My Candy Mobster: Episodes 11-12

by DaebakGrits

Feelings — of the romantic, jealous, and vengeful selection — are amped up even larger this week, however our deerlings and their antics assist us recover from the hump of watching our primary (and secondary) characters bumble by the ups and downs of their romantic relationships.

 
EPISODES 9-10

The morning after Ji-hwan’s infantile bout of jealousy and his paradoxically manly kiss with Eun-ha, our lovebirds (of the penguin selection, after all) are floating in their very own rainbow-filled universe. Eun-ha wakes as much as a vase filled with sunflowers that put a smile on her face, and each she and Ji-hwan put together for the day with the meticulousness of people who clearly need to look their greatest for the thing of their affection. And their efforts repay — if their exaggerated entrances into the eating room earlier than breakfast are any indication.

Actually, the entire slo-mo bit would have been overkill if it weren’t for the deerlings, who took the drama’s self-referential humor from cringy to hilarious. Watching them reacting to — and puzzling over — Ji-hwan and Eun-ha’s conduct is comedy gold that (principally) squelched the secondhand embarrassment I used to be feeling for our OTP. And much more amusing is that solely half of our deerlings have excessive sufficient EQ to have picked up on the truth that Ji-hwan and Eun-ha are actually formally an merchandise. As such, there’s a blended bag of reactions — particularly when Ji-hwan enters the room with an uncharacteristic aptitude indicative of a person in love… or off his rocker. (On this case, por que no los dos?)

After breakfast, Ji-hwan and Eun-ha go their separate methods, however Ji-hwan is excessive on love and might’t go lengthy with out seeing Eun-ha earlier than he begins experiencing withdrawals. He skips out on work to shock her whereas she outlets for props to make use of in her new movies, and in a sugary candy courting montage filled with smiles, couple’s headbands, and references to actor Uhm Tae-gu’s earlier appearing roles, we see our OTP lastly expertise the carefree bliss of a brand new relationship.

Annnnnnnd then the ability goes out within the underground market– however don’t fear! Despite the fact that they’re plunged into semi-darkness and youngsters begin crying, this turns into Ji-hwan’s time to shine and present that he’s simply as succesful at making youngsters smile as he’s unintentionally terrifying them together with his stoic options. He places on a shadow puppet present, and as Ji-hwan’s fingers shift by a sequence of configurations that mimic animals, Eun-ha is reminded of her childhood pal — an commentary that she factors out to Ji-hwan on their means house.

Though this may be a very good opening for Ji-hwan to disclose his identification, he’s not prepared to debate what occurred after they parted methods as youngsters. As a substitute, touched by Eun-ha’s confession that their outdated friendship is what impressed her profession and want to create joyful and formative reminiscences for kids, Ji-hwan reveals not directly that his personal reminiscences of her are what stored him going by the robust instances. As a lot as I benefit from the foolish, bodily comedy featured so prominently on this drama, I relish the moments like these when our story balances the humor with extra poignant moments that present our OTP is connecting and rising as people and as a pair.

Sadly, the content material and pacing of the comedic moments felt a bit off for me this week — usually undoing the character improvement made in earlier scenes. For instance, after spending the day gone by with Eun-ha and solidifying his standing as her boyfriend, Ji-hwan went to battle with Hyun-woo within the feedback part of Eun-ha’s new video account. As amusing because the boys’ digital pissing contest — and the corresponding on display animations — was, it detracted from the calm maturity Ji-hwan displayed within the earlier scenes. Moreover, although all of us knew it could take Hyun-woo longer than 5 minutes to recover from his crush on Eun-ha, his public show of his pettiness was fully at odds with the self-awareness he demonstrated when he calmly accepted Eun-ha’s rejection. After which, when he and Ji-hwan meet face-to-face once more, he tells him that he hasn’t given up on Eun-ha but. (Come on! She made her selection; settle for it!)

I’ll say one constructive factor concerning the boys — and sure, I’m deliberately calling them boys as a substitute of males after their shenanigans — and that’s that their conduct is a pleasant subversion of a Okay-drama trope that normally saves the exaggerated love-triangle theatrics for when it’s two ladies vying for a person’s consideration. As a substitute, of the 2 love triangles featured on this drama, the one involving Eun-ha and Ye-na is contrastingly extra subdued because of Eun-ha’s level-headedness. Ye-na continues to be delusional and annoyingly aggressive, however when she comes at Eun-ha with the lame excuse that she’s higher for Ji-hwan as a result of she’s recognized him longer — Hah! If solely she knew — Eun-ha shouldn’t be shaken. She’s assured in her personal price and in Ji-hwan’s affections. (That’s our lady!)

Since, I’m on the subject of plotlines that have been a miss for me this week, I’d as effectively point out the largest disappointment: Il-young and Mi-ho. Whereas Eun-ha and Ji-hwan have been swooning for one another and warding off their respective love rivals, our secondary couple has been a multitude — effectively, Il-young has been a multitude. He is aware of he’s screwed up, however it takes Ji-hwan reminding him of his personal recommendation — simply be sincere — for him to appreciate what he must do. However earlier than he will get the prospect to apologize to Mi-ho and admit he has emotions for her, Mi-ho learns from Advertising and marketing Deerling that Il-young is (supposedly) not curious about ever being a household man. Yeah, that’s precisely what each probably pregnant lady needs to listen to about her possibly child daddy. (I say “probably pregnant” as a result of, so far as we all know, Mi-ho hasn’t taken a second being pregnant check or met with a health care provider, so she’s making choices primarily based on the chance of being pregnant.)

In gentle of this info, Mi-ho rejects Il-young’s request so far, and that is the place issues go from dangerous to worse. Il-young will get drunk, exhibits up on Mi-ho’s doorstep, after which crashes for the night time at her place. Whereas intoxicated and on the verge of falling asleep, his honest phrases virtually sway Mi-ho, however any headway Il-young may need made that night time flies out the window when he begins aggressively pursuing Mi-ho — or, extra precisely, her mother and father. He buys them costly presents — together with a freaking automobile — and the excessiveness of all of it understandably rubs Mi-ho the mistaken means as a result of he circumvented her boundaries by assembly her together with her mother and father. Plus, she’s leery of accepting his presents when she has no concept how he’ll react to her (potential) being pregnant.

Il-young tells her that he’s going to maintain displaying up till she accepts him, and though Il-young’s assertion flustered Mi-ho in a means that implies she’s , I got here down with a nasty case of the ick. I do know the drama needs us to imagine that Il-young, an orphan, had a (TBD) purpose for being anti-family that has thawed since assembly Mi-ho. I additionally perceive that the being pregnant plotline is solely a mechanism to get two characters designed to be collectively to fall in love quicker. However — sigh — it’s not working for me.

His curiosity in Mi-ho’s mother and father and the best way he poured over Mi-ho’s childhood photos — like he’s imagining the best way his and Mi-ho’s possibly child may look in six years — makes this “romance” really feel extra like a lonely man’s one-sided pursuit to hitch a ready-made household and fill the void of not having mother and father rising up. Or possibly, as a result of he has no household, he’s adamant that he will likely be part of his child’s life. Both means, Mi-ho, the lady caught in all the center of this, looks as if an afterthought, and it’s extraordinarily unfair for her to be below the misunderstanding that Il-young’s renewed curiosity is fully due to her.

Again in penguin land, Ji-hwan realizes that he has larger fish to fry than Hyun-woo. I’m, after all, speaking about Yang-hee. After Ji-hwan’s father was launched from jail, he dethroned Yang-hee and began treating him like a second class gangster. Yang-hee, in flip, blames all his issues on Ji-hwan — and never his private option to commit prison acts — and is out for revenge. He’s clearly no match for Ji-hwan in both the brawn or brains classes, so he begins concentrating on Ji-hwan’s weak point: Eun-ha.

He approaches Eun-ha whereas she’s working her part-time job, and Ji-hwan intercedes in a violently aggressive method that unnerves Eun-ha as a result of, from her perspective, Ji-hwan’s conduct is extreme and unprovoked — as if he was jealously attacking a person for giving her balloons. To compound issues, Ji-hwan tells Eun-ha to stop her part-time job as a result of it’s not secure, and Eun-ha responds by explaining he has no proper to behave overprotective and controlling if he gained’t clarify to her why she’s in peril.

And so, but once more, Eun-ha is again to icing Ji-hwan out — which implies it’s the right time for the deerlings to serve up some shaved ice and steal the present with their amusing commentary and facial expressions. Fortunately, this disagreement isn’t a significant setback in Ji-hwan and Eun-ha’s relationship, as Ji-hwan acknowledges he owes Eun-ha an apology. One apple — and an sincere clarification of why she ought to keep away from Yang-hee — later, and our emperor and empress penguins are lovey-dovey once more.

Additionally they occur to have the home all to themselves, however in case you thought Ji-hwan’s confidence in how horny his forearms look whereas cooking for Eun-ha would carry over into the extra intimate elements of their relationship, then you definitely’d be sorely mistaken. Ji-hwan continues to be very a lot a clumsy penguin with regards to bodily intimacy, and whereas Eun-ha likes to play the position of coy seductress together with her cutesy movies and teasing phrases, she’s additionally simply flustered and hyper conscious that they’re very alone in the home.

I imply, when a person — sure, Ji-hwan is again to being a person in my e-book — thoughtfully builds you a filming studio in his basement, who wouldn’t get butterflies of anticipation after unintentional touches? Whose ideas wouldn’t flip to smooching when a steamy kiss scene begins taking part in on the tv? It’s solely pure that Ji-hwan and Eun-ha would lean in shut… and get interrupted by Il-young. Effectively, at the very least Ji-hwan didn’t run away this time, so I name {that a} win.

And talking of how Ji-hwan is successful at courting, Ji-hwan lastly has a sit-down with Ye-na and explicitly tells her that the solely lady for him is Eun-ha — since lengthy earlier than Ye-na met him (*mic drop*). Even higher, he comes away from his dialog with Ye-na realizing how crucial it’s that he begins sharing the unsavory components of his life with Eun-ha. Shielding Eun-ha from his previous shouldn’t be defending her. It’s solely constructing a wall between them that fosters miscommunication and misunderstandings. So, having come to this realization, Ji-hwan joins Eun-ha and the deerlings on the orphanage the place they’re volunteering, and for the primary time, he opens up about his father.

The night time Ji-hwan protected younger Eun-ha, certainly one of father’s underlings kidnapped him. Gangster Dad wished to set eyes on his progeny, however Ji-hwan wasn’t compelled to dwell together with his father at this level. As a substitute, it was a number of years later that Ji-hwan bargained his freedom in change for the cash he wanted to pay for his dying mom’s hospital payments. After his mom handed away, Ji-hwan agreed to dwell together with his father and uphold his finish of the discount. (Not that he had a lot of a selection.)

Though Ji-hwan doesn’t go into element concerning the dangerous issues he did as part of his father’s gang, he acknowledges that he dedicated them of his personal volition. Sensing his disgrace, Eun-ha acknowledges his previous however reminds him that he’s a really totally different individual within the current. She factors out all of the methods he’s demonstrated that he’s a very good one that cares for the folks round him, and so long as he’s striving to be a greater individual, she needs to assist him.

As a lot as I have fun the child steps Ji-hwan has taken in direction of Eun-ha, I worry what’s going to occur subsequent. Gangster Dad has been spying on Ji-hwan, and he appears disillusioned that Ji-hwan is smiling and residing his greatest life. Given the truth that it is a man who in some way exited jail with sufficient energy to tug strings and get Hyun-woo booted from his investigation into the Kitty Gang’s drug cash, I fear concerning the type of thoughts video games he’ll play to try to coerce his solely inheritor into following in his prison footsteps. Yang-hee, compared, actually is only a massive ol’ pussycat.

General, these episodes weren’t the perfect this drama has needed to provide, however the plentiful interludes with the deerlings did an incredible job of distracting me from the much less palatable bits. I’m going to chalk up the disappointing moments as being an unlucky casualty of our story transitioning into its closing story arc.

We’re on the a part of our drama when our characters are lastly syncing up and forming alliances in preparation for taking up the ultimate boss. Even Ji-hwan and Hyun-woo are being set as much as have a reluctant bromance — simply two males bonding over their shared want to maintain their girl love alive and put the dangerous guys behind bars. Okay, possibly that’s a little bit of a stretch nonetheless, however seeing Hyun-woo work together with the deerlings this week did give me hope that he may get adopted into the fold.

 
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