MCTNA meta'y thoughts
So I rewatched episode one with @kiriel123 yesterday and then had to go on and watch episode two after seeing @ohyesmissjane had watched the first two and it sparked a bunch of thoughts and given @seamayweed was linking to meta posts today I thought I would actually post them instead of just having them all in my brain- this is mostly very basic cultural studies critique/unpacking of some moments within the first two episodes - as I continue my rewatch I will likely post more.
Spoilery, long thoughts under the cut
So in episode one something that is extremely interesting from an embodiment/gender/sexuality standpoint is Hwi and Hui-jae and the fact that when Hui-jae and Hwi first meet he thinks that she is a boy (and continues to do so up until the "makeover" scene in Iwharu IMO - Hwi is clearly shocked to see her in women's clothes.)
Note that when he sees the wanted poster his first comment is "he looks very pretty" and one might argue this is played for laughs but. I don't think he is joking - he's being a little cheeky, sure, but it isn't a hahahaha no homo moment at least IMO.
Then we have the scene where he and Hui-jae are hiding from the guards and pressed up against each other and there is UST stuff going on but note, Hwi STILL THINKS SHE IS A BOY. I feel like this is not talked about a lot and yes, the "boy is attracted to a girl who is dressed as a boy" is absolutely a common trope all the way back to early literature but. Again. It doesn't feel like it is played for laughs.
Not to mention the colour choices that connect Seon-ho and Hui-jae as rivals for Hwi's affections:
In semiotics the connotative image is one where a sign or symbol stands in as a representation of meaning - colour here connotes a link between Seon-ho and Hui-jae, the colours don't EXACTLY match but the tones are very similar and I'm choosing to interpret this as a common link between the two where the other common link is Hwi.
And then speaking of Hui-jae I did want to mention something that I've been thinking about for a while which is the centrality of Hui-jae in the traumatic events that shape Hwi and Seon-ho's trajectory.
To me this is a really subtle and fascinating thing which may not be obvious on first watch (at least it wasn't to me) and that is Hui-jae's decisions that put into motion the chain of events of the start of the series.
In Episode One, when Hui-jae meets Hwi and Seon-ho and implicates them in her poster-pasting she unwittingly sets into motion a chain of events that is absolutely devastating to all three of them.
Seon-ho is targeted by Chi-do's subordinate as a "poster paster" and is injured in the fight
Nam Jeon bribes the state examiner because Seon-ho is injured (one could argue he would have done this regardless, but he says as much to Seon-ho at least and whether he is lying or not the two events are linked)
Hwi has a Very Bad Time (tm)
Hui-jae seeks justice for the cheating scandal by reporting the bribe
Seon-ho, desperate to save Hwi (and feeling like there are no other options) does The Thing
Hwi has a Very Bad Time (tm)
Seon-ho also having a terrible time saves Yeon
Seon-ho finds Hwi in Liaodong (sob, swoon)
Under threats to Yeon's life, Seon-ho lies to Hwi about her being alive
Hwi and Yeon and Seon-ho all have a Very Bad Time (tm) for approximately 12 more episodes (not so much for Yeon of course but I digress)
So I think this is fascinating for a number of reasons - largely because it shows how at the start of the series, Hui-jae is very much an actor and a catalyst (that dissolves later, unfortunately, but I love her ferocity at the start before she basically becomes secondary to Hwi's story and really just an extension of him, which is a real shame in my mind)
I liken her to a young university activist who makes decisions based on passionate principle - someone who thinks on an individual rather than a collective level even though they believe they are thinking about the collective and as Madam Seol attempts to address with her, there are consequences for those actions, which, sadly, ironically, cause great harm to the people she is trying to protect.
Please note this is not intended to be a character-bashing post - I don't hate/dislike Hui-jae for the decisions she makes (or, in fact, at all!). The thing I love about MCTNA is that all three of our main characters make EXTREMELY POOR decisions because that is what you do when you are powerless and attempting to assert/maintain agency and don't believe you have choices.
The villain here is society and those who one could argue ARE villains (Nam Jeon for one) are very clearly representations of that corrupt and inequitable society. Bang-won complicates this but that is a post for another day!
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a colossal disaster ~ impossible heir final reflections
I recently finished watching the last two episodes of impossible heir and I am convinced that this show will go down as one of the biggest disappointments of 2024. After being a close follower of Lee Jae Wook's career for several years, I was excited about him playing another cold traumatized morally ambiguous character. However, there are too many weaknesses in the writing that cannot be made up by the spectacular acting from Lee Jae Wook, Lee Jun Young, and Choi Hee Jin. We all already know how I feel about Hong Su Zu and her character Na Hye Won. Like many predicted, the big reveal in this show is that Lee Jun Young's character Kang In Ha is a backstabber that has been secretly plotting to frame his best friend Han Tae Oh as the murderer of Kang In Ju in order to fulfill his dream of ascending the Kang-oh throne.
I do think that the shift in In Ha's becoming an overly ambitious fake friend was somewhat well justified with the writing. There were signs in the earlier episodes that he saw Tae Oh as his "dog" and held very little regard for him. One notable example is him "stealing" Na Hye Won despite being very well aware that Tae Oh had a crush on her. When In Ha is finally recognized by his father as his son, In Ha makes several independent decisions without consulting Han Tae Oh- suggesting the very early signs of a schism between the two men. However, its hard to swallow that out of nowhere he becomes capable of conspiring in the murder of his own brother, his best friend, the man that helped him kill his brother, his father, and finally, physically assaulting his wife and having her institutionalized against her will. What is actually quite bewildering in all of this has to be the relationship between In Ha and Mo Gi Ju, the murderer of Kang In Ju.
In last week's episodes, we are shown that Han Tae Oh comes across video evidence from the murder scene, which directly implicates Mo Gi Ju and Kang In Ha. This subsequently allows Tae Oh to be declared innocent and have his charges dismissed. When Gi Ju is interrogated, he refuses to disclose In Ha as his co-conspirator and in the last episode, we see that Gi Ju initially considers In Ha to be his friend. This is what is incredibly perplexing because at what point in the plot did these two become friends? It's one thing to be co-conspirators or to make a mutually beneficial deal, but to become close friends to the point that one of them is willing to take all the blame to protect the other? This is a loose thread in the plot that the show runners never seem to take the time to address.
Another thing that is never explained in the show is In Ha's extensive connections with the prison system. However, this could just be me being picky and maybe in the short span that he was able to be recognized as a legitimate son, he also was able to bribe a prison guard to help him carry out his dirty work. Despite these flaws, I will say that Lee Jun Young is absolute perfection when it comes to playing a maniac.
Apart from this arc, one of the biggest flaws in the last episode was the drastic shift in the characterization of Kang Seong Ju, one of In Ha's older brothers, who along with his mother was scheming to become the CEO of the company. However, after his mother's arrest, Seong Ju tearfully exclaims to his mother that he's sick of vying for the top and wants to prioritize his happiness. This is a sharp departure from his conduct just a few days prior when he was attempting to fill the vacuum left by his father's illness. What is even more difficult to swallow is the sudden respect that Seong Ju develops for Tae Oh, even going as far as respecting him as the next chairman of Kang Oh and bowing to him even though like everyone else in the family apart from Hui Ju, believed that Tae Oh was lesser than and a threat to their ambitions due to his proximity to the chairman. Seong Ju's arc is almost too good of an ending that you can't help but feel that the writers resorted to deus ex machina in order to tie all the ends.
Hye Won as usual was a disappointment and its confusing why they would market her as a main character when she had barely any lines or things to do in this episode. She has been one of the weakest female characters I have seen in a while with her existence mainly serving as a prop used to justify the conflict between the two men. She, herself, does very little to move the plot forward. Perhaps one of the saving graces of the show and the only reason I stuck with watching it is a brief scene that we see in the last few minutes of the show. Kang Hui Ju decides that she is going to travel the world and during the three year time leap, we see Tae Oh smiling at a picture of Hui Ju in Cancún, which she sends as her "survival update". The ending is very open-ended and ambigious, but if you were me, you interpreted it as Tae Oh finally reciprocating his feelings for Hui Ju.
While The Impossible Heir has been an utter disappointment, one of the good things about the show was the chemistry between Hui Ju and Tae Oh. Luckily, this has captivated the minds of some amazing writers and there's a flourishing AO3 page for the show with some of the best angst fanfics I've seen in a while.
Rating: 1.0/5.0
Keep watching kdramas and living your life like one,
offbeat_cappuccino
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To finish off the year, here's my TOP 23 Ships from dramas I watched in 2023
1. Kim Doo Shik ♥ Lee Mi Hyun
Moving
2. Cha Jin Woo ♥ Jung Mo Eun
Tell Me That You Love Me
3. Seo Do Guk ♥ Han Yi Joo
Perfect Marriage Revenge
4. Xin Qi ♥ Min Hui
The Love You Give Me (C-Drama)
5. Choi Kang Ho ♥ Lee Mi Joo
The Good Bad Mother
6. Dongfang Qincang ♥ Xiao Lanhua
Love Between Fairy and Devil (C-Drama)
7. Jung Ki Ho ♥ Seo Mok Ha
Castaway Diva
8. Moon Jang Yeol ♥ Bong Ye Bun
Behind Your Touch
9. Gu Won ♥ Cheon Sa Rang
King the Land
10. Cho Yong Pil ♥ Cho Sam Dal
Welcome to Samdalri
11. Yoo So Joon ♥ Song Ma Rin
Tomorrow With You
12. Kang Hee Shik ♥ Kang Nam Soon
Strong Girl Namsoon
13. Dong Go Yun ♥ Jung Da Eun
Daily Dose of Sunshine
14. Gong Tae Gyeong ♥ Oh Yeon Doo
The Real Has Come
15. Jang Seon Gyeol ♥ Gil Oh Sol
Clean With Passion for Now
16. Cha Min ♥ Cho Se Yeon
Abyss
17. Heo Joon Jae ♥ Shim Cheong
Legend of the Blue Sea
18. Kim Tae Hee ♥ Baek Dong Joo
May I Help You
19. Jung Gu Won ♥ Do Do Hee
My Demon
20. Nam Si Heon ♥ Han Jun Hee
A Time Called You
21. Jang Tae Sang ♥ Yoon Chae Ok
Gyeongseong Creature
22. Lee Kang ♥ Moon Cha Young
Chocolate
23. Cha Eun Ho ♥ Kang Dan Hee
Romance is a Bonus Book
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BEYOND EVIL TIMELINE
for writers, rewatchers and curious people
It’s hard to keep track of the dates in Beyond Evil with all the plot twists, reveals, intentional omission of information and the narrative jumping back and forth. Having to go through the entire drama to figure out its timeline can be a pain. So I put it together in one post.
note: some info is taken from script book 3 translated by yeoyuo on twitter. however if dates found in the book are weird/questionable, i won't include them and if they happen to contradict confirmed dates in the actual drama, i will prioritize drama dates
Order:
year
day.month
| event (time)
if there's no confirmed date/month then there'll be ? instead of a number
Name abbreviations:
DS: Dong Sik
JW: Ju Won
JY: Jae Yi
JH: Ji Hwa
OJH: Oh Ji Hoon
MJ: Min Jeong
YY: Yu Yeon
BJS: Bang Ju Seon
LGH: Lee Geum Hwa
JJ: Jeong Je
NSB: Nam Sang Bae
CGG: Cho Gil Goo
HGY: Hwang Gwang Young
KJM: Kang Jin Mook
DHW: Do Hae Won
HKH: Han Ki Hwan
LCJ: Lee Chang Jin
JCM: Jung Cheol Mun
1985
| DS & JH meet at the taekwondo academy
1988
| DS & JJ become friends
1998
?.?
| JJ's father dies and leaves the deer farm to him
2000
?.2
| JH, JJ, DS & YY graduate Munju-si Gwanghyo High School
?.?
| JJ & YY start dating
15.10
| KJM murders BJS & cuts off YY's fingers
| YY runs away while KJM is dragging BJS's body into the reeds
| HKH hits YY with his car
| JJ runs over YY’s body, believes he killed her, calls DHW (3.40 a.m.)
| DHW comes, calls LCJ to get rid of the body and JJ's car
| While LCJ is moving the car KJM takes YY's body and DS's guitar pick that JJ dropped
| KJM places guitar pick at BJS's body to frame JJ, places YY's fingers in front of DS's house
| DS's mother finds YY’s fingers (5 a.m.)
| BJS's body is found
16.10
| DHW forges the forensic report with JCM's help, CGG gives it to NSB
| DS is arrested
22.10
| JJ provides an alibi for DS, DS is released
23.10
| DHW comes to DS's house, threatens to make JJ take back his statement
?.11
| JJ leaves to ‘study in the States’
?.11
| JH leaves town with LCJ*
?.11
| DS enlists in the military
2001
15.1
| JJ is admitted to Hansong Mental Hospital for alcohol induced psychosis (remains there for 4 years)
?.2
| KJM gets keys to the deer farm from DHW
10.4
| JW’s mother commits suicide
16.4
| HKH closes YY & BJS's cases
?.9
JW is sent away to study in the UK (Westminster Under School)
2002
?.?
| JH divorces LCJ
2003
?.1
| DS’s father dies. DS’s mother has a mental breakdown
?.1
| DS is discharged, holds a funeral for his father
2004
?.11
| JH graduates Central Police School (unit 167)
2006
?.?
| JH & OJH's father dies, their mother remarries
?.9
| JW enrolls at Eton College
2007
?.11
| DS graduates Central Police School (unit 206)
20.8
| JY’s father gets into a car accident and goes into a coma
2008
?.11
| JJ graduates Central Police School (unit 224)
2009
?.?
| JW comes back to South Korea
2010
?.7
| JH is transferred to Violent Crimes Department
?.?
| JY’s father dies
3.11
| KJM murders JY’s mother
?.?
| Hyuk becomes JW’s live-in tutor
2011
?.5
| DS is transferred to Violent Crimes Department
2012
?.2
| JY graduates Munju-si Gwanghyo High School
2013
?.2
| JW graduates Seoul International High School
2014
?.2
| OJH graduates Seoul Hanlin Arts High School
2015
?.5
| DS is transferred to Seoul
2017
23.2
| JW graduates Police University
?.3
| JW begins working for Department of Foreign Affairs
21.11
| Lee Sang Yeop is murdered
| Culprit shoots DS in the leg, DS kills him
?.11
| NSB takes the blame for the incident & is transferred to Manyang Substation
2018
?.1-12
| DS takes leave of work
?.? (summer)
| JY & DS become friends
29.7
| Jin Hwa Rim's body is discovered
2019
16.3
| Wi Sun Hui's body is discovered
?.8
| OJH graduates Central Police School (unit 297)
15.11
| Yeo Chun Ok's body is discovered
2020
?.1
| JW figures out a connection between murders, begins investigating, identifies DS as the prime suspect, his team doesn't believe him
?.?
| JW sets up a sting operation using LGH
20.3
| KJM murders LGH (5.22 p.m.)
11.10
| JW arrives in Manyang
18.10
| DS & JW become partners
| JW gets invited to Manyang Substation get together, comes to JY's shop for the first time, meets JH, JY & JJ
19.10
| DS & JW find LGH’s body
23.10
| MJ runs away from Manyang Substation, JJ meets her and takes her home (7 p.m.)
| KJM strangles and buries MJ (8 p.m.)
| OJH comes to the store, OJH & KJM leave together (8.33 p.m.)
| DS finds and steals MJ’s fingers, phone, towel and LGH’s phone, hides them (9 p.m.)
| DS comes back to JY’s shop (9.40 p.m.)
24.10
| DS places MJ’s fingers in front of KJM’s house
| DS & JW discover MJ’s fingers (5 a.m.)
| DS returns YY & PJS files
| JW & DS are questioned
25.10
| NSB erases footage of DS placing MJ’s fingers (1-2 a.m.)
| DS leaves LGH’s phone on mount Simju (7 a.m.)
27.10
| JW is questioned about LGH’s phone found the night before
28.10
| JW gets footage of DS on mount Simju, finds blood in DS’s basement
| DS is arrested
29.10
| JY's shop is searched because of JW
| JY eggs JW
| JW figures out that JY's mother is one of the victims
| JW visits DS in jail
30.10
| KJM comes to visitation room to see DS
| JJ provides an alibi for DS, DS is released
| Basement confrontation
31.10
| JW tells the reporters about serial murders
| Basement confrontation part TWO
| HKH discredits JW's statement
1.11
| DHW's rally fight
| DS, JW & LCJ are arrested, DS agrees to settle
2.11
| Basement confrontation part THREE
| KJM asks JW to conduct his own investigation
| DS & JW go to KJM's house
| JW questions JY
3.11
| Dash cam footage is leaked, OJH arrested
| DS sends a message to KJM from MJ’s phone
4.11
| JJ turns himself in
| JY sends two more messages to KJM from MJ's phone
5.11
| KJM leaves JY a note with the location where her mother is supposed to be, JY goes there, calls DS
| DS tells JW everything
| KJM is arrested
6.11
| MJ’s funeral
| KJM requests to be questioned by DS & JW
?.11
| JW & DS go to Busan
10.11
| LCJ gives KJM a fishing line (5 a.m.)
| KJM commits suicide
| NSB comes over to see KJM, JY comes to kill KJM, sees NSB
21.11
| JJ & DS are promoted
?.12
| JW & JY are in Busan
| NSB is looking for JY
2021
5.1
| JW acquires dash cam footage showing JY on the night of KJM's death
31.1
| JW blackmails JY with the dash cam footage
2.2
| JW returns to Manyang substation
| JY turns herself in
3.2
| JW plants a fishing line & report in NSB's safe (2.50-3 a.m.)
| Bodies discovered at the deer farm
| DS finds YY's body in his basement
| NSB is arrested
4.2
| DS figures out what happened and confronts JW at his apartment
5.2
| NSB is released, JW bugs & follows him
| NSB goes to meet HKH, then LCJ
| LCJ murders NSB
?.2
| NSB's funeral
| DS & JJ go to the house NSB bought (Chungcheong Province)
| NSB's wake at JY's shop, JY tells JW where to find DS
?.2
| JW goes to find DS, asks to work together
| JW, DS, JH, JY, OJH & JJ team up to investigate NSB's death
13.2
| JY & OJH tail HGY
| JJ gets CGG's phone records
| JW questions HKH in his office
| DS, JY & JW question CGG in JY's shop
| DS & JW confront DHW & JCM at a restaurant, JJ is taken away in an ambulance
15.2
| JJ remembers what happened 21 years ago
| Basement confrontation part FOUR
| HKH is nominated for Commissioner General
16.2
| HKH asks DS to work for him at Inspection Inquiry in Seoul
26.2
| DS & JW stage an arrest at HKH's hearing
| JW bugs HKH's car
| LCJ is arrested, released by JW, goes to meet up with HKH
| JY, JH, DS & JW tail HKH & LCJ
27.2
| JW hears HKH admit that he killed YY (12 a.m.)
| Some type of angsty homosexual rain event
5.3
| DHW sends JJ away to a mental hospital
| DS visits his mother at the nursing home
| Soup time
7.3
| JCM is murdered
| HKH & LCJ attempt to frame DS, JW figures it out & goes to JCM's house alone, tries to take the blame
8.3
| LCJ is arrested
| JW & JY get JJ out of the mental hospital
| JW arrests JJ
9.3
| DHW arrest warrant is issued
| LCJ gives up HKH
| JW releases the recording
| Confrontation at HKH’s house, HKH is arrested
| JW arrests DS
2022
5.2
| Manyang Reunion
*there's no actual confirmed date for when Ji Hwa leaves Manyang but november of 2000 is when it probably happened (could also be december but november more likely)
Birthdays
24.3.1981 ◦ Ji Hwa
30.5.1981 ◦ Dong Sik & Yu Yeon
16.11.1981 ◦ Jeong Je
17.6.1993 ◦ Jae Yi
13.8.1994 ◦ Ju Won
14.7.1995 ◦ Ji Hoon
10/11.7.2000 ◦ Min Jeong
I will update the post if there are more relevant dates to add. If you notice a mistake or some wording seems confusing, please tell me and I'll fix it.
here's the google doc for ease of use
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