Post by ajk on Nov 10, 2018 17:02:46 GMT -5
This one wasn't a stinker like the previous one, fortunately. Not great and not even particularly good, but okay. The storyline was kind of stiff, the way it sort of abruptly jumped from one thing to another without building much interest or suspense in any of it. More proof that whoever is writing the Zhao part of the story just isn’t up to the level of whoever is doing the Baekje and Goguryeo parts.
The early scene with Sayu and Yeohwa was excellent, well written and well acted. Only thing that hurt it was the music; it was some of the standard stuff used throughout the series and it didn’t fit that scene. A shame they couldn’t have written something especially for it, or else just leave it without music. There certainly was enough tension and suspense for silence to be effective.
Good news/bad news: The angle with Ko Heung and King Ye’s seal was a clever premise. And the way he explained himself in the end, that was very good. When he asked the two sides to answer his philosophy question, it seemed terribly disappointing because he had certainly observed more than enough in previous episodes to choose Yeogu over Wibang. And we had seen him observing things, which made it all the more irritating. But then he started explaining himself and we saw flashbacks to exactly the things we had seen him observing. So that was very well put together in the end. On the other hand, the idea wasn’t developed too well. This mysterious guy shows up, and nobody knows who he is for quite a while. But then all of a sudden he’s holding court for everybody and presenting the seal, and it’s over and done with. It all could have been made much more interesting and entertaining.
Wow I always thought royal physicians had it rough...but how’d you like to be one of those guys giving the king his sword-fighting practice? You can’t ever beat him if you value your life, and if he’s feeling grumpy one day and decides to kill you to vent his frustration nobody’s going to say a word to stop him.
“Any daughter who goes against my will is no daughter of mine.” Gotta say, Yeohwa got a bad deal from everybody. First she comes home to Goguryeo and Sayu barely lets her live—and she certainly can’t be excused for messing around with Yeogu—but nobody ever even mentioned that she helped very possibly save the entire country by helping convince Zhao to attack Murong Huang from the rear. Doesn’t she get any credit at all for that? Frankly somebody should have mentioned it (and I think the writers made a big mistake by letting it go). And then her father goes off on her for the same reason, apparently forgetting that he practically forced her to go to Goguryeo and marry Sayu in the first place. Oh and the Goguryeo chief minister who went with her to Zhao didn’t mention it either; he was too busy giving her the bag of suicide poison! Pretty darned ungrateful people they are.
Ugh, there’s Yeogu playing his little recorder again, and as usual his finger movements are completely out of sync with the notes we hear. It’s so totally phony looking. Drives me nuts. Am I the only one?
Oh good grief he gave her the ring back. My head hurts.
“You can say I’m selfish. All men are like that.” Seriously? Who the heck wrote that line? A female writer who had a fight with her husband that morning? I couldn’t believe they actually let that into the script. It wasn’t meant to be funny either, he’s sincerely telling her. Okay yeah it’s the fourth century A.D. but still, what a thing for the “sympathetic” lead character to be saying.
Another example of the jumping around without enough buildup: All of a sudden Wi Birang changes his mind and runs back and saves Yeogu and says “I will serve you” and everything is okay. Please. The guy gives up his lifelong dream in the blink of an eye just because he doesn’t get that seal? If he’s going to change his entire mindset so dramatically, it will take time and we need to see him struggling with it and coming to terms with it. Going out to a dock and drinking some wine, that’s hardly enough to sell it.
But we can end with two positives. One, more credit for the outside work in cold air in snow-covered settings. It’s a tough cast and crew to be out there filming in the chilly air. And two, we’re finally out of Zhao and back on the peninsula. Yay! It took a two-year time jump but whatever. Hopefully the silliness will stop now that we’re getting Yeogu closer to the throne.
The early scene with Sayu and Yeohwa was excellent, well written and well acted. Only thing that hurt it was the music; it was some of the standard stuff used throughout the series and it didn’t fit that scene. A shame they couldn’t have written something especially for it, or else just leave it without music. There certainly was enough tension and suspense for silence to be effective.
Good news/bad news: The angle with Ko Heung and King Ye’s seal was a clever premise. And the way he explained himself in the end, that was very good. When he asked the two sides to answer his philosophy question, it seemed terribly disappointing because he had certainly observed more than enough in previous episodes to choose Yeogu over Wibang. And we had seen him observing things, which made it all the more irritating. But then he started explaining himself and we saw flashbacks to exactly the things we had seen him observing. So that was very well put together in the end. On the other hand, the idea wasn’t developed too well. This mysterious guy shows up, and nobody knows who he is for quite a while. But then all of a sudden he’s holding court for everybody and presenting the seal, and it’s over and done with. It all could have been made much more interesting and entertaining.
Wow I always thought royal physicians had it rough...but how’d you like to be one of those guys giving the king his sword-fighting practice? You can’t ever beat him if you value your life, and if he’s feeling grumpy one day and decides to kill you to vent his frustration nobody’s going to say a word to stop him.
“Any daughter who goes against my will is no daughter of mine.” Gotta say, Yeohwa got a bad deal from everybody. First she comes home to Goguryeo and Sayu barely lets her live—and she certainly can’t be excused for messing around with Yeogu—but nobody ever even mentioned that she helped very possibly save the entire country by helping convince Zhao to attack Murong Huang from the rear. Doesn’t she get any credit at all for that? Frankly somebody should have mentioned it (and I think the writers made a big mistake by letting it go). And then her father goes off on her for the same reason, apparently forgetting that he practically forced her to go to Goguryeo and marry Sayu in the first place. Oh and the Goguryeo chief minister who went with her to Zhao didn’t mention it either; he was too busy giving her the bag of suicide poison! Pretty darned ungrateful people they are.
Ugh, there’s Yeogu playing his little recorder again, and as usual his finger movements are completely out of sync with the notes we hear. It’s so totally phony looking. Drives me nuts. Am I the only one?
Oh good grief he gave her the ring back. My head hurts.
“You can say I’m selfish. All men are like that.” Seriously? Who the heck wrote that line? A female writer who had a fight with her husband that morning? I couldn’t believe they actually let that into the script. It wasn’t meant to be funny either, he’s sincerely telling her. Okay yeah it’s the fourth century A.D. but still, what a thing for the “sympathetic” lead character to be saying.
Another example of the jumping around without enough buildup: All of a sudden Wi Birang changes his mind and runs back and saves Yeogu and says “I will serve you” and everything is okay. Please. The guy gives up his lifelong dream in the blink of an eye just because he doesn’t get that seal? If he’s going to change his entire mindset so dramatically, it will take time and we need to see him struggling with it and coming to terms with it. Going out to a dock and drinking some wine, that’s hardly enough to sell it.
But we can end with two positives. One, more credit for the outside work in cold air in snow-covered settings. It’s a tough cast and crew to be out there filming in the chilly air. And two, we’re finally out of Zhao and back on the peninsula. Yay! It took a two-year time jump but whatever. Hopefully the silliness will stop now that we’re getting Yeogu closer to the throne.