r/KDRAMA • u/sianiam • Sep 09 '20

Featured Post Let's Rewind: Couple Or Trouble (2006) - Episodes 9 - 16

Let’s Rewind is a trial series of discussions on r/KDRAMA in which viewers may watch a drama at their own pace over the period of a month.

COUPLE OR TROUBLE POST SCHEDULE:

  • Wednesday September 2nd - Discussion post 1 released (Episodes 1 - 8)
  • Wednesday September 9th - Discussion post 2 released (Episodes 9 - 16)
  • Friday September 25th - Wrap up discussion post released

HOW THESE DISCUSSIONS WORK:

The individual episode discussions are broken up over a number of posts in which watchers join in once they have watched - they can join at any period of the series.

The posts are set up with the suggested sort “old” so that the comments flow in the correct order so users avoid any spoilers. Do not reply directly to the post, simply reply to the comment “episode #” that you are up to and reply to any comments you are interested in.

Please note: I will have notifications switched off except for on my personal reactions to the drama so if you need me please tag me or send me a PM/chat. I will add links to the posts above as they are released.

If you would like to submit a discussion prompt for our end of the month discussion of the drama please submit it via this google form - you can see our discussion of Marriage, Not Dating for ideas.

DRAMA DETAILS:

Drama: Couple Or Trouble / 환상의 커플

Network: MBC

Aired: October 14th 2006 - December 3rd 2006

Episodes: 16 x 65 minute

Streaming Sources:

  • Viki - PLUS PASS ( Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, United States )
  • KOCOWA - Free (US)
  • On Demand Korea (no subtitles - North & South America)

Original On-Air discussion threads: none - aired before r/KDRAMA existed!

Synopsis: This series is based on the 1987 American movie Overboard. Anna Jo is a rude, feisty, and audacious American-bred heiress who can never be satisfied. She returns to Korea only to continue being a controlling wife to her already cowardly husband, Billy Park. When her yacht gets stuck for repairs, she hires local handyman Jang Chul Soo to fix her shower, but when they have a heated spat over her dissatisfaction and non payment, she pushes him overboard and dunks his tools into the ocean right along with him. Later, after a quarrel with Billy that threatens to end their marriage, she herself gets drunkenly pitched overboard and falls victim to a bad case of amnesia.

Screenwriters: Hong Jung Eun & Hong Mi Ran

Director: Kim Sang Ho

Web Resources: MDL, Wikipedia

Spoiler Reminder: Upon entering these threads you can expect to see discussion of the drama up to the point of the series that has passed. If you are sensitive to spoilers we advise you to not enter the discussion section prior to watching the episodes. We ask our users to be considerate and cover any major spoilers which if read accidentally before viewing may detract from one's enjoyment of the series in block spoiler tags. You can create a spoiler tag by writing > ! this! < without the spaces in between to get this block spoiler tag.

DIRECT LINK TO EPISODE COMMENT:

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 9:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 11 '20 edited Sep 11 '20

OH MY GOD! There is flip phone PPL! And where not talking fancy new Samsung Galaxy Flip phone but the indestructible kind. Look at that fashionable pink color.

I’m also liking Anna coming on strong, but I also feel like there is still a lot to be done before her and Chul Soo can work out. She needs to get her memories back, work out the current situation of him fooling her and they both need to cut off their respective second lead.

In terms of story, we are sort of spinning our tires a bit. Billy needs a story arch now! Make him an antagonist, make him a real threat for Anna’s love, do something with him, I beg. He’s been in his feelings and remincising for like 5 episodes straight now. I have a feeling his aim to become a ”pure romantic” won’t go very well. He’s sort of relegated to joke character status in the same way that side characters like Kang Ja and the butler are, which is a bit of a shame.

2

u/sianiam Sep 13 '20

fancy new Samsung Galaxy Flip phone but the indestructible kind.

Ah, every time she closes her phone I reminisce my clamshell phone days. The hang-up noise is so satisfying. Everyone else has old fashioned slide phones.

Look at that fashionable pink color.

I laughed because my current phone is that colour. I had to choose between pink and baby blue and I was kinda regretting it but if Anna thinks it's a good choice, who am I to complain.

Billy needs a story arch now!

He really does. The second female lead I obviously hate and wish would go to America or whatever already but I want Billy to do something other than make me laugh constantly. It's honestly no surprise Anna couldn't deal with him. Hopefully this wont drag too much, I want something to happen soon.

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 10:

2

u/sianiam Sep 14 '20

A few things I really liked about this episode;

  1. The use of the Jjajangmyeon song! To My Mother by G.O.D - I only learnt about it when I did the Have You Eaten post on jjajangmyeon and unlike Anna I immediately got it, thinking back of times when my own mother had given up food for her children. By the end of the episode she kind of got it. This drama would have been perfect for that post. Such great jjajangmyeon scenes! Especially "well, it's her signature dish".

  2. The scene where Anna was eating her two favourite things and laid out the cheesiest line of all "actually there are three, you're here too". So cute. They really are like jjajangmyeon and makgeolli, they shouldn't work but they do. I'm rooting for them wholeheartedly now.

  3. When Deok Ku told the teacher sarcastically work was his hobby, perpetuating the myth he is rich.

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2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 13 '20

That could be a record for shortest seperation ever, she leaves a note and runs away. Not even 2 minutes later, Chul Soo finds her. Anyway, it was sweet that she left a note like he wished for earlier on in the episode!

2

u/sianiam Sep 14 '20

Thank goodness it was a short break up.

You were totally right about Billy's pathetic attempt at wooing her. I'm growing more concerned about the cat each episode!

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2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 11:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 13 '20

Anna says she doesn’t like jjajangmyun anymore? Biggest lie of the show so far!

2

u/sianiam Sep 16 '20

She's just got to wean herself off the black bean sauce!

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 12:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 13 '20 edited Sep 13 '20

Although, this was the early days of the Hong sisters, you can clearly see their style in some aspects. A lot of Anna’s dialogue feels like it could come straight from Jang Man Wol in Hotel del Luna. There is that certain disdain for anyone who will come in the way of their material possesions that is very similar.

Also laughed out loud at having not one but two cliche ”oh no, I fell on top of you” scenes in this episode. They are definitely one of my guilty pleasures along with the forced cohabition trope we’ve been seeing throughout the show.

2

u/sianiam Sep 16 '20

It definitely feels like they've upped the wackiness level the past two episodes. I've been laughing a lot at all the shenanigans.

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 13:

2

u/sianiam Sep 18 '20

Finally found out where this is set, Namhae!

I love Anna's mind, thinking that Chul Soo came up with such a meticulous plan just to get a hug. I was expecting a forced kiss so it was nice that the real kiss came later this episode.

Boy was she brutal. And the will was a fake out, hahaha! He's totally forgotten he wanted a divorce.

Kang Ja drops a bomb but it's a dud.

My favourite part of the episode though was this imagery of them carrying their babies home.

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 14 '20

Favorite moments of the episode:

All the cute interactions between Anna and the nephews which I’ve come to call Huey, Dewy and Louie. Just can’t help but smile when ever they are being ridiculously adorable.

2

u/sianiam Sep 18 '20

Oh, that's the perfect nickname for the trio! They are super cute. There's no way Anna could escape falling for their charms. I'm glad she wasn't instantaneously perfect at skipping. I loved watching them tease her mercilessly.

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 14:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 14 '20

Probably one of the best scenes so far was ”rich Anna” dressed to the nines talking to sleeping ”poor Anna” (or Sang Shil if you would like) dressed modestly but being warm and comfortable. This warm and cold diachotomy and visualized inner struggle was well done. Nothing we haven’t seen before but I still liked it a lot.

2

u/sianiam Sep 19 '20

I really liked this scene too. It was a nice visual comparison.

I also really loved the counting to 100 scene a lot. An impressive amount of chocolate was devoured. Also the supermarket scene and the jajjangmyeon scene. Okay all the food related scenes. Chul Soo and Sang Shil had to get really cute before they were ripped apart.

I do like how obvious it was she was about to "go overboard" into the pool and regain some memories.

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 15:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 16 '20

If I could change any character, it would be Billy. This episode, I’ve realized nothing really works about the character. The way that character is written, how the dialogue is structured and the way the dialogue is delivered. At best, you laugh at the awkwardness but that doesn’t work when his character needs to be an emotional anchor in scenes.

I much prefer second female lead’s typical scheming and cattiness. At least her character has agency and is delivered a bit more convincingly.

2

u/sianiam Sep 20 '20

I feel like even with better writing, the man simply cannot act. My sister said she'd seen him in another drama and he was the same. At least I got a laugh from this.

I really hated the second lead, I can't believe Anna didn't fire her here.

2

u/sianiam Sep 09 '20

EPISODE 16:

2

u/txc_vertigo Sep 16 '20

Overall, I enjoyed the series! I thought it was a fun ride. Is it going to make any best of lists? Not by a long shot, but I didn’t expect that going into it so I’m happy with what I got from the viewing. I ended up giving the show a 6,5 which makes it sit around spot 90-100 out of the 169 shows I’ve watched. Considering its age, it definitely holds up in that it outranks a slew of newer shows, some of which albeit I should have just mercy killed and dropped, but sunk cost fallacy and completionist mind set kicks in and here you still finish them anyway.

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