Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Hyde, Jekyll and I ep 16: Of Boards and Turtlenecks

So, I don't know if you know this or not, but this recap is really, really extra super duper late. The next episode is already out. I just couldn't figure out what to say about this one. Why? Because NOTHING happened. No, really, nothing happened. So, since we don't have a lot to cover plot-wise, I thought I'd start with the most memorable moment of the entire episode and then just go from there.

Did you see the final outfit that they stuck poor Binnie in???

DID YOU SEE IT???

I. CAN'T. EVEN....

Here, let me just show you....


Do you see it now???  Shirt, jacket, TURTLENECK??? WTH WERE THEY THINKING????? I DON'T MEAN TO YELL, BUT COME ON! ON WHAT PLANET IS THIS ACCEPTABLE??? Who wears a turtleneck underneath a dress shirt?? The sylist/wardrobe dept on this drama has gone turtleneck crazy!  Here, let me show you a few more examples to prove my point....
He sure loves the black. At first I thought that this was the same one as the last one and that he was some sort of "never nude" always wearing the same shirt and never removing it, but now upon closer inspection, this appears that it may be what is classified as a "mock" turtleneck. Because it is mocking our sensibilities.
Hey look! Couple's shirts! Both boys are all matchy. Cute. -_-
At least it isn't black?
Glaring signs that the wardrobe department is staging some sort of silent protest due to the sadness that this drama ended up being aside, what else struck me this episode? What else stood out? Well, for me, it was something visual that I kept seeing. So I went and found a proper illustration to share. Bonus - I found a great way for them to save money for the last two weeks of this drama (groan, yes, I said two more weeks). Let's replace our female lead with her understudy. Meet the new and improved Ha Na --

See how expressive "she" is? I can't see the difference. They're like carbon copies of each other. Maybe throw a wig and some lipstick on "her" if you really want the authentic look and to effectively fool even the most observant of viewers. I swear, anytime she was involved in any "serious" conversation that was supposed to be emotional, this^ was the extent of her emoting.

Okay, okay, snarky mean comments moved to the back burner for now. I suppose that maybe someone out there wants to know a little about what happened in 16. I already told you the crux of it - nothing - but I guess I can elaborate a little more on that nothing. How about we go with "nothing new"? Everything has been resolved as far as our kidnapping/bad guy/whatnot hoopla. Hot Doc is caught and has been enlightened as to the truth of what happened all those years ago and his own father's role in it. He's been carted off to jail. Everyone knows everything about everything now. Story over, right? That's usually what happens. But no. Story not over. We have a hanger-on on our hands here and his name is Robin. Robin won't disappear. Seo Jin doesn't need him for the trauma anymore, so why won't he go away? Why is Seo Jin still a man divided? Isn't it obvious? Because of lurv. L-O-V-E lurv. Robin and Ha Na are sitting in their proverbial tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-Ging. Seo Jin, being in love with her, yet knowing that she loves his alternate personality instead, is letting Robin still hang out rent free in his brain. Sad, sad, sad Seo Jin.

Robin is a loser. Robin is driving me crazy. Ha Na is a loser. Ha Na is driving me crazy. Robin is so flat and boring. Ha Na seems to forget that Robin is a personality, a symptom of a mental illness, and not a real boy. In order to not lose her, Seo Jin holds on in the form of Robin. Robin is being rebellious to his broken "host" though and is trying to establish himself as his own man. He's trying to get an ID of his very own. He gets an office/apartment and asks Ha Na to basically live with him there. All uncomfortable because of Seo Jin's confession of lurv for her, Ha Na runs away from SJ's back to her friend's house, but then also agrees to hang out at Robin's place with him. The idiot says that she loves Robin, but I swear that every so often, we catch a glimpse of a cold dose of reality hitting her. It never lasts, but I see it popping up every so often where you can practically hear her head screaming at her heart that she is being stupid and loves a figment of a broken man's imagination. It doesn't last long, but it's enough to convince me that she is the Queen of Denial. Queen of Denial and a big, dumb idiot with a pretty face (and not much else) too.

Seo Jin's dad is being nicer. He apologized to his son. But he freaks out when he finds out that Robin still hasn't faded into the night with all the resolution that's been going on. When he hears from "I liked her better when she was gagged and couldn't talk" Dr Kang that Ha Na is what is holding Robin there, his reaction is what we would expect from him. He of course wants to ship her out of the country. This isn't a popular idea. Shocker. Seo Jin on the other hand is making great efforts to learn to be a human. My thinking is that by doing so, he will achieve his desired goal - winning the girl's heart (really though, is that much of a prize here? Girl is in love with a non-person and clearly is a total airhead and not a rational being) - and will end up killing off Robin on his own, simply absorbing Robin's qualities as his own. You know, since those are already in him, being that Robin IS him. He just needs to find them and hone them and then Robin will be obsolete.

And that was the crux of the episode and the most significant take-away from it. See, really, not much happened. Just more of the same old story.

I will add though that I was glad to see the two boys making up and getting things worked out.

And that the scene with Seo Jin visiting the circus troupe in order to learn how to socialize was more awkward then it needed to be, but was still cute. And then there was all the pretty. Can't ignore the pretty.

They are still relying heavily on the frequent close-up shots of Binnie. I thought that that would get annoying if it continued so late in the game as it has, but it turns out that that is the only thing really making this drama remotely worth my time. I really do love seeing Hyun Bin in action. I'm still pulling for the rest of the drama to be him and him alone. ;) Not that I'm biased at all. Nope. Not at all.

Sorry this was late. I didn't hear anyone asking for it though, so maybe no one even noticed or cared. Either way, here it is now. Kmuse will be back soon with the recap of 17. I'm sure she loved it. haha! ;) Thanks for stopping by - see you soon! Hopefully minus the turtleneck-underneath-the-shirt *shudder*

~Dongsaeng

3 comments:

  1. Wow. That dress shirt over a turtleneck is indeed a crime. The other crime is the utter waste of Sung Joon in this drama.

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  2. So agree with your board analogy. I am bored too. I am also watching Yi San and this actress is pretty wooden there too. What is the attraction of some of these actors? Use someone who can emote. Thanks for making me laugh.

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  3. Fashion crimes and a literal block of wood! I'm dying of laughter!

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