|
Post by ajk on Dec 18, 2018 2:14:15 GMT -5
Sorry I'm late with this one; been busy with Christmas stuff. I'll get to it in the next day or two.
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Dec 26, 2018 21:34:37 GMT -5
Wow I've been swamped and have gotten behind...but 31, 32 and 33 are all coming in quick order to get us caught back up. My apologies!
|
|
|
Post by bird11 on Dec 26, 2018 22:47:42 GMT -5
No worries-- think a lot of us have been swamped recently-- hope all is going well with you and things are quieting down.
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Dec 27, 2018 0:20:09 GMT -5
Okay, have some catching up to do. This one had some really good story ideas in it:
--Hae Geon killing the king at the king’s order, and throwing his life into horrible misery, for the sake of putting Buyeo Min on the throne in the long run. You don’t get that kind of sophisticated self-sacrifice in every historical. (Yes the murder was in the previous episode but now we’re getting the aftermath.) Although having thought about it, you wonder why the king didn’t quickly write an order or note of some kind to absolve Hae, something that Hae could show people at some point to clear himself. Still, Hae is a good character and this makes him even more interesting.
--“Wait a little while. I’ll let you go.” Sayu letting Yeohwa go pay respects to her father, this is what makes him another good character. Not at all the one-dimensional baddie he could be turned into. And then at the end, Yeohwa reaching out and saving Sayu to repay him for sparing her life earlier, what a class move that is. Very nice.
--Yeowhi finally bouncing back and grabbing the reins again. Love that he’s finally thinking for himself more. And especially cutting that piece off of Biryu’s order so he could spare his brother’s life (but won’t it be obvious to anyone who examines the document that part of it was cut off?). The hug was a nice moment, too. It always felt like Yeohwi had an affection for Yeogu or at least a lot of sympathy for his plight, and that Yeogu had a lot of respect for Yeohwi. Surprised that we saw them hug but there was nothing forced or artificial about it.
The episode was very good right up until the moment where Hae Geon somehow takes over an entire gate in the Goguryeo fortress simply by being let in and swinging his knife around a few times. Oh and not just an enemy fortress but the fortress where the king is staying. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of sloppy, lazy writing in a battle scene and this series is good enough that it should have been scrapped and redone. The producers certainly were smart enough to have known better.
Good - “I couldn’t call myself a king if I allowed someone who surrendered to me to die.” And then Hae Nyeong silently nodding, showing he’s seen the other side of the argument. Liked that scene. Good writing.
Bad - Annoying girl: “You can’t bring Yeohwa here.” Ugh. “This isn’t jealousy.” Pffffft! Obviously this isn’t going away. Obviously and unfortunately.
Good - Birang telling Yeogu to stay behind the first attack wave. Have seen this before and that’s how it would be in real life. Nice that Yeogu isn’t still being shown as the military hero.
Bad – The fact that Sayu is even there in a war zone in the first place. Get real.
Good - I love how Sayu keeps mockingly referring to Yeogu as “the salt seller.” This guy needs his own series.
And finally, why is the queen still alive? I’d be the last person to complain about keeping her around as long as possible...but you hope there’s some worthy purpose for her down the road because right now it’s just sad watching her and Yeochan running around as fugitives in the darkness.
There’s so much going on right now that the episode felt incomplete. So this is actually a good time to go into catch-up speed and get right to the next one.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Dec 27, 2018 0:51:59 GMT -5
Ironic Sayu would mock Yeogu about being a saltseller, considering his father became one after fleeing to escape his murderous uncle.
|
|
|
Post by mugwump on Dec 27, 2018 7:41:23 GMT -5
I still think asking Hae Geon to kill him is the sh****est thing the king ever did. All for his obsessive need to have his family rule the roost. So much obsession in this drama, causing so much misery. This is a recurring theme in historical dramas - do anything for the family, no matter how immoral or criminal. But maybe in the old days it really was kill or be killed. And it can make for very good story telling.
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Dec 29, 2018 22:52:22 GMT -5
I'll bet Sayu was probably trash-talking Biryu the same way!
Yeah Gye was amazingly egotistical in his lust for power. It was amazing how he rationalized giving up all that land to get him on the throne...Oh it's okay if the kingdom shrinks, we'll get it all back later. Actually reminded me of modern politicians...Oh it's okay if we run up a lot of debt, we'll get lots of money to pay it back later. Ugh. Anyway that probably explains why Gye didn't give Hae Geon some sort of note or written order to absolve him, like I wondered about. It's all ego, me-first.
|
|