Episode 1 mr. sunshine (2018 tv series)

Episode 1 mr. sunshine (2018 tv series)

A man in military uniform (Eugene Choi) walked in a dark alley and stopped in front of a music store, his outer wall plastered with bits of American newspaper. Through the glass, he watched a music box playing the song "What Child Is This?" With an unreadable expression, and there is a scar on his cheek. In a daylight, Eugene saluted his fellow navy on the way to a meeting with his superior, Major Kyle. Kyle seems to recover from injury, just survived an almost fatal incident, and he asks Eugene how he got it out of the gutter. Eugene replies that he hopes to get promoted from his noble deeds, and Kyle tells him that his wish came true - they promoted and left for Washington to meet the president.

Eugene and Kyle stood stiffly in front of President Theodore Roosevelt, who told them that he wanted to explore new boundaries in the Pacific region around China. He ordered, "Talk slowly, bring a big stick, and go to Joseon.” The two men walked back from their prestigious meeting. Kyle assumes that Eugene will return to his homeland as an American affiliate, will be good for him and the Joseon man, but Eugene explains that the US is his homeland. "Joseon never brought me in," he said.

Returned to 1871 when American ships sailed to Joseon, now in the eighth year under the reign of King Gojong. The king's court gathered to reporting that five American ships sailed towards Joseon, and the head of the court, Daewongun, explained the history when American broke up from Britain. He calls them barbarians and looks impatient when Gojong hesitates to give orders. Daewongun stepped in and insisted that they could not allow the barbarians here. He orders the cannons and soldiers to be sent to the peninsula as King Gojong looks desperate by his lack of initiative. Two nobles discuss Daewongun's decision to form a small defense against the incoming Americans. A nobleman found a strange decision, but his friend knew that Daewongun was more worried about an internal insurgency than annoying a stranger. The noble praised his friend's political insight and asked him to continue his good work in addition to Daewongun, but the friend was mesmerized on the waiter who was preparing their table. He noticed this and offered to send her another girl, as the waiter wanted the friend to have a husband. However, the friend slams his cup and demands a simple solution - if he has a husband, then they can get rid of him. At the corner, a male servant listened to this conversation with a look of caution.

In a forest, a boy brought a pile of sticks on his back and stopped to look up at the sky. Another servant who accompanied the older nobleman asked the boy what he did, and the boy replied that he was pondering how a black bird could ruin his view of the sky. This older nobleman advised the boy: "Live while looking at the ground. The sky is far away.” It actually means: for a servant, the higher your appearance, the shorter your life will be. The expressionless boy replied that he knew this, which seemed to surprise the nobles. With that, the boy continued his journey. When the boy returns home, he discovers that his mother and father are being punished by the owner, who happens to be a nobleman who promises to give his friend a waitress. The boy's mother was that waiter. The nobleman ordered to beat those couple to death for trying to escape. 

The boy runs to his weeping mother, who begs the disgraceful owner to save her husband's life. But the owner found the situation too perfect and watched his shot with satisfaction. The boy ran to his son and his pregnant wife, begging them to do something, but the son pushed the boy away, afraid of the consequences of interfering. Seeing this disobedience, he ordered that the boy be beaten to death. Despite the embarrassing loss of life so young, he found this public beating to be a big lesson for other servants. The boy ran toward him with a stick, but he was pushed to the ground by a guard and therefore beaten. 

The mother screamed for her son, "Yoo-jin!" (Ahaa, this is a flashback to Eugene's background). His mother distance herself from those who hold her back and run towards the pregnant woman (his owner’s daughter in law). He pulled the hairpin out of her hair and held off her hostage with a pin pointing to her hostage’s neck. He warned her owner’s men not to move while piercing her hostage’s neck, a deep enough wound that caused bleeding. His mother vows to protect her family, and challenges him to protect her own family. His mother pulls the expensive ornament from her hostage and throws it at Yoo-Jin. She tells him to take it. He slowly gets up and picks up the ornaments. His mother tells him the minimum amount he has to sell the ornaments for and begs him to run away with it and never return.

Her owner tried to ask his men to intervene again, but she threatened by pointing at her hostage’s belly. Afraid for her life, she shouts at people to let Yoo-jin go. Yoo-jin cries when she calls her mother, and his mother cries and begs him to leave. Yoo-jin took the ornament and ran off in tears. The owner tries to stop Yoo-jin by firing an arrow at the boy, but he misses when Yoo-jin escapes. His mother's grip loosens when she sees her son disappears from her sight, and she falls to the ground. She looked straight at her owner and told him, "Kill me.” He directs an arrow towards her, but he can not shoot because his political career depends on her. So he directed an arrow towards her husband and shot him dead. She looked at her husband who had died with disbelief. 

A group of men were sent to arrest Yoo-jin, and as they passed the well, there is a piece of cloth stuck on the well. In the well, a straw shoe floats on the surface. Yoo-jin stops to catch her breath in the forest and hears her mother's voice echoing in her head. They chase Yoo-jin and he keeps running away, day and night. Yoo-jin steals food from farms and homes, and one day, when he arrives in a modest home, he is caught by the landlord. But this man was kind, told the boy to slow down and point him toward the water. Yoo-jin approaches the man while he is taking care of the fire and offers his ornaments as payment for food. The man (whom we'll know as Hwang Eun San) asks Yoo-jin how he got the ornament and suspects that he stole it. Yoo-jin explains that he did not steal it - this is the price of her mother's life.

It keeps Eun-san quiet for a moment, but she still refuses the ornament. Yoo-jin begs him to let him stay one night, because he’s exhausted from her journey, but Eun-san does not want to bring him inside. They were distracted by strangers, an American man with suits and hats, who spoke broken Korean in an attempt to buy some ceramic pieces before he boarded the ship back to America that day. Yoo-jin catches the American men's suit and asks where the Americans are. Then suddenly, they are distracted by the echo explosion that sends flying birds in shock. 

On the beach, Joseon's forces exchanged cannon bombs in battle against the forthcoming American ships, but it quickly became clear that the Americans were more than defeating Joseon's forces. The casualties came with every new cannon that hit Joseon's fortress, and a teenage boy almost escaped death in a bomb that kept a tent behind him on fire. The teen boy's ears rang from a collision, and he stared in shock at the people burned in front of him. The other soldiers shook him back to that moment, and they kept fighting. American troops took over the fort, and a Joseon man was in their midst. His identity has not been revealed, but we will know him as Lee Wan Ik. 

As the battle reaches the end, King Gojong enjoys a sumptuous meal with Daewongun, which is in stark contrast to his people's bloody defeat. A male teen (Jang Seung Goo) ran to his father and desperately tried to persuade him to escape, but his father remained committed to defending their borders. When his father stood up to aim his weapon, he was immediately shot. The boy froze in surprise when his father crashed to the ground. He holds his father's face with his trembling hands, and his father dies in his arms. He screams for his dead father, and his grief turns into anger, as he grabs a gun and steers it toward the approaching American soldiers. He shouted for their leader and fired weapons blindly. The bullet hit a Joseon man’s foot, Lee Wan Ik, and American soldiers immediately surrounded the boy with their guns pointing at him. When the boy saw the fallen Joseon man, his expression changed empty, and he nervously grabbed the ground, ready to fight. 

The American wins over the Joseon army, and this news is conveyed to King Gojong. The king asked what this defeat meant for Joseon, and Daewongun framed the battle to mean that America failed in their efforts to create diplomatic relations with Joseon, so this is an empty victory for the Americans and a complete loss for Joseon. 

The king strives to accept this confusing interpretation, and one of his loyal servants, Song Young, argues that they must save the prisoners of war taken from the battle. Daewongun strongly disagrees and claims that the survivors are cowards because they do not die fulfilling their duties. He also confirmed that the friendship between the two countries would be betrayed. 

The Joseon man, Lee Wan Ik, spoke in English as he talking to the general in a meeting with representatives of Joseon's royal court. They have not established diplomatic ties with Joseon, and the general regrets his method of strength - working with Japan - in an effort to establish diplomatic relations with Joseon. The minister from the Joseon palace asked Wan Ik to translate, and the unfair Wan Ik,  deliberately misrepresented the tone of the general's assertion as more offensive about Joseon who foolishly refused enlightenment and prosperity. The minister was very offended, and it caused the American solider to grab his weapon, where the minister calmly sat back.

A Joseon prisoner immediately asked Wan Ik about their fate, and he told them that Joseon had left them. The prisoner refused to believe that a nation would abandon its people, and Wan Ik ridiculed their naive loyalty. Wan Ik poked the boy who shot his leg and promised to personally kill him. The prisoners were surprised  by this Joseon traitor, but Wan Ik proudly expressed his hatred for Joseon.

An American soldier approached Wan Ik and informed him that the United States troops had decided to release all prisoners, in honor of the Joseon people's loyalty. In Korea, Wan Ik ridicules America for claiming the truth after massacring all Joseon people. With his failed plan, he wonders if he should go to Japan. 

The teen boy (Jang Seung Goo) buries his father and revives his last moments with him. He is in grief when Hwang Eun San  (the man who rejects Yoo-jin's ornaments) finds him. 

Eun San treat Seung Goo’s wound and he says that they can visit the physician the next day. But Seung Goo plans to go home to take his dad's job as a gunman and tells Eun San not to worry. Eun San tries to comfort Seung Goo that his father died so that his sons can live on this land. Seung-gu cries and vows never to die like his father. He admits that he took his father's job to take revenge on a nation that abandoned his people. He plans to become a rebel. Eun San nods in understanding, and Seung Goo  continues to cry in grief.

Keesokan paginya, Eun-san bertemu dengan para penculik mencari Yoo-jin. Dia memecat mereka, dan ketika salah satu penculik mulai menarik pedangnya, Eun-san dengan cepat menjatuhkan penculiknya ke tanah dengan tongkat belaka. Para penculik lari ketakutan, menyetujui persyaratan Eun-san.<br>

The next morning, Eun San meets with the slave hunters looking for Yoo-jin. When one of the kidnappers starts to pull his sword,Eun San  quickly drops him to the ground with a stick. The kidnappers run away in fear. Eun-san finds Yoo-jin hiding inside the box, trembling with fear. He taps the box and tells Yoo-jin to get lost. But Yoo-jin has nowhere to go in Joseon - if he's caught, he'll be beaten to death and if he does not, he'll starve to death. Yoo-jin asks for his help to be sent to America. The American man visits him again, and Eun San asks him if the "God" he's talking about actually exists. The American confirms this, and Eun San tells him to pray to this God that the price of the murdered Joseon can be fulfilled by taking this orphan. He is  not happy with this exchange, but this seems to be a deal for him to get the ceramics. 

Yoo-jin thanks Eun San and promises never to forget his kindness. He tries to offer his ornaments one more time, but Eun San refuses it and rudely tells the boy to make his live in America. Yoo-jin keeps the ornaments on his shirt and waits for his new journey.

The American man smuggles Yoo-jin into a box, and Yoo-jin spends his days checking the  the wooden box to get some foods. Sometimes, the American visits him to deliver water. Finally, Yoo-jin arrives in the United States. 

Yoo-jin walks in strange streets in confusion, covering his ears from a loud voice from a passing plane. Passers-by pointed at him. The American man tries to get rid of Yoo-jin, but Yoo-jin asks him to help, promising to do whatever he asks and work hard. He does not know anyone and has no place to sleep. Yoo-jin asks if God is in this country too, and the man seems a bit fascinated by this clever boy. The man agrees to help him and asks his name. He replied, ‘Choi Yoo-jin’. The man said that such a name exists in America as well ‘Eugene’ meaning a noble and great being. And for the first time, Eugene smiles. 

Eugene walked around the train station offering to carry a suitcase for a dollar, and he happily accepted his gift after his hard work. However, a group of boys approached him. Defeated and destroyed, Eugene walked down the hall and stopped at a music store. He looked through the glass and began to cry out loud, feeling alienated and desperate. Eugene continued to be bullied as he grew up, with the intruders insulting and beating him. Once, he saw the bullies stop running towards a group of soldiers, and his eyes locked on an African-American soldier. When one of the bullies returns to take his belongings, Eugene tells him that he has something else. The bully starts patting Eugene to buy things, but he finds something intangible: the way to become an American. Eugene went to the beach and cut off his long braided hair with a knife. He dropped his hair in the ocean with new revelations and convictions.

It was in 1875, and in Tokyo, a man, the fifth child of a poor tenant farmer, finds that he really has something very profitable: Joseon. He is Lee Wan Ik, Joseon's traitor who had previously sided with America. He spoke to Ito Hirobumi, the prime minister. He offers to sell Joseon for cheap land, because this nation has a very small value now. He encourages Unyoho (also known as the Ganghwa Island) to force the opening of Joseon ports. He claims that Japan has nothing to lose - whether they open ports or kill poor Joseon people. As Wan-ik walks slowly on the streets of Tokyo, he was followed by a man, Sang Wan (OMG..., Jin Goo), who pulled out a gun as he rounded the corner. However, Sang Wan is also followed. 

Song Young, rushes into a room, where Hee Jin (OMG...., the cameo, Kim Ji-won) takes her sleeping baby. She asks about Sang Wan, and Song Young reports that they have traitors among them. Quickly assessing the situation, Hee Jin hands over her baby to Song Young and takes her wedding photo out of the frame. She gently puts it into a baby blanket and tells Song Young to leave without her. Hee Jin escorts them to escape through a secret way under her bed, and she asks Song Young to keep her and Sang Wan's daughter alive. She said goodbye to her colleagues and to her daughter before grabbing a gun and closing the secret door. The enemy comes, and Hee Jin bravely shoots the shadow that appears in front of the door. Wan Ik orders more troops to replace those who shot, and they brutally shoot the door. Looking through the hole, a bloody body of Hee-jin was on the ground. When they enter, she takes her gun and starts firing again until she is shot to the ground. Wan Ik slowly walks towards her and drops a gold bar to the ground, telling the traitor to step in and earn his income. 

In a quick flashback to betrayal, there was Sang Wan pointing his gun at Wan Ik’'s army. Sang Wan refuses to lay down his weapon and asks, "How much does it cost to be an embarrassing father, an embarrassing son with no honor, no homeland ...?" Before he could finish, he was shot in the head by Wan-Ik. Sang Wan falls to the ground and with his last breath, he told Wan Ik that he asked that question on behalf of Joseon. Wan Ik mockingly says that it's a shame that Sang Wan will never be able to hear the answer. Hee Jin hears this story, and She relieved to know that Sang Wan is not betraying them. Wan Ik rhetorically asks if they think that getting rid of him will change Joseon's fate. He says that traitors are all around them, taking advantage of the land of Joseon. He Jjin returns a rhetorical question: Do you think that getting rid of one group will change the fate of his life? Wan Ik ignores the question and asks where the other members are. She replied that they went to kill him. She promises that even if it takes a very long time, they will kill him. Then, Hee Jin's eyes close and her body is limp. Wan Ik tells Hee Jin that he will wait for them as he breaks Joseon. 

Song Young and his friend return to Sang Wan's house and bring Sang Wan and his wife’s baby and ashes. Sang Wan's father (the old nobleman who tells Eugene to keep his eyes on the ground) and his servants mourn the passing of Sang Wan and Hee Jin and it was raining. Song Young introduces him to his grandchild, and one of the maids cries as she holds the baby in her arms. The baby, which we will know as Go Ae Shin, recounts: "That was the first way I met my grandfather, with my mother and father to ashes. And that fall, the Joseon they protect fell to the Japanese army.”

Then, in 1894, in new reforms, news was posted on the village center, and Il Shik and Choon Shik, the slave hunters were shocked to find out that slavery had been abolished. Behind them, scholars also collapsed in destruction because civil service has also been abolished. But Il-shik takes the news well and seems optimistic to find an opportunity in this crisis. They decide to set up a shop to meet the gap between the newly freed employee and the helpless aristocrat. It is a kind of multi-purpose store to buy, sell, or ask for anything. Their first customers arrive, and Choon-shik recognizes him as a maid they once caught. The former servant asked them to track down the nobles who ordered his arrest, and they were surprised how the world had changed. 

A tenant farmer begged a familiar old man to return his land, which was his livelihood. He did not give any sympathy and complained that he would not be able to buy his precious grandson something to watch if he did not sell the land. His grandson, Kim Hee Sung, sits facing away from the scene and listens to this conversation uncomfortably. Finally, the farmer was dragged away, and the old man returned to his conversation with his grandson. He asks if Hee Sung likes his gift, and Hee Sung forces a smile when commenting on how precious the clock is. He told Hee-sung to spend a year abroad in Tokyo to expand his knowledge, then return to marry and enter Joseon's politics. Although Hee Sung is not interested in politics, his grandfather urges him to continue his way of thinking- to never be content with what you have and never limit yourself to what you can have. Hee Sung looks conflicted about his grandfather's plans.

The adult Ae-shin reads the book while a saleswomen asks what she thinks of her hair ornaments. She was clearly not interested when she commented on how beautiful they all were even without a glance. Then, the saleswomen slips out of the pile of folded paper and hands it over to an Ae-shin, then she hands over a coin bag to her. 

The saleswomen finds it strange that Ae-shin is more interested in newspapers than beautiful ornaments, and Ae-shin retorts by asking for more newspapers at a later time. She opened the paper (keeping it behind his book) and read as she recounted: "This is a turbulent time, when yesterday is far away, today is unknown, and tomorrow is feared. We all, in our own way, experience Joseon's reforms.”