The Great Seducer Eps 5-8 Discussion Post

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

Synopsis: Kwon Shi-Hyun (Woo Do-Hwan) bets his life on a dangerous game to seduce Eun Tae-Hee (Joy). His target is 20-years-old and believes people that are swayed by love are pathetic. After Eun Tae-Hee meets Kwon Shi-Hyun, her view on love changes.
~Loosely based on the classic French novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses".
Cast: Woo Do Hwan, Moon Ga Young, Kim Min Jae, Joy, Moon Hee Kyung, Jung Ha Dam, Lee Jae Kyoon, Park Hye Jeong, Jun Mi Sun, Kwon Seok Woo, Kim Suh Hyung
Director: Kang In, Lee Dong-Hyun
Writer: Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (novel), Kim Bo-Yeon
Network: MBC
Episodes: 32
Release Date: March 12 - May 1, 2018
Runtime: Mondays & Tuesdays 22:00 (35 minutes each / 2 episodes per day)

Watch Here: fastdrama

Sources: Asianwiki

me while the writer forces tae hee x si hyun & their parents at my face:

Comments

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

First things first:

That was one of the blandest, most uncomfortable, boring kisses i have ever seen in my entire life (i'm being hyperbolic). Woo Do hwan is really out here giving his all, only to have his partner: 1) kiss with her eyes open, 2) not even reciprocate, not even a little bit? not even to like push him away if she didn't like it

#wastemytime2018 #wastewoodohwansgoodlips2018

here's a behind the scenes cut of the kiss that *only* joy stans seem to be freaking out about:
https://twitter.com/ejanllrn/status/976116026256474116

[tiny0fairy.livejournal.com]

so awkward

[dirrtypony.livejournal.com]

But she did close her eyes and she kissed back?

Personally as a first kiss I thought it was decent. It was better than a lot of other first kisses I’ve seen in kdramaland.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Woo Dohwan is kissing like it’s his only source of oxygen and Joy is just filing her nails

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

his lips are so gorgeous damn. that's all i have to add.

[kicking-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Eh given the context and Joys role as a more traditional Candy, I'm not too bothered by the way that was shot. He's experienced and trying to get her to fall in love with him. She's not experienced and just starting to see him in a romantic light. Makes sense to me.

[tiny0fairy.livejournal.com]

the best bit.

you can't argue with me.

[dirrtypony.livejournal.com]

The closest we will get the infamous kiss scene.

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

We need a new synopsis cause "His target is 20-years-old and believes people that are swayed by love are pathetic." is a bold faced lie. All it took for Tae Hee to get into Si Hyun was him being nice to 1 (one) old lady. Forget the fact that he followed her on the bus twice, hired a creep to harass her, stalked her at the library, seduced her friends mom. No, none of that matters, cause he's "charming" and has a secret soft side (his childhood self visiting the nursing home that his parents used to run). I was so willing to give this character the benefit of the doubt, cause last week we only got maybe 10 mins of her tops, but the more time we spend with her, the less I see her appeal. I don't even really understand why Si Hyun is "secretly starting to develop feelings" for her right now... after a week... They barely even talked to each other properly? Is her smile really that nice, Si Hyun? Is it cause she helped you make fkn ramen because you're an idiot that doesn't own a measuring cup despite having a fully stocked kitchen?? Clearly I am in the wrong here for trying to apply logic to this drama.. I'm just so disappointed at this pacing and progression. Nothing feels earned. It's like after the writing all the fun stuff for last week's eps, the writer lost momentum and basically phoned it in for all the Tae Hee x Si Hyun stuff. The dialogue is really bad, and Joy's acting is cringe worthy and wooden. Woo Do Hwan could have chemistry with a stick, but that doesn't mean it isn't still a stick.

me @ joy:



Also, I am disgusted. and bored. with all the happenings between Si hyun's dad and Tae Hee's mom. He's so dull. During their conversations he only says 1 line for every 10 of hers, so I really am not getting the appeal. Why does this woman and Soo Ji's mom like him so much? He's a bad father, a homewrecker, and a cheat with a bad mullet. I'm subscribing to by_venoms_sting's theory that he might actually be Tae Hee's dad. That's the only thing that'll make him interesting to me, cause that would be a hilarious twist. Like, surprise! Everyone's related in a way!

Anyway, now that that's out of the way.... on to things that are keeping me watching.

The trio are hard carrying this drama. I'm very invested in them and their friendship. They have so much chemistry with each other as a group and paired off, the relationships actually feel lived in. I can't imagine this working at all with lesser actors. I'm also boarding the Soo Ji x Se Joo ship this week, they have a fun dynamic and Se Joo is an absolute DREAM! He's handsome, rich, hates violence, respects women, and he can cook!! Suck it Si Hyun, Se Joo is my leading man now (only kidding... kind of). I like their slow but clear relationship development. Se Joo obviously likes Soo Ji more than he's letting on, and with her not wanting him to know about the marriage and looking pretty upset with him not paying attention to her at the club, there's definitely something going on for her there. I practically cheered when he punched that creep in the club. If we won't be getting Soo Ji x Si Hyun (obvs), I'd be absolutely more than happy to have Soo Ji x Se Joo.

I also really enjoyed watching Soo Ji carry out her part of the master plan, taking care of Hye Jeong. She's such a good two faced b*tch. I love her. I also really like the selma blair character, she's funny. I doubt we'd get the "haven't you ever practiced (kissing) with your girl friends before?" scene, but that one where Soo Ji takes her jacket off (giffed above by tiny0fairy) was pretty great.

Lastly, I still don't fully understand what the terms of the bet actually are. I know that if Si Hyun succeeds in seducing Tae hee, he and Soo Ji get married for "love"... But what happens if he fails? And I find it odd that the writers chose to make it seem like marrying Soo Ji is the motive for this, instead of like in the book where he does it for his own sake (wanting to prove that he can conquer a very stubborn woman, which tae hee clearly is not.) It just basically puts all/most of the fault on Soo Ji, instead of them both being equally manipulative people...

[weneedmedicine.livejournal.com]

right? what kind of catfish synopsis is that? I was willing to give the main couple a try, but they fell SO fast for each other and it wasn't believable at all. You echoed everything I wanted to say about this show. Soo ji could turn into an even more vicious bitch and I wouldn't care, because at least she's giving me something and has a goal in mind (even though it highly doesn't make sense).

[greywonderland.livejournal.com]

I have no idea why I like this drama so much even tho it has everything that I usually hate lol. I feel like the kiss they showed in the drama was so bland but in the bts bits it was much better.. wonder wtf were the editors thinking

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Editors were like oops can’t have anything sexy on MBC

commenting on my own post 3 times cause who cares

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

(i also hit character limit above)

Stray observations:

- The cinematography for this is still pretty great. I love what they did for Soo Ji talking to Hye Jeong's mom, Soo Ji and Se Joo arguing about her eating barbecue,
- I finally get you guys' complaints about the editing. It's so choppy? They keep jumping back and forth, and it's hard to tell what really happened and what was just a "dream sequence" sometimes without rewatching the eps
- "That's the infinity symbol." "I know! It's the idol group"
- Soo Ji has great outfits this week!
- Minjae makes some amazing faces! (see gif in post) And I love how animated his eye brows are.
- Kyung Joo's perm... omg... girl...
- Does Tae hee have full bangs? Cause at the salon it looked like she got those trendy wispy bangs, but in some scenes it's full..
- Soo Ji and Si Hyun had A MOMENT with him massaging her hand. Please stop torturing me.
- Se Joo is such a good friend. Look at him restocking Si Hyun's condom drawer.
- RME at the writer thinking having old ladies spitting on and groping Si Hyun was gonna be funny.
- If someone I didn't really like called me up just to ask how to measure out 500cc, I'd say "google it" and put the phone down.
- Last week I mentioned the girl playing Kyung Joo was a bad actress, well guess what! Joy seems to have picked up on that girl's acting style. :]
- I'm in love with this girl. She's less Cruel Intention's Kathryn, and more Blair Waldorf (if you say that Se Joo is Chuck Bass, I will literally stab you ):

RE: commenting on my own post 3 times cause who cares

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

The condoms! I feel like that is the first time the plot has acknowledged that they are sexually active. I can’t help but wonder how much more down and dirty this story would be if it was on TVN.

[valerieau.livejournal.com]

- ive skipped the taehee/shihyun scenes this week cause that honestly just feels like a completely different drama. it's a rushed and dumb plot with a bad actress.
- dowhan and gayoung have SO MUCH CHEMISTRY!!! the scene in the street omggg. they cant NOT do anything with this tension?
- i feel like theyre gonna go the sejoo/sooji route eventually, which tbh im fine with cause sejoo is great and i enjoy his scenes with sooji though i do like them more as friends. (also because im just too here for sooji and shihyun at least hooking up once)

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

they cant NOT do anything with this tension?

I knoooowww! At this point I don't know if they have the tension because of the writing (which is a mixed bag) or if it's just how Ga Young and Do Hwan are playing the characters?? I was thinking yesterday that we'll probably never get a kiss from them, and we'll just have to suffer through Joy's fish kisses for this whole thing. What a waste. :(

[dirrtypony.livejournal.com]

Joy is doing fine but her character is dumb as fuck. Too candy girlish. I want her to be hard as fuck but bitch was done for two seconds into the “seduction”.

The main tro are being well developed with so many layers and everyone else are so one note.

Is the plan to get the heartache out of the way now and make her very cold the rest of the drama? I don’t know seems like they should have left the show be about the main trio.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Right?? We're two weeks into an eight week show and she's already fallen for him and he's well on his way to falling for her (for reasons unknown to me). I really thought she was going to resist him for a week or two more, but nope, she crumbled just like that.

The trio should be the main focus of this show, everything else is so blegh. Even scenes that are just two out of the three have a much different energy than all of the scenes with dumb boring characters.

[goldenrosalie.livejournal.com]

watching for moon ga young only tbh. she is so beautiful and her character is really fun! also weirdly enough i actually think she is the strongest actress/actor in this drama. it's not surprising considering that she has plenty of acting experience but damn... "save me" turned me into woo do hwan fan because he managed to deliver such strong acting with amazing subtlety while in this drama he is just 'meh'. i'm almost tempted to say that he was straight up terrible in some scenes so far.
tho i can't help but catch myself thinking "damn this drama is really shitty and is basically heirs 2.0. except acting is better and main otp isnt being shoved in my face as much"
it's nice that main trio is still present in eps and writer isnt rushing in 100% otp content and both soo ji & se joo get screentime too. but i agree with op, tae hee/si hyun & parents' scenes are just.. no thank you

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

This is my first time watching Moon Ga Young in anything, and I'm already sooo in love with her!! <3 She's definitely going to be one of those actors I'll watch/check shows out for now.

[weneedmedicine.livejournal.com]

Even though this whole comment will likely be negative, rest assured that I'll hate-watch this till the end.

-Not to be dramatic, but why does shi hyun have better chemistry with kyung jo's mom than with tae hee
-Throw the whole parent plot-line away. Like, who cares!
- kyung jo is...annoying
-I really didn't like soo ji messing with tae he's housing situation. Kind of unnecessary.
-soo ji and se too are cute
-I got secondhand embarrassment from joy's "crying." Phew, the first time I really noticed her acting
-I know shi hyun and soo ji won't happen (and I'm not even sure I want them to) but their scene in traffic? their scene when his mom died? heaps better than any tae hee/shi hyun scene.
-I knew my enjoyment of this drama would diminish when the focus shifted to the bet/romance plot. I miss episodes 1-4 and the trio having more interaction. I wish this show was about the trio doing whatever rich brats do in college.
-Throw all the characters away. Almost all of them are useless/annoying.

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

rest assured that I'll hate-watch this till the end.

I'm glad we're all in this together.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

Watching because
- I dont have anything else to watch
- I enjoyed Cruel Intentions
- I like Kim Minjae and Woo Do Hwan (and Moon Ga Young is amazing here!)

I'm not sure what they want to happen in each episode. I'm always "what? huh? meh". I'm easy to please and enjoy little things in kdrama so still hoping for something good to happen.

[tiny0fairy.livejournal.com]

what can i say about these episodes...

joy looks pretty. she's got that going for her.

choi soo ji is my favourite character, there is no two ways about it. The actress who plays her is doing an outstanding job and holds her own to the other strong actors around her. She is compelling and makes her character both intriguing and likable, a skill sadly some other characters are lacking.

of the trio so far the other member who is really shining so far is lee se joo who's backstory is relatively unexplored. kim min jae is doing a fantastic job of making himself both sympathetic and implying manipulative tendencies in the same scenes. Also his expressions are worth watching the drama for alone.

woo do hwan (aka everyone i knows husband from his previous dramas) is doing the best he can with 'unique' writing (okay bad writing) trying to make his character both likable and interesting at the same time. He's struggling a bit, but this was always going to be the case. The original character his character is based upon is unlikable and manipulative, and wouldn't translate well to audiences.

the scenes that shine are those involving the trio, shi hyun, soo ji and se joo in any of their forms. shi hyun's scenes with soo ji shine because of the implied complexity of their relationship, the fact they care about one another, perhaps even loving one another but are too afraid of themselves to commit does show through. the outstanding scene of this weeks episode for me came from them, with kayoung's acting in what i am dubbing "the car scene". the two actors bounce off each other well and i have high hopes for both of them (just maybe not in this particular drama) se joo and soo ji's relationship is also interesting and i can't wait to see how the show is going to handle this. shi hyun and se joo's relationship is entertaining and i want more. just a couple more scenes please?

the adults just shouldn't be allowed to adult. (i'm not sorry for speaking the truth). honestly they're creating more problems, kwon seok woo is out for both worst dad of the year and worst fiance of the year.

i feel both kyung joo and hye jung's characters are being written for giggles and sadly i'll miss them. they have potential depending on the writing. hye jung should maybe take a little less inspiration from the original movie but other than that i am liking the dynamic between her and soo ji so far.

lee ki young should leave. he can join kwon seok woo in being removed from the characters lives for improvement purposes.

that's pretty much all i got. other than ratings have dropped a lot from last week. down a whole % isn't promising. I hope things get better for the cast.

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

Min Jae's expressions are everything to me, he's so extra, I love it. I just really really like his character, he's so loyal, which I love. I hope he can get more focus, he's been doing well in both the comedic and serious scenes he's gotten.

The adults are all so awful and I hate that they're giving so much screentime to these terrible, boring people. Honestly, I do not care about their past ~love story~ and just want both of them gone. I have more sympathy for Soo Ji's mom, but also why does she like that dud of a guy?

Usually I'm sad when MBC dramas have poor ratings when I really like the shows (20th Century Boy and Girl and I'm Not A Robot), but this one probably deserves it haha. I'm just afraid of what the writer will try to throw in there to bring ratings up.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Why the f*ck does Sijoo’s mom have romantic feelings for Shihyun’s dad! I thought this was a business marriage, did she miss the memo. And why didn’t Sijoo tell her mom she saw him with another woman, doesn’t she want to break the engagement?!

[showminomoney.livejournal.com]

Right?? Like... what are you doing mom... why the cold guy with the mullet... get with Secretary Yoon instead!

And yeah, I don't know why Soo Ji's keeping that secret bottled up. The guilt is clearly weighing heavily on her. My only hope is that she plans on exacting some complicated revenge plot or something.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Kyungjoo’s mom was the only adult I cared about but she wasn’t in these episodes.

[kukamine.livejournal.com]

the only adult that seems interesting tbh

[minho-lover.livejournal.com]

im really disappointed that taehee fell super quick for sihyun liike wasnt she suppose to hate love??? i love joy, but her acting is kinda killing me. i felt noothing w that kiss, even tho dohwan was ALL IN THAT lol. im kinda sleep on their “relationship” tho. i love sooji cuz shes a sneaky biih and she literally, to me, is the only interesting character and i like the conflict that she has within her, w keeping their bet a secret from sejoo, liking sihyun but confused about it. i just love her. im so confused w the parents and their drama :/ and im literally just ready for taehee to know the truth bout sihyun’s intentions.

[minho-lover.livejournal.com]

i literally only care for sooji n sejoo, can their love blossom??? lolol

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

I went into this drama expecting to really like the Soo Ji/Se Joo pairing so I didn't get invested in Si Hyun/Soo Ji like everyone else did last week haha. If they don't end up happening, I'm going to be so mad, he obviously loves her and they'd be a total power couple.

[spread.livejournal.com]

I can deal with the fuckery of this show as long as it promises to get darker.
It's feeling a little bit to teeny-bopper, "pretty people with problems", typical, generic K-drama at the moment...
If not, I'm dropping this shit like a bad habit.

[kaykaydelight.livejournal.com]

I know I’m in the minority here but I’m still here for Tae Hee and Si Hyun. I feel they have chemistry as well it’s just that Tae Hee is written badly and Joy’s acting doesn’t help. I do agree that their relationship has been rushed and the fact that they’re already living together makes no sense. I was also dissapointed in their kiss scene. The BTS showed how passionate it really was but the one that aired looked very one sided and Joy kept her eyes open too long in the beginning while Do Hwan went to town. I’m still rooting for them though.

Now I was lowkey a little hater of Soo Ji because everyone was loving her but she’s the true star of this show. She’s the glue that holds the trio together and I enjoy watching how they play off of each other. It’s also fun seeing her scenes with the girls. She’s manipulating them but at the same she’s not heartless and cares for them to some degree. Her little smile at the end of the ice cream scene with Hye Jung was cute. I hope to see her interact with them more and actually become friends. But what I’m REALLY invested in is her relationship with Se Joo. I need moar scenes of them together. I love how subtle their feelings for each other are and how they take care of each other. I was upset when Se Joo was ignoring Soo Ji at the club but then he decked that asshole and the world was great again. Praying they’re end game.

The drama with the parents is uneccesary and kinda confusing to me. Could do with out.
But I’m still a fan of the show and while it has its flaws I’m anticipating each new episode. I’m also still a Tae Hee supremacist. Sorry y’all.

[sweetestbliss1.livejournal.com]

These episodes were...something else, but I couldn't stop watching. Haha. The ending scene of ep. 6 (?) at the nursery home where they're wiping the windows and Shi Hyun is asking Tae Hee about her feelings? I was literally cringing and saying "GET OUT. WTF?" I def feel fooled by this show and guess MY idea of seduction and theirs is different....I was expecting some dark shit, but I guess it makes sense that Shi Hyun is seducing Tae Hee this way...she has no real experience in love, so he's going for the corny methods because that's what matches her level of experience??? That's me trying to justify it. She was immune to it for like 2 seconds and then gave up. ALTHOUGH, part of it I can understand because of what Kyung Joo said to her about Shi Hyun being misunderstood. I understand that her friend's words carry a lot of weight, but she just totally threw her tough exterior out the window in 2 seconds flat.

I loved the scene when Shi Hyun calls Soo Ji from the nursery home and she's basically dealing with both boys at the same time (LOL at Minjae and his fear of needles) and then her hanging up on Shi Hyun and leaving him to fend for himself. Love that SHE's the alpha of the group. Woo Do Hwan and Kim Min Jae are killing it with their expressions and comedic scenes. Never fails to make me laugh.

I was under the impression that Ki Young was going to try to date Tae Hee secretly, but I guess I was wrong. It would have made things more interesting if Shi Hyun had competition.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

i just watched all the eps for this drama and god lord, idk if i should cry or laugh.

i mean the lead guy is hot and i like the fashion, but the story is just all over the place. actually all the stories. it doesnt even make sense?? it jumps from one story right into another story without any explanation. the editing makes it even worse. can they like focus only on the joy/si hyun story and not throw in 2349304902 other confusing stories?

will continue to watch only because the lead guy reminds me of a younger kim woo bin

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

okay this comment is like 3 days late so it's gonna be pretty terrible but i'm gonna try to hit at least half of the points i've been yelling at in the omona discord.

last week i fell in love with wdh, this week i fell back out (sorry, keytfelt). taehee's character is so boring she makes sihyun boring when he's with her and he had so much screentime with her this week. it was painful. obviously i agree with all the comments about how they've both started falling for each other way too early, but i'd like to point out that this is even more egregious considering how bad of a job he is doing at seducing her. when he was seducing kyungjoo's mom, he had game. when he started seducing taehee, it all evaporated in a puff of smoke (like my affection for wdh (sorry again, keytfelt)). his plan is literally just follow her around all day. and then he calls her when he realizes he doesn't know how to make ramen cos that's sexy i guess?? and that it works is even more confusing because i cannot fathom how your immediate reaction to that isn't 'what the fuck shit do you mean you don't know how to measure water??????' but to back away from the specifics, the reason his 'seduction' falls so flat with me is that he's not seducing her as himself. rather than playing a bad boy who has fallen so hard for this girl that he is willing to turn over a new leaf, he is pretending to be a good boy who for unknown reasons has a terrible reputation and made out with your best friend's mom. this both doesn't make sense and is not believable (you know, because of the lack of sense). also wtf at kyungjoo totally greenlighting taehee to get together with the dude who almost banged her mom. whatever.

sooji is great and should obviously be the female lead. i'm gonna be sad if her screentime skrinks in favor of taehee. her angsty scenes with sihyun are great, her relationship with sejoo is great, her causing some kind of lesbian awakening in the selma blair girl was extra great. but my favorite relationship she has might be with her mom. it's messy and complicated but they both obviously still care for each other while simultaneously thinking that the other doesn't. but sooji is clearly upset about kiyoung (is that his name? the bratty guy who dumped her?) dissing her mom and sihyun's ugly, terribly-coiffed father pseudo-cheating on her, and sooji's mom obviously takes to heart the thing sooji said about sihyun's house. since their falling out seems to stem from sooji's dad going to prison, it does make me kind of wonder if there is more to that that sooji's mom didn't tell her about/shielded her from than sooji realizes.

i know everybody says they hate the parents but i actually love sooji's mom. cold, older professional woman with a power haircut is basically my genre (see also: misty) and i really hope secretary yoon can become a love interest for her so i don't have to see her with sihyun's dad anymore (and to solve the problem of why a seemingly awesome woman has fallen for yet another shitty dude even though their marriage is clearly supposed to be a business arrangement). frankly, i know it's against the better storytelling rules but i would be happy for him to become a tell, don't show character. fucking hate him.

sejoo is kind of my stealth fave. he's just so pleasant to watch and i always appreciate a character whose devotion to the person he likes supersedes his own feelings. he's obviously aware that sooji and sihyun have some kind of thing going on but is staying quiet about it despite his own feelings towards her. a good boy. in the mean time, i am totally up for him showing the chinese housekeeper lady a good time. she works a shitty job for shitty people, she deserves something nice. sejoo's scene with his mom in the hospital was also pretty touching in a show which otherwise does not really engage me on an emotional level (unless you're counting frustration and boredom).

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

(continued because my comment was too long lol)

neither here nor there crazy speculation based on something someone else said: is taehee's car accident ptsd related to the mystery of sihyun's mom's fatal car accident (which maybe never happened)? did taehee's mom kill (presumably accidentally) sihyun's mom and that's why she had to abandon taehee and then sihyun's dad made it look like a car accident? is that why sihyun wasn't allowed to go to her funeral? not that i actually care but it was a thought i had so i wrote it down

and that's my weekly hatewatch