missed a show; a little lost! help?

[Colette]

Hello; nice to find this board! I was a great fan of On The Green Prairie and was sad and shocked it had to end. I didn't know the dramas were closed-ended. And, unfortunately I missed the last epidsodeof OTGP as I was out of town and didn't realize it was wrapping up. Thankfully, I got to read about it here. (Is there any chance this will rerun sometimes in the future?)

Anyway, on to Jang-geum. I missed a show last week, and I hope someone can fill me in ... here are my questions:

After Jang-geum lost the competition b/c she lost the flour (even though she invented cabbage rolls) and was kicked out of the palace, HOW DID SHE GET BACK IN?

Why was she searching the middle kitchen? (Did she know someone was going to hide something?)

Has she returned to the archives to read at all?

And, last, forgive my ignorance of Korean history, but is Jang-geum an historical figure?

Thanks so much for any details that will help me get caught up!

Cheers,
Colette

[eyego]

#1 - The Queen mother stopped by and checked out the competition. When she got to Jang-Geum's dumplings she tasted them and said they were great. She asked how Jang-Geum had placed and the Highest Court Lady said she flunked because she lost the flour. The Queen was surprised. Lady Noh told the Queen that the flour mishap was her fault and asked her not to blame Jang-Geum. The Queen said that Jang-Geum should not be kicked out.
#2 - Jang-Geum was searching the kitchen for her mother's receipe notebook.
#3- She didn't return to the archives, but the Ji Jin Hee character sent her some books to read.
#4- Jang-geum is a real person, but I don't think her story is well documented so the writers had to fill in the blanks with fiction.

[Walter]

You can download subtitle files for the first two shows at www.kbc28.tv/tgj/
(along with a program which will play those files). In the first two shows Jang Guem's mother, who was a kitchen court lady, was framed, poisoned, and left to die. She survived, with the help of Jang Guem's father. He had been an officer in the royal guard, and "retired" early, leaving the palace because he knew the new king would eventually learn of something that happened years earlier and kill him. (the previous king had ordered some of the guards to kill the ex-queen, mother of the new king). So, Jang Guem's mother and father connected, and went into hiding together, knowing that the palace politics would eventually lead to people trying to destroy them. (which did happen...)

Before Jang Guem's mother died (shot with an arrow by an assassin after her father had been arrested) she told Jang Guem to become the higest court lady of the kitchen, and told her that she had hidden her recipie book in that kitchen room.

Lots more happened, but that is the general idea.

[Catalpa]

Thank you both so much! I am using a mac and unable to use the software for the first two shows' scripts. I appreciate explanations to the immediate questions I had, and to be filled in on the first two shows as well!

However, that has triggered just one more question for me: do the court ladies (Lady Han, Lady Choi) or the Queen know who Jang-geum's mother was?

Thanks again,
Colette

[Soju]

I think Lady Han knows, but I have read other people here who think she doesn't know. Many of the characters hint at or imply things without actually saying them outright, which is probably a prudent thing to do in the intrigue-filled enviroment of the palace.

[TheBo]

Catalpa said:

However, that has triggered just one more question for me: do the court ladies (Lady Han, Lady Choi) or the Queen know who Jang-geum's mother was?

The last show we watched gave confirmation that Lady Han was a friend of Jang-geum's mother. It appears that Lady Choi was the one who betrayed JG's mother, too. I sort of suspected it, because if it wasn't all tied together, it wouldn't be a very good drama, would it.

But you know all this because you are watching now, aren't you. I had the same experience as you did for OTGP, except I was watching Tender Hearts. I was taping it, and was going to give that day's show a miss (because I usually don't watch every single episode and also because I was having trouble determining when they were on without a listing), but luckily did tape it and almost had a heart attack when I saw it was the final episode! We didn't have this lovely board then, so I didn't have a clue.

Welcome.

Bo