Highlights: "Pinocchio" Episode 11

At some point, Dal Po will be allowed to be happy for more than ten minutes, right? Based on episode 11 of “Pinocchio,” the answer to that question is, sadly, no. But it’s still a wonderfully fun episode—that’s the magic of “Pinocchio.”

These were my five favorite scenes of “Pinocchio” episode 11:

1. “You’re the one who lied!”

My favorite part of this opening scene is that after the pushing and shoving and crying and recriminations, when Dal Po has no words left to say, but many tears left to shed, he clings to Jae Myung like he’s a life-raft. Even though he’s angry with Jae Myung, and terrified of what he’s become, Dal Po still instinctively, desperately, wants to sob into his hyung’s shoulder. It’s heartbreaking.

2. “Don’t tell people you’re Ki Ha Myung.”

Somebody get these brothers into therapy, stat! Jae Myung’s conviction that Dal Po can only be happy as Choi Dal Po—can only be happy as a lie—just hurts too much. Even though Jae Myung says this from a place of love (Ha Myung is the brother of a murderer, so clearly it’s better to be Dal Po), this death-toll to hopes of future happiness for the Ki family was hard to take.

3. “It’s a reward for saying the right thing.”

I think Kim Gong Joo saw how much praise I’ve been heaping on super-sunbae Gyo Dong and decided to show me that MSC sunbaes can be awesome too. Well, consider me convinced! Gong Joo “punishing” In Ha for her outburst at Cha Ok’s lecture by giving her two days off is both funny and genuinely nice.

4. In Ha and Yoo Rae get drunk

I would love more scenes with these two characters together. They both have wonderfully large personalities, so they’re a lot of fun together—especially here, where they are also immensely drunk.

5. “I’ll be different now”

This entire end sequence is very intriguing, as Dal Po takes a step back from both In Ha and Jae Myung. He and In Ha break up so that he can fight Cha Ok without worrying about hurting her daughter, and he resolves to turn Jae Myung in to the police. I actually find this to be a thematically rich turn of events. In parting with In Ha, Dal Po is taking a decisive step back towards his Ha Myung identity. And in bringing Jae Myung’s crimes to light, Dal Po is putting himself in a position where he is taking revenge against Cha Ok by himself—again, we return to Ha Myung. But the brutal honesty both of these actions require is entirely of In Ha—Ha Myung was the boy who would rather pretend to be a stranger’s son than admit the truth of who he was, after all. So… without In Ha’s influence, Dal Po would not be able to revert to being Ha Myung. I think that’s lovely, and I’m excited to see how far back Dal Po goes to Ha Myung, and just what sort of relationship an adult Ha Myung can have with In Ha.

Where “Pinocchio” sort of lost me was the revelation that Jae Myung was the informant who sent Dal Po texts about the murders. It’s possible that in coming episodes, this will start to make sense, but for now, I’m confused. I genuinely don’t understand why Jae Myung did this. To see what Dal Po would do? Even at the risk of not being able to take his revenge on Cha Ok—even though earlier in the episode, he punched Dal Po in the face to show him how determined he was to take revenge alone? I feel like the writer changes how unhinged Jae Myung is based on what the plot requires, and it’s pretty frustrating. Again, this could be cleared up in future episodes, and I hope it is. But the murkiness of just who Jae Myung is definitely took away from the overall power of the episode for me.

What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments below!

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