Excellent Highlights from “Last” Episode 3 (updated)

So far, I am really enjoying this show. I was thrilled to see the recap over at Dramabeans of the first episode, and I hope that more recaps are in the pipeline. It might get viewers to tune in and check it out, when this drama would not have ordinarily been on the radar for them.

I mentioned previously I was concerned about how much fighting there would be in this show. Episode 3 starts off with a fight, but this time I am totally on board with it. TH took the older, somewhat senile guy everyone calls The Chairman to the doctor. They missed some kind of roll call by the Sergeant who is trying to cobble together a group of guys to go fight against the loan shark baddies who are messing with their business activities. Sergeant makes the Chairman do pushups (which of course, he can’t do) and starts to beat him:

*all screencaps from Tiveee.com*

Fire engine sirens are in the background, and the sound triggers some kind of memory for the Chairman, and he starts to shake. Hae Jin can’t take it, and he throws himself over the Chairman’s back, taking the blow.

I like HJ more and more every episode. He’s so loyal. TH throws a piece of trash at Sergeant, stopping the beating. He then challenges him to a duel/fight, and Sergeant accepts:

Whoa. I’m not sure TH is ready to take this guy on yet, but I guess it’s gonna happen anyways. HJ and I are both thinking the same thing here:

And TH is confident as always:

I wish I had half of his self confidence–I’m thinking we would both benefit from that trade!

Na Ra overhears TH and HJ yakking about the upcoming duel at the hospital when they visit the Chairman, and then she immediately spills the beans that night when her Halmoni and the former Prizefighter #2 dude Ryu Jong Goo are having a drink together. RJG immediately leaves with a near-panic look on his face. His thoughts about TH are captioned below:

and the duel is about to begin.

I’m not gonna lie–this is a brutal bare knuckles street fight. TH pretty much gets his butt kicked thoroughly by the Sergeant. The driving rock music soundtrack is excellent BTW–a definite adrenaline rush!  TH manages to land a punch here and there, but he gets tossed through a pane of glass and into another building. The fight then resumes, and now the guys they call Poison Snake and Crocodile are there to watch the action; RJG shows up a few seconds later to watch his pupil continue to get pummeled. Meanwhile the #1 Big Boss has a full intel report on TH, which he reads at his Lair:

His lackey “Mantis” thinks TH will probably die, and I can almost see the wheels turning in KHS’s head: Should I save TH and use him to my advantage or let him get beat to death? RJG shows up just in time as Sergeant is about to finish off TH with a shovel (?) and he stops the fight. The other leaders back off and HJ and Hacker dude go over to TH, but he struggles to his feet, and wants to keep going with the fight. When the other leaders give RJG static about stopping the fight, he challenges them to take him on:

Mantis then shows up in the Boss’s car, halting all the shenanigans, and relays the message from the Big Boss:

(BTW, for you “Glorious Day” fans, that’s the same actor who played In Woo, the cute younger son who was the dentist!)

But RJG is too cool for a meet up, and he bails out. KHS meets with the rest of the Seoul Seven, reminding them that their real enemy is Loan Shark President Jung and his minions, and not each other.

He dismisses them, except for TH–#1 Big Boss wants to have a drink with him! TH still has some overconfidence issues to deal with:

The #1 Big Boss knows all about TH and the Loan Shark President–and he lets TH know he lost money in the failed deal too!

  

Uh, oh! TH realizes he’s been drugged, and he passes out on the couch. After a nightmare/flashback, he wakes up in a soft bed, all bandaged up…

This next scene reminds me why I try to not watch K-dramas in bed late at night after a long day at work, even if I am super excited to watch a new show. My brain starts to zone out. I am not concentrating on the dialogue–instead, my thoughts are going in this direction:

Dang, TH really got the crap kicked out of him in that fight….hmm, let’s see, broken or cracked ribs with that kind of bandaging, and all those cuts…I wonder if he broke his collarbone, nah I don’t think so. He’s lucky he didn’t get a punctured lung or spleen, and he would need surgery….crumbs, “Yong Pal” hasn’t even started up yet, and I don’t think that nice young nurse at the free clinic could pull off a surgery. I sure couldn’t, but I could help with the dental stuff–except his teeth look okay. He’s really lucky. Dental implants aren’t cheap, even in Korea…..Jeez, that busted up eye–wow, the makeup artist really got that swelling right. That’s great talent right there. I wonder if she’s the same one who made Top Star Eun Ho look so good. Nah, probably not…different skills. Gosh, I hope YKS doesn’t get injured with all the stunts and fight scenes. HJ was right, he’s got a pretty good body…

TH wakes up groggily, as Mi Joo asks about Jung Min–because he was calling out her name in his sleep. TH is as out of it as I am:

Her reply:

Uh, yeah. I don’t think she’s talking about playing board games or watching Netflix either. It starts to dawn on me…she has a bathrobe on. Why would that be? Has MJ been hanging around Shamrockmom’s house in the heat of the summer, where house clothes are pajama shorts or boxers for boys and nightgowns or bathrobes for girls? (especially girls with hot flashes!) Hmm….probably not. She tells TH not to worry:

Oh, okay. That should make him feel much better! Then TH gets another piece of info:

This is the moment I feel like someone threw a glass of cold water on me, and I wake up in a huge hurry! She gets up:

and when TH tells her to stop she says:

Omo. I gasp in shock–No, no TH! Don’t take this gift! No, this is a very, very bad idea! I start yelling at the TV, as my older son walks by my bedroom door to remind me that TH is too far away to hear my warnings, lol! Okay, show–I’m awake now! Then MJ drops this very provocative line:

Nice cinematography–I love the mirror and the two images of her. The piano BGM is absolutely perfect for this scene; a little sad, with some intrigue thrown in. I am in love with all the nuances here, and the acting is spot-on. MJ pokes TH a bit when she notes that he must really love his girlfriend (since he didn’t cheat on her) and the irony is not lost on TH. He then turns the tables on MJ, and asks who is her lover:

Yeah, I’d like to know the answer to that too! He correctly guesses that one guy gives her money, and the other one loves her. Nice assessment, TH! Grade for today=A+. Her comment that TH needs to bail out now and not get entangled with KHS like she and RJG did is quite intriguing….how did she get to the Lair of the Big Boss? What made her become “that kind of woman”? How is RJH tied together with MJ and the Big Boss? What a fabulous scene this is. I hope there are many more to come.

RJH is in his bus house, looking at a photo of a woman and child–perhaps he’s got a family somewhere? Or are they deceased? Hmmm….

I like how this show keeps me interested. I liked seeing TH stand up for the Chairman; he’s starting to think about others and not just himself. And then he turned down the “gift” too….a super smart move. I am glad to see he’s got a shred of integrity left. I think TH has a moral compass, but it’s been out of whack for a long time, and it will take some time to put it back into working order.

Then show gives me another jolt! Now I hope I can go to sleep tonight! It’s like having coffee…. RJG gets up and starts tearing apart his bus house, like he’s looking for something. Oh, my goodness! He finds it all right:

and although those look an awful lot like RL insulin syringes, I have no doubt they contain some other addictive and injectable substance–Heroin, perhaps? Just then, MJ rushes in and stops him:

How’d she get there? And that’s quite a dress to wear to visit someone in the middle of the night! Ooooh, and who is Eun Ji? Was she the little girl in the pic?

TH gets the Chairman a room, and trains some more with RJG. Things go pretty good until TH mentions MJ, and asks:

TH’s grade for today=F for lack of subtlety. He makes another mistake, and asks RJG about the pic of his wife and daughter, jokingly saying he thought he was cheating on his wife, and BTW, his daughter is a cutie. RJG loses it and starts punching TH. When they have a meal together later on, TH has a bloody nose (!) and RJG chides him:

TH replies that he shouldn’t take his anger out on his students!

But we then find out some fascinating background on both characters. Yep, Eun Ji was the young girl in the photo:

That was 12 years ago, when she was in 7th grade, so let’s see, that would make her in her early to mid-twenties right now. Now show has another plotline I’m interested in–Will RJG be reunited with his now adult daughter? What happened to her mom?

That happened before he went to jail. How sad….Now it’s TH’s turn:

His mom remarried pronto, and his new stepdad was a Colonel in the military:

Pretty typical–I think it’s the rare deal when a stepparent situation works out well in a second marriage. I never wanted a stepfather for my kids. TH hung out for a couple of years, and left for good. He assumes his mom is okay, because he’s been fine, but that is a mighty spurious basis for an assumption in my book. RJG advises TH to get rid of the Sergeant ASAP–since he’s got a military background like his stepdad. Heh. I might be inclined to agree with RGJ on this. I love how naturally all this info comes out, without feeling forced. Good job, show!

Just when I think that TH is making some forward progress, he takes a step backwards–and goes to the Pawnshop to get the diamond engagement ring out of hock!

WTH is he thinking? Why is he doing this? Carrying around like a diamond ring when you are homeless has to be the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a while. I hope TH is not thinking about giving it to JM again–but he is one mighty stubborn guy. Grade for today=F for stupidity. TH–you are so frustrating, just like dudes in RL! One minute you act smart, and then the next minute…sheesh!

Meanwhile, Se Hoon (the toadie BF of JM) is having some second thoughts about pretty much everything. After JM stopped the elevator and hugged him, saying she needed him by her side (which felt totally manipulative to me) he’s now at a meeting with his boss and the #1 Big Boss at the Big Boss’s Private Lair. MJ tries to make him feel better:

But the corruption is starting to get to him. The #1 Big Boss picks up on Se Hoon’s obvious discomfort:

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too! Se Hoon leaves, just as some important political official gets there–and looky who he brought with him!

Yep, it’s Loan Shark President Jang–and the #1 Big Boss is not happy to see this dude:

The range of facial expressions here from KSH/LBS is a real treat: shock, fear, disgust…it’s quite fun to watch, as he’s no longer in complete control of the situation. He then puts on a good poker face, but Loan Shark President Jang rubs it in his face that he shoulda bribed the political official with more money. Then LSPJ decides to play with fire:

MJ stands as still as a statue while LSPJ leaves, and then KSH barks for the keys to his car from Mantis. Mantis offers to drive him, but he gets barked at again. Uh, oh. Drinking and driving–a big no-no in Shamrockmom’s book. MJ offers to go with him, and I hope she can persuade him to let her drive. Nope–no luck:

The BGM is a total win here. I am only sorry I am unable to Shazam it and find out what it is–some kind of religious chorale. Darn. I need to do more research. Found it! It’s “Heidenroslein“, a poem by Goethe. Of course, it’s about a young man’s unrequited love for a woman. I truly believe nearly everyone in Korea has some kind of unrequited love story in their life. Here is a link to the full choral performance by the Vienna Boys Choir and a piano only version originally composed by Franz Schubert (D257).  I already thought the BGM music for this show was great; this selection just ramped it up another notch. I like how it can be classical or rock, and it still fits perfectly. Daebak!

KSH is almost at 170 km/hr (105 mph), and he swerves at the last minute, and they don’t go off the pier…whoa. That was scary. KSH and MJ are now parked by the river, and he asks her a question I wanna know the answer to as well:

He supposes she must be tired of him, but her answer shocks me:

KSH tells MJ to fuggedaboudit:

 

Oh, that’s interesting! MJ says she doesn’t remember stuff like that, ’cause it was so long ago, but I’m gonna bet that’s a big fat whopper lie right there. She also asks what he’s gonna do about LSPJ, and he declares:

KSH asks MJ not to run away, but the “ardent look” he gives her says it all:

It must get to her too–or she’s a champion liar:

What an enjoyable episode–and so much to look forward too as well. Unfortunately, that’s all I have time for this weekend, but I hope you are giving “Last” a chance. So far–so good!