Hyun Jun and Sun Hwa reunite and learn more about the secret organization Iris. After Sa Woo convinces Seung Hee that Hyun Jun is dead, she tries to kill herself. However, Sa Woo later finds out that Hyun Jun is indeed alive. The episode ends with Hyun Jun meeting Chul Young face-to-face in Shanghai, China.
Vick is played by Choi Seung-Hyun, who internationally known as T.O.P from Big Bang. The character Vick gets a lot more screen time in this episode due to his ongoing conflict with Hyun-Jin as he tries to retrieve the USB that belonged to Hong Seung-Ryong. As the real life Korean pop star, T.O.P, is playing the role of Vick, this entices fans of his music to watch Iris. This is a common occurrence in South Korea as many Korean pop idols also act in dramas and movies on the side from time to time. Their booming popularity in the music industry will increase viewership of their dramas, as serious fans want to support them and see the idols. T.O.P is a songwriter, singer, and rapper for the group, Big Bang, which is under YG Entertainment. Debuting in 2006, T.O.P has since become one of the biggest groups in South Korea. They have an abundance of accolades and awards as they have won multiple Artists of the Year from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, several Song of the Year from various award programs and they have even won in award shows outside of South Korea. By 2013, when Iris was released, Big Bang is one of the most internationally recognized groups with a massive fan base. Due to the success and popularity of T.O.P on a local and international stage, he was the perfect candidate to play the role of Vick to bring in a substantial viewership to the drama.
ReplyDeleteThe Korean scientist (Hong), who invented Korean nuclear arm, gave Hyoon joon his cross before he was assassinated. This cross regularly appears in the story line, even though it’s been passed among many hands. Cross simply symbolizes Christianity, in which as a religion, it has been outlawed many times in Korean history since 1603. In 1866, Anti-Christian policies lead 8000 Catholics across Korea to be killed. However, Christianity has never ended in Korea, using the quote from Hong “If there is a God then you will gain eternity”. Similarly, Hyoon Joon was in danger for so many times, maybe because the cross from Hong, eventually he could “clutch” (grasp) the situation. Not to mention that Christianity is popular in Korean especially recent years, and the background story of Hyoon Joon grew up in an Orphanage behind a Christian Church. This trend started after the WWII, about 2% population in Korea was Christian. However, this population shows rapid growth in recent years. The census in 1991 indicates “18.4% of the population was protestant, and 6.7% was Catholic”, and as 2014, approximately 30% of the South Korean population is Christian.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most ironic scenes in this episode is when Hyun Jun and Sun Hwa work together. Oddly enough, it represented North and South Korea unifying but at the same time it displayed how one can easily give up their loyalty to a country when they’re betrayed. Both in the military forces, Hyun Jun and Sun Hwa obviously held their patriotism close to their hearts and had fierce fighting power, yet their country turned their backs on them which consequently lead them to start seeking revenge. I suspect that Sun Hwa has romantic feelings for Hyun Jun and so with this forbidden love between North and South Korean people, their unity is juxtaposed against the contrast of their identity. Furthermore, one could even argue that their identity as a North/South Korean has been stripped since they aren’t bound by their government anymore.
ReplyDeleteKim Tae Hee has had multiple acting controversies following her, and she also begins to question her acting skills: "Am I really that bad at acting?" She was always seen as a pretty face that doesn't know how to act, but I think her acting in this episode proved otherwise. During the scene at the greenhouse, where Jung In gives her the file with proof of Hyun Joon's death. She says “The reason I’m delivering this cruel message to you, is so that you can scrape off the hurtful feelings in the bottom of your heart, and bring an end to the feelings you have for Hyun Joon.” Seung Hee's emotions are shown with lots of details, in which she went from shock, to denial, and to depression. She trembles with the file at first, not believing what she read. After Jung In leaves, she drops the file and continues to cut the flower stems, still shaking, until she couldn't hold it anymore and bursts out in tears. This is one of those scenes that is not just bawling, but is one that causes your whole body to go numb in pain. Even if you try to hold it in, your chest would just start hurting. Her acting clearly portrayed how sad she was, but I think that there were other elements that made this scene as good as it was. The OST "Don't Forget" by Baek Ji Young also made the scene a lot sadder. Baek Ji Young is known for her powerful yet sorrowful voice, and this song was also nominated for Best OST in 2009. On top of this, the scene was shot a little bit shakey, which also adds to Seung Hee's trembling emotions.
ReplyDeleteIn this episode, we see the importance of an actor’s “look” in regards to how it can represent the characters’ feelings and the direction they are heading towards. In the majority of this episode, Hyun Joon sported a disheveled look with unruly hair, stubble, and was mostly seen in hoodies. Hyun Joon’s look during the majority of this episode represents his feelings of despair when Yuki died, his rushed state as he tries to hide from Vick, and his feelings of confusion when he tries to figure out what exactly IRIS is. In contrast, at the end of the episode, we see Hyun Joon emerging from the shadows and sporting a much more polished look. He got a haircut and a shave, and was wearing what looked like a tailored coat. This look corresponds with his feelings of ambition and purpose as he finally finds out who his enemy is (IRIS) and how to carry out his revenge scheme. Besides Hyun Joon, Seung Hee also changed her look in this episode. She went from having long hair (when she still believed Hyun Joon was alive) to a long bob (when she lose hope in the possibility that Hyun Joon is still alive). One’s cutting of their hair can often symbolize a “fresh start”, and Seung Hee’s new hairdo can be understood as a new beginning for her as she gets back into NSS and starts her life again without Hyun Joon. Another character that sported a new “look” is Sa Woo. I noticed that he started gelling and styling his hair upwards in this episode (making him look more intimidating), as he turns down a darker path and starts to work for Baek San behind the other NSS agents’ backs. Although this change isn’t as drastic as Hyun Joon and Seung Hee’s, it still represents a change in the character’s thoughts and ambitions.
ReplyDeleteNew Year, New Choi Seung Hee (and others)
ReplyDeleteAlmost half way into the series—call me cold-hearted or not—I was getting sick and tired of having to repeatedly watch scenes of Seung Hee mopping around everywhere she went. It’s just the same scene over and over again with Sa Woo watching her from afar or convincing her that Hyun Jun was dead. I get it. Stop reminding me and get on with the story.
I think the reason why I find it infuriating is that there are these two women, Seung Hee and Sun Hwa who both hold positions of esteem. One is the top profiler in South Korea and the other is an elite agent in the North Korean supreme guard. Um—Hello? They sound kick ass as f***. Yet, we never get to see them really in action. Accept for that one catfight they had on a train in Japan, in previous scenes, the actions of their male peers always compromised their actions. These two women received the same training and testing to get the positions they have, yet they never get to show it off. I don’t know if it is known to you, comment reader, but attaining a high position in a company is extremely difficult for women in Korea because of an issue called: gender inequality. Korea is #1 in the world for income disparity. There is an increase in precarity as men are pushing out women out of success and careers. So, it is incredibly disappointing to not see Seung Hee take advantage of position. Hopefully after her realization that Hyun Jun is really dead (lol), near-death experience, and new haircut/ style will change her for the better.
I noticed the IRIS flower being handled by Choi Seung Hee in this episode. It wasn't the first time Choi is shown in her new working environment as a gardner, and yet noticed a distinct purple flower being handled this time. Then, I looked up what IRIS flower looked like and there it was. I wanted to see if there were any symbolic meaning to the plan IRIS. However, the only thing I learned about the plant was the fact that it is a state flower of Tennessee. I wasn't able to find much connection between the plant IRIS and the plot so far. Has anyone made any connections as to why this Drama might be named IRIS and what symbolic can it have to the plot so far. Why did the director show Choi Seung Hee handling the flpwer?
ReplyDeleteIn episode 8, something that really came across to me was how big of a snake/ dirt Sa-woo has been. I found that it was almost intolerable this episode, showing him to make such cringe decisions. Whether it is for love for Seung-hee, I am not sure what his motive is because he seems so lost. For example, the first wrong thing he does is forging the death of Hyun-jun so that Seung-hee believes that he is dead making her extremely depressed to the point that she becomes sick. Later on when Seung-hee is at the hospital, he then says what would Hyun-jun do in his shoes which makes the viewer want to feel bad for him but everything that has been going on is basically his fault so he just looks more stupid in my opinion. Also in between these scenes, it shows a flashback where Sa-woo betrays his friendship with Hyun-jun because of an order that he got even when Hyun-jun is the one that basically got Sa-woo into the NSS in the first place (when Hyun-jun got out of his "torture" room and went to find Sa-woo and got him out). And closer to the end of the episode, evidence of Hyun-jun being alive comes to Sa-woo's hands and he seems like he is going to keep it for himself until he makes the right decision. I am praying that he does because Sa-woo is really not cutting for me as a character on the show because he seems like the biggest idiot in the world, doing nothing but aggravating the viewers. It is shown earlier in the episodes that he is doing it for Seung-hee's sake and I am interested if Korean viewers find that what Sa-woo is doing is okay because it is all for love.
ReplyDeleteDonny, IRIS was not in 2013. It was in 2009. And seriously, why give me the TOP bio?
ReplyDeleteShengjie, your statistics are off. More than 50% of Koreans don't claim any religion, as you learned in Mr Shababo's guest lecture. Christianity may be a lot, but not 30% of Koreans. And, what do you want to say with this? Do you have something you want to say about hiding the USB in a cross? It came from the DPRK where Christianity is outlawed... it would be more logical to talk about how it's a bad hiding place since anyone can destroy it if they are angry at the religious symbolism, not knowing that a USB is hidden there.
Melissa, good point. Are they both stateless, and hence not betraying their state, or is Hyeonjun still searching to save Korea from evil forces, in which case Seonhwa is betraying her country or showing less patriotism, anyway.
Rachel, this is a good tight focus on how the emotion was portrayed through acting and camera work and even OST.
Karisa, nice close reading of hairstyles and appearances. I esp. like what you found in Sa-u's look.
Karen, tough love. Awesome. Yes, it irritated the heck out of me, too. Both things-- her moping and the lack of kickass scenes for the two women.
Jiyong-- I never found a reason why IRIS was called IRIS. Is it a code word? An abbreviation? Is it the name of the covert organization or the name of their plan? Maybe if we watch IRIS season 2 (I hear it sucked) we'll know.
Byeonghan, good questions. Yes, Sa-u is almost as annoying at Seunghee, or maybe more. Baek San at least is acting out of some understanding that he will make the world better under IRIS's control (I think better is more profitable, but even that is never clear). Oh well.