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Post by ajk on Feb 26, 2022 0:34:41 GMT -5
...should be up on Kocowa within the next 12 hours or so, if the news reports are accurate and the series is restarting with episode 13 today.
Remember, you have 24 hours to watch the episode on Kocowa as a non-paying member before it gets locked for paying members only.
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Post by mugwump on Feb 26, 2022 14:56:53 GMT -5
No subs - yet.
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Post by ajk on Feb 26, 2022 18:43:42 GMT -5
It's been corrected, subs are running now.
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Post by sageuk on Feb 26, 2022 19:21:14 GMT -5
Earlier I said that Kocowa wasn't working for me. My sister, however, gave me her ipad, and I'm able to access Kocowa via that now.
Anyways....
Two scenes feel like it was done mostly for the sake of dramatic irony.
Yi Seonggye comes across as cruel, looking for an excuse to blame Bangwon for something again.
Historically, it was said that Yangnyeong was raised in the Min household, which is what Grandma Min suggests in the show. I don't know if that was brought up in GKS, but it certainly explains why Yangnyeong is close to his uncles in that series.
Will the issue of the private army ban come up?
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Post by ajk on Feb 27, 2022 2:15:47 GMT -5
OK we’re back...and immediately we get the same problem about contrived silliness for the sake of drama. Turns out that yes Bangwon somehow just strolled inside the queen's palace and walked right up to her deathbed. No illusion, it was really him. And then he just walks away. Come on, how are we supposed to buy that? He wouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near there, especially not on his own. And that’s how she died? Trying to strangle Bangwon? How ridiculously over the top. And now all of the lush, sad string music trying to make us so moved about her death, well sorry, you guys lost me, not feeling it. Blecch. ■ In 1396 AD, the fifth year of King Taejo’s reign, the first queen of Joseon, Queen Sindeok of the Kang Clan, passed away. With her skillful politics she made her husband Lee Seong Gye the king. She also made her son Bang Seok the crown prince. However, after her death all of her accomplishments started to collapse. “In the end, you caused her death. If you had not angered her, she would have gotten to see the crown prince.” UGH. To some extent I do really like what they’re doing here—trying to lay the psychological foundation for Bangwon’s later actions. In fact it’s terrific, at least the goal of it is. But they don’t have to do it by concocting silly situations like this. The real story explains it perfectly well. Tell the real story. So after the big dramatic scene with his dad, he wanders through the streets and makes it home to his wife. But somewhere along the way he stopped and got his hair combed. How about that. So it took a while to get through all of that. But then things got much, much better. You start to see Lady Min getting eaten up by raw anger and bitterness. She sort of evolved right in front of us and you could see it in her face. The frustration turned into a much higher level of determination to make big things happen. Not real sure that this is how it all happened—Bangwon being so reluctant and everyone around him pushing him to do what he did—but at least they’re trying to set it up with a coherent story, so that’s good. The council meeting about sending someone to China...Even in a council meeting the producers run the tense music with the pounding drums, emphasizing every line. Stop it! ■ In 1397 AD, the sixth year of King Taejo’s reign, Lee Bangwon[‘s] and Lady Min’s third son was born. This baby later becomes King Sejong the Great. After the Joseon Dynasty was founded, Lee Bangwon was alienated from power for seven years. But du ring those years Lee Bangwon and Lady Min gave birth to three more sons after having lost their children. And from then, Lee Bangwon started to take his steps to move to the throne. Holy smokes that baby had a lot of hair on him. “They could have been the crown prince and princes. But they could end up becoming beggars.” Okay so the premise now is that Bangwon’s reason for taking over is to give his kids financial security? Sigh.... “We are not stealing it. We are just reclaiming it.” Well now there ya go, that’s MUCH better. Way, way better. There’s an argument that would resonate with a reluctant Bangwon and it makes sense to everybody. click for full size Whatever else is said about the series, they sure have found some gorgeous locations to shoot scenes at. I really liked how well the Lees treated their new soldiers. Not sure if there’s any history on this, but just showing this kind of thing helps build characters and tells us what kind of people they are. “We must find out who the strongest wolf is.” And they all sort of looked around, not entirely satisfied with that answer. That is a much better ending then we’ve been getting lately with all of the forced drama to end episodes with. If it ain't there, don't force it. So it’s back to the usual mix of very good and very bad.
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Post by mugwump on Feb 27, 2022 7:28:20 GMT -5
What I would like to see a bit more of here is how the king has been governing the country for the last 7 years. At the start, he and all his sons were committed to the great cause of improving the lives of the people. So if LBW is planning to depose him, he needs a legitimate reason to do so; one that will satisfy the other government officials and sit well with and receive support of the general populace. "No fair, I should have been the Crown Prince" isn't going to cut it (is it?) He needs to show that the current king is lacking in some big way.
On the marital side of things, I notice that the writers have chosen not to include LBW's concubine in this series. At this point he should have four sons, I believe the concubine's was the second of the four. I suppose they didn't want to make things more complicated by throwing her into the mix, and are focusing on what a great team LBW and his wife are.
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Post by sageuk on Feb 27, 2022 12:41:29 GMT -5
So....one of the actors who plays a member of Yi Bangwon's faction.
We all seen this guy in LOTS of historicals.
He still has that youngish high voice even in 2022.
Does this man not age?
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Post by ajk on Feb 27, 2022 15:58:11 GMT -5
I didn't even spot that because the guy only had a few lines and was only on screen for a few seconds...but that's Choi Ung from EWG! Yeah he's got quite a record at this point...was DJY's son with the frontier woman in DJY and we also saw him here in Jinbirok too. Wikipedia says he was also in Tears of the Dragon and King and Queen before EWG. And others too. Good catch.
Yeah it definitely would be nice if we saw more of the bigger picture, how the kingdom is faring under the new dynasty. Unfortunately we probably won't get that. Series is too short, and the concept is Godfather family melodrama so focus on the family. Too bad because we have gotten a few glimpses here and there and they've been very helpful.
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Post by mugwump on Feb 27, 2022 15:58:57 GMT -5
So....one of the actors who plays a member of Yi Bangwon's faction. We all seen this guy in LOTS of historicals. He still has that youngish high voice even in 2022. Does this man not age? LOL. I think Jung TaeWoo is going to still be playing kids when he's a hundred. By the way, he previously played the current Crown Prince's brother (or maybe it was the Crown Prince, can't remember) in Tears of the Dragon.
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Post by truth on Feb 27, 2022 17:47:46 GMT -5
So....one of the actors who plays a member of Yi Bangwon's faction. We all seen this guy in LOTS of historicals. He still has that youngish high voice even in 2022. Does this man not age? He's turning 40 next month.
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Post by sageuk on Feb 27, 2022 17:57:23 GMT -5
The Dante Basco of Korea.
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Post by truth on Feb 27, 2022 18:28:54 GMT -5
The Dante Basco of Korea. Actually, there are many Korean actors over 40 who still look as young as ever. Actor playing LBW in this drama is 43 years old. This is actor Go Soo's most recent look when he appeared on TV earlier this month. He is 43 years old. Kang Dongwon's recent photo shoot. He is 41 years old. These days, early 40s Korean actors look like they're in early 30s. Early 30s Korean actors look like they're in early 20s. This is actor Choi Woo Shik in his most recent drama that was recently released on Netflix. He is turning 32 this year.
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episode 13
Feb 28, 2022 15:06:07 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MTR on Feb 28, 2022 15:06:07 GMT -5
I like both Go Soo and Kang . I had no idea they were in their 40’s .
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Post by sageuk on Mar 6, 2022 14:52:00 GMT -5
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Post by simisteve on Mar 16, 2022 15:46:38 GMT -5
I have to agree with ajk...this is the most beautifully shot & lit TV series I've seen in a long time, including domestic broadcast here in the USA.
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