Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Lesson 2

01. LSJ promises to pay KYH for the forbidden book during the second exam.

02. When KYH tells him that she won’t be taking the exam, he tries to convince her to take it in order to bring about change in society.

03. It is announced that no cheating will be tolerated at the second exam because the king will be present during its administration.

04. Hwang offers KYH an opportunity to substitute someone for the second exam.

05. When the debt collector arrives to take KYH to marry Minister Ha, KYH’s brother takes her place in the palanquin so she can go and take the exam.

06. KYH discovers that LSJ is the one who hired her to take the exam.

07. The king questions KYH about her exam answers.

08. LSJ reveals to the officials that he hired KYH because he recognized her talents.

09. The King orders KYS & LSJ to enter SKK, study hard and, upon graduation, become his ministers.

10. LSJ convinces KYH to attend SKK by telling her that its students are entitled to free medicine and a generous stipend.

11. Hwang gives KYH a 50-nyang advance.

12. HIS decides that LSJ needs to understand who’s in charge at SKK.

13. KYH goes to repay her family’s debt and to release her brother who has been beaten and locked up by Minister Ha’s men.

14. When KYH’s mother forbids her to attend SKK, KYH tells her that she’d rather take that risk than to be sold to Minister Ha for 100 nyang.

15. KYH’s mother and brother give her some advice and farewell gifts (his ID and her dagger).

16. KYH comes across the shaggy stranger who saved her from the thieves being yelled at by a bar owner for nonpayment.

17. The SKK headmaster’s attempts at ingratiating himself with LSJ fall flat.

18. KYH gets nervous when she discovers that she has two roommates, but GYH sets her mind at ease.

19. KYH finds out that LSJ is her roommate despite GYH’s reassurances that he belongs in the West dorms with other Norons.

20. During the freshman student initiation, KYS is sent to collect the undergarments of a famous gisaeng named Cho Sun, and LSJ is sent HIS’s house.

Comments & Observations**************************************

After being seemingly outraged at the doctor’s statement that KYH is a woman, the king just changes his mind. What? How? Okay, whatever.

Hwang’s screams when KYH slams his hand in the money box are hilarious.

The music that plays when KYH walks through the cafeteria starts off in English with “One, two, one, two, three, four!” and then the jangle of electric guitars. Maybe it’s just me, but that does not fit in with a drama about Joseon. It really threw me for a loop.

Doesn’t HIS have anything more important to do than to sit around glaring angrily all the time?

Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Lesson 1

Quick synopsis of the drama: The adventures of Kim Yoon Hee, a young woman living during the late 1770s in Korea, when she attends Sungkyunkwan University disguised as a man, an act punishable by death.

01. Kim Yoon Hee (KYH), who works at Hwang’s book store transcribing books (disguised as a male) impresses two Sungkyunkwan University (SKK) students by writing an exam study guide from memory.

02. KYH turns down Hwang’s offer to do a more profitable type of job: to be a substitute test taker for the SKK entrance exam.

03. She arrives home to find the debt collector destroying their belongings and mistreating her mother.

04. The debt collector tells her mother that she can pay with money or by selling KYH.

05. KYH approaches Lee Sun Joon (LSL) at the testing area.

06. Just as KYH realizes that LSJ is the wrong person, he alerts the officials of her cheating, but KYH narrowly escapes.

07. When Lee Sun Joon (LSJ) submits his exam, he realizes that KYH has written on his tunic, making him look like a cheater.

08. On the way out of the testing area he spots KYH and chases her all around town, but loses her when he gets held up on the bridge by some SKK upperclassmen.

09. KYH’s mother warns her not to take the SKK entrance exam because the risk is great.

10. KYH goes to Minister Ha to pay part of her family’s debt (due to her brother’s illness) and to ask for time to pay the rest.

11. Minister Ha marvels at her intelligence, decides that she should be his next wife and says that he’ll send a palanquin to her house in four days to pick her up.

12. On her way home some thieves snatch KYH’s money bag.

13. As KYH tries to get her money back, a shaggy stranger is awoken by the ruckus, fights off the thieves and gets her money back.

14. LSJ’s father, the Minister of the Left, scolds him for making a scene at the testing area.

15. Ha In Soo (HIS), the SKK student president, decides that LSJ needs to be taught a lesson for being a big mouth.

16. LSJ searches all over the market place for KYH.

17. At Hwang’s bookstore, KYH asks for an advance of 100 nyang, the amount of her family’s debt.

18. Gu Yong Ha (GYH) offers to help LSJ in finding KYH.

19. KYH sets off to deliver a forbidden book to LSJ, but they end up being chased by guards hired by HIS.

Note: Although I am using feminine pronouns (she & her) in relation to KYH, she is always in disguise as a man and perceived as such by everyone she encounters outside of her home.

Comments & Observations****************************************

As much time as KYH spends at Hwang’s book store, one would think he’d figure out her secret. Then again, maybe he didn’t care as long as she’s a reliable transcriber making a profit for him.

What’s up with the electric guitar music during the opening credits? I know this is supposed to be a fusion Sageuk, but I was expecting more traditional soundtrack.

Why is LSJ such a stick in the mud? Is he an only child who had few playmates? Dude needs to lighten up!

The scene when the apple hits the thief’s head is funny as hell!

The shaggy stranger is such a gentleman! Shielding KYH’s eyes before he bludgeons one of the thieves with a club.

During the chase scene in the market there was a moment when KYH is running like such a girl. Hee-hee!

Not another recap blog!

Once the k-drama bug bit me, I didn't just watch the shows, but also read several blogs that recapped the shows' episodes. These are particularly useful because they are often written by people of Korean descent who have excellent insight into the background stuff that's lost on those of us unfamiliar with the historical and cultural details of the drama.

The thing is that all the recaps are quite lengthy, and sometimes I just wanted a quick synopsis of an episode. Since I was unable to find any blogs that offered shorter recaps, I decided to write my own. Each episode will be recapped in 20 or fewer sentences. Fewer would have been even better, but so much is often packed into each episode, that it would have been too difficult. I will begin with Sungkyunkwan Scandal and we’ll see where it goes from there.

I’ll also post random thoughts and observations related to k-drama & j-drama and their respective cultures. Enjoy!