Surplus Princess Episode 2 - There Will Be Consequences

Quote of the day:  “Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.” - Alfred A. Montapert 

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After the previous episode prologue we are back at the river way where Aileen is waiting for her chance at Ma Nyeo’s pouch which she is sure has the desired potion she needs to become human. She spots it unattended and as she makes her attempt at snatching the prize she’s spotted and captured {Uh Oh!!!}.

Psych!!!  It’s just a nightmare which makes her all the more antsy to get a hold of the potion from Ma Nyeo.

{Title Credits}

Jin Ah and her co-worker are unloading items from a van for the upcoming party. Said co-worker is complaining about doing the grunt work when Manager Kim (played by Kim Jae Hwa) appears {queue theme song to Attack On Titan – I guess this will be an ongoing gag}.

Manager Kim barks instructions and preparations for the party commences.  Mr. Apple Butt, Chef Kwon, still manages to pause long enough to send a selca (selfie for those of us in the West) to himself.  Narcissist much maybe?

Meanwhile, Hyun Myung is awaiting his interview nervously.  But, when he does go into the interview, all of the execs pretty much ignore him.  When he objects they pointedly ask why an arts major would even bother applying and is he any good.  One interviewer eggs him on to draw something to show how good he is and when he complies the execs inform him that he is good and should just stick to art.  He states to them that perhaps they aren’t looking at the picture properly.  He brings it closer and leaves it on the table upside down.  {Well that’s one way of flipping someone off}. It’s a sure bet he didn’t pass the screening process.

Jin Ah gets a frantic call from the guys at Surplus House that Hyun Myung hasn’t shown up at home and he’s not answering his calls.  They are concerned that he may have gone to the Han River to drown his sorrows and perhaps jump in.  Apparently he’s done this before.  Jin Ah is less than pleased to leave work to go find him.

Hyun Myung is at the Han river totally plastered and has just taken the first few steps towards water when something streaks across the sky and crashes behind him.  We are now back to where we left off last episode complete with soundtrack from The Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger's classic pose in that movie.

Aileen is ecstatic with her new legs.  Jumping around on them not fully realizing she’s butt naked from the waist down. You know mermaids don’t wear pants right?  Hyun Myung is completely nonplussed {my dictionary word of the day} and stares at her in a drunken stupor.  She knocks him out with a punch and he wakes up to her trying to steal his clothes straight off of his body. In the ensuing struggle, him to keep his clothes and she to take them, they are discovered in an extremely compromising position by Jin Ah and some neighborhood ahjummas.  The ahjummas pull him off to ‘save’ Aileen. 

Hyun Myung proceeds to plead his innocence but the ahjummas are having none of that.  While trying to call the police, Ma Nyeo walks in and carries her away on his shoulders.  Hyun Myung tries to get Jin Ah to believe him but this was the last straw.  She breaks up with him saying that coming there was a mistake and that her mother was right about him. 

Ma Nyeo hands Aileen some clothes to change into but she ends up nearly killing them stripping him of his outfit while he’s trying to drive.  {You know, at this point I really wanted to take her to task and administer a good spanking.  Aileen is acting like a very spoilt child.} She strong arms him into taking her to the party where she gets in with no problems since she has the Virtual Invite handy.

When she spots the object of her affections, Kwon Shi Kyung aka Apple Butt, she has one of those fantasy dream moments where time stands still except for them straight out of the TV show My Love From Another Star.

  

Aileen comes back to reality and tries to get Shi Kyung to remember her but Jin Ah butts in with his missing phone as if she had it the entire time.  Seems that Aileen dropped it during her “fantasy” moment and Jin Ah both recognizing her from earlier and seeing her opportunity with Shi Kyung via the dropped phone takes advantage of it fully. A fight breaks out between the two girls and Shi Kyung ends up telling Aileen that a girl like her doesn’t belong there and kicks her out.

Aileen is completely outraged and disenchanted from her “Prince” and tells Ma Nyeo she’s done and is ready to go back to the sea.  They are interrupted by another woman who she recognizes as Prilly, the other mermaid that turned human.  Prilly is distraught when she finds out that Aileen drank the last of the potion and proceeds to dissolve into before Aileen’s eyes. A shocked Aileen is then informed that she has 100 no make it 99 days (since she wasted a day chasing after Shi Kyung) to find true love or suffer the same fate as the previous mermaid for failing to do so.  Reality comes crashing down on Aileen as she realizes the consequences of her impulsive actions.

Cut to Surplus House and an adorably awkward exchange between house owner, Lee Sun Kyu, and Ma Nyeo.  Seems that they are old friends but the interaction between them is priceless.  The delivery from these two actors was amusing.  Looks like Ma Nyeo has provided her with a new identity.  She is his neice, Kim Ha Ni.  She must now live as a human for the next 99 days whilst trying to find true love or dissolve away.  (BTW – The following sets of pics had me laughing in all of its cheesy photo shopped glory.  The last one killed me.)

Ma Nyeo (Note:  apparently Ma Nyeo translates to witch or wizard in Korean) ends up taking Ha Ni (aka Aileen – I’m using her human name from now on) up to her new room in much the same way he took her away from the river the night before, carried on his shoulders. He settles her in and leaves her to get some sleep.  She goes through a couple of nightmares, one where Prilly comes back as a ghost {reference to Saeki Kayako from Ju-on and its American remake The Grudge} to kill her and the other where Shi Kyung tries to choke the life out of her.  

Ha Ni’s new roommates stop by her room to invite her to eat ramyun with them.  When she downs the whole pot they proceed to instruct her on the house rule of “Mommy’s Not Here” and we run through it like a newbie quest in a video game (Describing it will do it a disservice.  You just have to watch it, trust me on this.).  Ha Ni then asks them about true love and it’s adorable how awkward they are about it finally stating that the best person to ask is their roommate, Hyun Myung, who is currently not there.

Meanwhile Hyun Myung is desperately trying to convince Jin Ah of his innocence.  She’s having none of it though and basically blows him off. He goes home dejected and notices that there’s a new occupant in Jin Ah’s old room but he’s in no mood to be sociable. He and Ha Ni miss meeting each other by seconds.  While pondering their respective issues they finally step out onto their balconies…

T-Minus 98 days to go...

Surplus Princess Episode 1 – A Fanfic Made Real

Ever wonder what a good fanfic story would look like if it were ever made into a drama?  Oh boy it would look very much like the first episode of this drama.  My daughter, Panda, and I settled in to watch this show and I don’t think she’s recovered as there’s so much to squee and laugh over.  There are a lot of references to pop-culture from Western and Eastern media so I’m sure I didn’t catch it all.  Feel free to point out the ones I missed as I would definitely like to know.  Ok… On with the show!

The Ending is the Beginning:

We start with a lone woman on a beach barefoot at sunset.  She is reminiscing about her last 100 days, the happy memories and friends.  In a somber voice over she asks us if we are curious about why she’s standing there.  She says she’ll tell us as we see her hand clasp that of a man’s as she slowly dissolves into bubbles {fade out with Goodbye and some sad strings}.  Did I also mention that this is a retelling of The Little Mermaid Tale?  No?  Oh! My bad! OOPS!

 {Queue peppy music and animated title screen to the Han River}

Our main character is swimming and narrating that there are lots of creatures in the sea unknown to mankind but there’s one important thing missing.  A male human for her to fall in love with. She introduces herself as Aileen, the 18^th mermaid (played by Jo Bo Ah).  She’s into human smartphones (you know they are waterproof these days and she’s got a sweet one on a lanyard around her neck), celebrities, online shopping, fashion, dramas, movies, food, etc. [she’s a fangirl like me.  I like her already].

Turns out she’s a stalker and she’s been checking out this guy for six months now.  “The hottest guy on earth”, “Perfect Face”, “Perfect Body”, and an apple bottom that she wants to bite [me too, I seem to have a craving for an apple right now]. 

Her ogling of him is interrupted by the slow-mo entrance of a staffer calling out to Mr. Apple Butt who is the celebrity chef Kwon Shi Kyung (played by Song Jae Rim).  Queue back to back scenes of him preparing and cooking a very tasty looking fish as a film crew records him.  It seems to go well until he notices a missing table mat and halts filming.  He’s about ready to call it quits for the day until said staffer tears off a piece of her lace skirt to make an impromptu piece for him.  He calls for everything to be reset and he goes out onto the boat to take a break while they set up for the next shoot. 

Aileen is fine with this as he’s now closer and she can get a better look at his butt [girl after my own heart]. This sets the scene for her to duck into the water when he almost spots her. He does catch her tail breaking the water when she dives a second time.  He thinks it’s a tuna and goes to snap a picture with his phone only to lose his balance and he slips, knocking his head before falling into the water unconscious.

She goes to rescue him but not before snagging his cell and stuffing it down her top.  She proceeds to kiss him and, thanks to this being a cable drama, it’s not the press your lips variety but with tongue action.  Her reaction is priceless! "Oh yeeees!" complete with hand grab to that yummy apple butt. 

But all good things come to an end and this steamy kiss is interrupted as Shi Kyung is “rescued” by the staffer.  Aileen looks up with longing as he is pulled away to “safety”.

We move scenes to a house with the sign Surplus House posted out front (clue in on how the show’s title comes into play) which turns out to be a share house. [SIDE NOTE:  For those unfamiliar with the term, a share house is basically a house in which you live with roommates and you share the main facilities.  Sort of like a boarding house.]

We pan through a room with motivational notes posted all over the place like “Let’s get a job, Lee Hyun Myung!”, “Annual income of 60,000!”, “Don’t give up”, etc.  The room’s occupant is typing out his story.  Meet Lee Hyun Myung (played by Ohn Joo Wan).  He is a three-year veteran of job hunting who can write 70 cover letters in one sitting. During this whole scene he is “composing” [he’s typing on the keyboard like it’s a piano and can I say I was giggling through it all] his latest work as classical music is playing in the background.  Aileen, in voiceover, introduces him as an "Expert Autobiography Fabricator" and someone she was meant to meet [dun dun dun]. As he finishes we hear slow clapping and Aileen introduces her at “that witch from earlier”, Yoon Jin Ah (played by Park Ji Soo).  She’s the staffer from the previous scene.

Apparently she is Hyun Myung’s girlfriend.  He tries unsuccessfully to initiate skinship but she fends him off with the excuse that she’s got to pack as the movers are coming in the morning.  They are interrupted by the other share house roommates when she is called downstairs and presented with a cake made of Choco Pies and a congratulatory song about her leaving the house. Aileen continues her introduction of the other occupants of the house.

First up are the three etceteras. Do Ji Yong (played by Kim Min Kyo) who is an Ivy League School graduate but ruined his life with playing video games.  Next is Big (played by Nam Joo Hyuk) and Aileen says his real name is a secret.

Then there is the owner, Lee Sun Kyu (the actor has the same name as his character?).  She introduces the final roommate (played by Kim Seul Gi) with “I. Won’t. Tell. You.” It’s plain that this roommate does not like Jin Ah at all as she passes by and gives her the cold shoulder bump.

Afterwards the three male roommates are taking bets on Hyun Myung and Jin Ah breaking up which looks like a sure fire deal after we see her shrug him off to take a call from Shi Kyung.  Hyun Myung muses that it seems like they are separating even though she is just moving across the river.

We move onto one of K-Drama’s prerequisite scenes.  The brooding in the shower with the half-nekkid man and as Aileen put it earlier, Oh yeeees!  Shi Kyung is thinking about that underwater kiss and is wondering if he dreamt it up.  When a delivery man shows up with his newly cleaned clothes, he’s given a shiny bit of something that looks valuable they found while cleaning it.  Flash over to Aileen and it turns out that said shiny bit was one of her scales that came loose.  It’s really cute that she uses a starfish as a band-aide. [He he he]

Aileen is attempting to get into his phone and when she does she goes gaga all over the pictures on it.  She insists to herself that this is not an invasion of privacy as she is just attempting to get information to return the phone to its owner [riiiiiiiiiiiight].  She gets a Tweet alert and it’s Mr. Apple Butt stating "It was love. I want to find her and my cell." [OMO]

When she intercepts an invite on Mr. Apple Butt’s phone for a swanky party (O M G the ad for it is über cheesy) she decides she needs a pair of legs to attend.  Can’t dance on a tail ya know! 

We next see her swimming towards a multicolored cove and someone is humming Disney’s “Part of Your World”.  There are a bazillion wine bottles floating around and here we meet Aileen’s unnie, Sevelyn the 17th mermaid who apparently is a huge lush.  Apparently Sevelyn as she had let slip that her friend Prilly had managed to become human after finding out how to do so from her and Aileen tries to begs for unnie to tell her how.  With much begging and the promise of a purchase of Ballantine's 30 Year Old she’s told the secret.  Aileen must look for Ahn Ma Nyeo who turns out to be a creepy looking man in a hooded trench coat.  Ma Nyeo denies having any potion that would turn her human (as he clutches his belt conspicuously) and sends her away as he exits in a cheesy way [sooo cheesy].

The next morning finds us in Jin Ah’s new apartment as Hyun Myung stops by to help.  In the midst of their horseplay her mom pops in and she stuffs him in a closet [boy oh boy is he ‘flexible’].  Ms. Mom lectures Jin Ah to drop her loser of a boyfriend and hook up with one of the men in the building since they have six figure salaries here.  It’s why she got the place for her to begin with.  Hyun Myung topples out, excuses himself and leaves [aww].

Later that night he’s fielding one rejection text after another as his roommates are pestering him when he gets a text for a second interview.  Celebrations all around!

Meanwhile, Jin Ah “coincidentally” runs into Shi Kyung while she’s out running.  He ignores her for the most part until they share an elevator at the apartment building.  He apologizes to her since he tends not to notice people when he’s concentrating on something.  He even offers her thanks for the save and quick thinking that day.  Jin Ah tells him she just moved into the building (flash back to her seeing him while she and her mom were out looking for a place and she insists on moving in here…)  [Uh Oh. That scheming little wench!]  After she exits on her floor we see him look at his reflection and there’s this ominous vibe I’m getting [shudders].

Switch to the etceteras giving Hyun Myung interview tips to help him get the job.  It’s adorbs but he ends up having a nightmare involving his heart bursting at the interview [ewww].  He spends the rest of the night practicing.  As he’s walking to his interview the next morning he calls Jin Ah and cheerly tells her all of the things he’ll buy but she hangs up on him when she spots Shi Kyung missing the bit about a proposal from Hyun Myung.  He greets her this time and even mentions that he prefers her previous perfume to the one she’s wearing now.  As Jin Ah and another co-worker are gabbing about the encounter {queue in the opening song to the anime Attack on Titan} their supervisor peers over the cubical partition (like one of the colossal titans from that anime) to scold them. [This is when my daughter, Panda, fell out of her chair laughing so hard]

Meanwhile, Aileen has been camping out at Ma Nyeo’s stopping grounds waiting to bribe him with an antique vase and a crude ton of pearls.  She ends up mugging him and near drowning him for the ‘potion’ when he proves uncooperative. 

Ma Nyeo begs her not to drink it as he cries that it’s not the potion.  Of course she ignores him completely and  proceeds to down said pilfered potion and we queue in the transformation from mermaid to human à la Sailor Moon style.

She then plummets to earth like a comet and we pan to her crouched like a terminator.

...  [bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha]

  

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