m-once-oon

[m-once-oon]

Twinkling Watermelon Ep 7 Recap

It seems like new Se Kyeong being the daughter (Eun Yu is the name, I believe) was actually a plausible theory that others had. But, to me, this is brand new information.

Why is Se Kyeong putting her daughter through the same thing she was put through when she was young? I guess generational trauma continues… Does Se Kyeong actually get married to the guy she was engaged to? It seems that the daughter is an year or two older than Eun Gyeol and she might really be the girlfriend of the older brother, judging by the throw away comment where her mum asks why she pretended to lose her voice and hearing.

Se Kyeong asking her daughter to not leave was a hard watch. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my own mother where she said that when I would become a teenager, I would stop listening to her and start rebelling. It is the way of life… the way teenage rebellion is restricted to them and its “do as I say not as I do” is so frustrating.

I am going to assume that her mother either died of alcohol poisoning or she hung herself hence the “its the last time I saw her.”

Ouch. Looks like the daughter’s dad has already moved on and this was a life she didn’t know about.

And in a time of desperation, there come La Viva Music Store in all its foggy, magical glory.

hahaha, I love that Eun Gyeol opens the door and he exits a book store whilst Se Kyeong’s daughter is just dumped in the middle of an airport. Does anyone else register that she appeared in the middle of a space from thin air?

Se Kyeong’s daughter, Eun Yu mistakenly assumes that Yi Chan is the first love… but even if he was, what was the plan here? Its not like Yi Chan was rich enough to have gone to Se Kyeong or be able to persuade her (and her family!!) into being in a relationship with him. But this does make me curious as to who Se Kyeong’s first love was - was it in the US that she fell for someone? But she does mention its a guy who made a band to get her to fall in love with her…

We then go back to where we left off in Ep 6: Eun Gyeol going into cardiac arrest in the hospital and Cheong Ah opening her eyes. It seems like Cheong Ah and Yi Chan’s first few misunderstandings have been cleared up.

Yi Chan gave her some contact details with some instructions and it seems like Cheong Ah is really riding the high from this. Its a very sweet segment of her being giddy and having her feet in the air. Yi Chan is of course unaware and continues to be his energetic self. One thing I have loved so far is how energetic the actor is - it truly gives life to the character when he’s out there running, throwing his bag around, and hopping and skipping exactly like a twinkling teenager.

It seems Eun Yu, Se Kyeong’s daughter has another clue. We see her going through the different members of the bands, trying to figure out who fits the description of her mother’s first love in terms of spice tolerance. It seems like it might be Yi Chan, but there is another guy who does fit the description…

Yi Chan waits outside the boarding house late at night after hearing about how Eun Gyeol attempted to get Yi Chan a new guitar. Where is Eun Gyeol - he’s gone MIA this entire episode. And that’s exactly the question the band members ask him as they are busy prepping to impress Se Kyeong (Eun Yu as we know.) Yi Chan goes out looking for Eun Gyeol and this might be one of the most pivotal points in the series. He receives a tip and follows up on it, Cheong Ah attempts to catch up to him as she sees him running.

Yi Chan’s tip turns out to be false and he is robbed (really? Mugging a high schooler?) whilst Se Kyeong’s daughter almost runs over Cheong Ah with her scooter. We then see Yi Chan wake up and his ears start ringing.

Meanwhile: Eun Gyeol’s first appearance in this episode! He seems to be in a well lit, metropolitan area, the gifted guitar raised above like he is ready to smash it whilst New Jeans plays in the background. Of course, he must be back in the present, 2023 - 28 years later. He confirms it with a bystander.

Could it really be that Yi Chan really lost his hearing AND voice in 1995 because of this mugging? Then, was the scarring a separate incident? This does create a bit of paradox, I think. Lets see if I can sum it up. If Yi Chan does lose his hearing both in the original timeline and this changed one (where Se Kyeong’s daughter and Eun Gyeol are in the past to change their parent’s futures) but due to different reasons, Eun Gyeol in the future won’t know to save his father’s hearing by attempting to make his avoid a mugging because of him… or will he? This is really messing with my thoughts now.

[m-once-oon]

Twinkling Watermelon Ep 6 Recap

There is a montage of Cheong Ah’s childhood and how she came to like Yi Chan. Its extremely sweet, and to me, extremely insightful. It might seem redundant to say, but I never realised how alone someone like Cheong Ah could be. The classroom scene where she looks up to see her classmates laughing (all in silence to her and us) was impactful.

On to a montage of the band mates and Se Kyeong in a theme park. I love how respective the band mates are hahaha. I doubt this would have been the reality in 90s South Korea, but lets take this sweet moment of alliance.

I also love this little moment Eun Gyeol and Se Kyeong have. Its a reversal (a subversion?) on most love triangles where the expectation is two boys fight over a girl, but there a reversal with the initial assumption that Eun Gyeol likes Yi Chan, and now the assumption that Eun Gyeol likes Se Kyeong as in most such triangles.

Eun Gyeol is right to say that the band shouldn’t be at Se Kyeong’s whims but also why not change to an easier, more manageable song? He’s trying so hard to put out this relationship when it's likely that it will end by itself.

So there was a contestant that was supposed to receive the shock, in place of Eun Gyeol. Who was that? Yi Chan? And again, we are left on a cliffhanger :(

The flood that Cheong Ah talked about - could it be this? Why did her mother leave her to a woman who wouldn’t be kind to her?

But I think we got our first clue as to the series’ name - the watermelon keychain of Cheong Ah? I have a post saying that the name is dumb, but I think its so cute, also in the world of kdramas with very generic names, this imagery is so integral for this story.

[m-once-oon]

Twinkling Watermelon Ep 5 Recap

Eun Gyeol has now established a few priorties:

Prevent the accident that costs dad his hearing and voice

Make dad go to college? / Make dad happy and successful

Find his mother?

It feels like the son is now the parent of Ha YI Chan - as Ha Yi Chan listed out, Eun Gyeol is now tutoring him, getting him into a band and standing up to Se Kyeong when she mistakenly yelled at him.

I love Choi Se Kyeong’s short letter to Cheong Ah - the glitter at the top especially, but also the kindness and sweetness and effort she has shown so far. I am glad that there’s no love triangle (yet) - our protagonists are sweet and caring. Caring enough that I think Eun Gyeol’s mum, Cheong Ah actually sent the ticket so that Lee Chan can say bye to Se Kyeong for the last time. Unfortunately, her well intentioned act turned out badly, likely because she did not know of Se Kyeong’s disdain, or perhaps didn’t prioritise that?

Ha Yi Chan’s friend and son make a pact to keep Se Kyeong being abroad a secret. Also, I truly love the detail here - HYC’s entire room is filled with books - is this a nod to him actually being intelligent and having potential? It could also be the comic books that he goes to the book shop for. A rather large collection of it.

Awwww, Ha Eun Gyeol validating his father is adorable. Yi Chan’s persistence and eventual success in creating the band shows his

potential, which we see once again because he has finished the homework that his son set for him.

As the tenants (are they called tenants or boarders?) sit around eating outside (an entire vibe), I can’t help but notice that what they are wearing wouldn’t be that out of place today.

Ummmm what? SK has had some styling change and she is SMILING brightly!!!

Cute moments at the breakfast table!!! Adorable!! Father and son being so alike - is this nature or nurture?

And Se Kyeong actually returned? I thought it was a dream sequence, but perhaps Eun Gyeol was dreaming something different? And of course an impromptu hair cut on oneself turns out perfect. How do her parents not know that she is back in South Korea? I imagine even for a rich family, a ticket from New York to Seoul in the 90s would have been a crazy price.

Its our first time seeing her dressed her age - with jeans, and not in the school uniform, or with formal, very feminine dresses.

Fast forward and we get the reason for why she returned. Is it the truth?

At Yi Chan’s work, we get to now clear up the misunderstanding: I am assuming the Cheong Ah didn’t go as she realised it would be pretty useless to go as she’s deaf and instead just gave the whole package away, including the note to Ha Yi Chan.

A 4 way meeting in the rain? Eun Gyeol omma! Dont give up!

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I have so many thoughts on this. SPOILERS:

I really like the name as its so different from other kdrama names.

I mean, there are so many that whenever I search for kdrama, I now type 'kdrama name' + 'kdrama' + 'year it was released in' because 1. It could be any other piece of media in the world (trust me, I discovered this with While You Were Sleeping which is also the name of an American rom com and then My Fair Lady - a 1964 film, a 2009 kdrama series, AND a 2016 kdrama series and one from 2003??)

It's also great branding and makes you wonder just why its named such. The imagery is vivid and sparks curiosity.

So far, we have seen two instances of watermelon, off the top of my head - the watermelon popsicles that led to the discovery of Eun Gyeol's talent in guitars and Cheong Ah's watermelon keyring. I am guessing Cheong Ah's keyring is the main reason for the name. The story does revolve around Eun Gyeol trying to bring his parents together and Cheong Ah is one half of that.

Twinkling Watermelon may not be the best show but it's perfectly watchable and entertaining. I quite like it and am reasonably invested.

However, I find teenage Lee Chan BEYOND annoying. I mean, he's mostly harmless and basically a teen boy but wow he annoys me to no end. It's bad because I kinda think that Cheong Ah could do better which um, would be bad for Eun Gyeol lol.

Still I'm really interested in seeing Eun Gyeol learn about his parents in a way he never knew. Especially since he didn't know that his dad was not born deaf or mute. I'm very curious to know what happened to cause both deafness and muteness, since I don't his being mute is a choice.

I do like the beginning friendship of Cheong Ah and Se Kyeung. And help me but I basically already ship Eun Gyueol and Se Kyeung and that's probably not going to end well.

PS: the name "Twinkling Watermelon" is really dumb.

[m-once-oon]

SPOILERS AHEAD:

I am curious about this too, having watched Ep 6. Why does her mother abandon her specifically to the Chairwoman? What's their connection?

Also, they just keep a child locked up in the attic and no one bats an eye? I know its the 90s but really? And from the scene when Cheong Ah and Lee Chan were in the PE storage room, it seems like she may have been abused more directly than just by not being able to express herself, being dragged by her hair or being locked up in the attic.

Watching the drama "Twinkling Watermelon" and it's both part cute and heartbreaking because I think, according to a preview, that the mother was not taught sign language until she met her son. He's the one that taught her, because her mother wants her "strong and not weak". Which is how she justify putting her in a hearing school instead of a school for the deafs...

[m-once-oon]

My pointless corner of the world

Welcome to me and thank you to me for creating this. I want to post content chronicling my life.

I guess this is a diary of sorts then.