MaryMeKpop

Another Park Eun-bin drama means another drama to recap! Just like I did with ‘Choco Bank’, ‘The Ghost Detective’, ‘Do You Like Brahms?‘, and ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’, I’m back with a recap of her current drama ‘Castaway Diva.’ Given that this is sort of a tradition on my blog by now, why stop, right?

‘Castaway Diva’ centers around Seo Mok-ha (Park Eun-bin) who was stranded on a deserted island for 15 years before finally being discovered. She has admired her idol, Yoon Ran-joo (Kim Hyo-jin), ever since she was in middle school. She also encounters Kang Bo-geol (Chae Jong-hyeop) and Kang Woo-hak (Cha Hak-yeon/N) after they discover her on the island.

The same team who worked on ‘Start-up’ and ‘While You Were Sleeping’ are also the same people behind this drama. Based on the history of those two dramas, I anticipate that this drama will look and feel fuzzy, cozy, and pretty. Let’s do this!

Castaway Diva Episode 1: Inside the Fish Tank vs. Outside the Fish Tank

The episode starts off with middle schooler, Seo Mok-ha, in desperate search for a specific cell phone. She has something important that she needs to do, her own cell phone has run out of battery, and there’s only 3 minutes left. Meanwhile, popular celebrity, Yoon Ran-joo, arrives just in time for her next schedule. It’s a live radio show appearance. Mok-ha is finally able to connect with a classmate who has the cell phone she’s looking for but he won’t give it up for free. He suggests that she pay him if she wishes to use it and it’s not until she bursts out into tears in front of him that he permits her to use his cellphone. So Mok-ha quickly switches the phone batteries and she’s in tears once again upon hearing her favorite celebrity’s voice, Yoon Ran-joo. She’s in disbelief that she’s conversing with the goddess of K-Pop and she’s so happy that she could die in peace. So Mok-ha’s classmate, Jung Ki-ho, tests Mok-ha’s comment by snatching the cell phone away from her and taking his cell phone battery back. Mok-ha shouts at Ki-ho for his actions and it’s at this moment that time freezes and everything turns black and white except for Ki-ho and Mok-ha. They thought they had nothing in common back then but it wasn’t until that hot summer of 2007 that they realized that they were in their own different seasons.

So Mok-ha’s plans of singing to Ran-joo through the cell phone and transforming into a superstar just like Ran-joo was ruined thanks to Ki-ho. So what’s her next step? Mok-ha and her best friend, Young-joo, agree to enter the fan video contest that will be judged by Ran-joo herself. Mok-ha will film a video of herself singing to Ran-joo’s song. The only problem? Neither Mok-ha nor Young-joo has a camera. But someone else does. And that person is none other than Ki-ho who’s busy working for one of the village members, Yong-gu, and his son, Jae-sik. Ki-ho’s in desperate need of money and when asked why he’s so adamant on making money, he lies that he plans on buying his dad a birthday gift. Ki-ho’s dad, Jung Bong-wan, isn’t so happy when Yong-gu shares the news with him and he takes it out on his son that night. He drags Ki-ho out of his bedroom and physically abuses him. He accuses Ki-ho of somehow getting in contact with his mother and trying to run away. Ki-ho’s been secretly stashing money away and hiding it from his dad and now it all makes sense why.

The next morning, Ki-ho has no choice but to go back to school and to pretend as if nothing ever happened. His body is bruised, he’s sore, and he’s hurt but he gathers the strength and courage to go out. When school ends that day, he’s suddenly approached by Mok-ha who hands him some cash. She has a special request for him: she’d like to borrow his video camera to film her music video for the Ran-joo video contest. And so Ki-ho agrees to lend his equipment and to film Mok-ha sing her heart out for the video. He doesn’t forget to tease her for sticking potato flowers in her hair first and they chat a bit more about the contest. What exactly are Mok-ha’s plans if she was selected as the winner? Mok-ha assumes that Ran-joo’s entertainment company will reach out to her. Then she’ll eventually move to Seoul. And then.. And then.. But she’s stuck on what happens after the move to Seoul and all she can say is that she’ll freeze on the spot. It is Ran-joo who she’ll be meeting. And just as Mok-ha describes her admiration for Ran-joo, the episode focuses on Ran-joo walking up to a stage with her guitar. And it’s at this moment that they both sing: Ran-joo on stage and Mok-ha on her own stage at her own school.

We watch as Mok-ha and Ki-ho go on adventures to different locations to shoot the music video. They make stops at the beach, at a lighthouse, and at a daffodil field. Ki-ho sees a different side of Mok-ha as he stands behind the camera filming her. He admits that she was lacking: she lacked maturity, manners, and thoughts. But she also lacked worries, gloominess, concerns, and reasons to cry. Ki-ho reflects on this conversation with Mok-ha as he edits Mok-ha’s music video on his computer at home that night. Mok-ha seemed carefree and free-spirited; she seemed as if she had no worry in the world. And that’s why he was a bit annoyed (wow, it’s amazing the things that you catch once you watch an episode a second time around!).

But Mok-ha does have plenty of concerns and worries – the main one being her abusive father. She’s confronted by him that night after attempting to call the police on him. She too is suffering from domestic abuse similar to Ki-ho. Mok-ha doesn’t report to school the next day and Ki-ho can’t help but worry. What happened to her? Why isn’t she at school? Failure to get in contact with Mok-ha worries him even more and he stops by her father’s seafood restaurant after school to check on her. When he arrives, he finds a crowd gathered outside the restaurant. His father – a police officer – is inside with Mok-ha and her dad and he attempts to alleviate the situation. Though Mok-ha called the police to report her father’s abusive behavior, nothing changes. She’s forced to give her dad a hug and to pretend as if all is okay. Her dad gives a bunch of excuses for his unacceptable and dangerous behavior; Mok-ha has to hide the bruises on her body with her sleeves when she spots Ki-ho outside watching them. She forms her hand into a fist, she forces herself to apologize, and she bursts into tears upon hugging her father. She hates every single second of it.

That night, Ki-ho stops by Mok-ha’s dad’s seafood restaurant to chat with her. He first hands her the USB drive with her music video on it and reminds her that the video contest is due at midnight. But Mok-ha no longer has any hope in submitting her music video and entering the contest, especially after what happened earlier that day. Together, the pair watch a performance of Ran-joo singing on stage on the TV. Mok-ha admires Ran-joo for many reasons with one of them being their geographic location. Ran-joo is actually from the same island as Mok-ha and Ki-ho but she changed in order to become a popular celebrity. And unlike Mok-ha and Ki-ho, it seems as if Ran-joo lacks any concern or worry in the world. That makes Mok-a a little happy.

When Ki-ho returns home after the visit, he takes the USB drive back with him and he submits Mok-ha’s music video into the contest. While watching through the videos of the contest, Mok-ha’s music videos gains Ran-joo’s interest and she’s immediately in love with what she sees and hears. The next day, she chats with her manager, Lee Seo-joon, about the contest. Since Ran-joo hasn’t renewed her contract with her current agency just yet, she’s open to contract proposals – including one by Seo-joon herself. The catch? She and Seo-joon have to be on the same page as to which video from the contest caught their attention.

And that person is none other than Mok-ha! Ki-ho receives a phone call from Seo-joon since Mok-ha’s cell phone is broken and he rushes over to her to hand her his phone. But the phone call doesn’t go as planned and Mok-ha denies the opportunity to go to Seoul to meet her favorite celebrity. She’s given up on any plans of meeting Ran-joo. When Mok-ha moves on to collect volunteer applications from her classmates, she struggles with how no one is paying attention to her and she breaks down into tears in front of the whole class. They’re confused as to why she’s crying but Ki-ho knows. He knows how heartbroken and devastated Mok-ha is about having to turn down the opportunity to sing in front of Ran-joo. He’s reminded of his conversation with Mok-ha back in the school gym. When asked what would happen next once she gets to sing in front of Ran-joo, Mok-ha’s response was that it was a secret. But in this moment of witnessing Mok-ha cry in front of the class, Ki-ho arrived at his answer. The truth is – Mok-ha would have asked Ran-joo to save her. To save her from the abusive and toxic cycle that was her father, to save her from her small life on the island, and to help her become a celebrity so big that she was untouchable. That would have been her response to meeting Ran-joo.

Ki-ho won’t give up so easily though and he comes up with a plan to help Mok-ha’s dreams come true. He’s determined to get Mok-ha to Seoul. He hands her a piece of paper of a hand-drawn map to his house and urges her to leave her house. She has to or else she won’t be alive for much longer. When Mok-ha’s dad has had a little too much to drink that night, Mok-ha is reminded of Ki-ho’s words and she escapes out of her window. She rushes over to his house barefoot and gently knocks on his bedroom window twice. Ki-ho immediately recognizes the sign and he grabs his backpack as well as some shoes and rain ponchos. He’s prepared for this night and he lends his shoes to Mok-ha and puts a rain poncho over her. He’ll buy her some shoes once they arrive on shore. While the two wait at a bus station, Ki-ho gives Seo-joon a call and asks for instructions on where to meet. They finalize plans to meet on Sunday at the old Seoul station with a compass on the ground. And with that, the two middle schoolers are set on traveling to Seoul together. Unbeknownst to them, Mok-ha’s dad is aware that his daughter has gone missing from his house (NOOOO!).

Meanwhile, Seo-joon meets with Ran-joo about his contract proposal that he submitted to her. Since he’s just a one-man show for now, Ran-joo proposes an idea that would work for the both of them: once she sells a total of 20 million albums, Seo-joon will hand over half of the agency’s shares to her instead of paying her. Seo-joon agrees with her idea but he’s also curious as to why she chose him over other agencies. Ran-joo answers that the biggest thing that stood out to her on his contract proposal was the fact that he referred to her as an artist. Respect.

Mok-ha and Ki-ho sit down at the pier while they wait for the ferry. Yong-gu and Jae-sik notice the pair sitting outside and they’re confused as to why the two middle schoolers are out this early in the morning. So of course, Yong-gu gives Mok-ha’s dad a call and that’s how he eventually knows to hurry over to where the ferry is parked. Ki-ho is quick to notice Mok-ha’s dad’s truck speeding to their location so he moves seats with Mok-ha inside the ferry and he suddenly bids farewell to her. He reminds her once again of the instructions to meet Seo-joon and he wishes her good luck with her audition. Ki-ho hopes that Mok-ha will become such a successful singer that no one will ever dare to mistreat her. So with that, Ki-ho exits the ferry in an attempt to stop Mok-ha’s dad from getting on. While attempting to stop Mok-ha’s dad, Mok-ha rummages through Ki-ho’s backpack that he left behind for her and discovers a bunch of different items, including some money, a bag of candies and snacks, and notes that Ki-ho took for her. There’s also photos that Ki-ho took of his bruises and it’s in this moment that Mok-ha realizes how Ki-ho was also going through a similar situation like her. Mok-ha breaks down into tears upon seeing all the items but the tears turn into fear as she finds her father staring at her on the ferry (the scene of her dad staring down at her through the window gave me chills! It was petrifying!).

Mok-ha runs throughout the ferry to escape from her father but she doesn’t make it far. On the top level of the ferry, at the far end where the engine is located, Mok-ha climbs over the rail and jumps off. Mok-ha’s dad chases after her to grab her and together, Mok-ha and her dad fall into the water. When Ki-ho awakens, he finds himself in the hospital. Through his father and friend, Dae-woong, Ki-ho learns about the unfortunate situation with Mok-ha and her dad. They’ve gone missing. Meanwhile, Ran-joo and Seo-joon wait at the location where they had agreed to meet with Mok-ha but they eventually leave when Mok-ha doesn’t show up. Neither Mok-ha nor Ki-ho also show up at school. Instead, Ki-ho stops by Mok-ha’s dad’s seafood restaurant in anger and he breaks the tank, located outside the restaurant that is full of fishes, apart into pieces. He’s angry and upset and devastated at all once; there aren’t any answers for his many burning questions.

Mok-ha manages to make it to shore and she fortunately survives. But the island life is completely new to her and she has to find something to eat. It isn’t until she finds herself in a field of potato flowers that she realizes she’s surrounded by food: potatoes! Thanks to Ki-ho’s comment about potato flowers and daffodils on the day that they filmed her music video, Mok-ha is aware of the difference between the two and she digs up the field of potato flowers. She munches on a potato and thankfully has something to keep her going. But there’s also another discovery by Mok-ha – one that isn’t so relieving or satisfying as the potato flowers. It’s the sight of her dad’s body – dead and unconscious on the island shore. In a message dedicated to Ki-ho, Mok-ha notes,

Ki-ho, when I’d wake up every morning, I used to wish my father was gone. You really were right. If you wish for something, one way or another, it’ll somehow come true one day. And it’ll happen in a way that you never imagined.

Mok-ha drops to the ground and breaks down into tears upon seeing her dad. So while Mok-ha is stuck on the island, Ki-ho waits at the old Seoul Station with the compass on the ground, year after year, season after season in hopes that one day, Mok-ha will miraculously appear. As patient and determined as Ki-ho is, that day never comes.

15 years later, Mok-ha wakes up to another day on the island. She goes about with her morning routine: hanging up a few umbrellas to catch the water from the pouring rain, counting the amount of days that she’s been on the island, fixing her huge ‘SOS’ sign with the rocks that she’s compiled. But there’s something particularly new on this day that she’s never seen or noticed in all her years of being on the island: it’s an odd looking device that’s flying right above her head. She’s unsure as to what it is and she’s unfamiliar with the device. But little does she know, the flying device is a drone and it’s the one thing that is going to save her life.