Post by ajk on Oct 21, 2017 17:18:04 GMT -5
I just can't get over how different GOW is when it strays from the storyline and tries to do the romantic stuff. The beginning of this episode, ugh it was just so weak, KJ pining for Anshim and just about losing his mind over it all. And yet the rest of it was excellent. There has to be an explanation for it and it probably would make for a good story. Somebody must have forced this other stuff into the storyline to satisfy somebody else, that kind of thing.
"I won't see you be another man's plaything!" And we still have this elephant in the room: if he feels that strongly about it then why didn't he go to KJ right away and explain everything? And why does he continue to not do it? Ugh! "I'll tell him everything, even if it costs me my life....It's time I told him." Okay great, wonderful to hear that, but then guess what, we see him with Choe at least twice after all of that brave talk, and still he doesn't make any effort to talk to him about it. And remember Songi warned him that there are people scheming to use this against him; all the more reason to get it out in the open. This whole thing is just not being presented very well at all. Oh and the sappy pop ballad that jumped in during KJ's brave talk? Blecch. Awful.
"You're not seeing Anshim, you're seeing Wola." Yangbaek said what we keep wondering about. Not sure how true it is now that KJ knows Anshim better, but he may still be right.
The rest of the episode, all kinds of excellent scenes. That attack sequence at Fort Jukju had some fantastic stuff in it! Burning logs crashing down on guys three high on ladders, WOW that was some great stunt work. Obviously a lot of effort went into it. Bravo.
And some good character development too. Songi's scene with Anshim, I still don't feel all that sorry for her but it certainly gave us a lot of insight into how she feels and what she's gone through. And then the scene after that, with KJ and Yakson, it turned the Yakson character completely around and rescued it from the bore that it had become. We got a hint of that earlier on, when he surprisingly refused to resort to weasel tactics to disgrace KJ, but in this scene, sitting down with KJ and being so frank and civil and fair to him...it was a real good scene just for the suspense of not knowing how Yakson would behave, but everything he said was the old Yakson (who we respected). Who would have ever expected the two of them to talk face to face about Songi, much less for Yakson to acknowledge to KJ that he was blameless for it. And cautioning him to stay away from Anshim, totally unexpected. And then everything else he said, well obviously him not being drunk had a lot to do with it, but he was back to being the kind of conflicted, interesting character we originally knew him as.
"They're comparing him to the great general Guan Yu of ancient China." Another China reference that sent me scrambling onto the Internet:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yu
Really enjoyed the Kim Kyongson sequence. The way he's turned into such a successful, intimidating leader--"Our men are simple villagers. They see him as a god"--he should get his own series! Especially with Tanggu ordering "Bypass any fort commanded by one of Kim Kyongson's Fort Kwiju men." Of course it won't happen but he's a great character in this one.
Here's the narrated text:
And then just the fact that we watched Yi Kyubo reading that entire imperial invocation...the high quality and attention to this kind of detail are totally inconsistent with the occasional lame attempts to inject K-pop style romance. This series at its best is as good as any other series I've seen--it's a darned shame that whoever shoved the unsatisfying romance stuff into it didn't appreciate that.
"I won't see you be another man's plaything!" And we still have this elephant in the room: if he feels that strongly about it then why didn't he go to KJ right away and explain everything? And why does he continue to not do it? Ugh! "I'll tell him everything, even if it costs me my life....It's time I told him." Okay great, wonderful to hear that, but then guess what, we see him with Choe at least twice after all of that brave talk, and still he doesn't make any effort to talk to him about it. And remember Songi warned him that there are people scheming to use this against him; all the more reason to get it out in the open. This whole thing is just not being presented very well at all. Oh and the sappy pop ballad that jumped in during KJ's brave talk? Blecch. Awful.
"You're not seeing Anshim, you're seeing Wola." Yangbaek said what we keep wondering about. Not sure how true it is now that KJ knows Anshim better, but he may still be right.
The rest of the episode, all kinds of excellent scenes. That attack sequence at Fort Jukju had some fantastic stuff in it! Burning logs crashing down on guys three high on ladders, WOW that was some great stunt work. Obviously a lot of effort went into it. Bravo.
And some good character development too. Songi's scene with Anshim, I still don't feel all that sorry for her but it certainly gave us a lot of insight into how she feels and what she's gone through. And then the scene after that, with KJ and Yakson, it turned the Yakson character completely around and rescued it from the bore that it had become. We got a hint of that earlier on, when he surprisingly refused to resort to weasel tactics to disgrace KJ, but in this scene, sitting down with KJ and being so frank and civil and fair to him...it was a real good scene just for the suspense of not knowing how Yakson would behave, but everything he said was the old Yakson (who we respected). Who would have ever expected the two of them to talk face to face about Songi, much less for Yakson to acknowledge to KJ that he was blameless for it. And cautioning him to stay away from Anshim, totally unexpected. And then everything else he said, well obviously him not being drunk had a lot to do with it, but he was back to being the kind of conflicted, interesting character we originally knew him as.
"They're comparing him to the great general Guan Yu of ancient China." Another China reference that sent me scrambling onto the Internet:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Yu
Really enjoyed the Kim Kyongson sequence. The way he's turned into such a successful, intimidating leader--"Our men are simple villagers. They see him as a god"--he should get his own series! Especially with Tanggu ordering "Bypass any fort commanded by one of Kim Kyongson's Fort Kwiju men." Of course it won't happen but he's a great character in this one.
Here's the narrated text:
The Koryo Tripitaka. After the Tripitaka was burned in Puin Temple, Koryo produced another sacred canon. The Office of the Tripitaka was in Kanghwa; the Office of Engraving on Namhae. As an island, Namhae was shielded from the Mongol invasion. Lumber was transported from Mt. Jili, along the Somjin River, and cured on the beach. This is the Tripitaka housed in Haein Temple today.The producers spared no expense on that Tripitaka sequence. So many extras dressed up for the ceremonies, and then the scenes of the wood being gathered and processed and carved, very interesting and enjoyable. Wish we'd have seen more of it all.
And then just the fact that we watched Yi Kyubo reading that entire imperial invocation...the high quality and attention to this kind of detail are totally inconsistent with the occasional lame attempts to inject K-pop style romance. This series at its best is as good as any other series I've seen--it's a darned shame that whoever shoved the unsatisfying romance stuff into it didn't appreciate that.
