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Post by TheBo on Dec 11, 2013 12:31:46 GMT -5
I'm watching this on DF: Saving Mrs Go Bong-shilIt stars Kim Hae-sook as Mrs Go, Chun Ho-jin as David Kim, Dok Go Young-jae as Mrs Go's bro-in-law Seo Juntae, and Kim Hye-ok as Park Wonsook, who appears to have been the mistress of Mrs Go's husband, Seo Junsook. I will be posting spoilers from this point onward, but only from the episodes I watched already. I will post a synopsis of each episode, at which point anyone can say anything about that or past episodes, but please don't post spoilers about future events in the series. Or I'll getcha. Of course, if you wish to establish an alternative thread where you can discuss the goings on in no particular order--what we'd call spoilers here--you are perfectly welcome to do so, since we normally don't worry about spoilers in the "Other Shows" threads. I'm just asking your indulgence on "my" thread. Expect a leisurely pace. I'm watching this when I can, probably once a week, and will post on no set schedule. I hope someone will like to watch with me. Bo LOOK HERE LOOK HERE LOOK HERE!!! LINK TO CAST LIST THREADStarting on page 3, this link will appear at the top of every episode description. You can go to the top of the post you are in, right-click the link and tell it to open up in another tab, so you can keep both tabs open and reference the cast descriptions if you need to.
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Post by TheBo on Dec 11, 2013 12:58:42 GMT -5
Episode 1: Go Bongshil is happily married to a businessman, Seo Joonsook. She has a favorite brother-in-law named Joontae, and she is giving him a birthday party. She sends out handmade invitations--in fact, she's pretty much put the arm on everyone saying they must attend. These include her school-age daughter Inyoung (Luna), her married daughter Yoonyoung (Kim Min-joo) whose husband is Kyungsoo (Kim Young-joon) and who have two young, happy, bright children, and lots of people from the neighborhood. Bro-in-law Joontae is wildly popular and Mrs Go really knows how to put on a shindig, so in spite of several disturbances (Inyoung's boyfriend/stalker loses one of Yoonyoung's children, who is rescued by a mysterious businessman, for instance), the party goes off without a hitch. Everybody happy.
However, all is not well. On party day, Mr Seo returns from China to find out a number of disturbing things. His cringing business partner Byeonggeun (Lee Sun-sung) has managed to bankrupt the company Mr Seo bankrolled, and now the government is investigating Mr Seo for smuggling operations he knew nothing about. This apparently has something to do with Byeonggeun's brother, a shifty character named Jincheol (Lee Ho-seong). When Mr Seo confronts Jincheol, Seo ends up dead at the bottom of a cliff. We don't see what actually happens, but Byeonggeun is certainly a witness.
His body is discovered by town simpleton and sweet soul Mangeum (Woo Hyeon) and his girlfriend, fisherwoman and strongarm expert Mija (Park Jun-myun). Everyone assumes it's a terrible accident, and at the funeral, Jincheol rushes in to weep theatrically in front of the crowd (jerk). Mrs Go walks around like a ghost, she is simply stunned and unable to take in this disaster. The funeral procession is a long, sad walk to the grave on the clifftops, where Mrs Go spots an unwelcome guest lurking in the background--Mr Seo's mistress, Wonsook. [end of episode]
Other characters include Mandeuk (Shin Chung-sik), neighborhood cranky old guy who apparently has some dough but refuses to help Mr Seo out of his bad situation with a loan; Geumsil (Kim Young-ok), similarly cranky old lady and owner of the neighborhood convenience store; a number of unsavory characters mysteriously thrown in who are in a city working at a combination cafe/"transgender bar" (I think this title is a little misleading, but we'll see--it's the translation on the sign for the bar, not the DF translation), and some characters who work in the city at a chic, cheap dress shop apparently owned by Wonsook.
***
I've been wanting to watch this show for a very long time. I liked the set up, and these are actors I have enjoyed in the past. I hope it's a goodie.
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Post by TheBo on Dec 16, 2013 14:17:16 GMT -5
Episode 2: First thing we find out is, Jincheol really did murder Mr Seo (Bongshil's husband). Mr Seo fell from the cliff but Jincheol grabbed his hand, then instead of helping him up, he just let go. It may have looked to Byunggeun (Jincheol's brother) that it was an accident, but Jincheol apparently has fixed it so his brother is in a coma somewhere--this is what he tells Mr Seo's family at the funeral. (Also, I forgot to say earlier--the things Jincheol was smuggling were "national treasures," so that's pretty serious.) 49 days later, the family meet for Mr Seo's memorial. A lot has happened that they are clueless about. The town thinks Mr Seo committed suicide because his business is bankrupt. (One of the bankers tells fisherwoman Mija, but it seems the gossip is all over town.) The bank is foreclosing on everything the Seo family has, including Mom Bongshil's precious exotic flower-growing business. The kids and Uncle Joontae find out when they search Dad's desk for his missing $10,000 watch. Mom, who had let Dad handle all family money and never even looked in his office after his death, finds out when she visits the bank to get some cash. She apparently also signed some documents. The kids are a mess, the elder daughter just yells at everyone and the younger weeps in despair, but they finally get a plan together to try to find out what is going on. Meanwhile, cranky Mandeuk hears about the missing expensive watch, which he knocked out of Mr Seo's hands when the latter asked him to lend money (Mandeuk refused and didn't realize the value of the watch). So he goes to look by the seaside. While there, he sees the mysterious businessman who rescued Yoonyoung's little boy the day of the birthday party and who was also spotted that day by cranky lady Geumsil giving something to Mr Seo out of the window of his car (it was a toy from the boy). Mandeuk sees this man's expensive watch and thinks he's suspicious, so he follows his limo on his motorbike, but is assaulted by the man's driver. BTW,the rich guy is named David Kim (Cheon Ho-jin), and it looks like he's bought up all the beachfront property thereabouts. Yoonyoung and Bongshil go to Mr Seo's office, where his odd, quiet secretary meets them and gives Yoonyoung various reports (not without some annoyance, she "keeps everything separately"--either she's kinda stupid or being obstructive). Yoonyoung gets a call from work--a star she was on the verge of signing has agreed to appear on another show at the same exact time as Yoonyoung's show. The girl's manager is slippery, and Yoonyoung's assistant is stonewalled by the starlet. Yoonyoung has a stomach attack, and Mom makes her eat some soup. On their way out, Mrs Go sees a man being brutally beaten in an alley. He's an illegal alien and can't go to the hospital, so she takes him home, much to Yoonyoung's anger and disgust. Yoonyoung goes to Seoul to try to do damage control, and Mrs Go takes the man with her home on the ferry. **** It seems I was wrong. "Transgender bar" was not a mistranslation. In a scene with Seo's mistress Wonsook, there's a pretty girl who is very clearly a transgendered boy ( Choi Han-bit). (But there's also a girl ( Harisu) at the club who sounds very much like a boy, so it's confusing. I supposed Harisu could be transgendered as well, her stage name is derived from the words "hot issue.") I wonder if cranky old Mandeuk and sweet, simple Mangeum are brothers? Seems likely. It seems to me that Jincheol's claim (at the funeral) that he was returning from Seoul when Seo died is just the sort of embroidery that knells a criminal's downfall. And wasn't "David Kim" the pseudonym of Uhm TW's alter ego on MOE?
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Post by Knov1 on Dec 17, 2013 2:02:27 GMT -5
But there's also a girl ( Harisu) at the club who sounds very much like a boy, so it's confusing. I supposed Harisu could be transgendered as well, her stage name is derived from the words "hot issue." Yes. Harisu is transgender.
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Post by TheBo on Dec 17, 2013 11:55:29 GMT -5
Ah, thanks knov1. Harisu looks and sounds much more like a girl, but she does sound like a boy at the same time. Maybe I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't get a clue from the club sign.
Funny thing, this morning I was deprived of Shin Don, because the stupid stupid Roku dramafever interface is doing something odd, and so I watched the first episode of Lovers, and there he was, Mrs Go's dead husband Seo, as the head gangster Choi. Man, that guy apparently has his paws in a lot of pies. (Oh, and they visited the restaurant that stood in for Gourmet's Oonamjeong, which was a little jolt of recognition for me.)
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Post by TheBo on Jan 14, 2014 14:51:51 GMT -5
Episode 3: Mrs Go, to the surprise/interest of the village, brings home Jose, the quiet, nice man from Peru (I think), who speaks some Korean and understands it too. She treats him like an honored guest. Bro-in-law Joontae visits the priest, who promises he'll help the man find permanent housing.
The Seo men try to salvage what they can from Mr Seo's antique store. Seo's mistress Wonsook (they don’t know her) gets them to sell her a small antique bedside table marked “not for sale” just before (a) they are threatened by some loan sharks, and then (b) the store is taken over by the IRS. Unknown to anyone, one of those stolen priceless national heritage paintings was hidden in that table by Jincheol, who has promised the painting to a scary Japanese man, who already gave him a bunch of money for it. Oh-oh.
Mrs Go has to pay Inyoung's tuition. She sells her expensive flowers in the marketplace, but nobody is buying. On the way home with Mangeum in the rain, their little golf cart is repossessed, at which time she finds out Mangeum is not being paid at all. She sells lots of furniture and books, as well as her jade ring (last gift from husband), to a pawnbroker for an unexpectedly low price. She also tries her hand at clam-digging, but is not very good at it even with marketkeeper Geumsil's generous help.
Meanwhile, elder daughter Yoonyoung has troubles of her own with her production company and the wayward actress who's screwing them. She can’t help Mom because all her money is sunk into the TV company and she's heavily mortgaged. The Seo men think the wonderful secret murderer Jincheol could help them, but he’s unreachable, “probably taking care of his poor brother-in-a-coma, Byung-geum,” who’s actually walkaround-hiding, wracked with guilt.
Joontae’s fortune is read by a drunk, who tells him some nonsense about seeking out “a nobleman from the South.” An “old girl.” Joontae is first hopeful, then annoyed, but it seems like foreshadowing, don’t it?
Younger sister Inyoung tries to squeeze Yoonyoung for "an apartment deposit,” but since the latter is broke, she tells Inyoung either to move home to Mom's or move into one of Yoon's children's rooms. (I am suspicious of what Inyoung actually needs money for.) On her way out, selfish, oblivious Inyoung spots a typed ad that says, “Art College Students Welcome!” and takes one.
Returning from clam digging, Mrs Go visits husband’s grave with some wildflowers she picks on the way. She hears disconsolate weeping. She comes to the grave and sees expensive flowers and a fine kerchief lying on the ground. Mistress Wonsook hides in the shrubbery in the approved, invisible, back-to-your-searcher position, but somehow Mrs Go is able to overcome this great mo-jo and still see her. Wonsook is called out from hiding. The two women face each other over their man’s grave. Sez Mrs Go, “Would you…care for a drink?”
*** The invisibility trick didn't work? It ALWAYS works! Har.
I was surprised the IRS told Joontae that since Seo was dead, the case would be closed. Huh? What about all those priceless national heritage pieces? We just pretend they never existed?
I was starting to be seriously annoyed by Mrs Go's complete lack of business savvy, until she piped up and called attention to it herself. She's really inept, isn't she.
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Post by TheBo on Jan 30, 2014 13:44:29 GMT -5
Episode 4: (final) Mrs Go and Wonsook, to the surprise and curiosity of the gang, have drinks at the greenhouse. Everything very civilized, until a sniveling Wonsook reveals that she and the late Mr Seo had gone driving, to the movies, and to the zoo. Also, apparently, fooled around a lot. Asked (ordered, really) to go home, she leaves her card and asks Mrs Go to visit if she comes to Seoul. Later, Wonsook is nearly attacked by shopkeeper Geumsil, who overheard their conversation. Mrs Go ransacks her late husband's belongings, including family photos, and tells handyman Mangeum to burn them, because as it turns out, the jerk Seo never even took her to the zoo or "out driving" the entire time they were married. Next day, she works with Geumsil gathering and drying smallfry (fish), and then she prepares a nice big mixed cold noodle dish for all the worker women who have been so kind to her. The women sell the dried fish by the roadside. When rich-guy David Kim drives by he sees the noodles, and the ladies sell him and his driver some. Young driver not impressed, David Kim gobbles down both bowls. At her new job at a children's art school, Inyoung gets fired after three hours because she dared to smack an ill-behaved (spoiled rotten) bully whose mother unfortunately was looking on. With her three hours' pay, naturally, she runs to a noodle shop and demands "$20 of soju and food"! Right, that's what you do with your precious earnings when your whole family is going bankrupt. She later stumbles into her childhood friend, the transvestite Soo-ae (at last! a connection!), and stays overnight at her house. The two girls mourn Mr Seo, who was apparently extremely kind to Soo-ae despite her lifestyle. Soo-ae takes Inyoung to interview at a gas station convenience store, coincidentally owned (we learn) by the rich father of the guy who's been stalking/chasing after Inyoung. Soo-ae advises she marry the guy, get a big marriage settlement and an early divorce. For now, Inyoung takes the job. Other things happening "downtown" include us learning that David Kim is a big tough guy who owns a lot of clubs, and the hugely pregnant girl who works for Wonsook goes into early labor and they all rush off to the hospital with her. In the hometown, Mandeuk (cranky old man) has a nightmare where he sees Mr Seo at the shore where they had their argument. Mandeuk goes there and finds the watch. For some reason, he brings it home and hides it instead of giving it to Mrs Go. When Mangeum tells him that Mrs Go sold everything she could get her hands on in order to give Mangeum at least part of his wages (for which he feels guilty and sad), and then she fired him so he could get another job, Mandeuk looks guilty but still holds onto the watch. [ Bo confused. Maybe this will become clear later.] Finally, bro-in-law Juntae takes off for Seoul, even though Mrs Go begs him to stay. She orders him to return ASAP. Mrs Go bids goodbye to her South American friend. As he leaves, he hands her a packet of "happy seeds" from his country [which I still think is Peru]. She, despondent and not caring, hands them over to Mangeum, who opens the packet and drops it onto a table in the greenhouse. Late that night, a high wind blows through the greenhouse and scatters the seeds (they look like green Nerds candy BTW) all over the dirt floor. The spirit of Mr Seo comes through the door and he waves his hand over the seeds, which immediately sprout and grow, fruiting little red berries. Mr Seo smiles benevolently. [END]***** OOOOH, SPOOOO-KEEY. lol. I am so enjoying this show, even with the confusing bits. It's moving slowly, but it's not boring, it's basically a good old-style, intergenerational Korean daily drama, even if they've thrown in some supernatural and mob-related elements.
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Post by bird11 on Feb 9, 2014 17:34:49 GMT -5
Finished watching "Prime Minister and I" and "Sweet 18', so I thought I would jump in and watch this drama. So far, I have seen Ep. 1, I like the actress who plays the main lead - I am seen her in many other dramas so that was a plus. So far, so good.... One Question for anyone-- is the little girl Han Na(?) played by the same actress who played the Prime Minister's daughter in the "Prime Minster and I". The facial expression and voice look/sound similar. I checked a few webistes, but I guess she isn't a main character, so she isn't listed. Hopefully will get thru ep 2 today......
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Post by TheBo on Feb 15, 2014 13:51:02 GMT -5
OMG I'm so excited you're checking it out Bird! LOL. I don't know about the little girl, it's hard sometimes to place children correctly in dramas. And I don't know if anyone else is checking out this thread, so you may have to live with uncertainty. However, I've noticed if a kid is any good, eventually do more work and get a reputation, and then you're more likely to see them in cast lists.
As you see, I'm taking this at a slow pace so I shouldn't get too far ahead of you no matter what. If you want to drop out do, but I'm enjoying it so far (halfway through Ep.5).
Bo
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Post by bird11 on Feb 17, 2014 18:00:05 GMT -5
I haven't caught up to you yet, Bo-- I just finished ep 4. Part of the reason I think I like this so much is that there are so many actors I have seen and liked in other dramas. I can't decide which of Bongshil's daughters annoy me the the most-- the one yelling at her mom all the time because she doesnt know about anything (and her getting annoyed when Gongshil wanted to help the injured man) or the younger daughter who is whinning/crying/complaining all the time! As far as the story goes, I couldn't really understand why Mandeuk didnt give the watch to Gongshil when he found it, even if he made up a story, she needs the money so badly, I just thought maybe he thougth that people would accuse him of stealing it. I like the two characters from the transgender bar-- they add just enough "comedy" to the story -- I hope they are important to the story! I likd that Gongshil is standing up and trying to fix her situation, selling the furniture, selling flowers, diging for clams, helping the injured man-- makes you want to see her make it even more. Another question: Why did they burn Seo's belongings after he died? I don't think I have ever seen this in a drama before, I'm guessing it is to "send" the belongings to the afterworld? If you can't answer my questions-- don't worry about it, I just figure if anyone jumps in and reads the post they might know the answers-- I read almost all the posts just to see what people are thinking about, even I'm not watching the drama!
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Post by TheBo on Feb 18, 2014 18:17:43 GMT -5
I'm on a tablet right now can't type much BUT will post tomorrow. I have opine on all yr points except the burning--don't "get" that part either.
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Post by bird11 on Feb 20, 2014 14:38:20 GMT -5
Well.... it's "tomorrow" and still no comments, Bo!??!?!? just kidding! Hopeflly going to watch ep 5 today.....
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Post by TheBo on Feb 20, 2014 15:01:55 GMT -5
LOL Birrrrrrdy. It's day AFTER tomorrow, right? I finished it, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write up a short synopsis of Ep5; I'll try today. Looks like we'll be caught up with each other at that point, so hurrah.
Bo
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Post by bird11 on Feb 20, 2014 16:58:27 GMT -5
No worries-- still haven't sat down to watch ep 5 (yet!) still some time left in the day-- I try to watch half the episode after dinner and the other half before I go to bed-- that doesn't always work because even though I have to be awake to read the subtitiles sometimes it is not enough to kept me from nodding off in the middle of an episode! Most of the time I don't even remember nodding off until the next episode when something happens that I have no clue about!
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Post by TheBo on Feb 25, 2014 15:09:23 GMT -5
Go Bong-shil Ep.5 (This is slightly mixed up, as I’m going by what happened rather than the order it happened.) Yoonyoung and her husband Kyungsoo are having problems, mostly because of money. He can’t sell any screenplays, and he indulges in compulsive shoe purchases, driving her crazy. Meanwhile, she is forced to pander to a Mr. Pyun, her show’s sponsor, in order to get enough funds to pay her people (late). One of hubby’s “friends”--an old classmate, now a successful screenwriter obviously nursing resentment and jealousy of Kyungsoo’s superior abilities--sees her with the old man at a karaoke bar, and the two young men get into a drunken brawl when the jealous writer accuses Kyungsoo of, it sounds like, impotence. Yoon and Kyungsoo later fight and he slams out of the apartment. Yoon is driving herself into the ground trying to help Bongshil, who it turns out is her stepmother from a very young age. The lawyer suggests Yoon talk to the bank manager. Meanwhile, Mrs Go receives a foreclosure/property auction notice, along with a call from the bank manager saying he’s forced to do this by his parent company. She makes a beautiful cake for the bank employees and then is invited in to talk with the manager. Yoon is already there and Mrs Go gets such a loooook! says Mrs Go (lol). They beg for assistance, and the bank manager relents, saying if they can get two months’ interest paid within one week ($16,000), he’ll delay the auction. Mrs Go is shocked at this amount, but Yoon says she’ll do it. Mrs G is sorry for Yoon being stuck with this additional burden, which angers the fragile Yoon. “Are we strangers, now that my father is dead? Just let me help you!” “Okay, okay, but eat something! You look emaciated!” [EXACTLY, on both sides.] Mrs Go assures Yoon she can pay Inyoung’s tuition herself. She tells shopkeeper Geumsil she’ll try to borrow money from old Mandeuk, who’s such a schmuck he turns up his nose at her and makes her embarrassed, all the while worrying how he’s going to return her husband’s watch to her. Really, seriously, someone smack this guy please. Meanwhile, Geumsil has set up a blind date for Mangeum’s girlfriend Mija. He overhears. We learn the men in his family are “weak” in the romance department—"there’s only been one son in each of seven generations" he tells Uncle Joontae. But then Mangeum comes upon Jose’s special mint-fruit plants, chomps down on them and, overcome with manliness, drags Mija away from her date and schtups her soundly at the old mill. Yes, schtups. There is neighborhood gossip, general disbelief and talk of a secret herb. Mr Seo’s mistress Wonsook is having trouble looking after herself, so she asks tran-girl Soo-ae to move in and take care of her for free rent and also to work at the dress shop. Soo-ae is thrilled to have such a pleasant haven. Also, she’s disgusted by Mr Seo’s “remembrance” drawer table (because of the Korean prejudice against holding onto a dead person's things), and tells Wonsook, who's having bad dreams, she’ll get rid of the depressing object (remember--there’s a priceless painting hidden therein). Soo-ae forces Inyoung to go out with her yutzy admirer, who presents Inyoung with free massage tickets. Inyoung then hears she’ll have to move in with sister Yoon so the family can use her $10,000 apartment deposit. She, predictably, acts like a child over this, but nobody cares. Meanwhile, elsewhere, rich David Kim psychologically attacks government minister Min (who seems to be actively on the take) over some permits. He’s found out Min’s son, getting married soon to a rich family, secretly has a 3-yr-old son in the USA. Kim has hired the boy’s mother, an aspiring hotelier, to his hotel in NYC, and told her to keep everything quiet. Min, irate, tries to bluster his way out, but it appears Kim will win. Mrs Go has a talk at her husband’s graveside. Who are you? Why did you do all these terrible things (she’s found out about his supposed national treasure thefts)? Why didn’t you live and keep me from finding out? She walks home, and there, a young couple demands some of her magic herbs, but she doesn’t know what they are talking about. Upset, the man shoves $500 into her hands and they flee. When she tells Mangeum to give them back their money, he says, No. You don’t have to return their money. [END]*********** The coffee scene? Hilarious. Can you see an American show taking all that time to show him preparing the coffee and keeping the guy on tenterhooks (and us too)? Never, it would be cut to ribbons and the whole effect lost.
Soo-ae is the sweetest character. I like her MUCH better than Inyoung—I know, I know, that’s not saying much, but I think I like her better than almost any of the characters on the canvas.
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