Pinocchio ep 10: Facts, Truth, and Impact

This post is so very late and I am so very sorry. The next episodes are out and all. Can you believe it? I won't bore you with the details and story behind the tardiness, though it actually is a pretty good one, as all stories that involve purple projectile puke tend to be. Late it may be, but I'll do my best to wrap it up nicely for you so that we can quickly get up to speed and ready for 11.



This episode was huge. HuGe. HUGE! Some major things happened. First, a continuation of major stuff from ep 9 like In Ha figuring out Dal Po's true identity. And then all that came with that. And we end with another big reveal to another important person, but let's not skip ahead quite yet. We'll get to that in due time. So, how about it? Wanna start? Let's go!

The 7 Strings of Pinocchio episode 10:

1.  Truth
In Ha, thanks to one lone shoe (hello Cinderella spin to our story), has figured out Dal Po's true identity and approached him about it. May I just interject for a moment here and comment about how refreshing this whole Pinocchio twist is? It means that truth is told and things don't stay bottled up forever like in other dramas (a certain recent one specifically comes to mind, but I will keep my mouth shut and not point fingers *cough cough Secret Hotel cough*). It's so wonderful to hear these two speak to each other and pretty much put it all out there. In Ha because she doesn't have much choice, and Dal Po, maybe because he is sensitive to her "affliction" and wants to treat the girl with no secrets with respect by revealing what he needs to when he needs to do it. I'm thoroughly appreciating this whole aspect in this drama more than I can even tell you. It is so incredibly refreshing.

Anyway, In Ha gets the truth about Dal Po and his story, even the painful parts relating to her mother's role in his family's tragedy (though that portion of the tale is revealed to her by the cameraman trying to protect her mom, not Dal Po - Dal Po keeps it from her in order to protect her). She cries. For hours. And apologizes. And tells him how she would understand if he continued to hate her. Of course he tells her that that isn't possible, how he hated her for being her mother's daughter when he was Ha Myung, but now he is Dal Po and has no intention of going back to his original identity.

In Ha then asks the hardest question of all - why has he not told his brother? And, to his credit, Dal Po is about to confide in her as to why, how he believes his brother may be an accomplice in a murder (I believe that is the worst he suspects at this time, right?), but she stops him. She knows she cannot keep a secret, so begs him to not tell her. I love the trust they have between each other. Several times now it has come in to play in a major way and every time it is a beautiful thing.

2. Permission...Sort Of
A very unexpected (and very un-drama like) turn of events came about in relation to In Ha's father and the relationship between his daughter and her "uncle". He sees a little hand-holding between the two of them and point blank asks In Ha if she likes Dal Po. Unable to lie, she admits that she does.

Then there's the whole part where Bum Jo's mom pays Dal Pyung a visit. He envisions her freaking out when she finds out that there is a love interest between her precious son and his "less than deserving" daughter, but the truth is that she is overjoyed and fully supports her son pursuing In Ha.

She's all about getting the two of them together, which of course makes Dal Pyung so very happy to know his daughter is the object of a rich heir's affections AND has the support of his fabulously wealthy mother. It's like a father's dream come true.

Except there's this whole Dal Po business. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it isn't every father's dream to have his daughter hook up with her "uncle", " " or not. To his credit though, he sits down with Dal Po and not only gives him a chance to prove himself worthy, but even grants his pseudo-permission for him to date his daughter, moaning all the while about what he is giving up (i.e. a rich son-in-law). Sure, Dal Po gains this near-permission by lying about his true heritage, but hey, I'm sure that won't be an issue in the future, right? Definitely not.

3. Burying It - That Should End Well, Right?
Speaking of burying the truth - Dal Po has an audio recording of Jae Myung confessing to seeking revenge against the factory workers that framed his father. Problem is is that it's his big brother that he loves and has always dreamed of reconnecting with. Not only that, but now big brother is a national (and international) hero. Dal Po has a difficult decision to make. He chooses to bury the truth and keep quiet about a) his true relationship with his brother and b) his evidence to support big brother being a big scary kind of guy. I'm sure this will work out great as we go along and there won't be any kind of consequences whatsoever (she said, sarcastically). Ah, poor, sweet, hyung-protecting Dal Po. He has the best intentions.

4. Comedic Intermission
Amid all the serious reveals and happenings in this episode, we are graced with some comedic scenes as well. I loved the rivalry between MSC and YGN (those are the names of the two networks, right?) - from the restaurant "toast off"

to the rival reporters sneaking around the lecture all incognito-like. Never underestimate the power of a good Kdrama-style incognito sneak.

How about when Rich Boy/Not the Momma and that cameraman cleverly tail Jae Myung? That worked out well. The scene where Richy Rich opens his garage to reveal all of his cars (and, not to be mistaken, they are all his cars - his mother has her own garage) was cute and their playing spy was adorable, even if it did fail.

But more on that in a sec (see #6). The comedy and light moments of this drama are many and they are welcome as we face some of the heavier topics and drama of the drama.

5. Confronting the Mother Figure

Oh no she didn't. Oh, yes she did. When Dal Po can't do it, In Ha does on his behalf. At her mother's lecture, In Ha lays into Mom hard about the incident 13 years ago. It's brutal. It's true, but it's still brutal, especially coming from daughter to mother. Ouch. That's gotta sting. This mother/daughter dynamic is actually picking up some weight and complexity as it goes along. It is not a simple "Mom is evil and has no desire for a relationship with her daughter" case any longer. I get a feeling that Mom is actually starting to dig her daughter a bit and might actually want to salvage some sort of relationship with her. Especially after Not the Momma gave her all the old cell phones that he had kept for 13 years as he "stole (In Ha's) text messages". But, just as mom is inching closer, daughter is leaping backwards. Will these two ever find some semblance of a reconciliation? Is it even possible after all that they have been through?

6. Will He Catch On?

Dude is up to something serious. He gave away his dog to his friend and said he was going somewhere far away. What does he have planned?!

First, will he - Jae Myung - catch on to the fact that he is being followed? Answer is of course, yes. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. It took him all of two seconds. The boy is no dummy and those two are no spies.

Second, and this one still has yet to be revealed, will Detective Chan Soo catch on to Jae Myung's evil deeds? He's getting closer, ever closer.

The other moment that I wondered if "he" (in this case, back to Jae Myung) would catch on is when In Ha, in confronting her mother at the lecture, brings up things that no one outside of the Ki family would have known. It didn't dawn on me immediately, but it didn't take long before it did hit me that she specifically recounted the part of the story about going to see the fireworks. There was no way she would have known that part of the story without knowing the story from an insider, ie family member that was there. So yes, as I sat there and fretted about what he was plotting against In Ha, I begged and pleaded with the Drama Gods that he would catch on and hear what she said, realizing that something was up beyond what he assumed to be the truth. Would he or wouldn't he put it together?

Rubbing gloved hands together - a sure-fire sign that someone is up to no good

7. More Truth
He did. Thank goodness he did. Thinking he was the lone survivor of his family all of these years, a very distraught and disturbed Jae Myung grabs In Ha and demands of her to know how she learned parts of the story that she couldn't possibly have known.

Enter our true hero.

The whole Star Wars Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker "I am your father" thing has some new competition in the way of "Hyung, I am your brother". In a desperate bid to save In Ha from the grasp of Jae Myung, Dal Po/Ha Myung confesses that he is the long-lost little brother of our scary hottie.

 And that folks, is our cliffhanger for the week.

Just so much good stuff going on in this episode and this drama as a whole. It is a total onion drama with layer after layer being peeled back, all the while going deeper and deeper into an ever-expanding plot that is forever circling back onto itself. Dude, and let me just say once again for the record that I think Park Shin Hye is nailing this one! There have been times when I have done a double-take and had to remind myself of who the leading lady is, and every time I am just blown away. I'm not anti-PSH, she's just never wowed me like she's wowing me now. And to think I almost passed this drama up because of her. That would have been truly sad and a major waste. Lee Jong Suk is of course, once again, hitting it out of the park, but that's no big surprise there. He's always engaging and enjoyable to watch. But yeah, PSH, amazing!

And that's where I will leave it at today because there are two new episodes to watch and chat about! Thank you for your patience and I'm again sorry about the tardiness. It will happen again. I'd try to pretend and promise otherwise, but really, next week is Christmas. It will happen again. ;)

Now, in order to make amends, how about some gratuitous couple shots just for the fun of it?

 Merry Christmas! ;)