Kmuse Top 5 Kdrama Countdown - Favorite Stalker Edition

I actually sat down with my daughters this week and had the "what is attractive, and hot in a kdrama is not what you want in real life, so don't date a stalker" talk.  So this is the perfect topic for this weeks countdown. Who doesn't love a good Korean style stalking?  It is almost a staple in the Kdrama wheelhouse that when you have a pining hottie, you of course have to go into stalk mode, because communication and healthy interaction is just too mainstream to be effective. So with that in mind, let's countdown the top kdrama stalkers that, while we may have a few reservations now and then we love them anyway. 

#5 Kang Seo Wool - What Happens to My Family

Coming in at #5 is the plucky country bumpkin, Kang Seo Wool, who travels to Seoul 12 years after meeting her soul mate in order to hunt him down for a wedding.   Seo Wool is the baby stalker of my countdown (since she is very openly pursuing her future husband) but the fact that she sneakily found out his address, followed him to his house, introducing herself as the "fiancee", and later lived in his rooftop apartment unknown to the other members of the household, earns her stalker level. 

#4 Kim Ha Ni - Surplus Princess

Surplus Princess is the latest drama in a long line of amazing TvN romantic comedies where we have our heroine (mermaid turned human Kim Ha-Ni) actively stalking one of the leading men (Song Jae Rim).  Ha Ni falls in love with human chef, Kwon Shi Kyung, from his social media accounts and certain that it is "true love" chooses to take her stalking to the next level and magically acquire legs to further her pursuit.  Things so far have not panned out, but her continued surprise kiss attacks and constant presence wherever he is, are bound to produce a positive outcome.  RIGHT????  Please say it works out for our poor horny heroine or I will be so sad.

#3 Harry - I Miss You

I am so torn about this character since  he was, by far,  my favorite part of this drama.  Poor thing, so hot, yet so messed up because of his father's abuse.  Was Harry a mentally damaged, control freak, almost psychopathic, stalker extraordinaire?  Yes, but he just needed the love of a good woman and all would have been OK (I refuse to accept he was totally nonredeemable). Which is why he was so intent on watching and training Soo Yeon to be dependent on his love.  What else is a poor stalker supposed to do?  This is the 2nd week in a row that Yoo Seung Ho had been featured on my countdown, so obviously my brain is starting to get excited for his release from the military.  Let's hope that we can see him stalking our TV screens in the new year.

#2 John Lee/Lee Yoon Sung - City Hunter

 Lee Min Ho was actually one of my first experiences with the romantic kdrama style of stalking.  His intense portrayal of revenge/justice vigilante Yoon Sung caught my eye and heart.  It was not until I really started dissecting the drama logically that I realized that some of the "romantic" things he did could be considered a little in the stalkerish zone.  Although who doesn't want a guy to buy their building, lurk outside the house at all hours, stare at you from a car as you ride the bus, etc. etc. At least as long as they are hot and have a crazier stalker father that makes them look sane in comparison.

#1 Jo Min Hyuk - Secret

Oh Jo Min Hyuk (Ji Sung - Protect the Boss), you looked at the stalker line that was drawn in sand, erased it, and put it 5 inches away from your victim love.....and THEN you crossed it.  It is that extreme stalker crazy that makes you #1 on my all time favorite stalker list.  Beginning as an obsessive need for revenge Min Hyuk relentlessly stalks Kang Yoo Jung (Hwang Jung-Eum- Endless Love) and then somehow (I am declaring it a weird reverse case of Stockholm syndrome) falls in love with the woman he thinks murdered his girlfriend and unborn baby.  Sometimes crazy, sometimes romantic, yet always a stalker, Min Hyuk cuts a khottie swath through the social norms and makes us cheer for this unlikely couple

This concludes the list of my favorite stalkers.  Is yours on the list, or did I miss it in all the options that were available.  Feel free to tell us your #1 stalker in the comments or on our FB page where we post updates on kpop, kdramas, and have fun krelated discussions. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-crazy-ahjummas/336988683021748?fref=ts 

IMY Final Episode {{Dramatic Friday Review}}

This is it AddiKts.  It's time to bid farewell to another KDrama.  I will miss seeing Yoochun & Yoo Seung Ho every week, especially as our Baby Oppa is now off doing his MS.  Be careful Baby Oppa, we miss you already.  But I am looking forward to moving on to another K-Drama.  I do think I will take this next week off, catch my breath & figure out for sure which drama I want to tackle next.  I look forward to watching with you guys.  So let's get to it & discover whether or not they close this one in a satisfactory way for me.

First up the first 5 minutes were recaps & flashbacks to the previous 20 episodes.  Starting with Kang Hyung Joo's prediction that HTJ would lose both his child & his money, even if she ended up dead or in hell, she was going to take his money to hell with her.  I do believe she was part psychic.  But I am getting ahead of myself aren't I?  After all the flashbacks we jump to JW chasing the signal that would eventually take him to SY & KHJ.  He arrives at the empty little warehouse bldg that he & SY were taken to when they were originally kidnapped 14 years ago.  Once he opens the door, which is how ep 20 ended, he sees SY sitting in a comfortable chair, by herself & unrestrained, in the middle of the room & KHJ in another chair, leaning next to a desk, looking really not good, which makes sense considering how much blood he's lost, from the gunshot wound in his leg, the same leg that was already a big complication on his health.  He has the gun he received, taped into his hand, & looks particularly not all there mentally.

SY's mom gets the call from the Police station wondering if she has heard from or seen SY?  Of course she hasn't, but is now worried & so rushes to the station to find out what is going on exactly & arrives in time to see HTJ, their first meeting face to face, as he is brought in for questioning regarding his participation in SY's disappearance.  Needless to say when SY's mom finds out that HTJ is once again responsible for her daughter & JW being in trouble & that he has been in cooperation with a serial murderer, she freaks out & starts getting in his face & screaming & pushing at him.  He just waves her off & demands the police remove her from his great presence what an ass!  Yes, I used swear words.  I refuse to apologize or take them back.

{{Editorial: Unnie's Opinion on Han Tae Joon.....  From start to finish he has remained the one character I felt no sympathy for.  He is an unrepentant piece of slimy, filthy garbage & I was really hoping SY's mom would grab one of the police officers guns & shoot that SOB right in the face, but I'd have been happy if she had shot him in the nads, the foot, his hand, anywhere.  Multiple times.  I swear I am a peace loving person, honestly, I know you may not believe me, but never in my life have I ever sincerely & truly HATED, with every fiber of my being, a character as much as I physically hate this man.  He should be tortured slowly & painfully over 14 years for everything he is responsible.  He has no reason for his actions other than pure unadulterated greed.  I think that KHJ & HTJ are both psychotic.  I think KHJ is psychotic because of the trauma he endured & could possibly be redeemed & rehabilitated.  He has feelings & a heart but I think that HTJ is just pure evil.  He has absolutely no feelings whatsoever.  This makes him a truly psychotic person.  I think he is missing the chemicals that produce remorse.  He has no conscience, just a black void of nothingness.  Isn't that a truly psychotic super villain?}}

{{Big breath in & out.  Sorry guys I guess I had to get that off my chest.  I'll go on..}}

Back at the warehouse, which took up a good 15-20 min of time, KHJ has both SY & JW in his sights.  JW tries to talk him out of the crazy but KHJ just has to push it further. He tries to turn SY to his side by pointing out something she either hasn't figured out yet, because she forgot or because she is repressing the memory, I don't know.  That this place is THE place where all her nightmares started.  She looks around & the flashbacks to that awful moment begin.  She starts to shake & quiver & cry & her posture resorts back to the defensive, wounded animal she once was.  JW watches the changes in her demeanor take place & manages to talk her through it & then turns to KHJ to tell him he made another mistake with SY.  That because of his intense hatred for HTJ he once again hurt SY, which would never bring her to him as he wants, he then turns to SY & apologizes telling her hates himself & has yet to forgive himself for leaving her there all those years ago.  That he is humiliated & ashamed of his behavior as a 15 year old boy.  But the fear is so strong & she can't stop trying to cover herself up & protect herself from another rape.  Which makes KHJ smile, psychotically.  Then he tells her he is "...not the same 15 year old boy...no matter what happens, I'm not going anywhere and leaving you behind."  She starts to come back to herself.

Then KHJ turns the gun on her again pointing out to her that she has to be with him, he can't breathe for missing her & wants things to go back the way they were, even though he knew she didn't love him all those years, he was still so happy & he wants to go back to that.  And while pointing a gun at her, he beckons her, with his other hand, to come to him.  During all this the police have arrived, JW had told Wife that he would leave his phone & Wife should follow & find him.  Eventually KHJ realizes that he is in the sights of a sniper ready to take him, as he can see the red laser focused on him & everybody ends up on their feet.  SY tells KHJ that even though it wasn't the love he wanted that she does love him, they are all the family they've ever had.  And she told him she was a liar for pretending to be fine, to have forgotten all the bad memories & for pretending not to have missed anyone.  KHJ eventually takes a shot at JW, purposefully missing, which makes JW want to know why he hasn't killed him yet, because they are family & how much JW hates & cannot forgive his own father for all the sins that have ruined all their lives.

Having had enough of all of this, & determined that if he is going to die, he is going to take SY with him, he quickly goes behind her & grabs her & puts the gun to her head.  But JW points out that this would just make them love & miss each other more, which would not allow a dead KHJ to rest for all eternity knowing this.  He points the gun at JW & SY jumps over to stand in front of JW & tells him to make sure KHJ doesn't get hurt & thanks him for waiting for her all this time, she's going to go first & wait for him this time, she looks at KHJ & tells him she likes him... a lot even but this is what love is, the willingness to die for the one you love.  Then she walks forward until the gun is pressed into her chest, only KHJ doesn't want this either.  He backs away from her & then loses his temper & shoots but before he can shoot SY, JW grabs her & spins her so that his back takes the shot.   KHJ is shocked by it, even though he is the one who pulled the trigger, SY drops to JW's side & screams & cries & begs JW not to leave her & for someone to save him.  By this point she has completely forgotten KHJ even exists, she ONLY has eyes & feelings for JW.  KHJ hates this & puts the gun to his own head, begging her to look at him, he can die for her too, but he never pulls the trigger, when he puts the gun back to his temple the police have their shot & take it & him out.

Both men are rushed to the hospital & into emergency surgery.  We see the police standing next to KHJ after surgery, with the Dr explaining that it depends on his fight & will to live, as to whether or not he actually does.  Even if he does survive, the trauma, the ordeal, everything he has been through, most likely he will wake up & not be all there neurologically speaking, in other words he may be a vegetable.  He'll still stand trial & still be punished according to his mental abilities when he was killing, not how he will be if he survives.  It's been 10 days & SY has just arrived in JW's room after rushing off to get his prescription filled & finds he has finally woken up.  She tells him how long he was asleep & asks him to say her name, because she missed his voice & they embrace.

10 months later...

Wife has ditched the pony tail & is getting closer to his 40th bday & is still alone.  He is so cute.  JW is still the same "Crazy Rabbit" cop he always was, even still beating confessions out of the prisoners during interrogation.  He arrives home & Ah Reum, Eun Joo, Girlfriend, Stepmom & even SY appear wearing cute outfits, complete w a laundry pin in their hair.  It's JW's bday & they all eat fried chicken together, they are all a family now, even Stepmom, who is redeemed & determined to be a good mother to her son, whom she loves very much.  JW brings a present for SY, her ID card, with the name Lee Soo Yeon on it.  Since she has come back from the dead, it was time she got her name back from the dead too.  JW goes to visit his father, hoping that the time in prison has softened him or that they can reunite, but as stated before HTJ is completely devoid of all humanity & walks out of the room calling his son crazy.  SY & JW go to visit KHJ, who is indeed a vegetable.  He no longer speaks or walks.  Residing in a wheelchair, although there is a walker in the room too.  He is benign & smiles at them, as though they are strangers.  SY shows him her ID card, they get no response but when JW gives him a leaf, telling him it's winter again, he gingerly & delicately strokes the leaf w a peace filled smile on his face.  As they are leaving the bldg the first snowfall begins & they remember back to JW proposing & the decision they made to get married at the first snowfall.  So they rush off to get married.

In the chapel it is just the two of them.  JW goes down to the end of aisle & waits for SY, impatiently quietly repeating the "come here" motion & whispering {{Palli palli}} "hurry up".  She stops long enough to pull out a laundry pin that has been fitted with white bridal decor to wear in her hair.  She walks slowly down the aisle & they exchange rings.  We hear their individual voice overs talking...

JW: It was a tough road to get here, wasn't it?  You just need to take thirteen more steps now.... and he begins counting, Hana... Teul.... Set...Net...

At the end of the aisle he tells her she looks beautiful & she tells him he looks handsome.  After a soft peck on her forehead they take pictures holding up their ringed fingers for the timer camera & then send the wedding pic to their families.  SY's mom & Eun Joo get it first.  SY's mom is overjoyed & happy & Eun Joo is too but thinks they should have included them in the wedding too.  Then Stepmom & Ah Reum get the pic & both think JW is super cool & romantic.  Then Wife & the other police get the pic too & are overjoyed.  Then he calls SY's mom & apologizes for not including them & promising that they'll do it again, more formally, with everyone included, but they were afraid the snow would stop.  And then he calls her mother.  Not girlfriend.  He's now her son in law & she begins crying at the sound of him calling Eomeonie.  {{Pssssttt....Unnie cried here too.}}  They thank each other for being everything they could to each other over the hard years they suffered together.  Then tell each other they love each other.  {{Unnie cries harder here ... awwwww....sniff sniff...so sweet!}}

Then we get a glimpse of what it might have been like if they had just been regular kids, from regular families when they met, including KHJ as a little kid.  Would they have had a different relationship?  Would things have been better had they met like that & just had a normal childhood.  Then their grown up voice overs assure each other & us, the viewer that they still would have fallen in love with each other no matter how they had met or grown up.

SY: IF you hadn't come to the playground that night...

And we watch our 2 leads walk, hand in hand, from the chapel where they married & we get a happily ever after, with everything wrapped up nice & neat.  But not too tidy for the real villain stays a villain.  And one will never be what he once was.  But the hero gets the heroine & the families become a real family finally.  One full of love & happiness & support & caring.  And all's well with the world.  The End

I hope you guys enjoyed my I Miss You reviews.  This really is a good drama.  It has some truly lovely moments but they are balanced out by truly horrifying ones as well.  I will miss Han Jung Woo & Lee Soo Yeon.  They were a lovely couple.  I hope you all have a beautiful weekend with your loved ones & that you hold them close & remember to love & support each other through darkness & light.  That is what I learned from I Miss You.  What did you guys learn?  What were your favorite parts?  Did you struggle to make it through the sadness, the way I did in the beginning?  I would love to talk about this drama with you...just let me know in the comments down below.  :)

I send my love out to the blogosphere to you dear wonderful fellow AddiKts.  Much love & blessings.

Saranghamnida,

IMY ep 20 {{Dramatic Friday Review}}

 Hello AddiKts, welcome back for my final 2 reviews of I Miss You.  This drama has been a roller coaster of emotions for me.  There were times I really wasn't sure I was going to continue this one.  Especially those first 5 episodes.  So horrendously tragic & depressing but thanks to your support & encouragement I kept going & here we are almost finished.  I would be lying if I didn't admit to being thankful for being done w this drama.  Don't misunderstand, this really & truly IS an Excellent drama.  It'll go into my "really liked it but will never watch it again" list.  Mostly because it is a melo-drama, not my favorite type of drama.  But I thoroughly enjoyed watching Park Yoochun (Chunnie) show his acting chops & watching Yoo Seung Ho (Baby Oppa) grow up & show me he can be truly terrifying & psychotic.  And Yoon Eun Hye for showing me it is possible to cry in almost every scene one is in.  I kid, she did a great job too, it's just the nature of the Melo-drama beast to cry that much.  I wonder if the actors every got dehydrated while filming this one?  I know during the filming of the last episode that YEH ended up needing to go to the hospital for collapsing & of course needed an IV.  I imagine this drama was emotionally & physically exhausting for our stars, especially the last episode, as it was added on, just a couple of weeks before the show was supposed to end.  But we are just about done.  Should we dive in....?

At the end of 19, the good guys finally had all their hard found evidence stacked against Kang Hyung Joon & JW was just about to arrest him, when KHJ appeared in front of him.  Let's dive back in right there...

Just as JW is about to get out of the car to arrest KHJ, a bunch of cars drive up full of thugs w pipes & bats.  HW & SY lock the doors to the car & KHJ calls JW on his cell, explaining that he just wants SY & he'll leave JW alone.  When JW calls him on the bad guys he points out to JW that they're there because HTJ ordered them there & asks him if he is still feeling sorry for HTJ?   This doesn't stop JW from protecting SY though, after all he promised her he'd never abandon her again.  The men, under KHJ's direction try to beat their way into the car, breaking glass climbing on top of the hood etc... JW straps in & warns SY to hold on & peels rubber & escapes down the hill, where the police arrive just in the nick of time, to save them both.  He tells SY to lock her doors, orders a couple of men to stay with her & runs with the rest to the top of the hill to meet up with the thugs.  While he is up there giving the bad guys the beat down they deserve, KHJ has already pedaled off to SY's side of the car.  Once she sees him she freaks out & begs him to leave her alone, screaming that she knows he is trying to kill her.  This gives him pause & for a few seconds we see a little sanity return to his visage.  But JW is coming back down the hill & a chase ensues alas KHJ still manages to escape.

Afterwards Wife & JW go over the things they know, including that they found, hidden under the bathtub in Harry's house, all the evidence of what SY was telling them about, from the day he tried to kill Stepmom.  Discussing that the fact that all the murders revolve around water & how delusional he is & damaged that it all ties back to his "deficiency of maternal affection", they also suspect he is bipolar.  In the middle of their conversation Eun Joo comes in & demands that when JW captures KHJ, her father's killer, that she get to exact her revenge on him.  Meanwhile SY is being comforted by her mother.  More mom & daughter bonding time & forgiveness.  We get to hear SY admit she is finally accepting that the rape, even though she still has nightmares from it, was not her fault.  Outside the door we see JW eavesdropping & he hears them talk about how awful his parents are & how they can't understand them at all.  JW is so amazing, how could he possibly come from such horrid people?  Eventually JW makes his way into SY & spreads out across her lap with his head.  He's putting off his impending visit w his dad...can't say I blame him.  But SY points out he is not alone, he has Wife & his Girlfriend & of course it's a given he has SY too.

Meanwhile, KHJ is back at the beginning.  He is hiding out in the empty room that Nurse Jung hid him in all those years ago, as a child fresh on the lamb from HTJ's clutches.  Speak of the devil...he calls HTJ, who is less than happy he hasn't received back his precious money.  KHJ explains no matter you have to bring SY to me or you don't get anything.  This doesn't please HTJ, nor does the divorce papers his wife, Stepmom, has served him with.  He immediately orders his secretary to remove all the money from her & Ah Reum's accounts.  If they don't want him, they certainly don't deserve his money either.  Stepmom & JW are finally talking.  She explains that, in the beginning, she didn't marry him for the money & she even tried to be a good mother to little JW.  But somewhere along the way, her cold, greedy, selfish, scary husband turned her into the person she had become, she's not sure how.  But she regrets all of it & will spend the rest of her life paying for her sins.  She also tells him he is all she & Ah Reum have left to trust & to please take care of them.  At this point JW tells her he knows some of the past story.  Stemming from his father's incarceration & the big slush fund etc.. but he doesn't understand where KHJ fits in to all of this.  Eventually she tells him everything.

He takes this info with him when he finally confronts his father & tells his dad being your son is humiliating.  And then we get to see the whole picture...for money he attempted to kill his own half brother, KHJ, & even took his stepmother & had her locked up in a mental hospital.  How he couldn't have cared less when his own son & an innocent young girl were kidnapped & the girl raped & then had them proclaim she'd been killed, is exactly "the kind of person who doesn't care about anything as long as he has his money."  He goes on accusing his father of turning his own half brother into a serial murderer by literally driving him insane with his cruelty.  After their discussion we get to see psychotic KHJ, laying on the floor sleeping & then hallucinating back to the day he met SY for the first time in that room when they spoke through the window.  Which prompts him to get in his car & drive to her house.  He sees the I Miss You message on her wall & starts to get out of the car but the police car that is watching the house drives up & he quickly pulls his cap lower & drives off.

After his meeting with his evil father JW is down & when he tells SY, via phone, that he missed her, she remembers what her mother said, that when JW says he misses you it means something is wrong.  So she distracts him by ordering him to come to her right away but to make sure & get her a roasted chicken, she's hungry.  Make sure it's roasted & not fried!  {{Made me laugh, he totally fell for it too.  Ahhh men.}}  She waits for his arrival outside & then drags him off, forgetting about the chicken entirely, to the little park & then distracts him by playing on the equipment.  She even sings to him, like he did the night she spied on him playing by himself in the park.  She holds out her hands explaining it's his turn to cry & she'll help him.  He finally reveals that KHJ is his uncle & all of this is as a result of his father's evil doings.

{{BTW I received several notifications during this period from Instagram that my friend H liked my pictures. LOL  There ya go H, you get a spotlight & a shout out on TCA.  Woot Woot Chingu!}}

The next day Wife is keeping watch over SY at Bellos, asking her if she'll set him up with one of the many models she must know, she agrees & who walks in during their conversation but Stepmom, who awkwardly & embarrassingly, although not entirely eagerly, apologizes, sort of, to SY for accusing her of poisoning & attempting to murder her, when it was really Harry.  Still recovering from her near death experience she is back to work & carry on with her meetings.  SY accepts her apology & finally meets Ah Reum, as SY rather than as Zoey.  And Ah Reum is so cute when she claims to be a fan of SY.  She really is adorably sweet.  Later in her office SY is nervously looking at a little jewelry box, containing a set of couple's rings, saying to herself so what if the girl asks first?!?  But is interrupted when JW walks in, as equally nervous & we find out why when he drops to one knee & shows her his own jewelry box with a single engagement ring inside & asks her to marry him.  {{Awwwwww...}}  Wife of course has to interrupt at this point to tell them, comically of course, that Team Leader wants JW to go search for KHJ.  But before JW leaves he gives SY a little black device & tells her he'll always be with her, methinks it's a tracking device in case she gets kidnapped by KHJ.

While JW is searching through SY's old neighborhood she is confronting the real Harry Borrison (Aka Dir Yoon) & telling him flat out that she is different from him because even though she grew up with an abusive father & was raped etc she did not become a murderer herself, what's the point of escaping violence just to continue to live a violent life?  And pointing out that a real friend, or hero, wouldn't then turn you into his killing machine, after setting you free from that violence & doesn't he realize that KHJ has abandoned him in his time of need?  This really ticks off the real Harry btw.    Meanwhile, JW finds the little room that KHJ has been hiding in, how does he know that's the spot?   There is a drawing on the wall of a mom & her little boy, just like at Jaekyung Hospital.  He breaks the lock on the door & goes inside & finds nothing but then hears that very memorable special walk of KHJ's as it approaches the door.  Then KHJ locks JW in the little room.  Through the window, JW reveals he knows who KHJ really is to him, his uncle.  KHJ is still blaming everything on HTJ, who deserves it but is not the only one responsible, as JW points out that he needs to accept his own culpability too.  KHJ tells JW, bring Zoey to me & I'll stop hating you like I did in the past.  Of course this isn't even a consideration of JW & KHJ leaves when Team Leader & friends are heard returning & JW breaks out of the room & they ensue on foot, but again KHJ escapes.  But not before being shot in the calf of the same leg that was attacked, by vicious dogs, as a child.  Later that night we see, a bloody KHJ having a total mental breakdown  in his car.  Hands covered in his own blood alternating between manic laughing & crying.  {{Jinjja Baby Oppa you do crazy really really well.}}  Then a person arrives, we don't get to see who, & he hands KHJ an envelope & KHJ hands him back another envelope.  Once the guest leaves KHJ opens the envelope & we see he now has a gun of his own.  {{Oh goody!}}

Wife & SY are about to leave Bellos when she gets a phone call from HTJ.  He's waiting in his car outside & wants her to go with him.  They call JW to tell him what's going on & that this is the only chance they'll get to capture KHJ for good.  And for JW to hurry, she'll be waiting for him to save her.  But JW, has just received all of his father's account books & evidence of dirty dealings, which means that KHJ no longer has any use for HTJ & will sacrifice him to the police happily to get to SY.  So he rushes off, guessing that tracking device he used earlier will come into play soon.  Wife follows HTJ & SY but is cut off by a truck pulling in his way.  In the car with HTJ SY begs him to change his mind about this & to not help Harry anymore & to change his ways, for his son's sake, but HTJ really has no heart.  By the time Wife gets to HTJ's car, after the truck cuts him off, HTJ is sitting alone & smiling, while another car drives off in the distance.  SY has been taken by KHJ.  JW is tracking her on his phone & realizes she's being driven off to the same area they were dragged 14 years ago when kidnapped the first time.  JW arrives at the little warehouse they were held in & opens the door &.... that's it.

UGH!  How frustrating the cliffhangers can be to a K Drama AddiKt.  Evil things!



See you guys in the final review.

Saranghamnida,

IMY ep 19 {{Dramatic Friday Review}}

Well, so much for a day to rest & catch up from this last week's insanity...too many things required my attention at home for me to rest.  Oh well, gives me less to do this upcoming week, fingers crossed.  Only one more week of my I Miss You reviews to endure guys.  ;)  I am sure you are ready for me to move on to something else.  I know I am.  I am toying w either Gu Family Book, you know I heart the fantasy/saeguk drama or All About Romance.  Hmmmm....  I really enjoyed GFB w of course Dimple!!  I have to start AAR & see which one grabs my heart more.  We'll all know next week for sure.

As for this episode the truth is becoming clearer & Baby Oppa is getting crazier.  And step mom is maybe going to redeem herself.  I hope so.  I really am not a fan of disliking people or characters.  And I admit I have felt real pity for her through a good portion of the show...whose to say I wouldn't be an evil step mom if I had the misfortune to be married to an S.O.B. like HTJ.  I enjoyed the playfulness between JW, SY & SY's mom (JW's Girlfriend) in this episode.  You know he has a "Girlfriend", a "Wife", & a "1st Love".  Dude gets around.  ^_^  So let's see what happens for them all.

SY is being taken into custody by the Police.  Harry sees her taken away, JW is by her side & they are tense & scared & then as they walk into the building there is a show down w the Chief.  I love that he starts off telling JW off for conspiring w a fugitive & a murderer & then JW fires right back at him, calling him out for lying about & failing to find SY 14 years ago.  I also loved it when Team Leader stood up to him about being on the slush fund list for HTJ's bank. And how JW tells him take off your badge, don't interfere & get lost & then they all just walk right past the ... well I won't say it because I am a lady.  {{@.@}}

Once inside JW calms SY down by reminding her that she is not a suspect, they all know Harry is behind it all, she's just a witness.  And they want her to confront Dir Yoon face to face.  And she is again surprisingly smart, calm, capable & in charge when facing the man accusing her of murder, multiple times.  And JW is proud of her you can see.  But he isn't the only one watching the exchange.  Lt Choi is in there too.  Pointing out again that Yoon (the Real Harry) is submissive to Kang Hyung Joon (the Fake Harry).  They also discuss how Harry is getting closer to losing it, which makes him more dangerous.  His mother doesn't recognize him, his right hand man is in jail, & he's lost SY to JW.

And boy they weren't kidding, back at home, again, Harry is pounding his cane on the floor, seeing & hearing things & just in general losing his mind more & more & the evidence of insanity is becoming more & more real.  And we hear the voice over of Lt Choi say again, "If the situation escalates, it can provoke him to overreact."  No kidding!

But they still don't have concrete evidence that Harry is Kang Hyung Joon, that he is the murderer of several people, that he tried to kill Step Mom.  She is too afraid to tell the truth, more afraid of her own husband killing her, than Harry killing her.  Seriously messed up relationship.  Even when JW goes to the hospital to see if she is okay & talk reason into her & offer an Olive Branch, she just doesn't trust anybody now.  I feel really bad for her.  But he does have one last trick up his sleeve...a spy.  A sweet little spy, that his Step Mom loves more than herself...his little sister Ah Reum.  He tells Ah Reum some of what is going on, including that her mom is blaming Soo Yeon, & that he found SY to begin with & that she's Zoey, for the poisoning.  Ah Reum agrees to help.

The Chief of Police goes to HTJ in the hopes that HTJ will have his back & keep taking care of him financially & I couldn't help but want to just laugh at the absurdity of him trusting someone, who has done nothing but crooked things, to do the right thing & take care of him further, especially since he is useless now & no longer able to earn that fat pay.  There is no such thing as "Honor among thieves".   HTJ is consistently evil throughout... "Why would I have to back you up?  Money will be given to you when I need you for something.  I no longer need you now."  Duh Police Chief!  This is why being crooked is not the smart way to live.  Moron!  But Chief isn't his only visitor...Harry shows up too, demanding that HTJ do everything he demands since he lost everything because of HTJ.  {{Ummmmm no honey you lost everything because of yourself.  Because you couldn't let go of the hatred & venom & anger & revenge.  Those were your choices.  HTJ is evil, of that there is no doubt!  but he is not the reason you lost everything...you are responsible for that.}}

Now for the hard part, having to tell SY's mom that SY is accused of murder.  Poor JW.  But she takes it well, she starts to panic a little & he keeps her calm by keeping her in his hug.  And then confessing that everything that happened 14 years ago was his parents fault & apologizing.  Once he gets back to the Police station he sees Harry sitting in his car just watching him, creepily I might add.  After he gets back w his team the results from the soda can come in.  Harry IS Kang Hyung Joon.  The DNA from 14 years ago matches his water cup from his questioning session w Dir Yoon.  Finally!

Then SY's mom comes in w food, good mommy, but her real purpose is that she wants to take SY home with her once she's done being questioned & Team Leader agrees, this is a good idea.  SY & Mom have totally bonded.  SY forgave mom, Mom forgives herself, they are finally ready to be a family again & let go of the past...at least that's what I took away from their sweet mother daughter conversation.  JW, ever the cutey pie comes in w food & right in front of mom kisses SY repeatedly. Embarrassing SY & shocking mom a little.  He accuses "Girlfriend" of being jealous so he lays a kiss on her cheek too.  She pretends to be grossed out but then turns to him & says, "How come I only get one kiss?"  *giggle*   Mom pretends she has to go to the bathroom, so they can be alone & in the hall runs into Wife.  She prevents him from going in & interrupting them & he figures out her subtle clues & drags her, giggling, into the booth that observes the interrogation room.  And they both get to see JW & SY kissing, smiling, flirting, laughing & teasing.  And it makes mom happy & Wife jealous...he wants a woman of his own.  I was totally laughing throughout the whole scene.

At the hospital Ah Reum is trying to convince Hwang Mi Ran to admit she lied that it was SY who poisoned her.  And keeps trying to explain that JW Oppa is the only one left to really trust & depend on.  Pointing out that her own husband didn't come to see her at the hospital once, showed no desire whatsoever to check on her or any kind of care for her at all.  Telling her mom, if you don't do the right thing "...I am never going to see you again."  This gives Hwang Mi Ran pause.  Should she tell the truth?  Meanwhile Harry is talking to his lawyer, explaining that he will be leaving the country soon.  When his lawyer points out that he isn't allowed to leave the country Harry tells him there are always ways, he will need a new identity but it doesn't matter he's never coming back to Korea.  But not just an identity for himself.  He needs one for SY & his mom too.  They are all leaving very soon.

At SY's house she goes into Harry's mom, who is still completely closed down mentally, & explains that as long as she is like this SY can't be mad at her & that Harry needs her, so she has to get better soon.  Then she & Eun Joo down a bunch of Soju & decide to be sisters & friends & be there for each other when the other needs a drinking buddy.  The next day SY takes her mom & Harry's mom to buy new shoes...& finds that Harry is watching over them, she can hear his cane & shoes when he walks.

At the Police station JW & everybody is aware that Harry has lawyered up & he's blaming all of his crimes on Michelle Kim, aka Nurse Jung.  They need the French authorities to cooperate & confirm who is the REAL Harry Borrison.   Turns out Harry Borrison was adopted by abusive & cruel people.  Their car crash was ruled an accident.  But the MO for the crash was just like the one w Det Kim, involving a soda can.  So now they are comparing the DNA on their Soda can with the DNA of Kang Hyung Joon.  If they can get a picture of Harry Borrison the child, they can confirm that Dir Yoon is the REAL Harry & it would explain why he is so loyal to Kang Hyung Joon.  He was rescued by KHJ's murder of his abusive adoptive parents.

That night Harry's mom, still awake, slips out of the house while SY & her mom & sis are sleeping.  Without her shoes, she just wanders through Seoul looking for Joon-ah.  No one stops her or helps her or points her out to a police officer.  SY eventually wakes up but by this point it's been hours of her wandering in the freezing cold without proper clothing or shoes.  Eun Joo, SY & JW are all searching & eventually she is found, huddled, suffering from severe exposure, & she gets hospitalized.  While they were searching for her Harry was dreaming.  Dreaming he was talking to his younger self.  Telling him...self that it still wasn't safe for him to come out of hiding, HTJ was still around & still trying to get them & that he would protect his younger self.  {{Yeah he isn't delusional or off his rocker at all.  I understand that KHJ is not completely at fault for everything, not after suffering abuse, someone trying to kill him & nearly succeeding & the loss of his legs full use, not to mention the traumatic way he lost his mother etc...  He was made into a psychopath by all the adults in his life that were evil.  But still.... he really is "Cuckoo for Coco Puffs!"}}

Both SY & JW rush to Harry's house to try & get him to go & see his mom, as it is only a short matter of time before she is going to die from her exposure to the elements of a cold winter night, when she was already so fragile.  But Harry, refuses to go & see her.  Claiming he has no mother.  First she doesn't recognize him, which hardens his heart against her, & second if he goes then it's the same as admitting he is Kang Hyung Joon & thereby giving the Police the evidence they need to take him down & he refuses to give up to them.  They beg, argue, & demand he grow up, stop throwing a temper tantrum but seriously it just makes him crazier!  Eventually he tells SY he wished she were dead.  And they leave.  But before they do JW tells Harry off!

HTJ is by his wife's bedside...she over hears him talking to Harry about someone "walking to their own death."  She secretly calls someone...I couldn't tell which button she pushed on her cell phone, the Hangeul characters were way too small for me to read them.

The next morning JW & SY stand in front of the mausoleum shrine to Harry's mom, looking so sad.  Poor woman.  Just after SY says they should go before Harry shows up, they hear his cane approach & stop, they know he is close by & SY admits to JW, when he asks, that she made his cane for him & she made it so that it would make noise when he walked on purpose saying, "as long as it makes that sound, I can always find where he is."  As they leave he walks in & over to his mother's shrine.

At the Police station they finally get all the evidence they need from the French authorities.  The picture comes in... Harry Borrison is Dir Yoon & Kang Hyung Joon's DNA is on their soda can too.  He is now a wanted murderer in 2 countries.  Now JW can arrest him for real.  Just as he goes to get out of his car (w handcuffs), KHJ, riding his bike, emerges from the mausoleum & stops in front of JW's car.  All three staring at each other.  SY in discomfort, JW in shock & Harry w disdain.  Just then JW gets a text from his sister.  "My mom says it wasn't Soo Yeon."  Even more evidence to arrest Harry.  And that is where it ends.

Like I said before AddiKts next week is our last week with these characters.  I can't wait to see what happens.  Have a great rest of your weekend.

Saranghamnida,

IMY ep 18 {{Dramatic Friday Review}}

Okay so I was expecting this one to be really dramatic, & while it did have its moments, it kind of fell flat in the super dramatic department, mostly it went back to being filler.  Truths are revealed, bad guys are seen clearer & there is more romance & even another really good Chunnie kiss. *sly smile here*  But they are setting up the ending which I am really hoping is awesome.

Jung Woo has stood up to the police department & refused to hand over Lee Soo Yeon to them because he knows that she is not the murderer, Kang Hyung Joon (Harry) is the real culprit.  They've taken off & we see our hero & his damsel in distress hiding out at what looks like a bus (?) terminal.  He stores his Wife's gun in one of the lockers, same number locker as Wife's locker at the station & the code is the date of the first time they met.  I know all this because he tells Wife all of this over the phone.  So, even though he ran away from the police, held a gun on his best friend & partner, is an actual fugitive on the run, they are still helping him.  They know he is a good guy, and Wife especially, is trying to help him get the evidence on Harry they need to truly convict him, all while simultaneously trying to prove SYs innocence.  Way to take on a big job there guys.  To get this evidence they are scouring Harry's house, after taking JW's step mom, who is still alive, to the hospital.  He tells Wife about the secret room, which has been all cleaned up.  The picture removed & all the broken glass cleaned up & a new picture in its place.  Just as Wife is about to push the button to go in the secret room, JW stops him, saying Harry may be in there hiding & it could be dangerous.  Then Wife tells JW to take SY to his house & hide out there.  His dad is there & he will help.  And so that is what JW & SY do...they hop on the bus to Wife's house to hide.

Meanwhile Wife eventually does open that secret room & sure enough Harry is in there, passed out "Drunk". This is his alibi btw.  Apparently they are supposed to believe he "drunk slept" through SYs attempt to kill JW's stepmom right out in the main room.   They take him in for questioning but he is good.  No seriously guys he is good.  Oscar worthy good.  {{You go Psycho Baby Oppa!}}  But Lt Choi is there watching the interrogation.  He can see JW is very good at controlling himself.  So he tells Wife to ask Team Leader to bring Dir Yoon, this is HTJ's former secretary guy who we found out is actually working for & completely loyal to Harry, & see what happens.  Lt Choi watches their interactions & reactions to each other very closely.  Noticing how Harry leans back but Dir Yoon leans forward, pointing out that this only happens between people who are comfortable with each other, which in turn denotes Dir Yoon's familiarity w Harry.  So he then has Wife tell Team Leader to step out of the room, but first give each man a glass of water, leaving them alone.  For a while they just sit there, stoically & more than a little awkwardly, not speaking.  Then Harry takes a drink of water & almost immediately after Dir Yoon does the same.  Which again points out that Dir Yoon is subservient to Harry, used to taking orders & following his lead.  I have to admit I loved the psychology used in this scene.  It was brilliant & quite frankly Lt Choi is too.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's the smartest cop there.

During all of this the policeman are discussing Kang Hyung Joon's (KHJ from here on in) relationship to JW's aunt & HTJ & that they are going to use the soda can, the only piece of evidence KHJ has no idea they have, to prove Harry is the little boy from 14 years previously.  They have a lot of evidence to gather & a lot of things that still need to be cleared up.  So many questions, not enough answers...yet.

JW & SY are on the bus or maybe it's a train, I can't tell, to hide out at Wife's house & SY once again breaks down.  I had to laugh, I'm sorry, she cries a LOT in this show, when JW said, "I was wondering when you going to break?", I just had to roll my eyes!!!  @.@   Like she'd been all strong & calm!  Whatever!!  Okay I don't blame her for always crying she's, they've, been through a whole heck of a lot of crap alone & together & she's being accused of, not just one but multiple, murders etc... but seriously you were wondering when she was going to break?!?!  Meanwhile I was wondering when she was going to grow a spine & finally take care of herself for a change, instead of constantly letting the men handle everything.  Grow a set honey & stop bawling ALL the time.  There will plenty of time to break down later when everything is done & over with, but for right now while your butt's in the sling toughen up, dude!  That's how I do it.  I wait till later & have a good old fashioned meltdown, alone in the shower, where no one can see or hear & then all the evidence of my crying jag is washed down the shower drain.  And I put back on the happy face & keep going.

{{Although, this week, I did nearly have a stupid panic attack at the thought of going to the doctor.  It was seriously so lame & I was embarrassed for being all nervous.  In my defense, not that this is really a defense as much as it is me trying to justify it to myself, it HAS been a really long time since my last full check up & I was terrified of what he would say about my lack of taking care of myself.  Plus, in general, I really don't like doctors....hence the not going for nearly 4 years.  Any who....back to our review right?}}

If you remember, prior to Evil Step mom being poisoned, she had removed Harry's mom from HTJ's evil clutches & had her daughter, Ah Reum, hide Harry's mom & herself, at Bellos.  Eun Joo had gotten a call from JW asking for a favor.  That favor was for Eun Joo to go get Harry's mom & hide her somewhere else. Ah Reum leaves & shows up the hospital where HTJ, who was bludgeoned on the back of the head, has made a quick recovery & is leaving against doctors orders.  And where her mother is recovering after being poisoned, almost to death, by Harry.  HTJ's reaction to hearing his wife almost died & is still in serious condition.... not a dang thing!  He couldn't give a crap less about the woman, he just wants his stinking money.  At this point I got really angry, as did Ah Reum, who told him off, in a much nicer way than I would have, I wanted to get all of his money, in a very fluid form, take everything of his & get the actually monetary worth of it in cold hard cash & set it on fire right in front of the S.O.B.  I wanted to strangle the crap out of him too.  I just hate him so much!  I have no sympathy for this character at all.  If that is what the actor & director were going for, they succeeded.  I literally HATE him.  I want to do slow physical damage to his evil heart & slow mental & emotional torture as well.  Hence the setting all his money on fire, forcing him to watch it all burn baby BURN!!!!!  Bahahahahahaha....  Okay....I may be just a little too emotional here...

<BIG breath in & out>  Okay I am perfectly calm & rational again.... I apologize if that was a bit much.

After he leaves the hospital he rushes home & through the house looking for KHJ's mom.  But she isn't there, obviously.  He goes into his office & sees it's been ransacked, which he knows is the work of KHJ, whom he mistakenly thinks also took his mother back.  He has nothing to lose now.  He just wants his money back & if he has to give KHJ what he wants, by George he'll do whatever it takes, his money is the most important thing to him. Back at Wife's house, we meet his dad.  Who is incredibly sweet, cute & funny.  He welcomes them w open arms, he knows what's going on, as Wife told him the whole story.  I have no idea what whitewashed version Wife told him, maybe he did actually tell him everything, I have no idea, but he is very funny & sweet & welcoming, just what the doctor ordered.  Outside, later & by themselves, SY finally tells JW everything she knows.  How Harry, Harry's mom, HTJ & Evil Step mom all know each other from 14 years ago.  That each of them is responsible in one way or another for them all being in the positions they are in today.  She also tells JW just how responsible his own father is for all of it.  How he ordered the Rapist to claim he killed her, telling him about the USB she received, how he messed up Harry's leg, all of it.  She also explains she knows that the reason she went through everything she did, as a kid, was as a direct result of Harry's mom.  She also tells him that Harry confessed to her that he is the one who killed the rapist.  Of course as expected all of this new information, especially his father's part in all of it, is a lot to process for JW & he collapses & cries.  For the first time since we meet her, we see SY being the strong one, as she grabs a hold of him & comforts him & tells him none of this is his fault.  He didn't know, he was just a kid.

Back at his Girlfriend's house, we see SY's mom folding laundry & keeping up a one sided conversation w Harry's mom.  She really is just a very sweet woman. I admit I didn't really like her the first few episodes but she changed into one of the nicer people in this show.  She is just chatting away w Harry's mom.  Eventually pulling out her photo albums & showing off her baby, SY, & then her son, JW to Harry's mom.  Upon hearing the name Han Jung Woo, a few times, she freaks out & it takes Eun Joo & SY's mom to calm her down.  She remembers, she doesn't talk, but she remembers.  Then there is a lot of filler as JW & SY have a moment over tea & blah blah blah...it doesn't really move the story as much as it fills the hour.  All stuff they've said before.  So I will go on...

The next day, Harry, on his bike, leaves his house & loses the officer assigned as his tail.  But HTJ is getting desperate for his money, so he isn't paying as close attention as he should & therefore doesn't realize Wife is tailing him.  Wife reports to JW that he followed his dad & his dad is meeting w Harry.  In the car Harry tells HTJ that in order to get his precious money back, HTJ has to hurt JW the way he hurt Harry.  No, he doesn't want him to hurt JWs leg.  He wants him to hurt SY, the thing JW loves the most.  Once HTJ does that he'll get his precious money.  And IF HTJ believes that then JW is right, his father isn't thinking straight.  JW tells Wife they have to look into the adoption records more, he knows there is something there regarding Dir Yoon.  And he tells him to check out his father's old bank for a slush fund or something.

He just wants to spend this one day together w SY alone.  So he goes fishing & then they decide to go get ingredients to make a stew but it requires too many ingredients, so they decide to just grill.  On the way back to Wife's house they each reveal what they really want, a happy quiet life w someone they love.  Then they stop & go for a walk & talk some more but really the important part is that they kiss again.  Sigh  Its all so sweet & romantic when he catches her by the waist & pulls her in quickly & then full on romantic kiss, in the setting sun, on a snow covered street.  It was totally "sigh" worthy & breath catching...to me it was anyway.  *Happy Sighs*  Especially when, while they are lip locked, we hear his voice over come on & say, "More than ever before.... Let's love one another."  :)

Evil Stepmom is not having a loving reunion w her husband though.  He looms over her in her hospital bed, where she is barly awake & recovering, oxygen mask on & everything & he threatens her.  She knows what to do.  Unless she wants Harry to come after her & try to kill her again, she'll keep quiet & keep HTJ's back safe or else!  Outside in the corridor we see Eun Joo & Ah Reum talking about Harry's mom & how she is safe & fine at SY's moms' house.  But what they don't realize is that Harry is sitting on the bench next to them eavesdropping, behind a newspaper.  {{Great!  Way to go ladies.  Ye, I know it's in the script but ...  oh never mind.}}  Back at Wife's house, JW & SY arrive arms laden w groceries.  Wife's dad rushes off w SY, signalling to JW that Wife is there & they should talk.  He finds out that his Step mom is awake & asks that they keep HTJ away from her.  He might get her into more trouble or their evidence or their cover might be blown.  They can't see each other.  {{pssst...it's too late for that sweet Chunnie}}  Then JW lets Wife in on the secret that Harry's mom is with SY's mom.

Who, btw, is taking Harry's mom for a walk through the market.  They stop to buy dinner at a stall & mom leaves to go get some more shopping done & leaves Eun Joo in charge.  This part isn't really important until Harry sits down next to them, his mom spills hot noodles & broth on herself & Eun Joo rushes off to get her supplies with which to dry.  Harry & she stare at each other for a while & finally he hands her the broken in half locket, that previously held the key shaped charm, that SY now wears.  That night over a lovely dinner, in front of a roaring fire...  {{thanks Chunnie for making an ahjumma want that too, the romantic part not the food, although... o.O}}  JW & SY have some more romantic conversation.  Again it's just filler...Mostly it ends with them deciding they really do need to go back to Seoul, tomorrow.  Just as JW leaves to get them more Soju, Wife calls to tell him his step mom woke up & is pointing the finger at Soo Yeon after all.  Obviously this is Harry's doing, decides SY, she's pretty smart, so that Harry can get JW angry, as he is right now.  Harry gets a phone call in his little lair, HTJ informs him that he did his part, now he wants his money!

In our last romantic moment before the conclusion, SY comes out after taking a shower, barefoot & JW touches her foot, much like his 15 yr old counterpart did, when he saw her scar.  He asks her if it still hurts when she looks at it & she says no because all she can remember now is when he touched it so thoughtfully when they were kids.  Then he asks her what she is going to be doing on the first day of snow next fall?  She says I am going to be with you.  He tells her not to forget that, because there is something she has to do with him.  When she asks what?  He evades.  {{I know how he answers that question in my head, how does he answer it in yours? ;) }}

The next morning the police are there to take her back to Seoul.  But so is Harry.  He holds out his hand to her & tells her to come to him.  She slowly steps forward, tells JW she has to return something to him & then slowly grasps his outstretched hand & places the key charm necklace in his hand, but it falls to the snow & she falls to her knees & cries...again... asking him, "Why? How?  How is it possible that this hand that saved me is capable of killing those people?  How could this be?  How could you?"  Eventually he jerks his hand out of her grasp, retrieves the necklace & looks angry.  At this point JW tells him, that now SY is going to take responsibility for all your sins & he looks truly shocked & sorry...until JW informs him, "I will catch you & then I will kill you."    Then close ups of everybody, SY from inside the police car, Harry where he was standing & JW on the other side of the police car.  And that is how ep 17 ended.

Most of it was filler but there were details we needed to see & hear as well.  And since it was over an hour to fill there had to be some romance too.  That part I like the most.

I apologize this is coming out late, since I took last week off, & I hope you aren't too irritated that you had to wait till the end of the day to read.  But it's been a busy mom week for me.  And the last 2 days I have been running on fumes.  In fact, I am cross eyed now, as I sit at my computer typing, but I still have another ep to watch & review as well get my eldest to Tae Kwon Do tonight.  I do believe ep 18 won't be out till tomorrow, especially since my previous plans to head into Chicago's K Town tomorrow have been cancelled.  :(  My friend forgot something she had to do & is unable to attend & my CA has to work most of tomorrow so he can't go with me either.  I'm taking it as a sign I need to rest.  Have a great night AddiKts.

Saranghamnida,