Mary Stayed Out All Night Thoughts
Feb. 22nd, 2011 03:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaEpisodes 1 - 6
Some shows take effort to watch, there’s some drag like Koshonin, which isn’t to say those are bad shows because they’re not (IRIS dragged sometimes, BOF as well) but what’s nice about this series is that it’s just very light and fluffy and I find it very easy to watch. It does hit my embarrassment squick sometimes but overall I am having fun. It’s just – adorable, funny and kind of endearing in all it’s silly, clichéd glory. It makes me smile and keeps me entertained and really what more can I ask for in a silly Korean romcom drama? Ah, well on that there is one thing...
See, definitely the main reason for my enjoyment is the Mu Kyul, Mae Ri and Jung In relationships. I love the three of them and I love that it is an actual triangle of relationships with the Mu Kyul/Jung In one getting almost as much attention as the two het ships. What is really making this so fun for me is their relationship and the way the show shamelessly teases the viewers with subtext about them. The recapper at drama beans also notes the subtext and double entendres and just how easy it is to read this story as being just as much about them. In fact she has this alternate storyline playing out in her mind where it’s about the love story of Mu Kyul and Jung In. Meanwhile, in my mind there’s this alternate story, that’s barely even ‘alternate’, playing out where it’s all about Mu Kyul, Mae Ri and Jung In getting together. I have more canon support for that at this point in the story than I ever would have imagined getting and I love it.
Like, the end of episode 3 just might be my favourite surprise meeting between a love triangle ever. It was hilarious. Mu Kyul got drunk so Jung In took him home with him, Mu Kyul woke up naked in his bed and there was all this easily misunderstood dialogue and Mae Ri coming in to find her two husbands together and I love it. Then the following episodes ramped up the rivalry and jealousy between the two guys but it also gave them a relationship outside of Mae Ri. And pretty much all the talks they had about their relationships with Mae Ri could be taken in a very ménage a trios way. It’s a really solid and almost-canon-supported threesome and I’m feeling pretty gleeful about it. Oh, man, how I wish they could be canon.
- Episode 6 was an excellent episode for them.
Mae Ri/Mu Kyol continued to be adorable, and he was seriously jealous and announced their marriage, and she was having feelings and being protective.
Mae Ri/Jung In made some strides with her showing more admiration and like for him, and him showing more interest in her (plus the tie moment was great especially when the last time she did it was as a diversion and here she does it without thinking.)
Jung In/Mu Kyul made huge strides with Jung In saving Mu Kyul from a bad contract, Mu Kyul seeing a new side of Jung In when he caught him actually playing his instruments like someone who knows how, and we just got a bunch of really excellent scenes between them (which could be read very slashy but I read them as very threesomey.) Examples: the guys mentioning how they’re now curious about each other, and Jung In telling Mae Ri that “even a man would find Mu Kyul rather attractive right now” (and her agreement).
Then there's the following exchanges that can be read as if the three of them are starting a rather emotional/uncertain/unstable threesome:
“Let’s just keep the relationship between us a secret here at the office. It would be uncomfortable for Mae Ri if it were to come up.”
“Agreed, it’d also be uncomfortable for us as well.”
The recap states that Jung In says “keep our three-way relationship a secret at the workplace.” which says basically the same thing but changes the meaning just a bit. Either way I loved it. Then there was this bit of jealousy:
“Didn’t we agree to keep out relationship a secret at the company?”
“Is that why you were so intimately close to each other during my whole performance?”
Seriously, the whole thing reads as three people entering a three-way relationship but who aren’t very certain about it at all. Mu Kyul and Jung In are clearly attracted to each other/in lust, are curious about the other and are starting to respect each other but at the same time they’re very alpha male with each other and are each jealous over the other’s relationship with Mae Ri. Mae Ri is just very confused and wants peace. Really so many problems could be worked on and worked out if the three of them lived together. If they lived together I think it would definitely help Mu Kyul with his jealousy and possessiveness issues.
Why couldn’t this show have been produced in a world where three people getting together could actually happen on TV? I want that show so bad. If I could write I would be re-writing this series into Mu Kyul/Mae Ri/Jung In already.
• I love the Mae Ri/Mu Kyul relationship which is so freaking adorable and afghghkjhjkl. I love their in-jokes – Mary Christmas/Happy New Year and woof/meow – and the mittens, and him carrying her on his back, and seriously the way he smiles at her or when he thinks of her gets me every time. Oh, and the way he is so helpless in the face of her ‘shrek cat eyes’ I love that. And I love how they are so married and domestic without meaning to.
• Mae Ri is fabulous. She wants to go back to college and wants to work and tries so hard! I loved her exchange with Seo Joon after the bathroom misunderstanding and the way she cleared her own name without naming the gossip culprit, didn’t back down for a second or give an inch, in front of everybody, and thus won Seo Joon’s grudging respect. That was awesome. I love how good-tempered she is, how easy she finds happiness and contentment, and that she’s so determined. I do wince at her over-acting when pretending she’s in love with Mu Kyul in front of others.
• I love Mu Kyul. I really love drunk Mu Kyul who is sweet and loveable, and gives cabbage bouquets (!) and smiles and kisses to the forehead (!!). I love how affectionate he is. He also has such a gorgeous smile. Seriously, every time he smiles I can’t stop myself from smiling as well.
• Jung In grew on me more and more over the first six episodes. I really like how he’s opening up more and more as the episodes go on. He was so – robot-like – in the beginning and now he’s becoming a real boy! I can’t wait. I really liked that last scene between the three main in episode 6 and I liked Jung In closing his eyes after Mu Kyul announced Mae Ri was his wife. I’m not in love yet but I like Jung In/Mae Ri as well.
• I also really like Seo Joon and I like that her relationship with Mae Ri is actually pretty friendly. For a little while there it seemed as if they might even become friends. But with the marriage revelation at the end of episode 6 that’s a hope that’s probably going to go up in flames, for at least a little while. I really like how confident she is, and that she is a nice person if a bit bitchy and spoiled. She knows what she wants and she isn’t needlessly cruel or mean to people, just impulsive and with a bit of a temper. I like that she and Jung In have created this relationship of mutual respect and even friendship.
• I’m intrigued about what happened all those years ago when Mae Ri’s mother died, she got the scar on her head, and Jung In got the scar on his hand and memory loss. They all have to be connected.
• Jung In’s father’s obsession with his son marrying the look-alike daughter of his first love is creepy and this little nugget of wisdom: “marriage is the most important aspect of a girl’s life” caused an eye roll so big that my eyes were actually sore afterwards.
• Mae Ri’s father is pretty horrible. The way he cloaks everything as him being the victim and just wanting the best for her makes me want to punch him in the face. He’s a horrible father and Mae Ri accepts so much crap from him. I mean she freaked a bit when he legally married her to a stranger but nowhere near what I wanted. She always lets him get away with his crap – sometimes she freaks out and yells but then she always lets him turn it around on her and it often ends with her apologising and it’s very frustrating.
Some shows take effort to watch, there’s some drag like Koshonin, which isn’t to say those are bad shows because they’re not (IRIS dragged sometimes, BOF as well) but what’s nice about this series is that it’s just very light and fluffy and I find it very easy to watch. It does hit my embarrassment squick sometimes but overall I am having fun. It’s just – adorable, funny and kind of endearing in all it’s silly, clichéd glory. It makes me smile and keeps me entertained and really what more can I ask for in a silly Korean romcom drama? Ah, well on that there is one thing...
See, definitely the main reason for my enjoyment is the Mu Kyul, Mae Ri and Jung In relationships. I love the three of them and I love that it is an actual triangle of relationships with the Mu Kyul/Jung In one getting almost as much attention as the two het ships. What is really making this so fun for me is their relationship and the way the show shamelessly teases the viewers with subtext about them. The recapper at drama beans also notes the subtext and double entendres and just how easy it is to read this story as being just as much about them. In fact she has this alternate storyline playing out in her mind where it’s about the love story of Mu Kyul and Jung In. Meanwhile, in my mind there’s this alternate story, that’s barely even ‘alternate’, playing out where it’s all about Mu Kyul, Mae Ri and Jung In getting together. I have more canon support for that at this point in the story than I ever would have imagined getting and I love it.
Like, the end of episode 3 just might be my favourite surprise meeting between a love triangle ever. It was hilarious. Mu Kyul got drunk so Jung In took him home with him, Mu Kyul woke up naked in his bed and there was all this easily misunderstood dialogue and Mae Ri coming in to find her two husbands together and I love it. Then the following episodes ramped up the rivalry and jealousy between the two guys but it also gave them a relationship outside of Mae Ri. And pretty much all the talks they had about their relationships with Mae Ri could be taken in a very ménage a trios way. It’s a really solid and almost-canon-supported threesome and I’m feeling pretty gleeful about it. Oh, man, how I wish they could be canon.
- Episode 6 was an excellent episode for them.
Mae Ri/Mu Kyol continued to be adorable, and he was seriously jealous and announced their marriage, and she was having feelings and being protective.
Mae Ri/Jung In made some strides with her showing more admiration and like for him, and him showing more interest in her (plus the tie moment was great especially when the last time she did it was as a diversion and here she does it without thinking.)
Jung In/Mu Kyul made huge strides with Jung In saving Mu Kyul from a bad contract, Mu Kyul seeing a new side of Jung In when he caught him actually playing his instruments like someone who knows how, and we just got a bunch of really excellent scenes between them (which could be read very slashy but I read them as very threesomey.) Examples: the guys mentioning how they’re now curious about each other, and Jung In telling Mae Ri that “even a man would find Mu Kyul rather attractive right now” (and her agreement).
Then there's the following exchanges that can be read as if the three of them are starting a rather emotional/uncertain/unstable threesome:
“Let’s just keep the relationship between us a secret here at the office. It would be uncomfortable for Mae Ri if it were to come up.”
“Agreed, it’d also be uncomfortable for us as well.”
The recap states that Jung In says “keep our three-way relationship a secret at the workplace.” which says basically the same thing but changes the meaning just a bit. Either way I loved it. Then there was this bit of jealousy:
“Didn’t we agree to keep out relationship a secret at the company?”
“Is that why you were so intimately close to each other during my whole performance?”
Seriously, the whole thing reads as three people entering a three-way relationship but who aren’t very certain about it at all. Mu Kyul and Jung In are clearly attracted to each other/in lust, are curious about the other and are starting to respect each other but at the same time they’re very alpha male with each other and are each jealous over the other’s relationship with Mae Ri. Mae Ri is just very confused and wants peace. Really so many problems could be worked on and worked out if the three of them lived together. If they lived together I think it would definitely help Mu Kyul with his jealousy and possessiveness issues.
Why couldn’t this show have been produced in a world where three people getting together could actually happen on TV? I want that show so bad. If I could write I would be re-writing this series into Mu Kyul/Mae Ri/Jung In already.
• I love the Mae Ri/Mu Kyul relationship which is so freaking adorable and afghghkjhjkl. I love their in-jokes – Mary Christmas/Happy New Year and woof/meow – and the mittens, and him carrying her on his back, and seriously the way he smiles at her or when he thinks of her gets me every time. Oh, and the way he is so helpless in the face of her ‘shrek cat eyes’ I love that. And I love how they are so married and domestic without meaning to.
• Mae Ri is fabulous. She wants to go back to college and wants to work and tries so hard! I loved her exchange with Seo Joon after the bathroom misunderstanding and the way she cleared her own name without naming the gossip culprit, didn’t back down for a second or give an inch, in front of everybody, and thus won Seo Joon’s grudging respect. That was awesome. I love how good-tempered she is, how easy she finds happiness and contentment, and that she’s so determined. I do wince at her over-acting when pretending she’s in love with Mu Kyul in front of others.
• I love Mu Kyul. I really love drunk Mu Kyul who is sweet and loveable, and gives cabbage bouquets (!) and smiles and kisses to the forehead (!!). I love how affectionate he is. He also has such a gorgeous smile. Seriously, every time he smiles I can’t stop myself from smiling as well.
• Jung In grew on me more and more over the first six episodes. I really like how he’s opening up more and more as the episodes go on. He was so – robot-like – in the beginning and now he’s becoming a real boy! I can’t wait. I really liked that last scene between the three main in episode 6 and I liked Jung In closing his eyes after Mu Kyul announced Mae Ri was his wife. I’m not in love yet but I like Jung In/Mae Ri as well.
• I also really like Seo Joon and I like that her relationship with Mae Ri is actually pretty friendly. For a little while there it seemed as if they might even become friends. But with the marriage revelation at the end of episode 6 that’s a hope that’s probably going to go up in flames, for at least a little while. I really like how confident she is, and that she is a nice person if a bit bitchy and spoiled. She knows what she wants and she isn’t needlessly cruel or mean to people, just impulsive and with a bit of a temper. I like that she and Jung In have created this relationship of mutual respect and even friendship.
• I’m intrigued about what happened all those years ago when Mae Ri’s mother died, she got the scar on her head, and Jung In got the scar on his hand and memory loss. They all have to be connected.
• Jung In’s father’s obsession with his son marrying the look-alike daughter of his first love is creepy and this little nugget of wisdom: “marriage is the most important aspect of a girl’s life” caused an eye roll so big that my eyes were actually sore afterwards.
• Mae Ri’s father is pretty horrible. The way he cloaks everything as him being the victim and just wanting the best for her makes me want to punch him in the face. He’s a horrible father and Mae Ri accepts so much crap from him. I mean she freaked a bit when he legally married her to a stranger but nowhere near what I wanted. She always lets him get away with his crap – sometimes she freaks out and yells but then she always lets him turn it around on her and it often ends with her apologising and it’s very frustrating.
