|
Post by ajk on Nov 26, 2023 16:15:26 GMT -5
...is up on Kocowa now, with subs.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Nov 26, 2023 17:28:44 GMT -5
7.8 Rating, which is once again the highest rating so far.
Still lower than LBW's 1st episode, but a lot of people in Korea are watching this on Netflix instead of on TV as I've said before.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Nov 26, 2023 20:04:52 GMT -5
Hmm...not entirely sure how to feel about this one
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Nov 26, 2023 21:31:21 GMT -5
I enjoyed most of this one almost as much as yesterday's. Except for the first scene, and the last scene. The opening was playing fast and loose with the laws of physics again, and now even the laws of chemistry. No point in beating on it more, but it looked phony (Fair to say fusion-y? idk) after the wonderful realism of the trebuchets, and it was completely unnecessary to go that far. Great work showing the trebuchets and the scared villagers in the fortress, though. But immediately it all redeemed itself. The infantry advance, finally for once we got un-flaming arrows at night. Wow. The signal arrows making the noise, and the booby traps, wonderfully done, bravo. And the lighting wasn’t too bad either. This is always a huge problem in these shows with nighttime conflict. It wasn’t perfect but we’ve seen much, much worse. Thumbs up again. Khitan emperor: “If we take the victory so easy in the first battle, it will work against us.” Let’s see how long he keeps his cool lol.... “The Khitan army starts a war with the bare minimum of supplies. The rest of the things they need, they get from pillaging on the battlefield....” That scene was good information, we needed to hear it and I liked how they wrote it in. Nice going. (click for full size) My favorite thing in this episode was how well they showed the scenes of the villages being plundered. I don’t know if any historical we’ve watched here has ever done this kind of scene so well. It was a perfect balance between showing us the horror and the suffering that happened, and yet not overdramatizing it or exploiting it to try to make more of an impact. Even the kids running away and getting caught, it wasn’t belabored or overdone. We needed to see this stuff, it’s such a big part of the story, and for once somebody got it exactly right. Can’t praise this enough, it was perfect. A rare subbed identification: “Kim Sook Heung, Seventh Rank Officer of Gwiju.” Hey how about that, apparently somebody got the message! Ha! Gamchan’s wife is a real piece or work, isn’t she? But at least she gets him to eat. Queen: “Why did you say such a thing? What if the tide of the war turns against us? The people will resent your majesty...Being able to read your majesty’s sincerity easily will only bring down your majesty’s authority.” Obviously they set up the marketplace scene with the villagers just so that the wife could give Hyeonjong advice about it afterwards. I wonder if she was really as perceptive as she’s being portrayed here. Because already she’s shown herself remarkably wise beyond her years. (click for full size) The images of all of the dead bodies at the fortress walls, wow. Not sure how much of that is CGI but either way it looked amazingly realistic. The visual aspect has been consistently terrific so far. (click for full size) That made me laugh so hard I had to stop the stream. “Fail and I will cut off your head and throw it at the Heunghwajin gates.” And the answer is...he can keep his cool for six days. Kinda surprising it was even that long. “Officer Yang, do not shoot! That is my child.” And after those masterful scenes early on, they caved in to the dark side. They sent that guy up onto the wall in the previous scene to deliver arrows, and of course his wife was dead and his kids were missing, and then wouldn’t you know it, somehow there he is again on the wall of a different part of the fortress—What’s he doing up there anyway at that moment? No way should he be up there—and now he’s screaming for his son, wouldn’t you know it his son is right there in the front, and the son is screaming for his dad...Assuming this is real (no reason to doubt it), pushing hostages up the wall like that is so awful and tragic, and so cowardly, why did the writers think it needed to be juiced up with something so contrived? Awful. Cheap stunt and lazy writing, after they showed they could do so much better. But okay yes this is just me bitching about the same thing that doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, so we move on. And overall it was another good episode. Good to hear the solid ratings number again.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Nov 26, 2023 21:40:56 GMT -5
Regarding the last scene, the closest I’ve been able to find something similar is a passage saying this:
It isn’t stated what happens to those rounded up after that.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Nov 26, 2023 22:10:29 GMT -5
A rare subbed identification: “Kim Sook Heung, Seventh Rank Officer of Gwiju.” Hey how about that, apparently somebody got the message! Ha! Finally. Just want to let you know that the Korean name tag text that comes up in the drama refers to her as "Empress" “Why did you say such a thing? What if the tide of the war turns against us? The people will resent your majesty...Being able to read your majesty’s sincerity easily will only bring down your majesty’s authority.” Obviously they set up the marketplace scene with the villagers just so that the wife could give Hyeonjong advice about it afterwards. I wonder if she was really as perceptive as she’s being portrayed here. Because already she’s shown herself remarkably wise beyond her years. I think the difference between her and Hyeonjong's perspective has to do with the fact that she was born and raised in the palace her entire life. She has never experienced the life of peasants. Hyeonjong grew up outside of the palace. Both as a child living with his dad in the countryside and as a Buddhist priest. He knows the life of commoners and sympathizes with them, unlike Wonjeong. “Officer Yang, do not shoot! That is my child.” And after those masterful scenes early on, they caved in to the dark side. They sent that guy up onto the wall in the previous scene to deliver arrows, and of course his wife was dead and his kids were missing, and then wouldn’t you know it, somehow there he is again on the wall of a different part of the fortress—What’s he doing up there anyway at that moment? No way should he be up there—and now he’s screaming for his son, wouldn’t you know it his son is right there in the front, and the son is screaming for his dad...Assuming this is real (no reason to doubt it), pushing hostages up the wall like that is so awful and tragic, and so cowardly, why did the writers think it needed to be juiced up with something so contrived? Awful. Cheap stunt and lazy writing, after they showed they could do so much better. Once again, completely opposite reaction from Korean viewers. Korean viewers are actually praising this scene. They think that this scene was necessary to show why Yang Gyu attacked the Khitans to rescue Korean hostages in the later stages of this invasion when he didn't have to. Regarding the last scene, the closest I’ve been able to find something similar is a passage saying this: It isn’t stated what happens to those rounded up after that. It is recorded that the Khitans killed Korean kids and elders in front of Heunghwajin army during the 1st Khitan Invasion, which isn't covered by this drama. It seems like the writer kind of lumped this incident and the passage you quoted together to make this scene.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Nov 27, 2023 5:59:59 GMT -5
Someone made a funny edit of the last scene using JDJ footage
|
|
|
Post by truth on Nov 27, 2023 8:29:50 GMT -5
Someone made a funny edit of the last scene using JDJ footage I liked the ones where they mix in the actors' roles from SBS Rustic Period with the roles in this drama. Shanghai Jo in Korea-Khitan War as Tak Sajeong Gumajeok in Korea-Khitan War as Kang Jo Lee Jeongjae in Korea-Khitan War as Emperor Shengzong SBS Rustic Period isn't really known in the West but was a mega-hit in Korea back in 2002. Many online memes have been made from scenes in this drama for the last 20 years and are still being made in the year 2023. The writer of this drama is Lee Hwangyeong(Emperor Wang Guhn, Tears of Dragon, God of War) by the way.
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Nov 27, 2023 11:35:51 GMT -5
The one actor not wearing a bald cap and that’s only because he’s already bald. Also, does the actor Kim Junbae have a problem with his right eye? It looks at a different direction from his other one.
|
|
|
Post by 𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯 on Nov 27, 2023 23:34:40 GMT -5
The one actor not wearing a bald cap and that’s only because he’s already bald. Also, does the actor Kim Junbae have a problem with his right eye? It looks at a different direction from his other one. View Attachmentwait does that mean he actually shaved his head for My Dearest? (he played a Manchurian merchant there)
|
|
|
Post by sageuk on Nov 28, 2023 1:00:05 GMT -5
What do you mean? Every photo I’ve seen of the guy shows that he’s naturally bald.
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Nov 30, 2023 4:46:26 GMT -5
“Why did you say such a thing? What if the tide of the war turns against us? The people will resent your majesty...Being able to read your majesty’s sincerity easily will only bring down your majesty’s authority.” Obviously they set up the marketplace scene with the villagers just so that the wife could give Hyeonjong advice about it afterwards. I wonder if she was really as perceptive as she’s being portrayed here. Because already she’s shown herself remarkably wise beyond her years. I think the difference between her and Hyeonjong's perspective has to do with the fact that she was born and raised in the palace her entire life. She has never experienced the life of peasants. Hyeonjong grew up outside of the palace. Both as a child living with his dad in the countryside and as a Buddhist priest. He knows the life of commoners and sympathizes with them, unlike Wonjeong. Yeah that's a really good point. We didn't get much about her background but if she grew up in that environment then she'd be more attuned to the political realities. Either way she sure has been helpful so far. (And I will try to get her title correct going forward.) The last scene, I don't mind that they showed the Khitans getting hostages killed, and if it justifies something else later on then by all means show it, even if you have to borrow a little from the recent past. But throwing in that extra element of the villager and his kid, all that did was detract from the main story. The earlier scenes that I thought so highly of, would those scenes have been better with some screaming parent and kid in them? No way. Those poor women with the nooses around their necks, THAT is the image the writers should want people to remember, not something gimmicked up to try to add drama. And it was so obviously phony that the guy shows up instantly someplace else, where he should not be at that moment anyway. Blecch. But my complaining aside, it's good to have the information about the real history of this so thank you both for sharing it. Really appreciate that.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Nov 30, 2023 10:25:18 GMT -5
Yeah that's a really good point. We didn't get much about her background but if she grew up in that environment then she'd be more attuned to the political realities. She's the daughter of Emperor Seongjong and Empress Munhwa. Remember them from Iron Empress? She's their daughter. Hyeonjong's 2nd wife Wonhwa is her half-sister whose mother was Seongjong's concubine.
|
|
|
Post by ajk on Dec 2, 2023 3:38:53 GMT -5
Yes that's right, I do remember now that she was a peripheral character in IE. We saw her marry in one of the later episodes.
|
|
|
Post by truth on Dec 2, 2023 5:45:56 GMT -5
Errors on character roster :
It should be Xiao Paiya, not Xaio Paiya.
Choi Jil (4) and Kim Hoon (4) first appeared on Episode 1, not 4.
Kang Mincheom (6) is the same person as Gang Mincheom (1) – official in Seogyeong.
Lee Hyunwoon is mentioned twice in the character roster : Lee Hyunwoon (1, identified 2) and Lee Hyunwoon (1, identified 4).
Lee Hyunwoon (1, identified 2) is the correct one.
|
|