K-Drama Review: Big, Episodes 9-10

Read Episode reviews for:

Big--Episodes 1-2
Big--Episodes 3-4
Big--Episodes 5-6
Big--Episodes 7-8
Big--Episodes 9-10
Big--Episodes 11-12
Big--Episodes 13-14
Big--Episodes 15-16

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 9-10

It's crisis mode for Da-Ran and Kyungjoon as they realize that Kyungjoon's bodyswapping situation might soon be reversed. You know you're in the midst of a knotty conflict when a person's soul going back into the right body may create more problems that it solves.

Being On the Floor In a Coma is the Least of Your Troubles.

So Da-Ran and Kyungjoon are sticking close by, to see what happens. This makes sense, though in a way I would have loved to see them gallivanting in Shanghai, like they'd planned. They have a small blowup and Da-Ran again decides to go on vacation by herself.

Little Mari is heartbroken by the recent turn of events, and she says to the air: "Kyungjoon, today your current body married Da-Ran, but I think your heart married me." It's moments like these that remind us that Terminator Mari has delicate feelings which are frequently wounded because she just doesn't get that Kyungjoon doesn't reciprocate her crazed love.

Soooooo Much Denial.

Da-Ra tromps off to a jimjilbang sauna, which is a fun place to go normally, but it's no replacement for a for-real vacation. She grumps and grumbles, then nearly gets caught by her own family who are going to the same 찜질방, while thinking she is honeymooning in China! Kyungjoon sits at home, imagining holding hands with Da-Ran on the Great Wall of China, then reminding himself that she wouldn't be looking at him happily in this scenario--she'd be looking at Yoonjae.

Poor Puppy!

Kyungjoon gets caught by Da-Ran's family, but he makes up a story that he stayed in Korea to tend to a special patient and he sent Da-Ran on the honeymoon by herself. The Gil family melts at his generosity and invites him to stay for dinner, which he surprisingly loves. He calls up Da-Ran and tells her it's safe to head back to "their" house. Then Kyungjoon dashes home with a huge grin on his face, excited to spend time with Da-Ran.


Elsewhere, Yoonjae's mom finds Kyungjoon-body in the coma and is emotionally moved by the sight of him, but it's still not clear how she knows him. There are also hints that Yoonjae had been looking for Kyungjoon for a long time, so now it sounds like they're half brothers, not cousins.

May Be Part of the Weirdest Love Triangle Ever.

Kyungjoon and Da-Ran arrange for a date of sorts, with neither of them admitting it's a date. But, ack, Mari wheedles Da-Ran out of her ticket so that she can go with Kyungjoon instead. This little obstacle is good though, because it allows Kyungjoon to say that the only reason he wanted to see the play was if he could see it with Da-Ran, and Da-Ran is off by herself at a movie theater, saying something similar.

They Find Each Other Again, Like Usual.

And when Kyungjoon finds her at the theater, Da-Ran realizes she's glad to see Kyungjoon. Not Yoonjae, not the body he's in, but the guy himself is the one she wants to spend time with. Kyungjoon studies Da-Ran throughout the movie and asks her: "Do you like me?" She rambles on a mile a minute, saying precisely nothing. Kyungjoon knows she's confused right now, so he says he won't do anything about the situation.

Yoonjae's Mom wants Seyoung to keep an eye on Kyungjoon's body in the hospital. It's still not clear how Yoonjae's Mom knows of the kid. Illegitimate son of her husband? Son of her runaway sister? Her own child, given up for goodness knows what reasons? It's really hard to pin down the precise connection.

Maybe Even She Doesn't Know.

Random Funniness: At the "Big" house, Da-Ran And Kyungjoon have a cute argument about penguins and pandas, then have a panda-decorating contest which Da-Ran loses. Hee.

Also, due to Mari's sudden obsession with "Yoonjae," Choongshik is getting seriously worried that Mari has a crush on his married brother-in-law.

It'd Be a New Level of Weird, Even For Her.

And ooh, it turns out that Kyungjoon is Yoonjae's mom's biological son! That's a new development. Kyungjoon's mom who raised him was a surrogate, it seems, making Yoonjae and Kyungjoon full brothers, not half brothers. It's a much better dramatic development than yet another illegitimate child plot.

Poor confused Da-Ran tries to revive some old happy memories of her time with Yoonjae, but they weren't all that happy--they mostly consisted of her being deliriously in love with Yoonjae and waiting for him to make time for her, which he never did. She finally realizes that all the fluttery feelings she has right now are 100% for Kyungjoon. That scares her, so she tells him to leave her alone.

But That's Not What You Really Want, Is It?

At home, Kyungjoon has another out-of-body experience of visiting his own shell in the hospital. Da-Ran rushes home to see him, and when he wakes up as Kyungjoon again, not Yoonjae, she flees to her room in tears because she's so glad he didn't leave for good. Kyungjoon hears her crying, and his own heart is breaking because he thinks she's crying because Yoonjae didn't return. Kyungjoon bravely says that if he's too burdensome, he will stay out of Da-Ran's life when he switches back.

Don't Leave! 안돼!

Things I Loved:

1. Arguments/Separations. How would we know how much Kyungjoon and Da-Ran miss each other unless we got to see it in action?

Unconventional Newlywed Spat.

2. Shout-Out to Another Drama. I'm pretty sure that having our two main girls laying their heads on the picnic table is a shout out to Dream High, Suzy's previous drama.

This Makes Da-Ran Pilsook, I Guess?

3. Yoonjae depth? I still don't understand this guy, but we get some clues about him. Kyungjoon and Da-Ran find an old article Yoonjae wrote about why he wanted to become a doctor. The audience knows that when Yoonjae says he discovered that he was living because of another person's gift, he really means he discovered that Kyungjoon was born to save him. He must have felt the weight of that knowledge deeply. I think he's a good guy, now.

Complaints:

1. The pace is kinda slowing down. Something major should happen, quite soon.

Episode Evaluations: The show is still great, but I'm feeling the weight of the drawn-out conflict with Yoonjae. Seems he should have woken up by now. Episode 10 ends on kind of a down-note, so the pacing and emotions feel a little off. I want a few more things settled soon, so we can get some new conflicts instead of the same old ones.

But the sad moments hurt so badly, which means that something in the writing is working right. It's still easy to feel every hurt and worry that Kyungjoon and Da-Ran feel.