Korean drama love triangles have a way of sucking people into them, so much so that they forget to consider that love may be a completely secondary thing to the character’s journey, like Mok Ha in Castaway Diva. The push and pull between Bo Geol and Woo Hak is interesting, but there are other important things to worry about, like getting her life back on track, which starts in the recap of Castaway Diva Episode 8.
Spoiler Alert
What actually happened in Ki Ho’s past?
The incident where Chae Ho ended up losing his memories was true, except that it happened when Bong Wan was posted in Seoul and not on Chunsam Island. He moved to Chunsam, leaving behind Chae Ho and his wife because his son was getting treated in the city. Ki Ho’s mother gave him money and told him to escape his father after a specified period of time when she was done arranging fake identities for all of them. She told him that she would leave the address for him in the postbox outside, and he should check that to find their family. Ki Ho tried many times to run away, but he was almost always caught. Finally, after Mok Ha disappeared, he managed to get away one summer, and that was when he reunited with his mother and new family. They had all been living with new identities since then, and because Chae Ho had lost his memories, they decided to not remind him of the past and let him build a new life.
Ki Ho had always missed Mok Ha, and he had waited for her all these years. Right from the beginning, he had wanted her to enjoy the very kind of life he had finally gotten, and all this time later, she could have it. Mok Ha didn’t want to go back because she wanted to protect Ki Ho’s family. Ki Ho told her to get rich and use that money for that purpose. Even Woo Hak had a change of heart and told Mok Ha that she should not bother with their troubles and dive headfirst into her new life. Finally, Mok Ha was persuaded to go back, and for one day, she celebrated with her new family at a picnic. Interestingly, Mok Ha denied her feelings for Bo Geol while he was open about how he absolutely liked her and had done so for the past fifteen years. However, in a post-credit scene, Mok Ha told Bo Geol that she doesn’t like men who look at explicit content, meaning that she wanted him to be the kind of man she liked. That was the signal she was giving him in return for his open declaration of love. Mok Ha may have spent a long time alone, but her natural people skills and intuition were helping her a lot.
Why is Ran Joo avoiding Mok Ha?
Frankly speaking, Ran Joo understood that Mok Ha must have had a strong reason for giving up on her dreams. But she could not deny anymore that people were more interested in Mok Ha than they were in Ran Joo. All the messages that Ran Joo received were regarding Mok Ha, and while she could not begrudge her that, it doesn’t change that it is unreasonable to expect Mok Ha to attach herself to Ran Joo. One day, Mok Ha would have to go her own way, and she wouldn’t be wrong to do that. But then, Ran Joo would once again be left stranded, and that would be a bigger blow to her pride and dignity than what she has endured so far. Everything Ran Joo has done has been with Mok Ha’s help, and without that, she is still no one.
On a different note, it turns out that the woman we thought was an older Ran Joo is simply Ran Joo’s mother, Ko San Hee, who believes herself to be her daughter. Ran Joo spends all her time with her mother while ignoring the outside world and avoiding Mok Ha. During this time, a radio station plays an old recording of the first call between Mok Ha and Ran Joo, which gives lots of fodder for Woo Hak to laugh at while giving Mok Ha the idea to call Ran Joo through his phone. However, the phone is picked up by Ko San Hee, who says that she is Ran Joo and then goes to meet Mok Ha. It is through her that Mok Ha and Ran Joo end up meeting again. Mok Ha apologizes, but Ran Joo pretends to be angry and says that she is terminating her contract with RJ Entertainment. Ran Joo has never been able to admit her insecurities honestly, and even now, she is making it out to be Mok Ha’s fault. However, Mok Ha cannot give up that easily because Ran Joo has less than twenty thousand albums to sell before she can claim half of RJ’s shares.
Why does Bo Geol meet his father?
Bo Geol has always been someone who has planned for the long run. Unlike the impulsive Woo Hak, Bo Geol was able to hold his silence for fifteen years, and even later, he was the one who was more rational about telling Mok Ha the truth. Bo Geol has realized that Bong Wan is close to finding them, and he wants to address the problem at its root instead of constantly running away. Bo Geol goes back to Chunsam Island and meets Jae Sik and his father, Yong Gu, who was friends with his father back in the day. Ki Ho tells these two that he is a photographer who travels all over the country. Ki Ho was counting on Yong Gu to reveal everything to his father the way he had always done. This was supposed to be a bait to throw Bong Wan off their scent, but the latter ends up understanding what his son is doing. Therefore, Ki Ho has no choice but to take the bull by the horns.
Back in Seoul, Woo Hak is following the Hornet car accident case, and he is contacted by the deceased’s wife, who asks him for the contact details of Mok Ha. A surprised Woo Hak goes to meet her, only to find Young Ju talking about the building where Bong Wan works, as this is where her husband was last seen. It is only a matter of time before Woo Hak understands just how murderous their father is, and he and Bo Geol would need to team up to put him behind bars.
At the end of Castaway Diva episode 8, Bo Geol knocks on Bong Wan’s door. His father already knows where his old family is, but seeing his son at his door is unexpected. Bo Geol has most certainly come to meet him to know what he wants. It is unreasonable that Bong Wan is looking to harm his wife and children, especially now that both his sons are grown up and are capable of taking care of things. Bong Wan likely wants them back in his life, and Bo Geol is there to tell him that it is not possible. He was looking up ‘patricide’ earlier, and the meaning of the word is ‘killing one’s father.’ Maybe Bo Geol knows some secrets. Perhaps he saw Bong Wan killing his own father, and he is going to blackmail him with that? It remains to be seen.
Final Thoughts
The next episode is going to be about Mok Ha desperately trying to bring Ran Joo back to her side. Mo Rae and Seo Jun are not the villains they were projected as at the beginning of the series; therefore, the remaining time of the drama would be better consumed by the complex emotions of the characters.
