IM YourOnlyOne

Yep. With so many characters, they need time to establish them. That way once the meat of the story begins, they can focus on the seriousness and intense emotions, the conflict, and then later how each of them will come to terms of their differences and challenges.

The writer is doing great so far. Surely knows how to control the pace and build intensity. I hope they'll be able to keep that level to the end. There are a lot of things going on, and stories to tell, and they only have 8 episodes left. The skill of the writer and the director will be tested.

I'm feeling sad that this ended. It was heartwarming and fun to watch. Thank you for a great show! I truly enjoyed it!

Hahaha. Yeah! It was an easter egg. It was a nice touch to sort of hint "unofficially" that The Matchmaker happened after the other shows regarding that inspector.

There were a few. I remember seeing on a preview that the mother of the three sisters was against the ML and the FL being together, that they are not supposed to be otherwise some tragic event will happen. I've never seen that scene and that plot line.

It does seem that they changed the flow of the story as they were filming the episodes. It looks like they did a traditional filming wherein it's per episode. (The modern practice is to film all the scenes of the entire season and then arrange it into episodes later.)

Or, I was mistaken. I dunno

And frustrating. Once you click it, “not available in your region”.

Why even show it if it's not available anyway. LOL.

In other OTT platforms:
* Netflix won't show it at all if it's not available in your region.
* Viu won't even let you view the website.

IIRC, iQIYI and Disney+ are similar to Netflix, you'll only see what is available for your region.

But with Viki, you'll see it anyway, and once you try to watch, it's not available in your region. LOL.

They should also add a note that Viki is primarily servicing the West, and have very few shows available elsewhere. Hahaha.

Hopefully. But live-action adaptations oftentimes don't follow the original material. And in this particular story, they built the situation, emotions, and impact in a certain direction; if they suddenly made her return instead of reincarnating, it would suddenly become “just another typical romance show”.

Personally, I want to see her reincarnated, without memories of her past. It will be sad, yes, but at the same time, it will give a new set of emotions for the audience when the ML meets her reincarnation.

They can probably have an open ending too.

---

FL: "Have we met before?"

*The ML smiles.*
*The FL smiles.*

*Screen fades*

---

^_~

In addition to that, the show is about “being human”. That means, it is close to the reality than regular fiction.

The father acting that way is psychological, and one that has too many factors involved. It does happen in real life, a lot, and oftentimes, we dismiss it as “pathetic” when in reality, they actually need help.

In any case, to the OP, Aklima, search for my other replies, I explained in detail what I think is happening to the father.

Yes. Let me explain.

1. It is not for the ML to reveal the truth to the FL. It is rude to reveal that information, especially a health condition.

2. The FL's mother probably made him (the ML) to promise to keep it a secret.

3. In the scene you are talking about, where he told the FL he doesn't know, he actually knew it. Watch that scene again and pay close attention to his face and eyes. That's the expression of someone who knows and is finding a way around the situation.

#2 is a bonus; but #1 is the primary reason, it is rude to reveal that information.

For example. What if it causes a family feud? That can happen, actually it does happen a lot in real life. Remember, this show is about “being human”.

However, at that moment when he was talking on the phone, he is free from any obligation to not mention it even in front of the FL because her life is at stake. And if #2 is correct, that he was made to promise to keep it a secret, then at that point during the phone call, he was also free of that obligation.

Lastly, when it comes to a person's health, be it positive or negative, there are laws that govern it. It doesn't matter if you are a doctor or not, a person's health is strictly protected by privacy laws in many countries.

During that phone conversation, he is no longer obligated to keep her health condition a secret. This is why during that scene, he was looking straight in the FL's eyes; because he knew she will “hate” (figuratively) him after that for not telling her the truth, and it is going to be an uphill battle to make her understand why he dodged the question.

Oh, one more thing. He doesn't want to not tell her. Again, he wants to, but it is not for him to reveal it. So, he suggested taking her mother to the doctor.

Let's go back to the father.

There is now a problem with the situation.

Remember, he cannot move on. And it was proven that he doesn't hate them, he was resentful, and they just happen to be the target.

Remember also that he was shocked and ran with the sisters when he realised what happened.

This is problematic. You see, for a person like him who got trapped in his brain's self-preservation mode, this will more likely lead to self-blame. The real person hiding behind from the real world is going to start thinking that the reason the FL's mother is now suffering was because he “secretly prayed” for them to die as well; even though he never did that.

This will further drive him to hide his true self inside. He will further shut the world. He will further hurt his son too (which they already hinted in the preview). Furthermore, he will start to spiral down into drunkenness.

At the same time, he will also tell himself that "I never asked for them to suffer" and "they deserve it" and "No, I only resented them, that's all, I don't hate them, they just remind me of the pain" and "Nah, they should die like my wife and because of what she did, why did they even dive that day".

Imagine what will that conflicting thoughts do to him; and how it can destroy his relationship with his son.

And since he is a traditional father also, when his son finally goes ballistic, he will also start to act and assert his status as his father. Not because he wants to rule over his son, like a tyrant king, no, rather, he can no longer think straight.

He is already denying the real world, and hiding from it, and now he will start to self-blame. A very bad combination.

Can the father free himself? Well, the K-drama will probably be able to. In real life, though? I don't know the statistics, but probably not.

---

Again, I am not defending the father nor am I justifying his actions. However, we should not forget that our experiences, our pain, our traditions, culture, and how we were raised and grew up, affects how we think (the human mind) and how our brain works.

Deep inside every human being, we all know that you, me, her, him, we all deserve to live a happy life. However, our complex emotions, our mind, our brain, can influence us and our relationships. The problems we face, the pain we experience, it can make or break us.

Sadly, some of us are strong enough to weather the storm; while some of us succumb to it. And those of the latter, some can get out of it later, unfortunately, some goes deeper into it and doesn't come out anymore.

I'm assuming you've watched episode 8.

First, I'm not defending him, I'm just going to explain the deeper meanings and connections about him. Secondly, the series is about “being human”. Meaning, real life emotions, real life relationships, real life problems.

1. He can not move on from the death of his wife.
2. He is not bitter; he is only resentful.

Bitterness is an unforgiving heart, if a person doesn't watch themselves, they will start to hate. Hatred means you want the person to die; or to suffer the same thing. The ML's dad hasn't reached bitterness and hatred, though, he is getting closer to that point after he saw the FL again.

3. He is not blaming anyone.

When a human being can not move on about something, the normal reaction is to either channel it in or to express it. Some people channels it in, this leads to self-blaming and self-pity. While other people express it, and this leads to finding the easiest target.

The thing is, it is harder to channel it in than to find the easiest target. Why? Channelling it in takes a __conscious__ effort, while finding the easiest target is an unconscious effort. The person in the latter most often than not is not aware of it; but in the former, the person is fully aware they're doing it.

This means that people like the ML's father is not aware he just found an easy target. Since he is not aware of it, he can not do anything about it. You see, to be able to change about something within ourselves, we first have to identify what needs to be changed, then acknowledge it. He doesn't know he is doing it, so there's no chance for him to change it.

He just thinks it is normal to resent them, but deep inside he knows it is not their fault.

Which was proven when he ran and followed the sisters. This is him that was suppressed inside. He doesn't want them to die, or to suffer, or whatever. That's the true person hiding behind his resentment. The person that is hurting and confused.

4. Having said the above, he is also not aware he is making the life of his son harder.

Again, he doesn't even know himself; he's just living in day in and day out. He is in “robot mode” for lack of a better term. Wake up every day. Live in your own “perfect world”. Sleep.

He got trapped in that world he built, wherein he wouldn't feel the pain. Like for example, avoiding seeing the other family because whenever he sees them, his “peaceful world” shatters, and he starts drinking to rebuild his world.

Others call this, “comfort zone”. Or, “shell”. Better yet, self-preservation or trauma reaction.

Because he cannot move on, and let's be honest here, he was devastated with the death of the love of his life, his brain started to put up shields around him. This is a normal human brain reaction. And different people react to this self-preservation by our brain differently.

Some people can bring it down after they've recovered. While some people get trapped in it because it is simply too painful for them to face reality.

5. Yes, he has every right to go into his son's room.

There is no culture in the world that states that a parent doesn't have any right to their children's room while they are living under their own roof.

If you don't want your parents to snoop around your room and doing whatever, get out of their house and live under your own roof. That is the only time you will have the right to keep your parents out.

The ML is obviously still living under his father's roof, and the ML fully understands this, that is why he is being cool about it. Of course, eventually, the ML will go ballistic after all, all human beings have a limitation; and again, as I've said at the beginning of this post, this is about “being human”. While yes, parent's have the right to do it while their children are under their roof, it doesn't mean the children would be able to hold it in for eternity.

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Because people are creating new accounts just to give it a bad rating. It's a very common thing here.

Don't bother with the ratings, 90% of the time, it doesn't represent anything.

For example, in the Philippine K-drama groups I belong to, this show, and many other similar “real life” shows, people are loving it. However, here in MDL, such shows are often low and hated. You'll even see people saying, “it is not real, no one does that in real life” or “no person acts that way in real life” and so on.

The best we can do is to just leave comments and reviews here on MDL so other people who discover this site and these shows, will see that the rating is useless. People shouldn't even be given a chance to rate until after the show ended, regardless if one dropped it or not.

AMEN to that!

EXACTLY!

Hear! Hear!

EXACTLY! The story (or stories in this case) is for the mature audience. It's about being human. It tackles the complexity of human emotions, human relationships, and human problems.

For example, the ML's father. While there were already hints in the early episodes, or at least it was easy to connect, in episode 8 they finally nailed the coffin (if I used that idiom correctly (sorry, I'm autistic, bad at idioms)), there's a far deeper reason than what they hinted and what the audience may have pieced together.

The build up to that revelation was perfect for me. By the time they revealed that deep reason, boom, I suddenly understood his character (or at least I want to think I do).

Not me. I like where the series is going.

I like how they slowly built up the curiosity of the audience as to what exactly is happening between the two families. Yes, it's obvious what the ML's mother's job was and the cause of her death; but it turns out it is far deeper than that. The FL's mother made a decision for the ML's mother and her to dive; and just the two of them if the epilogue is any indication.

I'm not familiar with the rules of their trade, but if I will take a guess, they violated their own rule of diving with just the two of them. It's probably what they would refer to as being “greedy”.

It is also probably safe to say that the FL's mother was already the leader of the group and the weather expert. I assumed this because in the present (2023), it was also her who tried to read the weather. The 2023 scene, and her changing her mind and still diving anyway, is a repeat of her mistake from the past. From this, we can safely assume that the reason it was only her and the ML's mother who were there was because the both of t hem decided it was safe.

Full circle, as they say, this time it was her who's paying for that miscalculation; for not trusting her instincts. While yes, this time, she was with the whole group, they still trusted her decision as a leader and as the expert in reading the weather. Yet, they still went to the sea. (And this time, it wasn't because of greed; even the rest of the group decided to go ahead.)

But, decisions are decisions. Being a leader is a heavy responsibility. What more, being the expert in reading the situation. She could've had stood firm with her decision to just go home; should've remembered what happened before and trusted her instincts.

However, with so many things weighing in her mind, she ended up diving anyway; maybe because she needs to clear her mind. They did say in the previous episode that when they're diving, it's giving them peace because down there, it is quiet, it's just you and nature. Her desire to dive outweighed her desire to play safe.

Again, this is just how I see it as of episode 8. As usual, I could very well be wrong, and I hope I am wrong (otherwise, it's not fun to watch if the show is predictable HAHA).

I am expecting some twists here and there.

Oh, the ML's father? It is so hard for him to move on, and he doesn't exactly hate the FL's family. They just happen to be the easy target for the father's sadness and anger. Why is he angry? Maybe there was something he regretted about his wife and never had the chance to do something about it.

At least that's how I see it when he ran with them. He's directing his emotions against the family, but he doesn't want anyone to suffer the same as his late wife. Of course, it will also lead to further issues for him because he will probably think that the reason the FL's mother ended up that way was because of him. And once again, he'll go down into regret; and will probably end up spiralling down to drunkenness and depression and hurting his son (the ML) more (which seems to be what's going to happen based on the preview).

Yeah. Now the real fun of the series is about to begin. The part where very few people want to watch: real life emotions, real life relationships, real life problems = basically, being human. (Get ready for “I hate this character. This character shouldn't have done that. This character is not real, no one is like that in real life”.)

Episode 8: What is a “bracken rain”?

A “bracken” is a type of fern which grows in woodlands, common around the globe and is toxic when consumed by livestock (animals). [1]

A “bracken rain” is the term used by the residents of Korea's Jeju island, referring to the “spring rain” or “monsoon rain”. The “bracken” became associated with the monsoon season because after it the bracken fern grows very fast for a short while on Jeju. [2] [3] [4].

Sources:
[1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.09.049
[2] https://filmfreeway.com/454255
[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4563514/
[4] https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2020/05/141_289211.html )

Basically, in episode 8, the monsoon season seems to be about to start as they were not expecting it. (Season changes are not easy to predict, sometimes it comes too early, sometimes too late.) What happened in this episode is that the monsoon caught them by surprise. It is the first of the many monsoon rains that are to come.

-- That's it for the non-spoiler part.

For the spoiler part.

They hinted that the only way to save ML is for her to go back to her own past past. Then in the preview she woke up before her marriage, enough time to prevent the poisoning of her part husband.

I'm suspecting she'll love her life in the past, or die, then will be reincarnated in 2023. Then 2023 ML will meet her reincarnation without her memories. which is very sad. T_T

I hope! But so far, seems to be she'll be stuck there.

I'm suspecting she'll die in the past, then she will be reincarnated in the present and ML will meet her reincarnation, without her memories.