Post by ajk on May 31, 2016 1:47:27 GMT -5
The first part of this episode was pretty good. Not much real history yet in this series, so for me it's all still filler, but the murder-mystery twist wasn't bad at all. And actually the double-agent intrigue stuff towards the end was pretty good too.
But a couple of things kind of hampered the storyline. The blacksmith was foolish to make himself so visible again so soon after his faked death. Not just because he threw away such a good cover, but he put Goong-bok at risk and clearly he didn't want to do that. Should have directed things quietly with one or two trusted aides and stayed hidden. And before that, why did Goong-bok chase after the assassin himself? He didn't even yell out or call anybody else to help him pursue. Much of the episode turned on those two things and they both were sort of tough to swallow.
The discussion about import prices was interesting. Madam Jami is no dummy, clearly. Wonder how she's getting such good information for herself! That might make an good little story right there. The speculation about the Grand Canal, if anybody didn't understand that, the Grand Canal is an amazingly long inland waterway in China that links the Yellow and Yangtze rivers and was massively important to trade and commerce back then. Interference with its operation would certainly screw up the export market, and anybody sitting on big supplies of the right goods would make a killing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_(China)
The floodlights were particularly obnoxious in this one. And I've come to expect 45-60 seconds of mediocre cheesy pop per episode, so I won't go on about it this time...but the guitar rock we got near the end, that was truly awful. And it was surprising because just before that, the nighttime scene where Goong-bok and Jung-hwa were hugging, some excellent music there, very fitting and appropriate.
One big oops--you could see the dead guy breathing!
Speaking of breathing, it was nice that in the first scene you could see the characters' breath. I've always like that--not a big deal but it adds some realism that a series films scenes on chilly nights.
Okay so here's the question for this episode. Goong-bok tells Hung-hwa she'd be risking her life to live with someone of slave status. So is it selfish of him to ask her to do it anyway? If he really loves her, shouldn't he let her go if the alternative is a constant possibility of death? I don't know what the right answer is; just asking because it seems like it needs to be asked.
p.s. I did look into it a bit and as best as I could tell, the inspector-general-becoming-regent angle is fictional. There was a regent in Shilla between 800 and 809, who acted for a boy-king (Aejang), but when the boy-king got to be 21 or so, the regent killed him and took the throne for himself (Heondeok), and kept it until his death in 826. The real Jang Bogo was born in 787, and I suppose he and Yon are in their 20s by now in the series...but anyway, there's nothing around that time in history that suggests a new regent being needed or designated.
But a couple of things kind of hampered the storyline. The blacksmith was foolish to make himself so visible again so soon after his faked death. Not just because he threw away such a good cover, but he put Goong-bok at risk and clearly he didn't want to do that. Should have directed things quietly with one or two trusted aides and stayed hidden. And before that, why did Goong-bok chase after the assassin himself? He didn't even yell out or call anybody else to help him pursue. Much of the episode turned on those two things and they both were sort of tough to swallow.
The discussion about import prices was interesting. Madam Jami is no dummy, clearly. Wonder how she's getting such good information for herself! That might make an good little story right there. The speculation about the Grand Canal, if anybody didn't understand that, the Grand Canal is an amazingly long inland waterway in China that links the Yellow and Yangtze rivers and was massively important to trade and commerce back then. Interference with its operation would certainly screw up the export market, and anybody sitting on big supplies of the right goods would make a killing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_(China)
The floodlights were particularly obnoxious in this one. And I've come to expect 45-60 seconds of mediocre cheesy pop per episode, so I won't go on about it this time...but the guitar rock we got near the end, that was truly awful. And it was surprising because just before that, the nighttime scene where Goong-bok and Jung-hwa were hugging, some excellent music there, very fitting and appropriate.
One big oops--you could see the dead guy breathing!
Speaking of breathing, it was nice that in the first scene you could see the characters' breath. I've always like that--not a big deal but it adds some realism that a series films scenes on chilly nights.
Okay so here's the question for this episode. Goong-bok tells Hung-hwa she'd be risking her life to live with someone of slave status. So is it selfish of him to ask her to do it anyway? If he really loves her, shouldn't he let her go if the alternative is a constant possibility of death? I don't know what the right answer is; just asking because it seems like it needs to be asked.
p.s. I did look into it a bit and as best as I could tell, the inspector-general-becoming-regent angle is fictional. There was a regent in Shilla between 800 and 809, who acted for a boy-king (Aejang), but when the boy-king got to be 21 or so, the regent killed him and took the throne for himself (Heondeok), and kept it until his death in 826. The real Jang Bogo was born in 787, and I suppose he and Yon are in their 20s by now in the series...but anyway, there's nothing around that time in history that suggests a new regent being needed or designated.