Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 2 of Gyeongseong Creature, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Park Seo-joon as Jang Tae-sang, Han So-hee as Yoon Chae-ok, Wi Ha-hun as Kwon Jun-taek, Kim Soo-hyun as Lady Maeda, Ji Woo as Myeong-ja, Jo Han-chul as Yoon Joon-won, and Kim Hae-sook as Nawol daek. We discuss:
- How we are grateful to our listeners! We have listeners all over the world and our audience is growing!
- The song we feature in the recap: Forever by SUHO.
- How the Japanese and Korean characters in this show speak both Japanese and Korean and it can be very confusing.
- How knowing what language our characters are speaking gives you a sense of who has the upper hand in the conversation.
- The sleuths, who are really good, because they figured out where Myeong-ja is and how she got there (she was sent there by Lade Maeda).
- How Mr. Gu wonders if Myeong-ja is another of the many women and girls who have disappeared in Gyeongseong, a reference to the Japanese Army practice of kidnapping women and girls during WWII and turning them into sex slaves, or what they called “comfort women.”
- How we now know that Lady Maeda had a powerful motive for getting rid of Myeong-ja AND she has some relationship with Dr. Ichiro.
- The few lighthearted moments of the show, especially when Jang Tae-sang is dumbstruck when he sees Yoon Chae-ok all dressed up in the light blue suit and pillbox hat.
- The secret hand signal that the Korean independence army members use to signal each other.
- The significance of Manchuria because it shares a border with what is now North Korea.
- The origin story of Sachimoto, including the fact that he drew Yoon Chae-ok’s mom!
- How we know that the creature is Yoon Chae-ok’s mom through her swollen left eye and wooden flower pendant.
- Our thoughts on why Jang Tae-sang decides to go back into Ongseong Hospital.
- The K Drama elements we see in this episode, especially the triangle between Lady Maeda, Commissioner Ishikawa and Myeong-ja, and the umbrella scene with Lady Maeda.
- The meaning behind the title: Mother, between longing and anguish.
- How the intro scene at the beginning of each episode is NOT the origin story of Yoon Chae-ok’s mom. We made a mistake. The intro is the origin story of the first girl to swallow a najin, turn into a creature, and get captured by the Japanese.
- The amazing and handsome Park Seo-joon, including how his last name is pronounced Pahk, not Pak and not Park.
- How episode 3 has some gory scenes with the creature AND some scenes of cruelty by soldiers against prisoners and other soldiers.
References