Okay, now it gets a bit weird. Back in the modern era, there have been some changes:


Because love is always better underwater

Jae Min is in therapy discussing his accident -- apparently he's gotten some of his memory back in the last four months. Ma Ri is being punished for using her powers, but she's pardoned and becomes part of a pilot reintegration program for vampires, heralding new legislation to accept vampires as equals. She's allowed to assume her old name at the same school, and to publicly assert that yes, she is a vampire. She is tortured by the kids at school for being a vampire and Jae Min doesn't want anything to do with her. All this time, Jae Min is having visions of Ma Ri, sitting in a tree playing her flute, just like in the Joseon sequence. Shi Hoo shows up as well, having been retrieved by the VCS just short of death. He seems happier, though just as protective of Ma Ri. He has been assigned to help her re-integrate. A music executive sees footage of the band Orange Marmalade, and tells his aide to find those kids. Shi Hoo confronts her about Jae Min and she confirms that all the suffering she's putting up with is worth it -- she likes him that much. Jae Min rounds the bend just in time to see them hugging...


Rocky VIII, coming soon to select theaters

Okay, Ma Ri has changed way too much. Before she was shy, retiring, and would run away from her troubles. However, this new Ma Ri is confident and stoic -- a far cry from the girl we saw before the Joseon episodes. Jae Min seems vaguely aware that this is a past life, so maybe she has been a little more affected by it. Her 17th century persona was much more self-assured. She didn't like being tortured by others, but she was much less willing to put up with it than her modern counterpart. She fought back as best she could against the evil forces that wanted to harm her. So maybe her past life rubbed off on her?


He loved orange soda so much he started taking it intravenously...

Jae Min confuses me. He has amnesia, and has no memory of the past four months of his life. He still hates vampires, has told Ma Ri to stay away from him more than once, yet he stops unfair treatment of her by the other students? I think the writers are trying to say this has more to do with how he feels about Ma Ri than his sense of fair play, but his coldness toward her tells us otherwise. He also knows he's had a past life experience, but can't put all the pieces together yet. Why does he go out of his way to defend Ma Ri, if he hates the fact that she's a vampire? And why does he keep having hallucinations, if Ma Ri and Shi Hoo are not? Does it have something to do with his memory loss?

And we see the return of Shi Hoo in the modern era. There were people who refused to believe he was dead. We saw him burn up in the morning sun, he's dead, right? Nope. Never believe someone's dead til you see the body. Death is never permanent in the comics, and as this is based on a manhwa, well, there you have it. I, along with other fans, am glad he's back. He injects an edginess into this drama that's distinctly lacking in the modern day. The yin to Jae Min's yang, I love his character. He seems no less intense than he was before, and that's a good thing.


"I know how this goes -- I've read Twilight..."

It's interesting how this drama mirrors some of the events surrounding the civil rights movement of the 60s in the United States. I don't know how much of that is intentional, but it's still interesting. Vampires don't have the same rights as humans, vampires and humans shouldn't intermix, there's prejudice, and there are social justice warriors like Shi Hoo. I love it. Even in the saeguk portion there were echoes of that with vamps, humans, and social class.

I don't know. The modern day seems more interesting to me, now. With only two episodes left, this drama has to reach critical mass pretty soon! Til next week!

SEE ALSO: 'Running Man' producer Choi Hyung In reveals future plans for the show's 15th-anniversary