In “The Duo”, Mak-Soon is a pregnant woman being pursued by slave hunters. She manages to get away and reaches a village of beggars and poor people who help her give birth. On that same night, Nobleman Kim‘s wife gives birth to his son, but his wife dies. He is certain it is his son because the baby has a birthmark just like his father. He sends his servants out to find a wet nurse. Mak-Soon is brought into his home to breastfeed his son. She wants to leave and go back home to her own son, but she is not allowed.
In desperation Mak-Soon gets help from a friend and switches the babies. The nobleman’s son is give to the people who live as beggars to be raised. Her son is taken into the comfortable warm home of the nobleman and raised like a prince. She tells the nobleman that the birthmark disappeared and … ??? … and he believes her. He is totally clueless and does not realize she switched babies. He remarried later and his new wife had a daughter. His daughter also had the birthmark. Yet he still does not connect that his daughter has the birthmark but the son he is raising as his own biological son does not have it.
Nobleman Kim’s real son was given the name Chun-doong; and Mak-Soon’s son is called Gwi-dong. Neither of them knew that they had been switched at birth. Not only that but they become lifelong friends and both make an agreement that they treat each based on equality. There were be differences in classes between them and they called themselves “The Duo”.
Both of them were friends with two young girls who grew up to be important women in their lives.
He was shocked, appalled, angry, and told his mother he could never forgive her for what she had done. Now when he looks at the father who raised and whom he loves, he feels anguish and guilt. He feels the same way when he looks at Chun-doong. But he doesn’t know how to reveal the truth to either of them, so he remains silent.
One day, Nobleman Kim accidentally sees the birthmark on the back of Chun-doong’s neck. He says nothing to him about it but he confronts Mak-Soon. Frightened at his anger and not knowing what he might do to her or her son, she confesses. She further confesses that her deceit did not stop with Nobleman Kim. She also deceived Gwi-dong’s real father, by telling him that Chun-doong was his real son.
Gwi-dong’s real father was a nobleman and therefore, he would have been considered a child of noble blood, even though his mother was a concubine. Gwi-dong’s real father died and left a large sum of money for both Mak-Soon and Chun-doong, whom he thought was his real son.
Despite being switched at birth and robbed of his nobility, Chun-doong is a successful merchant who has a reputation for being intelligent, honest, and honorable. Villagers have always liked him and merchants and traders respect and engage in profitable business endeavors. After the death of the man he thought was his real father, people were supposed to refer to him as Young Lord Yi. But he prefers to be called Chun-doong. The woman he thought was his mother had always mistreated him and never acted like a loving mother. He never got to know the man he was told was his father. So what if he is now Young Lord Yi, a nobleman? He wants no special treatment and wants to continue enjoying his independent life as a merchant.
Gwi-Dong grew up being respected as a nobleman, the son of a lawful wife (not a concubine) and is a government official. He works as a police investigator and strives to be intelligent, honest, and honorable. This is why he constantly confronts the corruption and dishonesty among the officials, in addition to bringing criminals to justice. But when he learned the truth about his birth, he did not know what to do.
Punish the nanny for her deceit? Acknowledge his real son? Disown the son he raised? Chun-doong and Gwi-Dong had grown into fine young men and they were leading productive lives. Would it be right to disrupt their lives? Questions, questions … Decisions, decisions.
Nobleman Kim Jin-Sa (played by Choi Jong-Hwan)
Nanny Mak-Soon (played by Yun Yoo-Sun, “Flex X Cop”, “Bloodhounds”, “The Tale of Nokdu”, “The Great Queen Seondeok”)
My personal rating is the same as Viki viewers.
“The Duo” has been on my watchlist for a while. It is currently streaming on Viki in the USA. Both the actors and actresses did a commendable job. But let’s talk about the fictional characters as if they were real people. The storyline wrapped around two male characters and if I met them in real life, these guys could be my best friends. I really liked them.
The female characters were … eh! … tolerable. I get that in real life, during the Joseon Era, life was not that good for women, especially women who were slaves. But it’s not about their lives being difficult. Personality-wise, they would not have been my best friends.
A Moral Dilemma? Specifically, concerning the mother who switched the babies. Her act was not accidental. It was intentional. You could argue that a lot of the fault lies with the nobleman who hired her as a nanny and a wet nurse. Part of you wants to empathize and sympathize with the mother who switched the babies. But the deception went on for so many years, you can’t help but wonder … at what point along that timeline would she or could she have revealed the truth?
You will probably conclude that she would have never told the truth if she had not been forced to admit what she had done. Life is tough and scary! I understand why she did what she did, but she was still WRONG! The mother’s deception could not be justified. WHY? Here’s my answer.
CONTRAST AND COMPARE: The child of the nobleman, who was robbed of his true home, endured and overcame a harsh unfair life, and rose above all his adversities and difficulties. Well! Suppose the mother had NOT switched babies. If one child who had no idea that he was of noble birth overcame and became a decent honest human being … THEN … couldn’t the child who was born among beggars, also have overcome the difficulties and challenges of life and become a good person too?
People have all kinds of “excuses” for doing wrong things. But the excuses don’t make what they do RIGHT! Just sayin’.
THE DUO KOREAN DRAMA | 2011 | Detail, Synopsis, Cast, Photo | Korean Drama Movies OST
The Duo (TV Series 2011-2011) | The Movie Database (TMDB)
mayries05. “[Trailer] the Duo – Korean Drama 2011.” YouTube Video. YouTube, February 3, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrTqq1u2GdY.
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