I feel emotionally empty. Like a hallowed out gourde of some kind. Knowing I am sick, I had to keep all the crying in check or run the risk of making myself so much sicker. I don't fancy a sinus infection or worse so getting through this one episode took a lot of time. I had to keep stepping away from, pausing the playback so I could breathe again. That last 35 min was torture. I'm not even sure I can segue into the beginning gracefully I feel so raw. So I am just going to do my best & you guys will just have to accept it no matter how awful this review goes. Mianhaeyo.
The episode starts w/ Detective Kim bringing Jung Woo home from the family dinner, where there had been so much joy. He sees how big & impressive Jung Woo's home is & asks Jung Woo what his dad does & Jung Woo tells him he's the President of Shin Young Bank. Suitably impressed by this he tells Jung Woo that he's a good kid & if he just keeps growing up the way he is now, he'll make Detective Kim achieve his dream. When Jung Woo asks him what his dream was Detective Kim replies, " To be a decent adult." What a great dream. I think he is pretty close to the mark already. The magical bonding moment is shattered shortly after however, when Jung Woo's dad, Han Tae Joon (HTJ) arrives home. Jung Woo politely introduces Detective Kim to his dad & Detective Kim being the "decent adult" that he is, holds out his hand, but is rudely ignored & overlooked by HTJ.
He's funny after he tells Jung Woo to go back inside the house he mutters, "The kid is great the dad sucks." {{Paraphrased, of course, but that was the gist}} Then he turns around & sees a minivan sitting off in the shadows up & across the street w 2 men sitting inside it also in the dark. He goes to check it out, as he is a cop after all & nearly gets rundown. But he remembered to take down the license plate. Good thing, because he is going to need that later on.
Inside the courtyard to HTJ's enormous house, HTJ explains that Jung Woo should not be associating w useless people like Det. Kim. When Jung Woo explains to his father that he doesn't want to lie to him but that he will be seeing Det. Kim & his family again, his father threatens to send him back to the US, because he has no use for a kid who does not obey.
I know this is a K Drama & therefore not exactly real to life but seriously all the rich people in these dramas are evil! Cold, calculating, indifferent, greedy, selfish, careless, caustic, dead inside. More like automatons than humans. His father & his mother are just horrible people. Poor kid. Soo Yeon's mom, was not much better in the first couple of episodes but she seems to be redeeming herself. I refuse to say I forgive her until I get further in to the drama & see how she behaves. I've got my eye on all of these "Adults" for their behavior.
Later that evening, Jung Woo proves he isn't going to obey his father when he calls Soo Yeon to talk. She's sitting outside her house & pulls out this huge cordless phone from her sweater & I flashed back to when I was a kid talking to my girlfriends & boyfriend on my parents huge cordless phone w a huge antenna that you pulled up & I giggled...ahhhh the 90s. He tells her he wants it to rain tomorrow because he really wants his gift that she promised to give him if it rained. But she wants snow. Its a very deep conversation...not really...between two cute teens who are experiencing their first love. You remember your first love AddiKts? When it was all puppies & flowers & butterflies & sunshiny? And you floated on air after being near the one you liked that much? Ahhhh....those were the days of innocence. I miss them. They hang up & she writes on the wall I miss you. But alas, no Micky this time. Bummer.
The next day dawns & we see Jung Woo playing with his little sister taking pictures & being a sweet kid. And then it starts to rain. he gets all excited throws on a rain poncho & runs to meet her. She gets excited & runs around looking for her umbrella, the new yellow one he gave to her w the tag "Famous Lee Soo Yeon" attached. Her new sister Eun Joo comes home & tells her that she saw her mother out with it earlier so she waits outside for mom to get home so she can snatch the umbrella & run. Her poor mom is so excited that she finally has the normal life she always dreamed of where the man earns the check & gives it to her. And how sweet that she was excited it was her birthday so she was going to prepare a huge feast. I felt like saying, "Awww, but no one made you seaweed soup for your birthday breakfast?!?!" But by this point Soo Yeon had already grabbed the umbrella & run off. She yelled back she was just going to see Jung Woo & that she'd be right back.
As Jung Woo is running to her, he passes that streetlight where they had that sweet little romantic staring contest in ep 2 & discovers its shorting & sparking all over the place...he stops & stares for a minute......And is GRABBED from behind & has a cloth covered in chloroform placed over his mouth! At this point is when Soo Yeon appears & sees him being kidnapped, she calls out to the would be kidnapper & even sees his face! After they drive off she chases & the kidnapper tells the driver to stop, because she's seen his face they have no choice. They take her too. Leaving her brand new yellow umbrella in the street being blown around by the wind & the rain.
And from here on out I just had to stop every few minutes to breathe. No more sweet, cute, wonderful moments now.
In the next scene Nurse Jung is on the phone w the kidnappers explaining to them that they'll get their money as soon as Jung Woo is in her hands. She needs Jung Woo to get Hyung Joon's mom out of the mental hospital. I finally figured out the plan at this point. But it didn't work like the ladies had planned.
The Plan:
Kidnap Jung Woo (HTJ's son). Then let HTJ know he doesn't hole ALL the cards & that they have his kid & he should let Hyung Joon's mom get away, if he wants his son to live. Then w nurse Jung & Hyung Joon waiting in a car outside, hunched down, because no one notices suspicious cars in K Dramas, she would get in the car with them, they'd give back Jung Woo when they were safe & escape. That was the plan.
But they forgot to factor in one thing. HTJ is a cold hearted evil Bastard who cares about "The Money" far more than he does about any human being, even his son. And he is not afraid of them at all. Instead he has the mom captured again & orders his men to find his son & "The Money". She'll never see the light of day again. And Nurse Jung figures all this out from outside watching as HTJ drives off lickety split & the light in Hyung Joon's mom's room goes out completely. As they are driving away she tells Hyung Joon, who is freaking out about leaving without his mom, "Your mother is dead! He killed your dad & your mom & we have his son, he catches us, we're dead too. Something went wrong! You have to protect it now!" ("It" being the Chairman's (CM#2's) Money.) She also explains "there is no one left in this world to die for you". Way to sugarcoat it Nurse Jung...Panic much?!?!
While all of this is going on, Jung Woo & Soo Yeon's absence at Soo Yeon's house has been noticed. Eun Joo found the umbrella in the street & called her dad, Det. Kim to see. He tries to play it off that the kids' are just being irresponsible, but you can see he's worried. he knows the umbrella is important & that the kids wouldn't just disappear like this. but he doesn't want his daughter or Soo Yeon's mom to worry, so he decides he's going to look & investigate himself.
But you know & I know all is not well with Jung Woo & Soo Yeon. Jung Woo wakes up in an old shed, hands bound behind & tries to use his phone, but there is no signal. Then he realizes that he is not alone...Soo Yeon is stirring too. They wake up & he asks her what she's doing there? And she says, "I was trying to save you." Both are crying & both realize that they are not alone. One of their kidnappers is there...getting stoned...watching them, smiling to himself, because he is high & evil. Jung Woo spots a broken bottle & decides to try & use the glass to cut through the ropes. He won't give Soo Yeon a piece because the glass is cutting his hand & he doesn't want her hurt too.
It's here I stopped taking notes AddiKts, so the rest of this review may be a little muddled, I say this as if it hasn't already been muddled of course.
Jung Woo is not through the ropes yet but the kidnapper is wondering what they are doing & he comes over...Jung Woo knows that they are in trouble, & he KNOWS that Soo Yeon is the most vulnerable at this point. The kidnapper then grabs Soo Yeon by her ankles & drags her away. Jung Woo frantically is trying to cut through the ropes & the kidnapper kicks him square in the ribs. Shocking & dazing Jung Woo. Soo Yeon once again steps in to save Jung Woo & hits the kidnapper w a board & screams for him to "Go away!" He goes for her Jung Woo starts yelling, the kidnapper comes back & tapes his mouth closed. Then goes for Soo Yeon again. She tries threatening him by admitting who her father was & that means she's capable of killing too. Jung Woo & she are both crying. She because she just admitted who her father was out loud & him because he KNOWS how much that hurt her to do. but her sacrifice was in vain. She hits the kidnapper again but it doesn't stop the inevitable. They don't show anything but the look of torment on Jung Woo's face as he listens to her screams & watches her rape.
She's left beaten & bruised on the floor when the other kidnapper arrives & sees what's going on. They get into a fight because he couldn't stop himself again. And Jung Woo finally breaks the rope that binds him. And he sees the open door. And he sees her face, pale, bleeding, vacant. He's sobbing as he looks back & forth between the door & Soo Yeon. You can see he's terrified himself. He just witnessed an atrocity. His sweet innocence is gone for forever just as hers is & he is only 15 too.
Eventually he gets up & goes through the door to freedom, leaving a bruised, battered, bleeding, raped Soo Yeon behind. I can only imagine the betrayal or anger she might feel. Or maybe she'll spend the rest of her life as though she is garbage because she was raped, as though once he saw that, he left her because she was trash now. I don't know how the writers will address her feelings in the future...will they write her angry & betrayed or will they write her compassionate & understanding that he too was just a kid. A terrified, badly injured boy who saw a chance to escape the horror & took it? Or will she always view herself as used trash that should be thrown away. Don't tell me. I want to see for myself what happens. Rape is such a horrible unending trauma for its victim. The turmoil of emotions & what it does to the psyche is almost irreparable in a lot of cases. It's every females worst, most atrocious nightmare. And I absolutely hate when its used as a plot device in books, movies & TV. Rape scenes always leave me sick to my stomach. I hate them. This will be the worst episode in a K Drama I have seen to date. There are probably a few other dramas that have used this plot device as well. I haven't seen them though. This was my first experience of rape in a K Drama. I sincerely hope its my last.
Once he escapes the kidnappers soon follow. They chase him through the woods, over train tracks & into a town that seems abandoned. Where he finds a phone & calls his father for help. Then once he hangs up with his father he calls the Police & asks for them to get him Detective Kim just as the 911 operator is asking his location he is found by the kidnappers. They hang up the phone so the call for authorities is cut short. They begin by beating him some more. Then the rapist kidnapper heads back to Soo Yeon & the shed. Just then his father shows & he is rescued. He begs his father to rescue Soo Yeon. But his father sends him home instead. Once HTJ's men arrive at the shed Soo Yeon is nowhere to be found & because no evidence can be found by the police they gather everything into the middle of the room & set it all on fire.
At this point Det Kim who has gone to Jung Woo's house looking for the kids is told Jung Woo is in bed asleep & to go away at the gate. As he is leaving he gets a call from the station relaying Jung Woo's brief phone message about Soo Yeon's danger & the kidnapping. he heads to the location & sees the fire but doesn't notice all the fancy black cars driving past him or who is inside them.
On the snowy road just Nurse Jung is realizing its all going south Soo Yeon steps out & nearly gets hit. Nurse Jung backs away from Soo Yeon's body on the hood of her car & shows the intent to run her down & finish her off. She knows Soo Yeon has seen the kidnappers face. She is threat to everything. She must be killed.
At his house Jung Woo's mother & father are in his room with him, he's begging his father to go back for Soo Yeon. but it falls on deaf ears. His father realizes I think that Soo Yeon was probably raped & his son saw it. He calls them all trash & then basically tells his traumatized, injured son, "you left her so if she dies its your fault". He leaves & Jung Woo tries to get his mother to stay with him & she refuses as well saying all of this is HIS fault. Seriously I wanted to B slap that woman into next week. The kid is terrified, traumatized, badly injured, overwhelmed w guilt & she acts like a cold heartless B with an itch! I wanted to beat the crap out of her myself.
The next day Det Kim & the local police to the area are combing through the fire wreckage. he finds Soo Yeon's hairpin & knows she was there but no one will listen to him & tell him to go through proper channels since this isn't his jurisdiction. JURISDICTION!?!?!?! Seriously!! That's what is important to you?!?! Not the life of children!! OHMYGOSH!!! The adults in this show are so rotten!!! But Det Kim's problems aren't over yet. At the police station he figures out that the van he saw outside HTJ's house that night is somehow involved in Soo Yeon's disappearance. He knows the road she went missing on...he followed the blood trail int he snow & found her shoe. he's given that shoe as a piece of evidence of foul play. BUT she is the daughter of a convicted & executed murderer...never mind that he wasn't the actual murderer after all. The Police can't have that leaked out either so Det Kim is placed on suspension. He gets a phone call from home at this point. Soo Yeon's mom is convinced that the family whose husband & child were murdered by her husband...even though he wasn't the one...have taken Soo Yeon for revenge & killed her. All of this comes out in front of Eun Joo who, finally finds out all of it, except this latest kidnapping of her new sister & Jung Woo. She is furious w her dad for always saying he hates cowards who lie to protect themselves but yet that's exactly what he has done.
And in the last scene we see Jung Woo reliving via nightmare everything he went through. And he wakes up crazed & screaming & crying; storming to his father in his office, that his dad promised to find Soo Yeon. And that's where it ends.
And ohmygoodness....so exhausting! This is why I avoid melodramas. This feeling of abject despair & sadness. I really am much better being happy, funny, inappropriate joke cracking Unnie then I am this Unnie.
Seriously, I am sure there are grammar & punctuation etc errors again ladies & gents but I'll be darned if I want to read this review right now & fix my mistakes. it was hard enough writing it all out once. I was assured by a friend & fellow AddiKt later episodes get easier. I'm tapping my foot impatiently for those less emotionally trying eps.
Day 3/Episode 3 is done. I hope you guys appreciate this. Aish!
Saranghabnida,
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