Sunday, April 15, 2012

Special Affairs Team TEN Ending

SPOILER AHEAD!

Leave this page if you are watching and want to keep the ending a surprise!

You really, really should.



Leave now if you like Crime solving shows so you should start this series!









Ok if you have finished the show, and want to muse about the ending with me, then carry on please.



I watched Ep 7,8 and 9 all in one day.... which was not a very good move, because by the end of it, I was empty and emotionally drained when it was all gone. This show sucked me into their world, and the ending spat me right out with a very BIG HUUUURR?? I was like the OST going WAEEEEE.....?!!
I had to rewatch that last 10 min like 3 times and stare hard at the subs to make sense of things.

Episode 8 did a great job, showing us a web of very intricately linked back-stories of all the 3 team members, as well as starting to reveal how Ji Hoon 'killed' his woman. I thought it was strange to do it so near the last episode, but I suppose it was more for linking everyone together in a fascinating way.
Do Sik gets points for drawing on my heart strings with his little arc.

To be fair, Ji Hoon didn't kill her, but got her killed. He was too cocky and thought he could outsmart the mysterious serial killer F, but F got to his girlfriend and killed her in such a horrible way, I was right there losing my breath with her. SICK. Totally sick. I was filled with a dread I didn't feel when I watched most CSI episodes, which mostly glosses over death. This show shows death in a brutal real way which makes alot of food for thought.

The way Joo Sang Wook played the scene which he lost control after realising that the woman lying there was the woman he loved, was absolutely awesome. That was the best scene I have seen him in.
The way he treated crime solving like a 'game', relaxed fun, then to unease, to horror and anguish.
I was grossed out and also fascinated by how the actresses pulled it off, not being able to breathe...
Really amazing and dedicated people here. I think it is traumatizng and possibly consequently have nightmares for doing those scenes.

Episode 9 had me so worried the ending would suck. Because I was looking at the timeline constantly, thinking, ok NOW they have to have some clue for it to have proper closure right? Surely we have to catch the bad guy like all the episodes before right? At the halfway mark, at the 15min mark before it all ends... and yet... The show did manage to conclude in a way which at first made me very confused, but I did enjoy thinking very hard for the ending, to interpret it in my own way. Ok so I googled for an official explanation, or from other people, but since I found zilch I am going with my own version. hehehe

Second wind
I was so excited when the team deciphered the clues he left behind for them.
The way Yeo Ji Hoon anticipated how the clues will play out to which team member shows how brilliant he is, and how well he knows them as their team leader.

I kept waiting for the moment Ji Hoon rejoins his team, and they go catch the bad guy together like always.

But noOOoooo, they strung me out and gave me no JSW, except in flash backs. I should have known better to expect a normal straightforward ending from this twisted show ( in a good twisty way).
I kept wondering why that is later, perhaps it is because JSW had to leave and go across the Geojedo ocean hehe ( He jumped right into Feast of Gods, this guy, so hardworking! )

We cut between shots of Nam Ye-ri going to the factory, with no drawn gun =,=,  to a disturbingly named segment called Death and the maiden. We see Ji Hoon sitting in the dark hall? Of his memories? Because though I don't remember his gf's features that well, the girl playing the violin the camera keeps going back to seems to be her.

He voice overs ( I am at the mercy of the chinese subs I found)
"As I see the dead bodies at each crime scene, I start to think about the problem with memory.
The memory that stops with death.
How did the person live, who the person loved.
Who murdered this person? Who dared to commit this act?
The act that should not ever be done, even if it was God.
But the person who died, will not remember anything more.
Will never know how beautiful one was.
If time could be reversed, I am willing to do anything.
But since one cannot go back in time, one has to do whatever one can.

In order to see you once more, no matter what, even if I have to sell my soul,
I will still do it.
Only when I see you once more, I can kill you with my own hands."
I am thinking the you here is F.

We see someone strike the still unarmed Ye ri ( =,= ), There is this weird camera reverse of F? taping her face as she screams and proceeds to tape her again. Seriously, this girl needs to learn how to walk around with a drawn gun when walking alone into unfamiliar territory. ( Oh and I had a DUH moment because I mixed up Ye Ri with Jung In from Vampire Prosecutor Ep 3. lol I was thinking, why did she get herself in the same situation as Ep... and when I couldn't find it, I remembered it wasn't her LOL But they both have big eyes, short hair, so you really can't blame me... )


Then we see Baek Do Sik sighing into the evening air "Yeo Ji Hoon, must you really do that?"

Elsewhere, Park Min Ho thinks to himself  " Why did it become like this? Why did we stop there? At that moment, why did I see my dad's face in team leader's face? The face of one who, locked himself in hell. "

Nam Ye ri stands in the still covered furniture of Ji Hoon's home, holding the cactus she gave him. If this is after whatever happened, I guess it is safe to say that Ji Hoon did not come back to this place. Did he leave? She thinks to herself  "I saw a monster. A face with no expression as my face is being taped. That monster. And, when you tore off the tape from my face, your sad expression. Are you really, turning into a monster?"

So what happened exactly? Since Minho saw Ji Hoon, means he and Do Sik made it to the warehouse as Ye Ri is being attacked. This chillingly echos the scene in episode 1, where Ji Hoon pitched into and attacked Min Ho to simulate the crime. He did tape up Minho's face, albeit not fatally. But the one who taped Ye ri taped everything and left her to die. From what Ye Ri said, she saw the face of a monster, and the one who tore off the tape on her face.I am guessing its two people, not Ji Hoon having a split personality and tried to kill her. I also don't see how Ji Hoon simulating the attack will solve or prove anything. Unless he plans to tape her wrongly and thus drawing out an indignant F going "NO! It's NOT taped this way! Its like THIS...." 

It is more likely that since he knew from the video clip that F is/was a cop who was the perpetrator, and he decided to use Ye Ri as bait to lure F out. Like what he tried to do with the only survivor in the past, except this time, he did not have any backup except the two he trusted, because he just wants to kill F. Would he go to jail for killing a serial killer? I read that there will be a Season 2 and a movie ( YAY) . I hardly think they will waste JSW by putting him behind bars as a consultant eh? They'd better not! * waves roll of tape* 

The very act of using his own team member, one who trusted him enough to defy orders, possibly crushing on him, as bait is inhumane in itself. I think that is what she meant when asking if Ji Hoon is turning into a monster?

Joo Sang Wook didn't help matters because he tweeted that he missed the last episode due to filming Feast of Gods, and he himself doesn't know how it ends or what it means!? I read this somewhere, but since I can't read korean I leave it to you to find out.

Meantime, I will be waiting impatiently for kaedejun over at dramabeans to give an interpretation in the lovely recaps. I will be waiting! Visit Kaedejun's website here for more drama recommendations! =) 

Tortured souls apparently make for great TV.
Fortunately watching tortured souls heal also makes for great TV.


Awesome song for TEN OST by Mad Soul Child. 
Jinsil possesses this amazing voice which lends to the haunting tune for this show.





Saturday, April 14, 2012

The 10 Commandments


Sometimes people laugh at me, saying why should we live life adhering to a set of rules, like robots. 
But I say, why not? If these rules were made for our own good? Why reject something that is good for us? We eat expensive organic foods, because it is good for us. We like good things. We spend alot of money on good things. If you like good things, do take some time to look at these set of commandments, which if everyone follows, will make for a much better world than today. It is people who want so much freewill, to place themselves before others, to hurt others to make themselves feel better, that kills, harms, hurts. We are sinning everyday, in big and small ways.
And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
  1. You shall have no other gods before me.
     
  2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
     
  3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
     
  4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
     
  5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
     
  6. You shall not murder.
     
  7. You shall not commit adultery.
     
  8. You shall not steal.
     
  9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
     
  10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

CSI Miami Season 10 Episode 19 ♥

I have always liked CSI the original. But sadly after the departure of the awesome Grissom in Season 10, CBS has various actors trying to fill his shoes. I don't know is it because the show has gone on for too long, but content-wise there is always a new reason ( or old reason) to kill someone. The characters don't really get a development which makes me want to care what happens to them.

So I strayed to try other flavours. CSI New York S6 was polished but unappetizing, until the arrival of Sela Ward in S07. She adds this relaxed dynamic to the uptight character played by Gary Sinise. It didn't help that even though Sinise played many likable characters like in Forrest Gump, his EVIL role in Ransom stuck with me for way too long. I guess you really can be more traumatised by events happening in youth.

CSI Miami was the hardest for me to jump into, because it has very deep character histories which ties into the past seasons. While very good for character development and background stories, it was just alot of work researching websites for old seasons, to get a better insight into what I am seeing. In the end I just gave up and followed the week by week crime-solving, and learned about the characters from this point on. Its actually pretty good.

Miami is also the one with the most varied cinematography. It has stunning sunsets in the beach, florida swamps, car chases, mansions, vampire mansion? hehe alot of slowmo action shots, all usually bathed in a warm orange glow. YEEEEEAAAA...
This now one-ups Vegas, which revolves around hotels, motels, deserts, casinos, and New York being mainly in the city.

But anyway after all that, I was so glad to see an episode which revolved around my favourite character on this show, Mr Wolfe, played by Jonathan Togo. This episode is so emotionally powerful, and sad, but it shows clearly how closely the CSIs are tied and supportive of each other. My favourite end scene is at Wolfe's pity party, where the CSIs have gathered for a drink, and they all were sure that Horatio will not be joining them. But he shows up, and with this funny sidelong glance at Wolfe, tells him he will stay if Wolfe buys him a drink.
I think Horatio has a soft spot for Wolfe, who has made so many mistakes in the past but strived to overcome them, thus earning his respect. They strike me also to have a great father-son dynamic. Heehee.

This closely knit group for me, makes CSI miami the best of the 3 for now.





Friday, March 9, 2012

Lepiota Lutea - cute little invaders



Didn't look at my pot for like maybe 2 days and when I watered the plants this morning, I got a nasty surprise. 
I found them cute and gross at the same time.... maybe its cute because of the cute lemon yellow, but that powdery rough ball just made me cringe. 

Googled to identify it, and though it appears they will not harm the plants they are around now, I had to take them out of my pot because I didn't want it to spurt spores into the air when it opens up and contaminating my other pots. They may grow again though... haha... its like a tiny battle has begun, between me and the little invaders. ♥

Just adding what Irene drawn here haha!

If they were this cute, I might have let them live.... But their little offspring appeared today.. I took out 3 little ones... oh no... 2 becomes 3.... 3 becomes ??!

How they looked like after I was done with them... 

Private joke.

Thanks Irene!♥

Monday, March 5, 2012

my baby dwarf sunflowers ♥♥♥

25 Feb 2012

6 March 2012 (  11 days later ) 

1st set of true leaves has appeared and are in good relative size, 
2nd set of true leaves is visible.



Begonia Cutting from a month back. Still alive! yaay!







Sunday, March 4, 2012

Basic Cooking Hygiene



Since I am recovering and can't do much else, I started watching this little known show, even though I have yet to develop a taste for most korean fare, I do enjoy watching people doing all sorts of cooking. All the cutting, chopping, pretty vegetable colours just makes me happy. hehe

The characters are ok, but watching ep 1 made me go a bit *bleh* since the setup was so.... typical and unbelievable. *spoilers*

A mom so in grief she cannot even recognise her own daughter was not her own? Or her eyes were permanently damaged and she could not tell them apart?! If on that day itself, I would have been ok, but the months after? The girls were so different! Unless she knew and would rather not deal with the media backlash of how her daughter ''died'' due to her own actions, and pretended all these years.... That would make her a really scary person indeed.

I was still watching even though I was shaking my head... Mostly because of Joo Sang Wook, he of Thorn Birds and recent RM ep fame.... I really liked his personality and his hearty HAHAHA....

I don't cook often, but when I do, I try to maintain a certain level of hygiene. And so, imagine my horror when the pretty lead basically waltzes into the fancy kitchen, and due to the other girl's spaced-outness ( which resulted in her cutting her hand), gets a chance and starts to cut up some high level pork rib. She says she has never done it before, but it must be like fish...and cuts it up most expertly ( I don't really believe that but I will let it pass. ) The thing that bugged me no end was, she did all this in her street clothes, without washing her hands. What in the world?! Is there no standard in the hotel cleanliness standards? And if that was only for that particular scene, I will still be ok, but she then proceeds to finish that whole kitchen scene without a change of clothes. She touches everything! The boiled chickens, the soup ladles etc. Did no one have the sense to ask her to change, before the Health and Safety officials strut into the kitchen?

Even the rats knew they had to wash their hands before cookng.

ok rant over. Maybe its just because I am bored out of my mind, maybe slightly germophobic, but i mean no one any harm. I am sure the production people, writers all worked hard on this show. I may even continue the story since I am rooting for the female lead ( who maybe the Hong gildong girl, but I can't be certain) and Joo SW's characters to finally come together. Hope the story gets better from now out.




Thursday, December 29, 2011


Another drama I cannot wait for is ABC's Once Upon A Time.
Classic fairy tales retold. Beautifully. Stunningly. Movingly. Heart wrenchingly.

Especially love Ginnifer Goodwin's portrayal of Snow White.

Coming back Jan 8, Sunday.