someonesoo

Lol, to be fair even calling Hee Joo's feelings love is pushing it a little. It's entertaining and I'm cheering for her and her feelings are genuine but its very early stages infatuation.

There's also the brief clip where he holds her hand. Hm.

From the setting of the opening scene it looks like there had been some kind of celebration going on. Surely they're not just some randoms they introduce just to be killed.

I wondered if the pause in the investigation was a cultural thing? In a couple of the dramas I've watched lately prosecutors seem to get into trouble for any harm that comes to the people they're investigating (by coming off too forceful). And I assumed it was a case of them not wanting to look like their investigation killed the chairman.
I do think its weird that they haven't considered that they could still get dragged into the investigation. Its not like the chairman's hands are clean

I did assume that In Ha was born during her marriage but you're right- more than actually resenting the chairman for being unfaithful she probably hates the optics of the infidelity.
I've assumed that In Ha is the youngest son- is that wrong, do you know?

I don't know if they've been explicit about it, but I do get the vibes that the oldest is her stepson. It's a little surprising though that she's so obvious about Hee Ju being a pawn through marriage and isn't even pretending that it's a good match for her daughter.

Her disdain for him is especially odd since the chairman doesn't seem to particularly care about In Ha either. So In Ha shouldn't be that much of a threat to her (pre- Tae Oh atleast). I think she just doesn't want her husband's love child around her own family especially because she thinks he's a bad influence on Hee Ju.

The way I'm watching it the politics and business stuff is just details. I agree, the relationships between people and the motivations behind their actions is much more interesting. It's interesting, for example, that of his legitimate children the chairman doesn't have a favourite/obvious successor. Is it because he sees them as largely useless? Or is he just a massive egomaniac?

I generally don't enjoy triangles even outside of the romance/rom-com genre but I must admit that the triangle/square/pentagon here has the potential to be interesting.

This genre is also interesting in how unpredictable it can get. There's no formulaic love plot where the first leads end happily ever after at the end, and often with power struggle stories the one left standing at the end can be completely unexpected. This is why I really hope the twist isn't just "Tae Oh is actually the illegitimate son".

I still don't quite understand why the chairman was pretending to be in a coma. Maybe he just enjoys the drama, lol. Possibly he wanted his wife to make her move before he snatched everything from under her. But now he's pretending to be a delicate older man in public so maybe he's trying for public sympathy too.

Exactly! And there doesn't seem to be any real loyalty between the main trio so we're waiting for that to get messy, lol.

This is what I've been able to piece together, roughly:
In Ha wants to take over his father's business empire as revenge for how the family treated him for being illegitimate. Tae Oh will help him (why? we dont know). Hye Won is there for her own purposes (again we don't know why).

Tae Oh has gotten into the chairman's trusted circle (without the chairman knowing his connection to In Ha somehow?). The goal is to get In Ha to become the favourite son (Tae Oh convinces the chairman to do this by telling him that he can use In Ha to do his dirty work).

They've realised that the second son and his mama are making a play to take over by taking control over whatever that institute is (again, no idea what it does, or why). Hye Won works for the politician that the second son was working with so she gets them intel on this. They (Tae Oh and the chairman) basically get the second son involved in some kind of bogus corruption investigation (this is basically what all the talks and meetings and hacking has lead to, really). And meanwhile In Ha has stepped into the role of son.

The aggressive older son hasn't made any really big moves except for trying to buy Tae Oh's loyalty. The mother is also trying to marry off the daughter in some kind of alliance that will help her son.

Good point! Hopefully then they start showing the cracks from 5/6 with the climax building up around 7/8. Wouldn't say no to another quick flash forward though.
I really should have waited to binge, lol. Although I guess speculating is half the fun.

Same, I'm kind of ready for us to get to when the opening scene happens. I'm curious where in the timeline it happens, who the people are, etc.

I will be disappointed if it happens in last two episodes before things get wrapped up quickly.

Nope. I only get the overall theme that they're all fighting to be top dog but couldn't tell you the individual moves they are making. Also it seems like they're all just tussling each other- is anyone actually working working? Will there even be a company left at the end of this? The confusing timeline and the fact that everyone talks in subtext and riddles doesn't help.

I actually think thats one the reasons why the sister is becoming a favourite with people, lol. She's the only one who says exactly what she's thinking and what she wants even if you think she's going about it wrong.

I think he also realises that she's not like the rest of the family and therefore not really a threat to them.
If you notice, in the hospital scene when the family leaves, she's the only one he bows to. He knows she's relatively powerless surrounded by snakes who don't care about her beyond what she can do for them, which is why he warns her to focus on herself.

I think he also realises that she's not like the rest of the family and therefore not really a threat to them.
If you notice, in the hospital scene when the family leaves, she's the only one he bows to. He knows she's relatively powerless surrounded by snakes who don't care about her beyond what she can do for them, which is why he warns her to focus on herself.

My logic is that if he was another illegitimate son, he wouldn't be an 'impossible' heir. He'd have as much right as In Ha does. There's also something underwhelming about Tae Oh having basically the same motivation as In Ha.

They could go with the same old trope but theres very little pay off in keeping Tae Oh such a mystery when almost everyone watching has already considered the illegitimacy angle.

I suspect he's not as indifferent to her as he would like to be. I'm a little curious of their interactions during the time skips because his latest rejection of her was different from the first one. It was a lot less icy this time. There was a weird intimacy with the shoe scene too.

Maybe he doesn't like her but I think he also recognises that she's a wild card and could ruin all that he's been working for so she needs to be kept far away.

Sorry for the light tone, but as I understood that's what the original post was implying- Tae Oh is going to be the Kang Oh heir by marrying Hee Ju.

I expect the brothers, including In Ha, will destroy each other in the messy power struggle.

There's only one daughter in that family, as they've said more than once.
Unless there's a twist regarding Hye Won's parentage, I guess.