Post by ajk on May 1, 2018 23:09:58 GMT -5
This was an unusual series for a couple of reasons. One is that it took a couple of pretty dubious historical figures and turned them into largely sympathetic characters. Ordinarily that’s a giant red flag for a lousy series. The other is that for most of the series the title character wasn’t the most important character. Far from it, in fact...and ordinarily that kind of uncertainty about when or if the “main” character would actually become the main character could be a major distraction.
But this series, for the most part it was so good that neither one of those things was a big problem in the end. I mean, it’s not good that KJ and Choe U weren’t portrayed more honestly, but you kind of expect that from a commercial network so it sort of goes with the territory. And the way that they told the larger historical story with KJ in a lesser role for most of it, the title “God of War” doesn’t really fit that kind of story but the series was much more interesting because it could shift from one storyline to another and not have to run everything through a single character.
At its best this series was as good as anything we’ve ever watched here in the forum. Most of it was so good that it was easy to forget the weak points—and there were some weak points. But let’s start with the positives:
--MBC made a big commitment to this series production-wise. They brought in very good writers, directors, musicians, stunt people and production people, and were willing to spend money to make the series look and sound as good as possible. Have to single out the music among all of the good stuff. Some of it was a little too Westernized (which I say all the time) but overall it was fantastic.
--Maybe the best thing is what we did NOT get. No ridiculously overchoreographed fight scenes, no cartoon physics, very little pop music (although more on that in a minute), and none of the gimmicks or pandering for viewers that can screw up a series. It was a pleasure to start every episode and not feel like the producers were going to treat me like a fool. Surprising for an MBC series especially. I mean, they’ve done some good ones but this one was remarkably free from commercial-network nonsense.
--For the most part the writing was outstanding. The writers were very thorough about not leaving giant holes in the plot and about making sure that details were addressed, even little ones. Like in #46, when everybody was searching for that messenger. We were shown a mug-shot drawing that had been prepared and circulated to everyone so that we understood how they knew who to look for. In most series you don’t get that kind of thoroughness. And just basic common-sense things like archers showing up when you’d expect archers to show up, rather than having hand-to-hand combat scenes that tried to play up the drama by the idiocy of not having a single archer around.
--And give the writers credit for giving us so much real, accurate history. That was a surprise considering how they softened up the real KJ and Choe U, but it was remarkable how they otherwise were so faithful to history, and so often went out of their way to include some minor detail that wasn’t necessary to the storyline but provided another bit of real history.
--The bits of narration we got that added historical background to what we saw, very well done. Interesting and helpful.
--Good casting and a lot of excellent supporting characters. Two that stand out for me were Choe Chungheon and Choe Hang. Both extremely well acted.
--The Kim Kyongson story. A great addition since the KJ story was kept lower-profile for most of the series.
--The Choe Hang story. The trepidation about his becoming overlord and all of the tension and difficulty that he created, it wasn’t pretty but it was excellent.
--The Tripitaka story. This is hardly the kind of thing that captures a lot of viewers and I was amazed that an MBC series would devote so much time and attention to telling it. But it did tell it, and told it very well.
--Not as much of the battle stuff as we’ve seen in other series but what we did get was very well done.
--They killed Wola and they killed Songi. No, all you Wola haters, I haven’t crossed over to the dark side. Just giving the series credit for killing off two important characters, especially considering they were important female characters and those are precious commodities in historical dramas. Gutsy writing. And two other very sad moments that the writers weren’t afraid of, that have to be mentioned. One was the officers' families cowering inside that grainery building in Fort Chulju before the building is set on fire. Have already talked about it but the sound of the soft whimpering in the background, it was unforgettable and not in a good way—but the series was faithful to history and wasn’t afraid to show us this horrible incident accurately. And a few episodes before that, the sight of KJ and the abbot standing alone watching Wola's funeral pyre, no matter what you thought of Wola it was heartbreaking to see such a pitiful end to her life. The series didn’t go soft on us and you have to respect that.
As far as the negatives, going through the episode threads was weird because there were many more weak episodes and moments than I remembered by the end of the viewing. Probably 20% or so of the episodes weren’t anywhere near the standard of the rest of the series. The early episodes were very up-and-down. Some excellent material and then a stinker of an episode. Then back up, and another stinker. And then several weak episodes towards the end. Specific negatives:
--They sold the Wola story too hard. It was a huge part of the early episodes and got to be too much. I don’t mind a fictional storyline at all, even a romantic one, if it’s good and helps develop and humanize the characters. But this one, the so-called romance was very one-sided, and it got to the point where it would suck a lot of the energy out of entire episodes. The writers do deserve credit for making smart use of the story—telling it in the early episodes and then having it impact KJ’s choice of overlord long afterwards. But it needed to be dialed back. Special mention to that whole Chunsim-the-psycho-killer part of it. Blecch!
--The same problem we get every time a series is extended: episodes that repeat material and are just plain boring. Several of the episodes in the second half dragged on and on without the story moving forward in any meaningful way. And revisiting the polo arena again for the sake of two middle-aged guys settling some sort of pointless, trivial argument, that was the low point in the whole series plot-wise. I’ve complained about this before, and it’s always the same lesson: if you’re going to extend a series, keep your original plan and add new material at the end. Don’t try to stuff extra material into the middle of a story that’s already planned out, because it doesn’t work. Especially in this series—we saw so little of KJ as overlord, why on earth wouldn’t they write some fresh material about those years? A lost opportunity.
--There was very little pop music, certainly a lot less than I expected. But what we got, it came at some of the most inappropriate moments you could possibly choose. The climactic scene after the final polo match. KJ’s entrance when Choe U and Park are fighting for their lives during the assassination attempt. Multiple times during Wola’s death episode. As Kim Yakson was dying. You wonder if the producers were facing network pressure to pop things up and they didn’t want to, but they had to give in once in a while. Whatever the explanation, the results were awful. Some were inappropriate to the point of being in bad taste.
--Evil laughing from the Mongols. Come on already, knock it off! We’ve seen too much of this in other series and it’s cartoonish. You’d almost expect it from some of the weaker series we’ve seen, but in this one? Ugh.
--Songi. The character just didn’t work. Were we supposed to have sympathetic feelings for her because of her unrequited love? I sure never had them, except a little bit towards the end. Because right from the start she was too much of a self-absorbed spoiled brat. It was never clear whether or not that was the intention, but that was the result. It got to be where every time she showed up it was an automatic groan.
--There were some age issues. Some characters who didn’t look their ages and a couple of situations that felt odd based on what looked like big age differences. Not an uncommon thing in a historical but it was unusually distracting in this one.
--The whole storyline with KJ not talking to Choe U about Anshim. If he had simply gone to Choe right at the beginning and explained the situation, of course Choe would have released her to him. I mean, yes KJ is a good subordinate and reveres his overlord and doesn’t want to displease him...but he’s also not an idiot. Especially after Choe was encouraging him to get married, why would he think that Choe would react negatively if he asked to marry a woman who had just arrived at the palace? And even if Choe did react negatively, KJ is brave enough to take that risk for the woman he cared for. This was a big part of the plot for several episodes and it didn’t make any sense at all.
Overall there were enough weak points that you can’t really call GOW one of the elite dramas, but it belongs only one notch lower because so much of it was so good. We got a well-told historical story and a pretty good human/character drama as well. Being strong on both sides, you don't often get that. And give MBC a ton of credit for taking on an unpleasant, difficult time in Korea’s history and producing not one but two outstanding dramas about it. GOW was a very satisfying series just like Shin Don was. Both well worth watching.
But this series, for the most part it was so good that neither one of those things was a big problem in the end. I mean, it’s not good that KJ and Choe U weren’t portrayed more honestly, but you kind of expect that from a commercial network so it sort of goes with the territory. And the way that they told the larger historical story with KJ in a lesser role for most of it, the title “God of War” doesn’t really fit that kind of story but the series was much more interesting because it could shift from one storyline to another and not have to run everything through a single character.
At its best this series was as good as anything we’ve ever watched here in the forum. Most of it was so good that it was easy to forget the weak points—and there were some weak points. But let’s start with the positives:
--MBC made a big commitment to this series production-wise. They brought in very good writers, directors, musicians, stunt people and production people, and were willing to spend money to make the series look and sound as good as possible. Have to single out the music among all of the good stuff. Some of it was a little too Westernized (which I say all the time) but overall it was fantastic.
--Maybe the best thing is what we did NOT get. No ridiculously overchoreographed fight scenes, no cartoon physics, very little pop music (although more on that in a minute), and none of the gimmicks or pandering for viewers that can screw up a series. It was a pleasure to start every episode and not feel like the producers were going to treat me like a fool. Surprising for an MBC series especially. I mean, they’ve done some good ones but this one was remarkably free from commercial-network nonsense.
--For the most part the writing was outstanding. The writers were very thorough about not leaving giant holes in the plot and about making sure that details were addressed, even little ones. Like in #46, when everybody was searching for that messenger. We were shown a mug-shot drawing that had been prepared and circulated to everyone so that we understood how they knew who to look for. In most series you don’t get that kind of thoroughness. And just basic common-sense things like archers showing up when you’d expect archers to show up, rather than having hand-to-hand combat scenes that tried to play up the drama by the idiocy of not having a single archer around.
--And give the writers credit for giving us so much real, accurate history. That was a surprise considering how they softened up the real KJ and Choe U, but it was remarkable how they otherwise were so faithful to history, and so often went out of their way to include some minor detail that wasn’t necessary to the storyline but provided another bit of real history.
--The bits of narration we got that added historical background to what we saw, very well done. Interesting and helpful.
--Good casting and a lot of excellent supporting characters. Two that stand out for me were Choe Chungheon and Choe Hang. Both extremely well acted.
--The Kim Kyongson story. A great addition since the KJ story was kept lower-profile for most of the series.
--The Choe Hang story. The trepidation about his becoming overlord and all of the tension and difficulty that he created, it wasn’t pretty but it was excellent.
--The Tripitaka story. This is hardly the kind of thing that captures a lot of viewers and I was amazed that an MBC series would devote so much time and attention to telling it. But it did tell it, and told it very well.
--Not as much of the battle stuff as we’ve seen in other series but what we did get was very well done.
--They killed Wola and they killed Songi. No, all you Wola haters, I haven’t crossed over to the dark side. Just giving the series credit for killing off two important characters, especially considering they were important female characters and those are precious commodities in historical dramas. Gutsy writing. And two other very sad moments that the writers weren’t afraid of, that have to be mentioned. One was the officers' families cowering inside that grainery building in Fort Chulju before the building is set on fire. Have already talked about it but the sound of the soft whimpering in the background, it was unforgettable and not in a good way—but the series was faithful to history and wasn’t afraid to show us this horrible incident accurately. And a few episodes before that, the sight of KJ and the abbot standing alone watching Wola's funeral pyre, no matter what you thought of Wola it was heartbreaking to see such a pitiful end to her life. The series didn’t go soft on us and you have to respect that.
As far as the negatives, going through the episode threads was weird because there were many more weak episodes and moments than I remembered by the end of the viewing. Probably 20% or so of the episodes weren’t anywhere near the standard of the rest of the series. The early episodes were very up-and-down. Some excellent material and then a stinker of an episode. Then back up, and another stinker. And then several weak episodes towards the end. Specific negatives:
--They sold the Wola story too hard. It was a huge part of the early episodes and got to be too much. I don’t mind a fictional storyline at all, even a romantic one, if it’s good and helps develop and humanize the characters. But this one, the so-called romance was very one-sided, and it got to the point where it would suck a lot of the energy out of entire episodes. The writers do deserve credit for making smart use of the story—telling it in the early episodes and then having it impact KJ’s choice of overlord long afterwards. But it needed to be dialed back. Special mention to that whole Chunsim-the-psycho-killer part of it. Blecch!
--The same problem we get every time a series is extended: episodes that repeat material and are just plain boring. Several of the episodes in the second half dragged on and on without the story moving forward in any meaningful way. And revisiting the polo arena again for the sake of two middle-aged guys settling some sort of pointless, trivial argument, that was the low point in the whole series plot-wise. I’ve complained about this before, and it’s always the same lesson: if you’re going to extend a series, keep your original plan and add new material at the end. Don’t try to stuff extra material into the middle of a story that’s already planned out, because it doesn’t work. Especially in this series—we saw so little of KJ as overlord, why on earth wouldn’t they write some fresh material about those years? A lost opportunity.
--There was very little pop music, certainly a lot less than I expected. But what we got, it came at some of the most inappropriate moments you could possibly choose. The climactic scene after the final polo match. KJ’s entrance when Choe U and Park are fighting for their lives during the assassination attempt. Multiple times during Wola’s death episode. As Kim Yakson was dying. You wonder if the producers were facing network pressure to pop things up and they didn’t want to, but they had to give in once in a while. Whatever the explanation, the results were awful. Some were inappropriate to the point of being in bad taste.
--Evil laughing from the Mongols. Come on already, knock it off! We’ve seen too much of this in other series and it’s cartoonish. You’d almost expect it from some of the weaker series we’ve seen, but in this one? Ugh.
--Songi. The character just didn’t work. Were we supposed to have sympathetic feelings for her because of her unrequited love? I sure never had them, except a little bit towards the end. Because right from the start she was too much of a self-absorbed spoiled brat. It was never clear whether or not that was the intention, but that was the result. It got to be where every time she showed up it was an automatic groan.
--There were some age issues. Some characters who didn’t look their ages and a couple of situations that felt odd based on what looked like big age differences. Not an uncommon thing in a historical but it was unusually distracting in this one.
--The whole storyline with KJ not talking to Choe U about Anshim. If he had simply gone to Choe right at the beginning and explained the situation, of course Choe would have released her to him. I mean, yes KJ is a good subordinate and reveres his overlord and doesn’t want to displease him...but he’s also not an idiot. Especially after Choe was encouraging him to get married, why would he think that Choe would react negatively if he asked to marry a woman who had just arrived at the palace? And even if Choe did react negatively, KJ is brave enough to take that risk for the woman he cared for. This was a big part of the plot for several episodes and it didn’t make any sense at all.
Overall there were enough weak points that you can’t really call GOW one of the elite dramas, but it belongs only one notch lower because so much of it was so good. We got a well-told historical story and a pretty good human/character drama as well. Being strong on both sides, you don't often get that. And give MBC a ton of credit for taking on an unpleasant, difficult time in Korea’s history and producing not one but two outstanding dramas about it. GOW was a very satisfying series just like Shin Don was. Both well worth watching.