gilaswan

Was watching again the scene when Jipyeong was in turmoil at home after meeting Dalmi at the birdhouse, and Dalmi then at home reading his letters again. The song playing was “Day & Night” by Jung Seung Hwan. The final verse says this, “That it’s darkest Right before the sun rises Day & Night We came a long way And finally met I want to hold you tight So when you have long days The person who makes you take a break I hope it’s me” *sigh* How can it not be Jipyeong? I have to say, this writer always has the best songwriters writing for her shows. Hahaha... love love love the OSTs

@abs-oluteM OMO. That video. He's so adorbs! I think Kim Seon Ho's popularity will really soar with this drama. He's been quite perfectly cast in this instance, and you see many people rooting for him. However, while in other dramas where they're filming live, I have a feeling Start Up is one of the few Kdramas that completed their filming before the show aired - can anyone verify this? So this likely means the ending is already a done deal. Regardless though, what I like about this writer is that she is very clear about where her story is headed. I find that writers who amend their story on the fly because of viewer opinion often end up with a messy conclusion. Anyways, part of the fun is in seeing how our predictions or reading of the stories go. Right now, I am very much in love with Jipyeong. I cannot see how Dalmi wouldn't be too. Again, nothing against Dosan, but Dosan just seems like a puppy next to Jipyeong who's a lot more self-assured. Sure, Jipyeong is prickly, but that's precisely why he also seems so very sweet and sincere when you see his interactions with Halmeoni. He loves Halmeoni so much. When's he gonna find out about her condition? His heart will break into pieces for her.

@ryanallright I think that seems to be the case with this writer though. In While You Were Sleeping, they had Ko Sung Hee listed as one of the main cast members, but her air time was so little. I honestly wondered how she was one of the leads at all. Hahaha... But this writer never fails. Her stories are always balanced. While Dalmi is trying to figure herself out now, the focus is going to return to the business side of things. I think in the next week, we will see progression in the relationship between the sisters as they battle it out on Demo Day. We will see Dalmi reclaiming her rightful place as the girl on the swing. Yoon Daepyo will begin to see Injae for who she is and renew her belief that the girl on the swing would have come to Sandbox for a reason other than money the Samsan Tech boys growing - Yongsan will sort through his anger with Sandbox and JP; Chulsan will grow from being a dork to taking charge of who he is vis-à-vis manipulative Saha mum will start to mend relationships with Dalmi and Halmeoni, and understand that family and an honest way of life is priceless

I'm looking at the lyrics of One Day by Kim Feel, I can’t just let go of the dreams that always remained in my heart So call out my name when I’ve turned around once more Far in the future, if we meet again in different times I hope we can say we lived dazzling lives Even if I’ve completely forgotten you Let’s start again slowly, just like then That dream I just think it speaks to JP and DM... hahaha... I'm so rooting for poor JP. He deserves to be happy.

Warning - this is an essay. This writer's one of the rare few whose dramas I will watch and re-watch to get a better understanding of the story she's trying to tell. And the director - he's really good. I like how he pieces the back stories and together, and very seamlessly too into the main storyline. You will notice how he repeats scenes, but with each repetition, a new thread is tied together. Love it. Love this creative team! @ChocolateMy hubs doesn't watch kdramas at all, but he likes this writer and only watches her shows. He too is of the same opinion as you - don't look at how the promo material was presented. In this iteration of the story she likes to tell (of ordinary folks, of daily pitfalls and triumphs through resilience, of love lost and love found), if the material stated up front that Jipyeong is the "chosen one", there would be no more tension in the story. It is this tension that's got us all hooked to the series now. @abs-oluteMI finally read the translated letters Jipyeong sent to Dalmi 15 years ago. You will remember scenes in the earlier episodes where they did show too that while Halmeoni started him on this letter writing thing, subsequently the letters were all him. He would check the bird house and read the letters alone, seated on the side curb and have that wistful look on his face. I actually wonder what happened when he left for the university and Dalmi stopped getting letters... About Dalmi's reactions... I'm still rooting for JP... Let the history do the talking... In the meantime, I want to go back to seeing how their businesses will move forward. I am interested to see what Demo Day will look like. I think Injae company and Samsan Tech are gonna butt heads again.

In what way is it lacking?

Was talking to my hubs about the story progress thus far and made him watch the “important” scenes from episode 9 (where Jipyeong gets angry at Halmeoni and Dalmi finds him at the birdhouse with his letter). Hubby has an interesting insight - he reckons Jipyeong is the chosen one. “It’s just how this writer’s story arc always goes. In the end, the girl always chooses, and she will simply choose who she wants. There’s nothing right or wrong. The other guy never does anything wrong to not be chosen. He just isn’t, and that’s that. Dalmi wants “Dosan” and that’s Jipyeong. Actual Dosan never stood a chance.” Like how Beomjo never stood a chance against Dalpo, and Wootak against Jaechan. Hmm... Are there other hints that Jipyeong might be the one? When Dalmi chose Jipyeong to be their mentor, it was because he was “family”. Dalmi also notes, Dosan was really a stranger after all. And Halmeoni may like Dosan, but she loves Jipyeong. Plus - I think while Dosan may want to go to Silicon Valley in order to win Dalmi, Dalmi really isn’t anyone’s trophy. I think he’s gonna go, spend 3 years there, come back to strengthen Samson Tech. And he would also leave knowing Dalmi would be with Jipyeong, and the 3 years would be a time of healing. Whaddya think?

So soon 100 days? Wow! So happy to have this alternative space to hang out at that’s a lot more chill! Loving it!

I feel that with Jipyeong, things are not so clear because while he has come to like Dalmi (I’m not sure if he’s in love with her yet, but he certainly likes her), he’s also got this back relationship with Halmeoni who’s the only family he has. That relationship alone makes things more complex because he will prioritise Halmeoni’s wishes above his own. Almost a flash back to Pinocchio where Dalpo held back acting on his feelings for Inha because of Halabeoji. In many ways, Dalmi+Dosan pairing seems less difficult and cumbersome. I love the relationship between Halmeoni and Jipyeong too. And for sure Halmeoni wants Jipyeong to be happy, so while it seems very intuitive to say she wanted Jipyeong to “sort things out” between Dosan and Dalmi, I cannot imagine that she would want to sacrifice Jipyeong’s happiness for Dalmi’s though... Such as the misunderstanding between him and Halmeoni regarding the money. I’m waiting for some sort of revelation or resolution in this regard. This relationship between Jipyeong and Halmeoni seems so precious - he’s like a grandson to her, and she’s never wanted anything back from him... surely she wouldn’t still now. Dunno. Need more re-watches and thinking.

It’s been such a busy time at work, and I’ve been meaning to put in my 4 cents worth but well... just never got down to it till now. We’re well past the midway mark now and there’s been quite a bit of focus on the relationships. Yesterday’s episode especially brought us up to that dreaded point - what would happen when Dalmi finds out the truth on her own? I’m not sure about everyone else in the room, but as much as I would like to see some kind of advancement in this tension that’s been building up, like Jipyeong and Dosan, perhaps I’d also like to avoid having to confront it. Based on the preview, it does seem like we’re gonna have to dwell on it a bit more, but I’d really like to bring our attention back to the business development side of things. Maybe cos I too don’t want to have to face the reality of how Dalmi would choose. And exactly how would she choose? Wouldn’t she be angry at both of them? In the preview she says Dosan was her dream, but who’s closer to her dream now? This is the first time I’m so invested in the second lead, yet I’m not so sure there’s actually a main and a second lead in this show. I’d like to believe too @abs-oluteM, that the writer is changing her style a bit here as far as the romance department is concerned. In all her other stories, the second leads were always very likeable characters, but the girl was always clear right from the start who it was she would pick. Her attention and focus was clear. This time however, Dalmi’s choice doesn’t seem quite so crystal. And both Dosan and Jipyeong are likeable - I’m still rooting for Jipyeong but I can’t help but also feel sorry for Dosan if he doesn’t get the girl in the end. Or maybe that would be left ambiguous for us at the end of the show.

@mademoiselle That gif of NDR and KSH just shows how good an actor NDR is that he's able to understand the adult character and the adult actor taking on that role. Ah... my hearteu! I feel so bad for Han Jipyeong. He deserves to have family. Not that I dislike NDS. Not at all. He's so dorky and sincere, he's difficult to dislike. But NDS has grown up with family and family love. HJP on the other hand has had it tough and after all of that time, he really deserves a family, especially in Halmeoni and SDM. These recent 2 episodes have not been as exciting as the earlier 4 episodes. They've been more informative about the world of start-ups and venture capitalists, the culture and philosophies that come with it. The writer's been setting up a few more characters while fleshing out the supporting ones - we know a bit more about how the 3 Sans came together and how far their friendship goes. We know better how NDS was as a child to date - he's humble, shies from the limelight and generally doesn't have to disposition to "make it big". This lie he's now living for the sake of SDM is the first time he's been ambitious about something, but again, not for himself. It would be interesting to see how all that might unravel when the truth emerges. We're also starting to see emerging leadership in SDM, possible because of the people who believe in her ability and are willing to invest in it. Stepdad is also featuring a bit more and Yoon taepyo's backstory along the Han River is piquing my interest. And of course, who's that hooded fella?

I’m not sure about this drama. There was something very placid about it. It was neither exciting, nor was it not. It was all in all very normal and in some ways therefore not very engaging. Yet it left me just that tad bit curious about what would happen next in their lives. Just not curious enough to keep me excited about following closely the episodes. All in all, life seems to be moving swimmingly for all of them. Nothing’s been said of how Jin-u’s studio is really doing, or of how his relationship with Haena closed (did it really end just like that?), and we don’t really know how Hyehyo’s career is moving. Did he really become as popular as Hyejun? Well, not every actor reaches Hallyu star status I guess... It’s nice that Grandpa finally does well for himself - eventually there’s a time and place for everyone to succeed if you put your mind to things. But that’s the thing about this show. Everything seems to be wrapped up a little too perfectly with almost no tension left for any kind of actual story development. And like many of you have noted - is this about PBG’s life? Hahaha...

OMG. This. Hahahaha... It was absolutely this. While watching Taeyi die for the nth time, I was sitting there wondering how many times the poor actress had to put on the same garb with the same makeup, and going “oof! He has killed me!” King:EM was absolute rubbish. You’re right. It was rubbish from early on and I’m no fan of Lee Minho so I lost interest early there too. But yes, Alice had a lot more promise. Until the writer wrote it into utter confusion. Like Tenet. I’ll bet the actors also saw no logic to what was going on. The thing about sci-fi, especially stories about time travel and the multiverse, is that you need to have a very clear concept of the trajectory of the story. The Korean way of “writing it as you shoot” cannot work for something like this. And this idea about a hard reset? I’m not sure it would’ve worked. I might have liked it better if they had made Minhyuk’s wishful replay of “what if” the ending instead.

Naw, it wasn't me. I was recounting a comment I read on another blog about JP. I'm totally in love with JP and think Dalmi should be with him. As @Chocolatepounted out, JP totally gets Dalmi whereas DS is the total opposite. DS has certainly developed a crush on Dalmi but right now he's trying to be all he's not just for her - not quite the right foundation for a relationship. He knows that everything Dalmi thinks he is, is actually JP. That scene outside her house after his "birthday party" where he keeps asking her what it is she likes about him was quite sad - for every statement she made, he thought to himself, "well, that's not me." But indeed, he's the one who wanted to keep the bluff gong because he somehow wanted to live up to those expectations she had of him. In a sense, it was the motivation he needed and he knew he could use this to get JP to finally agree to mentoring Samsan Tech. From Ep1, we do see that while Halmeoni started JP out on this letter writing thing and probably was involved in some of the crafting of the subsequent letters, JP carried on for a while on his own too. There's a lot of him in those letters and he'd kept her replies for years. He knew too that the meal Halmeoni prepared was for him and not Dosan per se, but up till episode 4, I'm still wondering why JP is so invested in turning Dosan into the man of Dalmi's dreams when he could be the one. Is it all because of Halmeoni? But Halmeoni said to stop the ruse already. As someone who's not eloquent and can barely look someone in the eye when talking, he was able to convince JP to go along with it still. I'm sure JP wasn't all that easily convinced by Dosan.

I too finally watched Ep 16, cos well, why the heck. I wanted to see how badly it would end. And yknow what, @mademoiselle? I’d say forget it. Not worth the brain cells. Like you ladies @im0202 @40somethingahjumma have said it, the show has broken its own rules until their explanation for the mess they created was that, well, that’s what time travel is - messy. Like, duh. The ending was just cringey. What were they still trying to do? Force a love line between Jingyeom and Taeyi? Wrong type of schmaltz there! And I agree with you, @40somethingahjumma- if anyone needed a reset, it should’ve been Minhyuk. What role did he really ultimately have in this entire story? The one who spawns the ultimate time traveller?? Wasted character. How could Jingyeom survive in another form with déjà vu memories? I think this year in Kdramaland, the only one that managed to make some good sense of time travel was Train. Alice and King:EM are contenders for the messiest time travel endings ever.

Park Hye-run's dramas are the only ones that have ever had me on repeat watches between new episodes! I'm so invested in this drama now. While it does seem like some things only happen in dramaland, like the scenes @JenLpointed out, fact is, you'd be surprised how much drama mirrors real life. PHR doesn't use impossible events to work on but rather, she appeals to our sense of serendipity in these events. And it is in these serendipitous moments that we also feel a sense of sorry for the characters when despite paths crossing, some things are still never meant to be. Like the Chinese say, 有缘无分 - fated without a destiny (together). Someone wrote on one of the blogs about this drama that she wouldn't be sorry for Jipyeong that he would very likely not get the girl because his motivations were not all purely for Dalmi's sake - from the letters to stepping in to look for Dosan, he was acting on Halmeoni's instructions. Dosan on the other hand went for a makeover of his own accord, and appeared at the event out of absolute sincerity to want to help someone who was seemingly in need. Dosan just comes across as being very innocent, naive and pure of heart. In comparison, Jipyeong is guarded and calculative, and so probably missed many opportunities to win Dalmi's heart. That said though, I still feel these traits shouldn't discount him from being a worthy suitor. He's had a tough life and had to grow up quickly. If not for Halmeoni, he would have been a pricklier person. At this point, I wonder too like Halmeoni why he's suddenly thinking about his 15 year debt. Is he doing this for Halmeoni or for Dalmi? Jipyeong's story is just richer and I'm gonna root for him even though it seems quite futile.

I’m 20 minutes into Episode 3 and I’m in love with Jipyeong already! It’s gonna be so heartbreaking that he’s not going to get the girl!

Oh dear... I'm not sure I know what's going on here... hahaha...

Just done watching ep15, and good grief. What a bloodbath. Just how many characters gave up their lives in this one episode and to what end again? And how many times did Taeyi die in Jingyeom's arms from the start of the series to this point? Sheesh. Agreed that as far as the story goes, nothing's helped in unraveling the mess of time travel created within this show itself. Like you, @40somethingahjumma, I tend to understand the multiverse like how it was presented in Train and King:EM, but there are theories out there that also suggest parallel worlds and multiple selves with no differences at all, and this seems to be what they're trying to present here. Yet the story telling doesn't seem to be keeping very well within these chosen parameters and we're left with a very confusing mess. And if the explanation is just, "See? I told you so - time travel in any form results in a mess," then that's just poor storytelling, and as @mademoisellepointed out - poor directing. What I'm taking away from this penultimate episode is just this - Time will continue to move regardless of actors within its continuum, regardless of dimension. Actions will also continue to play out, regardless of countless attempts to redirect them. And if everything is preordained before all worlds were created, then there is no real agency in anyone. Any attempt to change the realities will still result in all iterations of the self to seek resolution for conflict by collapsing them all into a single frame. What then is the story they really want to tell then? Now, where is Detective Buff?

@abs-oluteM Feels like a conversation between us at the moment. Hahaha... I do like the relaxed atmosphere at Janghaven though. No pressure to “back read” and explain ourselves for coming in “midway” to the discussion. But I digress. The real topic at hand is Kim Seon Ho! I too love how Jipyeong’s character has been set up and how NDR really portrayed his younger self so well. You can see KSH’s JP in NDR’s and vice versa. I’m also loving JP’s relationship with Halmeoni. Theirs is a special one and only Halmeoni can see JP’s heart for what it really is. He can never say no to her. I just love how this writer develops her stories and she’s a great team with this director. He’s able to bring out those emotions so well in a single scene and episode. You connect quickly with the characters because yes, while they seem to be common drama tropes, it’s never presented in a cringey, predictable way. Rather, the characters are relatable and real — emotionally within reach of viewers. My husband did point out (and she’s the only writer whose dramas he’s ever. been willing to watch) that her characters always seem to have a tragic beginning. Something very pitiful about them. Yet they are also characters that have more than that pitiful past about them. They’re all overcomers, so you don’t feel so much emotionally dragged down watching them. Rather there’s always a great desire to root for them. And as much as I’m still not too keen on NJH as NDS, I must say I am rooting for DS to succeed. On that note of wanting DS to succeed, I don’t think it is that JP didn’t accurately assess DS’s business idea. The 3 of them - Samsan - are quite like the 3 stooges. Except they’re genius stooges. The competition they’ve won is a coding competition and it’s likely the companies out there are simply waiting to buy their idea and codes. But they won’t be able to sustain themselves. That korean guy on the judging panel indeed looks suspicious. I’m not sure he will have Samsan’s interest at heart. And perhaps that’s where JP will come in and be that Sherpa, cos he can’t bear to see Dalmi get disappointed because by then, she would be herself also invested in Samsan’s interests. The best scene in the first 2 episodes? Apa quiet passing in the bus. It was so beautifully shot - there were so many emotions coursing through my veins when I watched it. It was heart wrenching, but also somehow beautiful. A certain regret but also peace in that scene. He died knowing he had succeeded; he died not knowing his wife had remarried; he died knowing Dalmi loved him. I think all considered, his heart was full.

@abs-oluteM OMO. I've watched it and love it! It's the writer. The writer is really good. I'm still not sure about NJH, but like you, I love how they've set up Han Jipyeong's character - Nam Dareum is just so good... anyone who has him playing the younger version of themselves should naturally be in the running for the lead, no? Hahaha... I'm already rooting for the second lead, but knowing how this writer sets up the characters in her stories, we can almost guarantee Jipyeong stands no chance against Dosan. Not unless this is the first time she changes that in her story style...

@abs-oluteMThanks for the tag! I like the writer and that alone is worth the watch methinks. Let me watch the first episode to see if the actors are able to carry this script. I like Suzy, but have never been too sure about Nam Joo-hyuk. I've always found him to be a pretty face who can act some, rather than an actor with a pretty face (sorry to his fans!). But let's see. He might surprise yet?

Who's still following the show? I have to say, any kind of story based on time travel and parallel worlds have to be very carefully crafted. The logic of time travel in itself is already so difficult to decipher. Throw in the concept and different theories of the multiverse - it gets even more complex. If the logic isn't followed through carefully, everything can unravel into a mess that becomes difficult and frustrating to follow. I feel like the writers of Alice have gotten us to this point. Where exactly are we being tangled at now? In my own attempt to make sense of what's going on, especially now that we've finally seen the last page of the book, I reckon this is what it is. Or could be: Every multiverse is an exact replica of the world we are in - the same people, same events, same stimuli. Everything is the same. Therefore if Taeyi in universe A would discover time travel, Taeyi in universe B would also do the same. If Minhyuk in universe A fell in love with Taeyi, Minhyuk in universe B would also do the same. This would explain what Minhyuk said about the multiple selves and their memories attempting to merge into a single person after they have met their other selves from different dimensions. What follows then is the break in the harmonies of the multiverses, causing a temporal collapse - which is what the multiple Taeyis are trying to resolve. This "break" occurred first when Taeyi's mother - a woman of the future - broke the temporal logic of time sequencing and went back to the past and married there. A person who should not have existed in the past has now done so, lived and died before she was actually meant to be born. That's the first time fissure in this story. So Taeyi 2050 (who was probably then born in 2020) is now born in 1986 in one particular universe. The second fissure is when Taeyi 2050 of Universe X comes to probably another universe - let's call it "Y" - and encounters herself, but in 1992 instead. So she should not have encountered herself at all, but she did. Thus begins an attempt to collapse all memories into a single being because they met, but Taeyi 2050X has memories Taeyi1992Y has not even lived through yet. This must create tension. Maybe it contributed to the apparent memory losses that suddenly come together when Taeyi2020Y is now the adult in the form ready to discover time travel. The third fissure is when Jingyeom, a baby conceived in the future is birthed in the past. This must be the ultimate illogic in the temporal sequencing of life and therefore becomes key in the book of prophecy which must have been written by someone in the future who saw this - now, who is this? The story so far points to Taeyi1986Y's mother who found the book and went into the past with it. Why she did, no one by Ep 14 supposedly knows. But possibly Taeyi 2050X's mother might have known about. But with so many criss-crosses and further travels - I suggest that Taeyi 2010 who got stabbed is now from Universe Z - the multiverse is really experiencing some kind of temporal collapse. Nevermind the other versions of those people including the Director and all his evil selves against his good self that got killed in X and Z (and maybe Y too, but who cares now). Point is, Taeyi in all her converging selves now knows that the only way to prevent this temporal collapse is to reset everything. But resetting means "deleting" temporal illogic, and that would mean eliminating Jingyeom. But would it really be that way? He would simply have been born in 2050 at the right time. But if the logic of time and history prevail, then once this is reset, it will happen all over again... Maybe that's why Taeyi in all her older self iterations (that did not move through a negative time existence, i.e. conceived and born in the past to a person of the future) believe that resetting is pointless. And maybe, just maybe, the logic in all of this is that Taeyi 2020X must be the one to break the cycle. Perhaps she will be the only person who will disappear from every timeline out there. My head hurts.

I feel bad that I’m quite gleeful about Hyejun doing better than Hyehyo. This is proving to be a very nice feel-good story — underdog wins! It’s a very simple, easy going story. No major upheavals, no major plot twists, age old story of hard work and talent eventually pays off... that sort of drama. It was even nice to see that despite all, Hyejun’s older brother is still indeed an older brother who will step in the defend his younger brother when time time calls for it. Even with the coming Charlie Jung scandal, you can imagine nothing catastrophically major would happen. All that said, perhaps I do still wish for something a wee bit edgier. The relationship between Hye-jun and Jeong-ha lack passion, Hye-hyo seems too passively accepting of his parents’ meddling (perhaps that’s exactly what it is to be), Doha is quite 2D and seemingly doomed to peter out into oblivion... even the relationship between Jin-u and Hye-na isn’t coming close to causing real tension with Hye-hyo. Everything’s quite simple and placid. We’re at episode 10 already. Is this how we’re planning to cruise to the finish line? I guess youthful records aren’t quite so exciting after all?

"...the confusing plot line of 'Alice' which continues to push for a romance between a man (Jin-gyeom) and a woman (Tae-yi)... has received negative reviews...many are unable to accept this forced relationship..." https://meaww.com/alice-episode-11-12-will-not-air-joo-won-show-return-chuseok-holiday-sbs