A few things to take care of before I post the usual links...one of you posted a comment about the "bed scene" in Episode 13. Although I did not react as violently to the scene as the dramabeans.com recapper did, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the way the writer chose to deepen the relationship between Ju-won and Ra-Im. Living in the states (I can't speak for other countries/cultures) where there is more media disclosure of sexual aggression/violence, I viewed the scene with unease. Despite knowing that the drama was a romantic/comedy genre and that nothing traumatic was going to happen, I couldn't help but cringe when Ju-won physically restrained Ra-Im to the bed. I've had experiences with former students who struggled through their classes, not to mention their personal lives, because of forced physical intimacy. I had to wonder to myself how the scene would have been perceived if Ra-Im actually didn't like Ju-won or wasn't accepting of his method. The result would have been quite the opposite with a lasting (and damaging) impression and message that women can be overpowered through physical strength. My suspicion is that the mainstream Korean culture is not as wary of sexual aggression/violence in the subtle forms...as long as no actual violence or rape takes place, brief scenes like the bed scene are "all right." After all, no one really objected to the gym scene when Ju-won overpowered Ra-Im (they were interrupted by Ae-Young), right? However, the gym and the bed provide a different context that triggers different reactions and connotations. I, for one, thought the scene/relationship development could have been handled better using a different method.
Also, I happened to catch a humorous post between the two dramabeans.com recappers (girlfriday and javabeans) that I thought you'd be interested to read:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2010/12/jb-and-gf-face-off-battle-of-delusional-hopes/
According to the post, Dream High (young actors) and My Princess (Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Heun, my sister's favorite actor!) are two dramas that are generating a bit of buzz as Secret Garden nears its end. Personally, I'm not sure which one to watch. Mary Stayed Out All Night had its moments, but I had to force myself to finish. Secret Garden fared better in my mind, but it definitely is not of the same caliber as SKKS. Agreed? And even though my "excuse" for watching Korean dramas is to improve upon my Korean (both language and culture), I'm afraid I'm nearing my saturation limit...so sad, really. I do so love my Korean dramas. :( So...anyone have suggestions on what might be a good drama to watch next as Secret Garden winds down to the finale? Perhaps my increasing discontent stems from the fact that I recently rewatched some scenes from Goong and My Name Is Kim Sam Soon (aka My Lovely Sam Soon).
Anyhow, no recap from me personally since I've got a translation deadline to meet this upcoming week. However, I will post a list of "Major Points" just as soon as I watch the episode (in about an hour?) Also, I do thank you for enjoying the recaps that I've done in the past. Perhaps I'll start recapping again if there are no other recaps online for whatever drama I'm watching with you. :) I'm also hoping to post "Subway," my short story on Twinkie's World by the end of this upcoming week, so please stop by and let me know what you think!
On that note, I wish you all a fabulous start to 2011!
Link to the video:
http://joonmedia.net/videos/play/30446/5
Addendum at 3pm:
OK, scratch what I said about no recap...I suckered myself into doing a mini-recap while I watched the episode. LOL...I'm so incorrigible. :P
Recap:
Ju-won and Ra-Im both confess to Oska and the action school director that their souls have been switched. They both keep trying to convince the two people by reciting personal conversations they’ve had with each other. Oska and the director are finally convinced. The director gets confirmation that it was Ju-won who told him to never confess love for Ra-Im (so cute how the director covers up some of the words so that Ra-Im doesn’t know…LOL). Oska asked who saw him naked at the golf club sauna. (LOL!) Ra-Im (in Ju-won’s body) runs out of the room out of mortification. The director restrains Oska from trying to beat up Ju-won (in Ra-Im’s body), saying that they’ll postpone the beating until Ju-won is in his proper body again.
Outside Ju-won's house, both Oska and the action school director finally concede that the souls have been switched. Otherwise, the alternative is that both Ra-Im and Ju-won have gone crazy. Oska then asks if the director cried because his eyes look watery. The director looks taken aback and says that his eyes typically look like they're glistening…he then walks away from Oska while Oska follows him with suggestions of why the director's eyes might be tearing up. (LOL)
At a cafe, Ae-Young and the secretary have a conversation that furthers their relationship.
Drinking tea together, Ju-won’s and Oska’s moms have a conversation about Ju-won and Ra-Im and start to fight with each other when Ju-won’s mom suspects Oska’s mom’s motives for her advice.
Shortly after her conversation with her half-sister, Oska’s mom visits Oska’s office and tries to get him to quit the music industry. After Oska’s mom leaves, Oska reflects on what she said (that Oska’s getting old). He decides that he’s going to apologize to all the people he’s hurt because he wants to become a mature man and return to Seul.
Meanwhile, the young singer (Han Tae-sung) tells Seul that he can’t do business with her because of his part in the Oska scandal. Seul asks him to help her then before he leaves—help her contact all the singers the fraud song writer sold bad songs to. When asked why she’s helping Oska when she has a bad relationship with Oska, Seul replies that it’s because “it’s enough that I be the only one to torment Oska.”
Seated alone at a café, Ra-Im reflects on a conversation she shared with the director up on the mountain. He had confessed to her that he hesitates to answer late night phone calls these days because he doesn’t want to say goodbye to his coworkers, fearing that the calls are injury/death calls. He doesn’t want her to go through that pain as a director in the future, which is what she would ultimately become if she continued to work in stunts. As such, he hopes that she’ll get the audition for Dark Blood and become an actress, not a stuntwoman. Ju-won joins her at the café and while talking with her, Ra-Im gets a text message with the good news that she’s made the audition cut for Dark Blood. She wants Ju-won to train with her even more in preparation for that audition, telling him that it’s always been her dream to at least attend such an audition. During their conversation, Ra-Im gets a phone call from the director, who asks if he’s really speaking with Ra-Im. When Ra-Im (in Ju-won’s body) confirms that she is Ra-Im, the director (with disgust) says “Let’s communicate through texting.” Then in the text, the director tells Ra-Im to meet him at the action school to discuss what she plans to do about the audition. (LOL) Ra-Im leaves and Ju-won (in Ra-Im’s body) follows.
At the action school office, the director still has a difficult time accepting the situation, so he tells Ra-Im that he’ll look at the body of Ra-Im but converse with Ju-won’s body. (LOL) When Ju-won (in Ra-Im’s body) asks the director why he’s looking at “him,” the director retorts that it’s because he doesn’t want to see Ju-won’s face (LOL).
Ju-won tells Ra-Im that he’s going to work hard to help Ra-Im get the part but on one condition: he gets to move into his house and live with Ra-Im while their bodies are still switched. Once Ju-won brings Ra-Im's luggage to his house, Ju-won blackmails Ra-Im into living with him at his house or else he won’t go to the audition. He also says that they’ll stick with each other 24/7 since he’ll have all the meetings from his house now. (The man definitely has a bad case of the love bug. LOL)
Later that night in bed together, Ra-Im asks Ju-won about the medicine she found in his bathroom. While at the café, Ju-won had let slip his fear of elevators. He tells her now that the medicine is to treat his phobia, which is so extreme that he could end up with a full-flown panic attack that to escalate to a heart attack. The scene ends with Ju-won looking closely at his face and commenting that he really is good looking. “How can people talk with me when I’m this good looking?” (LOL)
In the morning, Ju-won and Ra-Im practice with swords outside his house in the beautiful, pristine snow. Later that day, Ra-Im (in Ju-won’s body) holds a meeting at home and looks to Ju-won (in Ra-Im’s body) for clarification on what to do.
Meanwhile, Seul and Han Tae-sung meet with a sunglassed singer to clear Oska’s name. Unfortunately, the unknown singer leaves, saying it’s none of his business; he doesn't want to get mixed up in this.
Meanwhile, Oska surfs the web and is tormented by new reports of his scandal.
Ju-won and Ra-Im continue their practice outside their house and Ra-Im smiles approvingly as Ju-won becomes more and more adept at sword fighting. Ra-Im squeals and exclaims how quickly Ju-won picks things up. They exchange compliments/barbs with each other. Ju-won then asks if she really didn’t scream while lost at Jeju Island. They discuss how odd the situation and the house up there was. Ra-Im then asks if Ju-won really gave Oska the wine that the woman gave them. Ju-won at first says that he gave it to Oska, but when Ra-Im says that she drank that wine and that if the wine was responsible for the switch, she should have changed souls with Oska. Ju-won then confesses that he drank it that night as well. They both then travel to Jeju to try to unravel the weird situation only to find that another woman greets them, one who claims she has been the owner for as long as she can remember. There was never a woman other than her there. Even the interior decoration is different.
They return to mainland Korea, bickering at the airport, saying that Ra-Im shouldn’t have taken the wine or drunk from it. When they return to Ju-won’s house, they find Ju-won’s mom waiting for them. The mom says that they can live together, but not at her house. In effect, she kicks them out of Ju-won's house, which she owns.
While Oska continues to call and directly apologize to the people he’s hurt in the past, Ra-Im and Ju-won invade Oska’s house and insist on moving in. Before Oska can effectively kick them out of his house, he receives a call from a producer, who says that he has information to give Oska. He was moved to help Oska because he’s never received a direct apology call from a celebrity in the past and was moved by Oska’s sincerity and humility. The director/producer says that Chae Ri (the character from the Korean drama On Air makes an appearance in this drama!) received a similar song from the fraudulent songwriter. When Oska arrives at the café to meet with the actress/singer, he finds Seul and Tae-sung already there trying to convince Chae Lin. Oska and Chae Ri exchange barbs: Chae Lin doesn’t like people with “O”—Oska and Oh Seung Ah—while Oska doesn’t like people with Chae—her and his previous actress girlfriend. LOL. Seul inadvertently finds out from Chae Lin that Oska drank his sorrows away with her, telling her that he had proposed to the love of his life but had been rejected. At this, Seul gains a glimpse of how much her rejection hurt Oska as well. They then find out that Chae Lin had also received the song and would have been blamed had Oska’s scandal not exploded. She would have faced the same scandal if Oska hadn't made his mistake first. Chae Lin then asks Tae-sung if he likes anyone. When Oska tries to tell her that he’s gay, Tae-sung interrupts him and says that he actually likes someone, to which Oska is shocked by the news. (LOL…my suspicion is that the singer likes Oska. LOL). Asking Tae-sung for a private moment with Seul (Tae-sung leaves in a huff), Oska tells her that he has remembered everything and wants to truly apologize to her. “I’m so sorry that even the words, ‘I’m sorry,’ are a cause for regret.” Seul, in tears, says that she thought she was a cruel person, but she doesn’t want to see Oska like this.
When Seul returns to her office, she finds Tae-sung waiting for her, irritated that she was using him to get back at Oska. Through the conversation, Seul realizes that Tae-sung likes Oska (LOL…knew it!). Tae-sung leaves, making it clear that he’s interested in Oska.
Ra-Im (in Ju-won’s body) visits the action school and asks how the director is taking things. The polite way Ra-Im speaks while in Ju-won’s body ends up making next year’s action school director nervous. (LOL)
Meanwhile, the director and staff of Dark Blood arrive at the airport to great fanfare from Koreans, and Ra-Im and Ju-won wait outside a building for the audition. Unfortunately, Ju-won gets a text from his secretary to notify him of the grandfather’s arrival at the department store. Ra-Im (in Ju-won’s body) tells Ju-won that she can handle the grandfather on her own for an hour until Ju-won’s done with the audition.
Back at the office, Park, the sneak, tries to worm his way into the grandfather’s good graces. Luckily, the new wife (Park’s sister) rebukes Park for even dreaming of something above his position. Park’s current position is even too much for him. Unless Park wants to see his sister divorce the grandfather, the sister tells him to be quiet. (LOL). When everyone leaves and the secretary is alone with Ra-Im (in Ju-won's body), the secretary does a mean impression of Park and fills Ra-Im on what happened since Ra-Im arrived before his grandparents waved goodbye to him. Staying just long enough to hear that all is well at the office, Ra-Im quickly leaves to rejoin Ju-won who refuses to go into the audition without her.
Waiting in front of the elevator, Ra-Im freaks out Park by telling him that Ju-won had refrained from riding the elevator in the past to conserve energy. (LOL) Park then runs to the security office to observe Ju-won. When the elevator stops, Ra-Im knows that Park stopped the elevator and is watching him from the security office. When Ra-Im says as much to the security camera, Park panics and runs aways (LOL), leaving Ra-Im alone in the elevator without anyone in the security office to help him.
Meanwhile, it rains outside and their souls switch. As Ra-Im rejoices because she’ll be able to audition as herself, Ju-won is stuck inside the elevator while under the filming eyes of the security camera. Ra-Im exclaims that rain was, indeed, the answer while inside the elevator, Ju-won suffers a major panic attack. As Ra-Im starts to dial Ju-won’s number to tell him the good news, she finally remembers that he’s stuck inside the elevator. With his last breath, Ju-won answers Ra-Im’s phone call and manages to tell her: “I…told…you…that…I…cannot…ride…elevators.” The episode ends with Ra-Im screaming into the phone for Ju-won to answer her while Ju-won slumps into oblivion.
what was the song that played at the end of the episode called?
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