etoks21

Episode 6:
"I forgot to tell you, when I asked you to move in, that I am moving out."
This is, in a nutshell, a great summation of this bizarre, frustrating, and dull series.

The two mains are passive-aggressive, bumbling weirdos in an emotionally/psychologically sadomasochistic relationship. They deserve each other.
Such a relationship could make for exciting conflicts, challenges, and all sorts of emotional highs and lows, great fodder for a drama. But, no, this one has turned such potentially fertile material into a boring af slog through a Sloth-smoking haze of indifference.

It had potential in the beginning, but I'm almost, but not quite, hate-watching at this point.
A lot of JP dramas have this lethargic, depressed, repressed vibe in which "eh?," "oh," "huh?," "I'm sorry," "no, I'M sorry," and "oh, so that's how it is" are as deep as any of the characters go into communicating with each other. I'm left with a constant urge to slap some sense or at least some passion into these people.

Just to fire up the MDL Little Church Girls brigade again, I have to mention how weird it is that sex between two grown men in a developing relationship, which we were shown early in the show, has disappeared completely, along with any hint of the romance they were clearly embarking on. Not that we're given any hint of why that is the case.

I'm convinced people who love shows like this enjoy projecting their own imagined scenarios, emotions, and preconceptions into a script, filling the black holes of nothingness left by bad writing with what they wish was there, rather than beholding what is and is not on the screen and going "wtf?" like many of us.

Nothing burger.

Hye Jin felt she needed Choi's clout in the film industry to get that superstar cast.
Obviously, her assumption that CEO would act ethically was based on her evaluation of his past business history. Her assumption was badly misplaced, as she and we found out.

That does NOT make her the cause of her own demise.
Your comparison to leaving a door unlocked goes too far. Misplaced trust is not a self-destructive act. It's a judgment mistake.
What you've written does, however, make me more interested in WHY Hye Jin assumed CEO would act appropriately, when it seemed clear to me he was a cut-throat businessman who would do about anything to succeed.

OK.
But what does the box office performance of another film/show Koo Kyo Hwan was in, in real life, have to do with this drama?

Same.
I keep watching, too, so it's not completely a lost cause to me, yet.
I have NO problem dropping shows if I'm not into them, so enough appeal and curiosity is going on to keep me checking in.

I love when movies do shit like that to me. :)

The above synopsis mentions a "brutal accident."
Seems like that could be a multitude of things.

I admire your honesty and willingness to look inward for why aspects of the show don't appeal to you. But doesn't the fact that you keep watching mean the show DOES appeal to you, even if it's in some inexplicable, ass- backwards way? :)

I find almost all of them repugnant in one way or another, and DM is near if not at the top of the most repulsive protagonists I've ever met, and yet I adore him and am pulling for him and Eun Ah all the way. :)
There are many other people here who feel the same.

For me, the repugnance is fascinating, and maybe the prominent reason I love the show, which sounds weird, I know. But flawless, perfect, predictable characters are Boredom City to me and have been for a long time.

" Though I wouldn't say I'd find myself likeable either so maybe the characters just feel a little too raw and real."
This hit home with me, and I know what you're talking about in my own way. Yet, again, I love that I see so much of myself in DM. The quest to be the best person we can be is a life-long journey, and it is fueled by that willingness/honesty I mentioned.

I love that you keep watching, even though you feel the way you do about it. So many people, especially here on MDL, loathe and run screaming from any show that makes them "uncomfortable." Sitting in discomfort and exploring why we feel it seems nearly a lost art among the youngs.

Me too.
Watched re-runs on Summer afternoons for years, too. :)

DM was not the only one who had debuted during most of those 20 years. His being the last one left and always ragging on those who succeeded developed over time.
Banning him when she did makes perfect sense.
Regarding DM's brother being banned, have you forgotten when he came into the club and started punching people in one of the early episodes?
Apparently, you have.
Any club would ban someone who did that.
Hye Jin knows WHY the rock was thrown and she chose to overlook it.
What's odd is you not paying attention when you're watching the drama.

The 3B IS her money once the grant is given.
If DM's film flops, she stands to lose all of that and more.

Oh Lord, a Bible-beater...

Gosh, don't apologize to me about any of what you wrote here. I agree with every word.
I don't know if you've noticed, but I often get into it in comments with what I call the MDL Church Girls brigade, a bunch of prudish scolds who would make Gladys Kravitz look like a whore who minds her own business. (Do you know Gladys?) :D

I don't need to "see" it, either, but if they're having sex all the time, that would be an important thing to let us know. And while I don't NEED to see it, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it. :) (There is a prudish streak a mile wide thru the MDL membership.)
There is a big difference between a couple who are hot and heavy for each other physically and a couple who are not, for some reason.
My complaint is that I'm not getting reasons for much of anything going on or not going on between these two.

This film grows richer for me with every watch, but I have to agree with comments below that the second half could/should have been handled in a much more effective way.
There are clunky plot holes/improbabilities in the second half also, that compromise its effectiveness.
And yes, the downer ending...sucks. And I'm someone who doesn't mind a well-done downer ending.

I just read the review/article at the link below.
It crystallizes why I feel uneasy about outright liking this film.
https://thebaklareview.blogspot.com/2008/03/selda.html

In light of that, I'm going to drop my rating from an 8.5/10 to a 7/10

With this show, anything is possible.

Well, to me, that is a perfectly backward interpretation.

That was not a "dance of self-pity," btw. Did she appear to be moping to you?

I don't blame her at all for banning Dong Man when she did. He was annoying af and constantly causing confrontations and multiple outrageous incidents. Why would she want that in her club? She was protecting her establishment.
You seem to forget that she promptly lifted her ban when it was revealed that DM and Eun Ah were an item.
You also seem to forget how she has berated her husband in private for his whining and moping, and his obsession with DM. She supports her husband in public, but confronts him in private. That is where her demand that Dong Man not trash her husband to her face ever again came from, too.

I see her producing DM's film as CHALLENGING him to put up or shut up at long last.
And in challenging him, she provides him an opportunity for grand success or dismal failure. She provides herself with the opportunity to make a lot of money, too.

In her alcohol-fueled, melodramatic, and hilarious dare that he do so, she was doing her thing with her usual flair. She didn't say she WANTS DM's film to fail, she said she is willing to lose lots of money, if that's what it takes to shut him up one way or the other. But, she's not "out to destroy" him; she's out to get him to STFU, just like she is with her husband...in private.
Why would she WANT to lose a boatload of money?

"Her selfishness and greed got her betrayed by CEO Choi bc she desired to cast superstar Noh thru his help."
This is another wildly backward take. Weirdly, you interpret her desire for her company to succeed as coming from "selfishness and greed," when that's simply business. She was upfront with CEO Choi about all of it, and politely asked for his assistance in sharing the project and getting the star she thought would guarantee success.
Then Choi fucks her over, yet to you, Hye Jin is the problem?

Wow.

I agree, and I like how you've put this.

Given what we've seen of a brilliant screenplay filled with surprises and disappointments and everything in between, I'm trying to be ready for anything.
I'm not even sure I WANT Dong Man to have a massively successful outcome with his film. This series has shown me that all sorts of outcomes can be interpreted in all sorts of other ways. A cliched, rosy outcome with DM receiving a Baeksang Award for his film almost feels beneath this show's standards.
Perhaps DM's flick becomes divisive among critics and the public, and, as you suggested, achieves a sort of cult status. Either outcome would set him up for endless possibilities going forward.

We're likely going to see DM losing his shit while trying to direct his film, and having to say "Help Me." over and over....?

I doubt we're going to get a crushing defeat that destroys DM's spirit and THE END. That would be bizarre, even for this series.

Coming from you, that's a compliment.

Anyone who uses the cliché "You, sir..." is a moron attempting to sound like an intellectual.

Why then, were we shown them having hot, mutually enjoyable sex early on, but then, suddenly, it's completely unimportant to them? Makes no sense.
These guys are in their mid-30s, not their mid-70s.
I stress the word "guys" here, because healthy males are horny well into their 40s.
I wouldn't mind any of this if the script were showing us WHY things are this way between them, and how sex got dropped as an option, at least for now. Instead, it's as if the screenwriter/director just forgot that part or got cold feet and backed off on it.