Post by ajk on Dec 3, 2017 13:34:37 GMT -5
Wow, well I gotta say, never really thought it would happen but darned if they didn't kill Songi off. Even after Wola, this was a complete surprise (maybe only to me but it was). A main character with fifteen episodes left. Yes history says she dropped out of sight at this point, but still, the way they've pushed this KJ/Songi thing, it's a stunner.
Songi to KJ: "Have a drink." Geez, don't mix up the bottles! It wasn't meant to be funny but that cracked me up. Anyway I didn't understand why they wrote it that she pre-poisoned herself before the poisoned wine even arrived. Not criticizing it, just seems odd. Did they not want us to see her drinking the poison? Apparently not. Wonder why not.
"Perhaps I was cruel to you in a previous life. And doomed to love you in this one." The whole sequence was very nicely done. It was sad but not so sad that we lost perspective. I felt so sorry for her, that her infatuation destroyed her life, but not sorry enough to forget about the terrible thing she did. The only weak part of the whole sequence was the lightning bolts and the rainstorm, that was kind of over the top. Especially in the middle of a multi-year drought!
Her dead body is lying there and they start up with the pop ballad? Good grief. Well at least she doesn't have to listen to it.
"Then let's stop talking and start drinking." Score another one for Kim Kyongson--what a great character.
How did KJ get completely dry from the rainwater by the time he sat down in front of Choe? Oops! A rare continuity error--exceedingly rare for this series.
Loved the shots of the funeral procession; wish I understood more of what they showed. Chunsim in white, that was a nice touch.
"For a man with a future, you have your share of troubles." Kyongson again! Please give this guy his own series.
The narrated text:
Song Kilyu: "It's a mystery. He always manages to land on his feet." Have to agree with him. The one thing in this episode I had a hard time with was Choe freeing Anshim and giving her to KJ without apparent consequence to either of them. We just saw an entire episode about Choe sticking to his principles and telling everyone the importance of maintaining law and order, even at the cost of his own daughter's life. But then he turns around and lets KJ and Anshim totally off the hook? It seemed totally inconsistent. At least give KJ a brief flogging over it or some such thing.
But actually the lack of punishment does strongly suggest that there was no affair, doesn't it.
"The truth is, you should have explained all this sooner." YES!!! THANK you Park Songbi! You da man! Sheesh I'm glad somebody finally said it. "Although who would dare to ask his lord for one of his concubines?" That's a fair point...but KJ didn't really need to ask. If he had explained the situation to Choe as soon as Anshim arrived and chosen his words carefully, he wouldn't have had to ask Choe at all. Remember Anshim arrived when Choe was encouraging KJ to find a wife.
"Stupid loudmouth!" Been a while since we had a big fight in a state council meeting. Those are always entertaining.
"I made Seungjok a general for my wife's sake. Don't misunderstand." Very shrewd move for Choe, loved that scene...He knew that Dae would think about pulling something stupid or getting overly ambitious. And then Dae afterwards, "Geez, I nearly wet myself. I was that scared." It worked, didn't it!
"I'm young but I'm the obvious choice to be the next Overlord." Who would have expected that from the angry young kid? That was a big surprise.
"Oh, the letter Park Songbi gave me." That was a silly little unnecessary piece of writing. We recognized the yellow paper; we didn't need KJ talking to himself to remind us what it is. Surprisingly amateurish.
Overall a good episode, not quite as good as previous ones but still solid. Plus, we're finally getting the succession issue going, no more Songi, and the Anshim situation is gone, so hopefully they concentrate on the important historical stuff in the remaining episodes.
Songi to KJ: "Have a drink." Geez, don't mix up the bottles! It wasn't meant to be funny but that cracked me up. Anyway I didn't understand why they wrote it that she pre-poisoned herself before the poisoned wine even arrived. Not criticizing it, just seems odd. Did they not want us to see her drinking the poison? Apparently not. Wonder why not.
"Perhaps I was cruel to you in a previous life. And doomed to love you in this one." The whole sequence was very nicely done. It was sad but not so sad that we lost perspective. I felt so sorry for her, that her infatuation destroyed her life, but not sorry enough to forget about the terrible thing she did. The only weak part of the whole sequence was the lightning bolts and the rainstorm, that was kind of over the top. Especially in the middle of a multi-year drought!
Her dead body is lying there and they start up with the pop ballad? Good grief. Well at least she doesn't have to listen to it.
"Then let's stop talking and start drinking." Score another one for Kim Kyongson--what a great character.
How did KJ get completely dry from the rainwater by the time he sat down in front of Choe? Oops! A rare continuity error--exceedingly rare for this series.
Loved the shots of the funeral procession; wish I understood more of what they showed. Chunsim in white, that was a nice touch.
"For a man with a future, you have your share of troubles." Kyongson again! Please give this guy his own series.
The narrated text:
Choe Ja. In Choe U's examinations of men of letters, Choe Ja placed ten separate times. Five in first place, five in second. He passed the civil service exam but lacking title it took him ten years to enter the court. A man second only to Yi Kyubo among Koryo scholars."It's no small thing, desiring a woman who belongs to one's lord." Desiring? Here we are back again with this confusion over the extent of KJ's relationship with Anshim. Choe said "desiring" which suggests nothing physical happened...but it's hard to tell if this is because nothing physical happened or because these shows tend to be so reluctant to show physical contact between male and female characters....
Song Kilyu: "It's a mystery. He always manages to land on his feet." Have to agree with him. The one thing in this episode I had a hard time with was Choe freeing Anshim and giving her to KJ without apparent consequence to either of them. We just saw an entire episode about Choe sticking to his principles and telling everyone the importance of maintaining law and order, even at the cost of his own daughter's life. But then he turns around and lets KJ and Anshim totally off the hook? It seemed totally inconsistent. At least give KJ a brief flogging over it or some such thing.
But actually the lack of punishment does strongly suggest that there was no affair, doesn't it.
"The truth is, you should have explained all this sooner." YES!!! THANK you Park Songbi! You da man! Sheesh I'm glad somebody finally said it. "Although who would dare to ask his lord for one of his concubines?" That's a fair point...but KJ didn't really need to ask. If he had explained the situation to Choe as soon as Anshim arrived and chosen his words carefully, he wouldn't have had to ask Choe at all. Remember Anshim arrived when Choe was encouraging KJ to find a wife.
"Stupid loudmouth!" Been a while since we had a big fight in a state council meeting. Those are always entertaining.
"I made Seungjok a general for my wife's sake. Don't misunderstand." Very shrewd move for Choe, loved that scene...He knew that Dae would think about pulling something stupid or getting overly ambitious. And then Dae afterwards, "Geez, I nearly wet myself. I was that scared." It worked, didn't it!
"I'm young but I'm the obvious choice to be the next Overlord." Who would have expected that from the angry young kid? That was a big surprise.
"Oh, the letter Park Songbi gave me." That was a silly little unnecessary piece of writing. We recognized the yellow paper; we didn't need KJ talking to himself to remind us what it is. Surprisingly amateurish.
Overall a good episode, not quite as good as previous ones but still solid. Plus, we're finally getting the succession issue going, no more Songi, and the Anshim situation is gone, so hopefully they concentrate on the important historical stuff in the remaining episodes.