Surplus Princess - Episode 8 (A SongJaeRimJob)
Lots of stuff get cleared up in this episode. Which is good, because we only have 2 episodes left. Chop-chop, Show!
kakashi: Now you see me ... and now you don't *poof* (Anyway, this is one of the better episodes)
Mary: kakashi is baaaaaaack! Come give her a hug, koko!
JoAnne: If you're not coming back I'm taking back my color! You can be gold if it's just one comment.
becca: I hope kakashi realizes that she's leaving the maknaes at the mercy of JoAnne. Who will protect us from the jeobbing?
Mary: Save yourself, dongsaeng. I'm 100% jeobbed.
Hyun-myung wakes up and smiles to himself remembering how Hani hugged him last night. Then he realizes what he's doing and slaps himself even more awake. He bumps into a yawning Hani on the 2nd floor hallway and stuffs his fist in her mouth. He smiles when she's annoyed. He smiles when she races him to the bathroom. He smiles when she bumps into the door. Then he stops when he catches himself smiling too much again.
kakashi: Didn't I say I wouldn't comment anymore? I seem to remember that. Alright, but I will say this: He is cute.
JoAnne: Shit.
becca: Okay, but I do wish we'd had more time to watch these two. A-dorable.
JoAnne: PUPPY! Goooood puppy! Here, boy, here! Mama has treats!
becca: *runs to find kakashi unni* Haaalp! She's doing it agaaaaaiiiin!!
Mary: *giggling with koko in the corner*
Hyun-myung dresses up in Steve Jobs style black turtleneck + glasses (somebody at twitter died when she saw that) as he gives his spiel about the pot insulator to his Surplus Teammates. The boys promise to look for the perfect insulating material while Hani cheers Hyun-myung with a huge thumbs-up. They huddle to talk about marketing and Ji-yong whispers to Big that Hyun-myung and Hani seem to have some sparks going on. Big, being as clueless as he is huge, says no way because those two are always fighting.
JoAnne: That black turtleneck/glasses combo WORKED for that boy. Listen. I grew up in New England and went to prep school. Turtlenecks are part of my sexual DNA.
becca: Not for me. At all. This country girl likes a good long-sleeve button-up. Then again, I do wanna tear that turtleneck off him, so....
The camera focuses on Hani taking out the USB stick of the presentation and placing it in her purse. And you know that's gonna be important by Kdrama Law. Indeed, they immediately come across the Elite Study Group who are also preparing for the competition, having failed the JH Internship application. (Haha, serves them right! *blows raspberries at the snobs*) The two groups trade barbs over whose product is better and Elite Study Girl calls them low-class dogs. Hani moves to give her a beating but she trips and spills her stuff. Including that USB. See?
JoAnne: KDrama would not be good at poker. It has so many tells.
becca: I think KDrama probably plays Indian poker. They have no idea what they're betting on, but they push forward anyway.
Later that night, Big and Ji-yong congratulate themselves for finding a pliable, versatile insulator: the material from a fireman's vest. They found one for $700 in an online auction site, but the price causes Hyun-myung to have second thoughts. Ji-yong and Big are willing to chip in though, wanting to make their product the best they possibly can, so everyone agrees to use it. When Hyun-myung asks for the USB to edit their presentation Hani can't find it. (DUH.)
JoAnne: DUH in general. Why would they buy a vest and not just source the material directly?
becca: I think they said something about it being too expensive.
Hyun-myung tells Hani not to panic, but Big is getting paranoid. What if someone found it? What if those Evil Elite Study Groupies found it?! That agitates Hani more so Hyun-myung musses her hair and tells the team not to worry. He put a password in the USB and he had a backup in his computer upstairs. Cut to: Hyun-myung at 4AM, still trying to recreate the presentation and shaking his head that Hani is making him suffer. (Whatever, stop complaining with a smile! It increases your cute factor!)
JoAnne: This was such a sweet way for him to respond to the issue, though. D'awwwww
becca: He really is one of the best guys ever. I don't know how anyone could ever dump him, even if he IS jobless. *side-eye at Jin-ah* He is a beautiful human being, inside and out.
He goes downstairs to join the others for breakfast. Hani asks about his eye bags but he refuses to say what he was doing the previous night. Ji-yong guesses that he had something "really good" then asks if it was Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. Pffffft~ Hyun-myung answers he has "The Animal Kingdom" (hahahaha) and Ji-yong begs him to share his files. The jokey atmosphere is broken when Hye-young walks in. Hani asks her where she's been. She answers "house-hunting" with a nasty look at Sun-kyu. Aww... I feel bad for Sun-kyu. :( It's not his fault he's a fanboy. He didn't ask Hye-young to love him!
JoAnne: I'm disappointed in Hye Young for giving up on him so easily. Who cares if he's a fanboy?
becca: Also, she eats in front of a webcam for a living. You'd think she'd be a little more accepting of people's interests.
Hani runs after Hye-young upstairs. The other guys are worried but Big is almost panicking. They eavesdrop to Hani aegyoing and begging Hye-young to stop packing. She hasn't even found a replacement house yet! Hye-young says what she witnessed last night was the death of The Last Real Hippie on earth (pffft). Now she has mourned him and wants to move on. Big listens to this crazy talk and begs his hyungs to do something too. He'll be "bored" if noona leaves. He doesn't want noona to leave. (Me: Mmmm-hmmmm. Bored, my ass.)
JoAnne: I am conflicted because I actually like the idea of Sun Kyu and Hye Young, but I wanna ship Big with someone and see him get a little action, so...
becca: Sun-kyu shows no indication of ever liking Hye-young in that way, though. It would be awesome, but it's soooo not happening. On the other hand, Big and Hye-young are very, very shippable.
Shi-kyung still keeps trying to call Hani who doesn't pick up. He tries to send her a message but is interrupted when his granny calls. Granny is in Seoul and wants to meet "that girl who found your phone". Shi-kyung insists she's just a hoobae, still thinking it was Jin-ah. But Granny wants to meet at least someone who spoke the Jejudo dialect with her. Shi-kyung says no. Firmly. Mwahaha~ he really really doesn't want Jin-ah. In this, I take comfort.
JoAnne: I really like that they don't have him waver at all.
becca: He really does try to set and keep boundaries. Most Kdrama males have no sense of that, unfortunately.
When he sees Jin-ah later at work, he asks if she can speak the Jeju dialect. Jin-ah is confused (looks like she can't) but Shi-kyung --ARGH-- he mentions that Granny wanted to meet "that girl who found my phone and talked to grandma in satoori". He tells Jin-ah not to worry, he doesn't need them to meet. Haha. But FoxFace gets her bitchface on. The one that screams: I IZ SCHEMING RYT NAO.
becca: DAGNABBIT, SHI-KYUNG! You need to learn to operate on a need-to-know basis! And Fox Witch DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW. SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.
That night, the SurplusTeam get the shipment of the fireman's vest. They all ooh and aah at it, and feel a little bit sad that Hye-young isn't there because she loved costumes and stuff. Hani gets a call from an unknown number who turns out to be The Devil Herself. She waits for Hani outside, pretending to be embarrassed. (Embarrassed, my foot! If HornDog won the lottery or became a chaebol right now, you'd striptease in front of him if it gets him back!) (Wow. I don't think she'd go THAT far.) She asks about some random necklace she might've left in Hani's room, which is of course just an excuse to mention that Granny talked about Hani.
JoAnne: To me this sort of thing is beyond the pale. It's fine to compete for a guy you like. I won't even say that a man who likes another woman is off limits, because maybe he SHOULD be with you, and there's nothing wrong with letting him know you're interested. But to lie or distort things is not okay. (I highlighted Jo's words, because, A-freaking-MEN. ~mary)
becca: Yes, that is my problem with her. What she wants isn't wrong, it's how she goes about trying to get it, and I actually feel really sorry for her. She seems very alone, but she doesn't know how to NOT be alone. She needs a good group of people around her that she can count on, and she needs to know that it's okay not to have a man. Of all the people in this drama, I really am the saddest for her.
FoxFace pretends that Granny was upset at "the girl who found Shi-kyung's phone". Then she prods Hani about the whole convo. Hani is scared and spills everything. She just said she found Shi-kyung's phone and will return it soon, and that she also liked Shi-kyung very much. She talked to Granny in her dialect and Granny seemed to like her and invited her to Jeju with Shi-kyung.
JoAnne: She just got Min Jung'd.
FoxFace pretends that there must be a misunderstanding and promises to put in a good word for Hani. (Seriously Hani, how stupid are you? Aren't you a Mermaid Princess? Don't you have, like, power-hungry throne-grabbing scheming uncles or cousins under the sea?) When FoxFace gets to asking how EXACTLY Hani found the phone when Shi-kyung was sure he dropped it in the river, Hani gets a bit of an IQ spike and tells FoxFace to get lost. But the damage has been done. Armed with hints from Hani's stupidity, FoxFace crams some satoori lessons that night. She even spots Granny in the lobby with Shi-kyung, making plans to spend the next day in a sauna.
JoAnne: Realizing that FoxFace is actually really pretty.
becca: She is! And you know who she reminds me of? Kim Hyo-seo: the girl who died in Two Weeks and Kim Sae-ron's mom in Ajusshi. They could play sisters, easily.
Mary: I think I mentioned before that I'm following her on twitter and favoriting all her posts to show her some fan love. It sucks having to play one-dimensional, Supremely Evil roles because writers can't be bothered to give them depth. *sigh*
WTF, Universe?! Why don't you just hand Shi-kyung to her, naked and willing?!
kakashi: Wow, look at that look on the right! I'm impressed.
becca: I'm going to be keeping an eye on this actress. I think I like her.
Speaking of Shi-kyung (not naked and willing), Rim is PPLing some Laneige face cream, complete with "men need to take care of their faces too" spiel. His Granny says he didn't use to care about that. Is it because of that hoobae? Shi-kyung insists that that hoobae was just a hoobae. (I'd say she's a hoobitch, but no one listens to me in this show anyway. Otherwise we'd have 16 episodes of Rim getting it on with Pervy Mermaid.) Granny grumpily asks if there's someone else then? That gets Shi-kyung thinking, and he starts to type a text to Hani again.
JoAnne: It's funny to me how totally into her he is. This granny looks like my Cape Verdean stepmother would if she had been Korean. It's kind of weird, actually. They could be twins, just with different skin colors.
SurplusTeam regroup somewhere else to mourn their loss. Big thinks they found the USB and hacked it somehow, and Hani blames herself too. Hyun-myung sees her berating herself and calms everyone down, saying they can never be sure their idea was stolen. Hani wants to go through the presentation anyway, but Ji-yong says they can't because of the patent. He tells the others to just give up. It didn't feel right that things were going well anyway. He leaves and Big follows.
Hani still blames herself. Hyun-myung tries to comfort her but when she cries about losing a chance at getting a job and confessing to Shi-kyung, he finally snaps. Not violently. He just looks very disappointed and finally stops babying Hani. "This contest might just be about dating to you, but to us, it was everything."
JoAnne: I thought that was very timely!
becca: Oof. If his disappointment doesn't torment her, she is heartless.
Mary: kokoroless. How sad.
Hani tries to explain that her life is on the line too, but Hyun-myung of course is too mad to listen. Well, it's not like "I'm a mermaid and I need a job to get a jeob, badly" makes sense. But whatever. Everyone is being stupid right now. I'm so fucking mad. All of you, line up for your punishment! Starting with Shi-kyung! Koko, bite that guy! He's been very very naughty!
JoAnne: Why? Why is he being naughty? He's RIGHT. You better freeze right there, Koko. Lay a tooth on that guy and you'll be sorry.
becca: Someone mentioned biting? I don't like things that bite. *locks self in supply cabinet* Someone tell me when it's safe to come out again!
CEO Hong is playing that portable golf thingy chaebols have in their offices. But the golf ball turns into a takoyaki. She slaps herself for being so lonely and desperate to randomly think of Ahn Ma-nyeo. She gets back to playing, but a pair of hands grips the club above hers, and the camera pans out to show Ahn Ma-nyeo behind her, telling her to "relax, and hit it with ease... rawr" PWAHAHAHA. I wonder whether these scenes get more embarrassing or more fun to act out with age?
JoAnne: I think they're embarrassing for the young, and fun for the old. I'm much less worried about appearing foolish now, and when I was younger I was consumed with it. Isn't it that way for you guys?
becca: Ask me again in a few years.
She flees from her office and spots Team Leader Kim scolding Jin-ah and ParisGirl. Yesterday's comments in front of Ahn Ma-nyeo still rankle her, so she barges into the meeting and turns Team Leader Kim's words on her: "How can your people come up with good ideas when all you do is scold them! You're so uptight! Lighten up and stop being a workaholic! Hmph." She leaves, and poor Team Leader Kim cries in embarrassment. Aww... I liked Team Leader Titan! Stoopid, petty CEO!
JoAnne: I like Kim too, but I also like the CEO. I do think she's completely irrelevent to the storyline, though. Both of them, really.
becca: Irrelevant but amusing, yes.
That night, Sun-kyu watches his makeshift family fall apart. :( :( Big and Ji-yong are fighting over the wasted suit. Ji-yong put it back on auction for $500, but Big cries that no one will buy it back. He hears Hye-young talking on the phone, asking someone to "settle the deposit at $1000". He begs her not to leave but she just shouts at him to get out of her sight. Hyun-myung and Hani bump into each other. She's teary and looks at him with her best Puss-in-Boots eyes but Hyun-myung just walks away.
JoAnne: He must be made of steel.
Mary: We know he is. *giggle giggle*
Next morning, the SurplusHousemates are roused by the fire alarm. Everyone runs outside, only for Sun-kyu to pop up and admit there's no fire. But there's an "emergency". He tells them to get in the car and before they know it, they've been hooked into a road trip.
JoAnne: I love road trips!
Jin-ah, The Lucky Fox, finds Shi-kyung's Granny in the jimjilbang and sucks up to her, acting all nice and filial. She offers some snacks using a Jeju term for potatoes. Granny is delighted to find a "nice, polite, country girl" in this city. (Pfft. *rolls eyes*) She asks if Jin-ah has a boyfriend, and the Fox acts all shy that she has a one-sided crush. Granny calls "that crush" blind. *cue Shi-kyung showing up at the jimjilbang* Jin-ah pretends to be surprised that he's the grandson halmeoni was referring to.
JoAnne: *ignores this plot thread*
Uuuugh. Do women really do this IRL? I mean, how will you live with that? Even if you manage to trick Granny into liking you... It's so evil. (and so pointless!!! Why would a man love you after that?!) I'm imagining actually living in a marriage that's been gained through Jin-ah's means, and I just don't see how you can enjoy that life.
JoAnne: *just got back from getting snacks*
becca: *steals a bite*
Sun-kyu takes the SurplusHousemates to a farm. The owner runs up and thanks him for bringing some help, then ushers the gang to shovel donkey poop. Hihihi. ^^ Ji-yong tries to go back home so Sun-kyu throws the van's keys into a pond. Hye-young leaves to call a cab/look for a signal and Big and Sun-kyu chase after her. When she gets a call from a The Cats(?) Musical production team telling her that she failed the second audition, she tries to keep the guy on the phone by singing and dancing in the middle of the road (haha) but he just hangs up. And what's worse, Big and Sun-kyu saw it all.
JoAnne: Poor girl...even if I am still mad at her.
becca: Haha! Someone get Seul-gi her own show! Now!
Hye-young runs away again in embarrassment. Big catches her. Then Sun-kyu trips and hurts his head, causing Hye-young to run right back to her Oppa. The silly trio eventually end up sitting by the road with Big begging his noona to stay. She starts to rant about how she's definitely leaving! Definitely! Then Sun-kyu speaks up in the longest line he's had the whole show: "Leave if you want. Stay if you want. Sing if you want. Dance if you want. A person should be able to do anything she wants." (Show, those are dangerous words to tell someone like me, y'know.)
JoAnne: I'm glad he said it though, because really, I do not get her belief that he's not a hippie just because he fanboys over CrayonPop. To me that's some badass serious-business hippie shit, there, because they were ALL about everybody being free to do their own thing, whatever that thing might be.
Anyway, Hye-young is touched by Oppa's speech, and also maybe finally accepts that being a Crayon Pop fan is one of the things Sun-kyu wants to do. Big says it doesn't change the fact that they're family. He begs his noona again to ignore the weirdnesses and just stay. As a family. (Family? Riiiiiiight.) He promises not to mention the musical audition fail! Hye-young strangles him and threatens to out his name if he even thinks of the musical. Sun-kyu hears Park Dae-bak's real name and the trio laugh and tease each other, having fixed the Hye-young issue.
JoAnne: Sidenote, that country road was really pretty.
becca: So very pretty. And I'm glad Hye-young is staying. These people are a set. Don't break the set!
Hyunnie, Hani, and Ji-yong are shoveling donkey poop. The Seoul University graduate keeps complaining and wants to stage a walk-out. Hani says to go on, she'll stay working because it's her fault their design got stolen. Hyun-myung seems to soften at hearing Hani's implied apology. When the others arrive, Ji-yong runs over to scold them but trips over the pile of donkey poop instead. They laugh at him while HornDog helps him up. Ji-yong pulls him down beside him. Hehe. HornDog gets a naughty look in his eye and grabs Hani into the poop pile too. And with that, the Surplus Housemates are chummy chummy again.
JoAnne: Shit: The Great Reuni-fecator.
While Hani is wading in donkey poop, Shi-kyung is stewing in poop of a different kind: PoopWorm. She managed to wrangle a dinner invitation from Grandma. Now Shi-kyung is forced to cook a dinner spread for them both and entertain his "guest". (Gawd I just love Rim's face and his eye-rolling when the two girls chat and gang up on him.) Granny feeds Jin-ah some of the fish Shi-kyung cooked. Shi-kyung gets this glazed look. We see it from his POV. He imagines Hani sitting in Jin-ah's place and eating the food excitedly, chatting with Granny in a more natural, homey manner. PWAHAHAHA~ He gets a silly smile in his face just thinking about Hani.
JoAnne: Even in the face of Granny-Approved Girl, he does not waver. I love it. One would almost think he's First.
becca: I'm trying not to hate Granny for being fooled by her. I'm trying so hard. Shi-kyung, on the other hand, is adorable.
Mary: Granny is totally blameless. This is all Jin-ah. (Also I was thinking Granny will meet Hani later and spot her for the Lovely Pervy Nice Girl that she is.)
JoAnne: This behavior is practically unheard of. He deserves to be First.
becca: He does! But so does Second! *sigh* Why can't there be TWO pervy mermaids? One for each of them. (I can be a stand-in for Shi-kyung's Pervy Mermaid *starts flipping toes*)
JoAnne: Shipper alert! Shipper alert!
Cut to: Shi-kyung's car speeding along the road! Yey! He chose Hani anyway! He likes her so much! I am at peace. :')
The SurplusHousemates are shaking their booty by the bonfire (to Crayon Pop? I don't know they're music - just guessing, here). Hye-young goes to the cooler to grab a beer and Big follows her. He teases her about Sun-kyu dancing to Crayon Pop and she tsk tsks at him that the past is in the past. He wouldn't understand it, being such a baby and all. But there's something wrong with her beer and she scratches her finger trying to pull the tab. Big reacts by instinct and takes her hand to suck on the wound. RAWR. Who's the baby now, huh?!?! (I know, I know. Not hygienic. Plus that's a long bit of sucking for such a small wound. Now will you please shut up, brain? No? BITE HIM, KOKO!)
JoAnne: I felt that too, Hye Young.
A little while later, the housemates sit around the campfire taking turns saying cheesy inspirational stuff and laughing at each other. Like "this beer isn't half-empty, it's half-full", "you're happy because you laugh, you don't laugh because you're happy". When it's Hani's turn, she addresses everyone but looks at Hyun-myung as she apologizes for ruining their chance. She explains that she didn't do it all for Shi-kyung. She also did it because she felt happy working with her friends.
JoAnne: Character growth!
becca: Yay! I knew she could do it!
Hye-young laughs at Hani's super serious tone and everyone joins in, breaking the somber mood. But Hyun-myung and Hani take a moment to look at each other as he acknowledges her sorta-apology to him.
JoAnne: Not for nothing but their cuteness level and type is very equal.
becca: *happily shipping*
Shi-kyung makes it to the farm and catches Hani strolling by herself (what timing!) Her eyes almost pop out at seeing him there. He says he was there to buy cheese fresh from the source, which we know is a lie. Because Rim doesn't need to buy cheese. He IS cheese personified. Anyway, he asks Hani why she's avoiding his calls ever since that one-on-one taste test *giggle giggle* (pfft! so dirty, Mary! *also giggling*). She answers him with a question. "Are you dating that witc-- err... Yoon Jin-ah? I heard you saying 'Can't I date her?!' in front of everyone."
JoAnne: He drove two hours in the middle of the night to see her for two minutes. I am swooning.
becca: I am also madly shipping these two. I just can't commit.
Hani says she didn't want to date a two-timer. Shi-kyung laughs in relief at her reason. He takes Hani's hand in his and says he doesn't like Jin-ah. Absolutely not. He just helped her because she got in trouble because of him. *cue double dork grins from them* KISS HIM! KISS HER! IDIOTS! C'mon! You've played tongue-of-war twice already! Skinship-chuseyo. T_____T
kakashi: Show? You FAIL.
JoAnne: Koko! Go bite the writers!
becca: *cheering from the supply cabinet* Yes! Get 'em, Koko!
(LOL Rim doing cheesy finger guns at Hani. Can we please drama gods have her guest on WGM?!) MAKE IT HAPPEN!
JoAnne: And can she act jealous of Kim So Eun, please? And can Rimmie act conflicted?
Hye-young calls out for Hani (dangit!) so Shi-kyung leaves, saying something about the cheese running out. (Whatever, CheeseMan.) Hye-young sees the car driving away and Hani tells her about the hand-holding. She snatches her hands back when Hye-young tries to touch them. Hye-young invites her for a "night swim" instead.
JoAnne: Does that seem smart, considering there are people still up and about? Screw that. People, sleeping or not, within walking distance?
becca: Not a good idea, nope. But then, she hasn't taken my advice about wearing pants, either. I'm just saying, her life would be sooo much easier.
Meanwhile, Sun-kyu spots Hyun-myung drinking alone by the porch. He gives him an apple. Hehe. He asks him what he's doing alone outside. HM pretends to enjoy the night air, etc etc. But eventually admits that he couldn't sleep. It's funny! Sun-kyu just keeps asking "Why" to everything Hyun-myung says:
I couldn't sleep. (Why?) Because I was thinking about Hani. (Why?) Because I'm annoyed at myself that she apologized first. (Why?) Because I was going to apologize. (Why?) Because it was my fault for getting angry at her. (Why?) Because she keeps mentioning that idiot Chef. (Why?) Because it annoys me. (Why?)
... Hyun-myung stops to "think" while the show gives us a montage of all his moments with Hani. Then he stands up abruptly and thanks his hyung for the apple. Sun-kyu just smiles after him, Operation: Fix All Surplus Housemate Issues, Accomplished!
JoAnne: We employ the 5-why technique when completing investigations here at work, as well. It's very effective.
The girls are playing by the pond. (Ha! That was the night swimming?) Hani flips her fins around, enjoying the feel of having them again. She asks for more time to stay in the water. Hye-young says she's too drunk and wants to sleep, but she saw all the guys already enter their rooms, so she leaves Hani to enjoy her mermaid time alone.
JoAnne: But if she LIKES being a mermaid, why does she want to become human? Oh, I know, because she wants Shi Kyung...but still. Ah, whatever. I'm not making sense even to myself.
becca: Whatever she wants, it's humanity or death at this point. Either way, bye bye, tail.
JoAnne: Does this make the farm the Garden of Eden and Sun Kyu the snake, because taking the apple led to Hyun Myung seeing Hani 'naked' ? Does the Fall from Grace entail them getting together? ...or falling apart?
COMMENTS
Waaaaaaaaaah~ gimme episode 9 NOW! (Is what I said after seeing the cliffhanger weeks ago.)
Y'know I'm speed-capping all the remaining episodes while waiting for the finale, and I dunno if it's a combination of (1) having poured all my rage in twitter and the previous caps or (2) lack of sleep or (3) making a conscious effort to point out Hyun-Han moments, but I think I can accept them as endgame. Song Jae-rim is cute. Ohn Joo-wan is cute. Jo Boa is cute. Everyone is cute it makes my kokoro hurt.
JoAnne: I don't actually care which way it goes. Just make it a good ending that makes sense.
I'm writing this before watching Episode 10 though. So don't hold me to the "I'm not angry anymore" statement. Plus only the cuties escape my wrath. Ji-yong, tvN, and Jin-ah better watch out for flying sharpened pencils.
becca: You unnies do realize I'm still in the supply cabinet, right? Is it safe to come out yet? It's getting a little stuffy in here. Helloooo??