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Castaway Diva: Episodes 3-4
by quirkycase
Our lovable singer is quite the busy lady. Not only is she readjusting to society, living it up with her beloved unnie, and taking up a job, she’s also still trying to find her long-lost friend. But her search results in some unwanted attention and unexpected consequences. Meanwhile, our reporter finds himself growing more attached to his possibly-old-but-maybe-new friend and is more confused than ever about his past.
EPISODES 3-4
I just love the budding friendship and camaraderie between Mok-ha and Ran-joo. While their circumstances in life have been wildly different, they both intimately understand loneliness and loss. Having been abandoned by even her most ardent fans, Ran-joo does not take Mok-ha’s love and unwavering support for granted. She’s appreciative and respects Mok-ha, truly seeming to like her.
Mok-ha, of course, is on a high after being able to save Ran-joo’s performance and be so near to her precious unnie. Her dramatic yet sincere fawning over Ran-joo earns some major eyeroll from Woo-hak, but Ran-joo, a drama queen herself, is delighted. What really makes Woo-hak do a double-take is learning that the most famous pop star of the current era is merely Mok-ha’s replacement all those years ago. He’s now determined to make sure Mok-ha earns her spot back, although Mok-ha is more concerned with spending quality time with Ran-joo.
Ran-joo is so broke and neglected that she doesn’t even have a ride back, so she hitches a ride with her new bestie Mok-ha and Woo-hak. Back in Mok-ha’s attic room, the girls have an adorable dance party with the vibes of a high school girls’ sleepover. Ran-joo opens up to Mok-ha and shares a secret she’s never told anyone: she lost her voice due to nodules that even surgery couldn’t cure. All the smoking and drinking came afterward.
Mok-ha shares some memories from her time on the island, confessing that she lost hope at one point several years in. She went so far as to jump from a cliff into the ocean, but a cooler floating in the water caught her eye. Inside were ramyeon packets. That was enough to reignite her hope that if she waited, something good might come her way. Ran-joo sweetly designates Mok-ha her cooler full of hope.
As the night progresses, they get drunk on sponsored wine. It turns out Ran-joo is very generous when drunk, and she dubs herself Mok-ha’s sunbae, promising to help her become a star. When Ran-joo sobers the next day, she’s horrified to remember that she called her agency RnJ’s president LEE SEO-JOON (Kim Joo-hun) to demand he audition Mok-ha. To her credit, she doesn’t renege on her promise and convinces him to listen to Mok-ha sing.
Seo-joon agrees but immediately dismisses Mok-ha on sight for being “too old” and blasely suggests she become Ran-joo’s manager instead. At first, Mok-ha is rightfully upset, but then she realizes that something is amiss. Ran-joo is being subtly pushed out of the company. Ran-joo told Mok-ha that she gets half the company shares if she sells 20 million albums in total, and she’s not even 100,000 shy of that target.
Mok-ha agrees to be Ran-joo’s manager and shares her insight with Ran-joo: Seo-joon is trying to cheat her out of what’s rightfully hers before her contract ends in six months. The women realize this is their chance; if they can swing it, Ran-joo will get half the company and then she can ensure Mok-ha gets her chance to be an artist. The women prepare for a fight, and Ran-joo officially declares war on Seo-joon in front of major investors.
As expected of Mok-ha, she dives headfirst into her new role with nothing but enthusiasm and grit. She may not have an email address, phone, driver’s license, or industry knowledge, but that doesn’t stop her optimism. Her (unavoidable) unprofessionalism rubs Bo-geol the wrong way, making him even colder toward her than usual. It’s a complete 180 from how kind he was to her when they first found her. Now it’s Woo-hak who chides him for being inconsiderate of Mok-ha’s situation. (Is someone afraid she’ll lead Woo-hak to the truth of the past, perhaps?)
The new manager/artist duo’s first order of business is capitalizing on Ran-joo’s sudden popularity wave. As luck would have it, the most popular variety show is about idols getting another chance to prove themselves after their prime. And even more luckily, Bo-geol is working on that program and biting at the bit to cast Ran-joo. The only problem? She’ll have to sing live. The premise of the show is pitting the singer’s current performance against their past peak performance.
Mok-ha is hesitant to deceive everyone again by singing for Ran-joo, but she does agree after Ran-joo says they can use it to find Ki-ho. Come to find out, Ran-joo met Ki-ho soon after Mok-ha went missing. He approached her and gave her a picture of Mok-ha, begging her to remember Mok-ha – to hug her and help her if she ever comes to find Ran-joo. Oof, this kid. He made such an impression on Ran-joo that she wrote a song about them, and now she wants Mok-ha to sing it on air.
Both women are nervous leading up to the live show, but all goes well. The episode is a smashing success in more ways than one. Mok-ha again does an incredible job and wins Ran-joo more fans. Ran-joo, as promised, delivers a message to Ki-ho on air on Mok-ha’s behalf. And it appears to work. Someone sends flowers to Woo-hak for Mok-ha, claiming to be Ki-ho and asking to meet.
If that seems too easy, that’s because it is. Ki-ho’s abusive father JUNG BONG-WAN (Lee Seung-joon) saw the broadcast and hopes to use Mok-ha to lure Ki-ho out of hiding. He got Woo-hak’s business card from friends on the island, which is how he knew where to send the flowers. Suspiciously, Bo-geol goes running the minute Woo-hak tells him Mok-ha is on her way to meet “Ki-ho.”
Meanwhile, a loud sound triggers a memory flash for Woo-hak. A memory of screaming and terror that clearly shows Bong-wan’s face. AHA. He then recalls that the man who delivered the flowers had that same face, and he too goes running to find Mok-ha.
As the brothers separately rush to stop Mok-ha, Ran-joo visits Seo-joon. She and Mok-ha have been suspicious of how nicely he treated her after she got cast on that show. And their instincts were on point. Seo-joon made his first move, and it’s a doozy. He pulled all Ran-joo’s albums, preventing her from being able to sell a single new copy. Seo-joon felt bad for totally tanking her career, hence the supportive act.
Elsewhere, Mok-ha shows up at the meeting spot with high hopes, only to be terrified when she recognizes Bong-wan. She runs and he gives chase. She’s saved by a man in a raincoat who hides his face. Once they’re safe, she eagerly asks if he’s Ki-ho. Then, he removes his hood – it’s Bo-geol.
Okay, if he claims to be Ki-ho, things are going to get really messy. I hope that’s not where this is going. Despite all the family dishonesty, which we’ll come back to, I like the brothers and don’t want their relationship ruined. They regularly wear matching pajamas, for goodness’ sake! You can’t ruin a relationship that involves matching pajamas.
I can’t tell if the drama is trying to get us to think Bo-geol is Ki-ho, but that just doesn’t feel like a fit, especially after Woo-hak’s memory flashback. What makes the most sense is that Woo-hak is Ki-ho, and his whole family is hiding it from him. Woo-hak told Mok-ha that his family felt like strangers when he woke up after his head injury, and he couldn’t look at old pictures because they all burned in a (conveniently timed) house fire. My guess is his current mom is his biological mom, and they’re all trying to protect him from recalling the trauma of his youth. I can understand the instinct, but lying about someone’s identity for over a decade is bound to backfire.
I do think Bo-geol might be in touch with some people from the island, though, who knew Ki-ho. A couple of Ki-ho’s old school friends caught wind of Bong-wan looking for Mok-ha and discussed warning Ki-ho. The way Bo-geol immediately knew Mok-ha was in danger after hearing someone claiming to be Ki-ho wanted to meet with her made me think he must’ve gotten a heads up. I guess, for the sake of argument, it’s possible that he’s Ki-ho and knew what kind of trick his father would pull. Whatever the case, I think we’re in for some identity angst in the coming episodes.
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