Post by ajk on Oct 16, 2017 20:05:31 GMT -5
Sorry this is late; I had a lot of work to do over the weekend and didn't even get to watch the episode until late last night.
A couple of real good scenes in this episode, but I was concerned about some of the rest of it. Parts of it really dragged on, to the point of being almost lifeless. And there were even a couple of minor continuity errors, which for this series is shocking.
The weakest part was the fortune teller storyline. Yawwnnn....what an uninteresting character. Presumably he has other motives, some sort of agenda, but ugh his scenes were bores. Not sure I like the casting either; that actor looks too conventional to be playing a shaman. He'd be great in the state council, but telling fortunes? Well this is still developing so we'll see how it goes.
Yakson has gotten boring too. We admired him early on for being honest with himself and for not being greedy and power-hungry. And now he has the chance to extract himself from his unhappy situation, but he won't go. And he's acting like a smug jerk about it. He says he's staying for his daughter's sake but that isn't making him any more of a sympathetic character. Plus, the guy is sensible enough to know that it's silly to actually want to kill KJ, so why is he talking about it? Blecch.
"I condemned her at first, but then I realized my own mistake." The opening scene was excellent. Really held your attention, hearing Choe talk about everything that everyone is thinking but won't say out loud. We've waited a long time and wondered if he would ever face up to it. Well written too. :"A man must be equal to his times. In times of peace, Yakson would be fine. But he's not equal to our troubled times." Both actors did a nice job with it too.
Hmmm...KJ showed Yangbaek that report about Yi Kongju's military success...but I thought Yangbaek couldn't read! Did somebody teach him? Continuity please. Actually if somebody did teach him to read, that would have been a nice little nugget to drop into the storyline. Missed opportunity.
Hmmm again....The Mongols got surprised because Fort Jukju had catapults? I don't think so, because they already got surprised by that at Fort Kwiju earlier in the series. They would certainly know by now to be wary of the possibility.
The Jukju battle was pretty standard stuff, but wow the music was fantastic. Very, very nice. And a well-done stunt scene, with the guy falling as that wooden tower burned and collapsed. Always have to appreciate those kinds of visuals added to battle scenes and the work that those stunt crews on them.
"The overlord makes frequent visits to Anshim." Ah, well okay then, that stuff I said last time about how he hasn't you-know-what yet...never mind.
I don't understand why KJ "being involved with" Anshim in Taegu would be treason. She wasn't Choe's concubine yet so what did KJ do wrong? Nothing. And besides, as far as we saw he only kissed her, nothing more. But it was encouraging to see that KJ is at least starting to think about whether or not she can be extracted from her situation somehow. The way he's just stood there and has never said a word to Choe about it, it's been frustrating to watch.
Wow, Choe donated his entire fortune to the Tripitaka reconstruction? I wonder if that really happened. Talk about being a good leader and setting a good example--that's remarkable.
Loved the side-angle shot of Songi showing up behind the drink that Yakson was pouring. Little touches like that are part of why the series is so good. You can really tell that there are smart, competent people producing the thing.
Now let's get back on track, please. This episode puts us past the 60% line and KJ still hasn't emerged into a major player. Which in itself isn't bad as long as the story is interesting...and it has been interesting. But I'd much rather watch KJ at this point than Yakson or that fortune-teller.
A couple of real good scenes in this episode, but I was concerned about some of the rest of it. Parts of it really dragged on, to the point of being almost lifeless. And there were even a couple of minor continuity errors, which for this series is shocking.
The weakest part was the fortune teller storyline. Yawwnnn....what an uninteresting character. Presumably he has other motives, some sort of agenda, but ugh his scenes were bores. Not sure I like the casting either; that actor looks too conventional to be playing a shaman. He'd be great in the state council, but telling fortunes? Well this is still developing so we'll see how it goes.
Yakson has gotten boring too. We admired him early on for being honest with himself and for not being greedy and power-hungry. And now he has the chance to extract himself from his unhappy situation, but he won't go. And he's acting like a smug jerk about it. He says he's staying for his daughter's sake but that isn't making him any more of a sympathetic character. Plus, the guy is sensible enough to know that it's silly to actually want to kill KJ, so why is he talking about it? Blecch.
"I condemned her at first, but then I realized my own mistake." The opening scene was excellent. Really held your attention, hearing Choe talk about everything that everyone is thinking but won't say out loud. We've waited a long time and wondered if he would ever face up to it. Well written too. :"A man must be equal to his times. In times of peace, Yakson would be fine. But he's not equal to our troubled times." Both actors did a nice job with it too.
Hmmm...KJ showed Yangbaek that report about Yi Kongju's military success...but I thought Yangbaek couldn't read! Did somebody teach him? Continuity please. Actually if somebody did teach him to read, that would have been a nice little nugget to drop into the storyline. Missed opportunity.
Hmmm again....The Mongols got surprised because Fort Jukju had catapults? I don't think so, because they already got surprised by that at Fort Kwiju earlier in the series. They would certainly know by now to be wary of the possibility.
The Jukju battle was pretty standard stuff, but wow the music was fantastic. Very, very nice. And a well-done stunt scene, with the guy falling as that wooden tower burned and collapsed. Always have to appreciate those kinds of visuals added to battle scenes and the work that those stunt crews on them.
"The overlord makes frequent visits to Anshim." Ah, well okay then, that stuff I said last time about how he hasn't you-know-what yet...never mind.
I don't understand why KJ "being involved with" Anshim in Taegu would be treason. She wasn't Choe's concubine yet so what did KJ do wrong? Nothing. And besides, as far as we saw he only kissed her, nothing more. But it was encouraging to see that KJ is at least starting to think about whether or not she can be extracted from her situation somehow. The way he's just stood there and has never said a word to Choe about it, it's been frustrating to watch.
Wow, Choe donated his entire fortune to the Tripitaka reconstruction? I wonder if that really happened. Talk about being a good leader and setting a good example--that's remarkable.
Loved the side-angle shot of Songi showing up behind the drink that Yakson was pouring. Little touches like that are part of why the series is so good. You can really tell that there are smart, competent people producing the thing.
Now let's get back on track, please. This episode puts us past the 60% line and KJ still hasn't emerged into a major player. Which in itself isn't bad as long as the story is interesting...and it has been interesting. But I'd much rather watch KJ at this point than Yakson or that fortune-teller.