Goddess of Marriage - Episode 30 (KimJiCap)

kakashi: I'm officially over hating this drama! I really liked this episode! That's two in a row ... I think the bad spell is broken. 
JoAnne: We'll see. We've been jerked around by these nappeun namjas too many times already.

Episode 30

kakashi: Oups. Tae-wook meets the evil Prosecutor, who really isn't having a good day. The look he gives him? It kills.
JoAnne: Now here is where I legitimately feel sorry for TaeWook. He's a lot of things, our TaeWookie, but a criminal isn't one of them. So far. There's still 4,862 episodes to go.
 

kakashi: Tae-wook ... I think you should quit your job and go live in the peach orchard. shirt-less, always sweaty, etc. You know.
JoAnne: I vote yes. Just think if his skin tasted like peaches. Sigh.
kakashi: Tae-wook gets home ... the house is dark. And he looks so sad ... He goes to the empty bedroom, looking even sadder. Oh no ... he is so lonely ... my heart breaks into tiny little sharp pieces.
JoAnne: Best he has ever looked with clothes on, hands down. I was feeling him. You know, in my head. All over.
kakashi: Somebody should have told him that the pressure on Ji-hye is rising, though. Especially her father, the biggest Tae-wook lover under the sun right after me, is laying on the guilt trip deluxe. But Ji-hye, herself, also realizes that this situation cannot go on.
JoAnne: Yes. Someone, somewhere, has to act like an adult, just once in this drama.

kakashi: And then, it's wedding time! TerribleNiece looks gorgeous. Ah, I hate her. But not for looking gorgeous.
JoAnne: She is a lovely little cockroach, isn't she. I cannot wait to see her get her comeuppance from Grandma Chairman.
kakashi: When Tae-wook walks into the room where the bride is waiting, the room lights up ... and then he smiles ...  ahhhhhh! Smile more, Tae-wook!! Ji-hye and he haven't seen each other for quite a while so ...
JoAnne: He drags her into a closet and goes at it like...no wait. That's not this drama. Not even this country.
kakashi: ... a heart-to-heart on the roof follows (no more smiles) ... He thanks her. But she says, she doesn't have confidence ... But he is just thankful.
JoAnne: He was sincere because he used honorifics. Ah, Korean. So helpful when you can't tell by a person's actions.
kakashi: He always was sincere!!  
kakashi: During the wedding ceremony, all the couples are reminded of their own weddings. And when the priest says, the most important thing between human beings is love - and that related thing, respect ...
JoAnne: God struck them all dead with lightening bolts?
kakashi: ... Tae-wook looks at this wife so much in love my heart melts... Oh my god, this is so sweet ... you will get through this, TaeJi couple, you will! Hwaiting!
JoAnne: You gave them a couple name. Good Lord.
kakashi: Hm, the mood is less good when he gets her to go back to the Hell House. They say their farewells and it's quite awkward. Everybody worries.
JoAnne: And yet no one takes a minute to say gee, perhaps we should rethink this stupid plan.
kakashi: When he wants to put the seat belt on her, he sees that she is crying ... Ah, the misery ...
JoAnne: I am still on my TaeWook is an ass horse, I guess. I mean COME ON. He looks at her. He recognizes her pain - you can see it on his face. And yet he does not protect her. He does not do the loving thing and say 'forget what I want...let's take care of you.' 
kakashi: Didn't you get the memo that being a divorced woman in Korea = not what you want to be? I'm sure about half of episode 29 was about getting that message through to us. And this drama isn't even for us. I'm sure Koreans get it.
kakashi: When they get to The Palace, she is terrified ... breath, Ji-hye, breath! But she doesn't want his help and refuses to take his hand. Ack, she's doing it again ... pushing him away. She has always done that and it hasn't helped at all. JoAnne: Much like a wounded animal struggles against the person who is trying to save it, you mean? As long as he puts himself first in everything, I will put him last in everything.
kakashi: See, she also has trust issues. He was never mean to her, he always offered to help. She did many things to make that help impossible (like quitting her job).  
kakashi: Ah, why is she always so timid in front of her in-laws?! Grow a pair! Well, Tae-wook also looks terrified ... and then, his father calls him out, and Tae-wook seems to think that's the end of his wife, haha.
JoAnne: I laughed here, too. And yet part of me was saying, 'Wow. Five minutes, that's all it took, and you left her to the bitch.'
kakashi: But the MILDragon isn't going to kill and eat her. Because she is afraid of Tae-wook, as she tells Ji-hye. Did she maybe hear about Tae-wook attack his own mother over her? How nice to be soooo loved ... she would also like some of this love from her son (THAT. again?!) MILDragon leaves, without any major insults ... and Ji-hye's relief is palpable.
JoAnne: She's just biding her time, that evil crone.  
kakashi: Let's see! I thought this different face of the MILDragon was interesting. So maybe we are to believe that she will leave Ji-hye alone now? I mean "alone" ... just not be as terrible?  

kakashi: Later, they are at the house ... He has bought her a new laptop. He says it's from his heart (I want one tooooooooooo!!! with little Tae-wook hearts on it!!! ) He wants to acknowledge her, her work, her preferences, her interests. He wants them to try one more time.
JoAnne: Try what? Molding her into a Stepford Wife? Except he'll sanction if she keeps one tiny part of herself for herself, as long as it's only at that little desk in the corner of their bedroom? Fuck you, Tae Wook. You're an ass. You're an ass I'd tap, happily - but still, you're an ass.
kakashi: When she wants to turn away, he holds her back. He wants to hold her; he was so lonely when she was gone .... And when he hugs her, he begs her not to leave him: When she isn't there, he feels he isn't either. He doesn't believe that he can live without her. And then this ...
JoAnne: I am imagining the most awkward, silent, unenjoyable sex in existence.
... leads to this! (he isn't wearing anything, I don't think .... O___o)
JoAnne: Well, except HE was happy.
kakashi: However, Ji-hye wakes up in fright! Has she missed the BreakfastMaking from Hell?! She hurries out ...
... but when Ji-hye gets to the Main House, somebody is already chopping away in the kitchen. When Ji-hye sees who it is, she drops the wine glasses she just got from the table, that's how surprised she is! Oh yes ... it is NewBiatch. Huh.
JoAnne: Well we knew that was coming. Unless she's holding something in reserve, I'm breaking up with my new friend.

The Rest

kakashi: NewBiatch is offered the Vice Presidency. Who wouldn't take it? Undying loyalty to the Kang family may sound like a high price to pay, but Vice President of the Shin Young Group sounds like a quasi-King. Plus ... The Patron is kinda hard to say no to. I guess I would take it, too. But only if I could kill DickBrother with my own hands.  
JoAnne: I don't have enough fingers and toes to lay out why this is a bad deal for her. But whatever, she's making the bed, she's going to have to lie in it.
kakashi: Speaking of which, DickBrother has moved out and is selling all his company shares, to become independent from his father. Okay, that's actually funny. He is such a spoilt brat! At the moment, it looks as if he were safe ... but for how much longer? The Prosecutor isn't giving up yet ... not at all.
JoAnne: DickBrother is so close to be someone's prison bitch he can probably smell the man's breath. And I am really, really, REALLY looking forward to it.

kakashi: NamBangThankYouMam could be the Kang family's next big issue. She is still on the run ... and decidedly unhappy about things. If the prosecutor gets to her ... well, I guess MILDragon will need to do some explaining ...
JoAnne: Let's see how admirable her friends think she is when she's the reason NBTYM turns them ALL over to the prosecutor.

kakashi: Anchorman and Doormat ... no words for this, sorry. He seriously disgusts me, all acting cutesy-poopsy and stuff. Yikes. I hope she sends him to hell and back and NEVER gives in.
JoAnne: She's making me happy so far. Stick to it, Doormat! Man-sized JaeJoong is still in the picture!

kakashi: Car commercial time with The Snore! What he is doing there? Moping, of course. Things are not going too well for him - both in love and at work. Poor Snore. If only I cared!  
JoAnne: You rub off on me. When I got to that scene on the right, my only thought was 'car commercial.' Before that I spent an inordinate amount of time wondering why anyone would drive out on to that jetty like that, because now you've got to back up in a VERY straight line to get OFF the jetty.
 
kakashi: When he is back in town and at the office, to pack his things and never go back, the Prosecutors come in ... and put the handcuffs on The Snore!!!!!! He is arrested for embezzlement in the Shin Young Group's case... Oh wow ... will Tae-wook have to bail him out?
JoAnne: I cackled with glee at this turn of events. Not because I want him to have to go through this but because hahahahahahahahah sorry I can't.
This is his "surprised" face.
The Glorious After-Thoughts

kakashi: I know many people who are up in arms because the two women went back to the Hell House. I'm not. I think it's a good thing - if only Ji-hye finally started unfreezing in front of the Dragon. Why do I think it's a good thing, and why don't I think they should have divorced? Portraying divorce as an easy solution to the problems we have been shown would simply be a lie. Divorce is not an easy solution. It is an awful thing (much more in Korea than in Western cultures). One of the women goes back because she is amply rewarded for her troubles - the other one goes back because she realizes that she is giving up too easily; and that a little more effort is needed from her. I can't fault them for that.
JoAnne: I believe what you are saying is that you support one woman's decision to choose money and prestige over respect, family support, and a life that doesn't include humiliation, the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and the constant threat of beatings. Because you know DickBrother is coming back too, right? He will. And the other woman isn't coming back to try harder, actually. She's coming back to make a show of it. But we'll see.
kakashi: I am saying that there is a part of me that understands both of them.  
kakashi: Somebody also questioned the moral of it all ... does this drama want to show us how horrible marriage is? No, it does not - but maybe it takes a married woman to see that. This is a drama about the realities of most marriages. I do agree with you on this. Life is not a KDrama! There are no sensitive chaebol sons who are miraculously changed from cold, terrible persons to candy-loving and caring prince charmings (and if there is a chaebol son after all, he is most likely marred and scarred because of his upbringing). Marriage is no piece of cake, no walk in the park. The sooner we know this, the better our marriages will be. Do not dream of something that will never be. Realize that there is love and respect between people, and that it is a beautiful thing - but that beautiful thing is not enough. It needs constant nurturing and constant hard work. To me, this is the lesson of this drama, and it is a good lesson.
JoAnne: The story is sensational beyond belief, of course, but that does not negate the fact that there are things we are shown in the mechanics of each marriage that ring very, very true. This writer SUCKS, big picture...but this writer is also a genius at capturing the tiny things that actually make or break relationships. It's been fun to watch. I hope I live long enough to get through the next 18,048 episodes.