[Recap] The Duo Ep. 1 & 2

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Spoilers. Spoilers. Spoilers. Or maybe not? MBC’s The Duo has been steadily climbing the ratings ladder. Let’s see if Midas and Detectives in Trouble stand a chance in this battle. Is it weird that I want all three dramas to do well?


Episode 1 Summary:

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The series starts off with two women in labor, one is the wife of a nobleman, Kim Jin Sa, the other is a runaway slave, Mak Soon (Yoon Yoo Sun). Due to difficult labor, the former lady isn’t so lucky as she dies of exhaustion after giving birth to a baby boy, named Gwi Dong by his dad later in the episode.

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In a separate hut, Beggar Jang (plays by Lee Moon Shik), leader of the beggar clan in town, questions his followers the identity of the two runaway slaves; the male slave who accompanies Mak Soon is Soe Dol (plays by Jung In Gi). In the nearby hut, cries of a newborn is heard. Beggar Jang and his crew come over to take a look at the baby boy. Acting like he has every right to do so, Beggar Jang gives the baby a name – Chun Dung, which means Thunder.

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Out on an errand, Soe Dol is thrown into a state of fear, as he registers the man’s face – Chun Bo, a slave hunter. Quickly, he flashes back to his days of eloping with Mak Soon. At one point, Soe Dol had Chun Bo under his mercy. He could’ve killed the slave hunter, but due to his kind-hearted nature, he didn’t. Mak Soon, hiding behind a rock screamed for him to kill.

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Back to the present time and at the hut, Soe Dol returns to see a dis-heartened Mak Soon, who regrets giving birth to this boy in this place, and predicts his bleak future. Soe Dol says optimistically, “He may be born in a beggar’s house, but you can’t predict his future!” Go man! Tell her that! He proceeds to cheer her up, claiming that a child who is born in a Horse’s valley during a thunderous night will become a great leader.

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Soe Dol is called outside by Beggar Jang. To become one of his men, Soe Dol needs to be beaten by the holy beggar’s sticks. Poor man, he ran away from one slave house and bumped into another controlling leader.

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Beggar Jang decides to crash the funeral for the nobleman’s wife, who died earlier in the episode. Peeved by their rude behavior, the butler of the house bring out some men to deal with the beggars. Unnerved, Beggar Jang continues with his strategy – he and his men will strip, earn a beating, and then get food… More absurd to me is even his wife offers to take off her clothes as well….oh boy. Freaked out, the butler has no choice but to give in.

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The underlings feasts happily on the outside, while Beggar Jang and his wife stays in the house. The butler comes and offers him 20 yangs. Beggar Jang hands down some money to his followers and orders them to leave. Outside the underlings confess how much they received from Beggar Jang. Hilariously, only one of the four carries a brain and says bitterly that Beggar Jang keeps most of the money to himself!

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Taking his wife out on a shopping spree, Beggar Jang is approached by the slave hunter. Chun Bo asks him to help them search the area for two runaway slaves. In return, Beggar Jang will get 200 yangs. Ackk!

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Back at the hut, the butler from the Kim’s household, comes to seek out Mak Soon. Their young master is starving at home because his nanny can’t produce milk. Reluctantly, Mak Soon agrees and leaves with them. While feeding the baby, Master Kim enters the room….oh…nobleman has no manners eh? He instructs her to stay with the baby tonight. But she has a baby at home to feed too!

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Worried, Soe Dol waits outside the Kim’s household…Just like how he waited for Mak Soon outside their ex-Master’s room. After she finished her business with their Master, Soe Dol grabbed her arm, hoping to knock some sense into her. However, this lady is a done deal and said, “I go to him because I like him. He’s not like you, he promised to buy my freedom!”

Wait…Wait..so Chun Dung is not even Soe Dol’s child?

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Beggar Jang’s older wife, runs around and asks her friend to feed Mak Soon’s baby. Aww, this lady is too nice!

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Chun Bo meets up with Beggar Jang and tells him to hurry. His lady only wants the woman – Mak Soon and doesn’t care about the male slave. However, since Mak Soon is living at the Kim’s household, Beggar Jang has to go himself to the Kim’s household.

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Beggar Jang asks for 300 yangs and the deal is settled. Mak Soon is sold off to the Kim’s household as the nanny. Outside, Mak Soon begs Beggar Jang not to sell off her baby like what he did to her. Ack!

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That night, Soe Dol brings the starving baby to the Kim’s household and waits patiently outside until Mak Soon is alert by the baby cries. Hiding nearby, she feeds her own child and pleads Soe Dol to help her…In order for her to raise her own child, he must be by her side…and that means….the baby needs to be switched.

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First off, the music is stunning! I love the sounds of a woman humming wistfully in the background. Mak Soon is one hot-headed woman isn’t she? Soe Dol’s future is going to kill me. He’s such a nice man who’s driven by his undying love for this selfish woman. That is to say I dislike Kim Jin Sa too. A nobleman with manners like him! The only two people I like so far is Soe Dol and Beggar Jang’s 1st wife.

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So the author only gives us one hint about the real Gwi Dong – he has a red mole behind his neck like his dad. I wonder whether Mak Soon will remember this clue and fakes one on her son.

Episode 2 Summary:

While Mak Soon and Soe Dol are trading the baby, a worker hears baby cries and steps outside to check. Soe Dol hurries to hide behind the wall while Mak Soon makes up an excuse – she comes outside to coax the young master to sleep. Once inside, Mak Soon tearfully promises her child that she will change his destiny, he will grow up not having to worry about food and clothing.

We fast forward to 15 years later….

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Master Kim bursts through his door and asks for Gwi Dong’s whereabouts. I guess he remarried during those 15 years because the lady inquires the girl, “Where did your elder brother go?” The neighbor says he came to their house and stole 2 chickens. Weird noble kid.

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So where did he go? Pheasant hunting. However, he doesn’t look satisfied at the man’s teaching. Then they hear another gunshot in a distance from another friend – Hunter Kang. Next to him is his niece – Dal Yi, who just successfully shot down a rabbit. >.<”

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What about the young Chun Dung? Looks like he has been raised well because everyone in the market place greets him warmly while giving his friend, Jin Deuk, glares.

PhotobucketPhotobucketEager to meet the village’s new officer, Chun Dung crosses the road, however, his bag filled with potatoes rips, blocking the New Officer’s way. He is carried to the side to get a beating. The new officer is Kim Jin Sa’s brother-in-law.

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Instead of congratulating his uncle-now-turned officer, Gwi Dong hangs at the Hunter’s place, while spunky Dal Yi fixes his shoe, the one she shot earlier. The sky darkens and Gwi Dong is being spanked to his calves by Father Kim. He confesses that he didn’t go to the study hall because he hates studying, instead he went hunting. Well, at least the boy is honest. When asked whether he stole the chickens, Gwi Dong answers no and asks his dad to believe him. Father Kim takes his words as lies and continues to hit him. Looks like we have a male version of Eun Jo here?

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Father Kim finishes one cane and asks Mak Soon to bring in another. While waiting, Gwi Dong tells his father,

“A true man doesn’t lie! While you want me to become a scholar, I dream of becoming a military officer!”

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Enough beating for the night! In his room, Mak Soon applies some medicine to his wounds and advises him to cry a little next time, then the beating will end sooner. Gwi Dong is preoccupied in his own world, wondering about the chicken thief (picture above). Cute kid.

In Father Kim’s chamber, his second wife advises him to send Mak Soon away because her “crude milk” has tainted Gwi Dong. Ughh…woman, the last time I check, the kid is healthy and can think about his future.

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Having brought Chun Dung to the doctor, Soe Dol carries him back home to Beggar Jang’s place. Even though he is hurting, Chun Dung tells them not to worry. Beggar Jang’s wife advises him to cry it out, she knows he’s hurting, so it’s okay to let it all out. Suppressing his tears, he inquires, “You know who my mother is right? I heard she’s a nanny at the Kim’s household.”

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The next morning, we see Gwi Dong beats up a kid, the chicken thief. He instructs the thief to clear his name in front of his dad. The thief says thanks but Gwi Dong smirks, “Don’t thank me, I might want something else. Bring me a horse.”

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Sneaking outside the Kim’s wall, Chun Dung sees Mak Soon, who he thinks is his mom. This scene is nostalgic, the background humming of a woman is haunting. By swapping the babies, Mak Soon takes away the mother figure in both of their lives. Chun Dung is caught by the Kim’s butler, and with him is Kim Jin Sa! Father Kim! The butler accuses him of being a thief to which Chun Dung repeatedly rejects the idea. Mak Soon comes outside upon hearing the commotion. Thankfully, Master Kim sees that Chun Dung is not lying and sets him free. Oh…the irony. He believes a stranger but not Gwi Dong the other night. Is this what you call blood is thicker than water? Or is it just plain honesty? (On a side note, this feels like Tak Gu & Ma Jun’s situation doesn’t it?)

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After Soe Dol learns about Chun Dung meeting with Mak Soon, he demands that Chun Dung stop looking for his mother – Mak Soon, the nanny, is NOT his mother. Of course, as a hot-headed kid, he tells Soe Dol not to order him around, and leaves to the forest house. His good friend, Jin Deuk, stops by to give him some food and the two talk about Chun Dung’s future as a general.

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Aww, puppy love! Gwi Dong follows Dong Nyeo, gives her his love letter, and asks for a reply. The girl says there won’t be a reply because her heart is closed. She has a strong dislike towards Gwi Dong because his dad revoked her father’s officer post. Later that night, Dong Nyeo’s dad meets up with a man and discusses about the suspicions surrounding Lord Hwang’s death.

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OMG. This boy cracks me up when he fanboys over his awesomeness in poetry. HAHA!

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Late for classes again, Gwi Dong bumps into Chun Dung, who is studying right outside the door. Gwi Dong chuckles when Chun Dung answers that he can read and the book is his.

Seems like I’ll be rooting for the bromance more than the romance yea? Anyways, the adults appear this week in episode 9!! Yay! Chun! Jung! Myung!

  1. 3 thoughts on “[Recap] The Duo Ep. 1 & 2

    lol! I remember, atleast this is 20 eps. And yeah you're recaps do help a lot, but if you rewatch the eps that shud take up more of ur time – where do u get the time when you do like a million things at once already!

  2. 3 thoughts on “[Recap] The Duo Ep. 1 & 2

    Annette, I hope I can! Remember Baker King's epic fail? hehe =D Hope the recap clears off some things for you. If not…then I'm sorry! >.<

  3. 3 thoughts on “[Recap] The Duo Ep. 1 & 2

    Thanks for the recaps, the eps i've seen so far have bad subs so following the story/what they are saying is kinda hard. Are you goin to write summaries for every ep?

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