Post by ajk on Jan 22, 2017 14:03:44 GMT -5
Note: This thread is for Episode 51 only. I'll start another thread shortly for comments about the series as a whole.
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When I was considering watching this series I read the reviews of it on DF, and a lot of them complained about the ending. The previous two episodes were so strong, the complaints didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Same with the first half of this one--for the most part it was well done. But the second half, yeah for that the complaints were entirely justified. Even setting aside the fact that it never happened in real history, what was the point of a half-hour bloodbath? I'm not looking for a happy ending, but once JB was dead, there was no point in killing so many other people, and certainly no need for the long, brutal battle scenes. Yon and the blacksmith with the dragged-out, slow-motion death scenes, and Chae-ryung dying with her baby in her arms, and all of the civilians getting slaughtered--good grief, all of that was totally unnecessary. Just can't figure what the writers were trying to achieve with it.
JB's death, except for the too-long flashbacks (which we all knew were coming, so no surprise), I thought it was well done. It conveyed YM's conflicted feelings, and it wasn't dragged out for the sake of drama. The quiet and simplicity of it worked well.
"If I can't stop this war, I must kill you." Surprising that YM flat-out said it, but you can entirely understand his frustration. JB was being a fool. Admire his idealism but he had nothing to gain by standing firm. Nothing. And frankly, the whole issue that led to JB's death wasn't very substantial or satisfying. If JB continued to try to send hand-picked men to the capital to serve the king, the government and nobles would have sent them right back home. For that he risked the destruction of all of Chunghae?
"I forgave Yeom Moon and took him in because I have faith in myself." Oops.
Blacksmith to Yon: "You should trust Consul Jang now. Don't worry." Oops.
Umm, the dagger in YM's hand had no blood on it. And who cleaned up all the blood on JB's body and put him on that mattress thing? Nobody was around to do it. Gotta love TV!
"Don't worry. Consul Jang will watch over us." Oops.
"You've had enough! You must pay a price for this wine." Oh that was great. References to way back in Episodes 3 and 4. Said this before but I love it when a show rewards the viewer for sticking with it. And the blacksmith telling Yon he'll make him a sword, what a great moment after all this time. Very nice.
The knowing nods exchanged by Yon and Chae-ryung, that was another nice touch.
Yon killed the messenger. That's not cool. You don't kill the messenger, ever. No, no, no.
Aw, YM didn't kill Joong-dal. What a darned shame. That's not cool. No, no, no.
Geez we saw more archers and arrows in this one than in the previous 50 episodes put together. What, were they stockpiling them?
Wait--how did Jung-hwa get JB's ashes? Did Mak-bong grab them when they were making their escape onto the ship? Needed some explanation there; it was a needless distraction from the final scene.
They should have dropped enough of the battle-scene footage to give us answers to two questions. One, what happened to Master Jo in the end? he was going to try to run the blockade for supplies, and that's the last we ever heard of him. Would have been nice to see him on the ship at the end heading to Yangzhou...but whatever, just give us an ending for him. And two, what happened to JB's daughter? In that entire final sequence with Chae-ryung fleeing, there was never any sign of her. What a terrible omission! Did they not want to disrupt the ending with something as sad as a young girl losing her mother? They wouldn't do that but it's okay to kill everybody else? That was inexcusable.
So in the end, the baby will be raised by the character with all of the psychological problems. Good luck, kid, you're gonna need it.
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When I was considering watching this series I read the reviews of it on DF, and a lot of them complained about the ending. The previous two episodes were so strong, the complaints didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Same with the first half of this one--for the most part it was well done. But the second half, yeah for that the complaints were entirely justified. Even setting aside the fact that it never happened in real history, what was the point of a half-hour bloodbath? I'm not looking for a happy ending, but once JB was dead, there was no point in killing so many other people, and certainly no need for the long, brutal battle scenes. Yon and the blacksmith with the dragged-out, slow-motion death scenes, and Chae-ryung dying with her baby in her arms, and all of the civilians getting slaughtered--good grief, all of that was totally unnecessary. Just can't figure what the writers were trying to achieve with it.
JB's death, except for the too-long flashbacks (which we all knew were coming, so no surprise), I thought it was well done. It conveyed YM's conflicted feelings, and it wasn't dragged out for the sake of drama. The quiet and simplicity of it worked well.
"If I can't stop this war, I must kill you." Surprising that YM flat-out said it, but you can entirely understand his frustration. JB was being a fool. Admire his idealism but he had nothing to gain by standing firm. Nothing. And frankly, the whole issue that led to JB's death wasn't very substantial or satisfying. If JB continued to try to send hand-picked men to the capital to serve the king, the government and nobles would have sent them right back home. For that he risked the destruction of all of Chunghae?
"I forgave Yeom Moon and took him in because I have faith in myself." Oops.
Blacksmith to Yon: "You should trust Consul Jang now. Don't worry." Oops.
Umm, the dagger in YM's hand had no blood on it. And who cleaned up all the blood on JB's body and put him on that mattress thing? Nobody was around to do it. Gotta love TV!
"Don't worry. Consul Jang will watch over us." Oops.
"You've had enough! You must pay a price for this wine." Oh that was great. References to way back in Episodes 3 and 4. Said this before but I love it when a show rewards the viewer for sticking with it. And the blacksmith telling Yon he'll make him a sword, what a great moment after all this time. Very nice.
The knowing nods exchanged by Yon and Chae-ryung, that was another nice touch.
Yon killed the messenger. That's not cool. You don't kill the messenger, ever. No, no, no.
Aw, YM didn't kill Joong-dal. What a darned shame. That's not cool. No, no, no.
Geez we saw more archers and arrows in this one than in the previous 50 episodes put together. What, were they stockpiling them?
Wait--how did Jung-hwa get JB's ashes? Did Mak-bong grab them when they were making their escape onto the ship? Needed some explanation there; it was a needless distraction from the final scene.
They should have dropped enough of the battle-scene footage to give us answers to two questions. One, what happened to Master Jo in the end? he was going to try to run the blockade for supplies, and that's the last we ever heard of him. Would have been nice to see him on the ship at the end heading to Yangzhou...but whatever, just give us an ending for him. And two, what happened to JB's daughter? In that entire final sequence with Chae-ryung fleeing, there was never any sign of her. What a terrible omission! Did they not want to disrupt the ending with something as sad as a young girl losing her mother? They wouldn't do that but it's okay to kill everybody else? That was inexcusable.
So in the end, the baby will be raised by the character with all of the psychological problems. Good luck, kid, you're gonna need it.