Thursday, June 25, 2015

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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11 comments:

  1. I had to read this even though I didn't watch ep. 9 yet. Now I know I'm in for a world of frustration. I guess we still have 10 episodes to go for Ji Sook to wake up, but you've hit on my exact feelings about the character and Soo Ae the actress playing her. I'm glad the supporting cast is good. I think this drama writer likes to make the women desperate, doing all sorts of nonsensical things, just like in Secret.

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    1. The difference is that in Secret the actress was able to actually portray some emotion other than surprised stress.

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  2. ~sigh~ Her character started out w/one (a character) LOL but sheesh how STUPID can one BE? Oh, that was probably not wise to articulate....

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  3. Though I really liked the recap after having watched this episode, I disagree on SA's acting skills heart and soul. It's impossible for me to forget her roles in films and judge her as an actor solely on this drama or any other drama for that matter. We all know how tv entertainment works, the ppl that are always used in dramas, the live-shooting and the cast restrictions. I find the second female lead to be too blunt, I adore the two male leads but nevertheless, they're nowhere near SA's artistic skills nor acting resume. When one's stating that the peripheral cast outshines SA as an actor ( and not due to plot failures nor character's depiction) sounds a bit sacrilegious to my ears^^

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  4. We must have a difference in opinion in what we like in actresses. Sadly, this drama is my favorite of her characters since in several of her past dramas I have disliked her acting style even more. But luckily everyone is able to enjoy different things about different actors which makes it nice. Otherwise all actors and actresses would be identical.

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  5. I guess when you don't like someone you just don't like them. For me the actress in Secret looks so plastic. At least Soo Ae still looks a bit natural and watchable. As for acting she sure is better than many.

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    1. I see where you're coming from...It's true Secret's female leading actor has had a thing for cosmetic surgeries since some time now. Nontheless she tries very hard with her facial expresses and she has been a far better actress than many others who wonder around the k-dramaland wearing those botox "masks" instead of faces w/o any talent nor any will to act.
      SA actually is in a whole different league, imho...

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    2. Hwang Jung Eum from Secret is one of my favorite actresses, but unfortunately she does look very plastic and that lipstick fade she constantly wears is horrid.

      I did like Soo Ae in The Flu. And that terrified wide-eyed gaze she has in this drama worked very well in the movie, Midnight FM. I notice some actors are far better in movies than they are dramas. At least to me.

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    3. SA's cinema career is quite impressive and you're absolutely right on how much better any good actor does in movies. Dramas are just for easy and fast cash (and some ppl) for them. I personally believe even a mediocre film is far more complicated and well-acted than the most praised tv series (well, with a few exceptions such as True Detectives or House of Cards etc )
      Try watching SA in her other films, too ( Sunny, Once in a Summer, The Sword with No Name) She has that effortless power of a very talented artist, imho!

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  6. I usually dislike weak and manipulative lead gals like the lead gal in "Fated to love you"....Ji Sook , in the first half of the drama is totally manipulated by the baddie (and money, and her family in poverty/debts) and is weak...whereas Min Woo decided that he can trust her no matter what happened between she and big baddie ....this drama frustated me and luckily Ji Sook found her backbone, wits and courage from epi 11 onwards !!

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