S01.E04: Chapter 4

[Scarlett45]

Quote

Newlywed Sunja embarks on an epic journey that takes her far from the comforts of home; Solomon gets ready for his bid day.

Air Date: April 1, 2022

[Spartan Girl]

That part with the singer belting out a Korean song as a funk-you to the Japanese elite then killing herself before they could arrest her (or that gross old guy have his way with her) was intense!

I felt for Sunja. Leaving your mom and the only home you’ve ever known is a lot to deal with. I’d be bawling too.

Hansu is still prick. Gee, which is a better life for Sunja: a marriage of convenience with a decent guy yet sickly guy willing to legitimize her baby, or being the side-piece of a married shady businessman? Decisions, decisions…

Loved that bit in the end with Solomon rocking out in the rain. Probably gonna ge5 fired, but live in the moment, buddy!

[Scarlett45]

On 4/1/2022 at 7:21 PM, Spartan Girl said:

That part with the singer belting out a Korean song as a funk-you to the Japanese elite then killing herself before they could arrest her (or that gross old guy have his way with her) was intense!

I felt for Sunja. Leaving your mom and the only home you’ve ever known is a lot to deal with. I’d be bawling too.

Hansu is still prick. Gee, which is a better life for Sunja: a marriage of convenience with a decent guy yet sickly guy willing to legitimize her baby, or being the side-piece of a married shady businessman? Decisions, decisions…

Loved that bit in the end with Solomon rocking out in the rain. Probably gonna ge5 fired, but live in the moment, buddy!

Hansu is a total prick. 1. He never gave that girl any indication he was married, 2. And when she DARED not grovel at his feet, he said those awful things about her father’s disability. He’s a total asshole. And then he went to try to bully poor Isak- which he couldn’t do because Isak was a man of honor. And THEN he tried to bully poor Sunja again after she was married! What in the hell.

Pissy shady asshole. Because he couldn’t have HIS way, after lying and deceiving the poor teenage girl (who genuinely had feelings for him), and she does the best she can for herself, he gets butt hurt. Fuck Hansu. 

[surfer]

Holy cheekbones! I know Hansu’s supposed to be the heartthrob but Isak’s where it’s at.

The entire cast is uniformly excellent but I get all the feelings whenever Youn Yuh-jung’s on screen. She’s perfection.

And that entire rice sequence was beautifully shot. 

[Spartan Girl]

The white rice looked so good. So fluffy.

[Zella]

On 4/3/2022 at 11:21 PM, surfer said:

And that entire rice sequence was beautifully shot. 

On 4/4/2022 at 5:15 AM, Spartan Girl said:

The white rice looked so good. So fluffy.

I am not the world's biggest white rice fan, but that sequence made me want to eat some! LOL I love the cinematography and sets in all the earlier scenes when Sunja is young. I feel like I'm at her mother's house, at the marketplace, on the ship. 

I was not expecting to particularly enjoy the newer scenes--in historical fiction that jumps back and forth between generations, the more modern story always bores me to tears--but I actually do like them. I think the show is doing a great job of showing how the more things change, the more they stay the same for the Koreans in Japan. 

I think the actor who plays Hansu is very handsome (and talented), but I agree that he's a shit person. He's obviously used to bullying his way into getting what he wants and can't handle it not working, whether it's on the mother of his child or her new husband. I don't know if we are allowed to discuss the book in these episode threads, but I noticed that the relationship is slightly reframed in the show from how it is presented in the book. 

I'm really liking Isak. I agree with the evaluation of him as a genuinely kind person rather than the proverbial nice guy. It was super telling that his response to Sunja pushing back on him at the noodle shop was that he considered her point of view, realized she was right, and apologized to her. Hansu would never do that. You can tell every time he's an asshole to her that he knows he shouldn't be that cruel, but he keeps doing it and he never once apologizes or acknowledges the validity of what she is saying. 

[Scarlett45]

38 minutes ago, Zella said:

Hansu would never do that. You can tell every time he's an asshole to her that he knows he shouldn't be that cruel, but he keeps doing it and he never once apologizes or acknowledges the validity of what she is saying. 

That's cause Hansu is a SHADY ASSHOLE. Of course he has redeeming qualities- he is crazy smart, ambitious, and did save Sunja from those boys who were going to rape her (nothing makes us believe he is violent or anything like that). But he is an ASSHOLE, because he didn't get HIS WAY with a girl (yes Sunja is a girl, and he is a grown ass man with a lot more life experience) he liked/was attracted to. (I do think he likes Sunja as a person, but again, he's an asshole.)

[Zella]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:14 PM, Scarlett45 said:

(nothing makes us believe he is violent or anything like that).

I think actually the first real scene we see him in when he's intimidating the customers at the fish market, he seems like he has the real potential to be violent. (That is what I mentioned as a real difference between the book and the show. In the book,

Spoiler

he wasn't so obviously gangsterish until he lays out his terms for her when she says she's pregnant. Whereas in the show, he basically screams Korean mafia don from the word go.)

 But yes he's definitely a shady asshole. I think he likes Sunja but only on his terms. He doesn't like her having a personality separate from how he perceives her. It's okay for her to broaden her horizons under his tutelage (like telling her he'll teach her to tell time), but broadening them without being dependent on him is a no. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Zella

[Scarlett45]

18 hours ago, Zella said:

I think actually the first real scene we see him in when he's intimidating the customers at the fish market, he seems like he has the real potential to be violent. (That is what I mentioned as a real difference between the book and the show. In the book, he wasn't so obviously gangsterish until he lays out his terms for her when she says she's pregnant. Whereas in the show, he basically screams Korean mafia don from the word go.) But yes he's definitely a shady asshole. I think he likes Sunja but only on his terms. He doesn't like her having a personality separate from how he perceives her. It's okay for her to broaden her horizons under his tutelage (like telling her he'll teach her to tell time), but broadening them without being dependent on him is a no. 

I meant violent in the domestic sense. I have no doubt Hansu would kick (or kill) anyones ass who tried to cheat or steal from him, but I’m not getting the impression that he’s sexually violent,  he batters his wife/or would Sunja. 
 

He’s not sadistic, I never thought Sunja was in physical danger from him, even when she turned him down. He was pissed but I didn’t think he would hurt her. 

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I meant violent in the domestic sense. I have no doubt Hansu would kick (or kill) anyones ass who tried to cheat or steal from him, but I’m not getting the impression that he’s sexually violent,  he batters his wife/or would Sunja. 
 

He’s not sadistic, I never thought Sunja was in physical danger from him, even when she turned him down. He was pissed but I didn’t think he would hurt her. 

Ah okay yes I would agree with that assessment.