Scandal Episode 21

When last we saw our stalwart hero he was being shot by his biological father.

 

 

Hwa Young hastens into the law firm offices and catches Fake Eun Joong listening in over his cell phone to what's happening at the warehouse with Real Eun Joong. Hwa Young pleads with her not-son to call 112 (their 911). Like he's gonna do that. Instead Fake claims he has no idea where they're at. She grabs him by the jacket lapels and screams like a banshee for him to do something, anything!

 

Myeong Geun arrives at the site just as Tae Ha turns and fires the gun, hitting Real Eun Joong somewhere on his chest. Hwa Young hears the gunshot over the phone. Real Eun Joong, tied to a chair, slowly topples over. In the office Hwa Young hits the floor herself. As Myeong Geun shakes Real Eun Joong, crying for his not-son to come to his senses, evil Tae Ha has the temerity to snicker. He tries to shoot Myeong Geun as well but the gun is out of ammo.

 

Tae Ha tells his nemesis this is what you get for messing with me. This is when Myeong Geun finally blurts out that Real Eun Joong is Tae Ha's real son. Tae Ha scurries over to tear off Real Eun Joong's sock and finds the old childhood scar on the cop's ankle. Tae Ha ruins his suit by crawling through Eun Joong's blood. (There is quite a bit of it.)

 

Thank goodness, I hear sirens in the distance. Kang Ho beseeches his boss to get the hell out of there before the authorities arrive. Tae Ha joins Myeong Geun in being useless and yelling at the dying Eun Joong so Kang Ho has no choice but to knock Tae Ha out and drag him away, cleaning the fingerprints off the gun before they leave.

 

Back at the Jang house, Joo Ha overhears her father repeatedly saying this can't be his son's blood all over his hands, it just can't be. Real Eun Joong is finally taken into surgery at a hospital. Myeong Geun, covered in his not-son's blood, is harassed on all sides by the staff to fill out their freakin' paperwork. Suddenly the paper is torn out of his hands. It's Hwa Young who has recovered from her faint and now says she'll take care of it all. All she wants Myeong Geun to do is to crawl off somewhere and die. Then she changes her mind. Hwa Young doesn't want him to die, she wants him to live in misery and pain and pay for what he's done.

 

Tae Ha struggles to get into his PJ's as he keeps staring at his hands and replaying the scene in the warehouse.

 

I think we have a time skip although the show won't tell us. Hwa Young silently sits in her car outside of the Ha house. Real Eun Joong, recovered from his surgery, is coming home from the hospital. (Surely some time has passed. Although in Heartless City their life-threatening injuries didn't seem to bother them the next day. Perhaps Eun Joong was taken to this same miracle hospital for lickety-split therapy.)

 

Anyway, Soo Young begs her not-brother to quit the force. Eun Joong doesn't say anything as apparently he hasn't spoken since he woke up from surgery. Myeong Geun takes Eun Joong's hand with the intent of guiding him to the bedroom so he can rest. Eun Joong markedly pulls his hand out of Myeong Geun's grip.

 

In the kitchen (where I'm totally distracted by the black chicken they're fixing. I've never seen black chicken before. Well, except for when I've burnt dinner, but this one's black before they've even cooked it. But I digress...) Myeong Geun confides in Ah Mi that he believes Real Eun Joong knows about what Dad #1 did. Once again Ah Mi tries to push Myeong Geun into telling Eun Joong the whole story before Jang Tae Ha comes over and starts opening his big mouth.

 

Hwa Young is still outside sitting in her car when she sees Real Eun Joong come out of the house. He's carrying a backpack, holding his side and limping slowly down the street. Worried, she jumps out of her car and grabs his arm, imploring him to take it easy and not push himself so hard. He just got out of the hospital after all. Like Myeong Geun, Eun Joong pushes her hand away. He grabs a taxi and leaves her, leaves everyone behind.

 

It's Soo Young who discovers her brother has slipped out of the house, taking his clothes (in just one backpack) and leaving his cell phone behind so they can't contact him.

 

Meanwhile over at the Jang house, Tae Ha sits on the door sill and keeps looking at his hands. Fake Eun Joong comes home from the office and tries to get his not-father to talk. It seems Tae Ha has also clammed up and stopped speaking since the shooting. Fake falls to his knees and begs to be remembered as Tae Ha's son. Fake has been his son all these years and still considers Tae Ha as his father. Tae Ha finally speaks...

 

...and tells Fake Eun Joong to stop calling him father.

 

Hwa Young comes home for her own painful meeting, this one with Joo Ha. Joo Ha blames Hwa Young for almost allowing her to commit incest (in a sense) with Real Eun Joong. Seems Joo Ha was just on the edge of starting to feel something for Eun Joong, which is still icky. Although if I recall it was Joo Ha who broke up with Eun Joong before Hwa Young found out he was her real son. If anything Joo Ha should be blaming Fake Eun Joong. He knew the truth way before his mother did.

 

Kang Joo Pil shows Tae Ha the DNA test he had done recently on Real Eun Joong and Tae Ha. The ex-reporter asks why didn't Tae Ha do a paternity test all those years ago? This reminds Tae Ha that he did do a test and that his wife must have rigged it. He goes to find Hwa Young and ends up overhearing Joo Ha coming to the conclusion that Hwa Young must have known all along that Fake Eun Joong was not her biological son.

 

Later that evening at a verrrry awkward dinner, Tae Ha starts quizzing his family on just when exactly they learned that Fake is fake and Real is real. Hwa Young admits she brought in a fake child partly as revenge for what Tae Ha did to her father. Tae Ha shouts that he's going to get his son back and keep Real Eun Joong away from his mother for the same amount of years she kept him away from his father. No word yet on what Real Eun Joong thinks of this plan.

 

Everybody mopes to sad music.

 

The next day Tae Ha is trying to work up the courage to knock on the Ha's door, not knowing Real Eun Joong isn't there. Instead Tae Ha has a very prickly encounter with my girl, Ah Mi. As usual for this dick, Tae Ha offers her money and an apartment if she'll drop the case against his company. When he tries to drop off some herbal medicine for Eun Joong, Ah Mi picks up a bag of garbage and dumps it over Tae Ha's head. She then pulls out a few bills from her wallet and throws them at him saying to use the money to pay for the dry cleaning.

There's a scene with Joo Ran and Jin Woong but you know it's totally anti-climatic compared to what else is going on in this show so I'm going to skip over them.

My girl is on a roll today as Ah Mi is the one who figures out the location of where Real Eun Joong has been using an ATM. She tracks him down to where he's camping out on an island (because apparently a sponsor of this show makes outdoor equipment and clothing and Scandal needs to advertise the hell out of it.) 

Ah Mi tries to get Eun Joong to come home with her but he simply keeps on cooking on his state-of-the-art portable cook stove. It's only when she tries to call Myeong Geun to tell him she found Eun Joong that Eun Joong finally finds his voice and shouts at her to not contact "that person!"

Love Around Episode 1

Zhou Zhen (played by George Hu) is at an empty ball field with his girlfriend, Chen Mei Li (played by Tan Ai Zhen). It's Zhen's birthday but he's the one with the gifts as he gives Mei Li an expensive wrist watch. She promises him that every birthday he has from now until forever will be just as special as this one. Looks like Zhen is having the best birthday ever, right?

 

Wrong. He's having the worst birthday ever. Turns out he's watching and rewatching a video tape of this happy occasion as things have certainly changed since this happy celebration.

 

Liang Xiao Shu (played by Annie Chen) is a radio DJ who jockeys under the name of Xiao Xia. Zhen calls into her show, using the simple identity of Mr. J, to request a song for Miss C. It's the same song he's been requesting for Miss C. for the last two weeks. Xiao Shu, ever the romantic at heart, tells her mysterious caller that she hopes everything works out between him and Miss C. and if he needs her, Xiao Xia will back him all the way.

 

Zhen is going to meet Miss C/Chen Mei Li and beg her to take him and the watch back. It's been two miserable weeks since she dumped him. Mei Li explains she couldn't take the stress any more. Zhen is the son of a (former, according to him) gangster and her association with the underworld has cost her some jobs as well as friendships. So in a way I can kind of see why she broke up with him. To emphasize things are over, Mei Li violently throws the watch to the ground, breaking the timepiece like she broke his heart.

 

Zhen stops by a large sports center to work out some of his tension on the batting range where he hits the ball every time. Zhen is the general manager of a hotel so he can take time to goof off like this.

 

Today is also the birthday of Jason, Xiao Shu's boyfriend. She's at the same sports center shopping for a gift because why go shopping early when you can wait to the very last minute to get a gift. She wants to get Jason an autographed Louisville Slugger but this particular bat is not for sale. It is a prize in a batting contest. Xiao Shu eagerly signs up.

 

She encounters Zhen for the first time when she wants to warm up on the batting range but he's reserved three spots because he doesn't like anyone around him when he hits the ball. She gently chides him for being selfish and urges him to do something nice once in awhile so nice things will happen to him in return.

 

The contest begins and Xiao Shu does a horrible job, getting hit by the ball more than hitting it. Dejected she's walking away when she notices Zhen, still practicing, and how good he is. She talks him into entering the contest and winning it, then she'll buy the bat from him. Remembering what she said earlier about karma and stuff, Zhen agrees and wins the bat for her, saying he doesn't need any money so she should keep the bat.

 

It's raining and once again Zhen comes to her rescue by nicely offering to split his cab with her. During the ride Xiao Shu has a call from her mother. This grown woman has to negotiate with her parents to get an extra hour on her curfew since she wants to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday. Xiao Shu is so busy talking to her mother she doesn't notice the cab has dropped Zhen off at his hotel until he's already gone. He even paid for her part of the cab fare. Not wanting to be beholden to him any further, Xiao Shu has the cab go back to the hotel so she can pay Zhen back.

 

Zhen is having to deal with his little sister, Zhou Ying Ying (played by Tao Yan Lin), who has taken over the (surprisingly very small for a hotel) swimming pool and won't allow any other guests to get near it while she's swimming. This makes Zhen think about his own actions when he was taking up three batting cages.

 

While in the lobby Xiao Shu calls Jason to confirm plans only to have him tell her he has to work overtime tonight so they'll have to celebrate his birthday tomorrow. At that very moment, though, Xiao Shu catches sight of her boyfriend at this very hotel with another woman. Xiao Shu learns which room Jason has checked into and she goes up to face him and his cheating ways. (BTW, Jason is butt ugly and she can do a whole lot better.)

 

Since he's been caught, Jason decides it's time they broke up. Zhen happens to witness this ugly breakup in the hall as Jason says he's tired of dating someone who has a curfew and won't let him kiss her on the lips. Zhen comes to Xiao Shu's defense by decking Jason.

 

Xiao Shu goes outside for a good cry. Zhen comes to find her and comfort her some more. Since she already has reservations at a very tiny restaurant, and she saw on the batting contest entry form that Zhen's birthday is also today, Xiao Shu invites Zhen out to dinner. As pre-arranged, the waiter brings the birthday cake to their table. Jason's face is on the cake. Xiao Shu and Zhen take turns decimating the cheating ex-boyfriend's image.

 

Xiao Shu has gotten drunk and Zhen tries to walk her home, only the house she takes him to is the house of Jason. Xiao Shu wants drunk revenge and plans to vandalize Jason's car, she just doesn't know how. It's up to Zhen to show her how to let the air out of a tire. Xiao Shu thinks this is the funniest thing known to man, then promptly passes out on the road. Zhen must give her a piggy back ride. (I thought that was only a Korean thing.) He tries to get the inebriated girl to tell him her address but she's no help, dropping her purse and phone along the way.

 

He takes her to a hotel room so she can sleep it off. Zhen is in the bathroom washing his face when there's someone at the door. It's the cops doing a random raid. (Does this sort of thing really happen in Taiwan? Do the cops just show up out of the blue to search your hotel room?) When they ask about the other person in the room, Zhen realizes he never caught Xiao Shu's name. All the cops know is here is a woman he just met today, he doesn't know her name, she's unconscious in the bed and she's covered with bruises (from the baseballs). Understandably the cops want to take Zhen in for further questioning.

Three Kingdoms Episode 47

(Going off on a sidetrack here but I ran upon a Vietnamese dub of this show (at least I think it was Vietnamese) and it had a much better opening song, albeit it sounded a bit like MacArthur's Park but at least it wasn't two friggin' minutes long.)

 

 

 

After a very poor and not very thorough check of things, Zhou Yu and his army casually amble into the supposedly abandoned city of Nanjun. Maybe if they had been more methodical in their preliminary search they would have noticed all them dudes hiding up in the rafters. Almost when it's too late does Zhou Yu mark that it's quiet, too quiet, and that they've all walked into a trap. He orders his men to just as casually retreat.

 

That's when the hidden archers expose themselves and launch their fire arrows into the highly flammable courtyard below. Zhou Yu's men try to fight back, killing the same stunt man over and over. In the midst of the confusion Zhou Yu himself is wounded by an arrow to the side. As his faithful men surround him and try to get their leader away, a previously hidden cavalry now come riding in to chop down what's left of Zhou Yu's forces. It's a brutal slaughter and as usual I'm more worried about the horses.

 

 

 

Zhou Yu is gotten away and treated for his wound but the doctor fears the arrow was laced with a very strong poison. He orders Zhou Yu to not lose his temper for 100 days in order to heal. (Oh, he be doomed then.) Feeling victorious and full of themselves, Cao Ren and his men constantly make noise outside of Zhou Yu's camp in order to provoke him into fighting. Naturally it doesn't take much to get Zhou Yu's dander and he drags himself out of his sick bed to face the squat little general.

 

Cao Ren knows just what buttons to push to get Zhou Yu all up in arms. Unfortunately just as Zhou Yu draws his sword he spits out blood and falls from his horse. But this is just a ploy and Zhou Yu whispers to his generals to wail and cry like he's really dead. Cao Ren totally falls for it and orders his men to attack.

 

When Baby Bouncer and Big Fan get the news about Zhou Yu's "death," Zhuge Liang easily figures out what Zhou Yu is up to. (Cuz he's Zhuge Liang after all.) He recommends to Liu Bei that this would be the time for them to run around and take Nanjun while everyone else it out trying to kill each other. Liu Bei has an attack of conscience. It wouldn't be a very nice thing to take the city out from underneath Zhou Yu's nose after he's fought so hard for it. Zhuge Liang is like, "Fuck nice, take the city!" Baby Bouncer feigns a headache and gives Zhuge Liang complete control over all military decisions (so Liu Bei can be guilt-free as he had nothing to do with anything. It was all Zhuge Liang.)

 

Night falls as Cao Ren and his army attack what they discover is a practically empty camp. Zhou Yu is watching all this from afar as now that he's lured Cao Ren out of Nanjun it is time for him and his army to take the city. Only by the time they get to the city gates it is to find Zhao Yun is already occupying the place. Realizing Zhuge Liang has once again out-maneuvered him, Zhou Yu has another internal rage attack and spits up copious amounts of blood.

 

Back at Xuchang, Cao Cao gets the news about losing Nanjun. Instead of punishing Cao Ren for his failure, Cao Cao holds the general up as an example, pointing out all Cao Ren did and almost did with so few men to fight with. Furthermore, Jing province wasn't all that important to him so it's no big loss. Let Sun Quan and Liu Bei fight over it like dogs over a bone. To emphasize this point, Cao Cao barks.

 

Sun Quan is pissed that Liu Bei has taken Jing over but he realizes for them to fight will just weaken them both and allow Cao Cao to waltz right in. Therefore Sun Quan takes the high road and shrugs his shoulders over the loss. Lady Wu, the only woman to be seen for miles in this show for some time, makes an appearance but doesn't get any lines.

Scandal Episode 20

Since Real Eun Joong is on suspension he has one of the junior detectives, Detective Gu, smuggle out some stuff from the station, including a gun and a bunch of hi-tech gizmos. Thankfully one of these gizmos is a bug detector. Eun Joong is in his car testing the detector out when it alerts him to his own car being bugged. He finds the listening device but doesn't remove it. Knowing Tae Ha is listening, Real Eun Joong pretends to have another phone conversation with the Deputy Chief so Tae Ha will have some false information.

 

Before Eun Joong can pull out of the parking lot he's surprised when Myeong Geun gets into the vehicle and suggests they go to lunch together. As they're driving along Myeong Geun playfully handcuffs them together. This is partly because Myeong Geun's time with Real Eun Joong is short and he wants some quality not-father/not-son time, and partly because Dad #1 is worried for Eun Joong's safety after Dad #2's threat the other day.

 

Joo Pil overhears Fake Eun Joong and Kang Ho casually discussing Real Eun Joong and making him disappear. (Cuz that's the kind of thing you talk about out in the hallway of your busy office building.) To give Fake a little bit of credit he doesn't seem to keen on the idea of killing a police officer. Fake Eun Joong is required by law to go up to the rooftop and brood which is where he's found by Joo Pil. The ex-reporter lets Fake know he knows Fake is fake but that's okay. Joo Pil wants Fake to succeed and take over the business, even the country. All Joo Pil asks is that he be there as Fake's right hand man.

 

Myeong Geun and Real Eun Joong have an awkward/cute lunch.

 

Hwa Young has a meeting with Ah Mi to tell her the firm is dropping the case (which Ah Mi already knew). Ah Mi intends to continue anyway and handle the case herself. She tells her boss she wants revenge but she'll do it the right way, through the court system.

 

We finally get to know Jin Woong a little bit better in that he and his father, Minister Jo, are wanting to steal Taeha Construction away from Tae Ha, just as Tae Ha stole the company from Hwa Young's dad. This just makes me fear this drama will end as an all-out fight for control of the company. I really don't care for those.

 

Joo Ha is mulling over all the stuff her crazy mom was saying about fakes and real ones and Tae Ha being lied to. Joo Ha is very close to very quickly figuring out Fake Eun Joong is fake. At the same time crazy mom Joo Ran is snooping through the Jang house and discovers the aged picture of Real Eun Joong. She leaves it on Jang Tae Ha's desk in his study.

Detective Gu comes to the Ha house with the key to unlock the handcuffs. He's totally hitting on Soo Young. He's doing a poor job of it but I give him credit for trying. With the time for the rendezvous drawing near and knowing Myeong Geun would interfere, Real Eun Joong smoothly handcuffs Dad #1 to Gu and then makes his exit.

Real Eun Joong gets a text from Hwa Young and he decides to call her back. Hwa Young left her phone in the living room and it's Joo Ha who finds it. A-ha, just as I thought: Joo Ha sees the caller is identified as "Our Eun Joong" so she answers it thinking it will be her not-brother. She's shocked when it turns out to be her real brother. She's so shocked that she can't answer him. Real Eun Joong doesn't have time for this nonsense as he's got an appointment to keep.

Joo Ha flashes back to some key scenes and remembers her crazy mother said something about leaving a "ticking time bomb" in Dad's study. She runs in there and finds the fax picture on the desk.

Deputy Chief Whatshisname scrambles the SWAT team and they head out to cover the location where Real Eun Joong is to meet Tae Ha. But just as his car is starting to pull out Myeong Geun jumps in front of it and insists on going with them. (How'd you get free of Gu? I hope you didn't pull a Hannibal Lecter.)

The tension builds as father and son meet (under a bridge, natch). Tae Ha suggests they go to his nearby villa to conduct business. An already wary Eun Joong (who is wearing a wire) doesn't see why they should as this is a simple exchange of money for the USB. Tae Ha claims the money is at the villa and that they should all ride together in his car. This is what Deputy Chief and Dad #1 hear, but what they don't see is Kang Ho holding a blurry knife (borrowed from Heartless City) to Eun Joong's throat and signaling for the cop to not say anything. Kang Ho searches Eun Joong and finds both the wire and his gun.

Hmm, but as Kang Ho is handing Tae Ha the gun we get a flashback of when Eun Joong was loading the gun and in one of the chambers he put an odd electrical gizmo. I'm not sure what the thing is. Maybe another tracking or listening device.

A second minion drives Tae Ha's car away. Deputy Chief and Myeong Geun mistakenly start following this decoy car as Kang Ho forces Eun Joong back into his car. But thank goodness Myeong Geun's old cop instincts are kicking in. He's worried that he hasn't heard anything from Real Eun Joong over the wire and suspects the plan has gone wrong. The cops move to pull the decoy car over and discover they've been duped.

The baddies take Eun Joong to what appears to be a warehouse. Inside are boxes and boxes of supposedly the won Eun Joong demanded. When Tae Ha asks for the USB Eun Joong replies it is out in the car. (Another flashback shows us Eun Joong hiding the USB in the key chain doll hanging from his rear view mirror.) Kang Ho takes the cop at gun point out to the car to retrieve the USB. Eun Joong attempts to reason with Kang Ho, to get the minion out of minion mode. But minionism is too ingrained into Kang Ho.

Myeong Geun doesn't know Tae Ha's cell phone number so he has no choice but to call Hwa Young and tell her that her son is in danger from his own father. Hwa Young desperately tries to call Tae Ha but he doesn't want to be disturbed and pulls the battery out of his phone. Kang Ho is checking the USB Eun Joong gave him and as I suspected it was a fake one. Eun Joong, keeping his cool, admits it is a fake. As fake as the counterfeit money they were going to pay him with.

A frustrated Tae Ha grabs Eun Joong's gun and at first points it at his son, then fires once up in the air. Was that the weird gizmo or the one real bullet? As Kang Ho ties him to a chair, Eun Joong basically taunts Tae Ha into killing him carefully so he leaves a pretty corpse. It's like he wants to be shot. I sure hope you know what you're going, Eun Joong.

Oh thank goodness, he does. That weird gizmo is a recording device which is at this moment recording Tae Ha spouting his plans to kill Eun Joong and hide his body. Eun Joong reveals he told a reporter if he doesn't show up tomorrow for an appointment at a certain time then to assume he's been murdered and unveil the bribery list to the public. (I think this is just a story but Tae Ha assumes it to be true.)

Even more frustrated than before, Tae Ha pistol whips and kicks Eun Joong repeatedly. A fretting Myeong Geun hears a report over the police radio of Eun Joong's car being spotted. Myeong Geun steals a car and speeds to the location. Tae Ha keeps digging the gun into Eun Joong's head and demanding the USB. Eun Joong knows the moment he tells where it is he's a dead man so for the sake of his father he's going to hang on to life as long as he can. This enrages Tae Ha who feels the need to tell Eun Joong just what kind of a man his precious father is: a kidnapper. Real Eun Joong appears to be putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Right as Tae Ha shoots him.

Wild Cat Episode 21

Like the rat she is, Camelia abandons this sinking ship and sneaks off in the middle of the night.

 

Rosaura has given her word to marry Silvano and she intends to keep it even though she doesn't really love him the way he loves her.

 

Carina is sliding down a deep slope. She asks to go home as she doesn't want to die in a hospital.

 

Jaqueline wants Rosaura to break up with Silvano as she's in love with him herself.

 

Crooked Nurse confesses to Rosaura about how, under the orders of Patricio, she helped Rosaura give birth up in the attic and that the baby Angeliquita is truly hers. Rosaura swears to Luis Mario she'll never forgive him because he didn't tell her the truth about the baby. Angeliquita is now renamed Gabrielita.

 

Rosaura throws Patricio out of the house and orders him to never bother her again. Patricio has been kind of pathetic these last couple of episodes, doing a lot of crying. Unable to face life with the woman he loves hating him, Patricio leaps from a tall building. He survives the fall but just barely. He's all fractured and wrapped up. In his hospital bed Patricio repents to Rosaura and tells her all the bad things he's done as well as what Eduarda and Eva have done.

 

Rosaura goes to confront Eduarda about her role in the death of Rosaura's drunk dad. Eduarda runs away with Rosaura chasing her down the street. What goes around comes around and this time it is Eduarda who gets hit by a car.

 

A donor match is found for Carina and she survives her leukemia.

 

Jaquelina and Luis Mario work together to make it appear they are a couple in order to make Silvano and Rosaura jealous.

 

Crazy Eva is back and she kidnaps Gabrielita. She makes arrangements for Rosaura to meet her in the swamp. With the cops and the cast hiding nearby, Rosaura brings Eva's sister Silvia along in hopes of talking Eva out of doing anything crazy. It doesn't work. While Rosaura struggles with Eva, Silvia is able to safely retrieve the baby. Eva takes Rosaura hostage and takes a boat out into the swamp. With the cops closing in both on water and in the air, Eva is knocked over the side of the boat and eaten by alligators! Shit yeah!

 

Patricio finally divorces Rosaura and urges Luis Mario to win her love back. Silvano and Rosaura end their engagement but remain friends. Gabrielita is a toddler by the time Luis Mario and Rosaura marry (again). There are hook-ups all around at the after party. Ivan and Jimena are back together again after she was married to Gabriel's brother. (Another victim of the Editing Gods.) Gossipy maid Panchita has a man. Aunt Claudia has found love. A healthy Carina has some guy. Silvano is there with Jaqueline. Happy endings all around.

 

The show ends with Rosaura and Luis Mario having sexy times out in the wild. Oh, those exhibitionists.

 

 

And that's how you cram 252 episodes into just 21, with awkward editing. I'm totally hooked, though. I've got to find me another telenovela like this one. A show with all the passion, hatred, big boobs and questionable fashion choices as Wild Cat had.

Wild Cat 19 - 20

Rosaura sees Crooked Nurse just a walkin' down the street singin' doo wah diddy diddy down diddy do. Distracted by Crooked Nurse, Rosaura nearly runs over a pedestrian. She slams on the brakes and knocks herself out. (Just go with it.)

 

Luis Mario and Maribella are breathing heavy and swallowing each other's faces when he accidentally calls her Rosaura. Understandably Maribella is less than pleased. (What she should have done was followed the wisdom of Susan Sarandon from Bull Durham and accept it was better to have Luis Mario here calling her Rosaura rather than him being with Rosaura and calling her Maribella.)

 

Desperate to get her missing child back, Rosaura gives in to Patricio who promises he'll get the baby back but not until Rosaura breaks up with both Luis Mario and Silvano (who has been wearing some really ugly clothes lately.)

 

Crooked Nurse takes a belt to her son Leo and beats him silly. Leo seeks protection from Luis Mario. In order not to be reported to the authorities, Crooked Nurse agrees to let Luis Mario take Leo and the baby for awhile until she calms down. Luis Mario then takes the boy and what he thinks is the boy's baby sister (but is in fact Luis Mario's own child) and dumps them off at Rosaura's place. Patricio struggles to think of a way to get rid of the kids before Rosaura realizes baby Angeliquita is actually her own.

 

Mercedez is looking for her other missing son and hears from the detective that the child may have been taken to Mexico. (I'm afraid just like I didn't get to hear the reason why Mercedez abandoned Luis Mario that I'll never find out why the other boy was taken away from her.)

 

Time is running short for Carina and they're not having much success finding a matching bone marrow donor for her.

 

Rosaura has invited Mercedez to the big house for dinner. While there Mercedez gets another call from the detective in Mexico. He's learned the boy was given over to a tribe of Indians to be raised. Patricio is like, "What a coincidence. I was raised by Indians in Mexico myself."

 

Faithful maid Caridad (Bruno's aunt) catches Maribella reading a magazine and confronts the tricky model. Caridad is all for telling Luis Mario the truth. Maribella begs for a week so she can come clean herself in a way that won't make Luis Mario hate her. Against her better judgment Caridad agrees. Later she calls Rosaura to tell her Maribella can see. In yet another scene lost to posterity, Rosaura already knew Maribella was faking because she had seen the model driving.

 

Luis Mario and Rosaura have yet another falling out and swear to never see each other again (again). Before parting ways (again) Rosaura insists to him that Maribella can see. Luis Mario asks Maribella about this and she swears up and down Rosaura is crazy.

 

Not wanting to be returned to his abusive mother, Leo takes baby Angeliquita and runs away. They get caught in a rainstorm and the baby falls ill. Strangers take the kids to the hospital where Angeliquita's life hangs by a thread.

 

Wanting to protect Maribella and get her married, Eduarda plots to kill Caridad before the maid can blab to Luis Mario. Eduarda figures she'll use the old tried and true method of running over Caridad. After all it worked with Rosaura's drunk dad all those episodes ago.

 

Caridad is rushed to the hospital where now she's the one whose life is hanging by a thread while baby Angeliquita is miraculously all better. Eduarda tries to kill off the unconscious Caridad before she wakes up but is interrupted by cousin Luisana. (I always want to write that as Lusitania.)

 

Rosaura was all set to divorce Patricio and ask Luis Mario for another chance again (again) when she learns he's still going to go through with the marriage to Maribella despite being told the model has been lying to him. So instead Rosaura plans to divorce Patricio and ask Silvano for another chance again.

 

Caridad comes to and asks for Luis Mario. She tells him about catching Maribella reading. He goes home and quietly enters the room to see Maribella doing her nails. Now that she's been caught red handed (literally) he orders her out of the house.

 

Patricio begs Rosaura not to divorce him. She will agree to remain married to him in name only if he agrees to have the house and the spa put in her name. He's desperate enough to do it.

 

Mercedez learns from the detective that Patricio is her long lost son. She doesn't look that thrilled about it.

 

Prepare yourself as Eva has gone totally over the edge. She shows up at Maribella's hotel room disguised as a biker chick. She thinks to ally herself with the model against Luis Mario and Rosaura. But unlike all the other crazy bitches on this show, Maribella isn't interested in any revenge. She just wants to get out of here and get on with her life. This doesn't set well with Eva and the two women fight with Eva successfully killing Maribella. She's in such a hurry to get out of there that she leaves her gun (with her fingerprints) behind so now the cops know she's the murderer and everyone is on the look-out.

 

Eva's next victim is supposed to be Rosaura but the chance comes up to kill Luis Mario and she takes it. She stabs him in the side with a wicked long knife. Before Eva can deliver the final blow Luis Mario has just enough strength to fight her off and so she flees. Luis Mario is rushed into surgery.

 

Since Patricio hasn't been paying the bills, Thug-For-Hire goes to the hospital and tells Luis Mario everything about the kidnapping, the birth in the attic, and how Angeliquita is really Rosaura's baby. You'd think Luis Mario would get right on the phone and call Rosaura with this earth-shattering news. You'd think wrong.

 

Luis Mario is telling his mother all about the wicked deeds Patricio has been behind in this series and how he'll do whatever it takes to put Patricio behind bars. Mercedez begs him not to as she reveals that Patricio is indeed Luis Mario's half brother. When Mercedez goes to Patricio to tell him who she is he informs her that he's suspected for awhile now that she was his birth mother but he wants nothing to do with her.

 

Maribella's older (much, much older) sister Jaqueline rides her steel horse into town and demands vengeance on her sister's killer.

 

Luis Mario starts to tell Rosaura about the baby but he takes too damn long and she walks out on him.

Scandal Episode 19

As Yoon Hwa Young faces the kidnapper of her son so many emotions flitter across her face. That's because Shin Eun Gyung is a damn fine actress. And the spitting at Myeong Geun says so much more than just a mere slap could ever do. With her anger barely in check, Hwa Young freely admits if she had a gun or a knife right now she would have killed Myeong Geun. How dare he kidnap her son and then have the audacity to seek her out, to speak with her, eat with her, smile with her. Myeong Geun can't even look her in the eye as she cries about gouging her eyes out and cutting her hands off after comforting him and feeling sorry for him.

 

It's a really powerful scene and a heck of a way to start the episode.

 

During all this what they don't realize is Jang Tae Ha is planning to come to the house to confront both Myeong Geun and Detective Ha Eun Joong - and he's bringing a golf club with him.

 

Inside the house Myeong Geun gives Hwa Young a box of childhood mementos of her son as Myeong Geun tries to explain how he meant to give Real Eun Joong back but days turned into years and eventually Myeong Geun realized he had come to love Eun Joong as much if not more than his own dead son.

 

He gets down on his knees and begs for forgiveness. Hwa Young is like, "Aw, hell no! My own son doesn't recognize me. I've missed everything important in his life. I'm gonna make you feel the same pain I'm feeling, old man."

 

Outside, Tae Ha, Kang Ho, and the golf club arrive. Tae Ha bursts unannounced into the living room where Myeong Geun and Hwa Young are. Tae Ha gets in one good swing with the club before Hwa Young takes it away from her enraged husband. However she does nothing to stop Tae Ha from beating the crap out of Myeong Geun with his bare hands.

 

Down at the station, Real Eun Joong is being questioned by Internal Affairs about the large amount of money transferred into his bank account as well as the rest of his questionable dealings with the investigation that he shouldn't have been conducting in the first place.

 

Back at the beating, Tae Ha threatens Myeong Geun in the worst way possible: by breaking every one of his son's bones. Myeong Geun starts to tell Tae Ha not to harm Eun Joong because of who he really is when Hwa Young finally speaks up. She cuts Myeong Geun off before Tae Ha can learn the truth of not only what Myeong Geun has done but also what Hwa Young has done. She desperately tries to turn Tae Ha's head away from directing his vengeance towards Real Eun Joong. In a last ditch effort Hwa Young shouts that she'll give up the law suit against the company. This seems to settle Tae Ha down a bit although he warns Myeong Geun he'll be back.

 

Real Eun Joong is meeting with Kang Joo Pil and asking about what happened in 1988. Who did Tae Ha kill back then? Frankly I'm surprised when Joo Pil answers honestly that it was Geon Young, Myeong Geun's real son. The ex-reporter goes on to dangle the fact that he knows who Real Eun Joong's parents are but Eun Joong doesn't care. He's perfectly satisfied with his life and the family he knows. Still, if one day Eun Joong changes his mind and does want to know the whole truth, he should come to Joo Pil who will tell him everything.

 

Back home Hwa Young continues to try and talk Tae Ha out of messing with Real Eun Joong. Since she promised to drop the law suit, Tae Ha now wants her to head the family's foundation. This will be the cornerstone of Fake Eun Joong's future run for the Blue House. He also talks about moving some Taeha Construction stock around so that in the end Fake Eun Joong will own it all (leaving Joo Ha out in the cold apparently). Hwa Young appears to be thinking the company (that once belonged to her father) should really be going to her real son.

 

(I hope this doesn't become a fight for the family company because those story lines just bore me to tears.)

 

Hwa Young gets a call from Real Eun Joong. She even has him listed in her cell phone as "Our Eun Joong." (Hmm, wonder if that will come back to bite her.) Anyway he's calling to arrange a dinner date as a thank you for her warning about the frame-up.

 

Real Eun Joong meets with Deputy Chief Whatshisname to ask for the elder's support as Eun Joong plans to use the bribery list to lure Tae Ha into a trap.

 

Fake Eun Joong tells his father how he's had a wiretap secretly installed in both Real Eun Joong's car and desk at work.

 

Ah Mi is tending to Myeong Geun's wounds. He uses the excuse that he fell down the stairs but my girl isn't fooled. She demands to know who broke in here with a golf club (Tae Ha left it behind) and beat him up. Perhaps she should say something to Real Eun Joong. Myeong Geun has no choice but to tell her what really happened. Ah Mi once again urges Dad #1 to tell Real Eun Joong the truth before he finds out about it from someone else.

 

Hwa Young arrives at a cheap dive where Real Eun Joong is waiting for her. It's a rare Kdrama restaurant with other customers in it. Hwa Young just stares and stares and stares at him. Stares and cries. Even Eun Joong is weirded out a bit.

 

Go Joo Ran and Joo Pil have another drunkfest. First they're talking about lining up support behind Joo Ha to take over the company. Then Joo Pil quickly sobers up when he hears that not only does Joo Ran know Fake Eun Joong is fake but also Hwa Young knows. (I hadn't thought about it before but I guess Joo Pil thought Hwa Young had been mistaken in thinking the orphan was her real son.)

 

Fake Eun Joong is agonizing over what he heard through the wiretap. It was Real Eun Joong memorizing the names and bribe amounts from the list. Fake wonders if Real has the USB after all.

 

At work the next day it is Fake Eun Joong who has to break it to Ah Mi that their law firm isn't going to handle her lawsuit against Taeha Construction anymore. Ah Mi worries that she won't be able to find another law firm to take the case as everyone seems to quake in their boots in the company's shadow.

 

In the parking garage Kang Ho is driving his boss when Real Eun Joong calmly walks out in front of their car. (It's a cool yet foolhardy move.) Tae Ha orders Kang Ho to get out and take care of the cop as they're pressed for time. Action fight scene - hell yeah! As Tae Ha sits in the car watching he gets a call from his fake son warning him that Real Eun Joong has seen and memorized the bribery list. Tae Ha looks ready to explode right as Real Eun Joong takes Kang Ho down.

 

Tae Ha has no choice but to have a meeting with the winner and still champion. As part of his plan, Real Eun Joong pretends he'll return the USB back to Tae Ha for 10 billion won. They'll meet somewhere tonight for the exchange. But, oh no! Once Real Eun Joong gets into his (bugged) car he calls Deputy Chief to report everything is going according to plan. Tae Ha is listening and now knows this is all a trap and starts planning a trap of his own.