Sisyphus: The Myth / 시지프스: The Myth - [2021]

[katakwasabi]

4 minutes ago, Chocolate said:

No bananas in the future? 😂

 

 

But the future does look bleak. No greenery so maybe fruits are luxuries.

 

 

Too bad they don't teach food-of-the-past in thd future 🥲. They should add that topic in future history class.

[Chocolate]

We like a girl with attitude!

 

 

[Iwa-chan]

52 minutes ago, Chocolate said:

Because of the title "Sisyphus", I thought it would be like Edge of Tomorrow, whether the protagonists get killed and then wake up and try again until they find the solution to get past an event without dying. So when Seo Hae was killed during the "wedding", I thought when she woke up, it was another try. Tae Sul was shot in the interrogation room, then he woke up in his bed and his bodyguard/driver said he found him and brought him back - I thought he died, and woke up for another try. Not so sure now because of how the scenes just carried on

To be honest I am confused with many things. I am gonna keep watching till ep 6 to see where the plot is going. The scene transitions doesn't help at all. I am hoping they will explain these in upcoming episodes. The plot sure has potential but needs to be executed properly. 

[movingwheel]

3 minutes ago, pompyavi said:

To be honest I am confused with many things. I am gonna keep watching till ep 6 to see where the plot is going. The scene transitions doesn't help at all. I am hoping they will explain these in upcoming episodes. The plot sure has potential but needs to be executed properly. 

i did not understand quite a few like when shin hye had a dream of their marriage and she is coming from future??? thats why she said that he should not open the box? is it? secondly why the hell govt was keeping it away?? thirdly that secretary guy also seem to be crooked... this particular actor never played any straight role either.... i think i think he knows a lot of things...

[Iwa-chan]

4 minutes ago, movingwheel said:

i did not understand quite a few like when shin hye had a dream of their marriage and she is coming from future??? thats why she said that he should not open the box? is it? secondly why the hell govt was keeping it away?? thirdly that secretary guy also seem to be crooked... this particular actor never played any straight role either.... i think i think he knows a lot of things...

I will list down the things that are confusing to me.:

1. In ep 1 the train scene where Seo Hae was relaxing at the top of a train and the drone vanished. How did she get away from that many people?
2. She has a diary with some already happened events, I assume this is not her first time traveling to past. She does not know how to eat banana, so whenever a person goes back in time he/she loses memory??????
3. The marriage scene.. was it Seo hae remembering or the scene came out of nowhere??
4. She was being shot and then we see the wound was bleeding. I don't know what happened.. Was it the same wound or she got hurt while fleeing from those control bureau guys?
5. I believe the body flickering thing will be explained. But if I have to take a guess then it could be since Seo Hae belongs to another timeline.. may be a wormhole kind of phenomenon takes place everytime one travels back to past and that wormhole might try to skew all the timelines. 

 

[movingwheel]

14 minutes ago, pompyavi said:

I will list down the things that are confusing to me.:

1. In ep 1 the train scene where Seo Hae was relaxing at the top of a train and the drone vanished. How did she get away from that many people?
2. She has a diary with some already happened events, I assume this is not her first time traveling to past. She does not know how to eat banana, so whenever a person goes back in time he/she loses memory??????
3. The marriage scene.. was it Seo hae remembering or the scene came out of nowhere??
4. She was being shot and then we see the wound was bleeding. I don't know what happened.. Was it the same wound or she got hurt while fleeing from those control bureau guys?
5. I believe the body flickering thing will be explained. But if I have to take a guess then it could be since Seo Hae belongs to another timeline.. may be a wormhole kind of phenomenon takes place everytime one travels back to past and that wormhole might try to skew all the timelines. 

 

1. and also those control bureau people were not looking up to find her... they were focussing down.... is it cinematic liberation or it has some inner meaning?

2. if she lost memory then why was she asked by her father to keep herself away from tae sul... her father might know about something./ eating banana like that can probably because she liked to eat like that ...but when she was asked to eat it by peeling it , she liked it... but it can also be because she wanted to keep her charade ... she might liked banana as whole...none knows.... :D i think it is indeed sounding lame.... but then again its what i am assuming..

3 & 4. shot by whom? they did not show the face... 

5. hmmm lets wait for it... 

[abs-oluteM]

@movingwheel @pompyavi So what I am guessing is this:

1. The train bit with no one looking up is another is another form of exaggeration by the PD - just like the plane scene and her fight scenes. Considering how lavish the sets are, and the 4 years they took to write this story, this is something that I find ridiculous. Like @Chocolate says , I will need to suspend belief. They clearly wanted to have a very flashy set up but they are sloppy with the details. 

 

2&3.  I don't think it is  her first time travelling to the present. Or they could be multiple timelines (though that may spell disaster for the drama if not handled properly) . From what I understand , she dreamt about the wedding scene where she got shot and I suspect it was something that she has experienced before. This would match the logic that she keeps coming back to the present each time her mission failed & why she wrote what she did in her book. (She  seems to forget to remind herself though about not eating banana skins! LOL!) That 1st scene with her father, I believe , was because they had known what happened to her when she met Han Tae Sul . That's why he forbids her to meet him  ( but of course she wants to save him against her father's wishes)

 

4. The shot that she got during the wedding was on her left. The one that she was checking in the train station was on her right. So assuming it is not an editing error, the wounds are not relate

 

[abs-oluteM]

17 minutes ago, abs-oluteM said:

4. The shot that she got during the wedding was on her left. The one that she was checking in the train station was on her right. So assuming it is not an editing error, the wounds are not relate

My apologies...I checked again. I realised she was looking at the mirror in the train station. So it could  very well  be the same wound. So this reinforces the theory that this is not her 1st time coming back to the present

[Iwa-chan]

17 minutes ago, abs-oluteM said:

I don't think it is  her first time travelling to the present. Or they could be multiple timelines (though that may spell disaster for the drama if not handled properly) . From what I understand , she dreamt about the wedding scene where she got shot and I suspect it was something that she has experienced before. This would match the logic that she keeps coming back to the present each time her mission failed & why she wrote what she did in her book. (She  seems to forget to remind herself though about not eating banana skins! LOL!) That 1st scene with her father, I believe , was because they had known what happened to her when she met Han Tae Sul . That's why he forbids her to meet him  ( but of course she wants to save him against her father's wishes)

Yes this is definitely not her first time. And the memory losing thing is also contradicting, if she lost her memory she should not have known the lottery ticket number. But again she checked the diary and then got to know that she should warn Tae Sul to not open the suitcase. 

As you said multi timeline looks cool but if not handled properly will lead to a disaster. Just because this is changed from scifi to mystery fantasy does not mean we will accept anything. Atleast i can't . I am not expecting them to follow any scientific accuracy but I hope they lay down their own rules and don't bend that. My main confusion is how Seo Hae got to know Tae Sul for the first time?? Did she meet him for the first time when she time traveled for the first time??? Or did both of them belong to same timeline and Tae Sul died and she kept traveling to past? Then that would mean there are atleast two Seo hae, one from future and the other one of the current timeline..  Or will it be like DARK where there is no ending and no beginning?

[katakwasabi]

Honestly...as of ep 2 I'm planning to stick around for laughs. I made gifs for several ???? moments.

 

Hero of the moment: duct tape 🩹

(ps: can anyone verify his world war ii statement?)

 

Genius changing bulbs without turning of the light 🥲

[mademoiselle]

@katakwasabi He's got gloves on and those probably not high voltage.

 

On a serious note, I know Tae Sul is a genius from the get-go but he's too good with almost everything. Not only I'm getting a Terminator vibe from the plot/PSH, but Tae Sul is like Macguyver + Dr. Brown (Back to the Future) and many more. And the possibility of dying and returning again to right the past as you guys have speculated, if that's the case then this reminds me of Source Code.

 

Judging by just the first two episodes, the execution of Sisyphus did not meet expectation. I can see they are trying to impress, but the end result didn't work out well. The scene which you guys have already pointed out for PSH on the roof, I also agree. She was like Rambo with everyone shooting at her and miraculously all of them suck at aiming. I've the same question about her chilling on top of the train while the men zero in on her below.

 

And then the whole scene where Tae Sul blew up his first lab was ridiculous just like the plane scene because it'd have taken a long time to prepare what he did and by then the Control Bureau guys would have got to him already.

 

The editing team may want to work on their editing skills a bit.

 

At this point, the show definitely has a LOT of holes to fill (not just plotholes) and questions to answer. The question is will the show remember later?

Edited February 20, 2021 by mademoiselle

[katakwasabi]

5 minutes ago, mademoiselle said:

@katakwasabi He's got gloves on and those probably not high voltage.

 

Omo. I missed the gloves. Hahaha. I still would not change bulbs without turning off power, glove or no glove 😆.

 

Severely tasteless moments from ep 2. I sincerely hope it does not repeat. How these lines were approved and no one realized how off it sounds is beyond me.

 

That and the FL telling the guy who helped her to strip because she wants what he's wearing, jacket, shirt and pants. Please don't make this a recurring thing for her. 

[ktcjdrama]

1 hour ago, katakwasabi said:

 

That and the FL telling the guy who helped her to strip because she wants what he's wearing, jacket, shirt and pants. Please don't make this a recurring thing for her. 

This part I have to comment since you brought it up... just right next to him is an open wardrobe with probably fresh clothes hanging, and she wanted the ones on his body? 😆 Down to the pants, and I don’t think they’re of the same size. Baggy/oversized shirt and jacket is fine, but pants? 🤔😆

[Chocolate]

1 hour ago, ktcjdrama said:

This part I have to comment since you brought it up... just right next to him is an open wardrobe with probably fresh clothes hanging, and she wanted the ones on his body? 😆 Down to the pants, and I don’t think they’re of the same size. Baggy/oversized shirt and jacket is fine, but pants? 🤔😆

Me too! I was thinking surely he must have clean clothes. Why would you want the ones he’s been wearing the whole day and smells of him? Eeek!

 

I’m wondering how this time travel thing actually works. Do they actually take some transportation or is it like “beam me up Scotty”? And if they die in the past, do they die die or they just wake up in the future and start again? If Seo Hae has returned to the past many times, it means she was unsuccessful previously - so did she have to die or was there another way for her to return to the future?

 

I’m also not sure there is memory loss. That could just make everything so complicated and there seems to be so many questions to be answered.

Guess we’ll find out in the subsequent episodes. But agree with @mademoiselle that there are a lot of holes. I can accept the exaggerations/inaccuracies if the mystery part is done well.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Chocolate

[Iwa-chan]

http://m.slist.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=228384

 

Found this while browsing twitter. Read it with Google translate. At the last the production crew said that "it will be much easier to interpret if the reasoning is based on the fact that Seo Hae and Tae Sul are in the continuous cycle of sisyphus ". 

That means one of my assumption was correct that the loop is already going on. We don't know what's the starting point of the loop. That is something to look forward in the upcoming episodes. 

Also in ep 1, I guess we saw Tae sul got a letter from a kid in elementary? school stating that she wants to marry him. I guess that she is Seo Hae. If it is then there are two Seo Hae's: one from future and the present one. I am curious how sisyphus will handle the concept..

 

I also think that the person who broke into Tae sul's penthouse is he himself. I mean his future self. On that basis if I have to make another assumption then the future Tae Sul want the events to happen the same way as it always had happened in earlier cycles so that the present Tae sul can become the way the future Tae Sul is..

[abs-oluteM]

2 minutes ago, pompyavi said:

also think that the person who broke into Tae sul's penthouse is he himself. I mean his future self. On that basis if I have to make another assumption then the future Tae Sul want the events to happen the same way as it always had happened in earlier cycles so that the present Tae sul can become the way the future Tae Sul is..

Omg...this is an interesting theory. 

The words on his wall was: Don't go look for your brother or you would die.

Those are definitely words of someone who wants to protect him & given how high the security is in his home, it could not have been broken in by anyone else.

 

I was very curious about why this drama was named as such. 

https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/sisyphus/summary/

After reading, I was wondering if it means that they will be in endless cycles of resets because the mission is bound to fail. LOL! 

 

Spoiler

The central concern of The Myth of Sisyphus is what Camus calls "the absurd." Camus claims that there is a fundamental conflict between what we want from the universe (whether it be meaning, order, or reasons) and what we find in the universe (formless chaos). We will never find in life itself the meaning that we want to find. Either we will discover that meaning through a leap of faith, by placing our hopes in a God beyond this world, or we will conclude that life is meaningless. Camus opens the essay by asking if this latter conclusion that life is meaningless necessarily leads one to commit suicide. If life has no meaning, does that mean life is not worth living? If that were the case, we would have no option but to make a leap of faith or to commit suicide, says Camus. Camus is interested in pursuing a third possibility: that we can accept and live in a world devoid of meaning or purpose.

 

(there's more in the link)

 

...........according to the Greek myth, was punished for all eternity to roll a rock up a mountain only to have it roll back down to the bottom when he reaches the top. Camus (the person wh who  claims that Sisyphus is the ideal absurd hero and that his punishment is representative of the human condition: Sisyphus must struggle perpetually and without hope of success. So long as he accepts that there is nothing more to life than this absurd struggle, then he can find happiness in it. 

 

 

 

 

[ktcjdrama]

Now I am super worried... Will the writer be able to pull off a good enough story/plot until the end? 

[40somethingahjumma]

Frankly speaking for myself 2 episodes is far too early to talk about plot holes. As the other half said to us the other evening, we don't know anything much. We could certainly speculate. As for the humour, it works for me for the most part. And yes, I suspect it's on the wacky side in these early days and quite deliberate. I am surprised by that because I was under the impression from the early trailers that this was marketed as a serious action adventure drama.

 

At this point, the only thing I'm really critical about is the action sequences... they feel cartoony but then I don't know much about the technology that's being used here for the guns and the movements of the Control Bureau. I definitely get a Men in Black vibe from the CB and they seem very over-the-top. They're so ridiculously indiscreet -- what's with the large contingent of black cars travelling together in the middle of suburbia. Are that many people really required to apprehend one illegal immigrant from the future? Seeing how incompetent they appear to be... perhaps.

 

The show undoubtedly is trying hard (maybe too hard) not to give anything away too early. It's mischievously playing with interspersing memories with seeming flashforwards creating confusion (quite deliberately I'm sure) as to what's what. Are they oracles? Or are they memories? For her they might be memories... for him they're just clues to a future he has no idea of. On the other hand, they could just be possibilities that are open to disruption.

 

Eddie Kim and Kim Seo-jin are suspicious not so much because they are seeing each other without his knowledge but they know things... they're hiding crucial information from him that either have something to do with the company or his brother. I wonder if they belong to another agency in this separate from the Control Bureau or the Broker. There are clearly all kinds of agendas at play here and they don't necessarily align. The time travel business hasn't been fully explored especially we don't really know why 2035 is such a disaster that people are queuing up, risking being caught to be sent back to 2020. What's happened in that 15 year period? WW3? A piece of tech that shouldn't have been discovered? Presumably. From the little we've seen, and no agriculture it looks to be a post-apocalyptic world. That's a fascinating aspect to the storyline that I'd like to see extrapolated down the track. 

 

The brother angle as I've said, reminds me of Nine. Especially because the brother here also seems a bit off his rocker (but misunderstood) claiming to have uncovered some conspiracy and did not die when he was thought to have. He's obviously done some time travelling hence the suitcase. 

 

Can Tae-sul trust anyone around him even Bong-seon? What if his entire life and his success has been part of a bigger conspiracy? It's possible.

[Iwa-chan]

6 minutes ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

I am surprised by that because I was under the impression from the early trailers that this was marketed as a serious action adventure drama.

Same here. I also don't get any sense of seriousness. I mean they are trying to save the world but the color shading, background score makes certain scenes light hearted. As you said it's just 2 episodes, may be the upcoming episodes would answer our questions but at the same time I fear they are trying to make it look more complicated. CSW is my favorite actor and I trust his decision. Oppa fighting!!!

[Alice Wonderland]

Just done watching. Well, so far I dont realky get what's really going on here? Two eps passed but I am still wondering what are these control bureau people who keep chasing them? R they alliens? Why is SH is numbered and those guys are weaeing mask?? 

 

I like the comedy they slip in to the plane scene. Lol, it seems the male lead knows that it's not the time for him to die. 

 

And the action scene is just so good. I like how SH is kicking those guys and gave them that f sign, lol. The blond guy, isnt he joining as a team with her and TS? He seems good guy. 

[40somethingahjumma]

21 minutes ago, ktcjdrama said:

Now I am super worried... Will the writer be able to pull off a good enough story/plot until the end? 

 

There's always that danger as far as K dramaland is concerned because let's face it, their track record with science fiction is spotty. But maybe I'm an unerring optimist and I always hope that they learn lessons from past duds and do the necessary tweaks and fixes.   And actually, as a whole, I'm seeing some improvements as the industry attempts to break out into new territory. Anyway, I'm going to keep going for now and if it goes off the rails somewhere in the middle, I'll be the first to jump ship because I have only so many hours in a day to waste on dramas.

 

What I really want to see is the show make really good use of the time travel mechanics similar to how 365 or Signal or Kairos used the idea of resetting and its consequences. Of course I'm not saying they have to do the same thing although I suspect that's where they're going with this story. My problem with K sci-fi has largely to do with the way they use tropes and mechanics as a one-trick plot device. It's usually a vehicle to facilitate some kind of fatalistic encounter and that's its sole purpose which is almost never explored further. It's very different from the sci-fi I grew up with in which the mechanics feature heavily in the storytelling either thematically or to drive the plot... rather than the plot use it as a "get-out-of-jail" card.

 

I love the look of the teleportation device in this... which is why I think this show will do the time travel better than some others. It reminds me of the gate room in the Stargate franchise. All that's missing from it is the big ring with the symbols. Heh. At least I get the feeling that the time travel mechanic is at the core of this story and Han Tae-sul et al who are not privy to anything act like people who are confused an dcan't believe what's going on. 

 

There's also I suppose the possibility that they go for a "rinse and repeat" at the end which might annoy some.

 

31 minutes ago, pompyavi said:

Same here. I also don't get any sense of seriousness. I mean they are trying to save the world but the color shading, background score makes certain scenes light hearted. As you said it's just 2 episodes, may be the upcoming episodes would answer our questions but at the same time I fear they are trying to make it look more complicated. CSW is my favorite actor and I trust his decision. Oppa fighting!!!

 

I'm not too concerned about that. As you well know, it's customary for K dramas to start off a bit more light-hearted and get really serious as the show progresses so that might be all it is. CSW doesn't do a lot of dramas, I 've noticed, so there must be something about this one that got his attention. 

 

Rather than complicated, I think they're just trying to prolong the mystery for as long as possible. There's a whole world of something out there that Tae-sul doesn't know about. The preview for this week's episodes were revealing though.

[UnniSara]

Hello everyone 

So happy to see @40somethingahjumma @ktcjdrama @abs-oluteM @Alice Wonderland here in this thread. I am late to the party . I enjoy watching CSW when watching his episode back to back. 
 

I just finished the first episode. I wasn’t sure if I would love it but damn I do love it.
TS has major issues but his brother loved him a lot. He has gone through a lot of trouble to protect him or is it someone else.I don’t like the people around TS. They are all around him for his brilliance and are desperate to control him. Why is that?? I hope to see Tae San alive . 

 

Hae Na was told to avoid Tae Su, but she doesn’t. We also know that Hae Na already claimed him when she was young after he saved all the people in airplane. 
 

Will come back after watching episode 2. 
 

 

[UnniSara]

episode 2 has been watched. My point  of view or maybe I am crazy. What if Tae Su isn’t really hallucinating but really swing his brother at a frequency his brother can only see him.  
Tae San has left his brother a Time step map for him to follow and left the rest for him to see
 

I wonder is Tae San and Tae Su really that much different. I think Tae San preferred old stuff while his brother love science &Technology. Episode. 1 &2 has left us with big cliffhangers  

1. Who threw the suitcase?

2. Was the plane accident an assignation attempt

3. A warning of Danger 

4 . Who is the Controll Burreau?

5. What does Tae San wants to tell his brother?

 

 

[SilverMoonTea]

Could their marriage be a sham / fake one to get visa to enter to the other world? As the words immigrant and control bureau keep popping up? 

 

It probably needed to be done for their safety? Eventhough the impact maybe repulsive, as we saw them get shot instead. 

 

His position as top Forbes seems have impact to the bureau, so being his wife could give her more privilege? Or its the other way for him to gain entry to the other world? 

 

I have not convinced yet, if it's a pure love? Their body language seems a bit distant and odd. 

 

 

The BTS more loving hahaha...

 

[Alice Wonderland]

A lot to discuss just in two episodes and I got nothing to guess really. Lol

 

Well, for now I will sit back and watch next episodes calmly.