Post by ajk on Dec 8, 2018 14:45:39 GMT -5
Most of this episode was terrific. Really enjoyed it. There were a few scenes that were exaggerated or overdone for the sake of TV and those took a little away from it, but not enough to hurt the rest of the episode. The three sides all jockeying for position has been a very good storyline; sophisticated and you really don’t know what will happen next. Although it looks like the ending reduced the three sides to two, but we’ll see about that. And the way King Gye analyzed everything and made such a dramatic decision, that was good writing. Certainly not predictable the way it all unfolded.
Again with Sayu out in the middle of nowhere, other than nowhere being a war zone. Yes it’s TV but please stop this, the king of Goguryeo would never do this...And then he and Yeogu end up fighting and come crashing out of the tent like a couple of drunk hooligans out of a bar. Ugh.
Yeogu proposes something that makes Sayu so angry he takes out his sword and cuts the furniture in half. So I guess Yeogu’s idea got tabled! Ba-dum bum.
“The king loves you. You should settle in Goguryeo. A woman’s home is with her husband. You’re a cause of trouble.” Rowr! What’s next, will Hongran pee on Yeogu to mark her territory? Let’s not go down the catfight route, please let’s not.
“This is why you didn’t learn properly.” I’d rather see weasely Achikai get killed somehow (his role as Wi Birang’s strategist is over and it would have been nice to see him get punished for his weasel behavior), but if he’s going to stick around then at least the running gag is some consolation. And Ko Heung does talk sense, give him that.
The thing I liked least in the episode was Sa Chungseon getting shot and killed by Yeogu while being held as a hostage instead of Yeogu shooting either of the Jins. After all that preaching about filial piety? Well Sa is somebody’s father too, isn’t he? And an important clan leader. Wasn’t necessary at all; it didn’t help the scene in any way and it added nothing to the storyline (unless they mine it for material later on, which they could possibly do). Boo hiss.
“Biryu said your mind gets really clear before you die. That’s how I feel now. Don’t make my death a waste.” Great stuff. Both of the actors did a nice job there.
The narrated text (and wow it’s been a while since we had any):
Lots of frosty breath out there in the cold. Well done. This is a tough cast.
Finally, two unknown Korean terms in this one, one solved and one unsolved. Couldn’t figure out what “Hanttang” is. It’s something geographical I think. Does it refer to the entre peninsula? English language Google turned up nothing. But the other one, “Cheonaseong”, that refers to a signal note played on a brass horn; It’s what we heard after the king died. Googling that word led me to a 250-page book called Ritual Music of the Korean Court that you can download for free from the Korean government research agency that prepared it. The agency has a great website, in English, and a bunch of lengthy publications all about traditional Korean music:
www.gugak.go.kr/site/main/index002
If you want this particular book, unfortunately it’s not linked from their website yet but just Google the book’s title and the first result is a PDF link to the book.
Okay so we’ve reached the halfway point. And suddenly Yeogu has the royal seal, so it looks like he’s the man now. Wish it had happened sooner but we’ve had longer waits in other series so it could have been worse. Going forward I hope he gets a little less stiff. For a while I was enjoying the sort of calm-but-determined approach he took to everything, but after 30 episodes the guy hasn’t shown a whole lot of personality or charisma and you expect some of that from a main character. Sayu is much more interesting than Yeogu is so far.
p.s. And hey the queen still lives! For now....
Again with Sayu out in the middle of nowhere, other than nowhere being a war zone. Yes it’s TV but please stop this, the king of Goguryeo would never do this...And then he and Yeogu end up fighting and come crashing out of the tent like a couple of drunk hooligans out of a bar. Ugh.
Yeogu proposes something that makes Sayu so angry he takes out his sword and cuts the furniture in half. So I guess Yeogu’s idea got tabled! Ba-dum bum.
“The king loves you. You should settle in Goguryeo. A woman’s home is with her husband. You’re a cause of trouble.” Rowr! What’s next, will Hongran pee on Yeogu to mark her territory? Let’s not go down the catfight route, please let’s not.
“This is why you didn’t learn properly.” I’d rather see weasely Achikai get killed somehow (his role as Wi Birang’s strategist is over and it would have been nice to see him get punished for his weasel behavior), but if he’s going to stick around then at least the running gag is some consolation. And Ko Heung does talk sense, give him that.
The thing I liked least in the episode was Sa Chungseon getting shot and killed by Yeogu while being held as a hostage instead of Yeogu shooting either of the Jins. After all that preaching about filial piety? Well Sa is somebody’s father too, isn’t he? And an important clan leader. Wasn’t necessary at all; it didn’t help the scene in any way and it added nothing to the storyline (unless they mine it for material later on, which they could possibly do). Boo hiss.
“Biryu said your mind gets really clear before you die. That’s how I feel now. Don’t make my death a waste.” Great stuff. Both of the actors did a nice job there.
The narrated text (and wow it’s been a while since we had any):
In 346 Bu Yeojun ends his life of glory and shame. His posthumous epithet is King Gye. He regained the throne after 40 years and became the 12th Eoraha of Baekje. Unfortunately his reign lasted less than three years. A firm basis wasn’t established for King Goi’s line. The royal line of Baekje falls into confusion again.“Yeogu didn’t murder Eoraha. It was mother and Yeochan.” Yeomin opened the box! Loved it. And that order, surviving all this time, well you do wonder why the queen didn’t burn the thing a long time ago, but it’s always fun to see something like that resurface and stir the pot.
Lots of frosty breath out there in the cold. Well done. This is a tough cast.
Finally, two unknown Korean terms in this one, one solved and one unsolved. Couldn’t figure out what “Hanttang” is. It’s something geographical I think. Does it refer to the entre peninsula? English language Google turned up nothing. But the other one, “Cheonaseong”, that refers to a signal note played on a brass horn; It’s what we heard after the king died. Googling that word led me to a 250-page book called Ritual Music of the Korean Court that you can download for free from the Korean government research agency that prepared it. The agency has a great website, in English, and a bunch of lengthy publications all about traditional Korean music:
www.gugak.go.kr/site/main/index002
If you want this particular book, unfortunately it’s not linked from their website yet but just Google the book’s title and the first result is a PDF link to the book.
Okay so we’ve reached the halfway point. And suddenly Yeogu has the royal seal, so it looks like he’s the man now. Wish it had happened sooner but we’ve had longer waits in other series so it could have been worse. Going forward I hope he gets a little less stiff. For a while I was enjoying the sort of calm-but-determined approach he took to everything, but after 30 episodes the guy hasn’t shown a whole lot of personality or charisma and you expect some of that from a main character. Sayu is much more interesting than Yeogu is so far.
p.s. And hey the queen still lives! For now....