comments on episode 15

[velvet inkbrush of YiSoonShin]

CHUN SOO HOW COULD YOU?!!!!

i am really upset and quite dumbfounded by chun soo's moral flexibility with rejecting soon shin after all that he had done for him.

i mean in episode 9, he's ready to get beaten to death for him and now he is going to act like they have no relation to one another?

i find this highly unlikely given his earlier character and i am going to enter one of my few complaints about this drama at this point by saying either the writers did a really poor job of understanding this character or they did not give a good enough reason why he would turn traitor on his friend because i can see very little to justify such a change of heart.

but i am excited to meet master nam goon

(makes a stereotypical martial arts *woo hyah!)

[JP Paulus]

Umm..

i would differ... i think these makes sense (though unfortunate).

Chun-su has found out that the reason why he even has a job at this point is because of Yi Soon-shin.

With Soon-shin potentially leaving for the Academy, Chun-su will soon be kicked to the curb. What hope will he have? Soon-shin won't be in a position to help Chun-su for many years.

So Chun-su is just trying to survive, at least in his mind (he obviously has low self-esteem).

Isn't this a foreshadowing of other relationships in Soon-shin's future--- people will have to decide between survivial (or at least current comfort) vs. standing up with Soon-shin.

Realisitically, how many would make that sacrifice?

[VIB unlogged]

it still does not make sense to me that someone who is totally willing to pull up stakes and give up everything for his friend would all of a sudden do a 180. this whole "I need to survive thing" is a totally new side of chun soo. before, he was willing to even put his life on the line for soon shin and now he is concerned with self-preservation? given that and how much soon shin has helped him, i still find it hard to believe that he could do such a thing and the whole survival bit is not a viable reason in my opinion for his actions in epi 15 (as well as future ones)

[luvarchfiend]

i didn't see it so much as a survival issue (even though this is his excuse), but a jealousy issue. chun su realized the only reason he was even being 'tolerated' was because of soon-shin. this could cause a person to react negatively to another. having said that, i also find it hard to believe that he would turn against soon-shin to the extent that he did. i was very disappointed in him, or at least in the way he is being written.

[Hopeful Fan]

The comments on Chun su and his character or lack thereof is quite revealing in that when YSS said, "Does he blame the world or his friend for his change of heart." This is poignant because often good people are changed because of circumstances. Yet, strength of character as YSS though he always chooses the higher road - what if he did not have his Father or Mother would he still choose those high values. Chun su lost his father and so the world changes for him because of fear. The writers are writing well because of this revelation very soft and subtle but poignat.

[hachiman taro]

I agree with VIB and I think that the abrupt about face of Chun Soo is not written convincingly. As VIB noted, the survival incentive was no stronger than earlier when Chun Soo repeatedly put his life on the line for Soon Shin. If one had such courage and fortitude I find it unlikely he'd cave so readily. Certainly Mujik egged him on with the class division thing, but Chun Soo has known Soon Shin long enough not to be swayed by such talk. One could make the argument that he was tempted by the possibility of substantial financial reward, and perhaps such possibilities didn't exist earlier so he hadn't been tested to that degree. Another angle is that in earlier years Chun Soo had his father and fellow villagers as his moral compass whereas now it's only Mujik telling him to look out for No.1. Still, I don't buy it. In AOW we saw characters get corrupted gradually by power--in general such gradual degradation of character is more believable and realistic. It is certainly true what Soon Shin told Chun Soo, that the first time (going against your better moral judgement) is the hardest and that once done, subsequent misdeeds become easier--this has been stated by numerous people (be they criminals or those that cheat on their spouses, etc). Nonetheless, for this viewer, the only way I see such an abrupt character change as believable is if some traumatic incident occurs to completely shake the character--which I really didn't see in Chun Soo's case. I'm sure we all know of people this has happened to. For example, I know two people that absolutely flipped out and changed in behavior and personality pretty much permanently when their wives suddenly left them. If Chun Soo didn't change when his father was killed, why should he change when pressured about his job?