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Anyway, rather than do my commentary on all of the moments that I loved, I’m going to leave this comment that I saw on YouTube. I wish I could find the original post, but this is a copy of a person who copied the original. I don’t know anything about baduk, so I don’t know how much of this is true, but I thought it was a really interesting perspective.

YouTube Comment from a Youtuber named esi obeng, who in turn was quoting an account named 0dandie0

This was written by a youtube account owner who goes by 0dandie0. And it really explains into depth the love relationship between junghwan, deokson, and taek. So here it goes, it is quiet long. “I have no intention to dissuade you, everyone’s entitled to their feelings. But it does seem that your feelings are mainly coming from watching through JH-colored glasses and not fully understanding the drama as a whole. Your misunderstanding could likely be based on lack of knowledge in Korean language/culture/and the concept of Baduk. This drama is not just what you see and hear but it’s brilliantly written and twisted with style, and you really need to watch carefully and analyze to get 100% out of it.

The main theme of this series of Reply is Family(and love ofc but family first)and Baduk is the biggest metaphor in the drama representing Family/Love. Baduk is a game of building “zip”(means home). So it is very fitting that the main lead is a professional Baduk player(someone who builds home/family). Baduk is often compared to life, as you make “choices” that can’t be undone and every move you make along the way will determine final outcome. Also there can never be two identical Baduk match ever, every match is unique and original of its own, hence the old Korean saying “there is truth of life in Baduk”. The main love competition btw JH and TK is a big game of Baduk. JH is black stone and TK is white. Black stone has the advantage and always plays first. White starts off late and has the disadvantage of 6.5 zips(homes) behind. Does this rule of Baduk ring a bell? Yes, TK only came forward in this love triangle in the latter part of the episode 6(TK calls DS and asks her out to a movie on the night of the first snow)

Also, note that TK’s character is based on a real-life, legendary Baduk player Lee Changho. There are countless homage references to LCH from his matches(the games in the drama are exact copies of LCH’s) to his family background(LCH’s father also owns a jewelry shop) and personality(LCH is also introverted, hates interviews, can’t tie his shoe laces, challenged in operating simple household gadgets) LCH’s Baduk style is non-aggressive, appears to be very slow, low-profile and timid. Many players who were brutally beaten by him recall that they “thought” they were winning until the end. And this quality of LCH is closely mimicked by TK in the drama.

TK always made right choices at the right time(this doesn’t make him an strategical opportunist, but rather as JH puts it TK was more ardent, and out of love, without any hesitation, he gives DS what she’s looking for every time. TK is also represented as a slow turtle(his nickname was “turtle-Taek” since episode 10 among fans, he proposed DS with golden turtle as well) but we all know who wins the race in Aesop’s fable, “a turtle and a hare.” At the end of a Baduk game, the white player is given 6.5 homes for the initial disadvantage he had. This explains the more screen time for TK and less for JH twrds the end.

The kiss scene of TK and DS in Beijing Hotel in episode 19 gave me chills. As the camera zooms out, did you notice the house-motif fire place in the background? And yes, it’s white. TK’s been earnestly and successfully built his home all along, step by step. Now then why did the director decide to use the perspective of JH instead of TK or DS? We were mainly shown from JH’s one sided point of view and this made a lot of people confused. Is this just to troll everyone to think that JH is the husband? At the end of every Baduk game, players do sth called “Bokgi”(review match). Although the outcome is already determined, Bokgi is still a crucial part of the game and often referred to as “the flower(beauty) of Baduk”. It is basically a replay of all the moves during the match. Bokgi is entirely a time for the loser, it is time of humility and introspection. Only the loser can refuse Bokgi, the winner has no say in this. Bokgi is a very painful process for both parties but it is the only time where the loser will gain much more than the winner. Through Bokgi, the loser identifies his own mistakes, face his weaknesses and learn from them. The love relationship btw JH, DS and TK was indeed JH’s Bokgi. This is very evident especially in episode 18, at the end JH revisits all his mistakes from the past to present and faces it like a man. He thinks about what he could have done, and learns a life lesson to step up. Although this type of storytelling(anti-antagonistic narrative) did somewhat trolled many, I personally was in awe with the writer/director for employing such innovative, original method.

This sure is not a typical everyday drama that we come across. This is just brilliant! Another big point to recognize is that although TK had a bare minimum screen time in the beginning, his presence was always there. Everyone talked about TK, the kids, the parents, friends from school, even the radio and TV. The kids always gathered into TK’s room whether he is there or not. TK’s room is a big metaphor for TK’s presence. He provides the emotional “home” for the kids. The kids spent their childhood and youths, their young days in his room. It’s a place of heart for the kids, it represents the good old times they can reminisce and wish to go back in time in a heartbeat. Therefore, the show rightly begins and ends in TK’s room. TK’s little cozy room under a soft afternoon sunlight is the signature scene from Reply 1988. Now, was the male lead switched at the end from JH to TK? I hardly doubt it. Although the storytelling was from JH’s perspective, everything else in the drama was all pointing to TK. That’s why unlike Overseas fans, many Korean fans did catch early on that TK is the husband. I myself became sure TK was the husband by episode 6, during the narration of Lee Munse, but many caught on by the first 2 episodes. There are endless amount of foreshadowing and metaphors that are all pointing to TK. I rewatched the entire series 3 times and now I am convinced that by episode 2, you are given pretty much all the clues. For example, when TK enters his room in episode 1, the camera focuses on the swing clock at 6pm, and it rings 6 times, indicating that TK will make his real appearance in episode 6. 4.33 is another very clever metaphor. The name Suyeon and goldfish candies and goldfish buns were great foreshadowing tool leading to TK as well. So many symbolism on wedding theme btw TK and DS gives no room for any doubt. Anyways this is getting too long. I suggest you do some research and re-watch the whole thing again. You will only see how much you know, but I promise you you will see much more than the first round.”

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