The song we featured during the recap, The Reason of my Smiles by BSS.
We introduce the characters of this show and stumble over their Korean names.
How there appear to be five main leads, which seems to be common in K Dramas.
The show is set in the modern day, in Seoul and the village of Yongdu-ri.
The central premise of the show, which is that Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in are locked in a loveless marriage. Hyun-woo wants a divorce but nobody is on his side on this matter. Then Hae-in announces that she has a rare brain tumor and she has three months to live. Hyun-woo sees a way out of this marriage and maybe a chance to inherit some wealth, if he can convince his wife of his love.
Whether the couple was actually in love at the time of their marriage, and their motivations for marrying.
How Hae-in was initially suspicious of Hyun-woo, but between his actions, his Internet searches and his shooting of the wild boar, she is looking at him differently.
How cloud cytoma doesn’t appear to be a real disease.
The origins, structure and power of the chaebol conglomerates in South Korea.
How this show is a real study on marriage because there are so many different perspectives on marriage, many of them not very positive.
How village life is so often romanticized in these K Dramas.
Arranged marriages and whether the practice still exists today.
How the royal tradition of having sons-in-law prepare the food during jesa appears to be made up by the Hong family in this show.
Kim Soo-hyun’s amazing acting and comedic timing in this show.
How these first two elements showcase so many K Drama elements, most notably crying, drinking, food, flowers, protesting someone you love at personal cost to yourself, a funeral, and a confession.
How Sung Hee had so many favorite lines but Joanna made her pick just two.
The many questions we are looking forward to exploring, like: What is the chairman’s girlfriend’s real motivations? What happened to Hae-in’s brother? What happened between Hae-in and David Yoon?
We are recapping and analyzing Queen of Tears in real time. Each episode will drop on a Friday and cover the two episodes from the previous weekend, hopefully giving our listeners the insights they need before going into the weekend, when the next two episodes drop.
References
What to know about the chaebol families that dominate South Korea’s economy
An economy of human sacrifice: the practice of sunjang in the ancient state of Korea
The Reasons of my Smiles by BSS, with Korean and English lyrics
I am very happy to see you guys finally doing a series in real time - even if it does mean extra work each week. At least you won't have to pretend that you don't know what's going to happen! "Who is Yoon Chae-ok's mother?! I wonder if we will find out!!" ;-)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think QOT is off to a pretty slow start and I am having a hard time buying that these two were ever actually in love!
I find Korea's whole love/hate fascination with Chaebol families really interesting. I think they are Korea's equivalent of the Royal Family. I get the impression that most Koreans have a negative few of the Chaebol families, but they are consumed by their personal lives, and I think most would jump at the chance to join one. Its somewhat surprising to me that they still have such a grip on Korean society and the economy. In many ways, South Korea has a lot of socialist tendencies - from health care and education to the mandatory military service. It is surprising that the conglomerates run by the Chaebols continue to exists. I imagine it is a combination of the history that lead to their creation and allowed them to entrench themselves and perhaps a backlash to anything deemed too socialist or communist to reform them (considering their neighbor to the north). In any event, this Chaebol family in QOT is predictably awful!
Some interesting reading on the Chaebols:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/09/anger-and-envy-in-the-chaebol-republic-korea-nut-rage-samsung/
Keep up the good work! Hope QOT develops a bit more. So far I give this a 5/10 for plot, but a 10/10 for the outfits!
Gotta run. The Cherry Blossoms are about to fall...
Hey Malcolm. Thanks for the comment! Glad you are enjoying season 7 so far! We are loving it and hope you will get into the show soon! As for the chaebol, it's crazy, isn't it? These families are definitely rich, they're prominent, and they dominate the social and political landscapes in Korea. On the other hand, I think we see these large conglomerates controlled by families in the Philippines and the Indonesia. We'll have to do more research. Thanks for listening!
ReplyDeleteWhile rewatching Episode 2, I was tickled to hear Hyun-Woo warn Yoon Eun-Seong that straying into someone else's territory can get you killed. This warning foreshadows events in Episode 16!
ReplyDeleteIt was so much fun to notice new details upon a second viewing of episode 1. A few seconds after Hong Beom-Jun tells Baek Hyun-Woo that when people leave you, "You stab them right in the back" I heard a few notes of the theme from "The Godfather." Of course the Hong family isn't Mafia, so I take this as the show mocking itself over this melodramatic moment in the story.
ReplyDeleteGordon, you are right! There are so many little Easter eggs like that. When Song Joong ki was introduced as Hong Hae in's attorney, did you notice that the speculation about him basically recapped his famous roles? Love it all! Thanks for listening and commenting!
DeleteContinuing to nit-pick while rewatching episode 1, I am struck by how wrong the wealth numbers seem to be. For example, I was shocked (around 33:00) when Hyun-Woo visits Beom-Ja, and she weeps because, although she has ₩2.5 billion Korean won, she can't get a single piece of floss in prison.
ReplyDeleteThis shocks me because that equates to only $1.8 million US dollars. Aren't these Chaebols supposed to be filthy rich? It doesn't seem nearly enough for her to maintain such a lavish lifestyle. Where I live in Silicon Valley (Mountain View California, United States) the average home price is more than $2.1 million. It is ridiculous to think that the average homeowner here where I live is wealthier than a central member of the Hong family!
Near the beginning of episode 3 (4:00) Hyun-Woo boasts to Hae-In that he has saved up almost ₩2 million Korean won. That is only $1,438 US dollars. To me that seems like a pathetic amount of savings, and certainly nothing to boast about, even to a woman who he assumes has a "ton of debt." Hyun-Woo's lifetime savings amount to 1% of the 2025 median first year legal associate annual salary of ₩191.4 million Korean won in Seoul. Surely a brilliant lawyer like Hyun-Woo easily makes at least the median salary.
According to Google's AI, the average monthly rent in Seoul for a 1-bedroom apartment ranges from ₩500,000 to ₩1,500,000. Therefore, Hyun-Woo is boasting that his lifetime savings amount to about 2 months of rent. I expect so much more from the top law graduate from Seoul National University Law School!
Don't get me wrong. I still love this show, but now I am starting to doubt the accuracy of the English translations.