My Beautiful Bride - Episode 6 (A ThisKicksAssCap)

Horrible, horrible drama! I mean ... very, very good but horribly exciting and emotional drama! It makes me worry so, so much ... We're not even halfway through and I can only pray that these people make it to the end and get a chance to be happy. No mysteries solved and no new ones added in this episode, which is mainly full of action to the Rim. I mean rim. Actually, that's not true. There are more mysteries. But they don't feel as grand anymore. 
Ah, but don't you feel as though there is a big one, lurking over the horizon? I can feel it watching us.

Episode 6

Remember we left the two star crossed lovers in the factory - he catches her hand with that metal pipe she wanted to swing at his head and then they just stare at each other. The only sound we hear is her labored breathing. She drops the metal stick and steps a few steps back. Now we hear his breathing and just like hers, it's the breathing of a person struggling with intense emotions. And there is ... relief there, too, because seeing her alive and well must be the biggest consolation in that moment. Now it's both their breathing, matching each other. And yet, they do not speak - they do not hug.
I really did love how they allowed the moment sufficient time. We already care so about them, but for me, that pared down moment really brought me into them, outside of myself. No matter what she thinks, running away to protect him - they must be together. I could feel that so strongly in this moment.

 

He looks down at her feet ... notices that the bare one is bloody and battered. He pulls out her missing shoe that he had tucked away in his jacket. "Let's go", he says and bends down to put the shoe on (he is crying now). But before he does, he pulls his own sock off, to put on her hurt foot. And then, his second sock for her other foot. She starts sobbing at this point and I don't blame her. Here is this guy, who followed you into gravest danger - clearly hurt because of it and what does he do? Put his socks on your feet so that you are more comfortable. *DEAD*
I cried. My mom thought I was in pain but I just kept pointing at the computer and saying 'his sock, his sock' - I couldn't explain the story to her, though, it was too complicated and I kept getting lost in the details and I wanted her to have all the details because they all matter. God, I love this story. It's so beautiful and uplifting, even amid the ugliness of what's happening.

When he gets back up (it takes him a moment to regain his composure), she starts stammering "I .... I ..." and turns her head away in shame, but he only gently covers her shoulder with her long cardigan and says "Should we just go somewhere far away to live? Somewhere nobody knows us?" And he smiles. HE SMILES!
My turn now...*DEAD*

It's what she told his high-school self on those stairs so many years ago: To start with a clean slate. Rewrite everything. And finally, he hugs her. They just stopped pretending that he doesn't remember her in the past. Since it simply doesn't matter anymore. But ... SOMEBODY WATCHES THEM! and then makes a phone call. OOOOOOOOOhhhhh noooooooooo!
Let me at the fucker who screws this up for them.

Yoon-Mi is now also running around in the factory - and so is Do-Hyeong! He is carrying Joo-Young on his back (okay, that makes the thing with the socks even sweeter) and they're close to the entrance. But OH SHIT. Their path is blocked by a horde of gangster storming in (not sure where they're coming from all of a sudden? Secret gangster reservoir?).
Handy dandy pocket of dried gangster. Just add soju.

Do-Hyeong sends Joo-Young back, to find the cops there - she doesn't want to (GODDAMIT LOOK HOW MANY BAD GUYS THERE ARE!) but he is persuasive and she is scared so she runs out as he takes a stand. I'm actually feeling afraid (this is giving me GoT "Hardhome" feelings). There's a limit to what any man can take on - and this looks very much over the limit. It's not helping that he shows a moment of actual fear before bravely preparing to meet them.
Oh God, do you think he dies and then SHE goes all bad ass for the rest of the drama? I mean... not saying I want him to die but man, that would be a great story. (Don't die, Do Hyeong! Don't die!)

8 or 9 guys with metal rods storm towards Do-Hyeong (gangster boss is also there, but he is not running) as we see Joo-Young stumbling back to where Do-Hyeong indicated the police would be. Do-Hyeong grabs a hose of sorts with metal at the end, swings it at anybody stupid enough to come too close and clearly has the upper hand. HE IS SO DAMN COOL. (I'd put him up there with Paksa. Maybe even a smidge cooler? No, no one could be cooler than Paksa... but if anyone was, it would be him.) Then, one gangster grabs a shovel. My breath stops, but they don't get a single hit in. But then, one charges at Do-Hyeong head first and they fall off the gangway! Looks like the drop is at least 5 meters. There are boxes down there to dampen the fall a bit, but Do-Hyeong is hurt. A lot.

I wonder if he does his own stunts.

Now, gangster boss is moving in - with a knife. He grabs Do-Hyeong's shirt and pulls back his arm to kill him ... but then, a shot! It's Yoon-Mi, who fired a warning shot into the air and now aims at gangster boss. ABOUT FRIGGIN TIME! Gangster boss and the ones still standing run ... Yoon-Mi too, towards Do-Hyeong, who is NOT doing well.

Look at his sweet face. I am making a sad pouty face but you can't see it. You probably are too, though. At this point Yoon Mi better care as much about him as she does about Joo Young or I'll need to have words with her.

Joo-Young has reached the back of the factory and is out in the open ... when somebody grabs her. He covers her mouth and nose with a hand until she loses consciousness. It's Park Hyeong-Sik! FUCK! 

FUCKING CHA. I knew the psychic residue would have to carry over. I hoped it wouldn't...

Inside, Yoon-Mi has handcuffed the gangster that toppled Do-Hyeong over the railing. It seems he has been hired "part-time" to go beat up Do-Hyeong (since he has some taekwondo skills). This info surprises Yoon-Mi and she calls her sunbae. THE FUCKING TRAITOR! He's like... "Joo-Young? No, I haven't seen her. Help? No, I didn't call for any". That very moment, Do-Hyeong starts spitting blood. GODDAMIT. Seriously, this makes me worry so much ... TT__________TT

You traitorous slime-ball weasel. You rat-faced black-hearted scum bucket. You good-for-nothing shithead dirtbag fuckwad. UGH. Not just for Do Hyeong and Joo Young but also for Yoon Mi! She's a good person even if they aren't doing much with her in this.

At the back, Fucking Traitor hands over Joo-Young to gangster boss (whose name is Janggab, by the way). Well, at least there is not much love between the two. But WHY? Why, sunbae?! What do they have on him to make him do this?! Just as the gangsters drive away, an ambulance arrives. As it rushes towards the hospital, Do-Hyeong dreams about happy times with his Joo-Young. And so does she, in the gangsters' car.

Ah, they're so cuuuuuuuuute. I want an Awkward Robot, now with Enhanced Hotness. Where's Trot? I may need to betray a friend, here. No, no, I won't do it.

At Do-Hyeong's sick bed, we learn that he has a bit of bleeding in the brain (O___o), but it's just a small thing and will heal itself (I HOPE SO!). Also, the doctor says that he must have been in heaps of pain with all his injuries. Yoon-Mi stares at him and then gently covers his arms with the blanket. Outside, Fucking Traitor is waiting - and he says something mean about calling Do-Hyeong's lawyer, since Do-Hyeong can't do anything without his mamma. Yoon-Mi doesn't like that and it seems Park doesn't like that she doesn't like.

Well, we do not give one tiny ice cold whisper of a flying FUCK what that asshole likes or doesn't like, do we?

Anyway, Yoon-Mi tells Sunbae Park everything she knows about DoJoo (love since high school, the lying for her sake part, pretending her past never happened etc.), which just gets another cynical reaction: "How sappy". He doesn't believe a word of it: He thinks this is Do-Hyeong's revenge because Joo-Young betrayed him. But when Yoon-Mi also tells him about the miscarriage, it seems Park is more convinced.

What is his deal? He doesn't like the gangsters and he seems to have something personal against Do Hyeong or possibly Joo Young.

But who is after Joo-Young? "Lee Jang-Ho", is Yoon-Mi's answer. Who? Ah! That's the long-haired guy that was with Song Hak-Soo. He fled to China temporarily, but it seems he's back in Korea now. Yoon-Mi seems to believe it is not impossible that HE killed Song Hak-Soo and is now after Joo-Young. Uhm .... maybe not. Yoon-Mi thinks the motive is that Lee Jang-Ho took over Hak-Soo's position (no again). Park isn't convinced ... but if it WERE true, it would mean the Shadows are still at work. Yup, darlings. YOU certainly know that they are, TRAITOR! In any case, Park nicely offers to look for Lee Jang-Ho for Yoon-Mi who seems really grateful.

I mean, I can see why she might have come to this conclusion but she is soooo barking up the wrong tree. Still, at least it's not something we have to sit here and suffer through stupid cop poisoning with. This is at least within the realm of decent cop trying. (side note: look at her face... she is so pretty, isn't she? She is one of my favorites, every time. She's making a little name for herself and picking better projects as she gets that recognition, and I love that she herself seems like a feisty, cool woman. Maybe this part isn't great, but the project IS... and I'd take a so-so role in a great project and then try my hardest with it, wouldn't you? or do you think a great role in a bad project is better?)

But she's hurt! Park takes her to the hospital where she gets her arm bandaged. And then ... we realize that they are LOVERS. Damn. And we realize right after she thinks about poor Joo-Young again who had to hide secrets from her lover ... and asks Park whether there is anything that he is hiding from her TT__________TT. "It's okay even if you do", the poor woman says, "I'll embrace everything". No you won't. (And I'll just pretend the Dumb Faced Detectives didn't make an appearance)

We had a hint of maybe some attraction back in the beginning, at least from him to her... but I figured he would be married and kind of not acting on his feelings. Then again, I hoped he was a good guy. Fucking shithead. I feel so bad for her. I wonder if he was bad back then, too. (WHY are those other two even in this?)

It's dark now but the gangsters are still driving. Well ... maybe they took a detour. Gangster boss Janggab calls Seo Jin-Gi - who orders him to bring her to "the factory". Oh. What does that mean?! We don't find out, because now, a motorbike appears ... two guys are on it and one starts smashing in the windscreen. Gangster car crashes into a pillar. Somebody picks the unconscious Joo-Young up from the back seat and puts her into another car. Where her head is positioned on a woman's lap - a woman who starts stroking Joo-Young's hair.

Do Hyeong's mother? Lee Jin Sook (the wrong one... still pissed about that)? Or has time bent, and it's Lee El? Ohhhh maybe that cute bar girl? She might be more than she seems...

Traitor Asshole is at a bar, when slimey Lee El (character name is Son Hye-Jung, it seems) in that non-dress comes in and starts fingering him. Hahaha, sorry. She actually just puts her hand on his shoulder, which he doesn't like. He wants to know where Lee Jan-Ho is. To a) find out who killed Song Hak Soo and b) find out who is "behind her". Hmm.... is he after the Shadows too? He goes home after this ... and we see he is living with Yoon-Mi. She is asleep, but he sits down next to her and takes her hand. He loves her.

FUCK that shit. If he loved her how could he do this? I expect this story to give me a REALLY compelling reason. And I expect him to repent his evil ways and die (literally) making things right. You hear me, show?

Lee El played it cool, but hearing that he is looking for Lee Jan-Ho makes her nervous. She runs straight to Seo Jin-Gi, who is currently having a rage fit at useless Janggab. We learn that Jin-Gi is indeed afraid of Chairman Kang getting his hands on Joo-Young first; and also that he seems to have a spy near Kang. 

I am a complete blank on this part of the story. I know that if Kang realizes that JinGi had a hand in ratting out Hak Soo he's dead meat, but let's face it: Joo Young had a hand in that, too. Why does Kang want her but to kill her? What do you want to bet Kang already knows both those pieces, though?

 ... who is in the loop as well. Because his secretary heard from the cops (!!!) that Joo-Young was at Incheon before disappearing. Kang says: "We are the ones that give info to the cops - we shouldn't be getting info from them". Huh. No, Mr. Kang, I don't know what you mean. But now, the hunt is on for Lee Jan-Ho! Tracksuit Ahjussi wants him too.
That was very interesting, that statement. Is Fuckwad actually working with HIM, against the others? Could Tracksuit actually be an informant, but also manipulating the police? Kind of like Creepy's dad in Cruel City? They knew what he was and they worked together.

In the meantime, Yoon-Mi finds out who hired Mr. Taekwondo that she arrested at the factory. It's a "paper company". Also, Dumb Face has identified Lee Jin Sook as the prime witness - but she has disappeared. That name gives Yoon-Mi pause ... and when she runs into her sunbae-lover a bit later, we learn that Jin Sook is a female gangster boss. A retired one. And we also realize that Scumbag Traitor Sunbae now has a possible lead on Joo-Young too, because Yoon-Mi tells him about the sushi bar connection!!!

I thought she was a former madam, not an actual gangster. Very cool. Although now I'm thinking Snake Lady from Bad Guys. Just the thought of her makes me shiver.

Yoon-Mi heads to the hospital next (is that jealousy on FuckTraitor's face just then?) - where she finds Do-Hyeong getting dressed. I don't think that's what the doctor ordered???! Of course, he is unstoppable. And he also has a miraculously white shirt to put on and both scars and terrible bruises on his back.

Maybe Mr. Lawyer showed up with a change of clothes. I love that there was a big discussion about his laundry on twitter yesterday.

He demands to know about the Shadows - Yoon-Mi isn't exactly forthcoming. But when he asks her how she knew Joo-Young and finds out that she was used as an informant, Yoon-Mi's guilt is taking the upper hand and for the first time in 5 and a half episodes, she seems to be willing to share stuff with Do-Hyeong. He gets a new phone (but same number! So that Joo-Young can reach him, even if that's dangerous, considering the baddies also have his number) and then, they talk. 

I think they could be a good team.

Realizing the Shadows might not be as gone as she thought, Yoon-Mi takes him to a familiar place: Park Tae-Gyu's now abandoned office. There, she tells him all about the loan shark - shadow connection, in all the gruesome details. If they are back, they probably also have the factory owner's daughter that went missing. If she's still alive.

Can you believe that guy used his own daughter as collateral? I was feeling sorry for him when he showed up there screaming about her, but HE promised her away and then didn't make good on his debt. I'm sure he thought he would be able to, of course, but I don't see how he can think he has a right to be there blaming THEM.

He is struggling to take it all in - particularly because his beautiful bride is connected to this incredibly ugly and brutal world. Yoon-Mi wants to know how he found out about the Shadows, but he doesn't tell her anything. He is angry at Yoon-Mi for "using and abandoning" Joo-Young (those are Yoon-Mi's words) and yes - there is a lot of guilt in Yoon-Mi. He wants to walk out on her (for good, I'd say) but Yoon-Mi has one last trump: the "first love" card. Because in the end, it's because she met Do-Hyeong again that she became an informant. She did it all for him and a chance for a new life. 

That was a punch to the gut, I think.

Hm, I think it's quite unfair of Miss Cop to load guilt on Do-Hyeong too! He goes straight to that night club he was almost kissed in by her and sits on the stairs, reminiscing. It's not true he never looked for Joo-Young: he looked quite hard, in fact. But she had disappeared. So he waited in that bank that she had told him she liked ... and eventually decided to go work there (and it could be his mother/the lawyer lied to him about Joo-Young's whereabouts, telling him she went abroad when she never did). Yoon-Mi finds him on those steps later.

Everything in his life has been for her. And he was willing to let that be a secret forever. *SWOON*

Elsewhere, Joo-Young wakes up on a bed (loooong sleep there missy) in a very nice room. She is scared and confused, but the door isn't locked. She walks outside ... below her, two guards appear. And Lee Jin-Sook! Hmmmmmmm... We don't know what the relationship between these two women is, but it could be that Jin-Sook used to be the Madame of where Joo-Young worked. Is she a good person? We don't know (and I doubt it). She asks who the asshole was that came to get Joo-Young - she wants to destroy him. I guess she does not mean "Bank Guy", but who knows. Maybe she does.

Yeah, I am very much on the fence about this woman.

Again elsewhere, Chairman Kang is scaring Seo Jin-Gi again, this time with blood sausage. Yeah, it seems it's better to keep the promises you give Mr. Tracksuit. Jin-Gi asks for three ... two days to get the person who killed Song Hak-Soo. It's kinda his last chance. Or else ... blood stew made of him next time. Outside, he orders Janggab to find and kill Lee Jang-Ho - who seems to be the one who killed Song Hak-Soo per Jin-Gi's orders. 

That was boiled blood. Blood pudding. I was gagging. (I haven't been able to watch Hannibal this week, either. Not for long anyway.)

Lee Jang-Ho is afraid - he probably knows what's coming his way. We see that he calls the police (on a landline because he just trashed his cell) - and luck has it that he is connected to Yoon-Mi, who is riding in her car with Do-Hyeong. Unless he specifically asked for her? Hmmmmm .... He is ready to talk about Hak-Soo's murder if he gets protection. He wants to meet up with her. Well, he soon realizes people are after him because they try to break into his apartment. He runs! 

I think he must have asked for her.

They're meeting in a public space - and even though Yoon-Mi tells Do-Hyeong to stay in the car, he does not. Surpriiiiise! Not. He has realized before that Lee Jang-Ho probably doesn't have a cell phone - and he figures out where he must be calling from! He rushes up there, but somebody is quicker! Right when Lee Jang-Ho has Yoon-Mi on the line, someone steps up behind him and tasers him. All that Do-Hyeong finds is a dangling handset.

Dammit. I want to know about this part.

Do-Hyeong rushes outside again - and thanks to a screaming woman, finds the lifeless body of Lee Jang-Ho in a car. As he bends down to check for vitals, somebody steps up behind him and knocks him out with a stick to the head. Can't they stop hitting his beautiful head??!

Seriously. Stop with the bashing of the beautiful, brave, beloved head. He's going in our pantheon of favorites, right?  Anything he ever does we at least check out? Do Hyeong is up there with Paksa and Cutie Soo and the Bad Guys, right? (and Kim Ji Hoon, and your Wookie... but I'm sorry, they aren't nearly as awesome to me as the Do Hyeong/Paksa/Bad Guys line.)

Comments

Everybody is on the same page now, right? This show is about The Shadows. Some of these shadows want to kill Joo-Young because she knows they are dirty - and some others want Joo-Young because they suspect she knows something about those dirty ones. Maybe she even knows more than that? Probably. The drama still wants us to believe that Seo Jin-Gi killed Song Hak-Soo and until further notice, I'm going with that. Of course, it seems too easy, so maybe it's just a red herring. 

Aren't all The Shadows dirty by definition? What would make one Shadow worse than another?

Much less clear to me is the role of Lee Jin-Sook. Is she a protector of women? What is her aim and gain in this game? I'm looking forward to finding out more about her. 

God I hope so.

Also not clear is the reason behind Park Hyeong-Sik's betrayal. I get the feeling that this is very personal for him - he is not just doing it for money. But how is he involved exactly? Why is he so hung up on who killed Song Hak-Soo? What would get him to betray his lover, whom he clearly loves? It must be something big. 

That is EXACTLY how I feel. Make me hate him less, show.

As for Yoon-Mi, I was glad to see her character get a bit more range in this episode, even though it's still limited. We get that she is feeling guilty. We get that she is brave, maybe a little reckless, but for the life of me, I cannot see WHY. What drives her? What does she want? Why does she care? I like that she finally comes to trust Do-Hyeong and even tries to get closer to him. It's the beginning of what could become a collaboration between the two. Still, her character is boring at best. I'm wishing for her to find out about her Traitor Friend soon so that she can go berserk/underdover/on a killing spree or all of the above. I hope she isn't just in this drama to somewhat control Do-Hyeong's impulsive behavior and be a narrative guide (that is repeating everything we already know to various people). 

It was her, and her role, that had me excited for this show in the brief mentions I'd heard of it. (Not all that excited, I guess, since I kept only remembering it when it was brought up to me again, but still. I was aware of it, and knew I'd check it out at some point.) To have it turn out this way, that this unknown to me guy is just blowing off not only my socks but the socks of everyone around me, and that she is relegated to the sidelines... well, knowing Korean Dramas and how ineffective their PR machine is, I guess it's not that surprising. But I'm still surprised.

As for Bank Guy himself ... at this stage in the drama, there are no indications that he has any other purpose than to find and rescue his bride. It's what he always did and had to do: protect her. Let's hope he doesn't only manage to do that - but to survive in the process as well. 

Please. But why do I think there's an unpleasant surprise in his background?