I'm disappointed that they made Undaddy such a flat character. There has to be a more interesting way to show how revenge can thoroughly warp a person's perspective and thereby the person. Him being just evil... It's such a waste of Kim Sang Joong's talent!! Meh.
Just when Nana's character is finally what I imagined it ought to be.
That said, did anyone else think today's episode would entail a farewell to Shikjoong Ajussi? Jomjomajomajoma... Whew!
I am so glad Shikjoong is OK. He better survive the drama!
I actually like that Undaddy is a bigger monster than the men they hunt. That's about the only revenge kdrama I've seen take that tack and I find this corruption of the soul more realistic than weary but noble avengers kdramas are so fond of.
Plus, it sets up an interesting conflict for YS - sure, Undaddy is evil, but the targets are evil too.
I too like Undaddy losing his humanity as a result of his desire for revenge (and the challenges it poses for YS).
But I no longer see the motivation. I don't feel the corruption of the soul itself. The metaphor of the train/car with broken brakes carries only so far. The show is telling rather than showing me that the train/car's brakes have gone awry. Something's missing to make his bloodlust meaningful. A logic that has internal coherence, but so thoroughly and obviously warped the moment one looks at it from the outside.
I'm trying to think of past kdrama villains who were so thoroughly rich - a bit of President, a bit of Giant, definitely Story of Man - or even non-kdrama villains. I've definitely come across such characters somewhere, but I'm too tired to recall any easily.
All in all, given the talent portraying Jinpyo, I feel that this could have been another rich vein that the drama could have tapped to make the show and YS's travails even more meaningful.
I want Jinpyo to be given logic that gives me the shudders. To find him frightening to the core of my being. To remind us that even the best of us can lose the way, that even the most honorable and sympathetic motivations can warp into the most bone-chilling savagery.
I am perhaps reading in, but he was someone who was a decent person, and was betrayed in a horrible way (extra horrible for someone as patriotic as he was) and went on a slippery slope (drugs?????) until now revenge is not a mean or reflection of the past but an all-consuming goal and he can see nothing else.
I haven't seen President but I thought the villain in Giant was pretty much a pure sociopath - great performance that stole the drama for me (who'd believe he could play the sweet, simple, amazing YJ in CYHMH?) but a lot more simple as a character than Undaddy who, while derailed, is not a psycho.
Re: SOAM. I didn't get far enough into it to comment properly, but I thought, just as in Giant, antagonist was a bad (and possibly mentally ill) person from the start? Or am I confusing it with something else?
For precisely that reason, I said only a little of Giant. It was mostly the acting that raised that character from a flat psycho to an unholy monster.
SOAM - he was mentally ill. A psychopath through and through, yet there was something there. A storyline that wove itself through two generations. If you can revisit it, so worthwhile. I watched it because I was fascinated by the baddies and their twistedness.
Wah, I wish I could remember the character who left this impression on me. This is why I was not a film major.
Just when Nana's character is finally what I imagined it ought to be.
That said, did anyone else think today's episode would entail a farewell to Shikjoong Ajussi? Jomjomajomajoma... Whew!
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I actually like that Undaddy is a bigger monster than the men they hunt. That's about the only revenge kdrama I've seen take that tack and I find this corruption of the soul more realistic than weary but noble avengers kdramas are so fond of.
Plus, it sets up an interesting conflict for YS - sure, Undaddy is evil, but the targets are evil too.
Reply
But I no longer see the motivation. I don't feel the corruption of the soul itself. The metaphor of the train/car with broken brakes carries only so far. The show is telling rather than showing me that the train/car's brakes have gone awry. Something's missing to make his bloodlust meaningful. A logic that has internal coherence, but so thoroughly and obviously warped the moment one looks at it from the outside.
I'm trying to think of past kdrama villains who were so thoroughly rich - a bit of President, a bit of Giant, definitely Story of Man - or even non-kdrama villains. I've definitely come across such characters somewhere, but I'm too tired to recall any easily.
All in all, given the talent portraying Jinpyo, I feel that this could have been another rich vein that the drama could have tapped to make the show and YS's travails even more meaningful.
Reply
Reply
I am perhaps reading in, but he was someone who was a decent person, and was betrayed in a horrible way (extra horrible for someone as patriotic as he was) and went on a slippery slope (drugs?????) until now revenge is not a mean or reflection of the past but an all-consuming goal and he can see nothing else.
Reply
Re: SOAM. I didn't get far enough into it to comment properly, but I thought, just as in Giant, antagonist was a bad (and possibly mentally ill) person from the start? Or am I confusing it with something else?
Reply
SOAM - he was mentally ill. A psychopath through and through, yet there was something there. A storyline that wove itself through two generations. If you can revisit it, so worthwhile. I watched it because I was fascinated by the baddies and their twistedness.
Wah, I wish I could remember the character who left this impression on me. This is why I was not a film major.
Reply
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