My Secret Hotel Episode 9 - So Many Questions. So Much Frustration

This episode was chock full of questions and few answers.  Personally, this blogger is getting a bit frustrated with the character development of the three leads, as well as the romantic story as a whole.  What is going wrong?  Why am I not connecting in like I want to?  To try and answer this question, let's go through this episode and throw out some of the questions I am sure everyone is asking.  I can't be the only one out there cranky at the leads.

DISCLAIMER:
I am having the hardest problem blogging this episode.  Could be lack of sleep.  Could be my anger at Sang Hyo for not being the character I had hoped she would be.  Could be I am distracted by the surprisingly sexy body of Sung Gyeom.  Whatever it is, please forgive my lack of wit in this recap since I seemed to have misplaced it.  To make up for it, I surfed the web (trying to avoid having to watch the episode) and found all kinds of miscommunication cartoons.  Because if there is one thing that this drama excels at, it is miscommunication...........and they are much funnier than I am.  Especially at 2 am.

Question #1 Why Don't we have 60 minutes of Hae Young narrating romance novels to us viewers?  I have to imagine that there are a lot of women who would tune into listen to him talk about heaving bosoms and chiseled jawlines.

I don't know why, Hae Young's voice in the opening scene was swoon worthy.  The longing, the huskiness, so much sexy vocal overload for this poor blogger.  It is almost jarring when the rest of the cast speaks because I want to yell at them to shut up so Hae Young can vocally brood some more.

My favorite melodic vocal moment came when director asked Hae Young why he married Sang Hyo.  He replied (in his oh so very very sexy voice) "The first or the second time?  The first time because we were madly in love.  The second time to win back the woman I am madly in love with."  WOW Swoon moment.  Why can't Hae Young seem to say anything like that when Sang Hyo is actually around.  For the love of Pete, say that and Sang Hyo is bound to fall at Hae Young's feet.  Or more likely she will misunderstand and think he is just saying that to save face, or because he likes to hear himself think, or for a ton of other reasons.  This girls ability to make up problems is legendary.

Question #2 - What Happened in Vegas?

Poor Soo Ah is in her bed crying about her boyfriend's disappearing act (he ran when he realized that he could not keep her while living in poverty).  Soo Ah tries to receive comfort from our cranky leading lady, asking if she thinks that her boyfriend will be back?  "If he comes back I can forgive him, even if it takes a while." (Awww.  Soo Ah is just a tad simple minded, but she can be sweet sometimes as well.)  Rather than console her, Sang Ho bitterly says to dump him, "they never come back.  Move on".  Hmmm  I think I am starting to see what went wrong with your first marriage.  And guess what, it was not him, it was you.

Then we finally get the flashback we were waiting for.  What went wrong in Vegas? Did they have a horrible fight?  Did Miss Buttinski ruin their marriage (that is my running theory)?  In flashback we see that Hae Young leaves her with no words, only a plane ticket in her name: destination New York, and an address.  I guess Sang Ho goes into a her depressed stupid place, since the time lapse indicates she sits on the floor "waiting" for days, until she finally passes out.  Really?  That was the extent of your "great love"?  No phone call, no communication, no anger?  Sigh... I am really starting to get pissed off with the writers for creating situations that just don't make sense.  Seriously?  Who can even relate to that kind of extremity.

Question #3 Why Can't the OTP (one true pairing) be Hae Young and Sung Gyeom?

The one highlight of the episode came about when due to a mix of jealousy on Hae Young's part, the two men ended up spending the night in the same suite.  What followed was the most hilarious and immature show of male posturing that I have ever seen.  When Sung Gyeom picks a bed, Hae Young scoots onto the bed forcing the director to end up on his lap.  Hahaha My expression was probably similar to our 2nd leads.  Who does that?  This was also the scene that I mentioned earlier where Hae Young waxes poetic about his love for Sang Ho.

But the true magic happens as we watch Sung Gyeom brood, staring into the mirror, while in the shower....phhttt  Don't get me wrong, the guy has some amazing eye candy from the neck down, but who stares at themselves in a mirror while showering?  What hotel provides creepy mirrors in the showers?  That is one step away from having rotating heart shaped beds and mirrors on the ceilings.  But I digress, here we are brooding, showers, lots and lots of exposed skin... and the visuals go on, and on, and on.  

Finally Sung Gyeom goes back into the bedroom and even Hae Young is taken a back.  Hahaha he starts an argument about how Sung Gyeom must never work since he must spend all his time working out at the gym to have that body.  Sung Gyeom just smirks as he lathers lotion into his abs........Ummm you sure are taking your time with that lotion there boy.  I am pretty sure he is enjoying one upping his rival, but it is short lived when Hae Young comes over, looking down his nose at
Sung Gyeom, and calls him short.  HAHAHA These two are hilarious.  Why do they have so much chemistry with each other and so little with our leading lady.

Question #4 - If you got married for the hotel, then doesn't it look bad to break up with the "love of your life" two days after the wedding?

Seriously?  There is a major plot hole here if we are supposed to believe that Sang Ho is ditching her marriage two days after the actual wedding.  Does she think no one is going to check up on their marriage (especially with Miss Buttinski in the mix)? 

Does our dim heroine think that dating and kissing Sung Gyeom is the way to prove that she has a real marriage with Hae Young?  It is going to come across as a marketing ploy which will be horrible for the hotels reputation.  What about the three month divorce curse that was the whole point of starting the publicized wedding?  If she gets divorced now, how does that continue to help the hotel?  I am willing to accept the insanity of a forced remarriage pushing our OTP back together. But what is the point when it only ends up pushing them farther apart.  When we have Sang Ho making out with Sung Gyeom as a cliffhanger then obviously we have a problem with the writers selling me on our OTP. 

My Thoughts:
The writers are dropping the ball on character development this week.  I need to believe that this could somehow be real people dealing with these problems, but instead I get a lot of situations that came across as false.  Why wouldn't Sung Gyeom be more upset with Sang Ho's selfish actions?  If my girlfriend married someone else and went away on a honeymoon, I would be a tad bit pissed. Also why would Sang Ho ditch the marriage ruse when it was saving her career.  Why would you sit alone in an apartment and not TALK with your husband about why he has to go to New York.  So many things were just stupid and frustrating to me today.  I know that the writers are somehow going to turn things around, but while they take their time in doing so, I am losing patience and interest.  Crossing my fingers that things pick up next week.  Until then I will at least go back and enjoy the brooding shower/mirror scene since that was sexy and funny all at the same time.

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Nam Sang-Hyo

Koo Hae-Young

Jo Sung-Gyeom

Y

eo Eun-Joo