Reflection of You / Person Who Looks Like You 너를 닮은 사람 [2021]

[akikisetsu]

On 12/3/2021 at 1:51 PM, liddi said:

Similarly, AHS' words to Dongmi reminds us why GHW suffered so terribly from their betrayal. To be abandoned without any word, left forever wondering why they were cast aside without being dignified with an explanation, is far worse than being told the reason for their departure. Thus I applaud his decision to stop looking for her and focus on the family who needs him, something I wish GHW had chosen to do instead of allowing herself to be driven to prolonged despair.

True, it is harder to let go under this circumstances, no premonition and WJ/HJ just up and left.  The self-directed blame will likely happened especially taking into account both Hannah and AHS's personality and love for the 2 cheaters.  If it was the other way around, WJ/HJ who were left without any word, it would have been different and both will instead get angry at the one who left and can easily let go.  But going back to AHS and GHW, maybe it was also easier for AHS to stop is coz he has his kids to focus on and they need him.  I mean GHW lost hers, hence even that she needed to untie.

 

On 12/3/2021 at 1:51 PM, liddi said:

 

Initially, I balked at GHW's complicity in JHJ's self-imposed exile, disappointed that in the end, she still took the chance for vengeance when offered to her. However, thinking back, I now believe that there could not have been any other option short of exposing Li-sa, and it was not malice that drove her decision. Had it been JHJ, I believe GHW would not have hesitated to hand over the bloodied pen over to the police and expose SWJ's murder, even if AHS would have lawyered up to get her absolved of any crime. However, because it was Li-sa who dealt the fatal blow, GHW could not bring herself to implicate the girl who was an innocent party from the start and should not have had to deal with the aftermath of her mother's wrongdoing. 

 

 

I rmb the bar owners words towards Haewon's Mom (kudos to her for apologising and owning up to her crimes), even if she was also a victim but she still did commit the wrongdoings, hence she should pay for it so she can start fresh. This has always been the issue with HJ and her inability to grasp the concept of owning up to one's mistake, which runs in the family from the Grandma to even AHS.  The video upload issue with JY and Lisa, they just don't go to the bottom of everything and just sweeps it under the rug and solves the problem favouring Lisa.  And Lisa knows it, hence even till the end (and with what she went through and lost) we can still see a bratty and a girl who comes across as knowing that she can get away with everything.  

 

[liddi]

@akikisetsu I think GHW pinned all her hopes and dreams on SWJ, especially when she knew she was pregnant, which is why her world shattered after he left her without a word and she lost her baby after that. I wish she had made a conscious decision to move on even though it is so difficult not having any closure. As much as I dislike SWJ, he was right when he said she had people who cared about her, particularly knowing how much her grandpa loved her and saved her from suicide. If only she had found comfort in their love, and obtained the strength to move on. However, I think the reason she couldn't was because he left her without any explanation, not once but twice. The first time when he upped and left for Ireland after their marriage. The second time when he called her, promising to return and explain everything, only to once again leave her waiting in vain after dangling hope in front of her, and that was the reason she finally snapped. I wish with the recovery of his memories, GHW finally knew what he promised to tell her when he called, but instead we see an obsessive man running after JHJ with scant regard for the woman he wronged. It speaks to her resolve that she finally chose to sign the divorce papers without ever hearing the explanation she had waited so long for, so I believe that even if he had not died, she would have moved on at last.

 

It is true that Li-sa is always sheltered from the aftermath of her actions, from the malicious posts she uploaded of LJY, to stabbing SWJ. We are not told if Li-sa's parents actually knew the root cause of LJY's video upload. Certainly, JHJ was not interested in the details, only brushing it aside and demanding that GHW tell LJY that this was the wrong approach even if Li-sa was to blame. Therein lies the arrogance of the rich and powerful, believing that they could get away with anything because they are far more privileged. Nonetheless, I am glad GHW advised LJY to stop based on the principle that it was not true. It is regrettable that she herself ended up mired in the lies that both she and JHJ cooked up to protect Li-sa even though JHJ finally apologised and agreed to give up everything in return. I don't believe they did Li-sa any favours in doing so even though she may not have known what she actually did. Still, from what we are shown, Li-sa too has moved on alongside the rest of her family.

 

Another BTS was released today... can we still have more please, JTBC?

 

Edited December 7, 2021 by liddi

[AABattery]

13 hours ago, liddi said:

I think GHW pinned all her hopes and dreams on SWJ, especially when she knew she was pregnant, which is why her world shattered after he left her without a word and she lost her baby after that. I wish she had made a conscious decision to move on even though it is so difficult not having any closure. As much as I dislike SWJ, he was right when he said she had people who cared about her, particularly knowing how much her grandpa loved her and saved her from suicide. If only she had found comfort in their love, and obtained the strength to move on. However, I think the reason she couldn't was because he left her without any explanation, not once but twice. The first time when he upped and left for Ireland after their marriage. The second time when he called her, promising to return and explain everything, only to once again leave her waiting in vain once more after dangling hope in front of her, and that was the reason she finally snapped. I wish with the recovery of his memories, GHW finally knew what he promised to tell her when he called, but instead we see an obsessive man running after JHJ with scant regard for the woman he wronged. It speaks to her resolve that she finally chose to sign the divorce papers without ever hearing the explanation she had waited so long for, so I believe that even if he had not died, she would have moved on at last.

@liddiThank you.  My interpretation on HW is very similar to yours, and you have articulated all the thoughts so well in your posts!  I hope the drama could have spent a little more time digging into HW's POV, esp. on how she and WJ interacted with each other before HJ entered their lives.  I would think it was not purely one-sided, that her brightness must have attracted WJ to a degree to be in a relationship with her, to admire her creating artwork, and to allow a child be conceived in the process.  I do not agree with many of HW's actions, esp. on how she involved children in her plots, but I also did not like the feeling of her being portrayed on the face value almost as an overly obsessed woman just from purely one-sided affection from the beginning.  This also made me applaud the actress SHB, that she took on a very dark role knowing that it is not likely to attract much affinity from the viewers, and she delivered the darkness very well.  

 

I also think while on the face value HJ agreed to leave to protect Lisa (not just to protect her from legal implications, but to not let her have the knowledge of WJ's death), it was also something HJ wanted to do on her own volition.  I do not think she was forced to leave due the HW's threats.  She asked HW to spare Lisa and she started offering up all the arrangements.  If HJ had made up her mind not to leave, I believe (as the HJ that we knew) she would have found way to make it happen.  But I think HJ has finally come to realize the magnitude of the terrible consequences from all her actions, lies, greed, etc. that she decided to run away vs. stay and work together with HS to face all the consequences and solve issues.  Did I like it that HW went along with HJ's plan? No. But again, I think HJ played a bigger part of her own departure than HW.  I agreed that it seems that the ending seemed to indicate the all but HJ has moved on, and HJ is now free to decide how to live the rest of her life.  

[liddi]

@AABattery Thank you very much for your kind words. 

 

The drama kept GHW's past relationship with SWJ very much muted, but when I think about it, we only assumed their relationship was casual, when it was anything but. Although GHW told JHJ that they were registering their marriage to utilise the benefits for married couples and unlike JHJ, she does not view marriage as her only chance to change her life around, she also spoke of being happy and willing to work hard to support them both while they were abroad. We also see SWJ's memories of radiance emanating from GHW as she was painting, her unbridled joy when she noticed his presence during their time in university - which indicates that he too, was once entranced by her. And what I (and probably SWJ as well) was too dense to pick up on at the time were the words GHW threw at him - about something precious they lost which they could never have anymore. As such, rather than just a one-sided love, he too must have loved her once and they were definitely lovers before JHJ turned his world (and hers) upside down.

The way I see it, GHW's hesitation upon realising Li-sa was responsible was what JHJ pounced on. I am not quite as certain that she was planning to leave prior to being confronted by GHW. Rather, my thinking is that with the secret exposed, short of killing GHW too, she could only throw herself at the mercy of the younger woman and hope that she could convince her to cover up the crime. It benefits no one else except Li-sa - certainly not JHJ who stands to lose everything she has fought so hard, put up with so much for. Her way of dealing with the matter is still in keeping with her character all along. JHJ once told GHW that she would always choose to lie to protect those closest to her rather than destroy them with the truth, and this is exactly what she is doing once more. In order to shield them from the consequences of Li-sa's actions, she would rather perpetuate a web of lies to cocoon them. This time, because it is something she could no longer cover up on her own, she finally chose to give up everything in exchange for GHW's help - be reviled as a shameless woman who ran off with her lover, rather than have Li-sa stand trial and possibly incarcerated for manslaughter of her mother's lover. However, I do agree with you that JHJ finally understood enormity of what her self-centred actions had cost her - she pretty much described it in a nutshell when she told her husband that she should have been content with her family who loved her instead of destroying it through her foolish greed. She could never come back from hiding, because doing so would leave the doors open to questions about SWJ's whereabouts, which she had no way to providing a convincing answer. Thus this is the penance she accepted, until she knows all is well with everyone she wronged. And her life might have ended then, if not for the chiming of the bells she heard that finally told her she was forgiven at last.

[liddi]

Ireland BTS... I'm guessing these are the domestic shoots that are supposed to be of Ireland. How picturesque it is... 

 

[Tofu]

18 hours ago, liddi said:

The drama kept GHW's past relationship with SWJ very much muted, but when I think about it, we only assumed their relationship was casual, when it was anything but.

I wished the drama showed more of their relationship before he cheated on her. A lot of people watching thought she was a crazy ex-girlfriend, but those that read the book said that WJ really did love her. 

 

It's been a week and I still do not agree with how the drama ended this. Nothing changed and now they are entangled in even more lies. 

[liddi]

@Tofu It definitely would have been far better if we could have seen the lies finally come to an end, despite the bitter consequences. Ultimately, the drama gave us an ending which showed JHJ willingly punishing herself for all that transpired, hence the chiming of the bell to show her that she is finally forgiven. I wish GHW was not party to the lies after her long, difficult journey to break free, especially since she herself set store by using only truth as a weapon. 

 

Do you know how the book ended? Any idea where we could see a summary, preferably translated? 

[Tofu]

47 minutes ago, liddi said:

Do you know how the book ended? Any idea where we could see a summary, preferably translated? 

I made @stroppyse translate an article for me that talks about the ending of the book when it aired and she said that HJ killed HW at the end because she did not want her lies to be exposed. And I remember reading that WJ died in Ireland or at least was not alive when HW was going around HJ taunting her.

 

I haven't been able to find the book anyway. Tagging @ktcjdrama to see if she's had any luck finding it.

 

 

[liddi]

@Tofu Argh. Sounds like the book characters have even less chance of redemption than their drama counterparts. Was GHW still on her vindictive path when she was killed, or did she somehow manage to step aside? I also read somewhere (can't remember where!) that apparently JSW's character equivalent in the book is different - he somehow caused the death of the person bullying him, and he did not try to avoid the boy's mother whom he knew was coming to kill him, and ultimately died (not sure how accurate my recollection of the details are - my apologies if it's a jumbled mess!). Thankfully the drama left him alive, with a glimmer of hope there will be a future with him and GHW.

 

Yes, please share if you manage to find the book @ktcjdrama Would definitely be interesting to know how much the drama departed from the novel.

[ktcjdrama]

I haven’t been able to find the book as well. Some said because of the airing drama, every search leads to the drama instead of the book.
 

But yeah, from what I have read from various places, in the novel, HJ was jealous of HW because of the love and warmth she saw in her relationship with WJ, compared to her own marriage, so it seems that HJ is the one more active in causing WJ to look her way. WJ was in love with HW before he cheated on her. Thus HW saying that HJ has many good things but HJ has to take away the one good thing going for her. In the end, HW was killed by HJ. WJ also died in Ireland and never get to go back to Korea.