Pinocchio Episode 11 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

In today's episode we find that being forced to confront truth and reality really really suck.  Rarely have I ever seen a drama where the telling of the truth makes so many people unhappy.  Whether it is being forced to be truthful because of a Pinocchio disease, or simply through one's set moral code, it is really a kick in the pants for all our characters as almost all secrets are shared and our cast continues to hurtle towards an unhappy finale. 

As we reach the middle of the series our drama takes a sudden push into somber mode and we spend the majority of the hour watching everyone cry.  Not that it is not really well done tears, but I have to wonder how long they can continue to grip me when they have the story at this level of despair.  Brothers reunited and soon to be torn apart, our cute OTP sharing frozen heart wrenching kisses (and despite what others have said, I actually loved the kiss moment), our one sided love texting hottie suddenly going cold, how are we going to survive without the cuteness and heart that we had grown to love?  More on that later in my final thoughts, but for now, hold in your tears as we discuss the seven pivotal moments of episode 11.

#1 The Reunion
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!  We finally got the brother reunion we had all been waiting for.  And let me just say, that it did NOT disappoint.  There were tears, there were sweet big brotherly moments. But that was overshadowed by the whole, "I accidentally became a murderer while you were dead" thing.   Followed by a lot of tears that were not of the happy variety.  UGH!!!  While the writer in me loves the whole brother turns revenge murderer concept, the romantic inside is screaming WAE???  Wae couldn't we have the super sweet bromantic moment that I envisioned in the first couple episodes.  Wae couldn't they reunite in one of those cute fated kdrama moments resulting in hugs, moving in together, and raising the next generation of genius upright reporters?  WAE? WAE? WAE???????? Excuse me as I sit in a corner sobbing over their beautiful reunion (yup even got me the 2nd time as I watched to snag screencaps). 

Everything about this scene was beautifully done.  The tone was spot on and I could feel the mix of happiness, hope, and despair bursting forth from both brothers.  The happy smile as Hottie Hyung tries to feed his brother a slice of pizza, the crashing expression of his face as he realizes that they can't live as brothers since he is in fact a murderer.  Hottie Hyung obviously does not know his brother very well if he thinks that Dal Po will desert him because of the whole killer thing.  It is just a matter of how Dal Po will go about trying to fix all of the problems existing between his old life with his new.  (but more on that mess later).

#2 Rewarded for Speaking the Truth 
It seems that Ice Mom has made some anti-fans with her fast and loose use of the truth.  Trudging back to the office, expecting to be reprimanded, In Ha faces the consequences of standing up to her mother in public.  Lacky #1 begins upbraiding her as expected, until surprisingly, head bootlicker boss takes In Ha's side.  Instead of punishing In Ha, he simply says that was not the appropriate place to confront her mother regardless of whether it was true or not.  Hehehehe.  He then orders In Ha to report to him from now on and gives her the day off to recover. When In Ha ask why she is not being punished, he replies: "You are being rewarded for doing the right thing."  
Awwww.  Am seriously having a small ahjussi crush on her sunbae.  This actor just has that right amount of likable smarminess that you can't help but be won over by his blustering ego.  I also like that In Ha has some backing in her company and that she won't be thrown to the wolves because she stood up for what was right.

#3 Stolen Story
It did not take long before the joy of our brotherly reunion came to a crashing halt.  We literally had only 20 min before we poor viewers were faced with the fallout of Hottie Hyung's murderous past.  Dal Po returns to the news office where the newbies are giving pitches to possible new stories.  Yawn girl (she is really funny, but I truly have not bothered to remember her name) starts throwing out the possibility of a darker version to the whole Hottie Hyung hero story.  Although she only has some basic details, you know she has the snake by the tail, and it is only a matter of time before everything hits the fan.  Desperate, Dal Po confronts his boss about giving her permission to follow her lead.  His boss replies that he gave him time and now it is someone else's story.  Dal Po lays down his cards and begs mentor boss to give him time so he can convince his brother to turn himself in.  This shocks Gyo Dong (mentor) who had not realized that Hottie Hyung really had killed someone.  Dal Po continues to beg: "If he does not turn himself in, then they will never look at the circumstances surrounding the crime".  Gyo Dong agrees to give Dal Po time to convince his brother (seriously best boss/mentor ever) and takes the article away from Yawn girl.

One thing that is starting to concern me is this whole, "I Turned My Brother into A Murderer", concept that Dal Po has going on.  I agree (and have commented in the past) about how much it sucks that fate kept the brothers apart until after Hottie Hyung went on his killing spree.  But really, how is this your fault.  There is a huge array of options that Hottie Hyung could have done.  Heck, even  ruining their business, lives, loves, etc would have been more acceptable than mass murder.  There were options, it was not as if these men were untouchable.  It seems that Dal Po is all ready to accept all of the blame for his brothers crimes.  And I foresee nothing but sadness coming from that decision.  So much for growing up emotionally and moving on from the past.

#4 Creative Use of a Barf Bag
Thank goodness we had a small dose of humor amid all the angst ridden angstiness of the episode.  In Ha ( who has taken a back seat for most of the episode to tragic bromance) is getting herself properly sloshed.  She glances up and spies Yawn girl across the way, also attempting to drown her sorrows in a bottle of soju.  They decide to combine and both attempt to kill off a year or two of their livers.  In the middle of their conversation, Yawn girl begins to feel nauseous.  She promptly ties a black plastic back over her ears (like a horse feed bag) and tells In Ha to continue.  BWAHAHAHAHA.  I am not sure whether to say EWWWW or give her props for creative use of a puke bag.  Either way this ahjumma thought that this moment was truly hilarious.  It was a nice break in an otherwise humorless hour.

#5 One Last Kiss Goodbye
The writing has been on the OTP (one true pairing) wall for a while that once Hottie Hyung and Dal Po reunited, it was going to be a huge, breaking up size, roadblock when it comes to their relationship.  And guess what, we were right.  Dal Po is of course emotionally divided between revenge and his Hyung and then with In Ha and the whole Ice Mom thing.  In Ha manages to somehow remember the confession of despair that Dal Po gives her when she was supposedly in soju blackout mode.  This results in her becoming completely selfless and it is In Ha who breaks up with Dal Po, giving him permission to go attack her mother to his hearts content.  OK.....so there was a lot more fake smiles, tears, and hidden subtext in the conversation but that was the gist of it.  Dal Po of course realizes that this must be the road he takes and that everything else was just "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (love that this was the title for the episode since it was so apt).  

And then we have the goodbye kiss.  Now let's discuss this kiss since it has been debated about in my discussion group and on twitter.  Some people loved it and some people saw it as a return to the stiff Park Shin Hye kisses of the past.  I personally am in the prior group.  I thought that given the tone of the scene and the emotions behind the lead up to the kiss, that it was totally appropriate and well done.  It not only oozed emotion (despite the stiff postures) but screamed out with the frozen angst and longing going between the couple.  This was a kiss of forced separation of two people who truly love each other.  Because of circumstances beyond their control they must go their own way, however the love is still there simmering underneath in a seething well of despair.  Each held back from instigating a deeper intimacy since they were separating, but they still desperately wanted to maintain that last second of connection.  I say well done to the writers, the actors, and the cameraman who were able to convey so much in a stiff kiss.  Bravo!

 #6 Do It With Flair 
 Remember the whole "get my brother to turn himself in" plan of Dal Po's?  Well up to this point he had not been succeeding.  Hottie Hyung was determined to get revenge on Ice Mom and questioned Dal Po's ability to take over the revenge plot.  "How can you do it when you are dating the woman's daughter?".  Well thanks to In ha giving him the green light on plan revenge, Dal Po is back in the game.  He tells Hottie Hyung that he had given all of the information to his boss and planned on being a good reporter.  One that will tell the truth regardless of personal connections.  He plans on outing his brother himself on national TV.  

WOW, you got to give Dal Po credit that when he commits to something, he goes in whole hog.  Hottie Hyung agrees to do it Dal Po's way and tells his brother that he is so proud of him.  If you are going to get revenge "Do it with Flair" Hottie Hyung tells his little brother.  The next thing we see is Dal Po looking all grown up with his updo (yay for hairstyle changes) and in front of a camera crew.  We can assume he is about to oust his brother who is at the same time filming a news segment with Ice Mom.  Let the revenge begin.

My Thoughts:
As I said before, I only foresee pain in our future as the chips begin to fall because of the whole taking over revenge concept Dal Po has going.  I suspect this is going to ruin not only his relationship with In Ha, but that of the whole family.  Dal Po has officially chosen his past over his future.  I wonder how the revenge will go forth and honestly, I kind of am excited to see Ice Mom knocked off her pedestal.  Like In Ha, I think she completely deserves what she gets (as long as it does not go as far as murder).  Maybe this will be the wake up call she needs to be a better person, a better mom, and maybe even a better reporter.  I am excited to see where things go next episode and I truly hope that our cute OTP does not stay separated too long.  There has to be some way they can be together.  Maybe everyone needs a good dose of mass kdrama amnesia so we can just call a do over.  

Kmuse

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