Dal Ja's Spring Episode 21 Review
Jan. 22nd, 2011 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaMy biggest issue with watching Asian dramas is, by far, names. This is in large part why I’m hesitant to watch several Asian dramas concurrently instead of my current method of marathoning one series even though I think it might be better. There are actually two parts that work together to make things difficult for me.
1) Dramas just don’t give names sometimes. Often with background tertiary characters but also with secondary characters as well – you don’t get a name for them either for a couple episodes or at all. It’s very frustrating especially since there isn’t the same amount of English language resources for Asian dramas so I can’t even look it up. Dal Ja’s Spring was horrible about this. I just realised that in my previous posts I took to calling Ki Joong’s crazy ex-wife ‘Mrs. Eom’ because she hasn’t been given a name! This is of course wrong, wrong, wrong because South Korean women don’t take their husband’s name when they get married. Sigh.
2) Then there is spelling which is such a pain in the ass. There always seems to be a couple different spellings for names and it’s so hard to know which to use. In DJS I don’t know if it’s Gi Joong or Ki Joong and I think I’ve done it both ways.
People That Are Hopeless With Love
• The fact that Dal Ja and Tae Bong have only known each other for three months surprised me! Now that I think of it the timing makes sense but I just would have thought it would have been longer.
• We got a lot of name clarification this episode which while being a bit late was still nice to get. Dal Ja’s grandmother is Lee Kkeut Soon and Tae Bong’s grandfather is Sohn Man Deuk. I also actually finally figured out Dal Ja’s female co-workers which is something I gave up on in a huff a couple episodes back. The pretty one who is seen the most often and interacts with the main cast most is Hyun Suk. The one with big hair is Young Gi. The other background one is... I’m not sure.
• I love that when Dal Ja saw Soon Ae she immediately grabbed her into a tight hug and couldn’t stop herself from finally crying though she tried to hide it. And I loved how Soon Ae just hugged her back and patted her back.
• Hmm. I really would have expected Dal Ja being offered the overseas job to have played differently considering that Ms. Kang knows that she’s involved with Tae Bong as well as how Dal Ja is feeling right now. I would have expected instead: Ms. Kang asking for forms sake but of course not expecting a yes, Dal Ja pausing for a second and then saying yes, Ms. Kang being completely gobsmacked and saying something like ‘um, are you sure? This isn’t mandatory’ and Dal Ja saying she’s sure and leaving, and then Ms. Kang immediately calling up either Yeom Shin or Jung Ae to ask what the hell is going on.
• Ki Joong overhearing Dal Ja confess her breakup to Soon Ae made me go ‘of course he would’ because at this point Ki Joong is always there in the background. It’s managed to zoom right past contrived and straight into amusing.
• “I can only first comfort you then wait for an opportunity. How is it? My reasoning isn’t bad, right?” – Ki Joong No, that’s pretty much the modus operandi of secondary male characters in these shows (and they never get the girl). But Ki Joong continues to separate himself from the pack. I loved how insightful he was about why Dal Ja broke up with Tae Bong and the way he laid it out for her. I loved that he set it up so that Dal Ja and Tae Bong would be in the same place (or so I assumed from him looking at his watch) and then contrived to distract Tae Bong’s boss so they could talk and then bumping into Soo Jin to keep her from interrupting them. It appears that he isn’t really pining for Dal Ja anymore, or at least not in a sad way, and him thanking his ex-wife for the flowers seemed to indicate that they might get back together. I hope so because he deserves a happy ending too.
• I wasn’t pleased with what they did with Soo Jin. This show has been so good at taking the normal tropes and twisting it into something new. Soo Jin, at least as far as this episode, remains as shallow a character as she first seemed. I had some hope when Tae Bong confronted her in his office about the shallowness of her life and that she was unhappy, and then again when she came face to face with Dal Ja at the bar and seemed awkward and unsure. I thought ‘they’re going to give her depth’... and instead we have her not understanding Tae Bong’s objections to the merger and then calling after him helplessly. Bleh. I hated that scene.
• “I believe in her. More than anybody in the world I trust Dal Ja the most.” Awww. I love Dal Ja's relationship with her grandmother.
• “Honestly speaking, I’m not done being mad at you yet. But seeing you again, I’m still very happy.” – Tae Bong Aw.
• I loved Yeom Shin and Jung Ae conspiring to bring their kids together. Their laughing hand-slap when they finished their phone calls tricking their kids made me smile. I loved how Yeom Shin took Dal Ja’s side from the very beginning (even over Tae Bong!) and how it devolved into the mothers complimenting the other's child. I knew Tae Bong spending more time at home (as well as returning to the law firm) would endear Dal Ja to Yeom Shin.
• Sae Do/Seon Joo amused me and I loved how their story played out (he moved in next door because he wants to be a part of their life. Aw!) but I found myself distracted by wishing for them to be more involved in what was happening with Dal Ja. We got to see them being concerned about her at the beginning but then none of them were interacting again and I was not happy about it. So when they turned up at her house along with Soon Ae it made me so happy. I wish we could have spent more time with them. Also while I love them showing up to support her and cheer her up I wish we could have seen them talk to her about the Tae Bong situation.
• Dal Ja’s co-workers throwing her a party, and singing to her (even Ms. Kang!) was really lovely. And then the ones who worked in the same office with her stopping by the next day to say one last goodbye before she left made me go awww. I love how much they seem to adore her.
• I loved that when Dal Ja started to get so teary in her farewell speech Seon Joo went up and finished it for her and then hugged Dal Ja. Aww.
• I loved Tae Bong telling Dal Ja he loves her and asking her not to go. And I loved him just grabbing her and kissing her.
1) Dramas just don’t give names sometimes. Often with background tertiary characters but also with secondary characters as well – you don’t get a name for them either for a couple episodes or at all. It’s very frustrating especially since there isn’t the same amount of English language resources for Asian dramas so I can’t even look it up. Dal Ja’s Spring was horrible about this. I just realised that in my previous posts I took to calling Ki Joong’s crazy ex-wife ‘Mrs. Eom’ because she hasn’t been given a name! This is of course wrong, wrong, wrong because South Korean women don’t take their husband’s name when they get married. Sigh.
2) Then there is spelling which is such a pain in the ass. There always seems to be a couple different spellings for names and it’s so hard to know which to use. In DJS I don’t know if it’s Gi Joong or Ki Joong and I think I’ve done it both ways.
People That Are Hopeless With Love
• The fact that Dal Ja and Tae Bong have only known each other for three months surprised me! Now that I think of it the timing makes sense but I just would have thought it would have been longer.
• We got a lot of name clarification this episode which while being a bit late was still nice to get. Dal Ja’s grandmother is Lee Kkeut Soon and Tae Bong’s grandfather is Sohn Man Deuk. I also actually finally figured out Dal Ja’s female co-workers which is something I gave up on in a huff a couple episodes back. The pretty one who is seen the most often and interacts with the main cast most is Hyun Suk. The one with big hair is Young Gi. The other background one is... I’m not sure.
• I love that when Dal Ja saw Soon Ae she immediately grabbed her into a tight hug and couldn’t stop herself from finally crying though she tried to hide it. And I loved how Soon Ae just hugged her back and patted her back.
• Hmm. I really would have expected Dal Ja being offered the overseas job to have played differently considering that Ms. Kang knows that she’s involved with Tae Bong as well as how Dal Ja is feeling right now. I would have expected instead: Ms. Kang asking for forms sake but of course not expecting a yes, Dal Ja pausing for a second and then saying yes, Ms. Kang being completely gobsmacked and saying something like ‘um, are you sure? This isn’t mandatory’ and Dal Ja saying she’s sure and leaving, and then Ms. Kang immediately calling up either Yeom Shin or Jung Ae to ask what the hell is going on.
• Ki Joong overhearing Dal Ja confess her breakup to Soon Ae made me go ‘of course he would’ because at this point Ki Joong is always there in the background. It’s managed to zoom right past contrived and straight into amusing.
• “I can only first comfort you then wait for an opportunity. How is it? My reasoning isn’t bad, right?” – Ki Joong No, that’s pretty much the modus operandi of secondary male characters in these shows (and they never get the girl). But Ki Joong continues to separate himself from the pack. I loved how insightful he was about why Dal Ja broke up with Tae Bong and the way he laid it out for her. I loved that he set it up so that Dal Ja and Tae Bong would be in the same place (or so I assumed from him looking at his watch) and then contrived to distract Tae Bong’s boss so they could talk and then bumping into Soo Jin to keep her from interrupting them. It appears that he isn’t really pining for Dal Ja anymore, or at least not in a sad way, and him thanking his ex-wife for the flowers seemed to indicate that they might get back together. I hope so because he deserves a happy ending too.
• I wasn’t pleased with what they did with Soo Jin. This show has been so good at taking the normal tropes and twisting it into something new. Soo Jin, at least as far as this episode, remains as shallow a character as she first seemed. I had some hope when Tae Bong confronted her in his office about the shallowness of her life and that she was unhappy, and then again when she came face to face with Dal Ja at the bar and seemed awkward and unsure. I thought ‘they’re going to give her depth’... and instead we have her not understanding Tae Bong’s objections to the merger and then calling after him helplessly. Bleh. I hated that scene.
• “I believe in her. More than anybody in the world I trust Dal Ja the most.” Awww. I love Dal Ja's relationship with her grandmother.
• “Honestly speaking, I’m not done being mad at you yet. But seeing you again, I’m still very happy.” – Tae Bong Aw.
• I loved Yeom Shin and Jung Ae conspiring to bring their kids together. Their laughing hand-slap when they finished their phone calls tricking their kids made me smile. I loved how Yeom Shin took Dal Ja’s side from the very beginning (even over Tae Bong!) and how it devolved into the mothers complimenting the other's child. I knew Tae Bong spending more time at home (as well as returning to the law firm) would endear Dal Ja to Yeom Shin.
• Sae Do/Seon Joo amused me and I loved how their story played out (he moved in next door because he wants to be a part of their life. Aw!) but I found myself distracted by wishing for them to be more involved in what was happening with Dal Ja. We got to see them being concerned about her at the beginning but then none of them were interacting again and I was not happy about it. So when they turned up at her house along with Soon Ae it made me so happy. I wish we could have spent more time with them. Also while I love them showing up to support her and cheer her up I wish we could have seen them talk to her about the Tae Bong situation.
• Dal Ja’s co-workers throwing her a party, and singing to her (even Ms. Kang!) was really lovely. And then the ones who worked in the same office with her stopping by the next day to say one last goodbye before she left made me go awww. I love how much they seem to adore her.
• I loved that when Dal Ja started to get so teary in her farewell speech Seon Joo went up and finished it for her and then hugged Dal Ja. Aww.
• I loved Tae Bong telling Dal Ja he loves her and asking her not to go. And I loved him just grabbing her and kissing her.
