Episodes Discussion

Because the comment section is a hot mess I thought I'd create a thread to discuss the actual episodes. 

Things I liked about the first episode:

• the college scenes were great and they remind me of something I can't put my finger on? The girls in the dorm are great together, I love how they portray them as 4 very different people but who protect each other. 
• I put this on my watch list for Jung Hae In, he does not disappoint. 
• It's so pretty? Like the production values are off the chart. Disney money is good for something. 

Things I liked less:

• the whole political campaign thing felt very cartoonish? The whole drinking blood thing and let's hid the man's face like he's Dr. Claw or something. Can't say I followed this part very well and it felt draggy.
• the ANSP stuff - another draggy part for me. It felt like an abrupt shift in genre? From light college drama to crime drama? The tonal shift made it hard to follow the scene, I had to rewatch it to catch what was happening. By the end of the drama is made sense but it made for a draggy start. 

Theories:

• So I'm 100% certain that Soo Ho is not the spy they looking for who's responsible for all the murder.  Obviously, he's the male lead. 
• It also seems obvious that Young Ro is going to assume he's a protester - explains his injury and his fear of the police. 
• The question becomes is he a North Korean spy and what is his mission? And if he's not a spy what's his deal? If he were a double agency the ANSP probably wouldn't be chasing him down. Since this is based on notes of a man who escaped a North Korean political prison I wonder if that will play in, maybe he's not a spy at all but someone who escaped?

• I also didn't get the drinking blood part either . Perhaps it's a ritual that shows loyalty or something ? maybe an oath ?
• Agreed on the dorm part , the cinematography gives a nostalgic vibe .
• I don't know if it was meant to be like that but the university's gate said "Hosu Woman's University" an editing mistake ? i don't know . Caught something similar in ep 2 when han na is holding a plastic cup in one scene , throwing the cup in the next and then having it back again in her hand in the next ( unless i did not watch properly ) . 
• Agreed i had a feeling he ( soo ho ) is not a spy ( since the back story regarding why he went after han is still a mystery ) . I also find kang moo suspicious , why is he so hell bent on capturing soo ho ?
• Lastly , i think the mixing of different genres made it have a little bit of everything which i liked . It does have light hearted moments and then darker ones as well that balances out .

Hmm i feel like there has to be some twist in there with the spy thing . 

Plus i am curious about the character of Dr Kang .

 Dani:

Yeah I feel like there must be, he's the protagonist. I'll probably continue to be uncomfortable until the pieces come into place but I think I'm okay with that. I am still clinging to my political prisoner/defector theory, but that doesn't answer how he got into his current predicament. 

I'm also curious about her! Forgot to mention her. There has to be more to her than just a mistress. 

True. I just find it hard to believe they'd go the route they're going with the spy thing knowing how bad that'd look and how controversial it'd be. At the moment, I'm finding it hard to like him, the character hes playing, not Hae in of course, as a protagonist knowing who he is. I just gotta hope there's some twist there.

"He continued, “As it began from the writing of a North Korean defector, there are mentions of North Korea in the material but rather than it being political or ideological, [it’s about] the person from North Korea. Instead of focusing on North Korea, I thought that we tried to look deeply and get a closer look at the person.” " 

This makes me think my headcanon of Soo Ho being a defector might have some merit? 

 Dani:

The political campaign part continues to feel cartoony. Gotta say I'm not following that plot well. Are they colluding with North Korea to rig the election in their favour?

+ ML seems like North Korean spy part (I cant quote you 2 times).

It's possible that the dictator (the president, I froget the name) had some kind of deal with NK. And it can be connected to the ML. 

Or ML just successes to run away from NK. And it shows incompetence of SK government + how they are using it to kill/maltreat protesters.

I think that those are 2 possibilities.

Honestly, I think that drama could be very good. And that all complaints will be solved over the time. Like maybe they are showing at the start government's propaganda bc FL doesnt know anything?? But over the time, via ML, she will find a lot of things??? And they will become together number 1 fighters against dictatorship? Or they will just focus on their own surviving (since he is maybe NK spy)? There is a lot of possibilities and I think that things which caused controversy are actually the main part of the plot (the twist in the plot) and people were just too fast to judge.

 joynation:

My theory is that maybe Im Sooho (Jung Hae In) might not be a North Korean Spy but a North Korean Defector, which are two completely different things. Based on the description of this drama, this was adapted by the handwritten notes of a man that escaped North Korea's political prison camp

Yeah that's my theory as well :D

 o_reo123:

Genuine question to the plot.

How did he get the bullet out from his body? o_o

Also he was supposed to be North Korean right? But he talked w no dialect. I was wondering if it was on purpose or not as the fellow North Korean comrade was acting with heavy accent.

well I imagine if someone is going to send spies to another country they would have them work on their accent as part of the whole process? I can't even tell the difference between the two so well spotted! Guy being tortured probably had not reason to fake it at that point. 

As for the bullet thing... yeah they just left it there?? I think??