Mask Episode 9 - Just Tell Him Already

Two things needed to happen this episode.  First, Ji Sook needed to stop trusting Seok Hoon and start using her brain.  Second, she needs to tell Min Woo the truth already.  I am not kidding, show; let's get that secret out into the air so it can circulate, much like our plot needs a breath of fresh air to move forward.  JUST TELL HIM.  Sadly, neither happens and we are left twisting to and fro in a never ending circle of Ji Sook stupidity.

Don't get me wrong.  I am still love love loving this makjang crazy mess.  It is my second favorite current airing drama, barely being beaten out by Seo In Guk's new show (..come on people, it is Seo In Guk).  But enough is enough.  We need to let Min Woo be the awesome white knight that he is and I need to regain some of the love I had for Ji Sook's character back in the beginning of the drama.   It is time to put our big girl pants on and come clean

We start where we left off where the police are trying to take Ji Sook's fingerprints.  Knowing that they would prove she is not Eun Ha, she stares wide eyed at the cops and attempts to keep them from forcing her hand open.  Luckily for Ji Sook and her secret, Min Woo shows up and tells them to let go of his wife. (Hahahaha, I love that the cops actually do despite the fact that she did something totally illegal and was acting so suspicious.)  Leaving the precinct,Min Woo hands the keys over to Ji Sook and tells her to do what she needs to do, but just be safe.

I think it is official.  Min Woo is the most understanding and awesome husband ever.  Not only does he support Ji Sook, while not knowing what she is out doing, but he defends her against everyone whether it be a cop, a crazy sister, or an even crazier brother in law.

Rather than confessing any bit of her turmoil, Ji Sook grabs the keys and runs off to aid her brother.  And promptly runs out of gas (my brain is starting to hurt).  Ji Sook leaves the car and runs the rest of the way to where she, somehow, knows her brother is about to do something bad.  But standing in her way are the two thugs who her family owes money to. Ji Sook hides and overhears them talking about taking her brother to the woods and killing him.  Ji Sook's worry over her brother's safety overcomes her need to keep her secret and she screams at Hoya to run.

 Bwahahaha I could not stop laughing at main thugs expression on seeing Ji Sook alive and well.

After hiding her brother (or at least giving him money so he can hide) Ji Sook returns home and rebuffs Min Woo's concern for her safety.  UGH!  Ji Sook continues to push her husband away despite the evidence that Seok Hoon has lied to her again and again.  Even after realizing that he was behind her brother's almost murder, she still continues to let him use her. Seok Hoon tells Ji Sook to drag Min Woo down since he is undeserving of what he has.  Do this and he will guarantee Hoya's safety. USE YOUR BRAIN, WOMAN!

Min Woo even takes his wife to a botanical garden that he frequents when he needs to think things through and be away from his family.  He talks about his occasional wish to be a happy person who loves and is loved.  Ji Sook places her hand on his chest near his heart and says that one day she will share her secrets and if he can forgive her they can maybe have that life.  Oh my fudge brownies.... JUST TELL HIM.

But before there can be more sharing between our OTP (one true pairing), they are interrupted by two weaselly looking men claiming to have hit Min Woo's car.   Yup, it is our favorite pair of thugs, having hunted down Ji Sook to blackmail her.

They threaten Hoya's life (so, did you already forget that they were planning on killing him anyway?) and tells our dimwitted damsel that she needs to pay them 300 Million before midnight to guarantee his safety. Ji Sook's accounts had all been frozen (don't you think this is a bit odd?) and even all of her designer bags and jewelry could only bring in 50 million.  Now the only question that remains is who she is going to ask for help?
That is the question that  Seok Hoon is also wondering.  It seems that our resident evil guy is using this as a test for Ji Sook.  Seok Hoon ordered the thugs to create this situation in order to find out if Ji Sook will look to him for help, or go to her husband.  We flash forward to Ji Sook who is busy asking Min Woo for the money.  YAY for Ji Sook going to her husband, but before we get too excited we need to point out that she refuses to tell Min Woo what the money is for.

Min Woo instantly agrees to give her the funds ( phttt,  I love that he was 50 million short and borrowed it from his secretary), but before he can hand it off, Min Woo is arrested as a suspect in sleazy guy's suicide/murder.  For the love of Uncle Pete's bad toupee... JUST TELL HIM!

It has been a while since we have seen the crazy Min Woo that we originally began with.  Mostly because the drugging seemed to have eased off once he was married to Ji Sook.  But it comes back with a vengeance when in a state of depression (thinking he had something to do with sleazy guy's death) Min Woo attempts to --- kind of ---- commit suicide.  I am not sure if it was an actual attempt, or if he was just not in his right mind because of the drugs, but the end result was him, face up in the water and unconscious (I laugh at how all the drowning scenes in this drama look so unrealistic).    Yet another situation that could have been avoided if Ji Sook had just opened her mouth and been less vague in her dialogue.

Through a mix of intimidation, blackmail, and warped logic, Seok Hoon yet again convinces Ji Sook to do something stupid.  This time he tells her that for Min Woo's own safety, they need to have him committed.  Seok Hoon then tells her that all she has to do to save her brother and help Min Woo is put this book in his secret hidden bedroom.  WHAT???  Lady, in this episode alone he has tried to kill your brother, implicate him and your husband in a murder plot, killed your wannabe ex, and blackmailed you right and left.  And instead of trying to figure out the angles, you are just giving us that same blank confused look and going along with his evil plans.  At what point are you going to say no?

While Min Woo is in the hospital (guarded by Seok Hoon), Ji Sook puts their plan into effect. Ji Sook makes it all the way to Seok Hoon's inner room where she decides it is time to actually look at the item she is placing there.  It is a book of sonnets which contains forged contracts and payments implementing Min Woo and dead sleaze as co-conspirators. Shocked (seriously? this shocks you?) Ji Sook hears a noise and stuffs the incriminating papers under her clothes.  She rushes out of the secret room, just in time to be caught by her husband.  OK show.  Here is your chance to come clean.  There is no excusing this one away with a blank look.  Please tell me that we are going to have it all come out.  Just hopefully she will remember that someone is watching their every move in the bedroom and Ji Sook will have the conversation away from the house.

My Thoughts:
I need to reiterate that I am loving this drama.  My angst over Ji Sook's character has nothing to do with the actual plotting of the story and more to do with the extreme limitations of Soo Ae as an actress. I will admit that she is beautiful and makes a really gorgeous screen cap.  That said, I just want to acknowledge that my initial fears with Soo Ae playing our lead have been confirmed.  She is VERY limited and is unable to do nuances.  Nuances that are highly needed in this drama to make the leading lady seem more than an emotional idiot.  Anytime anything happens we get only two faces.  One is the open mouthed shocked look and the other is the vapid pretty smile.  Both perfectly fine in moderation but when you are playing a complicated character that just becomes annoying really fast.

Thankfully both of the other three leads are doing an amazing job keeping up the intensity and chemistry needed for the show (especially Yeon Jung Hoon who is owning this drama).  Through their talent her ineptness is being covered, but the more we circle around the same storyline, the more Ji Sook's flaws begin to show.  Which means we need to move on writers, and stop leaving clues for Min Woo and just tell him already.  I need plot movement more than anything right now.

Before heading off to watch #10, I just want to do a quick mention about Min Woo's escape from the hospital by putting pillows under his covers to make it look like he is sleeping. Awwww, that is just so cute.  I love that Min Woo feels, at times, like a teenager trying to one up an adult.  It makes him all the more likable and added a bit of humor that this episode greatly needed.

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