Solo Dodo

Someone may have photographed the contract from when it was laying out, before it was stored in the safe.

Yoo Ji Won is just some previously-unpublished writer whose script just happened to win the MBC 2022 writing competition grand prize (out of 997 submissions), and which also secured Disney's interest to collaborate on its production. Maybe she made a deal with My Demon? Or perhaps she actually wrote a decent script, earning accolades and approval from industry professionals!

Do you remember who was visiting him at his home? Kim Jae Gyeong! The FL's brother & sister-in-law met her as they were leaving the house. Her presence there was never properly explained.

I think FL's father and KJG are plotting together against our main leads! He wants to put his daughter down so she doesn't eclipse his own legacy (or his son), while she wants her traditional arranged marriage to the grand prince back on track, to be not just a noble but a royal!

I think this too! I think they turned his private house spy into a double-agent. I think leaving the contract out for so long (before storing it in I An's safe with the king's will) was also a ploy.

Everything that is making us mad now, will make us feel delighted, later, when the truth is revealed.

Yeah, I saw that too. But just because he misinterpreted her motivation doesn't excuse his toxic neglect. Everyone is guilty at some point of withholding love. This man has made an olympic sport of it. And he won the gold medal in each & every competition.

Also, it has been said many times that there is less than 0.1% difference between a successful businessman and a sociopath. In an environment where only the most ruthless succeed, kind-hearted daddy doesn't become the chaebol of Castle group—except maybe in a Disney princess story so she can get her HEA (so prove me wrong).

Leaving the contract out (before putting it in the safe) seemed like such an obvious unforced error to so many of us that I want to consider the possibility that this was intentional. Like, what if our characters are smarter than they appear and they wanted the spy to photograph and leak the document. Could the contract actually be bait—a ploy to expose their enemies & solidify their position?

I still think he only sees her as his property, but not as a cherished daughter. I hope he proves me wrong!

It's been said that if KO ever gets released at all, it won't be before KSH's trials, lawsuits & counter-suits have all been exhausted.

So I propose that Disney should make a knock-off of Knock Off. They should produce an entirely new drama with an entirely similar premise and cast. I've even come up with a title for this imitation: Ersatz. Without the toxic casting, Ersatz will be even better than the original. This is a story which needs to be told! Who is with me? Where shall we launch the petition?

"Hold still!"

How did she ever graduate at the top of her class at that posh royal school when she obviously failed "Nobility 101: History & Customs of the Crown"? That is not an elective course!

I just read an article which claimed that all the ads sold out at top rates and the production had already made its money back before the first episode even aired.

Shocking realization that Jin Mu happens to be the best father in this drama!

Am I the only one who is still wondering whatever happened to the astrolabe the FL abandoned atop the staircase bannister at the royal school? That was a priceless historical artifact. It'd be a shame if it ended up in a landfill or as part of some student's bong!

Jin Mu would be so embarrassed if he were to fail an assassination attempt. All the other K-Drama villain back at their secret hangout would mock him whenever he showed up. Even the White Truck of Doom would avoid him. I suspect he'd never show his goateed face in another drama ever again. He'd have to go in disguise—clean-shaven or with a full beard!

Kim Jae Gyeong's motive is that she wants to marry the grand prince. She was the queen dowager's pick for an arranged marriage to him. The FL got in her way. Then KJG showed up outside of the FL's house (and was intercepted by FL's brother and sister-in-law). What was that all about?

Now I'm speculating that FL's daddy & KJG are in cahoots to murder the FL. He wants revenge for her being born out of wedlock and embarrassing him when his wife dropped dead, and to get her out of his son's way at Castle group.

Anyway, If an errant white truck can seek out and murder a queen, then why can't a scorned female can pursue revenge against those who impeded her strongest desire?

Did he ever process his emotions? Or did he bottle them up and resent his daughter for literally decades? At some point, it's no longer about his long-dead wife. And it's just about him being unable to move on, grow up and comport himself as a human adult like billions of others somehow manage to do.

But when has a Disney princess story ever NOT had a HEA?

Kim Jae Gyeong is an outside albeit unlikely possibility. She has motive, but probably neither the means nor the temperament!

Yes. The 2ML was totally right to abandon her as soon as he saw her speeding away. He probably had some phone calls to make, or some other pressing business. Bygones!

FWIW, they built an entire palace from scratch for this production. (The BTS time-lapse video is pretty amazing to see.)
https://x.com/dannarysx/status/2042486474718003301