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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

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





 Air Dates: May 6th to June 25, 2019 on SBS, two episodes Monday and Tuesdays at 10:00 pm
Ratings, episode seventeen 3.1%, episode eighteen 3.7%

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.





 As usual the mini cliffhanger to end off a batch of four episodes dealt with a date between Min-Ik and Veronica or should I say his secretary Gal-Hee. At the very top was the ending to their date which had been a twelve hour affair, Min-Ik told Veronica if she could give him twelve hours she would like him enough to break up with her current flame, that encounter ended with a mini kiss. Of course there was no current flame as it was an excuse by Veronica to stop seeing him once and for all which didn't work. Do refer to Veronica often in these recaps but it is Gal-Hee impersonating her and that ruse may not go on much longer.
 That's because during that date, which mainly took place in the previous recap, the pair of Min-Ik and Gal-Hee had been seen late at night at a movie theater. Not just by anyone but Min-Ik's best friend Dae-Joo who demanded to know why the pair were together. Privately Gal-Hee explained to him they were on a 'date' but couldn't give the reasons why just yet. If Dae-Joo would just let her finish the date she'll explain everything to him the following day at work, for the time being he was agreeable to that. Also in the theater had been Veronica but it being about 4:00 am she had been sleeping next to Dae-Joo and knew nothing about the pair being there.
 Veronica had set it up for Gal-Hee to keep Min-Ik away from her, not that she didn't want to meet him but she was so enamored with Dae-Joo. It was also to keep their mothers happy as they presumed the two were dating and becoming serious. Thought that Gal-Hee had explained to Veronica the deception she was doing to Min-Ik but looks like that hadn't happened, it will though in the next recap which turns into a interesting scenario. Back to the deception which Gal-Hee was going to explain to Dae-Joo the next day at work but had been a few hours late.
 The reason was because her house had been broken into for the second time, she never knew about the first incident. The same person was responsible for both break-ins who was Min-Ik's new driver and a shady character named Jung-Soo. He had invaded Gal-Hee's house for the second time trying to take her laptop which contained an important file about TnT Mobile where she worked. But
Jung-Soo's raid had been thwarted by her brother Joong-Hee who is also a blind man. But he had been able to subdue Jung-Soo long enough to call 119 which sent the intruder fleeing without the laptop but he had been hurt enough in the struggle to land him in the hospital.






 Top screenshot is of Min-Ik's uncle Hae-Yung who had tried to get him stripped of his director's role but failed at that. Seems like the pair are set up for an intense showdown for the TnT Mobile's presidency though that campaign hasn't started yet. Hae-Yung had obtained a bit of medical info about Min-Ik and confronted Dae-Joo about it but his best friend is in the dark about any medical problems, won't be the last we hear of it. Dae-Joo eventually did meet Gal-Hee about the prior night's incident, he too wondered if Min-Ik had a vision problem as why couldn't he recognize his best friend? For now Gal-Hee was able to stall him as she lamely said Min-Ik had too much to drink, don't think Dae-Joo bought the story but for now isn't pressing Gal-Hee too hard about things.
 The condition Min-Ik suffers from is called Prosopagnasia which means a person can't recognize the faces of others. The only face he can see is of Gal-Hee's but it's more of him having what she wears imbedded in his mind, when she doesn't wear her usual red cardigan, shoes and glasses he can't tell her apart from anyone. That's the case above as he had left work in a depressed state once he heard Veronica won't be seeing him any longer. Min-Ik was roaming the streets of Seoul but had been followed by Gal-Hee, without her regular attire he didn't know it was her when she sat next to him.
 With really no other plans for the evening out of the blue Min-Ik called Gal-Hee and invited himself over for dinner. Seemed like he just wanted the company of someone but deep down he feels the only person he can trust and talk to these days is Gal-Hee. We're just at about the point where the two are having romantic feelings for each other though neither will admit to the other person. Min-Ik just doesn't want to leave his secretary's side as he also talked her into letting him sleep over, the excuse Min-Ik gave was him worrying about her after the break in and in reality he was. He had actually left but wandered back an hour later and was discovered nearby by Gal-Hee.





 The relationship between Veronica and Dae-Joo seems to be getting closer but has been dragging on for too long, to us viewers and Veronica. At first Dae-Joo was only seeing her so she would sign a contract allowing TnT Mobile to run the everyday activities of Cinepark in which Veronica is the president. The company has a huge chain of theaters in Korea along with producing many dramas and films in which most are huge smashes. That's the pair above at one of Cinepark's film sets as they had accidentally been handcuffed together and had to spend a good portion of the day like that as the key had been lost. Kind of worked out for the best as the pair did get to know each other a bit better, it finally seems as though Dae-Joo is starting to feel something for Veronica and why not as she is one attractive and successful woman.
 The following morning at Gal-Hee's the pair both overslept and when he awoke who should be lying next to Min-Ik but his secretary! Of course nothing happened but the pair were in a panic to get to work on time and in that panic a couple of minor things took place which will be very key ones in the upcoming shows. One was of Min-Ik in her bathroom as he discovered a pair of earrings which he had seen before, were they ones Veronica had worn? Min-Ik wasn't sure so slipped them into his pants pocket and forgot all about them until the following recap.
 When Jung-Soo had broken into Gal-Hee's house he had a box cutter but in his struggle with her brother had dropped it and there was no time to hunt for it with the police on their way. While she was scrambling to get ready for work Gal-Hee had discovered the cutter on the floor and realized it was from the intruder. Before they headed off to work they decided to visit the pair of detectives who had been working on Min-Ik's assault case, that's been going on since the second episode and for so long has been put on the back burner. Who should be there to drive them to the station but
Jung-Soo, when he heard the two talking about the weapon he knew his days working with Min-Ik were numbered.






 That's Gal-Hee's sister Nam-Hee above with Veronica, the sister is trying so desperately to be a star but so far Veronica hasn't cast her in anything. Nam-Hee was supposed to be attending college in America but never went, to date her family doesn't know about that and kind of wish we saw the pair more often as their scenes are humorous. Back to the box cutter and at the station the detectives told Gal-Hee it's actually an auto escape tool that has many purposes. The people that usually carry around such tools are mechanics or drivers, perhaps Min-Ik's? To date Min-Ik has bought all of the excuses Jung-Soo has given him but now it appears Min-Ik is beginning to have serious doubts about his driver, could he actually be an enemy of Min-Ik's?
 Slow day at work and that's something Gal-Hee was so happy about as it meant Dae-Joo didn't press her about that night. Dae-Joo still has intentions on quitting his director's position and has recently told that to Veronica, surprised she didn't offer him a position at her company. But as the workday wound down there was some sad news as the director Park's mother had died and all employees were required to be at that evening's service for her. Min-Ik's vision problem is of course still there so he has to have Gal-Hee by his side at every moment during the service.
 But with the condition if his blood pressure can reach 140 he's able to see faces clearly, the only times that's happened is when Gal-Hee has been close to him and it's easy to see why his BP rises with her around. At the service, with Gal-Hee naturally by his side, Min-Ik's blood pressure once again was able to hit the level of 140 and he could see faces clearly. But he kept it to himself as it could go away just as soon as it arrived, during this stretch Gal-Hee had to excuse herself to greet her fellow secretaries.
 Soon after her departure Min-Ik saw a face briefly, one he had seen before and could it possibly be the man who had attacked him? During that incident Min-Ik was able to tear off his assailant's ski mask, we couldn't see the face but Min-Ik said it was someone he knew. That person appears to be Jung-Soo and because Min-Ik couldn't recognize faces he didn't know his new driver may have been his attacker. But from the far distance Min-Ik couldn't be positive it was his attacker but was fairly sure, he also thought that person could be Jung-Soo. Min-Ik was about to give chase as he wasn't noticed but before he could get any closer a woman jumped in front of him to thwart his chase. And who should that person be but Veronica Park, the first time the two have officially met and with these two incidents occurring at once these episodes and recap comes to it's conclusion.





 Small things keep getting added to the storylines and it's a positive things as it's keeping this drama interesting. There was a slight slowdown around episodes's 13 and 14 but things have rebounded nicely and the next pair of shows are better than these two. Of course that recap is the next post as there's always two in a row and as usual have a massive amount of screenshots to end off with.












































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