Post by ajk on Jun 26, 2022 17:24:07 GMT -5
Well we had another what-the-heck moment in this one. Hate to harp on it because the episode was very good otherwise, interesting to watch, kept your attention…but you couldn’t stop scratching your head about the what-the-heck.
Shin Duk: “If Wang Guhn was not directly involved, it is likely to have been plotted by his aides.” Well done sir. Kyun-hwon should promote that guy immediately.
Mrs. K-H: “Why were we not made aware if he had been ill?” BINGO. I was surprised nobody in the Bekjae court brought that up. She’s shown before, she’s no dummy, far from it.
“Of all people why did he use my nephew as a pawn and send him to die? He never would have done this to Madame Kobe’s family. He could not care less about me.” Not entirely fair; you being the actual empress, your family is of much higher status than hers, and someone from her family isn’t a fair trade for Wang Shin. But she’s felt snubbed for a long time so let’s cut her some slack on this one.
KH is sixty years old? Wow, and not a wrinkle on him, gotta love TV.
But wow Neunghwan sure got his ass handed to him didn’t he?
(click for full size)
Geez that was brutal. What a glare. Who’d have thought KH would get so hot and bothered. (But dang isn’t the actor doing some strong work lately? He da man right now!)
Nice visual sequence in there of Koryo military training. Heck of a lot of work for a few seconds of footage. One of the really outstanding things about this series, that they’ll spend money for these touches.
But then we learn that WG never authorized the training…wow what is wrong with him? He really is not a very strong leader right now, is he. He should have gone ballistic when he heard about it.
“It appears he has ingested potent poison. Hence the accelerated decomposition.” Well that was an easy diagnosis, wasn’t it. Apparently Koryo had no intention of trying to hide what happened…or did they just bungle it? I really could not tell which it was.
Letting Wang Shin have that final moment to salute his king was a class act by KH. He’s shown time and again what a high-class leader he is. But then the next moments were utterly bizarre. Wang suddenly starts bleeding from the mouth—did he somehow have poison on him and ingest it? There was never any indication of that, but look at the symptom—and then he starts banging his head on a wagon wheel. Huh? He killed himself by self-concussion, was that it? So what was the mouth bleeding then? Was he just making extra-sure? This was so very weird, and it wasn’t explained at all. What happened? And why not just show him being beheaded? His sacrifice and his loyalty were heroic, but we weren’t left thinking about that, all we could think about was What the heck did we just see happen?
WG, sort of an oath to himself over Wang Shin’s coffin: “I will display my remorse and vow to make this right.” Hmmm…seems like making it right includes holding accountable the subjects who caused it to happen. Doesn’t seem like he has any intention of doing that.
…but then he stands there looking all devastated, and there’s a long, silent fade…which worked beautifully. That was exactly the right touch at that moment. Very effective.
So it was a good episode, but marred by a death the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Seriously, if I missed something there then somebody please help me out. It hung over everything that followed it.
Shin Duk: “If Wang Guhn was not directly involved, it is likely to have been plotted by his aides.” Well done sir. Kyun-hwon should promote that guy immediately.
Mrs. K-H: “Why were we not made aware if he had been ill?” BINGO. I was surprised nobody in the Bekjae court brought that up. She’s shown before, she’s no dummy, far from it.
“Of all people why did he use my nephew as a pawn and send him to die? He never would have done this to Madame Kobe’s family. He could not care less about me.” Not entirely fair; you being the actual empress, your family is of much higher status than hers, and someone from her family isn’t a fair trade for Wang Shin. But she’s felt snubbed for a long time so let’s cut her some slack on this one.
KH is sixty years old? Wow, and not a wrinkle on him, gotta love TV.
But wow Neunghwan sure got his ass handed to him didn’t he?
(click for full size)
Geez that was brutal. What a glare. Who’d have thought KH would get so hot and bothered. (But dang isn’t the actor doing some strong work lately? He da man right now!)
Nice visual sequence in there of Koryo military training. Heck of a lot of work for a few seconds of footage. One of the really outstanding things about this series, that they’ll spend money for these touches.
But then we learn that WG never authorized the training…wow what is wrong with him? He really is not a very strong leader right now, is he. He should have gone ballistic when he heard about it.
“It appears he has ingested potent poison. Hence the accelerated decomposition.” Well that was an easy diagnosis, wasn’t it. Apparently Koryo had no intention of trying to hide what happened…or did they just bungle it? I really could not tell which it was.
Letting Wang Shin have that final moment to salute his king was a class act by KH. He’s shown time and again what a high-class leader he is. But then the next moments were utterly bizarre. Wang suddenly starts bleeding from the mouth—did he somehow have poison on him and ingest it? There was never any indication of that, but look at the symptom—and then he starts banging his head on a wagon wheel. Huh? He killed himself by self-concussion, was that it? So what was the mouth bleeding then? Was he just making extra-sure? This was so very weird, and it wasn’t explained at all. What happened? And why not just show him being beheaded? His sacrifice and his loyalty were heroic, but we weren’t left thinking about that, all we could think about was What the heck did we just see happen?
■ Wang Guhn’s cousin Wang Shin had been sent to Bekjae as a pawn when Wang Guhn negotiated peace to avoid devastation at the battle of Jomul Fort. Kyun-hwon had sent the empress’s nephew Jin Ho to Koryo, but when Jin Ho died in April of 926, Kyun-hwon suspected foul play and killed Wang Shin in retaliation in January of 927. Kyun-hwon also demanded return of his gift, the stallion of Julyoung province, based on a prophecy that this stallion’s departure from Bekjae would bring doom. Now the armistice between Bekjae and Koryo was broken.
WG, sort of an oath to himself over Wang Shin’s coffin: “I will display my remorse and vow to make this right.” Hmmm…seems like making it right includes holding accountable the subjects who caused it to happen. Doesn’t seem like he has any intention of doing that.
…but then he stands there looking all devastated, and there’s a long, silent fade…which worked beautifully. That was exactly the right touch at that moment. Very effective.
So it was a good episode, but marred by a death the likes of which we’ve never seen before. Seriously, if I missed something there then somebody please help me out. It hung over everything that followed it.
