Post by TheBo on Dec 5, 2013 16:11:15 GMT -5
THIS IS SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT FORWARD
Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, please. We can't handle this like a moderated show where we have a special spoiler thread, so I'm sorry about that. I haven't read the earlier pages of this thread yet, I will do so soon and hope to find out something wonderful there. Here is what I thought about the show and what I think about what you said in the spoiler-colored text, Wonhwa (good job).
First, there is an announcement posted at the beginning of every episode. DramaFever did not see fit to translate it, but I hope it said something like this: This drama is based on a fictional novel of the same name by Lee Jeong-myeong, which was based on the events surrounding the establishment of the Korean alphabet, now known as Hanguel. Hanguel was created by the court of King Sejong (r.1418-1450). Many of the characters and situations in this drama are fictional, but the members of the royal court and the ministers are based on real people.
If they didn't have such an announcement, they should have done. It's based on a novel, the TV show didn't need to be strictly historical, it needed to be honest. I have no idea how the novel progressed, but if they murdered characters willynilly when it didn't happen in the novel, then boo on them. What good did it do to kill them all off? How does that fix the fact that they were fictional? What, were they going to kill every villager, there's no evidence that any of those people existed. It was awkwardly done and dumb.
Yes, the final fight was wasted, and it wasn't even very well choreographed. The character of Gae Pa Yi (the Mongol assassin) had been established as dangerous, but sympathetic through his association with little Yeon-doo (the girl at the inn). I liked him (not as a person obviously but as a character) and expected an interesting end for him. I, too, expected something to come of the fact that the Root had ordered the child to be murdered, that's what they seemed to be setting up. I was extremely disappointed. And, excuse me, but I really didn't enjoy, every 10 seconds, watching a man slide down the edge of a sharp knife. Geez. What was the point of that. As for Muhyul, I suppose he would have died in such a manner eventually (protecting the king), but it felt wrong for him to die at that point.
Also, I didn't like that they established Sejong as a great humanitarian who established friendships with common people, and then acted completely unconcerned when those people died. "Oh, lah, I did my part." It seemed he would have had enough time to visit Muhyul before the man died, but he didn't even appear to make an effort. Where was our satisfying "good-bye old friend" scene? And was that ghostly family of So-yi and Chaeyoon supposed to make up for something? It just added a layer of pathos. Not a pleasure.
Also, how they handled the big reveal--that the people could already read Hangeul--really fell flat for me. Maybe it was the guy bleeding all over that knife (eugh), but it just didn't work.
I thought Sin Sekyeong (So-ri) was wonderful. Her boyfriend Kang Chaeyoon (Jang Hyeok) was very good as long as he didn't have to be too sad or angry, at which time he became a whiny mess, shallow and difficult to listen to, although I must say his many utterances of "Dam-ah" were always heart-rending. When I watched Han Sangjin in his quest to be the Root's right-hand man, I always found myself idly wondering when he would be reporting his efforts to Yi San. At the end, when he announced their big plan to make Hangeul a laughing-stock of the nation, it just didn't gel for me. Most of the actors were excellent, and it was wonderful seeing some of my old favorites like Ahn Seok-hwan (Minister Lee), Lee Jae-yong (Minister Jo), Song Ok-suk (Ban Chon slave leader) and the cameo of wonderful, wonderful Han In-su as the doomed father-in-law of Lee Do.
Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, please. We can't handle this like a moderated show where we have a special spoiler thread, so I'm sorry about that. I haven't read the earlier pages of this thread yet, I will do so soon and hope to find out something wonderful there. Here is what I thought about the show and what I think about what you said in the spoiler-colored text, Wonhwa (good job).
First, there is an announcement posted at the beginning of every episode. DramaFever did not see fit to translate it, but I hope it said something like this: This drama is based on a fictional novel of the same name by Lee Jeong-myeong, which was based on the events surrounding the establishment of the Korean alphabet, now known as Hanguel. Hanguel was created by the court of King Sejong (r.1418-1450). Many of the characters and situations in this drama are fictional, but the members of the royal court and the ministers are based on real people.
If they didn't have such an announcement, they should have done. It's based on a novel, the TV show didn't need to be strictly historical, it needed to be honest. I have no idea how the novel progressed, but if they murdered characters willynilly when it didn't happen in the novel, then boo on them. What good did it do to kill them all off? How does that fix the fact that they were fictional? What, were they going to kill every villager, there's no evidence that any of those people existed. It was awkwardly done and dumb.
Yes, the final fight was wasted, and it wasn't even very well choreographed. The character of Gae Pa Yi (the Mongol assassin) had been established as dangerous, but sympathetic through his association with little Yeon-doo (the girl at the inn). I liked him (not as a person obviously but as a character) and expected an interesting end for him. I, too, expected something to come of the fact that the Root had ordered the child to be murdered, that's what they seemed to be setting up. I was extremely disappointed. And, excuse me, but I really didn't enjoy, every 10 seconds, watching a man slide down the edge of a sharp knife. Geez. What was the point of that. As for Muhyul, I suppose he would have died in such a manner eventually (protecting the king), but it felt wrong for him to die at that point.
Also, I didn't like that they established Sejong as a great humanitarian who established friendships with common people, and then acted completely unconcerned when those people died. "Oh, lah, I did my part." It seemed he would have had enough time to visit Muhyul before the man died, but he didn't even appear to make an effort. Where was our satisfying "good-bye old friend" scene? And was that ghostly family of So-yi and Chaeyoon supposed to make up for something? It just added a layer of pathos. Not a pleasure.
Also, how they handled the big reveal--that the people could already read Hangeul--really fell flat for me. Maybe it was the guy bleeding all over that knife (eugh), but it just didn't work.
I thought Sin Sekyeong (So-ri) was wonderful. Her boyfriend Kang Chaeyoon (Jang Hyeok) was very good as long as he didn't have to be too sad or angry, at which time he became a whiny mess, shallow and difficult to listen to, although I must say his many utterances of "Dam-ah" were always heart-rending. When I watched Han Sangjin in his quest to be the Root's right-hand man, I always found myself idly wondering when he would be reporting his efforts to Yi San. At the end, when he announced their big plan to make Hangeul a laughing-stock of the nation, it just didn't gel for me. Most of the actors were excellent, and it was wonderful seeing some of my old favorites like Ahn Seok-hwan (Minister Lee), Lee Jae-yong (Minister Jo), Song Ok-suk (Ban Chon slave leader) and the cameo of wonderful, wonderful Han In-su as the doomed father-in-law of Lee Do.