The Master’s Sun Episode 2 Baby Recap
I’m genuinely sad that I don’t love The Master’s Sun. I was one of the few that actually loved Big, warts and nonsensical incomplete plot and all, and that was because that drama had one central narrative emotional hook tied to a character I loved from the get go. Male lead Kang Kyung Joon in Big was a kid adrift without a family who gets a chance to grow up, experience love and loss, and deal with very difficult painful experiences. There wasn’t too much else distracting from his journey so I was emotionally hog-tied to it and accepted all the narrative lameless from the Hong sisters along the way. TMS is the weakest start of all the Hong sisters dramas I’ve seen, it fails to establish a central character to anchor the emotional weight of this journey and then wastes time on a ghost story per episode that is cribbed straight from after-school-special levels of writing. Gong Hyo Jin is perfection as she tries so hard and succeeds so much in making Taeyang endearing and pitiable, with her unwanted ghostly ability. But she’s written with just her ability and not much else, so I can’t get a sense of her personality beyond it and therefore I cannot connect with a caricature. So Ji Sub is equally as talented as Gong Hyo Jin in trying to elevate his Joogun above asshole rich chaebol, but his reaction and interactions with Taeyang are so ridiculous it fails to form the basis of a growing bond. There was no way in hell a normal person would have continued to talk and interact with someone as seemingly off-her-rocker as Taeyang in all their scenes so far. I can accept the ghostly sight ability, but it’s impossible to love characters that behave illogically as human beings outside of very specific narrative quirks given to them for the purpose of a story. He can be a traumatized jerk and she a worn down scared ghost seer, but TMS fails to create a main leads that talk, walk, and think like normal people outside of their hang ups. Without that, and with very flimsy ghost story morality tales, TMS is both boring and lame right out of the gate.
I really love Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub’s performance of their characters and their chemistry is beyond yummy. I can see them loving the chance to act together. And this drama premiered to such great ratings I’m happy for their careers. I will likely continue to follow along in case the narrative rights the ship and takes off in the subsequent episodes, which is possible with 14 more episodes to go. These two can sell romantic smolder like you wouldn’t believe, I can probably endure this dull drama just for that alone. In episode 2, Joogun confronts Taeyang about why she thinks something or someone he can’t let go is hovering around him. She admits she can see ghosts, and she saw the dead girl Hee Joo the last time they talked in the field when discussing the situation with the soccer star and his dead love. We see yet another lame and pointless ghost hanging around the roof as Taeyang and Joogun talk, and the ghost disappears the moment Taeyang touches Joogun, which confirms again for her that touching him gets rid of her affliction. He thinks she’s crazy and tells her to stay away from him. Kang Woo learns that Joogun has major issues since he was kidnapped as a teenager and his girlfriend died in that kidnapping. Turns out he also has dyslexia, hence the jumbled letters in the last episode when he tried to read online articles. Kang Woo notices that Joogun appears to know Taeyang.
The ghost story of the episode centers around some high school girls and their dead classmate. They do a Ouija board séance to try to speak with her, and later three girls get a text with a picture they took at the Kingdom Mall in front of the central fountain and behind them is a female ghostly spectre. They think its their dead classmate haunting them. News gets out and the fountain becomes famous and everyone goes to take pictures there hoping to capture a ghost sighting. Joogun wants this resolved since its impacting his Mall’s reputation negatively, even moreso when news reports claim the ghostly spectre is his dead girlfriend Hee Joo. He finds Taeyang working at the Mall as a cleaning lady and wants her to stop stalking him since she candidly admits she’s working there to be close to him. She gets him to agree to let her stay if she can solve the ghost in the picture. The ghost is the high school girls dead classmate and Taeyang reveals that the dead girl was excluded from the cool girl’s clique and died in a car accident after leaving the mall. But the girl isn’t mad, and it was yet another classmate who saw the bullying who is sending the text messages to torment the mean girls. Taeyang gets the mean girls to acknowledge their fault and to hug it out and drink the beverages that the dead girl was bringing to them when she died. The dead girl completes her final wishes and disappears into the ether. I swear this entire ghost subplot was so terribly written I want compensation for being forced to watch it.
Turns out Joogun’s childhood kidnapping had a twist, which one could see coming a mile away. He was kidnapped along with his girlfriend but it appears that she was actually part of the kidnapping scheme, whether actively or reluctantly. Joogun discovered it during the kidnapping but when she died he chose not to reveal her involvement to the police. So Joogun is not just mourning her, he is also supremely pissed at her. But her ghost seems to be hanging around Joogun still. At the end of the episode, Joogun tells Taeyang that if she sees the ghost of Hee Joo, to pass along a word from him. He wants to tell her “you bad woman” (or in modern speak, he called her a bint or a bitch). Yowsers. If only this episode was anywhere as interesting as the vitriol Joogun has for long-dead betrayer first love Hee Joo. I may or may not continue baby recaps for this drama but I seriously haven’t been seen a drama with such potential (and fantastic promotional materials) fail to engage the emotional narrative. The ghost stories are not just trite and predictable, their presence in taking up large chunks of each episode hurts the drama because it takes time away from developing the backstory and journey forward for the main characters. The Hong sisters try by having Taeyang and Joogun always connected by the other ghosts stories, first with the soccer star fiancee and now with the dead school girl haunting the mall. On paper this might’ve seemed workable, but in reality it doesn’t work. One can’t substitute the leads observing other situations for experiencing their own forward narrative momentum.
Wow! You are super quick cap K., ep 2 recap already!!!
oh noes! This is highly unfortunate and an utter waste of these two talented actors! :S Was looking forward to this and nowwwww have nothing that’s currently airing on K-telly to watch…
I think Good Doctor is the only watchable drama in k-land right now. Joo won is endearing and Moon Chae Won is kick-ass.
After IHYV ended, “two weeks” definitely the best so far for me 🙂 try to watch it.
I haven’t watched it, but from the recaps it does sound like a hogwash.
It’s actually good…you can give it a try..
give it a try and form your own opinion of it.
No… I love Sjs as much as I love gong yoo. I was disappointed with big and I didn’t finish the drama. I’ll watch a few more eps and decide whether to jump ship or endure it for Sjs.
Hmmm, I wonder why people puy Hong sister so high and why they have such hype.
I disliked most of their dramas, and I did liked the first half of big but then it turned so dragging, boring and the end was a fail.
I wonder what I’ll think about MS second half, so far I’m liking it a lot.
*put
Yup except maybe most of Greatest Love, I dint really like most of hong sisters dramas. Master’s sun has some story going on that I like but those side stories are too cheesy for me to handle. Atleast the characters aren’t as annoying as Who Are You? which has better side stories. It wouldve been a perfect drama if the actors from Master’s Sun and the story of Who are you? + jae wook (my only hope of acting for that drama)
I find the leads so adorable I am going to stick it our just for them. Hope the storyline picks up in the next episode I actually fell asleep trying to watch it last night.
I love this drama including the main characters! maybe I just get hyped with the plot of comedy/suspense thing. Thou, I didn’t get the part about the soccer guy (Dead gf thing). But i still love the chemistry between the main characters. Will watch this up to the end! :)) Can’t wait the other episodes. Try watching it first guys! 🙂
Well from the get go (previews) I was already confused why Joogun would keep hanging around Taeyang. If I was him, I’d think she was some deranged psycho and stay as far away from her instead of going to her.
I will continue to stick with it because the leads are so charming. Hopefully, they will be given meatier material to work with.
Fighting!!!
I want to see a drama where the ending is so ji sub’s char got his happy ending….
That’s my shallow purpose watching master sun lol
I will wait the drama end before I continue watching…
True! That poor man always dies in the end.
watch his movie Always! He has a happy ending for once!
SJS and KNG sure have sad ending for their characters lol
I don’t know about TMS, but two weeks is definitely the winner for me.one of the best performance from LJK.it’s a good show because of the good ensemble casts. It has a bit of ’24’ vibe.and yes,kiefer sutherland nailed the show.
I second this! Two Weeks is Amazing!!! 😀
Same here : I really love Two Weeks!
same here. two weeks the best so far, hope it’ll be great till the end
I LOVE this drama. The two episodes were fast moving, interesting, funny, sexy, and with. I feel that this is the BEST new drama this season. I love Ms. K’s recap, but I would urge everyone to check this drama out – it will not disappoint. I thought BIG was a waste, but this one is just my speed.
hey, this is just one persons opinion. go to dramabeans ,there the person who summerisesthe drama likes it so the recaps are interesting to read .This series is more interesting than koalaplayground recaps makes it. go read the recap at dramabeans
Yeah…cant stop laughing while watching this romcom drama , same with oh my venus..??
I’m surprisingly enjoying this drama more than I thought I would. Granted, I don’t love the ghost of the day formula (I just don’t like ghosts very much at all), but Gong Hyo Jin is really likeable and the two leads have GREAT chemistry!
I think this drama is an easy and enjoyable watch as long as you’re not heading in with super high expectations.
I’m liking Who Are You more than this drama. *sigh* I never thought I’d be able to say (write) that.
I am interested to check out Who Are You, despite my lack of interest in the cast, since I keep seeing comments that it’s better than MS.
Anyway, possible to tell me why you like it better? :DDD
Well it was rather unintentional that I saw an epusode from WAY (who are you). I saw ep.3 yesterday after abandoning ep 2 of Master’s Sun and I was hooked. I am fond of eerie ghost stories and to me the ghost in that show felt more realistic and that they focus on one ghost at a time. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a mystery drama as well. I haven’t watched the first two ep. yet though 😛
I personally think Who Are You is the stronger show of the two — strong directing, stronger writing.
The areas that master’s sun trumps it in is for the laughs and acting. Gong Hyo Jin is killing it as ms.tae and there’s so much cute that makes it an easy watch.
I’ll watch the two side by side because each show has something the other lacks.
This is the only show I’m watching alongwith Two Weeks among the currently airing ones and I’m liking it!!
This ep was a snoozefest when it went heavy into high-school lame-o “bullying” ghost territory. That’s the problem I foresee with the episodic ghost-solving portion of the series: it will veer into what they think is heartfelt but is actually damningly cheestastic. Love GHJ though; still warming up to SJS – his acting feels a little one-key to me and I’m finding it hard to separate the actor from the character.
Second male lead is all shades of hot and I bet a buck or two that he’s first love’s brother or relative.
I was disappointed too as i was anticipating this quite a lot. I AM interested in the leads’ stories and am still hoping for a best love vibe from it but i cant stand the maudlin ghost stories in the two episodes. Hope that stops in subsequent episodes. So jisub is very sexy :).
I really like this show. I wish that the APPEARANCE of ghosts had been less horrible because it don’t match with the story but I really like the otp interaction.
Hmmn… Big was a great failure but no doubt the Hong Sisters sometimes do write great drama.
I find Master’s Sun plot is interesting and very different from the normal KDrama plot. Some may find Tae Yang is a character which is lack of personalities but I find it relevant because she is constantly haunted which make a her life miserable. I think Gong Hyo Jin did a great job in that potrayal.
Joo Gun character is the common rich chaebol in KDrama but somehow I enjoy it a lot because So Ji Sub has never been (if i did not remember wrongly) played it before. So is kinda fresh seeing him and he did give off different vibes.
Since is only 2 episodes, I can’t say much but please do give it a try. Since you are going to recap it. If you don’t like it please don’t recap it since you have great influence and people might drop it.
I loved all the parts of SJS and GHJ together. How she visibly relaxes and openly enjoys every second she can grab onto his arm and how she wants to melt into him and close her eyes. There is just so much hilarious disconnect between the meaning of physical contact for the Tae Yang and Joo Gun, it’s makes me laugh. He is her reverse kryptonite and she is determined to mine him no matter what.
The ghost stories has no meat – they have been told numerous times already; the high school bullying and following your dream, etc.
Overall, it’s not the best show but it is original. I don’t remember any drama that made a girl crave physical contact with a boy so shamelessly.
I’m sad to say that the high expectations I had for this drama unfortunately was not met. I looked forward to watching this drama but I felt like the first episode was boring and so slow while the second episode continued on with its ghost-of-the-week concept which I personally do not like. However, I will continue to watch it because I really like the cast members. So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin are adorable together and I really like Seo In Guk as well – he looks so handsome in here 😀
I’m not in love with The Master’s Sun but there is still time for improvement. I’m entering this drama with caution, knowing that the Hong Sister’s last drama was a bit tad disappointing. But even though ‘Big’ was a disappointment, the first episode managed to grab my attention whereas The Master’s Sun failed to do that.
I think out of the three dramas I’m watching right now, Good Doctor easily wins. Two Weeks is after and then Master’s Sun is last sadly. Hopefully The Master’s Sun picks up with the next few episodes. Don’t disappoint the Hong Sisters!
Then, can you recap Japanese dorama Woman instead? ;D
The biggest issue I had is they weren’t able to establish why Taeyang was so sleep-deprived. I mean, they haven’t shown ghosts actually pestering her in her bed, right? And then, if she was so scared she can’t sleep at night, her actual interactions with tye ghosts aren’t exactly that traumatic after the initial encounter. I would assume that, once discovering these spirits life story, or at least the reasons why they can’t move on yet to the after life, then she would at least feel less fearful and more sympathetic. So bottomline, if they’re going for desperation leading her to propose that she and Joo gun sleep together, then I think they failed. Coz she doesn’t look that desperate to me.
err from what I saw it isn’t because she is scared that she doesn’t sleep, but because the ghosts don’t let her sleep because they want her to help them and she can’t sleep/rest until she finishes what the ghost asked her to, they keep bothering her to. Look on this episode she even said ”I want to finish it soon to be able to sleep” as if the ghost won’t let her until she finishes it.
Simply said, I hate this drama with a passion. I dislike it for all the reasons koala has brought up. The writing is facetious and sentimental, all flash no substance. My biggest gripe with it though, is the characterization. I can’t stand seeing Joogun manhandling Taeyang and her acting like his no.1 fangirl regardless of his violent tendency. I think the moment Joogun yanked her hair, more than half of my interest for the show turned into rage. When he shoved her down to the couch in the rooftop, I was so done with it.
On acting, I think the casts have done fairly well so far. Unfortunately, since I’ve just finished GHJ’s “Pasta” recently, I couldn’t help but spot the significant similarities between Taeyang and Yoo Kyung. Their manner, speech and body language are almost the same. To say I’m disappointed at GHJ is an understatement.
And here I thought this drama would be so easy to love.
The ghost stories of the week have been rather simplistic, that I admit. But, I think it has been very functional in bringing the two leads together and propel other plot developments. For example, the grandma ghost/wife ghost have helped the two leads meet each other and pique Tae Yang’s curiosity about Joo Gun’s effects on the ghost. The bride ghost has set up Yi Ryung’s anger/hate (and whatever revenge coming in the future) towards Tae Yang for ruining her wedding. And the student ghost has ensured Tae Yang’s job and incited the second lead’s interest in Tae Yang. Not to mention, all the side ghost stories also has contributed to the unraveling of Joo Gun’s back story. I am just hoping that as JG and TY back stories take center stage, the side ghost stories will reduce or at least be directly related to the lead’s love story. I also think that TY back story will be the real plot driver since nothing has been revealed except her ability to see ghosts and how that effects her life.
You guys better watch or read Episode 4 right now!. As in right now! 🙂
I love SJS and GHJ so much that I keep on smiling whenever they’re close or having skinships.. 😀
I thought the first two episodes were pretty hokey. But the ghost case is more serious in episode 3, and starting from episode 4 the show has veered sharply into rom-com territory, which is more my Hong Sisters cup of tea. It has become a *lot* funnier, and the ghost stories are more plot vehicles around which the leads’ relationship revolves. SJS and GHJ also have some smoking chemistry, and this is perhaps the first Hong Sisters drama I’ve ever watched where I’m cool with the second leads; Kang Woo is a nice guy to start, and Yi Ryeong is more an adorably ditzy princess than she is a couple-blocking B. For those of you looking for the more traditional Hong Sisters rom-com wit, Master’s Sun has way better than it’s really tepid start.
*Master’s Sun has gotten way better than its really tepid start.
Whew, lost command of the English language there for a sec.