Post by ajk on Mar 18, 2018 4:00:30 GMT -5
Note: This thread will only be for Episode 56. I’ll start a separate final-thoughts thread for the series in a few days.
Well as final episodes go, this one was pretty darned good. Not the best I’ve ever seen but excellent. The storyline was pretty much what we expected—we knew what was coming so there wasn’t much room for surprises--but the production was up to the usual high standards that the series set, and that’s what carried the episode. Including the music, which was terrific throughout. There was just one big stinker moment that kind of tarnished it a little.
The first narrated text:
“To everything there is a season. And yours had passed...I will see you soon.” The Choe U vision scene...at first I cringed because it started out like Choe was going to tell KJ he was trying to take the country down the wrong path. But that didn’t happen; it was carefully written as simply a call to leave worldly cares and burdens behind. “You did your duty.” The other would have been a huge mistake; Choe would have contradicted everything he stood for during his life. As I think about it now, it was a needless worry because this show’s writers have shown they don’t make dumb mistakes like that. And actually the scene makes very good sense in a way, because after just having the memorial service for Choe and having all of that alcohol afterwards, a dream of that sort would be perfectly natural...
...So okay Choe U turns to leave and you figure we’ve dodged a bullet and gotten through the scene safely. And then in the next moment, no please it can’t be, tell us you’re kidding, it’s Songi. Songi! UGH! Why why why? What possible good does this do? What does it add? Reminding him that she said she’d be waiting for him and now here she is waiting? KJ never wanted her and she was nothing but a problem for him with all of that longing for him. And isn’t this a pleasant message for him—Hey I’m going to be badgering you for all eternity. Good grief! You wonder why he didn’t get up the next morning and march right over to Mongolia and surrender himself just to stay alive. Blecch!
And probably a whole lot of other people watching that scene wondered exactly what I wondered: If we were going to see a welcoming presence into the afterlife...what about Wola?
The second narrated text:
That aside, this episode was very good except for the moment of Songi-insanity and I’m glad that the finale measured up to the level of excellence that nearly all of the series achieved.
Well as final episodes go, this one was pretty darned good. Not the best I’ve ever seen but excellent. The storyline was pretty much what we expected—we knew what was coming so there wasn’t much room for surprises--but the production was up to the usual high standards that the series set, and that’s what carried the episode. Including the music, which was terrific throughout. There was just one big stinker moment that kind of tarnished it a little.
The first narrated text:
When the Mongols returned, they were desperate to invade Japan. But Koryo found excuse after excuse to delay sending troops to fight the Song. They did not finish the fleet. This was all according to Kim Jun’s designs.The rain was a nice touch for the evening of the memorial service. Completely unnecessary for the story, and it cost extra money, and made a mess. But a nice touch. And just the idea of a final dinner and seeing all of the old gang together one more time, a great idea. Of course when KJ gave Im Yon the prize sword, you knew what was coming...but oh well gotta love TV.
“To everything there is a season. And yours had passed...I will see you soon.” The Choe U vision scene...at first I cringed because it started out like Choe was going to tell KJ he was trying to take the country down the wrong path. But that didn’t happen; it was carefully written as simply a call to leave worldly cares and burdens behind. “You did your duty.” The other would have been a huge mistake; Choe would have contradicted everything he stood for during his life. As I think about it now, it was a needless worry because this show’s writers have shown they don’t make dumb mistakes like that. And actually the scene makes very good sense in a way, because after just having the memorial service for Choe and having all of that alcohol afterwards, a dream of that sort would be perfectly natural...
...So okay Choe U turns to leave and you figure we’ve dodged a bullet and gotten through the scene safely. And then in the next moment, no please it can’t be, tell us you’re kidding, it’s Songi. Songi! UGH! Why why why? What possible good does this do? What does it add? Reminding him that she said she’d be waiting for him and now here she is waiting? KJ never wanted her and she was nothing but a problem for him with all of that longing for him. And isn’t this a pleasant message for him—Hey I’m going to be badgering you for all eternity. Good grief! You wonder why he didn’t get up the next morning and march right over to Mongolia and surrender himself just to stay alive. Blecch!
And probably a whole lot of other people watching that scene wondered exactly what I wondered: If we were going to see a welcoming presence into the afterlife...what about Wola?
The second narrated text:
Kim Jun died on September 12, 1268, ten years after assuming power. Two years later, Wonjong moved the cpatial to Kaegyeong at the Mongols’ request. The Three Patrols rose in rebellion. They continued their revolt on Jin Island, before gallantly falling before the Koryo-Mongol forces on Jeju island. Thereafter, all Koryo kings that served the Mongols had the character “Chung” placed before their names.There was a discontinuity in the death scene because the emperor said KJ’s men would be disarmed but we saw them all killed. Might have been a mistranslation but I’m not sure. And I didn’t like that we didn’t see KJ actually fall to the ground and die at the very end. People may disagree on this, and I guess it isn’t that big a deal, but it just sort of felt like there was a lack of finality to it because he was still standing up with his eyes open when the episode ended. Felt like kind of a wimp-out on the producers’ part.
That aside, this episode was very good except for the moment of Songi-insanity and I’m glad that the finale measured up to the level of excellence that nearly all of the series achieved.