Birth of a Beauty - Episode 12 (A WookiCap)

This episode artfully manages to have two people who would obviously have wild sex all the time in real life do everything else there is to do in the world. Lots of it is product placement.   
S@ki6: I wish they'd be clearer what the products were, like show a model number for the camera. Hard to know what to buy. 
JoAnne: I like that green thing from the last episode.
Toaster. I'm sure of it.
Lafer: There's a whole kitchen full of green things!
becca: They should PPL some scissors. I'd buy them and cut Sara's hair. Everybody wins!

Episode 12

Ice and hot love ... Sara and Tae-hee are tender, sweet, and completely asexual as she gently massages his bruised shoulder and whispers "I love you". She bends down and kisses his temple, too. His temple. Who would kiss Joo Sang-wook's temple (and only his temple) of all places to kiss?!
I happen to like kissing temples.  Of babies.  That is a MAN SARA. KISS THE MAN.
It was all so sweet, Le Sigh.
I'm convinced that these two are just five year-olds playing grown-up. That's going to be the twist in the final episode.
I think you're on to something. Obviously her brain was damaged due to the extensive anesthesia, and his was zapped by too many electrodes during his psychological testing.

Sometime later (as always, it's day-bright in the bedroom), Tae-hee wakes up and finds her huddled at his feet. Of course. His feet. He gets dressed (why?!) and carries her up to her bedroom. After being tender and worried about her, he also falls asleep huddled at her feet. Sleepy or sleeping Joo Sang-wook is extremely sexy, I would like to add.

People, people, people.  Get yourselves together.  No feet. Do I need to come there and show you what has to be done with a man like this? Because I will.

I'm beginning to think you should. This show is a tease!

Do you think there is something in Kdramaland called sleeping dust? Because they never wake up even if carried around, kissed, etc. I could use some for my night's sleep!

Because he held her hand, Sara had no nightmares for the first time since her transformation! He thinks that's reason enough for him to sleep with her every night. Shocked and outraged, she kicks him out. Seriously ... She doesn't even have virginity to protect! (But she has chastity to protect. That's a separate issue.) (PLUS he was just suggesting holding hands). Because this is going too fast for her, she consults Geum-ran in the mirror: but not about having sex with Joo Sang-wook. No. She discusses Ahjumma power. Important? This? No, not at all. Next! 

Show is cheating us of the romance angst. We know about ahjumma power, we get it, it's a thing.

I totally support ahjumma power, being a bonafide ahjumma myself.  But whatEVER go have sex with that gorgeous man, Sara.

I actually like the pace they're taking.  Normally, main OTPs make me rather nauseous, but these are are actually touching my cold heart.

The writers are touched, too. In the head. They've been out in the sun too long.

You can have ahjumma power and a healthy sex life, you know. You hear that writers?

Geum-ran agrees.

Did you notice that Chae-yeon is now often dressing in black too, like the other villains? Quite vampy, in fact. (Wang Ji-hye as a vampire? I would watch that show!)(She actually is starting to look like one. Her face and lips were so pale she looked dead already.) She sets Kang-joon against Tae-hee oppa (huh?), making him believe that it's him behind all the bad stuff that keeps happening to him. The reason behind it is "really clever": She wants Kang-joon to attack Tae-hee oppa and then become Tae-hee oppa's savior. Good plan, missy. Truly good plan. 

Becoming his savior so he's obligated to marry Chaeyeon?

She's an idiot.

*nodding* Yes. They all are.

I warned you back at episode 4 that we'd run out of plot at the rate things were going. Now they're grabbing at straws.

At the (PPL?) supermarket, Sara and Tae-hee (they're shopping for her chef-competition) run into Ji-hoon. Who takes one good look at Sara and then addresses her with "sister-in-law". To him, they look just like a married couple. To them, hearing that is "very surprising".

They are idiots. But very good looking as a couple.

I approve of good-looking couples in public.

They are quite awkward with each other afterwards, at home. However, it's only because each thinks the other wouldn't like to be called a married couple. When in fact! They both really LIKE to be called a married couple. I'm glad we got that over with. Next!

Uhhh, he told you he liked you, Sara.  And you know you like him. So at least ONE of you knows the whole truth and shouldn't be playing along with this stupid game.

It would make total sense......... hahahaha I just realized the stupidity of my statement....

Cut to them doing what married couples do ... no, not that. But wearing couple pajamas and sucking lollipops together on the couch. *shakes head* Oh drama ... of course you'd fastforward to a time 10 years into a marriage. "Our chemistry would make Brangelina cry" is my favorite line in this drama so far though. Maybe we should start doing that "Quotes" thing again? *considers" ...  Let's not.

No, ten years forward there'd be kids and pets - at least pets. And so there'd be at least a third in matching pjs demanding their lollipops. Thinking aloud here...

So I've been married once, and I've lived with a man outside of marriage once, and I can PROMISE you this never happened.

*whispers* Five year-ooooolds! They don't actually know what newlyweds do.

Unless they've watched their share of dramas. Because it seems there are many drama couples who forget what to do once married.

They feed sweets to each other and she calls him "honey". (I realize I hate male aegyo just as much as I hate the female version) They talk about the kids they want. Their kids. He tickles her. He lands quasi on top of her. But no. No: Of course, she throws him off.

There's no way I'd have sex with the man depicted here, even if he DOES have Joo Sang Wook's face.

I have to admit, scheksy times were far from my mind in this scene. 

*throws popcorn at screen*

I'm starting to think Chae-Yeon's finding the surveillance equipment after the lame sweep of the bedroom was more probable than this scenario.

She runs to her room, where Geum-ran is no longer just in the mirror but actually walking around.  Wait, what? Is she going crazy? Does she have a brain tumor? Time for a bit of noble idiocy: she needs to protect his pureness as a bachelor of course! Also, she has failed at marriage once before so she can't be happy about the prospect of marrying anymore. She tells him to back off and give her space #KDramaLogic

I'm about to start slapping people.

I have a BIIIIIG bowl of popcorn here. Feel free to join me in throwing it.

That mirror couldn't contain Geum-ran's awesomeness.

This drama never fails to have a moment where I just throw my hands up and apologize to the writers for actually expecting it to have any rhyme or reason to it. And it's getting earlier in each episode.

Tae-hee goes to see Ji-hoon, who has some relationship advice again? I'm sure it's good. He is quite certain that Ahjumma reacted a bit weirdly to all that marriage-talk because Tae-hee hasn't properly proposed yet!

Yes, yes, that's it exactly. Now shut up and go away. You know very little.  I wish you did though because you seem to be the only one who sees clearly.

I couldn't care less about Ji Hoon as a character, but I do anticipate his reaction when he finds out his sister is the devil's spawn.

So I've been doing the math, and between the two of them, Tae-hee and Ji-hoon have maybe 1/4 of a brain. Possibly less. Math was never my strong suit.

I'm still trying to figure out how Tae Hee can be a genius and have to ask Ji-hoon when he, himself would want to marry.

At the cooking class, Sara bonds with Evil Han Mother a little. Which is totally what Evil Han has planned all along. He smiles so happily, awwwww ... I'm so alone with my love for him. Fuck. I have Second Lead Syndrome?! 

HAHAHAHAHAAHAH Ihavewaitedsolongforthismoment.

Wow, I would never have guessed that kakashi would fall for the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Kang-joon gets a bit violent against Sara, but tells her she's the first woman in his life he has loved. Oh for Chrissy sake. He really, really, REALLY needs to know what connection Geum-ran and Tae-hee have. Sara wants to shield Tae-hee off, cause ... noble idiocy. Our favorite trope! Don't even let Tae-hee KNOW that Kang-joon is after him. 

I'm waiting for Kangjoon's commitment to a high security prison mental hospital, straight jacket, padded room, and time spent all alone, with absolutely no one else, so he finally learns how annoying he is to everyone else. 

*singing* All byyyyy my se-he-helf, don't wanna be...all by myself, anymore

How about a course on love? Because obviously this guy is a sociopathic narcissist at best.

It's competition time! Oh, I looooooove competitions, especially Hanbok competitions! (Moony is in a KBS daily drama these days.) (Mrs. Trot must be going crazy then because she's sworn off drama until Christmas.) (She can marathon the 15 eps by then.  It's only just started.  Also, it has YooNa Street's Namsoo.) Sara cooks with her long hair dangling out under her chef hat.  (Unhygienic.) (SOMEBODY PASS ME THE SCISSORS!! Or a hairband. SOMETHING.) And bitch Chae-yeon has come up with an evil plan: the participants need to add peanuts to their dish. And Geum-ran is very VERY allergic to that.

Two things:  First, re hat - this just continues the trend of hats serving no actual purpose in Sara's life, and two, re peanuts - only one person in Korea can be allergic to them at a time?  You dumb ass, Chae Yeon.

Her brain is the size of a peanut. They had to put another one in her hip, just so she could walk.*

Haha! I'm fairly sure they would have discussed any possible food allergies before in any other cooking competition ever besides this one.

Chae-yeon also goes and visits Tae-hee Grandma. Wait ... during the competition? Grandma is on a hunger strike, by the way. Grandma is glad to see the daughter of her grandson's savior and Chae-yeon can now play messenger between her and Tae-hee. 

The sneakiness was pretty impressive. Unfortunately for her, Sara's already been a go-between and she'll soon have access to the Han House.

Maybe Chae Yeon was on a pea(nut) break.

*raises hand and jumps up and down* Oooh, oooh! I actually know this one! And it's probably the only time that I've understood the passage of time in this show in weeks. Chae-yeon announced that they would need peanuts for the recipe on the next episode. So the show is over. Sara won't need to cook with peanuts until the next episode. Don't ask me when that is, though, because I don't understand.

Time is irrelevant in this show. I mean, are we talking the 3 months it takes to grow 2 feet of hair? It's obviously in a different time dimension altogether.

She also tells Tae-hee that Kang-joon wanted to meet him, which makes him realize his Ahjumma took his phone call and met Dick Ear by herself. There's a fight over that, over him meeting with Snake Chae-yeon and about not being able to let go of the past.

Meh.

*Smacking myself to wake up*

Afterwards, Tae-hee goes to the Evil Han house to visit his Grandma himself. The court says he can. But Evil Han rips the document apart. (Tae-Hee can get a copy. And the court can jail Evil Han for ripping up its order, which is something I'd totally see through, just to make the point that I can.)  He's so cool! But Tae-hee is not to be trifled with: he will make Evil Han regret pissing him off. Will it mean seeing you in a hot suit?! I cheer for you!

His face is pale and flabby but he wears better coats than Tae Hee does. One point for Han.

Sara is still worrying over the peanuts when Tae-hee comes and backhugs her. He is sorry about getting angry at her earlier and he will accept that she has a difficult past. He has one too. Let's conquer this together!
By having sex! No? Dammit.
Maybe this show should add the Titanic theme song.
I'm just gonna throw more popcorn because I have nothing nice to say.
Are back-hugs subliminal for sex in this drama?

Success! You've unlocked the next level. Tae-hee is now in on the peanuts problem. Only ... he has no idea what to do against it either. Oh well.
Umm, you could say Gee, Sara is very allergic to peanuts, no can do.
Oh, just let her eat the peanuts. Lots of them. She can go into a coma and wake up with amnesia. It's about time for amnesia to hit somebody in this show.
Why did I never, ever hear of one person with a peanut allergy when I was growing up? Not one. Now you can't even get peanuts on a dang plane if a kid who is 20 rows away may be allergic.

It wasn't really competition time before, but now it is! Because Chae-yeon gloats over the peanuts a bit too much, Sara realizes her cover might be blown. But onwards, cooks! She may have lost 10 minutes pondering her problem, but she cooks her tuna peanut dish in the remaining 50. "Have you tasted your dish"? asks Chae-yeon. So Sara does. OMG no! You'll die! But TAKE THAT, bitch! Before she dies, Sara wins the competition (of course, because any Ahjumma will always beat a fully certified cook). 
You lost me at tuna peanut.
I'm imagining how salty that would be.
It looked good. See? I have nice things to say!
This is why I know I'll lose weight when I visit Seoul next year.

In the meantime, Han Tae-hee has put on a nice suit (I told you so!) and addresses all 350'000 or so employees of Winner Group (is the motto  'everyone's a Winner' ?) through the intranet. He announces his candidacy for CEO in a month. Evil Han fumes.
Evil Han is a good fumer. 
He looks like a 2-year-old having a temper tantrum.
He fits in with the rest of the toddlers in this show, then.
He's gonna blow, folks, and dough is really hard to scrape up from everything.

The Cute Couple decide to celebrate their wins in style. What Sara doesn't know ... Tae-hee wants to do much more than celebrate. He wants to propose! On her way to the restaurant, she starts coughing. Uh-oh ... she's going to die. And Kang-joon is there, too! Is Sa Geum-ran alive? he demands to know. Oh, she's going to doubly die!
No Benedryl or anything? Seriously?
Was it ahjumma power that delayed what should be an immediate reaction?
Maybe Tru Wuv.
I'm sorry, this episode has passed my incredulousness threshold. But damn, he looks adorable in the gif!

Comments

Tae-hee is a really cute character, thanks for that, drama. And so upright! And so uncomplicated. You want to share happiness and sadness with a woman? That means you want to marry her. Evil murdering exes, beware! Here comes Han Tae-hee, the perfect man. Awwww.
He is indeed a sweetheart.
I would marry him, wear cheesy couple pjs and suck lollipops and bring down evil Hans all with him. He's a good choice for a woman.
Hm. He's cute, but I like 'em a little smarter, to be honest.
Cute, but.... right now my brain can't come up with any coherent thoughts.

Anything else to say? Nope.
I got nuthin.
Me neither. I thought about it all day too...
I ran out of popcorn to throw.
I'm speechless. That's saying something.

*Credit for that joke goes to Dr. Phil van Neuter, Friendly Veterinarian of Muppets Tonight