Post by ajk on Oct 30, 2022 1:08:35 GMT -5
This one ran 58 minutes, which is long for an episode, and it was packed. There were a few places where I thought the writing was shakier than usual, but that was more than made up for by some very good stuff.
Kyun-hwon: “Yaesul you fool! When did you become such a coward?” He starts calling all of his generals cowards and at first it felt like he was waaaay overdoing it. But in the end you have to cut him some slack. This is one time he has every right to be 100% pissed and to blame them all for not trying. The bad luck and bumbling we keep seeing from Shin-guhm, that’s not even the issue here. They easily could have gone the alternate route; at least that would have been doing something, even if it meant they’d have been late. I think the generals all know that KH knows it wasn’t their fault, but he had to read them the riot act.
And to accompany the text they paid and dressed up a whole lot of extras for a welcoming scene. Nice touch!
WG: “Are you the envoys from Shilla?” Are you kidding me? Nobody told him who was coming to his own meeting? No way. That was a bad piece of writing right there. I understand what the writers were trying to do there, signal to us that these were the envoys, but wow that came off very poorly.
The Yum Heun scene…his talking about the amount of strife within Bekjae...we know about all of the uncertainty over the princes, but have we really seen KH acting “despotic”? This was kind of a reach. They needed to make more of a case for him acting so unreasonable that somebody would actually abandon their own country over it. Like they did with Goongyae. KH, maybe the writers backed themselves into a corner over the course of the series, but they haven’t made him out to be enough of a villain to buy what Yum described here.
But one thing for sure, suddenly WG seems more secure and confident in his job right at this point then he ever was, or at least he sounds better.
Wow that was quite a blowup there about relocating the capital! But this was another problem. Why would Yu Geumpil get so hot about it so quickly? If he had an opinion to express, well okay that’s fine, but for him to just suddenly go nuts over the mere mention of the idea, that wasn’t at all in character for him. At least not without a proper explanation for it. And Shikryum sure got pissed at him—more pissed than we’d ever seen him about anything. Shikryum has always been a decent sort; we needed a better setup for him acting like that all of a sudden.
So the king and his party are headed north for a visit, and a whole big group of tough-looking strangers on horseback shows up in front of them…and nobody thinks to move the king back away from the front of the line? Really?
Shikryum, to himself: “And I the governor am completely ignored!” Well that was ugly. So I guess there’s our answer—it’s his ego acting up. But this is the same thing as with Kyun-hwon—we’ve never seen any hint of an ego from him. So it didn’t make much sense.
WG: “Once we unify the Three Kingdoms, our goal will be to expand north beyond Parhae and the Great Wall and conquer the whole of China.” WHAT? Nobody even raised their eyebrows at that? When Goongyae was saying that very thing they all thought he was bananas and wanted no part of it. Okay yes they’ve just had some big success and they’re farther along than they were before, but still. This is exactly Goongyae’s Great Cause and now suddenly everybody’s okay with it. I didn’t understand that at all.
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Kinda hard to do that when all of the cups are obviously EMPTY. Sheesh!
Park Sulhee to Hong Yu: “There’s something else. You were not like this before.” That is the smartest, most perceptive thing he’s said all series.
WG to Yu Geumpil: “Be mindful of your conduct. Superiority breeds envy.” Another great observation. We see this time and time again—-the moment you start to have some success, people start feeling their oats and start trying to tear each other down.
Very difficult watching the Shilla council meeting, the king trying to salvage any last thread of independence for his country. Could very much feel the sadness and the frustration.
Wow that Bekjae council meeting scene was terrific! Those have always been good but I don’t know if there’s been a better one. Really well done all around. The guy playing KH was great…totally up to the level of the guy who played Goongyae.
“Why did you remain silent at the assembly?”
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I laughed at that...but this was the only time I can ever remember when Choi wasn’t insightful or helpful at all. “Give him the benefit of the doubt and one more chance.” Really Choi? Shin-guhm isn’t king material and you know it. Even if you want to uphold the first-born tradition, you can’t just pretend there isn’t a problem here. I was surprised at him. Very uncharacteristic.
This was an excellent scene. You felt the shock of the Shillans at seing their king bow, and you felt the elation of the Koryo side. And it was a class gesture for WG to reciprocate. Here at least is one thing in the episode that’s consistent with his past. He’s become known as a compassionate king and this is certainly something considerate that a compassionate king would do. And it’s smart too—he’ll score points in Shilla for making the gesture. So it was an interesting ending.
Kyun-hwon: “Yaesul you fool! When did you become such a coward?” He starts calling all of his generals cowards and at first it felt like he was waaaay overdoing it. But in the end you have to cut him some slack. This is one time he has every right to be 100% pissed and to blame them all for not trying. The bad luck and bumbling we keep seeing from Shin-guhm, that’s not even the issue here. They easily could have gone the alternate route; at least that would have been doing something, even if it meant they’d have been late. I think the generals all know that KH knows it wasn’t their fault, but he had to read them the riot act.
■ Wang Guhn had won. The victory in Gochang came with a big payoff. Not only did it cause many villages and counties to submit to Koryo, it also brought King Kyung-soon of Shilla to humble himself and send a congratulatory address to Koryo.
And to accompany the text they paid and dressed up a whole lot of extras for a welcoming scene. Nice touch!
WG: “Are you the envoys from Shilla?” Are you kidding me? Nobody told him who was coming to his own meeting? No way. That was a bad piece of writing right there. I understand what the writers were trying to do there, signal to us that these were the envoys, but wow that came off very poorly.
The Yum Heun scene…his talking about the amount of strife within Bekjae...we know about all of the uncertainty over the princes, but have we really seen KH acting “despotic”? This was kind of a reach. They needed to make more of a case for him acting so unreasonable that somebody would actually abandon their own country over it. Like they did with Goongyae. KH, maybe the writers backed themselves into a corner over the course of the series, but they haven’t made him out to be enough of a villain to buy what Yum described here.
But one thing for sure, suddenly WG seems more secure and confident in his job right at this point then he ever was, or at least he sounds better.
Wow that was quite a blowup there about relocating the capital! But this was another problem. Why would Yu Geumpil get so hot about it so quickly? If he had an opinion to express, well okay that’s fine, but for him to just suddenly go nuts over the mere mention of the idea, that wasn’t at all in character for him. At least not without a proper explanation for it. And Shikryum sure got pissed at him—more pissed than we’d ever seen him about anything. Shikryum has always been a decent sort; we needed a better setup for him acting like that all of a sudden.
■ Wang Guhn took special interest in Pyongyang, taking annual trips and requiring his succeeding kings to spend at least 100 days out of a year there. In fact, he repeatedly examined the prospect of relocating the capital to Pyongyang, indulging his desire to relive the glory of Old Koguryo.
So the king and his party are headed north for a visit, and a whole big group of tough-looking strangers on horseback shows up in front of them…and nobody thinks to move the king back away from the front of the line? Really?
Shikryum, to himself: “And I the governor am completely ignored!” Well that was ugly. So I guess there’s our answer—it’s his ego acting up. But this is the same thing as with Kyun-hwon—we’ve never seen any hint of an ego from him. So it didn’t make much sense.
WG: “Once we unify the Three Kingdoms, our goal will be to expand north beyond Parhae and the Great Wall and conquer the whole of China.” WHAT? Nobody even raised their eyebrows at that? When Goongyae was saying that very thing they all thought he was bananas and wanted no part of it. Okay yes they’ve just had some big success and they’re farther along than they were before, but still. This is exactly Goongyae’s Great Cause and now suddenly everybody’s okay with it. I didn’t understand that at all.
(click for full size)
Kinda hard to do that when all of the cups are obviously EMPTY. Sheesh!
Park Sulhee to Hong Yu: “There’s something else. You were not like this before.” That is the smartest, most perceptive thing he’s said all series.
WG to Yu Geumpil: “Be mindful of your conduct. Superiority breeds envy.” Another great observation. We see this time and time again—-the moment you start to have some success, people start feeling their oats and start trying to tear each other down.
Very difficult watching the Shilla council meeting, the king trying to salvage any last thread of independence for his country. Could very much feel the sadness and the frustration.
Wow that Bekjae council meeting scene was terrific! Those have always been good but I don’t know if there’s been a better one. Really well done all around. The guy playing KH was great…totally up to the level of the guy who played Goongyae.
“Why did you remain silent at the assembly?”
(click for full size)
I laughed at that...but this was the only time I can ever remember when Choi wasn’t insightful or helpful at all. “Give him the benefit of the doubt and one more chance.” Really Choi? Shin-guhm isn’t king material and you know it. Even if you want to uphold the first-born tradition, you can’t just pretend there isn’t a problem here. I was surprised at him. Very uncharacteristic.
■ In February of 931, Wang Guhn visits Surabul upon repeated invitation of King Kyung-soon. The event is recorded like this: “Another invitation from the king of Shilla was received on the 34th day of the sexagenary cycle. On the 48th day, King Wang Guhn went to Shilla with an entourage of fifty guards. He was received by government officials at the countryside and by the king’s cousin outside the stronghold. King Kyungsoon received him with an obeisance at the gate and the homage was reciprocated.” It is important to remember that the king of Shilla bowed first. Although Wang Guhn returned the courtesy, Kyung-soon’s bow to Wang Guhn represented Shilla’s exhausted strength. At last the era of Wang Guhn had begun.
This was an excellent scene. You felt the shock of the Shillans at seing their king bow, and you felt the elation of the Koryo side. And it was a class gesture for WG to reciprocate. Here at least is one thing in the episode that’s consistent with his past. He’s become known as a compassionate king and this is certainly something considerate that a compassionate king would do. And it’s smart too—he’ll score points in Shilla for making the gesture. So it was an interesting ending.