Welcome to my humble site....

Hajimemashite minna san....welcome to my site on my fave Japanese Pop Culture likes such as dramas, movies, magazine scans, promo events etc. Mainly concentrate on my faves...Risa Watanabe... Kyoko Saito... Yui Kobayashi....Nana Owada.... Nene Shida.... if you're a fan at all of any of them then you've come to the right place(!) but many others are featured here besides them. Do mainly quick reviews on things I've watched, try to make the reviews brief, quick to read through with not too many spoilers, just whether they're good or bad and why I thought so plus whether you may find them enjoyable. Many, many screenshots are included from everything I've watched plus any video trailers if they're available. Hope you find something that interests you, don't hesitate to comment, arigato gozaimasu!

Search This Blog

Monday, July 29, 2019

Korean drama "The Secret Life of My Secretary": Recaps for episode's 21 and 22





 Air Dates: May 6th to June 25, 2019 on SBS, two episodes Monday and Tuesdays at 10:00 pm
Ratings, episode 21 2.7%, episode 22 3.4%

Main Cast:

Jin Ki-Joo as Jung Gal-Hee.... 27 year old secretary to Min-Ik, she's the only person he can see
Kim Young-Kwang as Do Min-Ik.... President of TnT Media, has mysterious vision problem
Koo Ja-Sung as Ki Dae-Joo.... Min-Ik's best friend and a director at TnT
Kim Jae-Kyung as Veronica Park.... major character but hasn't been seen in four episodes
Jang So-Yeon as Yi Yul-Wang.... executive secretary to Dae-Joo
Kim Min-Sang as Sim Hae-Yung.... Min-Ik's uncle who wants the role of president back
Jung Ae-Ri as Sim Hae-Ra.... Min-Ik's mother though not his biological one
Seo Dong-Won as Jung Joong-Hee.... Gal-Hee's younger blind brother
Kim Ji-Min as Jung Nam-Hee.... Gal-Hee's younger sister who wants to attend college 
Kim Byung-Choon as Dr. Gu.... Min-Ik's long time doctor
Han Ji-Sun as Mo Ha-Ni.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Son San as Koo Myung-Jung.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Choi Yoon-Ra as Boo Se-Young.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Kwon So-Hyun as Ha Ri-Ra.... part of the 'temp secretary group'
Choi Tae-Hwan as Eun Jung-Soo.... Min-Ik's new driver

 Whew, big cast and there are more characters whose names will be added if their roles get bigger. As is my norm with 32 episode dramas will be recapping four shows at a time with two in each recap. Keep saying that rom-com's aren't my cup of tea yet seems I've been watching more in that genre lately than any other Korean drama. It's been a hit or miss with them but so far my hit rate is much higher than the failures. To date will count this one as a big hit as I really enjoyed the first four episodes but it is hard to keep things interesting for 32 shows, wish they would decrease the number to twenty for some series. There's quite a few videos on YT for this series such as ones with interviews, behind the scenes and trailers, will have a different one for every post.





 No major cliffhanger to begin this pair of shows but there was a scene I didn't mention that ended off episode twenty. That took place at the boat 'There' which has been the meeting place of Min-Ik and Dae-Joo for about twenty years. After Min-Ik had confessed to his best friend that he was in love with both Veronica and Gal-Hee Dae-Joo told him he had to choose between one. Dae-Joo is naturally hoping Min-Ik will have his heart set for Gal-Hee as Dae-Joo has his eyes set on Veronica though he's still playing a bit hard to get with her. Min-Ik's answer was definitely a wishy washy one as he told his buddy that he was in love with both women and couldn't make a choice quite yet.
 That answer was unacceptable to Dae-Joo who clocked Min-Ik in the jaw which of course stunned him but it didn't lead to an all out brawl. The scene ended with that punch and Min-Ik is feeling so guilty about not being able to choose between either Veronica or Gal-Hee as he likes both of them so much. Of course the reason is because Gal-Hee is both women though that's unknown to Min-Ik.... for now. To Min-Ik whenever he's with Gal-Hee he thinks of Veronica and vice versa, he has no idea how he's going to make a choice between the two.
 But for now Min-Ik wants nothing to do with Gal-Hee as he's still feeling a bit ashamed at almost kissing her the night before at the office. At work he's told her to stay at least a meter away from him and though he won't say why as you can see above Gal-Hee knows the answer but because she's been impersonating Veronica there's nothing she can do about it. So now on to the the real Veronica who is also an upset woman and her reason is because Da-Joo hasn't called her since he cancelled out on their stay at her villa two nights prior. He did that after Min-Ik confessed to seeing Veronica not knowing it was actually Gal-Hee, to Dae-Joo though he thought she was two timing him.
 Gal-Hee's sister Nam-Hee is still in the picture with Veronica as she's clinging to her side hoping she'll train her to be a star. Not much is seen of Nam-Hee in these episodes but would think something will soon have to happen as Veronica is just helping her so she can get 'revenge' for the way others have treated her sister, situation has remained the same up until the end of episode 24. After Min-Ik's confession that he couldn't decide between either women Dae-Joo became so irate that he promptly got up and left, where he disappeared to is unknown but Veronica eventually tracked him down as she just can't let go of the man.






 For about the last 3-4 shows Veronica has been dominating the screen time and that continues for the next two shows. That's okay as her character has become so important plus she's much less annoying then she was at the beginning and in a way you almost feel sorry for her... almost. As mentioned she was able to track the missing Dae-Joo down and found him at a campground where he had been staying just doing a bit of fishing and thinking things over. Dae-Joo still can't come out and tell her fully how he feels about her these days but every time they meet Dae-Joo is coming a bit closer to doing that. Especially when they met at the campground, looked like he was finally going to kiss Veronica but pulled away at the last second.
 Coming up was perhaps the most hilarious scene of any show and surprised it took this long to happen. As you can see in that bottom screenshot Min-Ik is still undecided about which woman to pursue, perhaps if he meets Veronica it'll make his decision a bit easier. He arrived at her Cinepark office where she's the president of the major media company. At that same time she was departing, before Min-Ik could lay eyes on her Veronica noticed him and hid around the corner. She overheard Min-Ik saying he was there to meet Veronica which threw her for a loop but she's also a quick thinker and thought this was the chance she was waiting for.
 Veronica immediately called Gal-Hee and explained the situation, she told Gal-Hee to dress up as her and to rush over to Veronica's office which is what happened. After waiting for what seemed an eternity Min-Ik was finally ushered into Veronica's office where there was an elaborate ruse set up for him as both Gal-Hee and Veronica were there but not as themselves. Of course Gal-Hee was there to impersonate Veronica who was also in the office pretending to be her secretary Park. With Min-Ik unable to see faces clearly he didn't know the difference but he wasn't at all pleased with Park.
 Veronica wanted to stick around and observe what was going to take place so she refused to leave the office and made such a nuisance of herself. Veronica also wanted to make sure the pair were hitting it off and kept adding her two cents worth of advice. 'Park' ordered Gal-Hee around and kept answering any questions that Min-Ik had asked 'Veronica', needless to say he was getting a bit peeved and eventually dragged Gal-Hee away from her annoying secretary. Know I didn't do it justice but that one of the best scenes to date. The pair made their way to the small theater below Veronica's office where they had another long heart to heart conversation. Min-Ik comes off as a cool man but is anything but one when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. When the talk became a bit personal he made an excuse and said he had to rush off to a meeting, of course Gal-Hee knew Min-Ik's schedule better than anyone and knew it was a lie, why was he trying to avoid her Gal-Hee pondered?





 Here we are in the 22nd episode and the attack on Min-Ik that took place in the second show is still ongoing. The pair of detectives have worked hard and perhaps have made a bit of progress as they were able to identify the fingerprints of the auto escape tool left in Gal-Hee's home. They belonged to Jung-Soo who was Min-Ik's new driver and he had invaded Gal-Hee's place to steal her laptop though was unsuccessful. Min-Ik told the pair that Jung-Soo was the man who had assaulted him, that threw the pair for a loop as why would Min-Ik have hired him then? Forgot to add in that Jung-Soo eventually found the laptop and was able to delete the important file on it. But not before Gal-Hee was able to e-mail it to Min-Ik who can't make heads or tails of what the file means.
 As you can see above Min-Ik was wondering about why he applied to be his driver, did Jung-Soo know of his condition of being unable to recognize faces? If that's the case it was easy to see how Min-Ik would have hired him but how could Jung-Soo have found out about his condition as Min-Ik hasn't told anyone of him having Prosopanasia except for Gal-Hee. Because of that the investigation once again slows down but Jung-Soo is now a wanted man and has kept out of sight, more on the developments in the next recap. While at the station Min-Ik exploded at the pair of detectives as after the break in by Jung-Soo how could they leave Gal-Hee's home unprotected?
 Of course the police can't guard every house that's been broken into so Min-Ik took matters in his hands. He offered to move Gal-Hee and her brother to a hotel until Jung-Soo was captured but she refused, her brother is blind so he can only live in a place where he knows the surroundings. Min-Ik wasn't going to leave Gal-Hee in danger so the next day he had a security force there to install a protective system. He can't come out and say it but Min-Ik has fallen so hard for Gal-Hee, she too is a bit blinded as she hasn't noticed the feelings Min-Ik has towards her and by the time she realizes it will it be too late?






 During that mini gathering with Min-Ik, Gal-Hee and Park(Veronica) Park had said Veronica had two tickets to a concert the following night and was going to ask Min-Ik along. Being backed into a corner like that left Gal-Hee with no options so the pair will be going out on yet another date but it'll be the first time around so many people. After much thinking Min-Ik has finally come down to which woman he wants to date and his selection is Veronica. He just loves everything about her but of course unknown to him that everything Min-Ik loves is Gal-Hee. Won't give away any spoilers but in the next recap the truth finally comes out and it's not a pleasant scene.
 It's the night of the concert and Min-Ik is waiting patiently for Veronica(Gal-Hee) who is just a hundred feet away. Because of his condition Min-Ik can't see that it's Veronica watching him as all of a sudden she has cold feet. Gal-Hee wanted to use this occasion to confess to Min-Ik about impersonating as Veronica but couldn't go through with it or for that matter with the date either.
 So Gal-Hee rushed back to the real Veronica's residence where she herself was getting ready to go out on a date with Dae-Joo. Gal-Hee broke down in tears and said she couldn't go through with the charade anymore, she just couldn't bear to keep hurting Min-Ik. Veronica understood her feelings but with where things stood Gal-Hee had to go through with the date, if Min-Ik loves her that much then he should be able to understand why the pair had to pull that ruse on him.
 So the two gals head out with Veronica planning on dropping Gal-Hee off at the theater to see
Min-Ik but before that tragedy struck. The pair were involved in an automobile accident and had been rushed to the hospital but doesn't seem either women is badly hurt. Once Min-Ik heard the news he rushed off the see them with an interesting situation arising when he got to the hospital. Both gals were in different ends of the hospital, who should Min-Ik check on first to see if she's okay?
 To him who ever he chooses will be the woman he cares the most about, for a while we thought it was Veronica as he was prepared to ask her to be his steady girlfriend. Min-Ik's heart was in the right place as he headed to see.... Gal-Hee and eventually found her on the hospital's roof. She was fine but had injured her hand and needed to wear a cast for a few days, that cast is an important object in the next recap. With the pair standing on the roof of the hospital this post comes to it's end, Gal-Hee is fine but what of Veronica?





 You wouldn't know it but that was the hardest recap I ever wrote up. For some reason had a brain or writer's cramp beginning with the first word which wouldn't go away even with a long break. Came to my senses in the final segment so hope everything turned out well enough and think it did, just took so much longer than usual. Next recap is the post below this one and what developments take place as the lighthearteness disappears and truly becomes such a tear jerking series.






































No comments:

Post a Comment