Post by ajk on May 7, 2017 0:48:41 GMT -5
So she wants to marry the guy. There it is, plain as day in this episode. Was this obvious to the rest of you guys and am I just an idiot? Has there been something cultural or translation-wise that hasn't been coming through clearly to non-Koreans? It was never apparent to me that Wola ever had anything in her mind more developed than a childlike need to cling to KJ. And to repeat, the guy was a monk until what, a few weeks ago? Monks don't marry--what was her plan before all this? Ugh!
And then KJ, he's not helping things by standing there stone-faced and silent whenever anybody asks him if he's marrying Wola. What's the deal with that?
Yeah he says nothing...until he gets dragged in front of Mrs. Choe and put on the spot. Talk about a shotgun wedding...The poor guy, he obviously doesn't want to marry her (When he says he'll "serve her as I would a sister," I mean, were the women in that room really so clueless they didn't pick up on that? It's not exactly unbreakable code, is it). Wola didn't set him up for this--Mrs. Choe ran with it and just sort of assumed everything--but she sure didn't object to it, did she.
And bottom line, why is this sucking so much of the focus from of a monumental shift in the nation's history that's starting to happen? Okay the producers want to toss a dramatic story in there to try to get the non-history buffs watching...but geez, time and place. Enough.
Oh and the other headache in this one comes when Hyesim the monk says something about it being "20 miles" from Choe C's house to Heungwang Temple. Was he speaking metaphorically, or was there a mistranslation or some such thing? 20 miles is much, much farther than the series has led us to believe. There's no way that the Choe U's two sons are going to travel that kind of distance to go to school every day. And even at a respectable clip that's a six-hour walk each way to and from the city, yet we saw those monks in the city every day of the tournament. Forgive me for harping on this but it does matter a lot.
Speaking of Hyesim, here's the narration text about him:
www.gwarlingo.com/2013/the-sunday-poem-hyesim-translated-by-ian-haight-tae-yong-ho/
He's an interesting character in this series already, the way he looked Choe C right in the eye and brought up all of the murders Choe ordered. And then Choe C needling him about coming back as a Taoist in the next life...very interesting chemistry between those two. Hard to reconcile that kind of more subtle, sophisticated material that this series is capable of giving us with the Wolapalooza we're getting right now.
And the other narration text:
Chunsim: "Choe Hyang called for Kim Jun himself. How dare that slave show his face to the lord?" Huh? How dare KJ follow orders? Somebody needs a good smack.
I always enjoy slice-of-life scenes like that tightrope acrobat scene. They make great additions to episodes; really put you into the middle of the time and place. That acrobat was darned good, too, give him credit.
One other thing I really liked was when Kim Yakson arrived at Choe U's compound, he was walking by KJ but then thought for a moment, stopped and gave him a nod back. Nice gesture, showing a little respect to KJ. Good guy, obviously.
This series got off to such a strong start, it's almost shocking to see how quickly the wheels are coming off it. Smart money is on Choe C dying in the next episode so maybe the chaos that will break lose after he dies will pull the storyline out of its tailspin. Sure hope so.
And then KJ, he's not helping things by standing there stone-faced and silent whenever anybody asks him if he's marrying Wola. What's the deal with that?
Yeah he says nothing...until he gets dragged in front of Mrs. Choe and put on the spot. Talk about a shotgun wedding...The poor guy, he obviously doesn't want to marry her (When he says he'll "serve her as I would a sister," I mean, were the women in that room really so clueless they didn't pick up on that? It's not exactly unbreakable code, is it). Wola didn't set him up for this--Mrs. Choe ran with it and just sort of assumed everything--but she sure didn't object to it, did she.
And bottom line, why is this sucking so much of the focus from of a monumental shift in the nation's history that's starting to happen? Okay the producers want to toss a dramatic story in there to try to get the non-history buffs watching...but geez, time and place. Enough.
Oh and the other headache in this one comes when Hyesim the monk says something about it being "20 miles" from Choe C's house to Heungwang Temple. Was he speaking metaphorically, or was there a mistranslation or some such thing? 20 miles is much, much farther than the series has led us to believe. There's no way that the Choe U's two sons are going to travel that kind of distance to go to school every day. And even at a respectable clip that's a six-hour walk each way to and from the city, yet we saw those monks in the city every day of the tournament. Forgive me for harping on this but it does matter a lot.
Speaking of Hyesim, here's the narration text about him:
Hyesim, born Choe Youngul. Chinul's successor and the second most influential leader of the meditative Jogye Sect of Korean Zen. A tutor to Choe U, he commanded the life-long respect of the Overlord. From the emperor to the ministers, people would travel to far-off Jeolla province just to consult with this respected master.He doesn't have his own Wikipedia entry in English, but there's a lot about him online. Clearly he lived up to the praise that the character in this series gets. Here's one good web page about him:
www.gwarlingo.com/2013/the-sunday-poem-hyesim-translated-by-ian-haight-tae-yong-ho/
He's an interesting character in this series already, the way he looked Choe C right in the eye and brought up all of the murders Choe ordered. And then Choe C needling him about coming back as a Taoist in the next life...very interesting chemistry between those two. Hard to reconcile that kind of more subtle, sophisticated material that this series is capable of giving us with the Wolapalooza we're getting right now.
And the other narration text:
The first meeting with the Mongol envoys. And so the relations between the Mongols and Koryo were established. Koryo was forced to be a tributary state. In fact, Koryo traded a small irritation with the Khitan for a much larger problem with the Mongols. It was the sixth year of Kojong's reign, first month, 24th day. When they left, the Mongols left a detachment of forty men. These men were to learn the language in anticipation of Mongol rule of Koryo. By this time the Mongols had subdued the Jin. Koryo stood alone.Did Koryo ask the Mongols for help? The text kind of implies they did by suggesting they "traded" one problem for another.
Chunsim: "Choe Hyang called for Kim Jun himself. How dare that slave show his face to the lord?" Huh? How dare KJ follow orders? Somebody needs a good smack.
I always enjoy slice-of-life scenes like that tightrope acrobat scene. They make great additions to episodes; really put you into the middle of the time and place. That acrobat was darned good, too, give him credit.
One other thing I really liked was when Kim Yakson arrived at Choe U's compound, he was walking by KJ but then thought for a moment, stopped and gave him a nod back. Nice gesture, showing a little respect to KJ. Good guy, obviously.
This series got off to such a strong start, it's almost shocking to see how quickly the wheels are coming off it. Smart money is on Choe C dying in the next episode so maybe the chaos that will break lose after he dies will pull the storyline out of its tailspin. Sure hope so.