episode 19

[ajk]

...should be up with subs shortly on Kocowa. As usual, 24 hours to watch it with ads before it goes behind their paywall.

[mugwump]

Getting uglier and uglier, isn't it?  Can't see Bang Won as some sort of tragic figure anymore.

[ajk]

Yeah ugly ugly. Even the way Bangwon stripped Park Po of his entire professional life just for having some sort of temper tantrum. Po was with him from the beginning but Bangwon cut him zero slack. That was nasty.

Anyway this was another strong episode, up to a very specific moment towards the end. The story continues to be very powerful so there’s not need to juice it up with gimmicks, and without them the story is being told very well. Production quality continues to be good; the acting is good; the writers have given us characters with depth and consistency. All solid. Even the music, when it’s not being juiced up and over-drummed, it’s excellent.

Bangwon is doubled over, hyperventilating, broken stuff scattered around the room...the wife comes in, looks around, and asks “Are you okay?” Groan. But then later she actually apologizes for it. I don’t ever remember that happening in a historical before, where a character produces a groaner moment and then later we go back and revisit it and acknowledge it was a groaner. How about that.

Bangwon’s supporters. “We raised the army to enthrone the rightful heir. We have no reason to stop Youngan from taking the throne.” You almost had to laugh, they never saw it coming.

■ In 1398 AD, the ninth lunar month in the seventh year under King Taejo’s reign, Lee Seong Gye’s second son Lee Bang Gwa was crowned the second king of Joseon. Lee Seong Gye abdicated and gave all his authorities to the new king. However, all the power in Joseon was already in Bang Won’s hands.

Bangwon to Banggwa: “Father is not knowledgeable in politics. You cannot beat me with his advice.” Well said, and frankly it’s surprising that Banggwa is leaning on his father so heavily after everything that’s happened. He needs craftier people around him.

Why the Bangwon/Banggwa confrontation in the arena of all places? That was silly.

So we get to the armies moving out. Bangwon’s army turns the corner, with Bangwon leading the way...and there’s a whole bunch of archers all loaded up and pointing at him. And nothing happens. Ummm...why didn’t they fire right then and there? That was utterly ridiculous. Bangwon was a sitting duck. Game over. And then you give the young kid the first shot? Why? And then was that a deliberate miss or does the kid just have no skillz? The archers withheld their fire just so Bangwon and Banggan could trash-talk each other. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Suddenly the series fell back onto its uglier tendencies.

And then the battle scene wasn’t very good. The shaking camera was too gimmicky...and it didn’t shake enough to keep us from seeing soldiers lining up politely one at a time to take on Jo Yeongmu and get butchered. Or Banggan’s son shooting an arrow at a soldier running hard straight at him, and the arrow knocks the guy backwards. Ugh! The producers should have gone back and looked at the urban warfare sequence from the Jeong Dojeon series, because that one puts this one to shame.

And then this business about all the civilians getting slaughtered. That did not happen seamlessly in the flow of the battle. It was very forced and contrived and awkward. I don’t know if there actually was a lot of collateral death when this confrontation happened in real history, but either way what we saw here felt like the producers where bending over backwards to give Bangwon a justifiable reason to kill his brother, rather than him just being an SOB and killing his brother so he could be king and his brother couldn’t. Because the latter, well that guy is an SOB and who wants to watch a series about an SOB. Maybe that’s unfair, but I’m not so sure.

Oh and I've said this before but if you have to resort to traumatizing a child to get your point across, then give the job to someone else because you're not good enough for it. BOOOOOOO

[truth]

Mar 20, 2022 3:28:30 GMT -5 ajk said:

Yeah ugly ugly. Even the way Bangwon stripped Park Po of his entire professional life just for having some sort of temper tantrum. Po was with him from the beginning but Bangwon cut him zero slack. That was nasty.

Drama : Park Po gets fired but is allowed to stay in the capital. Lee Banggan visits Park Po first to discuss his coup.

History : Park Po gets exiled. Park Po visited Lee Banggan first to convince Lee Banggan to start a coup.


Drama : Lee Banggui was with Lee Banggan at first but decides not to join when Banggan actually begins the coup

History : Banggui was never with Banggan from the beginning

Mar 20, 2022 3:28:30 GMT -5 ajk said:

And then this business about all the civilians getting slaughtered. That did not happen seamlessly in the flow of the battle. It was very forced and contrived and awkward.

This part is made up and did not actually happen in history. No civilians died during this incident.

[ajk]

Thanks truth, that's very helpful.

[sageuk]

I don't have a problem with the artistic license of Banggui being initially involved, only to get cold feet at the last moment to be honest.

[𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯]

When Maengjong took that first shot I was happy it just missed instead of the drama giving Bangwon Three Kingdoms superpowers and chopping the arrow like in every other war drama.

Also, Jeong Tae Woo appreciation post!

Leave it to him to still look so handsome in Court clothes lmao

Okay appreciation post over!

[sageuk]

I kinda got the impression he missed was because either he was hesitant to kill a family member or since he never actually killed a person prior it got him nervous.

[ajk]

That's very possible, would make a lot of sense. All the more reason to not give him the job! Ugh that was such a groaner. Banggan deserved to lose if he didn't even tell his men to take the first good shot they could get.