Post by ajk on Dec 25, 2017 4:34:58 GMT -5
This was a good one...and things are finally moving along now with Choe U's passing. Never would have thought when this series started that they would keep him alive and relevant for so long. But I'm glad they did. He's been a very good character and Jung Bo Suk did a great job playing him.
It looks like they've made a good casting decision for Choe Hang. What we saw of Manjun early on was pretty mild stuff acting-wise but now it's much more demanding and I think the actor is up to it. When he was with his father in this one, you could see in his eyes that he wanted to do the right thing, but we can also see his dark side and the ugly temptations for vengeance inside of him. Looking forward to seeing how he does in the next episodes.
More Jung Ho Keun! Loving this, what a great surprise. He showed up as a scholar in the previous episode and that sure seemed like some weird casting...but now he's sucking up to Choe Hang like a Hoover and giving KJ sinister glares. He really does a masterful job playing those kinds of characters. I hope this continues with him in the storyline.
KJ to that idiot Im Yon: "Don't make me discipline you." Oh please discipline him! Still sooo annoying. But give him credit, once he stopped goofing around he showed he has a good understanding of what's happening in the country and that's certainly a valuable point of view that we don't hear or see enough of.
Choe U orders Manjun to have daily tutoring. Yeah because it worked so well before? Ugh, come on Choe, gotta be smarter than that. And later in the episode he even admits it. Recalls the first attempt: "He just sat there, barely learned to read." Surprised at him for thinking it would be any better now.
"One mistake and our whole clan will be wiped out, three generations' worth. Endure this, endure that, endure the Overlord's command. Cursed with a living death." The story about Choe On's daughter and her father's fears, and the pain she's going through in the marriage, that was very good. I mean, not pleasant to watch at all, but it's important to see that kind of thing so we think about these difficult situations that really happened in powerful houses.
"You think you can hide from the Directorate General?" Wow this was the first time we really saw KJ step up and flex some serious muscle. And he was good at it.
I loved the landscape montage showing the passage of a year's time leading up to Choe U's death. It was beautiful and we understood exactly what it meant.
Oh geez they're at it again. Choe U is sitting there dying and his wife is next to him shrieking and the subordinates are freaking out. But Choe sure was calm and strong about it right to the end. "Death comes to us all, as surely as birth. But still we hang on."
Just that one image of the Subeop deep-cutting that woodblock by hand, it really showed how much effort it must have taken to make all of those tens of thousands of woodblocks. Incredible.
Oh and look, Subeop died. I guess that pine-needle diet and not sleeping isn't so healthy after all, is it. Duhhhhh....And yecch I did not like that bit about the radiant light surrounding Subeop's dying body, that was utterly stupid.
The two chunks of narrated text:
It looks like they've made a good casting decision for Choe Hang. What we saw of Manjun early on was pretty mild stuff acting-wise but now it's much more demanding and I think the actor is up to it. When he was with his father in this one, you could see in his eyes that he wanted to do the right thing, but we can also see his dark side and the ugly temptations for vengeance inside of him. Looking forward to seeing how he does in the next episodes.
More Jung Ho Keun! Loving this, what a great surprise. He showed up as a scholar in the previous episode and that sure seemed like some weird casting...but now he's sucking up to Choe Hang like a Hoover and giving KJ sinister glares. He really does a masterful job playing those kinds of characters. I hope this continues with him in the storyline.
KJ to that idiot Im Yon: "Don't make me discipline you." Oh please discipline him! Still sooo annoying. But give him credit, once he stopped goofing around he showed he has a good understanding of what's happening in the country and that's certainly a valuable point of view that we don't hear or see enough of.
Choe U orders Manjun to have daily tutoring. Yeah because it worked so well before? Ugh, come on Choe, gotta be smarter than that. And later in the episode he even admits it. Recalls the first attempt: "He just sat there, barely learned to read." Surprised at him for thinking it would be any better now.
"One mistake and our whole clan will be wiped out, three generations' worth. Endure this, endure that, endure the Overlord's command. Cursed with a living death." The story about Choe On's daughter and her father's fears, and the pain she's going through in the marriage, that was very good. I mean, not pleasant to watch at all, but it's important to see that kind of thing so we think about these difficult situations that really happened in powerful houses.
"You think you can hide from the Directorate General?" Wow this was the first time we really saw KJ step up and flex some serious muscle. And he was good at it.
I loved the landscape montage showing the passage of a year's time leading up to Choe U's death. It was beautiful and we understood exactly what it meant.
Oh geez they're at it again. Choe U is sitting there dying and his wife is next to him shrieking and the subordinates are freaking out. But Choe sure was calm and strong about it right to the end. "Death comes to us all, as surely as birth. But still we hang on."
Just that one image of the Subeop deep-cutting that woodblock by hand, it really showed how much effort it must have taken to make all of those tens of thousands of woodblocks. Incredible.
Oh and look, Subeop died. I guess that pine-needle diet and not sleeping isn't so healthy after all, is it. Duhhhhh....And yecch I did not like that bit about the radiant light surrounding Subeop's dying body, that was utterly stupid.
The two chunks of narrated text:
The Tripitaka. The re-carving began five years after the Tripitaka was burned by the Mongols. The entire nation worked to re-carve the Buddhist canon. The great work was undertaken amidst war, drought and famine. Twelve years later, a year prior to Choe U's death, the work was completed. This, and the inspiration it provided, were Choe U's greatest achievements.
Choe U, also known as Choe Yi, Son of Choe Chungheon and heir to his military regime. A gifted man of letters, he stood his ground against the Mongols. Of course, his military regime came under heavy criticism by historians. But with his death the light of the Choe clan began to fade. Choe Hang ushered in a dark age.The trepidation in everyone's faces as Choe Hang first stepped forward as the new overlord, that was a great ending. Very nicely done. Really looking forward to the next episode.