Episode 13 of Cyrano (9/25/13)

[TheBo]

Minyoung confesses her love to Sherlock but he’s distracted by ambulances arriving at Yiseol’s store, where she’s cut her hand because the injury she said was “completely healed” actually is not. So Sherlock tells Yiseol he’s her best friend and will always be there for her, meanwhile learning the Maestro is Do-il’s younger brother—his REAL brother—which makes him decide to “give” Minyoung to the Maestro because he (Sherlock) thinks everyone who gets close to him is hurt very badly. Before that, Minyoung moves into the theater to try to get Sherlock to change his mind and love her back, and the two thugs continue to interfere in the Maestro/Minyoung relationship even though he warns them never never do it again, and Arang and Moojin decide to turn the tables on Sherlock and change HIS mind about Minyoung rather than changing HER mind about the Maestro. Which might be too late, because she and the Maestro are having a tender moment, right then and now, outside the theater.

Thought I’d give it the Glee treatment. How was that?

Oh, yeah, this--that strange guy who’s been hanging around the restaurant creeps out the three DAC guys when he snoops around inside the theater and tells them they’d better remember his name, which is Jung Do-il. The penny doesn’t drop for Sherlock, though, the big dummy. EDIT: Seems I'm the dummy. This guy's name is Jung Il-do, not Jung Do-il, so I guess his name would not mean anything to Sherlock.

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Loved Sherlock’s nickname for Jung Do-il (“Hawaii Shirt Guy”). Ha!

I truly was shocked to learn that Go Do-il and Cha Syeung-pyo/Maestro were actually brothers by blood. That explains so much.

[Knov1]

Ah, so they were brothers. All the more reason why Sherlock should know who Master is. Even Yi Seol recognized him.

Lee Chun Hee (Master) makes a cameo appearance in episode 14 of The Master's Sun.

[TheBo]

But Yiseol only recognized him from one photo. Only one, and the Maestro was clearly surprised by this fact--he said so. And she was nearly married to Do-il. I think you are judging the situation by a normal familial relationship. Sherlock mentioned to the Maestro that he knew of Do-il's brother, because he had been told the boy had been adopted by a relative. Sounds like the family was broken up and there wasn't much contact until Do-il started desperately seeking money and the Maestro heard about it through a mob grapevine. By this time, Sherlock was studying in London and (it sounds like) studiously avoiding Do-il because he felt guilty about him.

Sherlock had no idea that his neighbor was also his loan shark, and he still does not. He still apparently has no notion of the Maestro's mob connections at all, and why should he, because they've taken great pains to hide these facts from him, apparently from vengeful motives.

[Knov1]

I'm just tired of scenarios like that. It's all a little too convenient for me. It's like I said in the other thread. K-Dramas make it seem perfectly normal to know absolutely nothing about your friends or significant other. That's BS.

[TheBo]

Okay, sorry for feeling differently about it. Sheesh.

On a different note, I guess I was too focused on my theory about Hawaiian Shirt, because I was CERTAIN he said his name was Jung Do-il, and I couldn't figure out why nobody took a pause on that. But of course, as I realized while watching Ep.14 (tomorrow's ep), he said Jung Ildo. Silly me.

[TheBo]

You know, I think I was feeling a little "attacked" by you yesterday, knov1. I'm sorry if I came off as rude, I sincerely am sorry if I was. But I was thinking about what you said early this morning, awake with a migraine which is when I usually do my thinking , and not to drag it out or anything, I think I'd feel better if I say this.

You are saying (and I think Bird agrees with you) that it is ridiculous to believe that people one is close to could hide something from you, or that you might not know something that is clearly in front of your face. I do not agree. Women are sometimes blamed for their husband's affairs, people saying, "They must have known!" In fact, it's very easy to miss something you are not looking for. For thousands of years, scientific knowledge was practically at a standstill because people didn't understand the simple concept of ignoring what you have been told is true. If Aristotle said it, then it was proven fact and you didn't have to go any further. Educated, brainy people went on denying the Copernican model of the universe well after the invention of the telescope. People's capacity for missing the truth is deeply ingrained.

Even on a more personal level, Ted Bundy (to use an extreme case) had a fiancée who knew nothing about his activities, and yes, I believe her. His whole acquaintance was completely in the dark. This isn't that uncommon. We can sit here and say, I would never be that foolish, but think about any time you were involved with someone and found out later you were played for a chump. Maybe you should have known, but that doesn't prove that you did know.

So in the setup of this drama, yes, I believe that although Sherlock certainly admits he knew Do-il had a younger brother, there's no reason for him to have identified this particular guy as the brother. I have a harder time understanding why Do-il never introduced his brother to Yiseol, frankly, since the two men were so close toward the end of his life and Yiseol was the fiancée. But Sherlock was out of the country then.

Whether Korean dramas (and let's be fair, it's not limited to Korean scriptwriting) over-rely on this concept is a separate issue. Dramas rely on all sorts of conventions. Think of the buddy movie or the romantic comedy, they all follow formulas, some of which are ridiculous. What matters is what kind of style and creativity are used to carry out that formula. In this limited context, I think DAC succeeds. Whether it succeeds on other levels, I have other opinions that will be revealed in due time.

[Knov1]

I apologize. My post wasn't intended as an attack on you. I'm not expecting the characters, regardless of how close they are, to know everything about each other. I understand it doesn't work that way. The small world theme (characters being connected but unaware of it) is repeatedly used in K-Dramas. That's more of my issue than this specific scenario.

I hope we can be best pals again.

[TheBo]

LOL I love the pumpkin bunny, but it looks like the other one walks up and slugs her. I would never slug you, unless you showed up wearing a pumpkin bunny outfit, I'd have a hard time trying to ignore that.

Famous words: Mistakes were made. Can't we just get along? (Yes.)