The Marbles
What Mystic Pop-up Bar has done really well so far during its 16 episode run is tackle some important life issues while remaining fun and enjoyable to watch. The story is advancing at a decent speed too with enough development for all our characters alongside an interesting mystery surrounding them too. Episode 6 of Mystic Pop-up bar starts with Kang-Bae dreaming that he won the couple dance contest with Yeo-Rin. On stage, he takes out a jade ring (which looks very similar to the one the crown prince had in the past) and as he puts it on Yeo-Rin’s finger, she turns into Seung-Ho. He relays his dream to Weol-Ju and Guibanjang and asks them what it could mean. Guibanjang mentions that he may have feelings for Seung-Ho while Weol-Ju thinks it may be a conception dream since her mother also dreamt of a jade ring before she had her. The next day at work, Kang-bae mentions his dream to Dong-Jin and Seung-Ho. Suddenly, Seung-Ho receives a call from his wife who announces that she is pregnant. Believing Kang-Bae had a conception dream about him, Seung-Ho offers to help Kang-bae out. The latter then heads to his dance lesson with Yeo-Rin but when he catches her in his arms, his heart starts to beat very fast and he drops her on the floor. The teacher then tells him to stay behind for another 30 minutes after the lesson. After spending all their money on an arcade crane game, Weol-Ju and Guibanjang decide to ask for more from Kang-Bae. They arrive at the dancing studio and as they barge in, surprise the teacher Su-Gyeong who touches Kang-Bae. Spilling her secrets, she reveals that she has been trying for two years to have a baby. After IVF treatment and a miscarriage, it has put a big stain on her marriage. Her husband eventually suggested that they stop trying as he has been worrying it would destroy her mentally and physically. However, Su-Gyeong tells them she is not sure she made the right decision. As the trio walk away, Kang-Bae wishes he could hand over the conception dream he had but Seung-Ho took it. Guibanjang replies that those dreams can’t be traded and that Samsin just hands them the dream after she sets everything up. This gives Weol-Ju an idea as she runs to a temple to find Samsin. The latter is busy with a magical crate game, trying to catch a conception dream marble. They then both enter the dreamworld where Samsin delivers a conception dream to a woman in the form of two walnuts. Weol-Ju takes Samsin for coffee and asks her for a favour; she would like a dream conception marble for a couple who are struggling to have children. Samsin checks and sees that they are not due children yet. Weol-Ju tries to convince her but fails to do so. Back in the living world, the strange man from the past watches the pop-up bar and our trio. We then flashback to the past as the crown prince introduces Weol-Ju to the same strange man called Kim Won-Hyung who turns out to be his best friend. He tells her that they are like brothers and is the only one he has ever been able to open up too. Won-Hyung smiles and tells him he understands why he fell in love with her. Back in the present, Won-Hyung menacingly mutters to himself ” Your friend is finally here, your Highness.” The next day, Kang-Bae practices the dance move on his own and thinks of Yeo-Rin. After Dong-Jin interrupts him and suggests that he may like Yeo-Rin, Kang-bae asks Yeo-Rin to go finds some costumes for the dance. After having fun trying on different outfits, Kang-Bae suggests going to see a movie as he conveniently has two cinema tickets that expire that very same day. Once there, Yeo-Rin tells him she wants to see a romantic comedy movie called The Gout Lover. Both end up crying during the movie though, perhaps because they can identify with the lovers who are unable to touch as it results in pain. While waiting for the bus, they both discuss how painful and difficult love is. Back home, Yeo’s roommate waits for her and insists that Kang-Bae has a crush on her. Yeo-Rin doesn’t think so as he told her he doesn’t feel anything. Her roommate tells her it’s a good thing considering her dating history. We then see that whenever she tried dating and touched guys for the first time, it creeped them out and they always ran away. In the evening, Kang-Bae desperately waits for Yeo-Rin to reply to his text. Unfortunately, she reads it but decides to ignore him. Kang-Bae is confused though as he thought they had a nice day together. The next day, Su-Gyeong is having a very tough day when she watches her husband fuss over their friends’ children. She later tells him she can’t give up and would rather end their marriage as she has been feeling bad. She decides to head into the bar where she speaks to the trio about all the changes she made in her life when she tried to get pregnant. They suggest she take the food and wine Weol-Ju made home for her to have with her husband. At home, Su-Gyeong apologises to her husband about lashing out earlier while they both enjoy the food and drink from the bar. She tells him she is happy as long as she can enjoy good food and have a chat with him while Weol-Ju has decided to steal a dream marble from Samsin. Guibanjang is surprised and asks why she is so determined to help her. Weol-Ju tells him she knows how she feels as she once loved a man whom she wanted to marry and have children with. Unfortunately, she died without realizing her dream. This is enough to convince him to help as he tells her he now understands her. The trio sneak into Samsin’s house and find the crate machine with the conception marbles in it. Weol-Ju attempts to use it multiple times but is unsuccessful. Frustrated, she kicks the machine and three marbles fall out. They then head into the dreamworld to wait for Su-Gyeong to come. Meanwhile, Samsin wakes up to her machine beeping. She finds a business card from the pop-up and gets very angry. Su-Gyeong finally arrives in the dreamworld and the trio throw one marble in the water. It turns into a lotus flower which Su-Gyeong tries to catch but is unable to. Next, they throw another one which turns into a tiger but it is too tired after working all night in other dreams. The third and final one turns into a giant peach but as they throw it at her, Samsin arrives to catch it. The trio chase her which turns into a fight between all of them for the fruit. Fortunately, Su-Gyeong finally catches it and the trio celebrate. The next day, the trio watch the happy couple coming out of the gynecologist with good news, prompting them to happily talk about their latest adventure as they return to the bar. The episode ends as they shockingly find their things being taken away. Yeom is there to tell them that after stealing the dream marble, the mystic bar is suspended indefinitely. Mystic Pop-Up Bar brings more revelations to the series as we see that Yeo-Rin has some form of powers too but has the opposite effect to Kang-Bae’s as she used to repel any boys she touched. This would probably explain why she doesn’t react when he touches her but I am sure this will be explored more later on. The identity of the strange man has also been revealed and he seems to have some unfinished business with the crown prince. This adds some tension to the show as we delve deeper into the stories of our main protagonists. The drama also carries on with its fun world-building as it concentrates on the conception dreams and the lore behind it. This was quite the interesting addition too, reinforcing how enjoyable and dramatic this series has been despite it’s surprisingly low ratings in Korea. Published: 04 June 2020 at 10:25 pm on TheReviewGeek.com
