Post by ajk on Nov 14, 2017 17:37:40 GMT -5
Just to get this out of the way upfront: The Wikipedia entry for Choe U says that Kim Yakson was exiled, not killed. But in those wonderful translations of the historical record that truth was so generous to give us, it's recorded that Yakson was in fact ordered executed by Choe U and that it was because Yakson's wife was angry at him and cooked up a phony charge of plotting a coup. (The translations are in the original GOW thread that I moved into this board; it's the very last thread.) Some of the details aren't the same as what we've been seeing but the general outline is correct. So if anybody is confused by that, there you go, that's the story. I had forgotten about those translations but after reading the one mentioning Yakson's execution, I'm a lot less unhappy with the episode than when I thought it was distorting history for the sake of drama.
But that aside, I still don't think very much of this episode, except for two scenes. The storyline has been dragging along too slowly and this episode sure didn't help matters. And it had the worst single moment of the whole series so far. At least we're past Yakson now; that's the silver lining.
Terrific opening with Choe speaking frankly about why he isn't showing Yakson any mercy. Most of his reasoning was sound, and it was a great moment when KJ asked him if he figured Choe was innocent after all and Choe just gave the stone-faced "He is guilty" response, like it was the company line. The only sore spot was this again: "He should have known his life was not his own the moment he married Songi." Don't mean to keep harping on this but Choe was the one who pushed Yakson into taking the job and into marrying Songi too.
"So kind of him to send over some wine." Yakson being sarcastic at a time like this--too bad he wasn't funnier before now! Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so annoying.
"I had thought Chamberlain Kim might deliver it." Aaaaand he goes right back to annoying. What happened to the decency he showed KJ when they talked? And KJ was trying to clear his name, for goodness sakes. That was uncalled for.
When Yakson poured his own cup of wine and set the pitcher down on the table, it caught the edge of a plate and the plate tipped up a bit and stayed that way. Did anybody else notice that? Everything in these historicals is so carefully staged, it was such a strange sight to see an imperfection like that. But actually I liked it--it gave things a little touch of reality.
"The truth is...I fell in love with you." Wow, sure didn't see that coming. That was an awfully weird scene. It was nice that Songi and Yakson were finally sitting down and being honest with each other and having the mature adult discussion they needed to have a long time ago. But the whole time, we're distracted by waiting for him to keel over from the poison. They're talking and talking and the whole time I'm wondering if this one is the last sentence, or this one, or the next one...it was just plain weird. Maybe they should have found a better way to present that, like have the conversation before he takes the drink.
And then, you've gotta be kidding--Yakson dies to a pop ballad?!? Seriously?? That was awful!! Okay I'm not a big K-pop lover but good grief what were they thinking? Easily the dumbest, worst moment of the series. Was MBC afraid that a viewer might feel sad? They did the same thing when Wola died and it didn't fit then either, but it was much worse here. Clearly they did it to take away the sting of the poignant sadness, but there was no need to take that away. Protecting viewers from tragedy like we're little children, blecch! Whoever made that decision needs to be taken out and tied to one of those setups with the hot coals on the feet. UGH.
KJ tells Anshim, "I've been meaning to talk to him when my schedule cleared up." Oh geez is that ever a bad piece of writing. That's why he never talked to Choe about his feelings towards Anshim? His schedule was too busy? Not only is that ridiculous but we know it's not true because we've seen him with Choe many times and has had many chances to talk to him about it. For a series that's been so carefully written, that was an amazingly awful line.
Besides the opening, the one other good scene in this episode was the Fort Naju scene with Kim Kyongson. Which is no surprise; what an interesting guy Kim is. Terrific character. Speaking of which, here's the narrated text from right after when Kim killed the two Yi brothers:
So one more episode further along, just eighteen left and still a ton of material to deal with. Yakson is out of the picture but when are we finally going to see KJ start to become an important person? Time is ticking away....
But that aside, I still don't think very much of this episode, except for two scenes. The storyline has been dragging along too slowly and this episode sure didn't help matters. And it had the worst single moment of the whole series so far. At least we're past Yakson now; that's the silver lining.
Terrific opening with Choe speaking frankly about why he isn't showing Yakson any mercy. Most of his reasoning was sound, and it was a great moment when KJ asked him if he figured Choe was innocent after all and Choe just gave the stone-faced "He is guilty" response, like it was the company line. The only sore spot was this again: "He should have known his life was not his own the moment he married Songi." Don't mean to keep harping on this but Choe was the one who pushed Yakson into taking the job and into marrying Songi too.
"So kind of him to send over some wine." Yakson being sarcastic at a time like this--too bad he wasn't funnier before now! Maybe he wouldn't have gotten so annoying.
"I had thought Chamberlain Kim might deliver it." Aaaaand he goes right back to annoying. What happened to the decency he showed KJ when they talked? And KJ was trying to clear his name, for goodness sakes. That was uncalled for.
When Yakson poured his own cup of wine and set the pitcher down on the table, it caught the edge of a plate and the plate tipped up a bit and stayed that way. Did anybody else notice that? Everything in these historicals is so carefully staged, it was such a strange sight to see an imperfection like that. But actually I liked it--it gave things a little touch of reality.
"The truth is...I fell in love with you." Wow, sure didn't see that coming. That was an awfully weird scene. It was nice that Songi and Yakson were finally sitting down and being honest with each other and having the mature adult discussion they needed to have a long time ago. But the whole time, we're distracted by waiting for him to keel over from the poison. They're talking and talking and the whole time I'm wondering if this one is the last sentence, or this one, or the next one...it was just plain weird. Maybe they should have found a better way to present that, like have the conversation before he takes the drink.
And then, you've gotta be kidding--Yakson dies to a pop ballad?!? Seriously?? That was awful!! Okay I'm not a big K-pop lover but good grief what were they thinking? Easily the dumbest, worst moment of the series. Was MBC afraid that a viewer might feel sad? They did the same thing when Wola died and it didn't fit then either, but it was much worse here. Clearly they did it to take away the sting of the poignant sadness, but there was no need to take that away. Protecting viewers from tragedy like we're little children, blecch! Whoever made that decision needs to be taken out and tied to one of those setups with the hot coals on the feet. UGH.
KJ tells Anshim, "I've been meaning to talk to him when my schedule cleared up." Oh geez is that ever a bad piece of writing. That's why he never talked to Choe about his feelings towards Anshim? His schedule was too busy? Not only is that ridiculous but we know it's not true because we've seen him with Choe many times and has had many chances to talk to him about it. For a series that's been so carefully written, that was an amazingly awful line.
Besides the opening, the one other good scene in this episode was the Fort Naju scene with Kim Kyongson. Which is no surprise; what an interesting guy Kim is. Terrific character. Speaking of which, here's the narrated text from right after when Kim killed the two Yi brothers:
Kim Kyongson and Yi Yonnyon. Yi dreamed of reviving Baekje and died for his trouble. He hoped to enlist Kim Kyongson to his side, but failed in the attempt. The day Kim Kyongson rode from the fort, Yi ordered Kim be taken alive and so sealed his own doom. At that time, there was no greater hero to the people of Koryo than Kim Kyongson. Meanwhile, things were happening at the capital. After years of devastation, the Mongols began to withdraw. The Koryo envoy assured the Mongol court they would not resist. They made it clear that, per Mongol's terms, the capital would return to Kaegyeong. Of course, it was merely a ploy for Koryo to buy time. The next eight years saw an uneasy calm."The overlord has no interest in that puny little throne." Was anybody else surprised to hear KJ say that? Okay yeah he was agitated from Yi Jangyong's nosy questioning, but still, KJ just has never been the kind of person to say anything the least bit disrespectful about his country. Maybe it was a mistranslation; that's possible.
So one more episode further along, just eighteen left and still a ton of material to deal with. Yakson is out of the picture but when are we finally going to see KJ start to become an important person? Time is ticking away....