The song featured during the recap: “Neoyeong Nayeong” by Ahn Eun Kyung and Eunyong Sim, a haunting blend of traditional and modern sound, sung in the Jeju dialect and about young love.
How the show is beautifully infused with Jeju-specific language, culture, and music.
Our heartfelt shoutouts to listeners, including Ellen’s birthday and Joanna’s meetup with Akiko in Tokyo.
The folk tale of the honest woodcutter and its metaphorical significance for Ae Sun’s comparison of Gwan Sik to a steel axe.
The heartbreak of Ae Sun pushing Gwan Sik away—not out of lack of love, but to set him free.
The injustice of Ae Sun’s expulsion from school while Gwan Sik only gets suspended, a commentary on gender and social status.
Gwan Sik melting down his doljanchi rings to make a ring for Ae Sun—rings full of cultural symbolism and maternal sentiment.
The chilling portrayal of Ae Sun’s potential suitor, a widower looking more for unpaid labor than a partner.
Gwan Sik’s dramatic decision to swim back to Ae Sun after hearing her cries at the harbor—an epic open water swim of love and determination.
Our leads’ emotional reunion, wedding, and the symbolism of Ae Sun’s wide-brimmed hat and new ring.
The support of the haenyeos and their reference to the Cowherd and Weaver Girl folktale, a beautiful metaphor for star-crossed love.
The reveal that Ae Sun was pregnant from their night in Busan, explaining the early birth of their daughter and the "conception dream" of Gwan sik’s grandmother.
The bittersweet final scene, where Ae Sun and Gwan Sik acknowledge that while they gave up dreams of poetry and athletic stardom, they have no regrets about choosing each other.
Our deep dive into IU's stellar career as a singer, actress, and philanthropist—highlighting why she’s beloved by so many around the world.
Next week, we’ll recap and analyze Episode 4 of When Life Gives You Tangerines and talk about the handsome and talented Park Bo Gum!
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Wonderful edition of the podcast, and thanks for the birthday wishes! I’m so grateful to you both for managing this during Joanna’s trip to Japan!
ReplyDeleteOn the sound traveling to the from desperate Ae Sun on the jetty to desperate Gwan Sik on the boat, the wind does indeed carry sound from a further distance if the wind is blowing towards the listener, per the Illinois Department of Transportation.
So a fortunate wind and a heroically strong swimmer led to this thrilling reunion, one of the most romantic scenes ever filmed, in my opinion. I was a puddle of happy tears. Looking forward to everyone else’s comments!
Ellen! That is just awesome that a good wind and the right conditions can carry sound to a person far away! Our leads had luck on their side for a change!
DeleteWe hope you had a wonderful birthday! I had a fantastic visit with Akiko!
Another enjoyable episode.
ReplyDeleteI seriously do not know how you two are managing to not binge watch this Drama. I am about to dive into the final four episodes. I agree with you that this is a drama to be savored, and I am not a fan of Netflix releasing so many episodes all at once. However, I have been rewatching each episode before listening to your podcast – if for no other reason than I don’t want to accidently spoil something I picked up in subsequent episodes!
Loved the story about Joanna’s wedding rings! And of course a jeweler is going to tell you that it is bad luck to get married with any old ring! That’s their livelihood! I agree with Sung-hee that the jeweler clearly made the wedding ring from Gwan Sik’s baby rings. And speaking of weddings, was that the same hat from Hotel de Luna, just in white?! I will say that almost no wedding dresses seem to stand the test of time. Ten years on and they almost always look like they are clearly from a different era!
I also agree with Sung-hee that there is no way Gwan Sik could have heard Ae Sun from that far away over the sound of the ship and the ocean. So, it was either some divine intervention or you just have to suspend belief for that one. Also, that was quite a long swim for Gwan Sik. Looked like well over a mile and in the ocean no less. Although the Captain seemed to indicate that they were going against the wind and tide, which may have helped Gwan Sik a little. But still....
Once again, I think Joanna is trying too hard to find K drama elements, as I didn’t really consider Ae Sun, Gwan Sik, and the divorced thirty-year-old (who is actually 44!) a triangle. If it was, it certainly didn’t last long! Also, I'm little disappointed Joanna did not use her catch phrase "steamy night" to describe Ae Sun and Gwan Sik's night in Bussan! ;-)
Like Joanna, I too love IU. She has been great in almost everything I’ve seen her in (except Dream – that was barely watchable…). She just seems to have an incredible charisma; something you can see in her interview shows that you can find on YouTube. Also, I’m surprised that you didn’t mention that she’s also playing Ae Sun’s adult daughter in this episode. See if you can “spot” the difference between mother and daughter! This clearly is IU’s show! Even though I am not that much of a K Pop fan, I do enjoy IU’s music. I think my favorite song is actually Good Day, her first hit, just because it’s so upbeat.
I am experiencing a bit of IU overload at the moment, because, like Sung-hee, I am also currently watching Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Reyo (or as I like to call it: Everyone Loves IU). Fantasy combined with historical is not usually my preferred type of K Drama, but I am really enjoying it. I am sure if it ever comes to Netflix, Joanna will insist on covering it in an upcoming season!
OK, I’m off to binge the final four "winter" episode of WLGYT!
Hi Malcom, I do the same, I’m pretty caught up, with all the episodes but every Thursday, I’d watch the episode Sung Hee and Joanna are going to discuss. It’s wonderful to rewatch this series, the writing has been excellent.
DeleteMalcolm and Ellen, it's been really, really hard not to watch all of the episodes. It feels like we are the ONLY people on planet Earth who have not watched all of the episodes, but we made a promise and we're sticking to it!
DeleteI think you are right about the white hat! IU wore a lot of great hats in Hotel Del Luna and perhaps that's why they put her in another floppy hat in this show! She is doing a fantastic job playing Ae sun and Geum Myeong!
I watched episode 5 last night because Sung Hee and I recorded 11.4 so I had the green light to watch the next episode. OMG, more sadness and more happiness.
Even though you have both watched the whole series, thanks for watching along with us and commenting on the blog!
*let me start with a complaint to get it out of the way. I really dislike the way the story is told. I am not enjoying the switching back and forth between various time-lines. I don’t find it confusing. It is very clear, and I even understand some of the reasons. But, I just strongly dislike it.
ReplyDeleteIt does interrupt the pacing, ruin full immersion, and really spoil the story.
This is a generational saga grounded largely in reality, so anything is possible. To show us the middle aged leads ruined a good deal of the fun.
The story is very good, the writing is good, but it is not lyrical (like Lost) or has very deep conversations (Like My Mister or My Liberation Notes).
So, the plot does matter to a certain extent.
*That said, I am enjoying the series very much. It has all the elements required for a very good drama. E03 is great.
Even knowing that they end up together (I thought it was pretty obvious from what they showed at middle age) I was heartbroken by this episode, and I had sad tears during that dock scene when IU was forlornly looking after the boat, but then it all turned to happiness. I absolutely loved the whole sequence.
*I liked how the episode went. I liked the largely realistic flow of events. Even the resolution. They won some, but also lost some.
*IU: I think she was amazing in My Mister, but largely because she didn’t have to show huge range. She had more or less one mode, but she has done it brilliantly.
I do like her. She has great presence and charisma on screen, and I think she is a good actress, but I wouldn’t place her in the top tier of Korean actresses. One thing she is great at though! She is brilliant crier lol.
*Joanna, I tell my team at work when some of them complain to me about being old :”Don’t ever complain about being old to someone older than you” lol.
Hi Seven Seas! Glad you are enjoying Tangerines! We think it's one of the best shows we've watched in a while!
DeleteI am used to the switching back and forth in time of most K Dramas. We get these slow reveals in every episode, and certainly with the time travel shows, the switching is inevitable. Did you watch A Time Called You? That was intense and confusing switching!
I love IU! I was taken with her from the very beginning, when I watched Hotel Del Luna and I'm a big fan of her music. I don't love all of her songs, but some are just wonderful. She has great range and not all of her songs are bubble gum pop.
I have actually told some of my older team members to stop talking about "the good old days" and how they don't listen to recent music or watch current movies. This behavior makes them seem old and creates an artificial divide between them and my younger staff.
Thanks for watching along with us and commenting along the way! Love hearing your thoughts, always!
Seven Seas, I agree with you, in part, about the switching back and forth in time. I don’t mind a flash back or a preview here or there, but they are maybe overdoing it a bit in this show. I think they often do it just to create a cheap cliffhanger. Oh, here someone in a wedding dress! I wonder who they are going to marry in the next episode?!? I agree that this show would be fine if it was just linear.
DeleteI feel like you are begrudgingly giving IU some tempered praise for her acting! Yes, her role in My Mister was someone one note, but she did it amazingly! I’m sure she could have broken out into song for that role if they asked her! LOL But that wasn’t the role!
I find that a lot of the top actresses play relatively similar roles in all the K Dramas I see them in. (K Movies may be a different story.) I’m curious who you think are the top tier Korean Actresses. I’m not sure I’m qualified to speak on who the best actresses are since I’m not a native Korean speaker - or a non-native Korean speaker for that matter! So, I imagine some subtilties may be lost on me. However, I do find that some of the “top” actresses tend to play quite similar roles. Either because they are type cast or perhaps that is their natural range. For example, Song Hye-kyo tens to play rather dark and moody roles: The Glory, That Winter the Wind Blows, even her character in Descendants of the Sun was low key moody; Park Min-young always plays the flirty, peppy, rom-com interest; Han So-hee also tend to play darker mood roles; same with Bae Suzy. Two actresses that I think show a bit of range are Shin Hye-Sun (Mr. Queen, See You in My 19th Life, Dear Hyeri) and Park Shi-hye (Doctor Slump, The Judge from Hell).
Curious who you would place in the “top tier of Korean actresses.”
Ae Sun running and Gwan Sik swimming would have to be one of my favorite scenes for this series. It's such an epic and memorable scene, and the acting by these two actors. Wonderful. Gwan Sik truly loved Ae Sun with how his focus was on her alone, it's so sweet and pure.
ReplyDelete