Post by ajk on Aug 19, 2017 14:48:43 GMT -5
Much of this episode was terrific, and all of it was produced and acted very well. There was just one big problem. More on that later.
That stuff about "founder Tangun" and the "altar of the founder of this land," it goes back a long, long way in history. It's never come up before in a historical I've watched, which is surprising considering its significance....but anyway here's some info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangun
The reasoning behind the assassination plan seemed flimsy. They need to construct an entire capital from scratch, and even if they had assassinated all of the commissioners successfully, it's hard to figure how that would have given them any significant additional time to get it done. Maybe a couple of weeks tops? Maybe I misunderstood, but it just wasn't really clear how this was to Koryo's advantage. Needed better explanation.
The debate and tension over moving the capital, all of those scenes were excellent. The Choe U character took a big step forward; laid down the law like a real military dictator. For the first time we saw some of his father in him. When he showed up at the council hall, the sudden silence, great moment. And him talking to the emperor alone in the council hall, it was well written the way he spelled it out without being too disrespectful.
Yu Jungtan: "I'm against it. This isn't something the overlord can decide on his own." Ummm, guess again. I wondered why a new councilor would suddenly appear in the previous episode. Now we know. Hope they didn't kill him.
Speaking of which..."Display his head outside the city gates." Surprise! That was pretty harsh...but again it's consistent with what a military dictator might do. The fact that they gave an actual date for it--June 16, 1232--and gave the guy's name and position makes me think that this really happened and was recorded in some historical record somewhere.
"What good is a husband without a country." Agree or disagree, it was a shrewd answer. Well played, Mrs. Dae.
Hey Yi Kongju--one bonk from a wooden stick isn't gonna kill the guy. Choe said "Beat him to death." Sheesh!
Way to pitch in with the work, Songi. Ugh.
Songi about KJ: "My father claims to hate him." Huh? Where did that come from?
"There is no excuse. I wanted glory. I wanted to kill the traitor. Take my head to the overlord and beg for his forgiveness." This is where things went wrong. We've seen other times in these historicals when somebody lets their personal desires lure them away from following orders or doing the right thing and it gets them into trouble. Fine; it happens. But Yangbaek--this Yangbaek character we know after 25 episodes? No way. It just wasn't believable that he'd be so selfish and would disregard a perfectly sensible and important operation just for a little personal vengeance and satisfaction. He wouldn't do that, and he certainly wouldn't disregard KJ's instructions, especially after seeing that KJ had been given written orders to follow. And that business about his subordinate whispering temptations into his ear about getting his own share of the action...He had a subordinate whisper the same poison into his ear a while back and he knows no good comes from it. Totally unsatisfying and implausible plot twist that he did what he did. If that was the plan in the storyline then it needed to be set up with some character development so we could buy the idea that Yangbaek had become someone who would do such a thing.
And nobody chased after Hong Bogwon? They just let him ride away all alone? That was ridiculous!
One last positive: no cheesy pop music anywhere in the episode. Frankly I'd trade a few unpleasant moments of it for the bad plot twist...but whatever, it was real nice not to have any of it.
Not sure where things are going to go from here. KJ isn't Yangbaek's superior so I don't know why Yangbaek was kneeling before him like that at the end of the episode. Didn't feel right at all. Too bad because the rest of the episode was very enjoyable.
That stuff about "founder Tangun" and the "altar of the founder of this land," it goes back a long, long way in history. It's never come up before in a historical I've watched, which is surprising considering its significance....but anyway here's some info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangun
The reasoning behind the assassination plan seemed flimsy. They need to construct an entire capital from scratch, and even if they had assassinated all of the commissioners successfully, it's hard to figure how that would have given them any significant additional time to get it done. Maybe a couple of weeks tops? Maybe I misunderstood, but it just wasn't really clear how this was to Koryo's advantage. Needed better explanation.
The debate and tension over moving the capital, all of those scenes were excellent. The Choe U character took a big step forward; laid down the law like a real military dictator. For the first time we saw some of his father in him. When he showed up at the council hall, the sudden silence, great moment. And him talking to the emperor alone in the council hall, it was well written the way he spelled it out without being too disrespectful.
Yu Jungtan: "I'm against it. This isn't something the overlord can decide on his own." Ummm, guess again. I wondered why a new councilor would suddenly appear in the previous episode. Now we know. Hope they didn't kill him.
Speaking of which..."Display his head outside the city gates." Surprise! That was pretty harsh...but again it's consistent with what a military dictator might do. The fact that they gave an actual date for it--June 16, 1232--and gave the guy's name and position makes me think that this really happened and was recorded in some historical record somewhere.
"What good is a husband without a country." Agree or disagree, it was a shrewd answer. Well played, Mrs. Dae.
Hey Yi Kongju--one bonk from a wooden stick isn't gonna kill the guy. Choe said "Beat him to death." Sheesh!
Way to pitch in with the work, Songi. Ugh.
Songi about KJ: "My father claims to hate him." Huh? Where did that come from?
"There is no excuse. I wanted glory. I wanted to kill the traitor. Take my head to the overlord and beg for his forgiveness." This is where things went wrong. We've seen other times in these historicals when somebody lets their personal desires lure them away from following orders or doing the right thing and it gets them into trouble. Fine; it happens. But Yangbaek--this Yangbaek character we know after 25 episodes? No way. It just wasn't believable that he'd be so selfish and would disregard a perfectly sensible and important operation just for a little personal vengeance and satisfaction. He wouldn't do that, and he certainly wouldn't disregard KJ's instructions, especially after seeing that KJ had been given written orders to follow. And that business about his subordinate whispering temptations into his ear about getting his own share of the action...He had a subordinate whisper the same poison into his ear a while back and he knows no good comes from it. Totally unsatisfying and implausible plot twist that he did what he did. If that was the plan in the storyline then it needed to be set up with some character development so we could buy the idea that Yangbaek had become someone who would do such a thing.
And nobody chased after Hong Bogwon? They just let him ride away all alone? That was ridiculous!
One last positive: no cheesy pop music anywhere in the episode. Frankly I'd trade a few unpleasant moments of it for the bad plot twist...but whatever, it was real nice not to have any of it.
Not sure where things are going to go from here. KJ isn't Yangbaek's superior so I don't know why Yangbaek was kneeling before him like that at the end of the episode. Didn't feel right at all. Too bad because the rest of the episode was very enjoyable.