Sometime during August, 1598, newly appointed governor Dam Ryung (Lee Min-Ho) stays for a night at an inn run by Mr. Yang (Sung Dong-Il). During that evening, Mr. Yang shows Dam Ryung a captured mermaid named Sim Chung (Gianna Jun). Later that night...
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I'm really loving the tonal pendulum of this show, which is both sadder and funnier than I expected, but so well executed in both extremes. The comedy really ramps up in this second hour, sending us on a totally ridiculous farce of a chase that has me in stitches. But no matter how outlandish the comedy, the heart of the emotion is always there, making it easy to empathize with our mermaid who's adrift on land and our con man who's adrift in life.
Joseon, 1598. Newly appointed mayor Dam-ryung lights wish lanterns by the sea with local children, and accidentally lets one loose too early, sending him down the shore to collect his wayward lantern. But he discovers that someone else has found it first, and is surprised to see that it's the mermaid he'd released back into the ocean.
The old fisherman who had witnessed their parting narrates over the scene: "It is a connection that should not have been made. But they are already linked, and so that connection will continue. They will meet again."
Hearing this, mermaid-hunter Lord Yang chuckles and interprets it as a very simple roadmap to recapturing the mermaid: follow the mayor back to her.
Back on the shore, Dam-ryung is startled when the mermaid speaks to him, and very eloquently at that. She calls him "scholar," and says that he'd told her not to be afraid, but he's the one who seems frightened now. He wonders how she can speak, and she says that there's no reason a mermaid can't do anything that a human can do.
He asks why she didn't speak up the day she was first captured, and she says that she did—it just never reached him. In flashback, we see that she spoke in her head the moment she first saw him: "Save me." She explains that mermaids hear each other's thoughts, so words are unnecessary.
Dam-ryung wants to know if humans can hear a mermaid's thoughts (uh... isn't that what's happening to you right now?), and she says that a long time ago, a boy loved a mermaid and heard her voice. He asks what happened to that boy, and judging from the sad look on her face, nothing good. He wants to know if they can meet again, so she tells him to light a lantern over the sea, and she'll know it's a sign to come see him.
In the ensuing days, Lord Yang keeps tabs on Dam-ryung, and hears that there is one odd thing the new mayor is doing...
That night, the mermaid sees a shining light up above the sea, and swims toward it. When she reaches the surface, she sees an entire ocean valley filled with an army of lanterns, all lit for her. And from the distance, Dam-ryung glides in on a small boat. That's some entrance (also, are you steering that boat with your mind?).
He stops right in front of her, and they gaze into each other's eyes.
Spain, 2016. Con artist Joon-jae has a rare moment of conscience and doubles back to go find the mermaid he left behind at the department store, and she reaches up with a smile when he appears in front of her holding an umbrella. He pulls her up and says he hates leaving without saying goodbye, and that's the only reason he came. Uh-huh.
