Bridal Mask E2

Take a good look at him here cuz for the rest of the episode, he won’t look like this. I’m starting to think Dan is one lucky girl. She has Gaksital rescuing her at every turn when she is in danger, but on the side she has Shunji crushing on her. Add Kangto to that mix later on and we have ourselves a character every woman envies. Wanna see why? watch what happens next week. For the first time ever, a preview took my breath away. Listen to me and skip the recap and scroll way down to the bottom – trust me – scroll quickly and get ready to squeal. I know I know – you are welcome. Just another reason to love this drama. Daebak. 🙂

Thanks to Sparkskey for E3 written preview: 🙂 “When the operation to lure Gaksital out with Mokdan as a bait fails, Kangto vows in front of Police Chief Kono who favours him to give him once more chance, this time he will definitely catch Gaksital. After Gaksital’s rescue, Mokdan wanders around the forest in the raging rain and wind, barely finding Namsan Elementary School just in time…. Shunji who knows he got his father into trouble because he sided with Kangto is very conflicted, staying in school, when he meets Mokdan. As he brings the unconscious Mokdan to his rented room, he runs into the approaching Kangto.

Sparkskey wrote: I’m betting we get our first (of many) 2 guys standing off with the girl in between them. The first line of the preview for ep3 was already in ep2 so they should have dropped off better spoilers/tidbits in the preview.”

Thanks to Semi-fly for such quick torrents.  🙂

After months of recapping and staring at this face, I have developed a sixth sense when it comes to his screencaps. I know which angle will bring out his features and what will make the shot near perfect. Mostly cuz his face does all the work and just looks great in pretty much any light.

Interesting tidbit: During the Gaksital press conference, the director was asked why he chose SHJ and JW for their roles. I already translated JW’s part, but I held back translating SHJ’s cuz out of context it could seem mean. SHJ took it in stride and playfully laughed along when the director said he chose SHJ to play the imbecile brother Kang san cuz SHJ just looks like “a fool/dummy.” Now I totally get what the director meant cuz HJ’s facial features allows him to make this role come alive. HJ is really doing an outstanding job and I can already see why he loves playing KS so much.

OOOOO

Bolded names are the ones I am using on the recap cuz it needs to go quickly. Hope i can keep them all straight

Joo Won as Lee Kang-to (K)

Jin Sae-yeon as Mok Dan (D)

Park Ki-woong as Kimura Shunji (S)

Han Chae-ah as Chae Hong-joo (Japanese identity: Ueno Rie. (H)

Shin Hyun Jun  as Lee Kang-san, Kang-to’s older brother who is the original Gaksital. (KS)

Yoon Bong – kil as Abe Shinji (the chubby guy with the hat that is with K all the time)

Jeon No Min as Dam Sa Ri (D’s dad and leader of the independence movement )

Kimura Taro (the actor who played the president on city hunter- dont know his real name. he has two sons kenji and shunji)

Kimura Kenji (that scowling guy with the mustache who is out to kill K. Kenji is Taro’s son and S’s brother)

Kono Goji (the old actor from Moon who played minister yoon and B’s dad. Goji can also be spelled as Koji. On the show he is referred to as Konno but there are way too many K names as it is.)

OOOOO

E2

K goes to his car and gets a gun to his head but the real Gasksital is on a roof and shoots something at the fake one. It gives K the chance to fight the fake one. K picks up the guy’s gun and shoots at him, but the fake one gets away. the fake one got a good look at the real Gaksital on the rooptop

The fake one reports to Kenji. kenji asks what happened. the guy says he failed cuz of Gaksital. that Gaksital attacked him. He says I saw with my own two eyes very clearly Gaksital is for certain on the same side as K. kenji says now I know why K was doing so well

Some men gather and glasses guy says choi and lee gong are dead. How their side is dying off one by one. Taro is there too. one guy is worried that Gaksital’s side know about them. the overacting one thinks the koreans idiolize Gaksital and worries about another terrorist attack on them. Kenji knocks. Taro says come in and asks what happened. Kenji report to taro what happened. Taro: what? Gaksital? Kenji asks what should I do. taro: are you asking cuz you don’t know. kenji says ok and leaves. someone asks taro what’s going on. Taro says I am the chief of police. it took 30 yrs to get to this seat so you think cuz of someone like gaksital I will be ruined. he raises his glass to cheer

K looks for the fake one and kicks a pole out of frustration. He looks at the gun in his hand. The one he got from the fake Gaksital. It’s from Germany and it’s expensive. Suddenly officers show up with kenji and surround K. K asks what you are doing. kenji tells him to toss the gun. K: are you trying to arrest me? K doesn’t let go of the gun so kenji shoots the gun away. officer handcuffs K. K: what is this?

Kenji takes K to an interrogation room and beats him with a stick. K says are you crazy. K says how he is an police officer (for the Japanese) and assigned by Kono (Goji).  Kenji just beats him more for saying those things. you thought we would be fooled till the end didnt you. you dare to deceive the Japanese police. They put K back in his chair. Kenji says someone like you is going to catch Damsari (D’s dad)when the police couldnt.   I should have guessed then. He accuses K of being on the same side as Gaskital and Damsari. You put on a show pretending to catch him to get a promotion and and with Gaksital, you let Damsari escape. How much fun did you have cuz he didnt sense that. K asks what is the reason why you are using this method?  K says how Gaksital just tried to kill me. with a gun from Germany. didnt you realize the simple fact even though it’s only been a month since Gaksital killed Choi? K points out gaksital never once used a gun before to kill anyone. that Gaksital would ever use a gun from Germany that officers use – if you were going to put on a show you should have done better. Kenji calls him a name and kicks him

Some guy gives D a letter from her dad. her wrote: I escaped safely and arrived in shanghai. all I did was have you be born and never once got to be a father. i’m sorry. but for your sake and for the sake of taking back the land that you live on, until there is no fight left in body, I will fight. until we meet again, as my daughter, you have to live well. she reads it and says father. The circus leader and a woman come in and tell the man that there is a thief among them. she says how spoons and stuff went missing but now her chamber pot is gone (where she pees into in the middle of the night). the other guy thinks since it’s ten years old it got a hole in it from overuse. they bicker so he asks who would take something like that.

The girl who is friends with D- Sunah- takes that stolen chamber pot and gives it to S. (she seems to have a crush on S) S: I’m so grateful so what should I do. she says I heard you needed it. S tries to pay her but she tries to reject it. S says I feel better this way. She says I only wanted to help. S says I know but I always say thank you so I felt bad. she runs off and the kid calls after her to go together. S opens it and D’s knife is inside. He remembers young D holding it and praying with it

D is still happy about her dad’s letter. She looks for her knife and cant find it. she asks sunah did you see my knife. Where is it. sunah offers to buy a better one than that cuz it’s shabby. she says I will earn money and buy you another one since it’s old. sunah runs off so D chases after her.

S is riding towards them cuz he was coming back to ask about the knife. sunah asks S for a ride.  D calls out to return that knife. I have to have it to find young master. S stops pedaling and looks back at her

Flashback to when he was a kid and his father taro came home. Kenji and S were outside. S’s nanny was coughing up blood but his brother threw her bags out and left her on the street. S took her to the hospital. They pull up to the hospital and D is there. he asked the woman to wake up. D asks if the woman is ok. get up.

Young S holds his nanny’s hand and hugs her when she is a little better

D begs the doctor to save the woman but he says they have to have money to have surgery. She says but you treated me for free. I will work my entire life to pay for that ajumma. please.  please save her. He says sorry cuz the hospital cant afford it. S comes over and thanks her for saving his nanny, but D says -what are you talking about. your ajumma can only live if she has surgery. he says they said if she sleeps one night she will be all well. D: if we leave her alone, we dont know when she will die. S: my nanny will die? D: are you stupid. instead of crying, come up with a solution to save her.  It’s nonsense that people will die cuz they dont have money. whoever it is, a person is precious. all people’s lives are equally precious.

S goes home and stole his dad’s sword to sell it and pay for the surgery

The nanny is doing better but taro comes and shoves his son (and beats him). Now S is on the bed with a broken leg and arm. D draws on his cast

Present time S says I thought you left for America with doctor Albert. D says I was thankful the doctor wanted me to go with him, but I didn’t go. S:why? D: cuz I had someone I had to meet. He asks the person who gave you that knife. She asks how he knew. He says you always had the knife in your hand when you prayed. (for God) to let you meet him. Who is it. D doesn’t answer and calls for sunah to hurry and come

K is whipped and bloodied. (There had better be lots of apologetic hugs after this scene was filmed)

His mom says there is no news of him today too. she wonders if K forgot today is his father’s memorial (anniversary of his death). KS offers to go and find K. she asks how he could. KS: he will be at S’s home. I’ll go bring him. father will want to see our K too. his mom says then hurry and go and tell him to act like a son. KS says I will hurry and go and come back

S dresses nicely to go see the circus and meet D. he says I should have gone to see the circus when Jangsoo asked me to go. I didnt know she was so closeby. KS calls out for K. “Kang to ya hyung came.” S: KS hyung? KS asks where K is. S says he didnt come yet. these days he is trying to capture Gaksital so he works overnight at the station. KS says i have to take our K. I have to find him. S asks why? what’s going on. KS:  today is the memorial day for my father so mom is waiting for K. S: this guy didnt know it was the memorial. S offers to drop by the police station and tell K on his way out. KS says you look good are you going to meet a girl. S: what girl. KS: I’m right huh? Is that girl’s butt big? S tells him to go home and he will find K and no matter what send him home. KS says I miss our K and I haven’t seen him yesterday or the day before. I didnt see him. KS keeps asking is that girl’s breasts large? is it really big? How big? Really big? S walks him out the door laughing saying let’s go out.

Abe sneaks in to see K. K is behind bars in a jail cell. Abe asks if K is ok. How can this happen. K asks him to set him free. Another officer is there and tell K not to put so much effort into it and just admit and get punished. that will be the path to survive. the guy hits Abe cuz Abe said it’s nonsense that K is on the same side as Gaksital. The guy kicks Abe calling him a dummy and to get in the right line. so K calls out the guy’s name. The guy calls more officers to watch over K tonight with him. He orders that abe be taken away. abe calls out for K and K calls out for Abe.

S bikes over to the station with flowers. He sees abe being dragged out and thrown on the street. S helps him up and asks what happened.

Kenji reads off there is proof that K helped the criminal who killed choi. he taunts K:  Goji be faint when he finds out. K offers to show him something fun. K pretends to have the photo in his pocket  He says what relationship did chief of police kimuro (taro) and judge choi have to wear the same raiment and take that pic. What does that symbok “K” mean to have that same thing on the raiment they wore.  kenji asks to show the pic first. K taunts kenji to come inside the cell and get it himself and not send the other guy. why? are you afraid. that you might die?  Kenji orders it unlocked and goes in with his gun. K asks him to take his hand out of his pocket and give him the pic. K pretends to reach for the photo and beats kenji and gets the gun out of his hand. He holds the gun to kenji’s head. The alarm was rung so S walks in and hears it. K held kenji as hostage and tells the officers to back off and move.

kenji says the more K does this, the more evidence piles on that K is on the same side with Gaksital. K taunts them to shoot cuz he will take kenji down with him. the officer asks kenji what to do so kenji says cant you see how it is. (meaning dont shoot K so kenji wont die)  More officers come in and S tells them to wait a minute and lower the gun. kenji asks what S is doing now. S gets in front of K and shields him. S says I am chief Kimura’s son S.  someone will get hurt like this. S faces K and tells him you calm down too and let’s talk it out.  K tells him to stay out of it. I have no choice but to do this to get out of the accusation. kenji breaks free. S prevents officers from shooting K. it gives K some time to jump out the window. S prevents kenji from shooting K. kenji tells S to let go. K runs away. kenji punches S. kenji orders a call to be put thru to the chief

S says K is the most loyal. kenji tells him to shut up. do you know what you just did? S: that K is on gaksital’s side? does father know this ridiculous situation too. kenji: what if he knows? what so you can go against father again? S angers kenji saying kenji wouldn’t do anything with their father’s permission. cuz you do whatever he says. Kenji talks on the phone and tells taro that S helped K escape. taro: what? with whose help? kejni says S the one who works at the school. S helped K escape.  what should I do about K. taro: are you asking cuz you dont know what to do with someone who helps a criminal escape? kenji: what do I do about K? Taro says to shoot K on sight.  Kenji tells the officers- as you can see K is on the same side as Gasksital. the order is to shoot to kill on sight. got that? they say yes and leave.  he puts S in handcuffs for helping a criminal escape so now he has to pay for his crime. S: what is the reason you are going this far to go after K?  Kenji :do you know you just put a knife to my neck and dad’s?

Taro is meeting with some guy in glasses.  the guy asks what call was that for you to give the order to shoot on sight. taro says you dont need to know.  he asks what brings the man here at night. The guy  says I came cuz I had some concerns. aside from our members, cant you think of anyone else who would know the name shokai. he brings up 13 yrs ago when they were after someone and failed. taro says lee sun? yes there was but choi said for sure he killed him.  The guy says out of his family – what if someone lived. Flashback to a field and men fighting. K’s dad is killed. taro says back then we were told everyone was killed. taro says someone could have survived back then. the guy wonders if that person was gaksital.

There is an old man in a black hat. He jumps down to K’s father’s memorial and bows before K’s dad’s photo. K’s mom comes back and notices someone poured a drink for K’s dad.

Goji gets a call from taro that taro found evidence that K is on the same side as Gaksital.that K just escaped. dont worry. I ordered him to be shot on sight. we will kill him for sure. Goji starts to protest but taro says I will show you the evidence that K is on the same side as Gaksital early tm morning.  don’t worry and sleep comfortably

just then K shows up bloody at goji’s home. goji says taro’s name out of anger

Next morning, taro goes in to meet Goji and K is there in uniform with goji and kenji. Goji puts down the file and says is this all the evidence you have against K with just this you want to kick him out of the police.  Taro says how K’s hyung (KS) was with the independence movement. implying that K joined the police to get even for his brother becoming that way. K tells Goji to say someone tried to kill me as soon as you gave me choi’s case. goji asks taro: that guy used a gun from germany that officers use -dont you know who he is? Taro says we already caught the guy who attacked K. They bring in the fake Gaksital. K knew his name (sasakee). The guy says you didnt forget me yet. cuz of you I was stripped and went to jail.  kenji says that guy who tried to get even with K happened to be there and saw Gaksital interfer as the guy tried to kill K. the guy says: I saw it I saw with my own two eyes that gaksital tried to save K. I saw it. taro says to Goji- now you see how serious this is. Kenji adds that taro put his own son in jail for helping K to escape. Goji says it’s fun that Taro has a son like that. goji: going against his father to help K, I want to hear that reason from S himself

Goji asks S: what is the reason why you helped K escape. S: not just to his own mother who gave birth to him, even if K had to make all the other insurgents kneel, K would still remain loyal to the government. that kind of K who is considered a traitor among his own people, to accuse him of being on the same side as Gaksital, I couldn’t just stand by and watch. kenji:what? S goes on and says if the police killed K just for being born Korean, then who would remain loyal to a government like that in the future. goji claps and compliments taro- I am envious you have such a great son.  taro asks goji to speak now. goji says I cant accept 100% what sasakee (fake gaksital) witnessed, whether K is on the same side as Gaksital or not, after we catch Gaksital the truth will be revealed.  taro: what if we cant catch Gaksital. goji: if he cant catch him with that talent, then it will be suspicious. taro: not suspicious – you will have to believe. if he cant catch Gaksital,  then you have to admit the truth that K is on the same side as Gaksital. goji agrees. goji asks if K can catch Gaksital within a few days but K says I will catch him within 4 days. after I catch him, I will find out the reason why the faks Gaksital was used to kill me. goji says during your investigation you can do whatever or use whatever method you want.

There are sketches of D’s face plastered everywhere on wanted signs with a reward for calling in tips to capture her. a girl reads the reward amount. it’s enough to buy a home. she recgonizes D

D tells sunah she doesn’t have any relationship with S. sinah asks you really dont have anything going on with teacher. D promises. sunah asks you really didn’t see gaksital’s face. D: how many times do I have to tell you. after he dropped me off in the woods, he left without a word. sunah: you should have spoken to him first. he is the person who rescued you when there were so many officers.  didnt you thank him?  D realizes she never thanked him once

abe asks if we find this girl will we be able to catch Gaksital. K: Gaksital saved this girl twice.  if we find this girl, and put her in danger, then we might be able to catch him

Some girl (not D’s friend) calls in to K and says I saw the wanted sign and called. K tells her to speak.

D is in the bath and remembers all the times gaksital saved her and smiles

K goes to the housing complex where D is with the police and say to post guards on all exits.

The band leader is practicing a dance routine with another woman. K walks in and stops the music. Woman asks if he came to capture them cuz of their dancing. K shows the sketch of D.  and asks where is she. the woman says people stay here for one night so you are going to need more people to ask. (meaning people come and go) The circus leader says sorry but it’s the first time I saw this face. K goes out and tells the officers to look. the guy worries cuz he recognized K as the one D threw that rock at during the funeral. The woman leaves to warn D to run away. his legs dont work so he asks take me with you.

D shows up so the woman motions her to run but K shows up and says bingo. I found you. stop right there. D goes out the window and jumps down and is surrounded by officers with guns aimed at her. K looks out the window and sees her trapped and smiles. Behind him is the knife hanging on the door

S sits alone and drinks remembering what kenji said about how S is holding a knife to their necks

D was beaten. She is hanging by her arms. Abe throws some water to revive her. K comes and abe says no matter how much they asked, she keeps saying she doesn’t know who  gaksital or damsari are. K says she would do that. but gaksital cant act like he doesn’t know you. he will jump in again. She spits on his face. K wipes his face and grabs her chin- why? are you afraid? that gaksital will get caught? Are you two in a loving relationship? Bingo. Drag her away. They untie her and take her away. She glares at K. K asks abe – you prepared for it right?

They tied D up and is walking her through the streets. They break up the market and put D in the middle. KS shows up and sees K looking up at the snipers with rifles aimed at D. KS blows on his toy and goes away. K says this girl is a rebel helping the independence movement. she committed the crime of helping Mok Damsari escape. crime of throwing a rock during the funeral. (gaksital takes out the snipers) K continues: So watch carefully what happens to rebels like her. he orders for officers to prepare to shoot. He looks up but his snipers are all gone. someone yells out it’s gaksital. Gaksital jumps down. K says catch him. K orders Abe to put a gun to D and keep an eye on her. abe has a gun on D but gaksital rides in and kicks abe away and rescues D. people block the officers and K but K jumps over the blockade and shoots towards Gaksital a lot. They ride away so K yells

Gakistal helps D off the horse and unties her hands. he turns to get back on the horse, but she holds onto his arm. D: thank you very much, but why do you keep helping me and putting yourself in danger. My name is mok dan. What is your name. he pulls his arm away and their finger tips brush. He leaves her in the woods and rides off

Goji asks how K could have lost gaksital in that situation with all the officers and best snipers all over the buildings. Are you really not on Gaksital’s side? K: I am not. Trust me. If you just give me one more chance

Back in the woods gaksital takes off his mask and it’s KS

K promises to capture Gaksital with his own hands.

End

Preview

*JACKPOT – Shirtless JW next week *faints*

D asks S: freinds? How can you be friends with a jerk like that. (meaning K)

S asks: just this one more time – let me help you.

a voice says if K knows how his father died unfairly. KS asks: if he knows that, do you think Kangto will be on my side?

The spy comes into the picture

K says to the people at the market: among you Gakistal is here for sure. find him.

D is hiding in S’s closet. S blocks that door. K takes his shirt off and asks D: why are you standing there like that? do you have a girl hidden? D: I said it’s nothing. K looks in the closet.

Gakistal goes after the glasses guy and accuses him of betraying the koreans.

The second time he met JE on OB, TH threw her over his head and spun her around and then tossed her down on some sacks. Later on, he grabbed her wrist a lot. Back then I thought those things were pretty harsh, but it’s child’s play compared to what he has done to Dan so far. K has slapped her, ordered her to be beaten, shot at her, and pretty much put her in danger almost every time they met. He is going to have some major apologizing to do later when he learns who she is and why she has that knife. I have no doubt he will feel remorse, but now I am wondering if she can ever find it in her heart to forgive him. Not for the things he did to her, but the fact that he is the one who captured and arrested her father last time. Dan almost lost her father cuz of K so I am not sure this love story will go well. So far K has done quite a bit of damage so flashing those dimples won’t make a bit of difference. If you think about it, there are a lot of things coming between them from the start. Apart from the separation, you have Dan falling for Gaksital, then S vying for her affection, this whole business with having to clear K’s reputation, the female spy that is coming into the picture next week, etc. At this rate, this love story won’t be able to get going till at least the halfway mark or later.

Not that I am complaining or anything cuz I already got my wish. I was hoping like crazy this series would be easy to translate and my prayers have been answered. It’s safe to say I am keeping this drama to recap. Even though Big hasn’t aired yet, I highly doubt I will dislike that enough to drop it. Fanderay has already generously agreed to recap the first episode with me on Monday. After that she will decide whether to keep going with Big or stick with Gaksital. She can only recap one drama with me at a time so I will let you know what she decided on Monday night. For all our sake, I hope she keeps Bridal Mask cuz knowing me, I will only screencap 95% JW again. I feel so guilty turning each one of his projects into a one man show. But not that guilty cuz I still get trigger happy and only click on his face. Sigh. What’s a girl to do. Sort of fear that shirtless scene coming up cuz crying and typing at the same time I’ve mastered, but this will be a challenge not to drool as I type. He made us sit through 58 eps of OB and ten episodes of 1n2d just to wait for this moment and judging from the glimpse we all got, boy was that wait worth every second. 🙂

Just in case, I made this priority and added some in bigger sizes – 800×450. just click on the pic to enlarge. 🙂

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Fanderay’s comment:

I definitely enjoyed today’s episode more than the yesterday’s, and feel like pretty much every element of the show was improved upon. The story was much more streamlined, and the characters are opening up to us in a more organic and compelling way. It’s often more interesting to learn about people through watching their actions rather than seeing their pasts, and I genuinely enjoyed seeing the various sides of our leads (and some of the secondary characters too). I even thought the action was much improved in this episodes since there was a lot less flash and more actual fighting (which feels a lot more realistic and gets me more involved).

K is continually getting more interesting because I go back and forth between liking him and finding him detestable. I found myself completely on his side and wanting to save him myself while he was standing up to torture, but not much later he was torturing D with a smile on his face. Those two definitely have chemistry though, because I could sense the the love in the air even when she was spitting on him from her manacles. Obviously K’s brother will be the major catalyst for his personality makeover, but meanwhile I’m having quite a bit of fun watching Joo Won play this part. He’s far from evil, but doesn’t see the big picture, enjoys power over his enemies a bit too much, and has been made somewhat crazed and desperate by his opponent (Gaksital). It’s like K is a typical antagonist cop-type who never catches the masked hero (like in a comic book) but in this case K is the hero and that has me much more intrigued.

S is getting a lot more compelling too, although it’s easy to see how he’s being lined up for all sorts of heartache and conflict. Son and brother of evil officials? Check. Best friend of the man who will become your family’s number one enemy? Check. In love with the girl who will love that best friend? Check (I could go on, but you get the idea). The worst part is that S is clearly an empathetic softy, and he’s very much the type to get torn apart by tough decisions. Despite being at odds with his family, it’s clear that they still have the smallest inkling of power over him and make him hesitate. He may not be with them, but he doesn’t seem capable of being 100% against them either, and 1% of uncertainty is enough to cause some serious problems down the road.

So far D is the most 1-dimensional character of the lot, so I hope she gets developed beyond being a righteous and stubborn woman with a knack for acrobatics. We saw a glimpse of personality when she was day-dreaming about Gaksital, so I have faith that we’ll see more sides to her once she’s not just running and fighting all the time.

If the preview is any indication, it seems like this drama will just keep improving (and no, I’m not just referring to a shirtless Joo Won!). The story looks like it will continue to gain momentum, and I’m excited to have more interaction between all the leads (especially with more conversation and less action). So far I’m not invested enough to feel addicted, but with a little humor and some more character development, it could happen next week.