Friday, August 16, 2013

The Master's Sun ep 4 {{Dramatic Review}}

When I was a little girl, in the 80's, I remember my mom watching a repeat mini-series on TV, supposedly, based on a "true story".  It was called Sybil.  It's actually a very serious & messed up miniseries/film.  I don't really recommend it honestly, Sally Field was amazing as Sybil but it's a really messed up story, real or fictional.  I have a point honestly.  Over the years I have met a lot of different women, some that became best friends & some, that over time, have shown that they are not the person they made me believe they were.  One time in the middle of a heated discussion with one of these women I looked at her, like she was insane, & asked her "Okay Sybil!! Tell me just how many different people live in your head, you nutjob?!?!?"  Needless to say she & I haven't spoken since then.   I'm a pretty straight forward person btw.  I imagine if you have watched episode 4 by now that you are seeing where my point is going...I hope.



What really happened last night:
At the end of episode 3 I said, "She is totally going to let Cha Hee Joo's ghost 'body jump'!!" And she did but not just Cha Hee Joo's body, apparently while intoxicated, or anytime she falls into a completely deep sleep, which I assume requires reaching the REM portion of the sleep cycle, all the ghosts use her body & she has no memory of anything that happens to her, which is why she doesn't allow herself to fall completely asleep, hence the sleep deprived mannerisms & creepy weird goofy way she acts.  BUT Cha Hee Joo only used her for a couple of minutes, after that she became a child, a man, a French dancer, and even a dog!  I laughed so hard when she embodied the ghost of a dog!  That scene had to be so much fun to shoot!  How did So Ji Sub keep a straight face?!?!  Seriously Gong Hyo Jin-ssi you are now among my favorite top actresses.  Mark of a good actress is her ability & willingness to embrace a plethora of different & unique characters & with a straight face.  Move over Sybil, Tae Gong Sil is the new girl in town!  What impressed me most though, was when she took on the persona of Cha Hee Joo, her body language shifted, her facial expressions, her mannerisms, her whole aura, for lack of a better word, became the more hardened, crisp, Cha Hee Joo.  Well done GHJ-ssi.

Meanwhile Joo Joong Won's reaction is to eventually let her into his house, where he then spends the evening alternating between ignoring, tolerating & keeping watch over Tae Gong Sil's body, while ghost after ghost uses her to communicate for them.  Finally he comes to the conclusion, that the only way he'll get any rest is if he, & she, just go to sleep together, which means sleeping in the same bed & holding hands all night long.  In my head right now I hear that "WOOOOO" playback they play when you watch Korean Variety shows.  I loved her reaction to a full night of sleep & how she thought it was such a nice dream & how she wished it was a dirtier dream, so she could 'recharge her female energies'.  NICE!  Sweetie, I am absolutely positive that there are any number of women that would like to have a good dirty dream about So Ji Sub to help recharge their own female energies, you're in good company.  {{wink/wink...hubba/hubba...rawr}}




Watching the other characters get more face time:
I enjoyed watching the secondary characters get more screen time this episode too.  I liked how they are fleshing out SIG's character a little more.  He is just so dreamy in this drama! {{As if he isn't dreamy in every drama?!?!}}  This episode we get to see him search Tae Gong Sil's apartment & discover that she was once a girl of many talents, quite intelligent & popular.  And wonder how 'a girl like that ended up in a place like this'  I also enjoyed when he put Yi Ryeong in her place later in the episode but the best of all his interaction, & subsequent bribery, was with the 2 little boys in the apartment building, thereby getting them to root for him to be Tae Gong Sil's boyfriend, was my favorite part.  We also discovered to whom he is reporting his Joo Joong Won findings, his father.  Who is father is for sure, we don't know yet.  I am probably wrong but my prediction is that SIG's dad is the man behind Giant, Joo Joong Won's competitor, who will soon be opening an even larger mall, not far away.  But at this point, with so little to go on, but my gut feeling & hopefully what I am interpreting correctly as foreshadowing, but I could be very wrong.  Because what does the CEO of Giant want with info regarding Cha Hee Joo & Joo Joong Won's past?  I just don't know.



Even though I still can't quite put my finger on whether Aunt & Uncle are good or bad, I laugh everytime Aunt reminds her, younger than her, obviously married her for her wealth, husband, that she likes that he is honest with her about not being madly in love with her.  He seems like quite the idiot so far.  Even if Aunt turns out to be evil, I like her.  She usually provides good character color to the KDramas in which I have seen her.   Even security guard cutie got a little more airtime when he revealed he that he only told his close friends that he thought Joo Joong Won & Tae Gong Sil have some sort of relationship based on the visual evidence he has seen with his own eyes.  Then becoming the spy for Uncle.  This week's main ghostly story, while short & not at all completely resolved as in previous episodes, centered on the ever selfish and egotistical Yi Ryeong.  Being followed by some sort of vanity ghost who keeps whispering in her ear that she will be the prettiest, even if she has to get surgery.  The outfits & hairdo he put her in were awesomely over the top.  And even though he moved on to another victim, rather than being gotten rid of by Tae Gong Sil, I enjoyed this his story.  I hope he comes back later.

Let me clear up any misunderstanding, I'm just letting her use my body.
Though it is a brief scene, I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner scene w Joo Joong Won & his aunt & uncle.  His uncle thinks he's going to reveal the ugly truth of Joo Joong Won's, obviously, illicit affair with the cleaning lady, the same one who ruined Yi Ryeong's wedding, by tattletaling to his wife.  But Joo Joong Won cuts him off at the pass & explains she comes to his office, his car & yes even his house but she doesn't clean for him & he intends to give her an even closer position in his office.  But it's okay, neither is interested in marriage, it's purely physical, he's letting her use his body.  Uncle is shocked but Aunt just keeps on eating.



I can show sympathy but don't you dare feel sorry for me!
For me the most revealing part of the show comes towards the end.  At the beginning of the show Joo Joong Won finally figures out that he needs to keep Tae Gong Sil close to him, so she can be his 'radar' in case Cha Hee Joo comes back & so that Tae Gong Sil can give him details, from the ghosts following his people, aka Yi Ryeong, & his enemies.  She explains that she wants to be in his secretary office like Secretary Kim, before her accident, she tries to tell him she spoke other languages & was quite talented in many areas etc...  By the end of the episode he decides to give her the chance by having her be there when he meets with Giant's CEO.  However, things go awry when her sympathy for his supposed guilt over Hee Joo's death makes her lie to him about something she "all of a sudden remembered" Hee Joo said to her before she blacked out & Hee Joo took over her body.  To let it go, that she doesn't resent him for the past & she forgives him & that she wants him to be happy.  Now we know & he knows, that Hee Joo is actually not the nice girl everyone thinks, so we all know she would never say such a thing to him.  In fact, she told him she couldn't let go of him, that even though she was such a bitch, her word not mine, she still couldn't leave him alone, and then her final torturous words to him before vacating TGS's body was "Sarangaheyo".  He gets mad & unceremoniously kicks TGS out for lying to him & trying to protect his feelings!  How dare she show him kindness and sympathy!



When secretary Kim comes in & says that the CEO from Giant won't be there for a while, because there was a really bad accident close by & all the roads are blocked for emergency crews to retrieve the high number of dead & help the injured.  Joo Joong Won asks, "a lot of people died close by?"  Then the camera cuts to Tae Gong Sil walking home, very sad & stopping at the crosswalk at the scene of the accident & watching in horror as the ghosts begin to form all over the place, just when I think I can't handle the tension of this scene another second, in sweeps Joo Joong Won! FTW!!  He grabs her and spins her into his arms and says, as he wraps his arms around her, "Your safe spot has arrived, hide."  It's okay for him to show compassion & sympathy & protect her but she is not allowed to show the same emotions to him.

My Thoughts:
 Obviously, by my recap, you can tell I am enjoying The Master's Sun.  So far I find it, quirky, funny, different, fun, creepy, interesting, romantic, & Squee Worthy.  I am enjoying the dialogue, the smooth flow & development of the story, the even portrayals of all the different characters.  Especially the main leads.  So Ji Sub's version of the typical K drama jerk, is very palatable, almost enjoyable, a first for me.  Gong Hyo Jin is doing an excellent job as the creepy, weird, girl who needs a friend & some protection from the unseen.  Honestly her characterization of Tae Gong Sil; with her way of touching SJS & shooing away ghosts we can't see etc...reminds me of the way Johnny Depp dove into the character of Captain Jack with his swaying & slurred speech and mannerisms of a man that's always just a little drunk.  She is embodying the character perfectly.  Gong Hyo Jin-ssi, fighting!   I am sincerely praying the Hong Sisters can end this one as beautifully as they have begun it.  I am praying that they don't screw this up like they did Big.  Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, don't screw this up ladies.  Your fans may not let you write again if you screw this one up too.   Looking forward for next week.

Saranghamnida,

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