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Post by ajk on Apr 8, 2017 21:31:30 GMT -5
My apologies, I've gotten behind with everything today...I'll have the thread officially started before I go to sleep tonight. Watching the episode now (finishing it during the Svengoolie commercials!).
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Post by ajk on Apr 9, 2017 2:57:40 GMT -5
Well crap, we got a lame pop ballad for the first time in this one. Right at the end, but still...blecch, a real disappointment. Made it nearly seven episodes without one. Let's hope it doesn't become a habit.
Anyway, not a lot of big plusses or big minuses in this episode. Nothing really bad in it, but not as good as other episodes have been. This was another one that moved real slowly; it opened with the last few minutes of the tournament's second round and we didn't even make it through the rest of the day. But it wasn't nearly the problem it was with the leg injury being dragged out in the previous two episodes. So hopefully we're past that.
"Today you die! You never leave here!" Finally some semi-respectable trash-talking. Not exactly Michael Jordan level but they were beating on each other with mallets so under the circumstances we'll take it.
Speaking of mallets...those mallets that were hitting against each other in this one, that was metal on metal. What the heck?
The tournament action in this one wasn't quite as good as before. The one blue team guy falling upwards off his horse and skidding backwards...umm, no. And KJ wasting time again circling around the last blue team guy instead of just going and putting the ball in the net? His leg injury yesterday happened because he made the same mistake. And he nearly got hurt again doing the same thing today. Made him look like a moron. Dude, even monkeys learn.
But you do have to give him credit for tossing away the mallet and fighting the opponent even-up. You can argue it was foolish of him to give up his advantage but certainly you have to respect his sense of honor.
Maybe it's just me but I don't like seeing the horses taking mallet shots or getting pulled down. This full-contact polo is entirely fictionalized anyway--they could have put in a no-horse-abuse rule and it would have been perfectly fine.
"Who do you think you are, beating the girls all the time? Once more and that's it." Sheesh, THANK you! We still don't have a name for Mrs. Choe's attendant, but for her to come in and chew out the battleaxe, give her this episode's MVP award. She's not exactly Mary Poppins herself but did we ever need that.
"You are to exercise command as you see fit." All that from a blank scroll? Choe U interpreted it that way, and maybe he's right...but that's gonna be a tough sell to his brother and everybody else.
Oh dear, is Yangbaek interested in Wola? Please don't let this turn into a big giant catfight with Chunsim. And now it seems like she's getting noticed by half the men in the whole place. Okay yeah she's pretty (when she's not blubbering) but I hope the writers don't squander her character. It was so touching that she finally had a bit of good fortune after her entire life was shattered...you want to root for her to be happy but turning her into a noble with lots of men chasing after her won't exactly make us like her more.
"I always thought slaves were no more than beasts. You showed me otherwise." That was a wonderful little speech from Songi, and you started to respect her for showing open-mindedness and some basic human decency...but then not half a minute later she calls him "my possession." Oh well, people don't change overnight do they.
Hopefully the tournament finishes in the next episode and we can move forward. Not complaining, though; the series continues to be worth watching and I sure am enjoying not having my (admittedly limited) intelligence insulted by characters doing ridiculous things or storylines taking implausible turns like in some historicals.
p.s. Doesn't it seem like a total waste that anybody who makes it to the final round should die? They're all excellent fighters at that point and the country could certainly use them in the military.
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Post by truth on Apr 9, 2017 10:05:21 GMT -5
p.s. Doesn't it seem like a total waste that anybody who makes it to the final round should die? They're all excellent fighters at that point and the country could certainly use them in the military. Yes, which is why this whole tournament makes no sense. Historically, the tournament was nowhere as violent as it is shown in the drama. People did get injured like any sports, but nobody died during the game since it was not a gladiator game as it is depicted in the drama. High performing guys in the actual game did get recruited in the military as you pointed out.
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Post by sageuk on Apr 9, 2017 23:18:04 GMT -5
Honestly, when I saw this for the first time, the first thing that came to mind was hockey players more concerened about beating each other up with their sticks rather than on the puck.
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Post by MTR on Apr 10, 2017 0:57:29 GMT -5
It would have been rough having a regular polo match dragged out so long, so i guess they had to make it into a blood sport. Second time MBC have done this with the feudal polo match. The older Gwangaeto fusion drama "Legend Of The First Kings Four Gods" had a polo/hockey match converted into a blood sport, though that was confined to one episode .
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Post by jewel on Apr 10, 2017 12:48:08 GMT -5
1) Well crap, we got a lame pop ballad for the first time in this one. 2) Not exactly Michael Jordan level 3) But you do have to give him credit for tossing away the mallet and fighting the opponent even-up. You can argue it was foolish of him to give up his advantage but certainly you have to respect his sense of honor. 4) Maybe it's just me but I don't like seeing the horses taking mallet shots or getting pulled down. This full-contact polo is entirely fictionalized anyway--they could have put in a no-horse-abuse rule and it would have been perfectly fine. 5) "Who do you think you are, beating the girls all the time? Once more and that's it." Sheesh, THANK you! 6) "You are to exercise command as you see fit." All that from a blank scroll? Choe U interpreted it that way, and maybe he's right...but that's gonna be a tough sell to his brother and everybody else. 7) Oh dear, is Yangbaek interested in Wola? 8) wonderful little speech from Songi, and you started to respect her for showing open-mindedness and some basic human decency...but then not half a minute later she calls him "my possession." Oh well, people don't change overnight do they. 9) p.s. Doesn't it seem like a total waste that anybody who makes it to the final round should die? They're all excellent fighters at that point and the country could certainly use them in the military. 1) lol, as soon as the singing started I said to myself, "Oh no, poor Ajk!" 2) Oh lord, the bane of all Knicks fans!!!!!! 3) Of course, you have to give him credit for that. I admired him tremendously, and he totally became a hero in my eye at that moment. 4) It's not just you. I hate seeing horses get hurt in any filming. Dogs and any other animals really. They can't speak for themselves so it's up to us to care for them. 5) But you have to admit all that blubbering by Wola was really nerve-grating. It's not like she was getting beaten with a stick - it was a bunch of straws in the beginning and switched over to a piece of cloth. Com'on, girl, buck up! I wouldn't give that cow the satisfaction of seeing my tears. 6) lol, you're so funny. And probably correct too. 7) I totally called it! When Kim Joon and Wola were talking right after the tournament and Yang Baek kept looking over I said to myself, "Is he attracted to her or what??" Oh that other girl is gonna wanna kill her! 8) Yeah, and then at the end she tells him he shows too much compassion out there and that he has to kill everyone. The translation was all wrong. She basically tells him: "Kill everyone who gets in the way. Kill everyone." 9) lol - that's right, that thought didn't accord to me. It sorta is stupid to kill off all those great warriors that they need so badly. They should fight the Mongols, not each other. I enjoyed this episode too. It may have something to do with me watching it just once s week, I don't know. And the pictures are so crystal clear. Wola was annoying as ever for me, with all her crying. But Songi bothers me too with her slow. and. pausing. way. of. talking. Kim Joon (or should I still be calling him Musang?) was great and I like him as ever. I laughed when I saw the three monks in the crowd at the second tournament - I guess they had to root for Kim Joon again. And from what I understand that madame talking with Wola, she'll no longer work in the kitchen but she's still a slave. So Kim Joon can still free her if he wins the tournament. Am I right? I just hope all his fighting and killing is not for naught.
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Post by jewel on Apr 10, 2017 13:10:15 GMT -5
Honestly, when I saw this for the first time, the first thing that came to mind was hockey players more concerened about beating each other up with their sticks rather than on the puck. lol - As my baby brother would sometimes say about a Rangers game: "Boy that game was terrible, not one single fight!"
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Post by ajk on Apr 10, 2017 20:40:20 GMT -5
...Second time MBC have done this with the feudal polo match. The older Gwangaeto fusion drama "Legend Of The First Kings Four Gods" had a polo/hockey match converted into a blood sport, though that was confined to one episode . There we go, that's a much better explanation for it than my Rollerball theory. Makes perfect sense that they resurrected the thing from someone having seen that series. Good catch MTR! ...And from what I understand that madame talking with Wola, she'll no longer work in the kitchen but she's still a slave. So Kim Joon can still free her if he wins the tournament. Am I right? I just hope all his fighting and killing is not for naught. Yeah that sounds exactly right--in fact that had to be why they tossed in the backstory about her father being implicated in an assassination plot. Something like that could easily have demoted his entire family to slave status, which is why Mrs. Choe can't do more for Wola now. But she certainly did what she could, and it was an awfully nice turn of events. I'm still having compassion for Wola, but at some point she does need to start to move past the shock stage and calm down more, if only because it will make the character boring if she doesn't. Having someone protecting her should help with that, and so should her seeing the monks again. I haven't noticed anything about Songi's speaking style yet, maybe because I have to focus on the subs and not just listen to her. I'll pay attention and see if I can notice it. Thanks for pointing out the translation issue. Really appreciate knowing we have a good ear to catch those things. The networks always do very good work subbing these shows but I don't think DramaFever uses network subs.
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Post by MTR on Apr 11, 2017 19:23:52 GMT -5
If i remember AKJ, the annual hokey/polo bloodbath also had a turn in Kingdom Of The Winds, given that that drama pretty much had the same story as Legend Of The First King's Four God's (longest title ever for a Fusion Sageuk ?), only with a few tweaks (same Kingdom only earlier King ). Obviously it did not catch on like cliff jumping and gladiator tournaments.
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Post by jewel on May 21, 2017 16:14:17 GMT -5
It would have been rough having a regular polo match dragged out so long, so i guess they had to make it into a blood sport. Good point.
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