Pinocchio Episode 8 Review (and the moment we’ve all been waiting for)

After having marathoned episodes 6 to 8, I find myself almost wishing that I’d waited until next week. Episode 8 is killer, stuffed to the brim with emotional payoff and mental overload for poor CDP. I like that CDP’s no fool, his observations of the case of Moon Duk Soo’s death still stand regardless of whether it’s his brother or not.  It’s interesting to see that he begins straight off by suspecting his brother and trying to protect him from arrest rather than believing in his innocence and searching for someone else who could be responsible.

DP has built a great deal of anger over his father’s death as well and we’ve seen it released in brief spurts throughout the show, at the end of the quiz show in his teens, at the final round of the YGN hiring process, as well as the gloomy funk he’s presently fallen into. But what made DP different and led him towards a different path was his adopted family, who genuinely loved and cared for him and made up for that loss in his life. There were two families that CIH’s mother broke: her own and DP’s. As such, it’s pretty interesting to see how one makes up for the other this way in DP’s life. The pain and yearning in DP’s eyes as they sat in that café was tangible. Lee Jong Suk really as a way of making you feel for him. It was the same in Doctor Stranger. Despite the utter mess than drama was, I just couldn’t stop watching poor Park Hoon being thrown from the fat into the fire. You really feel DP’s pain here as he yearns to reveal his identity, but holds back due to the awareness that their paths have already diverged. It’s far too late now.

Hence why, DP’s quiet agreement that the two of them are very much alike, is tinged with both sorrow, and camaraderie.
Once upon a time, perhaps DP would have taken the same path. Heaven knows, they still share the same dislike for reporters, as evidenced by the hard stare JM gave both CIH’s mother and IH herself, during the previous episode (now hyung, you leave In Ha alone, hear me?) but there’s a line that DP can never cross. He knows what good the world can offer: a warm home to an orphan all alone the in the world, with people who genuinely care for his wellbeing, whereas hyung doesn’t. It’s pretty amazing that though the catalyst for the two’s transformations in character was the same (the rediscovery of their father’s body), it had such opposite effects in each brother.

And it’s pretty damn eerie that hyung is smart enough to have left Moon Duk Soo’s cellphone on throughout the meeting. Knowing that your brother is a killer is bad enough, but realizing that your brother was essentially taunting the police while chatting with you is frightening. Poor CDP.

CIH is as delightful as always. That is one enterprising girl, I mean, to have washed her hair in the toilet. I can’t even. I nearly died when she started yelling at the sink. She wonderfully matures by leaps and bounds, in each episode. Learning more and more of the ugly side of her job, yet never losing her passion for it. Stay gold, In Ha, stay gold. Her mother, on the other hand, continues to scale new heights of sheer frigidity. Seriously, woman, would it kill you to give your daughter a few kind words? I loved that CIH doesn’t back down from an argument, but it’s painful to see that every argument always ends up circling back to her incompetence due to being a Pinocchio. 
(I’m beginning to think so too)
It’s almost like her mother’s saying that incompetence and unreliability is in her genetic makeup, even though In Ha has proven herself to be capable. Sure some tasks later on, are going to be a bit harder than others due to her being a Pinocchio, but she did well on this one for heaven’s sake. Yet CIH’s mother continues to subscribe by the notion that IH will mess up in the future and therefore does not deserve to be complimented now, or ever. Ugh.
The snow incident was certainly not the best report for CIH to cover to begin with, seeing how affected she would naturally be by the rather cold angle reporters have to take on the issue (pun fully intended). I’ve certainly never seen news reported like that over here, and now I’m wondering whether that’s really what happens during first snows in Korea. I do love how In Ha straight up wonders what on earth she’s done wrong as well. (I wonder if the forthrightness that characterizes her is due to her being a Pinocchio or because of it. Judging by what DP said during the quiz in episode 2, it appears to be more cultivated than inborn, as Pinocchios were supposed to be quite shy.)
Judge Kim/MSC’s Cap (it’s easy to confuse him with his IHYV character seeing as so little changes in terms of character!) continues to play rather heartwarming characters, that is, suck-ups with a great deal of heart. An enormous deal. Reporting heavy snowfall, using purposefully shot clips of people falling down seems extremely callous and cruel, and there seemed no way to think of it besides that, until he started speaking.

Wow. Just, wow. He’s not even twisting words as you can see that he truly believes what he’s saying. It’s about a permanent solution as opposed to a temporary pain reliever. If you don’t take away the root cause, then the issue will persist. Such is the case for both DP and In Ha. In Ha’s hiccups persist so long as she sees herself as doing something wrong. Change her viewpoint to a more positive one,  and the hiccups vanish. Address the root, and everything’s fine. DP has yet to address the root of his unresolved anger, CIH’s mother, and the day that reckoning comes is bound to be catastrophic on the emotional scale for a number of our characters. JM, on the other hand, is working his way to the root in a different manner. I suppose killing does work in terms of addressing the root, but it creates more issues than it relieves.

MSC Cap not only plays sage but gets the satisfaction of putting In Ha’s mother in her place. I honestly love how he pulls it off (he did it this exact way in IHYV with Prosecutor Seo as well, loved him them, love him now) and how he’s unashamed to admit that even a seasoned veteran like him has a lot to learn from CIH.
 Though looking at Mom’s cold face, I don’t think she really gets it. Either that, or she’s thinking real hard. The difference appears to be real subtle, though she did display some interesting in the phone call Cap received. I honestly wonder how deep her coldness extends, the very depths of her soul? Or is it simply an icy shroud?

Meanwhile YGN’s Cap is utterly awesome, what with his daydreams of getting the living daylights squeezed out of him by DP’s massive hugs.
His disappointment at DP’s subdued reaction is adorable.
Poor thing, if only you were a day earlier, you’d have gotten a hug. Still DP’s mention of how people change over the years, appear to ring with him as he stares after him curiously.

SBJ continues to play white knight, trying to save In Ha from her mother’s cruel dismissal and taking the brunt of the blame of the failure to record footage by being the first to begin rescuing the kids.
Plus he clearly attempts to fall down himself, in order for that to be used as footage so poor In Ha doesn’t have to continue to suffer.

Okay, that’s gold. He’s pretty sweet, but clearly can’t hold a candle to Dal Po and he knows it. Honestly, saying that DP liked YR to Grandpa and Dad pissed me off a little because now it creates yet another lie that DP needs to worm his way out of. Can we please have DP reveal his relationship soon? This dating in secret thing is likely going to drive me nuts, especially seeing that there isn’t going to be much opposition from the familial quarter. Dad, aside, that this. We still have a hurdle there, hopefully it won’t be dragged out for too many episodes.

YR’s reaction to said supposed crush is hilarious, as are the increasingly peeved faces DP pulls upon being relegated to the unwanted-affection pile. I loved that the person she’s supposedly in love with is Heechul (whom I positively adore as well).

(Funny, that’s the same face my parents make when I say that as well. Fear not HWJ, you shall be mine.)
Milk it while you can show, it’s actually pretty amusing.
        

The two crucial lies that DP told during this meeting are undoubtedly going to come back and nip him in the butt.
Firstly, he’s now got Ahn Chan Soo curious as to why he denied being present at Grand Square, and he got hyung seriously pissed by lying that he was unemployed. Though the latter could be argued away as DP didn’t technically lie, it was more something that hyung guessed at from his words.
But snooping around his truck most certainly can’t be explained, and my heart honestly sank for DP the moment JM caught him in the act, as you really can’t explain away something like that. The violence of JM’s reaction to the reveal that DP was a reporter was shocking to see, as it showed straight up proof of his instability as well as a startling resemblance to DP’s own reaction years ago.


I’m hoping that once DP gets past the shock and horror, and essential confirmation that JM did murder those three men, that he sees just how vicious holding in such anger is and confides in someone, preferably In Ha, and lets it all out.

And speaking of vicious cycles and anger, hoo boy does JM have issues. Slamming a reporter into a tree like that and giving him a straight up glimpse of your wild side is a no-no, yet this fellow plunges ahead. Yet you can’t help but feel for him when he rams his truck into that idiotic drunk-driver to save the kid, whom he’s mistaken as his brother.
I wonder how he’ll take the fact that DP is his brother. JM is honestly so stuck in the past, it takes the past to bring any good out of him. Too bad, it’s the same past that fuels his dark side. JM is walking a fine line as is, as it’s hard not to agree even a little with his actions.I honestly feel for him, and would even be alright with his revenge thus far, if it weren’t for the fact that we’re being given every indication that he will be going after In Ha. And the moment he does so, he walks down the path of no return.  Because nothing excuses going after someone innocent. He’s still an extremely troubled guy who’s had a few hard knocks, and made a few awful choices, for now (because I can’t really feel anything for those scumbags being murdered. It was more chilling that JM was doing the murdering and had planned it thoroughly enough to when to turn on the cellphone) and hopefully, for DP’s sake, the balance doesn’t tip the other way.

Onto Dal Po and In Ha, where do I even start? I really like these two, from her sleeping on the toilet so he doesn’t catch cold (and being hilariously normal with BJ, showing just where he ranks in the general scheme of things). Meeting hyung and semi-acknowledging his guilt in the murder appears to have changed DP’s mindset for the better. He’s accomplished one of the two goals he set for himself in episode 5: finding his brother. Yet the other (the reveal of his father’s unjust vilification) is suddenly much more difficult due to what his brother may have done. This difficulty forces his mind away from the past as he begins to focus more on the present and future, which is naturally where In Ha comes in. I love how he admitted that his girlfriend was his GPS and how easily she took that in stride. DP, this girl is a keeper.

And I love how they’re both having bad days, and can relate to each other so quickly and easily.
(I got that IHYV pun! I got it!)

DP finally getting rid of that dam blocking his feelings was a really exhilarating moment as well the subsequent kiss.
Three cheers for PSH not pulling her usual wide-eyed kissy face! I didn’t watch Heirs so this is the first I’m seeing of her much, much improved abilities in that quarter. LJS has this amazing ability to really make you feel every emotion he wants to you. Trepidation, fear, pain, just as I said above, and now love. Man the way he looks at her is no joke, really. And I’m glad that PSH is really stepping up her game as well and not playing a limpid eyed maiden as some leads are wont to do. The confirmation of their feelings was awesome to see as was the following tender hug in the stairwell. They honestly make the cutest couple, and it helps that there is some serious chemistry between the two.That kiss was so damn tender, with the way he kissed her hand before going it for the real deal *swoons* (This is how you do it, HWJ)

And that warm moment in the stairwell, was beautiful to see. I love a couple that depends on each other while retaining their individuality, and these two have that down pat. She definitely gets that something is up, regardless of his attempts to brush it away and I love how he brushes it away, and does his best to not spoil her happiness despite the gnawing fear eating at him.

This couple still has a while to go and a lot of issues to sort out, seeing how DP continues to keep everything bottled up. It’s going to be quite the journey, seeing how these hidden secrets and feelings come out, what with CIH’s mother, and JM, and those three dead men and DP’s father’s death all being intertwined. And hopefully, our leads will stick together as the pieces fall into place. (Everything will be alright, right?) Can’t wait to see what comes next!