Kathryn_51

On my watchlist FOR-EV-ER because of Kang Hoon. Finally getting close and crossing fingers on the OTT.

Thanks. I'll wait a few weeks to decide if I should watch. It's promoted as rather comical on social media. 😒

Glad I missed the political stuff. I remember well the outrage by a handful when one of my favorite dramas mentioned "Africa" and were furious because it didn't call out a specific "country" never mind that kdramas rarely call out specific countries but frequently use made up names (recent example: Reborn Rookie which mentioned "Yulivia" - intended to be Bolivia-lite, I guess??).

This drama is on my watch list, but I'm squeamish about violence and blood. A little goes a long way. And I really hate when innocents are caught in the middle. Can you vaguely spoil on the violence meter for me> TIA

It was the first thing that popped up for me when I clicked on Netflix this evening. Said it was #5 today (whatever that means.)

Yes, someone on Reddit posted the same thing. I'm going to edit my post.

In Ep. 9, there were strong hints regarding the doctor’s role in keeping Chairman alive: frantic attempts with the defibrator, ordering “prep the ECMO"*; wheeling the body out by himself; his resignation and total personality change. So, I was hoping for the twist today.

w/r/t Jae-seong, the hints were pretty weak – he wasn’t crying in church, he pretended to hate Bang-geul when in front of his twin but immediately played (nicer) big bro in private.

Edit: others have pointed out that Mom was trying to follow the doctor, so not likely that she was in on the secret. [Original comment but likely wrong: But after re-watching a few of those scenes, I think Mom MUST be in on the scam. She was already working with the doctor to save her husband, she knew that KJG had previously tried to kill the Chairman and this time hubby feared it as well. If I’m right, she did one hell of an acting job with her daughter while a very warm (and alive) body was laying there. Sobbing into her arms to keep her away??]

Only question left is: how did Jae-seong find out? He ordered the cremation and mom was furious – or was that also an act?

*Prepare the ECMO” means: activate and set up the heart-lung bypass machine so it is ready to connect to the patient within minutes.

How much does Mom know?

Thoughts (w/spoilers) below.

Please put a spoiler tag on this!

Writer redeemed herself today - but it was touch and go if I was going to throw in the towel.

Wish there were THREE more episodes because wrapping it all up in a coherent manner doesn't seem likely.

Thanks for sharing. I couldn't watch this morning and won't be able for another 12 hours 😒

I hope the doctor saved him - it's clear he's fed up with the constant attempts to kill his patient/father-in-law. If jaekyung didn't kill him after what they showed last week and in the hidden camera video, that's a very BAD plot twist - no fair misleading viewers to that extent.

Pretending someone died only to live again? That's okay. inserting a new villain into the mix at the last moment? not okay. {although, I always wonder - if there is a 3rd character that doesn't seem necessary and their name is usually Secretary Jo (but Secretary Lee in this case) then . . .too many times I've seen them turn out bad w/out proper foundation.

I think half-brother and his wife will reconcile - she's tried to stand up for him a couple of times, but her evil father was having none of it.

It's more complicated than that and I'm not an expert. Concubines were usually selected from noble families for two purposes - continue to produce male heirs and political alliances. It was unusual for someone like Kang Dan-sim to become part of the concubine hierarchy.

I pretty much gave up on the show around Ep. 11, but I'm fascinated by Korean history so started research on this topic because of this drama. From the complaints I have read, the drama never explained how Kang Dam-sin rose to the status of "Kang Huibin", Huibin meaning "beautiful concubine" (loose translation). And as far as I know, they never explained if she slept with the King or not.

But perhaps someone else can explain with something more than "My guess is. . . . . "

Well, there were no hints in Ep. 8 - in fact,, she was in full-on hate mode towards the ML I think the vague heart flutters are gone and hopefully never to be seen again.

The Grand Consort didn't marry anyone. That term means she was the King's "most favored concubine.

Park Eun Bin said that a 2nd season was planned IF the ratings were high enough - whatever that may be.

I wholeheartedly agree with your (positive) sentiments regarding Chairman's marriage with the housekeeper (butler) Sun-hui. but you are incorrect on the dates/ages.

Twins were born July 1984. According to JTBC website they are 42 (not late '40s/early 50's)
Kang Beul was born March 1999. According to JTBC website, she is 27 (15 years apart)
1st wife died??? [my guess is 1997 thus the twins were 13 years old]
Married 2nd wife??? [my guess is 1998 since it was supposedly one year later; twins 14 years old and then clearly 15 yrs old when KB was born]

Also from the JTBC website: 1st marriage was "political" and no love involved.

There are clearly reasons for the twins' resentment of their father's treatment and the 2nd wedding. But they are big girl/big boy now and altho the corporate scheming is rather fun, attempted murder (twice) is not. Jae-gyeong is irredeemable at this point and I hope Chairman doesn't forgive her for killing that poor soccer player (who is probably alive, but Chairman doesn't know that - yet].

Edit: Forgot to mention that teenager Jae-gyeong mistakenly believed that her father was cheating on the mother (this according to JTBC)

I didn't know who CEW was until I watched WONDERfools - and then quickly found out. But when I looked at the list of past dramas, I realized why - all of the plots involved women with issues regarding their "looks", including the dog one. Not my genre. I watched Island - it was pretty bad, but he was great as the priest - casually mild on the outside but fierce evil-fighter when required.

I'll be watching on Prime Video in the USA. Any idea when it releases/drops after release in Korea?

Re: Chairman's 2 wives (from official JTBC web site)

1st wife "lived without any affection due to a political marriage." She asked Cho Sun-hui (who had been twin's babysitter) to return to the home [during her illness?]

Jae-gyeong believed ["firmly misunderstood"] that her father committed adultery while his 1st wife was alive and rebelled.

To explain this on the web site is OK, but I hope it becomes clear to viewers as well.

Thankfully, there was NO hint of romance in Ep. 8!

I would like to believe it's fake because the drama is ruined for me if young soccer player is dead. That scene with the grandmother certainly indicates his soul has left this earth. 😒😒😒