Another Thursday and thankfully with it comes a return to form for Descendants of the Sun. I was wondering how the disaster aspect would unfold and it’s a major coup for the production for how visually impressive the events were staged and edited. The cheesy is on the story line in certain ways but the filming quality remains top notch for a K-drama. It also helps that this episode made me love Shi Jin and Mo Yeon’s thought process and personality again. She was too wishy-washy in the last episode but won me over with what she said to Shi Jin’s question about confession or apology. The chemistry between them may not be scalding hot but the slow simmer is buoyed by genuine thoughtful communication and a lack of playing mind games. This episode was winner from beginning to end, not the least of which was bringing all four leads together again on earthquake stricken Urk.
Episode 6 recap:
Shi Jin directly asks Mo Yeon what she wants from him – regarding the unapproved kiss, does she want him to apologize or confess his feelings? Mo Yeon stares at him before admitting that Shi Jin is very attractive but also very dangerous, and the danger is what she doesn’t like. But his gaze is electrifying and she can’t help but be attracted. She was hoping for more time to work through her worries and figure out her concerns so that she could consider a way to date such an attractive but dangerous man. But Shi Jin is leaving so abruptly yet again and she doesn’t even have a reason to be unreasonable and ask him to say. So all that leaves her is frustrated and for that she dislikes Shi Jin right now. Damn, love her answer here.
Mo Yeon tells Shi Jin to apologize and she will accept it. Shi Jin pauses before apologizing to Mo Yeon and asking her to be forever safe and healthy. He salutes her and strides off like the manly man he is. Love his eternal coolness.
Both return to their rooms for their usual mild brooding, but I get the sense that each such conversation increases their connection with each other through understanding. Mo Yeon lights a candle and Shi Jin stares at his army dog tag.
Mo Yeon walks outside the next morning to see the soldiers jogging by shirtless but she doesn’t have eyes for them as she is looking for Shi Jin. Ki Bum walks by and when asked where Shi Jin is explains the Captain left last night. Mo Yeon’s disappointment is palpable and she mutters that he’s so cold. He’s just trying not to confuse you anymore, Mo Yeon. Both of you are in the right.
Shi Jin returns to Korea and meets up with his retiring general father. Shi Jin tells his dad to retire without worry and he will become a general one day to take a picture with his dad.
They head into a photo studio to take an official picture and Shi Jin carries the photo of his deceased mom.
Dae Young continues his intense military training of the potential Alpha Team new recruits. Each recruit who fails to go down the zip line takes a turn carrying Dae Young on their shoulder as endurance training.
Shi Jin interrupts the training by smoothly zip lining into the training facility and demonstrating for the recruits the right way to descend a building on rope.
Dae Young and Shi Jin head out for drinks to celebrate his return. A bunch of soldiers arrive and Dae Young wants to conceal himself since he once inflicted demon training on them. He is recognized and the soldiers want to take him up on his offer to compete outside of training.
Shi Jin wants to count to three to bolt but Dae Young bolts at the count of one. They jump off the second floor of the restaurant and land on the first floor with even more soldiers. A fight breaks out just like that but Shi Jin and Dae Young are too fast and strong to be beat. They manage to run out of the restaurant and evade the pursuing soldiers through the city streets before hiding in the bushes.
Shi Jin wonders if he needs to have a showdown with Dae Young as well now, since when Shi Jin was in military academy Dae Young as the instructor also tormented him. Dae Young welcomes it but Shi Jin admits that he only has fond memories from those days.
Dae Young asks about the red wine he left behind and hears that Shi Jin sampled a taste with Dr. Kang. When asked if Shi Jin has made any progress, he admits it’s the same and even worse is the feeling that he’s been dumped each time he’s on leave. He misses her a bit but he’ll get over it. Dae Young believes that its endurance training to sharpen the stick into a needle but Shi Jin quips that Myung Joo ought to have trained Dae Young well. Dae Young has been sharpened into a needle but it’s pricking him with the pain. Shi Jin sighs how they are both failures. Dae Young heads off as this neighborhood is close to where he lives. That pisses off Shi Jin since Dae Young ran this direction on purpose to save on car money, lol.
Dae Young heads off and stops when he sees an incoming call from Myung Joo. He answers it for a change which is super surprising to Myung Joo. She worriedly asks why he took her call and if anything happened?
Dae Young doesn’t talk so Myung Joo tells him to just listen – she’s been wearing her combat fatigues so hasn’t been stung by mosquitoes, she’s healthy in Urk but misses Dae Young a lot, Shi Jin laughed at her for chasing Dae Young all the way to Urk without any pride. She doesn’t need pride because of how much Dae Young loves her.
Flashback to more cuteness on a date with Dae Young and Myung Joo after they are officially dating, including coffee shop kisses and hugs outside the home.
Mo Yeon reads text from her best doctor friend Ji Soo back at the hospital telling her to come back soon and she has red wine waiting. She wonders how it’s going with Mo Yeon and her fated guy halfway around the world? Mo Yeon texts back that she shouldn’t have accepted his apology and should have run in for a hug and confession. It was she who pushed him away and missed yet another chance, he likely will ignore her from now on.
We see Shi Jin in Seoul and he gets on a bus with Mo Yeon’s face on a hospital advertisement along the side. Mo Yeon erases that text to Ji Soo and doesn’t send it.
Shi Jin plays pool and is majorly sucking when Dae Young walks in wearing the exact same outfit as Shi Jin. A bromance couples outfit lol! Shi Jin stares before trying to take pictures of Dae Young, which he does and emails to Myung Joo who stares with googly eyes.
Mo Yeon and Chi Hoon take care of the kids and receives a picture of thanks from the little boy with lead poisoning. It’s a picture of Mo Yeon with Shi Jin and she flashes back to Shi Jin at the village teaching the kids to stay away from lead based items. Shi Jin’s translations of Mo Yeon’s doctorly advice is to tell them that they will get shot if they touch or eat any of the dangerous items.
Shi Jin goes camping and calls Dae Young all bored to come out. He claims to be scared by himself at night, lol. Dae Young promptly hangs up on him. Shi Jin takes out the rock from the island and stares at it while thinking of what Mo Yeon said to him, about not doing surgery anymore and looking for a way to go back as soon as she can. She gives him the rock because she thinks he will have a chance to come back to this island before she can. She wants him to show her that the legend is true.
Mo Yeon stands on a cliff that overlooks that island and stares down looking all sad and mopey. Well, at least she accepts her role in losing another chance with Shi Jin.
Daniel pulls up in the rescued truck and Mo Yeon thinks he should be a mechanic more than a doctor. She hands him money for the truck repair but Daniel hands her a brochure for a charity organization and suggests she donate monthly instead. Mo Yeon says her goodbyes to Daniel and asks he bid farewell to Ye Hwa for her.
Ye Hwa is on the mountainside and sees a butterfly which directs her attention to swarms of birds flying away frantically. Uh oh.
Myung Joo finds Mo Yeon in the medical facility and get their usual bickering out of the way first before asking directly if Mo Yeon likes Shi Jin? Mo Yeon just stares back so Myung Joo sees the answer as very obvious. Myung Joo takes a call from Shi Jin right then and asks what she should call Dr. Kang Mo Yeon since their future relationship is unclear. She asks Shi Jin if Mo Yeon likes him and Mo Yeon tries to stop Myung Joo from saying more.
Shi Jin chides Myung Joo for not using rank with him but admits he’s calling as a neighborhood oppa right now. He’s sitting in a coffee shop with Dae Young and asks why Myung Joo said what she said earlier. Myung Joo admits she wanted to make things awkward for Shi Jin since she’s in a mental battle with Mo Yeon. Shi Jin tells Myung Joo to stop making things difficult for civilians. Shi Jin asks if Mo Yeon is angry right now and Myung Joo says she is angry but still very pretty. Shi Jin ends the call.
Mo Yeon is called out to take a group picture with the entire team since they are leaving soon. Mo Yeon hands the rest of the supplies check work to Myung Joo so they can donate the remainder to the UN since Myung Joo interrupted her. The medical team gather to take a picture and Mo Yeon looks broody to the max. The soldiers thank the team for their work and explain that some of the team will be taken via helicopter to the airport which will take only 30 minutes. Mo Yeon remains in a daze this entire time. Sargeant Choi tells them to do rock paper scissors for it.
Mo Yeon and some of her staffers take the helicopter to the airport and it flies over the island with the battleship. The little boy from before is playing in an old tank when suddenly a swarm of butterflies zoom towards him.
The Manager who is supplying illegal diamonds to Angus takes out a bag full to check before hiding it away in the floorboards of the power plant construction office. One of the construction guys Kang is sleeping in the room and peeks out from under the blanket. We see the glass of water on the table shaking a bit.
The construction continues on the power plant. The Team Leader tells Kang to put on a safety helmet and once he does everything starts to shake and fall as the ground violently rumbles.
A major earthquake hits Urk and all the soldiers are scrambling in their quarters. A fridge falls on Ki Bum who is in the kitchen. All the medical equipment around Myung Joo falls off the shelves. She runs out and tells the rest of the medical team to head outside. It’s a huge earthquake as windows shatter and the Urk citizens in town are running for cover.
The equipment in the construction site fall everywhere and sink holes appear as people fall in. The Team Leader is buried under rubble as the entire construction site collapses.
Birds are flying wild in the sky and the group in the helicopter look downward to see the carnage on the ground. A major bridge collapses in mountain passes.
Shi Jin is driving and hears on a radio about a major 6.7 earthquake in Urk with massive casualties. He immediately calls into base and asks to be connected with someone who knows what is happening in Urk.
The medical staff back in Seoul at Hae Sung hospital watch in horror on the news about the earthquake in Urk. Chi Hoon’s pregnant wife cries in worry. The Managing Director callously walks to a meeting to discuss this situation.
General Yoon is sending a military team to Urk immediately, and wants Shi Jin and Dae Young on it.
Sargent Choi is ordering a stubborn Mo Yeon to get on the plane with the rest of the helicopter team as they have been ordered to leave Urk first. We see people rushing to board the plane to leave Urk. Mo Yeon and Dr. Song refuse to leave and want to be taken back to the base to get the rest of the team. Plus they are doctors and this situation needs their help. Sargent Choi has no choice but to do as she’s insists.
The Blue House convenes a meeting where the Managing Director insists on his medical team be rescued. General Yoon assures him that his best team of men have been dispatched there. We see Shi Jin and Dae Young in full combat gear on a military transport.
Mo Yeon’s helicopter team returns to the base and finds everyone fine in the medical facility. Whew. Min Ji is very scared and rattled but Mo Yeon keeps the calm. KI Bum has been treated for a dislocated shoulder by Myung Joo. She wonders why they are back and hear that the airport is not badly damaged and they can leave but they couldn’t contact the rest of the team so didn’t want to leave like that.
Myung Joo get a radio call that the construction site has collapsed with casualties. The army drives the soldiers and medical team over to the power plant site and find injured workers being taken to triage. The soldiers immediately get to work digging for survivors in the wreckage as the medical team take in the devastation in shock.
Mo Yeon orders everyone to put on their vests so they are easily identified as medical personnel. They have to tag the degree of injury with different colors so the injured are able to be sorted by type of attention needed. Everyone takes off to look for survivors. Mo Yeon pauses to take off her sandals and break the heels off.
Additional explosions continue to rock the site since it’s a power plant construction. Mo Yeon gets to work on triage as does the rest of her team in a hastily set up tent. The Manager arrives and announces that he is the person in charge now and wants to know if the inside has been searched yet. A soldier asks about the Team Leader Go and but he hasn’t been seen. The Manager says there are more than thirty workers here this afternoon but wants the team to search the office first because he has very important things in there. The soldier ignores him and runs off to search for more people.
Team Leader Go awakens and finds himself under rubble. He hears another worker asking for help and the worker is impaled by a protruding beam. The Team Leader tries to assure him to stay put as he starts to bang a rock to make noise and call out for help.
Myung Joo takes a patient from Mo Yeon and tells her to go help Chi Hoon who is trying to resuscitate an injured man. Mo Yeon checks and changes his tag from yellow to black as he cannot be saved. She tells Chi Hoon to stop trying to revive him and pronounces time of death. Chi Hoon is freaking out until Dr. Song slaps him across the face and tells him to buck up.
Chi Hoon is upset that he tagged the man as yellow for not needing immediately medical attention. Dr. Song orders him to do his job and says that as the treating doctor he is the one who needs to declare someone dead. Chi Hoon sobs while Mo Yeon joins in trying to calm him down. Chi Hoon stops crying and pronounces time of death and closes the man’s eyes.
Ji Soo keeps trying to call Mo Yeon and leaves a message for her to call back.
The soldiers and medical team work through the night cutting through beams to find more survivors and treating the injured. Mo Yeon voiceovers about why she became a doctor, to save lives no matter the situation or the ethnicity of the injured. She will never do anything to betray her oath. Mo Yeon helps an injured man who sees her sandaled feet all cut up and offers her a pair of scuffed up boots.
Injured Ki Bum is also on sit to help in whatever way he can and that’s by updating the board with new numbers of deceased. Everyone looks up as the sound of a helicopter approaches. It hovers overhead as men rappel down. Of course we need a slo mo scene of the soldiers led by Shi Jin and Dae Young arrive on site to provide additional support. All the soldiers rush over to salute Shi Jin who locks eyes with Mo Yeon staring at him from inside the medical tent.
Mo Yeon is called away by a man to help another injured person and Shi Jin gets a salute from his squad. Shi Jin asks if anyone is inured and is told none. Shi Jin takes over the rescue operation at the power plant and orders that no one is to get hurt. If any soldier is injured then the medical team will need to treat them and that will take away from treating others.
Myung Joo runs over when she sees Dae Young and he’s relieved to see that she’s safe and sound. He walks away to help others and Myung Joo orders him not to get hurt and to protect himself. Dae Young turns back to salute her since she just gave him an order and she salutes him back.
Mo Yeon is walking and stops to kneel down to tie her boot laces. Shi Jin kneels down in front of her and takes the laces and ties it. They stand up and face each other, and OMG you two can’t this wait for later. Thankfully it doesn’t last longer than two beats, whew.
Shi Jin is relieved that she’s not hurt and confesses that he regrets not seeing her before he left that morning. He can’t be beside her the entire time so he wants her to promise to be careful. She says the same to him and he smiles ruefully before walking off to do his job. Mo Yeon also walks away purposefully.
Thoughts of Mine:
Wow. This was certainly a nonstop episode from start to finish. Totally not complaining, especially after the minor stumble that was episode 5, it’s more than welcome that the character return to doing substantive things rather than talking with the occasional side rescue. Mo Yeon’s response to Shi Jin at the beginning of the episode was the highlight for me, even if she changed her mind later. It was messy but thoughtful, contradictory but direct in admitting to it. Finally I get her trepidation around Shi Jin, and it’s actually one that isn’t mined often in K-dramas, not wanting to pick a guy because he might disappear and then die on her in a mission. It’s way legitimate but the romantic in me thinks that she should throw caution to the wind and take her chance with him, but I dig her hesitation to do so. Shi Jin’s continued acquiescence to her position keeps him solidly high on the scale of awesome male leads, he manages to keep toeing the line between domineering and respectful. It’s a hard line to correctly draw, as evidenced by more than one Kim Eun Sook male lead who likely fall into stalker category in real life but for being played by uber handsome Korean male actors.
I thought the disaster bit would be schlocky but the production managed to pull off quite a feat of quality filmmaking. It’s not Hollywood movie level but at least doesn’t look like foam bits with fake fire. I loved the cool fleeing birds and butterflies imagery, and the onset of the earthquake was so fast and furious it got my heart pounding a bit. Nicely done. The 6.7 magnitude is portrayed realistically as lots of things shaking violently and falling over but not mass wholescale destruction like a 7.9 earthquake can cause. The power plant construction collapse also made sense since it was mid construction hence likely not fully secured or earthquake proof. The medical team’s wide range of reactions captured what ordinary first world city bred folks might feel when stuck in a third world during a major catastrophe. Chi Hoon was a bit over-the-top but ultimately he was racked with guilt not that a man died but that his incorrect diagnosis that he needed only minor treatment led to delayed medical attention. That his inexperience leads to deaths despite making such a concerted effort is an entire realistic emergency medicine situation. Mo Yeon and Dr. Song really displayed the qualities of experienced physicians and leaders, despite what she says about practicing medicine for profit and his tendency to act goofy.
This was the episode for Mo Yeon to shine and she did, but for the fact that Song Hye Kyo’s acting has stalled in the last two episodes for me. Not bad, don’t get me wrong, it’s still serviceable, but there is a noticeable lack of spark in her. I can’t deduce what the problem is, usually I can critique acting lacks with better precision on the source of the problem but here she’s going through the motions but not popping with any oomph. Thank god I’m back to really loving her complicated character otherwise I’d be more annoyed. It doesn’t hurt that she’s so pretty and actually pulls off the disaster zone doctor leadership nicely. I like Myung Joo but it’s more for Kim Ji Won’s charming performance than her actual personality. She’s certainly cute in her dogged love for Dae Young but as a doctor she hadn’t displayed much professionalism until this episode when she stepped up a bit. I hope she shelves the cutesy side like she did at the end of the episode and show us her army doctor skills, it’s time for all the characters to dig deep and show me what all this talk of being soldiers and doctors really mean when push comes to shove.
Shi Jin’s return trip to Korea was as random as it seemed when it was announced in the last episode, but served the purpose of making Mo Yeon immediately regret turning him down. I’m not certain I like how quickly she folded since her reasons for keeping her distance were valid, I much prefer that she grow to accept taking the chance with him after seeing how a soldier can also save lives just like a doctor in different ways. She can’t get to the trapped survivors and need the soldiers to help, in that way they are complementary and it needn’t be a zero sum game. She actually had an easy path with Shi Jin, he can stay a soldier but leave Alpha Team and just be a regular desk job type or an instructor. Certainly he wouldn’t go for that but it’s still an option, just like Myung Joo and Dae Young have a choice to contravene her father and get married then make him accept the union. I think this drama requires viewers to buy into the linear path but it’s not a hard sell since the alternate requires a stronger will power than any of the leads have right now. Myung Joo is still playing by daddy’s rules for the most part, Dae Young is a robot who jumps when any superior says so, Shi Jin is bound by duty and respect, and Mo Yeon has a reasoned decision but can’t stick with it all the time. Let’s hope a joint effort to save poor innocent souls gives everyone a renewed conviction to grab happiness when it’s right in front of them.
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Love the way you share your point of view Koala!! DOTS has more to offer i guess!!
KMY’s character is developed in a nice and perfect way!!
KUDOS to all the cast, crew and production team!!
Yeah, I loved her answer to him. His job is not the only issue, but the timing of it all. Mo Yeon just wanted more time to think it over and Shi Jin wants her now. After thinking a bit, I feel he’s being unfair to her. I can see her point here. He has been rejected a lot, but he does want him to accept everything and trust him without actually telling her much. He didn’t even bother to tell her he was leaving until the last minute. Mo Yeon is too rational to actually just go with the flow like that. I totally respect her what she said there.
I also loved her breaking the heel off her inappropriate shoe, and then finally getting those boots. Found her footing so to say.
I like that both couples went their separate ways to do their jobs. The time for talks and hugs, and everything else is after they save everyone they can.
The pre-production and great editing really shined this episode.
‘The heart has reasons of which reason (mind) knows nothing of..’ Pascal. Mo Yeon, trained scientifically, if true to character, would not be able to logically accept all those question marks and unknowns about Shi Jin’s life.Imagine, if you ask your daughter/sister about her boyfriend and she seems to know nothing about him except he is a great guy, who you can’t leave alone for ten minutes without hearing some gun shot from outside. But her heart tells her something else and after brooding for a night, she might have been tempted to go with her heart.So I find her change of heart understandable and I give her marks for dignity, she kept to her word and did not wail and cry and tried to call him on the phone. And when they did meet again, it was quiet and ‘reaching out’, which seemed very matured and professional at the same time.
Maybe in the last episode, Song Hye Kyo didn’t believe in the the car crush scene either and that contributed to the going ‘through the motions’ feeling. The CPR scene was funny, being ever so polite and short, as though Song Joong Ki was trying to avoid touching her breasts and really doing mouth to mouth resuscitation. And he, bright as a lark after plunging 100feet(?)into the sea.One can imagine the shock impact, airbag or no airbag Alpha team or not.
Do you really think that Shi Jin, who sometimes behaves like a precocious child, would be able to just stay put in a place and take on a desk job? I think he would rather die. It will be a wrong fit for him. He likes being the leader, outdoor, being physical, male camaraderie, witty repartee and banter, hates administrative work..he will most likely want to stay with the Alpha team..hopefully his wife will be too busy doing surgeries and not notice that he has left for a couple of weeks without notice.
Totally agree with your synopsis. Spot on. She’s a true doctor and so mature, level headed. All the girls should learn from her rather than falling in love senselessly out of loneliness or peer pressure.
Hahaha…I would consiser the free fall down the cliff was purely for drama effect….Kids don’t do it at home. LOL…It’s a platform for MY to experience first hand her hero’s incredible man power. I love how SJ was so stoic after brief CPR to resuscitate his girl. And his smirks really got me….LOL.
+1.
Thanks Ms. Koala. This is a great episode to end the week. Great recap! Thank you very much as always.
Yes episode 6 is bringing the feels again!
Romance aside, I love the crisis in this dramas more (even ep 3 crisis of saving the leader). It really brings out the characters’ duties. As much as romance is needed in people’s life, a career is also needed and really defines who you are. Be proud of your job! All the leads take their jobs seriously and does not pushed it aside for romance. Most kdramas push the jobs in the back burner, but in DOTS their careers are first. Such a rarity in kdramas. While that create angsts for our 4 leads, it’s very realistic. I especially am grateful that MY’s oath as a doctor came into play during this situation. As we know her doctor’s world has been influenced by power and social networking, rather than the job. Hopefully she gets her passion back from what we’ve seen in the first two episodes.
Some parts are cringe, but at least there are heart fluttering moments. The epic blockbuster feels I get from this drama is just *sigh*. My standards are going to be high for filmography after this.
Thanks for the recap! Even though we disagree on some things, I always look forward to your recaps! See everyone next week! (Oh the wait….)
does anyone happen to know the name of the song that plays while SJK is sitting on the bus? pls and thx!!
Dunno the title yet but they said it’s from Kim Na Young and MadClown
Oh the title is You Again
Thanks. The song is really romantic and musically beautiful.
I just would have liked to know if this would still be a massive hit without the star powers.
I personally don’t think so. I think Song Joong Ki contributes a lot to the high ratings. SHK and other cast also do decent jobs. The drama needs a lot of action scenes. SJK executed each scene in a convincing way. Plus, he’s able to convey the nuance of emtions very effectively so that audienncne are able to empathize with the character. They definitely cast the right actor as the main lead.
It is a hit based on SJK’s acting power, not star power. I don’t mean belittle SHK or the supporting cast in any way, its just that the way the story is written, SJK is front and center and he has surprisingly not lost his touch.
I have thought about this, how would this role feel if it was HB, JIS, LJW or Gong Yoo acted in it. They all are in the right age category to pull off an army captain.
thanks koala .. I am curious again now .. cant stand epi 5 ..
seriously, its hard for me to follow this series, but i really like joong ki (running man jjang !!) so most of the time I have to shutdown my brain and cringe when watch it ..
frankly, I dont like the writer hehe
I like that this drama involves a main couple with grown up issues that are not easily resolved, especially with messy emotions at play. I respect that the doc needs to think things through. I am hopeful that that aspect of the story is going to move along now because I feel audiences are going to turn on the female lead and because there is only so much contemplating the situation a 16 episode drama can handle.
I don’t have huge issues with the actress, but I do notice she has a blank look sometimes. I’m gonna go with that being her closed off character but she was sometimes the same in TWTWB. I actually think she was her most charming in Full House.
KES writes really cheesy lines
I just can’t believe how is it possible that I’m squeeing instead of cringing
Ahh yes song joong ki helps
A great deal
some lines can be really cheesy but put in the context of DotS, if seems just right.
if the previous eps made me like this show, this episode just made DotS a keeper for me. 🙂 thanks koala sis for the recaps.
I absolutely adored this episode! Completely! Everything about it was so fitting and perfect and I loved how much I loved it. I like that the emotions here are real and not exaggerated like how other dramas do. And how much do I love that ShiJin is still honorable and true, how he respects Moyeon’s decisions and does as he says.
Also, Daeyoung and Myung Joo are soooo freaking adorable! I love that the relationships between all four leads are pretty set and they don’t cross over into a square! I love how Shi Jin supports them both and he even sends her pictures of Daeyoung!
Also, the scene where Daeyoung is doing to training and Shijin shows up! How cute is he when he V’s! And Daeyoung really reminds me of the Honey Voiced soldier from Real Men that Amber fell in love with.
Squeeeuuee! I can’t wait until next week!
I really like your insight in this episode. I tried not to read when I disagree with you since I don’t want to start a fight. As you can see, I tend to be the debating type. Which is contrary to my statement of disliking fights. lmao
Anyway, I think I understand why MY was regretting her decision. Despite her reasoned mind, she still likes him a lot. Like she mentioned, she needs time to decide but he’s always gone unexpectedly. Her decision there and then was that maybe this relationship is too hard for her because she’s not given enough time. However, the next morning, when she wants to talk to him again, he’s gone. As she texted her best friend, it makes me feel she’s more human. I remember when I was in college, I wanted to start a relationship with someone. However, because it was my first and due to my inexperience, I was scared. I wanted more of a platonic relationship due to my religion and culture, but the guy insisted that if it’s his girlfriend he wanted to touch, kiss, etc. It scared me and after one night I decided to break it off. Did I sometimes think we would have made it? Yeah, in my head I did. Did I act on it? No.
I think MY might be in a deeper feeling than I was back in the days. She regretted more but she didn’t act on it. Like someone mentioned, she’s mature in that she didn’t go cry to him during the disaster. She’s a mature, professional doctor, and the show highlighted that in this episode. Phew!
As for SHK, I always find her acting a bit calmer, without the sparks or expressive emotions that would rule you in like SJK. However, I really like her acting in here. It’s natural and matches with her character personality. In this role, it’s still that calm lack of expression look, but it’s distinguishable lack of expression from TWtWB. It’s kind of like drinking water, it’s so bland, but overtime you can miraculously find the sweetness in the blandness of different brands of water bottles. lol, what an analogy.
As for CH played by Onew, yeah I thought it was a bit over the top, but the decision behind it made me understand and connect. I was seeing a patient and thought his condition was stable to not warrant an immediate attention. It wasn’t until my preceptor mentioned that it’s still an acute situation that requires more inquiry, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I’m still in training and felt bad for the whole day. I was worried. Even though the patient was stable, I still didn’t make the optimal decision regarding the patient. Thus, I sort of understand why CH acted that way, after all he’s a doctor and his decision will impact someone’s life or death situation.
It’s not often that I agree with you. So, cheers! lol.
I agree with you about Song Hye Kyo acting here. You have to look more closely at her eyes and facial expressions to fall in love with her character. Mo Yeon is a surgeon and department head and SHK’s acting , to me, is in keeping with the character.
Anyway perhaps male actors can shine and draw the audience in faster because of the physicality possible, as generally I find male comedians are more active and physical and more lippy than female comedians can be and hence the male comedians come off as funnier and ‘better’. And it’s probably the women who write in fast and furious supporting Song Joong Ki, whilst the men don’t join in the fury for Song Hye Kyo and hence the latter’s light seems dimmer.
The moments of Shi Jin that I enjoy most were when he was irritated as after he talked to Mo Yeon about the sleezy director and after she said she lived to watch his half naked soldiers in the morning.
This ep rocked. Enjoyed everything. All the moments leading up to the shoe lace scene. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the episode and almost cried when she was given the boots. I remember the discussions about her bare legs and him tying her boots in a war zone area. It didn’t make sense. Now it does. Everything that lead up to it. I love the poster more now as its a snapshot in time of their interactions. A rare poster moment if you will; as most posters are stylized to capture our interest while this locked in the feels.
I loved reading all the comments. Good insights. Thank you, Ms. K for recapping this drama. I’m loving it.
This is the first time I watched a mature korean drama. They use their logic thinking even deep in their heart they want to hug, kiss and do whatever couples do. Everything they share and said are making my emotion up and down. Especially the last scene with shoe lace…. Almost cry, want to yell at them please do the romance things. But it realeved me when they looked each other. They both know that they still have the feelings. I just wish please have a happy ending story at ep 16….
Thank you for your recap. I have been silently reading your recaps on the previous episodes but didn’t dare to comment because I didn’t like it. I can’t believe it but now I can say that I like your recap of this episode even though there are some points that I don’t agree. For example, I think SHK is doing a very great job and bringing much more liveliness, depth and nuances to her character, not only in this episode but in the previous episodes.
And I like all the comments here on this episode. A thoughtful, insightful and mature episodr and very thoughtful, insightful and mature review and comments from everyone. Thank you all.
If I may have a suggestion though: I think the misses a few important screenshots that show the feelings of the leads. Hope that you will pay more attention to this next time. Apologies if this suggestion is not appropriate
Love ep 6 from beginning to end, funny and action-packed. And I love to watch SJK’s every expression too. Just wanna mention, did SJK use a substitute for the zip line scene? The first trainee went down the line with a safety belt, but I notice that when SJK did it, there wasn’t any safety belt
That shoe lace scene beautifully shot.. it’s my favorite scene to date. That first moment where he placed his helmet right beside her boot as she stooped down to fix them. I think it symbolizes how two different people whose views and realities are different can actually have the same drive and purpose. Her issue has always been she’s a doctor saving lives while he’s out there in the field taking lives.
During that scene is was kicking and cheering her on to go and just hug him…even urging her to initiate a kiss. Nevertheless I love how they just have all the feels in their gaze.. their whole body was just contradicting the words “take care”
My husband is military doctor and is currently deployed with UN so this drama has all the feels for me. There are a lot of holes in the drama when I look at it but.. I am able to forgo them because acting and production of this drama is just so damn good.. I’m willing to lose logic and reason to thoroughly enjoy this show.
Enjoyed reading your comment. From the episode when he boarded the helicopter to Afghanistan, I felt the two of them would have similar if not the same goals, but their paths to achieve those goals would be very different.
I’m glad that there’re a few blog readers who are related to the profession of medicine, either doctors themselves or relatives of physicians, giving positive feedback about DotS. I recalled all the ridicule and mockery on the cast including baseless bashing on SHK coming from many readers even before the drama was put on air. I already had reservations about those harsh critiques. Now it just reveals that K drama fans, like Kpoppers, are sometimes very childish and being censorious for nothing but their own hate towards certain actresses/actors.
DotS ep 6 rating reached 30% (yes, by math approximation rule). It was said that Dots was originally dropped by SBS. Is it true? Now SBS must regret it. What was the stupid reason for SBS to not take DotS but rather have a much inferior series Come Back Ajhussi to rival with DotS instead?
In the network’s defense (yeah I know, shocking), SBS was bleeding red at the time/summer 2014 (they paid beaucoup de money for the exclusive rights to the 2014 World Cup but let’s just say Team Korea did not shine too brightly at the tournament) and they couldn’t afford to take risks on a major production. Had this been the standard KES fare, they probably would have jumped on it w/o any hesitation, but a) DotS required substantial pre-production (it hadn’t decided on 100% yet, but it was quite clear live-in shooting wasn’t going to be possible, and we know how queasy the networks get about pre-production), b) there were severe limits on PPL (military drama? yeah, that will draw advertisers *sarcasm on*), and c) big-budget productions have very mixed records in k-dramas (they either win big or fail catastrophically) so the odds weren’t exactly in DotS’s favor. KBS wasn’t much better financially, but they went for the high-risk, high-return choice when KES et al. came to them, and they’re now recouping big time in dividends. And honestly, this worked out for the best, except for SBS. Had it stayed with SBS, we’d be seeing a very different DotS. SBS bowing out coincided with NEW (the leading independent film distributor, which had never invested in television before) replacing KES’s former partner (blanking on the name of the firm right now, but they produced Heirs, Secret Garden etc.) as DotS’s production company, and they brought in a lot of their expertise from their film business. Going to KBS also means drawing on their (deeper) talent pool and resources, starting with PD Lee Eung-Bok. (The direction and production values alone would be very different right now, had it stayed with SBS.) And the postponement led to KES et al. deciding to wait out SJK’s military service so he could be their male lead. (He was offered the part at the beginning of Dec 2014.) 6-7 months is a workable number (and they weren’t just twiddling their thumbs all that time, there was much prep to be done before filming could begin in June 2015). More than a year and he wasn’t going to be in the running.
In a nutshell, DotS as we know today owes a LOT to SBS saying no. And CBA wasn’t even in contention at that time (this was summer 2014), so that’s really ‘hindight is 20/20’ territory.
Wow. You are really insightful. Thanks a lot for this. This is the first time that I really feel that koalasplayground is the place.
@Nowonder: get SJK involved in a project and I’m on it like white on rice.
Can you also please share with us your review of the first six episodes? Do you know when they will have the next press conference or interview? Thanks in advance.
i didn’t know that they changed the director and the production company when they moved to kbs. I thought that the director has always been the same person from the beginning.
Do you mean that if the drama stayed with SBS, it would not be Song Joong Ki for Captain Yoo given SBS’ schedule? I heard that the role was meant to be for Song Joong Ki from the beginning.
Wow, many thanks. I’m impressed with your knowledge. How did you get to know so much? Most of K dramas look like soap operas or sitcoms with their production values. But DotS is up to another level, on par with mini series in the US or UK. A good drama is not just about good writing, good cast. Directing and editing are pivotal to make the final product shine. How I love DotS is not only about my man SJK but it’s the whole package. I really think DotS deserves many trophies at the year end. If not, I’m gonna cuss K ent. LOL.
@Songs, that’s also my question. To me, the alpha hero in DotS appears tailored to SJK just right. I thought KES had SJK in mind when she penned the script.
Wow, thank you for the wonderful insight. I didn’t know that SBS was suffering so much during that time. If I remember right, SJS’s war drama failed drastically so I can see your point in it being either a hit or miss.
Yes. CL you seem to know a lot. Do you have a blog for me to follow?
CL: thanks for the insight. I’m wondering why they still need a production company (NEW) while they already have KBS? I thought that KBS drama department would handle the production of the drama?
@Nowonder:
* Couldn’t review all six eps. here and while I loved them, my feelings about each ep. aren’t fixed, eg. there are certain aspects I have a better appreciation in hindsight as we move forward.
* As for their PR schedule, I’m just as in the dark as you are, but they’re only talking through the CPs (chief producers, who oversee the drama at the network) for now in the press, and I wouldn’t expect any of the key players (the writers, director, the lead actors) to give interviews before the final episodes.
* PD Lee Eung Bok is attached to KBS, ie. he belongs to KBS. Had DotS stayed at SBS, the only way PD Lee could have worked on it is if he were a freelancer, which he isn’t. There aren’t many freelancer directors anyway, and had DotS stayed at SBS, the network would have wanted KES to go with one of their own, which she always did because she’s always worked with SBS until DotS. Problem is, SBS has a really shallow talent pool. KBS and MBC aren’t that much better, in part because many of the networks’ best talents have jumped ship. But at least KBS tries to develop and nurture new PDs, via their Drama Special program (the KBS equivalent of film directors gaining experience by working on short films). And in any case, what a big production like DotS needs is an experienced and seasoned PD. SBS has lost many of those, and it’s not clear the two directors who worked with KES in the past could have handled DotS, ie, had DotS stayed at SBS, the network would have struggled to find a suitable PD for the production. When KES went to KBS and they decided to work with her, the network really threw their weight behind DotS and it showed. Looking at the crew list for DotS, I’d say 60-70% come from KBS and 30-40% from NEW, the production company (by 30-40%, I don’t necessarily mean employees of NEW, because it’s mainly a film development and distribution company, but those who were hired based on their recommendations). NEW was also absolutely essential in securing finanching from China (they have their own interests in the Chinese market).
@Songs:
Yoo Shi-Jin was meant for SJK. Or rather, when DotS cast SJK as their male lead, the writers re-wrote the part and that’s how Capt. Yoo was born. But back when DotS was being considered at SBS in summer 2014, the male lead’s name was Kim Shi-Jin, and SJK was still a private in the army. There’s no way SJK could have been first on the candidate list, because he simply wasn’t available. He was due to be discharged in May 2015 and SBS wanted to broadcast DotS by summer 2015. It’s only when SBS officially dropped DotS and KES et al. took it to KBS (ca. Nov. 2015) that they seriously started to consider SJK because he only had 7 months left on his military service. And because they had to scrap pretty much every plan they had made at SBS and start fresh at KBS (new PD, new crew, new executives, new production company, etc.), they could afford to wait for him while they readied themselves for production. And while they finalized the casting, KES and Kim Won-Seok made many revisions to the scripts to tailor to the actors. (For one thing, eps. 1-2 would have taken place very differently, or rather, all the events in eps. 1-2 would never have taken place, because in the earlier drafts, Shi-Jin and Mo-Yeon meet for the first time in Urk, not Korea.)
So all in all, I’m eternally grateful to SBS for dropping DotS.
@M:
Ah yes, Road No. 1. *sigh* I’ve lost count of the times I heard/read the litany “DotS’s going to fail b/c R#1!!!” and that’s only AFTER I took interest in DotS once SJK became attached to the project. It’s a little too soon to be taking proper stock of what worked, what didn’t, and what’s different, but it doesn’t change the fact that the comparison was always unfair to both R#1 and DotS.
@Since:
Money. That’s something misterX (@ dramatic-eye.com) could explain a gazillion times better, but basically, there are too many constraints (both legal and financial) for networks to keep a big-budget production like DotS in-house. Partnering with an external production company has become the norm, but even then, NEW is a different beast, a totally new player in television but a formidable force to be reckoned with because of their stature as the only independent (i.e., not attached to chaebols) film distributor in the Korean market. (It’s even more remarkable because unlike CJ or Lotte, NEW owns NO movie theater chains.) I think NEW’s involvement owes a lot to the other writer, Kim Won-Seok, who has deep ties to Chungmooro. And I think NEW’s influence on DotS is most obvious in the marketing campaign (the key art, the teasers, the PR roll-out, etc.) in the run-up to the premiere, but I’d say it’s just as considerable behind the scenes. There are some names you usually don’t see in television involved with DotS and I think they came by way of NEW.
@Drama2016:
% = (number of households watching said channel) / (number of households equipped with TV sets)
So if AGB Nielsen reports that on average “30%” were tuned in to KBS2 at 10-11pm on Wed, it means one in three households with TV sets were watching DotS. Doesn’t say anything about total number of viewers because it’s much more difficult to keep track of individuals than of televisions (if you become a Nielsen household, your television will be connected to a set meter, which transmits your household’s viewing habits to Nielsen).
@Done:
I think most of his followers know by now he’s had health problems over the last year, but I don’t have any update since he went MIA.
@Singing:
I have a soompi account (‘joynara’) but I don’t post all that much. Mostly DotS ratings these days. 🙂
Can anyone tell me? What does exctly K rating % stand for? 30% as opposed to what?
I think it is 30% of the total number of viewers of South Korea.
CL, U have goosebumps reading your posts. You’re like an insider. If there is a like function, I would like your posts a thousand times.
By the way, CL, has misterX written anything about DOTS? Thanks
Hi CL, are you also a Soompi member and do you post in the Dots there?
@ CL. Wow, then that % is really impressive given that many ppl nowadays don’t even watch TV that much and many like me always watch drama on computer.
I really enjoy watching this drama. I haven’t watched kdrama for a while now because they have become repetitive and boring. However, I decided to watch DOTS because it promised action, romance, friendship, and a bit of politics that I like. And also because Song Joong Ki is one of my favorite actors (I loved his charms and performance from Innocent Man). So far DOTS haven’t disappointed me. The romance in this drama is just right, they have presented a more mature romance. Shijin is charming, witty, and respectful – I have had enough of the insufferable bad boys of kdrama. Moyeon is a confident, successful, and smart woman who thinks carefully about her romantic relationship. The second couple is a great complement, there is depth in their relationship. I like how the producers pushed the boundaries of “forbidden love” by using contrasting occupation/responsibilities, possibility of death, and international politics (ep.3-4). There are a lot of intebnse emotions but is balanced with the playful dialogues between the couples.The cinematography is amazing. It is a beautiful drama to watch, we can see that a lot of effort has been put into filming each scene. The rating is well-deserved. DOTS is much better than My Love from the Stars.
+1, so much agree with your synopsis, specifically how DotS breaks the cocoon of K drama cliches about forbidden love. There’s no repetitive and predictable chaebol vs poor girl or noble idiocy in the storyline. I’m so sick of K heroines being much inferior to heroes in most aspects, be it financial status or intellectual levle. That’s one of the reasons for me to switch my attention to C and T dramas recently. DotS snatched me back to K dramaland. In this drama, hero and heroine are on an equal footing. We’ve seen too many dumb girls in other K dramas and smart womens with successful career were often demonized and degraded to jealous bitches or evil antagonists. But MY is an elite in her own profession with reasoning mind in her decision-making process. I also feel more related to the OTP’s relationship and can put my shoes in their struggles to figure things out. Finally this smart writing connects fictitious fantasy with real world reality. Brilliant!
Ditto! I honestly think DotS is one of the best K-dramas I have ever watched.
Thanks for your recap, Koala. I agree with most of your thoughts except that I think you have not given enough credit to Song Hye Kyo’s acting. But that’s quite common nowadays. Most of attention usually goes to the male leads. Again, thanks for your increasingly nice recap of this increasing wonderful drama.
I have watched so many dramas (I can’t even count) and I have to say that this is the best one ever and in all fronts.
Wow. This is the first time that negativity does not appear in a topic about Dots on this blog. Hope that the drama will continue the high quality in the next episode.
Does anyone know the song when Dae Young and Shi Jin escaped from the restaurant? xD
Good episode. I loved the way MY and SJ couldn’t keep their eyes off one another when he landed back in Urk. Also loved the last scene, when he tied her shoelace. Beautiful.
I couldn’t agree more. I especially think that shoelace tying was so romantic. I kept repeating that scene because I just love how gentle and tender Shi Jin was. So romantic. I have never thought SJK can really pull this off. I have come to sincerely adore his acting now! So manly!
the part that touched me with this episode was when a worker that Dr. Kang treated offered her his shoes in exchanged of her torned out sandals…you can see the true humane aspect of that scene. I was deeply moved by the worke’s gesture towards her…I am a Nurse and I know the feeling if someone that you have just help will show kindness to you. I am not expecting anything nor a simple thank you because that is what everybody expects from me to help them but in an instance that someone will be doing something to me as a way of saying thank you really moves me…and that kindness alone can get me going even if how tired I am furthermore it inspires me and love my job even more.I know I am quiet personal on this comment but that particular scene moves me to tears.
Hi, wonderful recap, very fun to read!!
I was wondering, the song sounds too familiar, but does anyone know the song that plays at 9:10 or at the part they are having a drink at the bar when Dae Young was recognised? It has been stuck in my head forever and I have had a hard time trying to find it, does anyone know what song is being played at the bar??