Episode 14

[hachiue]

Alexa said:

Anyways I watched Episode 13 again yesterday, and I felt horrible for Horseboot. It was so sad to see him crying over the death of his wife and his unborn child. Poor guy, after everything he had risked and done, he lost all that he had.

I completely forgot about those scenes! They were the worst. Any respect that anyone in Joseun had for the rebels should've evaporated after that little fake-Chae-ok stunt. She was an innocent (and pregnant) woman!

Oh and I'm glad that SungBaek killed Gato Sama. I couldn't stand him. To bad it wasn't really much of a fight, Gato Sama didn't stand a chance against SungBaek!

Ah, Gato-sama wa totemo seiei desu. Seriously, though, he was almost a good guy. Lived to the samurai code and all that. I don't think cutting off fingers was really nice. But he was dedicated to his cause.

The one thing the samurai made me realize was the difference in sound between Japanese and Korean (hadn't noticed them really before because I hadn't heard Korean that much before). Very interesting.

[Knov1]

Alexa said:

Why would he decide to turn himself in, even after he found out that Chae-ok was his sister?

The police force was hunting him down. Well, not only him but any rebels that might still be alive. He basically sacrificed himself in order to save everyone else. It's like he said, just because he dies that doesn't mean that the dream of the people dies as well. Everyone else must stay alive in order to keep that dream alive. There's more to it than that but that's a big part of it.

[Alexa]

hachiue said:

Any respect that anyone in Joseun had for the rebels should've evaporated after that little fake-Chae-ok stunt. She was an innocent (and pregnant) woman!

The way I see it, there were two type of rebels. Like SungBaek and his crew, they longed to see a new world, a world of equality, a world where there were no such thing as social classes. Where everybody had a piece of land and enough to feed their family. These rebels had a cause, and I feel bad, because I can see where they were coming from. All the struggles they had gone through, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. Life wasn't fair.

Then on the other was the Left Prime Minister and his people. Using the pain and heartaches of the common people to use them to their advantage. All the Left Prime Minister really cared for was power and greed. He was going to create a new world that was worst then the one they lived in. I mean look at what they were willing to do in order to accomplish their goals. They killed all the lepers, even the children. Then in episode 13 they killed all the people in that one town, including that little girl. Remember SungBaek said something like this "anybody who thinks it's okay for this little girl to die for the cause of the new world, should be slayed" (something like that). The Left Prime Minister was willing to kill women and children, SungBaek wasn't. Yeah he slayed HorseBoot's wife, but I think she was already dead because she was hanging from the tree. There is no way she could've been hanging like that and still be alive. (at least that's what I think.)

SungBaek and Left Prime Minister were both rebels but with 2 completely different causes. I don't think people would've lost respect for SungBaek. If anything they probably admired him more because he basically died for his cause.

As for Gato Sama, he was just a cold-blooded killer, no heart, no emotions.

[FlowerLady]

Alexa said:

but I think she was already dead because she was hanging from the tree. There is no way she could've been hanging like that and still be alive. (at least that's what I think.)

Oh, I really hope she was already gone, too! That was such a difficult scene to watch. And the scenes of Horseboot discovering his wife and unborn child had been slain (especially because he had made the choice to "enlist" himself). All the episodes were emotional and intense, but towards the end, it just seemed to get actually stressful, it was so dramatic! Aaacckk! The darkness of the film scenes added to the intensity of emotion, too.

[hachiue]

I have to cast doubt on the already-dead theory. I think that she was hanging from the tree by her wrists.

However, she was quiet, as opposed to screaming in the sack like she had been earlier. Maybe that meant that she tired herself out, or passed out, or that she was dead.

Being a cold-blooded killer who's open about it is better than being a false hero like the evil branch of the rebels. Gato was at least open about it (tangent: why'd they keep calling him sama (lord) anyway? I guess b/c he was of samurai class, but he'd have had to be a poor/unscrupulous one to do mercenary work for Koreans. Or maybe the govt sanctioned it to get the island. I wish they'd explained that better), while the prime minister and his crew were extremely duplicitous and much worse, in my opinion.

[guest]

horseboot's wife being killed scene: person i was watching w/ thought some significance to jang sung baek having turned around +cutting w/ his sword twice. looked like first cut was on the the left shoulder. any chance that the first cut was to see if person hanging fm the tree was really chae ok. i could not remember, but they thought she would have had a wound in that location. so once jang sung baek saw was not chae ok he went ahead and killed w/ second stab w/ sword.

also, the rebel girl questioned jang sung baek abt why it took him 2 swipes w/ sword. can not remember his response back.

possible i guess.?!

[Alexa]

SungBaek cut her the first time to see if she had a scar there. Chae-ok had been shot in that same spot so if it was her, there would've been some type of scar.

When the girl asked SungBaek about the 2 swipes of his sword, he said the first one was to cut his affection.

[chuck]

I just finished watching Damo - better late than never.

Overall I liked the drama, although painful endings like that are tough to take.

The ending did not surprise me. The original flash-forward scene had shown Chae Ohk and her brother in what appeared to be their death scene, so I was expecting that all along. And as for Yoon, I had actually thought he might commit suicide after Chae Ohk confessed she loved Sung Baek, and not him. At any rate, he had already said, as Chae Ohk had, that the only thing in life that kept him going was his love for her. He couldn't breathe without her. So if she died, I could not see him going on living.

As for the scene where Sung Baek kills the woman hanging from the tree, I'm pretty sure after the first sword stroke she bled. Corpses don't bleed, that I'm aware of.

But that scene, in particular, is the one part of the drama that I didn't like at all. Not because of Sung Baek killing the woman, which was bad enough, but because Chae Ohk just sat there watching, and didn't lift a finger to help the innocent woman being killed in her place. I absolutely couldn't believe she just watched it happen. You may object that she couldn't have stopped it, against all those men. That doesn't matter to me. If she had to die, she ought to have died, not let someone else die for her. Didn't like that at all.

I thought the most heart wrenching, dramatic scene of the drama was when Chae Ohk brought Sung Baek out of the cave, and landed right in the middle of the standoff between the rebels, and Yoon's government troops. Right there, with almost no time to think, Chae Ohk had to decide who to help, and who to betray. She betrayed Yoon, by pretending to be taken captive by the rebels, thereby giving them the bargaining chip they needed to get back Sung Baek.

What an awful choice to have to make. Really great drama.

Now, this being 2011, I wonder if anyone here has also watched Chuno (The Slave Hunters)? Because Chuno was strikingly similar in plot and characters to Damo.

[TheBo]

Lord, Chuck, you ARE late to this party! LOL. Damo is a really good drama, and I pretty much agree with your commentary. I was disappointed that they made the drama into a choice between two men, a love triangle, rather than concentrating on her choices between the groups of men she had allied herself with, and to whom she felt strong, conflicting loyalties.

I did not see Chuno, it just did not appeal to me.

[chuck]

My lateness was due to extenuating circumstances. I didn't know K-Dramas existed until 2008. So I have a lot of catching up to do.

[TheBo]

Oh, my. You sure do. Prefer historicals? What's under your belt so far?

[chuck]

My first, and all time favorite, is Dae Jang Geum. Since then, I've watched:

Jumong
Sodongyo
Queen Seon Duk
Painter of the Wind
Chuno
Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Damo

My Lovely Sam Soon
What's Up, Fox?
Pasta
Prosecutor Princess
Dr. Champ
When It's at Night
I Really, Really Like You
Couple or Trouble

H.I.T.
Beethoven Virus
Inside the White Tower
I.R.I.S.
My Sweet Seoul

I think that's it. I'm watching The Greatest Love now, on DramaFever, but they haven't posted anything past episode 8 yet, so I'm in a holding pattern on that one.

So I like all kinds, really, Historical, Romantic Comedy, and regular modern dramas, like Bethoven Virus.

[ginnycat5]

Hi, Chuck, welcome! (Although you've been here a while, haven't you?)

You've seen many dramas in three years! That makes me want to make a list of the ones I've seen. Do you know the site Korean Wiz? koreanwiz.org/ She has drama threads and threads for actors.

[chuck]

I've been here on and off for a couple of years. As with Damo, the problem is that all the dramas I watch are old news to everyone else, so I can't discuss them with anyone. Only the occasional new drama, and those aren't necessarily seen by the Chicago K-Drama fans. I watch mostly on DramaFever, or I purchase the dvd's.

I haven't heard of the website you mentioned, I'll have to give it a look.

[chuck]

There is one type of drama I have no interest in watching, and that's the "boy band/pretty boy" type that includes Boys Over Flowers, and You're Beautiful. Definitely not my cup of tea.