I really enjoyed this episode, despite the sense of all the "ships" sinking around me. I suppose that I've just come to accept the fact that Seung Chan is a blind dope that can't see the real prize in front of him. Either that or the boy just really does have a serious Noona Complex going on. His last crush was a sunbae too, just not quite so "sunbae" as his latest if you catch my drift (if you don't catch it, the drift is that Ye Jin is older than the girl whose name I never bothered to learn). We had some sad things happen, and some bad things, but also a lot of good too, as we ramp up and prepare for the final hurrah in 12.
We start where we left off - Seung Chan's confession to Ye Jin and the "swing kiss". Even though I personally am not rooting for this relationship, I do have to admit that that swing kiss was kinda hot, wide-open eyes aside. Looks like our Puppy knows a few tricks after all. Woof! Needless to say, Ye Jin is taken by surprise and is shocked at this "sudden" turn of events. She's flustered and moves them both to another part of the playground in order to put distance between the two of them. She spends most of the conversation chiding him for being so nervous, but then we get to the crux of it all - her response to his confession and kiss. She basically tells him that instead of trying to start a new relationship, that it is better to protect the relationship that already exists. Seung Chan responds to this by pointing out that if you play it safe and protect the current relationship, you could miss an opportunity. Now, maybe this is just me here, but as I'm watching this, I'm thinking that while she may be listening to Seung Chan, she's probably applying the words more to her relationship with Joon Mo. I mean, really, look at it - if anything could describe her relationship with Joon Mo it would be a hesitation to move forward romantically for fear of ruining the friendship. Poor Puppy may be talking her into going for the competition with all his fine salesmanship here. We're left kind of hanging after all this, with Ye Jin talking about how the ball is now in her court. Hmm...just what will she do with this?
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| Dear Seung Chan, If you kiss a girl and this is her reaction? Probably not a good sign. |
Well, first thing first, she takes it to Joon Mo. Not the SC thing exactly, but something that SC had said to her that struck a chord. About how she plays tough, but she's really soft. She asks her lifetime friend what he thinks, quoting all the ideas about her that SC had brought up. It ends with Joon Mo telling her that she easily misunderstands things and expects the worst. He cites the most recent example with her reaction to his asking her to stay. He asks her to not leave, she assumes it is because she cooks and cleans and he doesn't want to lose that. Joon Mo clears up that no, that was not what he meant, that he really meant exactly what he said, that he wanted her to stay, that he didn't want her to leave. He tells her how wonderful she is and that she is more than deserving of love and easy to love. Whoa. That is the closest thing to a confession we have ever gotten out of this man. He's making great strides. Still doesn't take them out of Friendzone, but it's an improvement, so I'll take it.
Fast forward now and it's moving day. Truck is loaded and she's heading out. Not without a run-in with yet another neighborhood busy-body ticked at her, this time for putting some trash out on a non-trash collecting day. Just as things are starting to heat up and a cat fight is brewing, Seung Chan's mom shows up and helps diffuse the situation. Funny how things turn when you learn the lousy composter you formerly berated is your precious son's senior at work. Wonder how she would feel if she knew how her son felt about this woman that can't quite figure out refuse disposal? Then I really wonder how she would feel if she knew her recycling goddess, Cindy, had the warm fuzzies for the same son? That would be fun to see for sure. SC and his silly family. Gotta love them.
SC's mom is hauling the offending furniture into her own home (to hold until trash collecting day) which alerts SC to the news that Ye Jin is on her way out. He runs to see her before it's too late, but...it's too late. Truck pulls out with a sad-faced Ye Jin longingly watching Joon Mo in her rear-view mirror. She's cleaned the writing off of the front door, a remnant of her childhood spent there, signifying that she is moving on and leaving this chapter of her past behind her. I was very much amused later when both SC and JM end up at her new place, even after she explicitly told them both that she didn't need their help and to stay away. Turns out that she ended up needed their help after all, so it's a good thing they didn't listen, but still, having both of them there was entertaining when the boys started competing in their own little passive-aggressive ways.
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| Entertaining, but yet another reminder to poor Puppy that Joon Mo is firmly in Ye Jin's life/heart |
Let's change gears here now and talk about Cindy. Things are not going well for our pop princess. Seung Chan's little show preview stunt has the netizens calling her "Beggar Cindy" and other related epithets.
If only it stopped at that though. That was nothing compared to the blow that was to come. CEO Byun is the devil herself. Evil, evil witch. Since Cindy wasn't going down without a fight, CEO Byun gets ugly and completely betrays this young lady who has depended on her and called her "mom" for the past 10 years. The betrayal? Revealing in a very calculated and dastardly way that Cindy lied about her parents living in the States, hiding their death from the public. Except of course it wasn't Cindy's doing, it had been CEO Byun's lie from the beginning, but she orchestrates it to be used against Cindy. Because she's evil.
The public outcry is just as expected. Cindy goes from princess to pariah literally overnight. Her career is over, just like that. First, don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of this whole thing. Who would actually think that a 13/14 year old child would be signed and maintained by a company without parental involvement? Even if Cindy had lied about her parents, how could an adult just take her word for it? How could there never be any communication over the years between minor child's parents and minor child's company? The idea is ridiculous. Secondly, why would the public turn against an orphaned child for not telling the truth about her parents' passing? Is it the public's business in the first place? No. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it. Maybe the pain was just too great. How can people be so unforgiving towards a child? Why lynch her now all these years later? But that's really all a moot point at this juncture since Cindy didn't actually lie anyway, CEO Byun did, and is now pinning it on her in order to use it to crush her career in one single blow. Because she's evil. My heart breaks for our poor Cindy girl. What really crushed my soul was when she tries to reach out to Seung Chan (her #1 on her phone by the way in case you missed that) by calling him, but he's on a date with Ye Jin. Cindy love, you deserve better. Find someone that sees you for the catch you are and move on from the boy with the Noona Glasses on.
Speaking of Seung Chan and Ye Jin's date.... Seung Chan has requested of Ye Jin one final "payment" on what she owes him for the door ding. They head out on a "real" date. Dinner and a movie. They laugh and have a wonderful time. It is all going well and Seung Chan is delusionally having the time of his life with his "love". That is, until she finally drops a big, fat dose of reality on the boy. She is gentle and kind as she does it, but she turns him down. He's desperately trying to bail the water out of the sinking ship, as he begs her to give it time, but this ship is still going down. Hallelujah! Not that I don't want our puppy happy, but Ye Jin is not the right woman for him. Her heart solidly belongs to another man, and there's just no changing that, and trying to force it won't benefit anyone. They are adorable together...as friends.
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| Dear Seung Chan, please note, when your girl pets you like a puppy and tells you you're a "great guy", she is not your girl. |
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| Aww! Puppy tears are hard to watch! *sniff* Poor Puppy. |
Sadly, I have to agree with Kmuse and others as I admit that at this juncture, I don't see the Umbrella Couple ship taking sail either. Cindy deserves to be someone's first choice, not Seung Chan's consolation prize. I vote for chalking this one up to a learning experience for our two young characters and letting them deal with the heartache of unrequited love. I still see Ye Jin and Joon Mo having a chance together, but all of our other love ships have been lost at sea, as far as I am concerned.
Good thing is is that there's more to life, and our drama, than romantic relationships. We still have some great friend ships that are seaworthy and stand a chance for a successful voyage. While it may be awkward for a bit, I think SC and YJ could stay friends. And once they stop fighting over the same woman, even SC and JM stand a chance at a cute mentor/mentee bromance.
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| Can't you see it? It's like they're practically asking, "hey man, wanna be my bro?" |
Then there's Cindy. Cindy and all three of our KBS employees. Just in her darkest hour, it looks like she's about to learn that she isn't as alone as she thinks she is. She has a whole crew of people in her corner, led of course by Joon Mo and Seung Chan. Ordered to replace her on 1N2D because of the allegations (with stupid rookie whatsherface usurper taking her place on the variety show no less!) (okay fine, it's not this poor rookie that is the real problem, so I shouldn't call her names - I'm sorry), Joon Mo and his crew defy said orders (their show is getting cancelled anyway so they have nothing to lose and may as well do something good with the time they have left), and show up in Cindy's room to wake her up for another day of filming. They're all there, standing by her, smiling and supporting. And she breaks down into tears. Hopefully tears of gratitude. One can only assume. It was where we ended the episode, so we don't have that confirmed, but let's just assume we are correct. It's a very sweet and touching moment that made my heart sing for our beleaguered starlet and gives me hope for her future.
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| It's Joon Mo to the rescue! Falling on his sword for Cindy. Because he's just a stand-up, great guy. |
My prediction? Cindy leaves the entertainment industry. She's miserable there anyway. She'll at least leave Byun Entertainment, home of the world's greatest witch and betrayer. Using Yuna living a happy private life outside of the industry as an example, I am pretty sure that's the direction Cindy's story will go. As mentioned before, I doubt there will be any relationship with Seung Chan. At least not right now. I suppose there's always the whole "future jump" option, but barring that trope, I don't see this romance going anywhere. And that's okay. Sad, but okay. She's still young. She has this whole life to live and lost time to make up for.
And that is where I will leave it for today. I am eager to go watch episode 12 now. Eager yet sad. I will miss this drama. I think it was well done, even if my relationships didn't work out the way that I had hoped. They did a great job and it was a fun peek into the "secret" world of broadcast with plenty of humorous and heart-touching moments alike.
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Haha. Just kidding about that whole leaving thing. I really am done with the recap, but before I go, I have a couple of extra things to leave you with. Moments I didn't mention, but I don't want forgotten either.
Like how this whole "warm" and umbrella theme continues to play out in Cindy's world.
Or the distracting/creepy/funny photobomb by the scream mask
How about when Cindy was "angry" and demanded to speak to (aka saw the opportunity to use the Beggar Cindy thing as a chance to see) Seung Chan? And how he ended up saying some really nice things to her that made her all hopeful and adorable....
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| "I'm so angry!" |
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| Love the smug manager who thinks SC is about to get ripped a new one |
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| Aww! You stupid blind boy! Wae?!?! Wae did you let this girl get away? |
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| Smitten by Puppy's kind words about how this new image of hers is cute and will make her into someone you want to keep close, see every day, and is loveable. |
Ye Jin getting dating advice from this girl! Bwahahahahaha!!! Her advice? She has two choices - date both or let go of the one you feel most sorry towards. Guess who is getting axed thanks to this girl and her surprisingly sage advice?
Uhm...so...yeah...that was hiding underneath shirts all this time. Who knew? No wonder the Paper Nazi didn't want to let him go. These two and their back and forth (right now he's pursuing her after initially avoiding her but she's ignoring him which is driving him bat-poo crazy)! Ahh...good times.
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| That ain't all you have my friend. Rawr! |
Okay. Now I'm done. For realsy this time.
Until next time, dear readers, back hugs and fish kisses to you all!
Dongsaeng
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