k-dramas reviews

Surplus Princess: Episode Seven Review

Note: I apologize for the delay in getting this review up. After hearing the devastating, heartbreaking news about Surplus Princess, I needed to take some time off so that I could come back to recapping in the best possible frame of mind. That said, with the short time we have left, I want to thank each and every one of you that have been reading my reviews and commenting. I never expected this blog would grow as much as it has in such a short period of time. I adore each and every one of you, and I hope you’ll continue to stick around long after SP ends. That sappy introduction aside, let’s get back to the review!

P.S. Screencaps will be slightly delayed as my editing program keeps crashing. I will get them up ASAP!

Episode seven begins with Hyun Myung thanking the shared house owner for covering his grandmother’s funeral costs. Since Hyun Myung made it sound like it was a great deal of money, I’m wondering if the shared house owner secretly has a lot of money. It certainly seems like that’s what the drama is hinting at.

Hyun Myung asks if he’s going anywhere because he’s  carrying some kind of suitcase. I don’t know if it’s clothes, instruments, or something else entirely, but when Hyun Myung asks if he’s going somewhere, he cryptically replies, “For a bit.” I don’t know about any of you, but that lack of an answer is cause for suspicion. Just what is he up to? Why are you so shady, shared house owner?


Then, Hyun Myung heads upstairs where Ha Ni is sitting on the couch and starring at the wall in the hallway. He smiles at her back genuinely. With a smile, he announces that he’s back and that he’s thankful for that day. Hyun Myung is referencing the end of last episode where Ha Ni consoled him while he cried out of his grandmother’s funeral. (I feel like a more comfortable relationship is developing between these two.)

But when Ha Ni turns around, she’s sniffling and her eyes are watery. He asks what’s wrong but she doesn’t answer. Instead, she goes to her room, closes the door, and cries very, very loudly. Hyun Myung is about to go in her room when Witch Ahn shows up and gives him a dirty look.


Witch Ahn tries to give Ha Ni a pep talk, but she’s heartbroken and miserable over Shi Kyung. Just how many times is Ha Ni going to cry over Shi Kyung and misunderstandings regarding him? I get that misunderstandings and conflict are necessary in dramas, but I wish she wasn’t this upset over someone she doesn’t know all that well. Yes, she knows him from observing him and from spending a time or two with him, but I don’t really think it’s enough.

Meanwhile, Hyun Myung listens from outside the door and totally gets the wrong idea. Ha Ni cries that she doesn’t have many days to live, and Hyun Myung thinks she has some kind of terminal illness like cancer. Hyun Myung, this is what happens when you eaves drop and don’t get the entire story. Omo.

As Witch Ahn carries an unamused Ha Ni over his shoulder and downstairs, Hyun Myung spots Big and Yi Jong and asks how long Ha Ni has been sick. They tell Hyun Myung that it’s because she’s brokenhearted over Shi Kyung because of Jin Ah. That’s all that Big and Yi Jong know.


Unsure of what he heard between Ha Ni and Witch Ahn, Hyun Myung keeps his suspicions to himself. And I honestly respect Hyun Myung for it. While he doesn’t mind confiding in his roommates, he realizes it’s better to keep what he overheard to himself.


Witch Ahn arrives at his place with Ha Ni. He carries her to the door and puts her down.

While talking outside the building, Ha Ni overhears her brother Shiek Seul In.

He’s a very vibrant, loud merman. Not to mention, he has this creepy, fierce growl when he’s mad. He is definitely a unique personality that helps inject some additional humor into the series.


From his office, Shi Kyung tries to call Ha Ni, but her phone is off.

He picks up Ha Ni’s scale and stares at it for a bit before leaving his office.

He heads downstairs to the service desk and cleverly gets a hold of Ha Ni’s address. As he’s doing so, Jin Ah, Team Leader Kim, and two other co-workers ask the chef what he’s doing and that they’ll do it for him, but he takes care of it himself.

Back in his office, Shi Kyung combs threw the visitor’s log in search of Ha Ni’s address. I like that he’s chasing after her for once. Nice job, Shi Kyung.


Team Leader Kim, Jin Ah, and another co-worker are working on some concepts for work. Shi Kyung shows up and says he has to go out to take care of something. When he leaves, Team Leader Kim makes a comment about how the chef is doing a lot of things he never did before. It appears Ha Ni is bringing out all of these changes in him.


Shi Kyung arrives at the shared house.

The only one home is Hyun Myung and he’s pretty hostile to Shi Kyung. Hyun Myung is definitely being overprotective when it comes to Ha Ni. It’s really nice to see the natural evolution of their relationship from misunderstood enemies to actual friends that look out for each other.

He sends Shi Kyung off rather rudely, and considering the fact that Ha Ni has been so upset over the supposed “two-timing chef,” it only makes sense that Hyun Myung would be rude and short with him. But, is that all that there’s to it?


Meanwhile, Ha Ni is giving her Oppa a taste of human life. She’s showing him pictures of Shi Kyung while he’s eating chicken wings and drinking beer. He gives her advice to fight back for Shi Kyung. We also learn that Ha Ni studied very hard and that her father liked her best. It’s nice to get bits and pieces of back story when it comes to Ha Ni, but I won’t lie… I wish we were getting more. And with only a handful of episodes after this, it’s slightly disheartening that I know my questions about her family and mermaid life won’t be able to be answered in the capacity I was hoping. This is the point where I cross my fingers and hope for the best from the writers.

Shiek Seul In threatens Witch Ahn to take good care of his sister. Witch Ahn looks horrified from the entire situation, and I want to cry because it’s so funny.


Shiek Seul In curses Jin Ah. When she’s leaving the office, she’s whacked in the head by starfishes falling out of the sky. There’s a little note attached that tells Jin Ah that she’s dead if she bothers his [Shiek Seul In’s] sister [Ha Ni]. Oh, this show.


Ha Ni is walking home alone while talking to Witch Ahn. She overate, and now she has indigestion. Witch Ahn gave her medicine. Meanwhile, Hyun Myung is outside the house and he’s lifting weights. Here, he was waiting for her because he was worried, but he’s never going to admit that was his reasoning.


They talk briefly — and it’s a nice little conversation. When they’re both not being so hot-heated, it’s nice to see how well they get along.

She trips and he grabs her arm to keep her from falling. She’s genuine and thankful, but Hyun Myung feels uncomfortable and awkward so he starts to get a little loud. I think Hyun Myung is developing romantic feelings for her, but because he doesn’t know what to do with them, he gets loud with her and tries to shrug the awkwardness away. Between everything that has happened with Jin Ah and his many work woes, I can understand why he’s not jumping headfirst into a relationship with anyone.


Once inside, Hyun Myung, Ha Ni, Big, and Ji Yong gather in the living room.

Ji Yong shows them a contest that was posted online. 10 million won ($10,000) prize money. It’s a Globalize Korean food product idea presentation competition. The gang unanimously decide to do it right this time after the failure with Witch Ahn’s food truck.

Big calls Shi Kyung “Praying Mantis Chef” too. I like the chef, but the nickname makes me chuckle every time someone says it. See, Big doesn’t get what’s up with her and JH and the chef. Apparently, Ha Ni has a new way to get Shi Kyung wiuthout chasing after him this time. She wants to do it differently.

Then, Big freaks out over a cockroach. Hye Young picks it up with her bare hands. She taunts him with the cockroach and Big freaks out and runs to the bathroom. He starts freaking out some more and pulls off his shirt as if it’s on fire. Hye Young walks in while he’s shirtless. She teases him about getting a shower just because he saw a cockroach. Gosh, I love their scenes so much.


Ha Ni is thinking deeply about the competition. Hyun Myung walks in and she smiles. He even put together a binder filled with food-related competition winners. Ha Ni is super excited and grateful. She tells him that he’s a really good guy.

She flips through the book and comes across pork belly. She’s never tried it before, so Hyun Myung decides to take her out to eat it.



Cue a close up of Ha Ni eating and enjoying pork belly.

Hyun Myung is in the distance on the phone pushing off the start of a job until the next day. He does this for Ha Ni. When he comes back to the table, he tells her to eat a lot and that he’ll buy. She does just that, but she gets upset when she realizes she ate so much and left barely any for Hyun Myung. But, in a nice moment, he gets two more orders of pork belly. Ha Ni’s smile is so bright and wide in that moment.


Back at the house, Ha Ni is locked in the bathroom. In all actuality, she’s sick because she ate way too much. HM asks if she’s okay, but she moans back that she feels like she’s going to die. After what he overheard earlier, but he’s starting to get worried.

She eventually leaves the bathroom and can barely stand. HM fusses over her and puts both hands on each side of her face. He wants to take her to the hospital, but she refuses. He tells her not to give up and to keep trying until the end.  He confesses that he knows everything about her sickness because he overheard her and Witch Ahn talking earlier.

She starts laughing at him and tells her that earlier she meant she can’t live without Shi Kyung. She teases him and says that maybe she likes him.


At JH, the CEO receives a call from Shi Wook that really gets to her. When her secretary goes over her schedule for the day, CEO Hong cancels her entire schedule for the day.

The CEO ends up at Witch Ahn’s truck. They chat a little as he makes her food. It might just be me, but I really enjoy their interactions. It’s like two lonely people that have been broken by previous loves are drawn to each other.

Unfortunately, Team Leader Kim shows up, and CEO Hong freaks out and hides. The big question is: what is the main reason she doesn’t want to be caught? That she ordered and is eating alone at a food truck? That she’s conversing with Witch Ahn? That Team Leader Kim would get the wrong idea? I’m mostly curious if it was just embarrassment and insecurities that pushed her to hide. Because, from my point of view, CEO Hong is a strong, successful woman who shouldn’t have to feel shame about eating alone.

Then, to send Team Leader Kim away, she texts her and demands that she return to the office. Haha, this show.


The God of Competition. 10 years ago, he won just about all of Korea’s competitions. This person helps a lot of unfortunate surplus people. It’s probably the owner of the house. It seems that’s where it’s pointing towards, anyway. So that they can win the competition, Ji Yong is determined to find this person so that he can help them. They don’t want to believe it’s the owner of the house, but he doesn’t have siblings, so it can’t be that either. Are Big and Ji Yong really this thick, lol? They seemed awfully determined to find reasons against it being the shared house owner.

They go to Hye Young for help. She confirms it’s definitely him.


The gang stand outside the shared house owner’s room. When he emerges, he says he’s going out, but he doesn’t say where. They see him leave carrying some big hard case. Yi Jong rewinds to a few days prior where he saw him leaving late at night while he was making a work of art: a pringles crown. When he comes back, Yi Jong asks where he was and he gets a shady answer that he’s been back for a while, but as Ji Yong was working on his masterpiece all night long, he knows the owner was lying.

They go into his room and open up the cabinet in his room and find a helmet.

Big, Ji Yong, and Hye Young get the bright idea to tail him and see where he goes. Well, that’s one way to get answers, gang.


Meanwhile, Hyun Myung exits his room and sees Ha Ni fast asleep on the couch. She fell asleep while working hard. Hyun Myung smiles and pulls up the blanket to cover her. He also pulls away the papers she was sleeping on. He brushes hair out of her face tenderly. Ha Ni wakes up and he’s shocked. He quickly squeezes her cheek and tries to cover up what he was really doing by reprimanding her for sleeping in places like that.

Awkwardly, Hyun Myung runs off. Big and Yi Jong aren’t around. Hyun Myung is eating alone. Ha Ni skips into the kitchen. She’s starving after throwing up earlier — at least, that’s what she tells HM when he asks her if it’s okay for her to eat. She tries to grab the pot, but it’s hot and she burns her hands. HM looks at them and reprimands her for being clumsy. She does the same thing again and says she has to hold it to eat it or use a handle. Hyun Myung gets the bright idea that their competition project should be putting a handle on the ddok bae gi, which is a stone, heatable bowl.


Meanwhile, Big, Yi Jong, and Hye Young continue to tail the shared house owner from a distance.

In an effort not to get caught, Hye Young pretends to kiss Big. Big is stunned at the near-kiss. Aww, how adorable are they?


They continue to follow the shared house owner. Tons of people join up with him. It certainly feels like he could be the God of Competition, but is he really?

Then, the group emerges with the shared house owner at the front. They are apparently a group of super fans — for Crayon Pop.

As the crowd runs at them, Big grabs Hye Young and holds her close to him so that she’s protected. Hye Young is devastated about the man she’s had feelings for her. Disappointed, she walks away. Big chases after her, and in an effort to comfort her, he pulls her into a tight hug.

This all happens in the middle of the street. Safety first, guys. Move to the sidewalk and then hug all you want.


We see the shared house owner get into a expensive-looking car. Here, we find out that he is the God of Competition and did what he did as a cover.


Shi Kyung is waiting at the house for Ha Ni. I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s a dedicated guy that wants to get to the bottom of why Ha Ni is ignoring his calls. I really, really like him stepping up.

Meanwhile, Ha Ni and Hyun Myung are walking home and talking about the handle for the pot.

She states that she really likes Shi Kyung. Then, it starts to rain. Never fear because Hyun Myung came prepared with an umbrella. As rain pelts down on her, Ha Ni knows that she’s running out of options before her secret is revealed. In almost no time at all, she fixes her gaze on Hyun Myung and runs towards him. She jumps right into his arms, and while he looks surprised initially, he seems to like Ha Ni being so close to him. Ha Ni tells Hyun Myung to walk with her like that.


In a true drama moment, the camera pans to Shi Kyung who witnesses the entire thing. Ouch. My heart really goes out to Shi Kyung in this moment, but as I prefer Ha Ni and Hyun Myung, I really loved this scene. Sorry, guys.

Because I couldn’t split it up, here’s a nice little gif that showcases various scenes from this episode.


Lingering thoughts:

So, all in all, not a bad episode. I liked that Ha Ni and Hyun Myung got some one-on-one time. Also, Ji Yong, Big, and Hye Young following around the shared house owner was another high point of the episode.

Myself and fellow reviewer Kristina were discussing how this show would handle the inevitable rain at some point. I’m glad to see it addressed here — even if it was a little cheesy. Ha Ni jumping into Hyun Myung’s arms actually gave me butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

There isn’t a lot of time to wrap things up. Can the show rise to the challenge and give us a decent ending?

As much as I’ve really grown to adore Shi Kyung and Ha Ni, I’m always left feeling as if they both have an idolized notion of the other. Like, they know stuff about each other, but do they really know each other? I’m not discrediting them at all. I understand and support everyone who chooses to ship them together, but I just don’t feel the “shippy” vibes between them. Am I crazy? Am I totally and completely alone on this front?


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