tvn and ruin their quality of dramas.
You are not the only one. Everything seems forced and there’s no sizzle. I’m concluding the chemistry people feel is probably between the male lead and themselves, lol. Otherwise, they’re the most boring couple I’ve ever seen.
@maris I am not a fan girl but a grown woman that enjoys good quality dramas. I gave up on yongpal, remember and now Dots.
@latent sHk lacks chemistry with leading men in most her drama. ? And that’s the case here as well. She lacks facial expressions even tho she is beautiful
@BA@Whatever yeah I keep seeing her acting in this expressionless-detached kind of way,but don’t get how the producers/directors hire her all the time,and she’s considered a good actor too? Why can’t I see it? Lol I could not even see ‘that winter the wind blows’,because she totally ruined it for me,while I was supposed to empathize with her,but the almost-non wrinkled face of hers was always kind of dominating the crudeness inside [which the character was not supposed to be in the first place],and while I was supposed to hate the guy who faked to be her brother,I ended up sympathizing more with him,and could not connect to her character at all.
And here too,she is always just ‘uttering’ her dialogues,[that just seems like it at least],and then we’re supposed to believe they have this amazing love of eternity from the get go.As if we have to ‘take’ it as the director is giving us signals that ‘love them,because they love each other’…and not the other way around.They are not actually ‘showing’ us ‘why’ we are supposed to love them.I wished kdramas stop going this route,and make more clever and intelligent,resourceful rom-coms,as they used to,in the past.I am sorry to say,but at least heirs had some strong supporting characters,romance arcs going on.Compared to that,DOTS has just a heavenly location and two glossy people as the otp,I love SJK but he’s always doing something that I can’t see at the end.Lol.Sorry for the rant anyway.I am just talking from my personal realization.The ratings actually make me wonder,or just a bit disappointed maybe that,audience still goes for this kind of stories? If this trend continues,then the credit would go to the people who’re investing in it,more.
Twteb – Jo In sung and other supporting actors were good but story dragged on at the end. I barely finished All In and gave up on autumn in my heart as both leads have similar stoic faces. Full House was charming in beginning but story got repetitive. And all dramas had in common was Leading lady ?
Thanks for the recap Koala, I’m so glad you are recapping this drama so that many of us have a place to share our thoughts!
This drama is indeed very beautifully filmed, the background and the scenery really does a good job of keeping my eyes glued to the screen!
As a female doctor in my 30s (who’s happily married), I can totally understand MY’s hesitation in accepting SJ. We have seen plenty of smart, impressive, good looking guys by this point of our career and our life, but many of them are just not life partner materials. SJ obviously makes her feel giddy and increases her heart rate, but she’s old enough to realize that she needs to step back and look at the whole picture instead of just jumping into a relationship right away.
+1 Agree. As a professional woman not purely residing on sensual feelings to settle a relationship, I think MY’s hesitation to go along with SJ’s romantic intention makes sense in real life. I’m empathetic with MY. In contrast with MJ, she is actually more cool headed and mature. To me, MJ’s obsessive attachment to a guy regardless of her father’s objection is more nonsensical practically speaking.
+1
+1
I think that’s also a select few think there is “no chemistry” between the two, because SHK isn’t playing MY as a puppy eyed girl in love who is desperate for love like say the 2nd lead female (nothing wrong with that, but different characters), but as a professional and smart woman who is moved despite herself. MY is beautiful and successful, do people think SJ is the one hot and charming guy she’s ever come across in her life? MY/SJ is a slow burn couple for me, that will continue after MY has weighed all sides.
And I enjoy the KES gave MY more agency and choice in one episode than she ever gave her last two female leads.
Some comments cracked me up. hahahaha….I just have to say there are people loving apple and raving about how the fruit quality saves one from visiting doctors while apple happens to be the one fruit I dislike most…and among all vegies, I so love bitter gourd while others are averse to the taste. LOL…It doesn’t matter how illogical the plot of DotS is or how nonsensical the characters appear to be, I’ve been enjoying this drama very much with my emotional senses not my head. And this is the only one K drama that has been able to snatch me back from C- or T- dramalands recently. Since ppl mentioned Six Flying Dragons, boyz, that historical drama was so dull and dry to the heck with all incomprehensible ancient Korean court politics. I never got past ep 2 of SFD even I’m a huge fan of Yoo Ah In. Well, all I can say is we all have different tastes in art of any form including drama.
Back to DotS. I love all the banters and quips that haven’t gone overboard to be exaggerating as many K dramas (such as Come Back Mister) inclining to. I do hope the romance in a war-torn setting with villains lurking would not have an IRIS ending. That would certainly break my heart. Writer KES, you don’t need to go that route of playing tragic hero card in order to be called a writer of “in-depth” as many ppl working in the literature field may falsely perceive. We’re not looking for Nobel sagas or Oscar-worthy storyline. Please give us a happy ending with blissful memories to reminisce your collection later on. Keep away from crappy and cheesy Heirs with miscast would be fine enough.
thanks for the recap. the story become interesting. cant wait for ep 6.
Its interesting how netizens response in blogs vary greatly from the ones I read from streaming sites and well the audience actually watching in Korea ( judging from the ratings). I’m actually just watching with leisurely interest..but I find the polarising opinions more amusing. With all the complains about thin plot, non-chemistry and all, I’m just wondering if star power is what made this drama work…if so, why so many others fail?
Good point. I think with the international viewers it is all about the feels. I read a lot of “he’s so hot,” kind of comments. So in that regard, think ‘Heirs.’ When it comes to Korean audiences, you don’t get 30% without ajummas. And we all know ajummas love crazy. In that regard, think weekend makjang. I mean, here’s a great idea for skinship. Mines! Here’s another one. Cliffs! What the drama amounts to is silly romance, forced setup and a mish-mash of clichés. That, my friend, in dramaland is called a Winner.
I think some ifans just want to watch because everyone else is, but still want to complain about it. KES dramas seem to attracted that. Then you have some people complaining just because DoTS is destroying the rest of the dramas.
DoTS is something special even if some people don’t see it. Given the ratings, I’d say the are in the minority though.
Does anyone happen to know how scenes such as the cliff scene, in general, are filmed?? Is it done in front of a green screen? So curious!
Some of the scenes are odd, and too out there. Im watching cuz I cant take my eyes off Joong Ki. My God did he grow up well. And his voice.. Hmm mm mm. Deep and sexy. Bahaha.
I am ok with this drama, just not addicted. Song Jong Ki alone is enaugh to draw my attention. Like many of you I prefer Come Back Ahjusshi more.
Off topic,
What made me laugh is many people keep comparing Song Hye Kyo & Kim Tae Hee in term of beauty & acting. I have no comments on beauty, because both are a beauty for me.
But recently, I found even Kim Tae Hee was criticised a lot on her acting, but i feel more satisfied watching her acting compared to SHK. SHK is no doubt naturally can act, but her acting has been the same from years ago. I have watched many of her drama / movies, sadly it is easier to forget. If in the future, she takes the challenge to try a new role, maybe a villain, maybe her acting will be remembered.
On the other hand, KTH was no doubt bland in her her early career, but has improved a lot. I found a satisfaction watching her acting. Not flawless, but i feel like her acting developed.
Come Back Ahjusshi….Argh! That crazy drama with all the exaggerating and gross acting…not my cup of tea at all. Specifically, Rain made me feel like puke…I thought he could somehow redeem himself from the epic fail of My Lovely Girl slump. But he made it worse in CBA. LOL…I could never be a fan of him after trying two of his dramas.
Com’on, it’s just a personal view.
It’s an interesting point of view, though I too do not agree entirely.
Anyways, this is one hell of a smashing drama. Puts others pale in comparison.
Cos of this drama, I’m not even keep on Rain’s new drama. Pity his recent dramas have been disappointing.
Other dramas I had liked fizzled off…….cos this is simply AWESOME. Sorry Ji Sub, Rain, Kim Tae Hee! I like you but Joong Ki is IRRISISTABLE!
Hahaha…still LMAO @ some old familiar names bleating about the chemistry between the OTP and how ridiculous the plot seemed to be but kept coming back to each recap to whine all the ass throughout the whole series. Such pathetic obsession!
Pingback: Kapten Yoo Shi Jin Memang Idola, Tapi Sersan Seo Dae Young Tetap Idaman. Ini Prinsip Kami, Penggemar Descendants of The Sun – Beranikan dan Ceritakan
I thank you so much for sharing in depth information and how to’s regarding running a blog, jokerstash. It is extremely helpful and much appreciated.”