Jang Bori Is Here! - Episode 7 (KimJiCap)
This is the episode in which Kim Ji-hoon appears! Hooray! He is here! When he does, the drama becomes very funny all of a sudden. Or is it because I'm very much biased?!
JoAnne: No, the whole tone changed. It even looks a little different.
kakashi: Well, it definitely looks beautiful. Because ... yeah. Kim Ji-hoon.
Episode 7
Of course, it's NOT Eun-bi at that competition! Eun-bi, now Bo-ri, is still at the restaurant with her new mother, but she knows where her dreadful unni went: to Seoul! After being mean and terrible to her, Vegetable Ahjumma freaks out about her missing darling and runs (to Seoul? Ah, no ... just down the street).
JoAnne: I like this woman less and less, but I appreciate that finally there's someone poor and NOT very noble in a KDrama that isn't a pretty girl trying to get rich.
kakashi: Yup, agreed. She is not a very nice person, but there is something honest to her that I got to ... honor, I guess.
At the competition, another set of terrible parents is puzzled: why does this child who is NOT Eun-bi draw exactly like Eun-bi? We know! Because kind-hearted Eun-bi friggin taught her!!! And Min-jung practised and practised. And then lied to Eun-bi about how to apply, then told her that she wasn't accepted (but Min-jung was) and went in her stead. Anyway, little brat of course doesn't yet understand WHY these people are desperately looking for somebody called Eun-bi and why they are so disturbed by the painting, all she wants is to win the competition so that she can get the promised scholarship and go to school in Seoul again.
JoAnne: She is a brat but I admire her desire to go to school. She wants a better life, but she seems to want to make it better herself, not necessarily by just being pretty and marrying someone wealthy. Jury is out on whether she wants to go to school only to find that someone, of course.
In that only town that exists in Korea apart to Seoul, the loan sharks appear! Vegetable Ahjumma (we need a new name for her soon) flees into an alley, where she bumps into ... GooDIL! Who is bleeding. We all know what that means, don't we? So ... the pregnancy was just a plot device so she wouldn't kill herself?! That's evil, show! Vegetable Ahjumma brings her home, and there's some bonding, slightly one-sided at the moment, when she realizes that the hanbok-sewing woman is in a very similar situation to hers (husband-less, sad, and poor, I guess).
JoAnne: So she brings Eun Bi's aunt to the house that Eun Bi lives in, and yet we know that the child isn't found until at least adulthood. Ok.
kakashi: I think it's called unmyeong.
Jae-hwa is also at the competition, almost crying because Eun-bi didn't come. He gets over the pain pretty quickly though and flies a kite - or rather THE kite, the one he brought Eun-bi - with his brother. Which brings back his pain, at which he almost cries again.
JoAnne: I hope they keep this kid hydrated.
Now inside and being fed, Min-jung lies to the Terrible Parents that she is an orphan. Upon hearing that she made first place in the competition, her gold digger senses start to tingle. She lies about a horrible woman she is living with, and realizes that she could take that missing granddaughter's place when The Matron gives her a beautiful piece of clothing, which she made for her. Min-jung is leaving, playing all nice and modest ... but we can be sure she will be back.
JoAnne: Well there goes that theory.
Little Eun-bi is serving food all by herself when the loan sharks come in and start trashing the place. Her mother is also suddenly there, kneeling on the floor in front of the villains, who will take all her earnings from this place from now on. Little Eun-bi cries because she thinks it's her fault they found out (she said Vegetable Ahjumma's name when they first appeared) and that stupid New Mother is a real bitch again. All she is worried about is "her Min-jung's" tutoring. Bleh. I hope you trip and hit something painful.
JoAnne: Rice Soup Ahjumma now, although that doesn't have the ring to it that Vegetable Ahjumma did. Mean Ahjumma? She's not always mean though. Dumb Ahjumma? She is always pretty dumb. The Reason MinJung is a Problem Ahjumma? Doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. NotMom? It will come to us.
Terrible Second Wife still wears the exact same make-up after giving birth to a girl, which is named Ga-eul. The business plan/idea that Bong 1 developed before his death is a huge success and Bad Father wants to give half of the profit to either GooDIL, or maybe even Jae-hwa. That brings out the worst in Second Wife, and she wants to discredit Jae-hwa by telling his father about the eggs and the blame he puts on himself for his mother's death (i.e. this son is much too weak to be a successor). Bad Father immediately goes over to his son, who is taking a bath, and .... d'awwwwww! very unexpectedly tells his son not to feel sorry for a death that was an accident and live with confidence. Jae-hwa cries.
JoAnne: I was SO HAPPY that this backfired on that scheming nasty piece of work. On the face of it, this show is ridiculous. But they KEEP having these moments where the characters can surprise you, and it keeps me wanting more.
The Brat, who has returned from Seoul, throws a tantrum about their living conditions, and states that this is her life and nobody has a right to tell her what to do and what not. Hahahahaa. She asks of her mother to act like she is NOT her mother. Buahahahaha.
JoAnne: If she were 16 I'd buy this. But this kid is what? Ten at most?
BaDIL is told she is head of the Bi Sool Chae now. Everybody cries a bit because they blame each other and everybody else for Eun-bi's disappearance. Alone in the dark, BaDIL vows to make this a great place for Eun-bi to inherit one day, and then, gets right into the Seamstress business.
JoAnne: With my needle I will avenge you, my daughter! With my needle I will make you great! Just, you know, come home first.
Unfortunately, little Jae-hwa and little Jae-hee are no longer best buddies after the father-bath-incident ... Jae-hwa thinks Jae-hee spilled his big secret (omma, eggs, you know) and Jae-hee starts being nasty as well. Their father is delighted that there's competition between the two, that's the spirit! Second Wife isn't very happy about that though ... and she threatens little Jae-hwa to burn his mother's vest if he doesn't do her bidding from now on. Hehehehe.
JoAnne: Why has he not sent this woman off to live in a nice little house in the country where she can't bother anyone?
kakashi: I get the feeling he somehow ... likes her?! I know, sounds crazy, but why would he have made her pregnant and brought her to his house after that if not?!
Veggie Ahjumma is really nice to poor, poor, sad GooDIL. Right about then, the most terrible parents on earth decide to sponsor the Brat. They go to her school ... and NEAR MISS with Eun-bi. That's number 1. There's another one in the classroom: That's number 2. It really pains me to see how much Eun-bi, the kind person, is mistreated by this terrible "sister" of hers. And then, outside, when they get into their car and drive away, another near miss! That's number 3. But! BaDIL actually sees GooDIL walking on the street, but when she looks again, she's gone. And .... near miss between GooDIL and Eun-bi! Lol, show ... that's a lot of near misses in just a few minutes...
JoAnne: Remember that they were in the same house together for several days, a house the size of my cubicle, and yet never saw each other. Remember that and shake your head in dismay.
kakashi: Nope, not the same house, I don't think. It's GooDIL's place. It's somewhere nearby, I assume.
Brat is feeling a bit sad over leaving her mother soon and offers to help at the restaurant. But they don't let her help and Eun-bi once again breaks my heart a little. At night, Brat leaves. Good riddance. You and your new parents really deserve each other. As she leaves, Brat promises to buy her mother a house once she becomes rich. Maybe this is an attempt to make her less terrible, show? It's not working.
JoAnne: Yeah, it would have been more believeable if she hadn't been so one-note up til now.
After reading her daughter's farewell letter, Veggie Ahjumma rushes to Seoul, to Bong 2's university that she identified from the business card that Min-jung left behind ... and sees her daughter with her "new" parents. Min-jung sees her hiding and stages this conversation with the Bong and the BaDIL, which is all about how good her life will be from now on. Veggie Ahjumma collapses crying as she lets her daughter go. I'm sad. These people are so stupid ... but they still make me sad ...
JoAnne: She loves her daughter a lot. I wonder if I could have made that same decision in the same circumstances.
Somewhere in the town where everybody ends up in, little Eun-bi cleans the tables, singing ... and transforms into grown-up no-longer Eun-bi but Bo-ri! We are HERE! 15 years later. eeeeh, that accent ...
JoAnne: She makes me cringe. It's too much. Her look, her sound, her personality, everything. Too overdone.
And .... SWOOOOoooooooooooooon. HE IS HERE! Kim Ji-hoon, thank you, thank you! It was a long wait, but here you are. Stylish, sexy .... looking about 20 years old. What have you been eating?! He is currently shopping. But instead of going for something conservative, he goes for a pink suit. Telling the surprised shop-keeper that this is totally his style. He takes off his leather jacket (swooooooooooon), but unfortunately he puts something on again. The pink jacket.
JoAnne: Wow, he is aging backward! How old is he really? Has he done Army?
The lady thinks he must have an extravagant kind of job, i.e. rockstar, but he coolly informs her that he is a prosecutor. Hahaha, man, I already like you. Outside, his stepmother arrives. She is looking much better (as in stylish) than she did before and has gotten rid of that terrible make-up. I approve. She is surprised he only bought one suit - since he is going somewhere where there's not too many nice clothes to be had. Oh, is he going to the ... ONE town (Jangheung) that everybody goes to? Seems so!
JoAnne: The whiny crybaby grew up to be this jokester? Interesting. Good camouflage, though.
He informs her that he already knew she would react like this, so he bought EVERYTHING in the store and had it delivered to that town. Thank you very much for the credit card, mother! LOL. She gets over the loss of money quickly though ... to get rid of him is worth $10,000!
JoAnne: Oh that was awesome, Jae Hwa!
Bo-ri and her mother are going to Seoul - Brat is graduating from college! After she sends her mother to the bathhouse, Bo-ri packs some food and goes to see her aunt. Which she doesn't recognize. and vice versa, because they seem to only have met when Bo-ri was in high-school. Oh ... Bo-ri is sewing her mother a hanbok! Nooooooo! The hanbok-curse! It's still here!!!! Her bratty sister will also get one, but one that GooDIL made.
JoAnne: She has Hanbok in her heart.
The Wench Min-jung is currently applying for a job at the company Jae-hee works at, which is his father's company, I'm assuming. We learn a bit later that he has no real position though: this father is a tough one. She gets dismissed immediately because she hasn't studied abroad. Before she can walk out the door, Jae-hee asks her what kind of clothes she is wearing and she says she made them herself. Oh. So this is going to be the clash of sewing queens for 50 more episodes?!
JoAnne: Oh my goodness whoever this girl is she's adorable! And Min Jung seems nicer? God help me I prefer this one to Bo Ri right now.
kakashi: No.
Brat gets home to ... OppaNotOppa! She is living with him? Oh. They are not married, because he is rich and she is poor. She urges him to study for some kind of exam, I'm guessing Civil Servant? I want to slap her already. She also forbids her "sister" and mother to come to the graduation. They come anyway.
JoAnne: Wow, daring! And yeah, there's the old Min Jung, just less obvious. She's pushing him away already, and still ashamed of her family. Although to be fair, if they show up her lie of the last 15 years is exposed.
And we're at the Lee house! Stepmother is bitching around, as usual, when down the stairs comes ... is that the aunt?! Wow! She looks completely different without the terrible curls: what a pretty woman!! Also coming down the stairs ... Jae-hwa in pink. Father and aunt almost scream in shock, but he plays innocent and says it was his "mother" who bought it for him. He exits in style. He totally did this to shock his parents and to make his "mother" look bad. I heart you, ex-cry-baby.
JoAnne: That was completely awesome. Fight back, CryBaby.
Cut to the country bumpkins, who have newly arrived in Seoul. Jae-hwa drives by in style ... and sprays Veggie Ahjumma's new hanbok with delicious Seoul dirt water. Of course, Bo-ri blows a fuse at that, catches him at the red light and forces a slightly bewildered him to get out of his car.
She shows him the damage, but he is all "should have watched the puddle better" and doesn't even remotely think it's his fault. She calls him a Gangnam gigolo, but he just turns his back to leave, not interested in a fight, also saying he is "busy".
She calls him back and when he turns around to face her again, she steps into the mud-water and splashes it on his new nice pink trousers. Mean! But funny! And well deserved!
JoAnne: Agreed. He was a dick. But if I had someone all up in my face the way she was, I'd probably react the same way.
kakashi: I see you really don't like her. Fine with me, as long as you like him :)
She is all "Huh? Oh, I was just walking by, what can I do? It wasn't my fault at all" and walks away. Losing his cool now, he runs after her and grabs her shoulder, going "ya"! She pushes him away and says "what?!". Dun dun dun ... heated stares... we love to hate and hate to love in Kdrama, don't we?
JoAnne: And yet, somehow, the chemistry is so non-existent as to be a negative number. I hope that changes.
kakashi: I don't mind at this point! If they had chemistry, the hate wouldn't work so much. She needs to hate him and he needs to hate her and then, slowly, one of them falls for the other ... who is it going to be? I guess him.
Comments
Oh dear, this is funny! Is all the hanbok-madness behind us? Is this maybe not half as bad as I thought it will be?
JoAnne: I see two Hanbok Houses of Fame in our future, somehow. A rivalry. Sewing matches at dawn, needles drawn. Hemstitch to death!
One thing I'm sure about ... Jae-hwa is no crier anymore! Yay! He is part playboy, part jester and it seems his way of coping with the terrible stepmother is to a) get out of that place as quickly as possible and b) making her look bad at every turn possible.
JoAnne: Of this, I most heartily approve.
Bo-ri is exactly like Eun-bi was: too kind for her own good, unless someone in her family is threatened. Then she gets vicious. She will have to learn how to fight for her own rights and I am pretty sure that our gigolo prosecutor will be part of her learning curve. There's nothing better than a dicky man to make a woman realize her powers! Tame him!
JoAnne: I find her irritating at the moment. So I will use this space to say: Grown up Jae Hee! You're cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.
kakashi: I still need to warm-up to him, to be honest. I don't like his character, that's for sure.
JoAnne: No, the whole tone changed. It even looks a little different.
kakashi: Well, it definitely looks beautiful. Because ... yeah. Kim Ji-hoon.
Episode 7
Of course, it's NOT Eun-bi at that competition! Eun-bi, now Bo-ri, is still at the restaurant with her new mother, but she knows where her dreadful unni went: to Seoul! After being mean and terrible to her, Vegetable Ahjumma freaks out about her missing darling and runs (to Seoul? Ah, no ... just down the street).
JoAnne: I like this woman less and less, but I appreciate that finally there's someone poor and NOT very noble in a KDrama that isn't a pretty girl trying to get rich.
kakashi: Yup, agreed. She is not a very nice person, but there is something honest to her that I got to ... honor, I guess.
JoAnne: She is a brat but I admire her desire to go to school. She wants a better life, but she seems to want to make it better herself, not necessarily by just being pretty and marrying someone wealthy. Jury is out on whether she wants to go to school only to find that someone, of course.
JoAnne: So she brings Eun Bi's aunt to the house that Eun Bi lives in, and yet we know that the child isn't found until at least adulthood. Ok.
kakashi: I think it's called unmyeong.
JoAnne: I hope they keep this kid hydrated.
JoAnne: Well there goes that theory.
JoAnne: Rice Soup Ahjumma now, although that doesn't have the ring to it that Vegetable Ahjumma did. Mean Ahjumma? She's not always mean though. Dumb Ahjumma? She is always pretty dumb. The Reason MinJung is a Problem Ahjumma? Doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. NotMom? It will come to us.
JoAnne: I was SO HAPPY that this backfired on that scheming nasty piece of work. On the face of it, this show is ridiculous. But they KEEP having these moments where the characters can surprise you, and it keeps me wanting more.
JoAnne: If she were 16 I'd buy this. But this kid is what? Ten at most?
JoAnne: With my needle I will avenge you, my daughter! With my needle I will make you great! Just, you know, come home first.
JoAnne: Why has he not sent this woman off to live in a nice little house in the country where she can't bother anyone?
kakashi: I get the feeling he somehow ... likes her?! I know, sounds crazy, but why would he have made her pregnant and brought her to his house after that if not?!
JoAnne: Remember that they were in the same house together for several days, a house the size of my cubicle, and yet never saw each other. Remember that and shake your head in dismay.
kakashi: Nope, not the same house, I don't think. It's GooDIL's place. It's somewhere nearby, I assume.
JoAnne: Yeah, it would have been more believeable if she hadn't been so one-note up til now.
JoAnne: She loves her daughter a lot. I wonder if I could have made that same decision in the same circumstances.
JoAnne: She makes me cringe. It's too much. Her look, her sound, her personality, everything. Too overdone.
JoAnne: Wow, he is aging backward! How old is he really? Has he done Army?
JoAnne: The whiny crybaby grew up to be this jokester? Interesting. Good camouflage, though.
JoAnne: Oh that was awesome, Jae Hwa!
JoAnne: She has Hanbok in her heart.
JoAnne: Oh my goodness whoever this girl is she's adorable! And Min Jung seems nicer? God help me I prefer this one to Bo Ri right now.
kakashi: No.
JoAnne: Wow, daring! And yeah, there's the old Min Jung, just less obvious. She's pushing him away already, and still ashamed of her family. Although to be fair, if they show up her lie of the last 15 years is exposed.
JoAnne: That was completely awesome. Fight back, CryBaby.
She shows him the damage, but he is all "should have watched the puddle better" and doesn't even remotely think it's his fault. She calls him a Gangnam gigolo, but he just turns his back to leave, not interested in a fight, also saying he is "busy".
JoAnne: Agreed. He was a dick. But if I had someone all up in my face the way she was, I'd probably react the same way.
kakashi: I see you really don't like her. Fine with me, as long as you like him :)
She is all "Huh? Oh, I was just walking by, what can I do? It wasn't my fault at all" and walks away. Losing his cool now, he runs after her and grabs her shoulder, going "ya"! She pushes him away and says "what?!". Dun dun dun ... heated stares... we love to hate and hate to love in Kdrama, don't we?
JoAnne: And yet, somehow, the chemistry is so non-existent as to be a negative number. I hope that changes.
kakashi: I don't mind at this point! If they had chemistry, the hate wouldn't work so much. She needs to hate him and he needs to hate her and then, slowly, one of them falls for the other ... who is it going to be? I guess him.
Oh dear, this is funny! Is all the hanbok-madness behind us? Is this maybe not half as bad as I thought it will be?
JoAnne: I see two Hanbok Houses of Fame in our future, somehow. A rivalry. Sewing matches at dawn, needles drawn. Hemstitch to death!
One thing I'm sure about ... Jae-hwa is no crier anymore! Yay! He is part playboy, part jester and it seems his way of coping with the terrible stepmother is to a) get out of that place as quickly as possible and b) making her look bad at every turn possible.
JoAnne: Of this, I most heartily approve.
Bo-ri is exactly like Eun-bi was: too kind for her own good, unless someone in her family is threatened. Then she gets vicious. She will have to learn how to fight for her own rights and I am pretty sure that our gigolo prosecutor will be part of her learning curve. There's nothing better than a dicky man to make a woman realize her powers! Tame him!
JoAnne: I find her irritating at the moment. So I will use this space to say: Grown up Jae Hee! You're cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.
kakashi: I still need to warm-up to him, to be honest. I don't like his character, that's for sure.