Post by ajk on Dec 3, 2016 3:18:58 GMT -5
Wow, this one really packed a wallop. No complaints about a flimsy storyline today. This was a brave episode and some of it was much needed. Full credit to the producers and writers. Not only big events but everything was written and presented effectively. What a shame the whole series couldn't be like this one.
Ha-jin, let's face it, she was only in there to throw a bone to the female viewers. A petite woman sword-fighting with goons twice her size, it was inconceivable that she'd only been slightly hurt just the one time. But it finally caught up with her (and she did a pretty lousy job of tailing YM too). The kind of series this has been, you sure didn't think it would play this card so it was a total surprise. Plus, she and Yon were by far the most likeable, sympathetic characters at this point and it's never popular to remove a character like that from a series so abruptly. But it was a brave decision to do it.
Only question I had was, why didn't they write it so YM killed her himself. That would have been much more dramatic than him waiting (and possibly giving her time to get back to the temple) and then sending two goons to do it. Hmmm....
And then at long last, thanks to Master Jo we finally got the last of the Eternal Triangle sorted out. And except for the stupid pop ballad that got in the way, it was very, very well done. Can't believe I'm saying that but it was handled well and without all of the empty staring into space we got over and over again in the first half of the series.
Master Jo's scene with Jung-hwa was great. The way he led up to confronting her about it by using that story about Queen Mung-dok and the birds, it was just right. And then her and JB going separately to the island where they had gone as kids, nice touch. The way it all played out, no doubt it made a lot of viewers very unhappy--but it was a brave decision by the writers. I was disappointed too; I wanted them together. And it was pathetic to watch. She clearly has some sort of deep psychological scar and can't bring herself to give herself happiness with JB. And once again, he just stands there and can't find the cojones to call her on it and sweep her off her feet. Both of which have been really annoying to watch in the past. But not everybody ends up blissfully happy in the real world, and it can be entirely self-inflicted. So if that's how the series wants it, fair enough and big credit for not taking the easy road.
And JB, after basically standing there for years and allowing Chae-ryung to fill the mother role for his adopted daughter, at this point he really did have to marry her no matter how he felt about Jung-hwa.
Glad we got to see the wedding ceremony. Anybody know anything about the fabric-wrapping ritual we saw? That was very interesting.
"Yeom Moon and his men have disappeared." Yeah that wasn't too bright losing track of them, was it blacksmith? Sheesh.
Chief Jang was right--a little dagger like that ain't gonna kill anybody.
"Treason?" Well good for Jung-hwa explaining it all to JB. Really he can accomplish what he wants without doing anything the elites would find objectionable. You can bring in the overlooked people and just treat them better without changing their status. Why doesn't anybody think of that? (Of course then we don't have any controversy in the story, that's why.)
"Do you know who made those ledgers?" Doink! That was awfully funny. But how dumb is Joong-dal to think that Madam Jami won't know who took them? She could very well have him stalked and killed for that. Oh, and what was that comment from him about how he needs to pay money back in a few days? What money, and who does he owe? We never got that story. Oops.
It was nice that Mak-bong mentioned JB's father to him after the wedding. I didn't understand why everybody went so sour on it. Very appropriate to say that his father would be proud of him. Only issue was, why did Mak-bong call him Du-kwan? His name when he was alive was Haksoo.
So we do have competing inns in Chunghae! Wish we'd get more of that in the storyline, it's a good angle.
And with everything else we got a good cliffhanger ending too. This whole thing about YM/YJ infiltrating the elites and gaining favor with the regent, it's gonna be a tough sell. But the series seems to be in much better hands by this episode so maybe it will work.
p.s. I couldn't find anything online in English about a Queen Mung-dok. So it's probably fiction.
Ha-jin, let's face it, she was only in there to throw a bone to the female viewers. A petite woman sword-fighting with goons twice her size, it was inconceivable that she'd only been slightly hurt just the one time. But it finally caught up with her (and she did a pretty lousy job of tailing YM too). The kind of series this has been, you sure didn't think it would play this card so it was a total surprise. Plus, she and Yon were by far the most likeable, sympathetic characters at this point and it's never popular to remove a character like that from a series so abruptly. But it was a brave decision to do it.
Only question I had was, why didn't they write it so YM killed her himself. That would have been much more dramatic than him waiting (and possibly giving her time to get back to the temple) and then sending two goons to do it. Hmmm....
And then at long last, thanks to Master Jo we finally got the last of the Eternal Triangle sorted out. And except for the stupid pop ballad that got in the way, it was very, very well done. Can't believe I'm saying that but it was handled well and without all of the empty staring into space we got over and over again in the first half of the series.
Master Jo's scene with Jung-hwa was great. The way he led up to confronting her about it by using that story about Queen Mung-dok and the birds, it was just right. And then her and JB going separately to the island where they had gone as kids, nice touch. The way it all played out, no doubt it made a lot of viewers very unhappy--but it was a brave decision by the writers. I was disappointed too; I wanted them together. And it was pathetic to watch. She clearly has some sort of deep psychological scar and can't bring herself to give herself happiness with JB. And once again, he just stands there and can't find the cojones to call her on it and sweep her off her feet. Both of which have been really annoying to watch in the past. But not everybody ends up blissfully happy in the real world, and it can be entirely self-inflicted. So if that's how the series wants it, fair enough and big credit for not taking the easy road.
And JB, after basically standing there for years and allowing Chae-ryung to fill the mother role for his adopted daughter, at this point he really did have to marry her no matter how he felt about Jung-hwa.
Glad we got to see the wedding ceremony. Anybody know anything about the fabric-wrapping ritual we saw? That was very interesting.
"Yeom Moon and his men have disappeared." Yeah that wasn't too bright losing track of them, was it blacksmith? Sheesh.
Chief Jang was right--a little dagger like that ain't gonna kill anybody.
"Treason?" Well good for Jung-hwa explaining it all to JB. Really he can accomplish what he wants without doing anything the elites would find objectionable. You can bring in the overlooked people and just treat them better without changing their status. Why doesn't anybody think of that? (Of course then we don't have any controversy in the story, that's why.)
"Do you know who made those ledgers?" Doink! That was awfully funny. But how dumb is Joong-dal to think that Madam Jami won't know who took them? She could very well have him stalked and killed for that. Oh, and what was that comment from him about how he needs to pay money back in a few days? What money, and who does he owe? We never got that story. Oops.
It was nice that Mak-bong mentioned JB's father to him after the wedding. I didn't understand why everybody went so sour on it. Very appropriate to say that his father would be proud of him. Only issue was, why did Mak-bong call him Du-kwan? His name when he was alive was Haksoo.
So we do have competing inns in Chunghae! Wish we'd get more of that in the storyline, it's a good angle.
And with everything else we got a good cliffhanger ending too. This whole thing about YM/YJ infiltrating the elites and gaining favor with the regent, it's gonna be a tough sell. But the series seems to be in much better hands by this episode so maybe it will work.
p.s. I couldn't find anything online in English about a Queen Mung-dok. So it's probably fiction.