kdrama: Warrior Baek Dong Soo eps 7-12
Aug. 20th, 2011 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThis series is still kind of ridiculously awesome (with some of the best fight scenes I've seen in a kdrama) and absurdly addictive
OMG if it were possible for me to love Ji/Gwang Taek more, I want to know how. I particularly like how he saw Jin Joo and was all "Gosh, doesn't she kinda look like my ex?" and Sa Mo was all "DUDE! Dumped you twice! Over two decades ago!" and then it wasn't just him seeing Ji everywhere out of pining, he actually had figured it out, even if he only strongly suspects. Also, I like how Jin Joo apparently has Sekrit Mommy detecting senses, but squat when it comes to Gwang Taek, and is instead having the sensible reaction of "OMG why does this guy keep staring at me?"
But oh, Gwang Taek, you seriously have it bad. It takes a lot of chutzpah to just stroll into the assassins' compound and be all "Hi there, I'm your mortal enemy and all, but I'd like to have my ex play some music, that OK?" And then ask her to run away with him, because he promised to free her 20+ years ago, and still means it. And then they had what was basically the sageuk equivalent of Bollywood's musical numbers where it's basically an allegory for sex and he was all "I don't care about wealth or honor or prestige, I just want to be with you."
Oh, Gwang Taek. Be strong. If there's a trope for "Never Giving Up On Her" at TVTropes, I'm sure it has your picture besides it by now.
(I have checked raws of 13 and 14 for Ji/Gwang Taek>Jin Joo stuff and was flipping out over it maybe ever more than I was the raws of the Ji/Gwang Taek fight which I watched, like, 6 times before I had subs.)
Also, wow, Cheon, that green eyes monster is really flaring up, isn't it? Though, strangely, I'm not sure it's actually jealousy so much as it drives him crazy that he can't get Ji to display any realy emotion at all. (It actually makes me slightly worry about Jin Joo, since he knows about her, but I don't think he'd actually go there.)
Anyway, I find Ji's comments to the effect of "you like this, don't you?" extremely telling about their relationship. I don't know if she ever enjoyed being an assassin or how she ended up one (I still kinda think she was born into it), but she certainly hasn't wanted to be one since the time of the flashback, and while I don't know if that's because of Gwang Taek's influence or if it was already starting when he came along, I think that, even without Gwang Taek, it would have kept her from ever being happy with Cheon, because he loves that life and the political backstabbing. (Which rather contributes to my finding him fascinating, but not liking him and my interest in his actual scenes depending on who he's with at the time.)
Moving on:
Jin Joo is such an adrenaline junkie. Like, her inablity to go past something shiny without wanting it kinda makes her look like a klepromaniac at first, but I think that's just a convenient outlet that her upbringing makes her think is an acceptable passtime. She just always needs to be doing something. And Dong Soo is...basically the same? But more prone to blundering if he doesn't have a specific goal. When he has a goal (aside from "impress girl") he's really very together and focused. He's just all "La! A flower! And pretty clouds! Oh, pothole..." in day-to-day stuff. (I shudder to think of the things Sa Mo and Yeo Un have endured from that over the years.)
I have to say, even if I didn't really really want Jin Joo/Dong Soo to be the end game, I think I still wouldn't really want Ji Sun/Dong Soo as the ultimate pairing? I mean, now that Dong Soo has his social aggressiveness under control, I like the pairing a lot more than I did when they were kids, and I can see how they might fall in love if they, uhm, had actual conversations and interactions beyond his tripping over himself to impress her and her responding with coldness because she has no idea what to do with that, but realizes it's sweet (this is why I think that this will be "Ji Sun is his first love but Jin Joo is the one he falls in love with for good" because they have all the pretty shippy scenes, but don't really have much in the way of actual interactions, and the majority one his significant interactions and displays of personality with someone ofthe opposite gender are with Jin Joo, and even if things there are about to go south big time, Ji Sun still seems more comfortable with Yeo Un,) but I don't know that I could see Ji Sun and dong Soo happy together in the long run. Dong Soo basically survives on being around other people and being ably to talk and have adventures and have fun. Take the boy away from civilization for a day or two, and his starts alternating between wilting, entering La La Land, and going completely stircrazy. Ji Sun, meanwhile, isn't exactly anti-social or anything, but she pretty clearly just wants people to leave her alone and have a quiet life where she doesn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders and isn't saddles with tons of expectations.
Also, I am strongly of the opinion that both Ji Sun and Jin Joo should have whatever is the strongest combination of what they want and what would make them happy. With Jin Joo, that's having adventures and dong Soo, and having adventures with Dong Soo. (This "love once, love forever" thing might be hereditary here.) With Ji Sun, it's a quiet and uncomplicated life. (Yeo Un would fit into that lifestyle, but not gonna happen.)
Incidentally, shocking me A LOT, while I still find Yeo Un the more intersting of the two, I'm actually more interested in what's going on with Dong Soo now. With Yeo Un, I mostly...hope he doesn't completely destroy all his bridges and gets some sort of happiness before he dies. (I mean, I think he was happy living with Sa Mo and Dong Su-his face was always "OMG so this is what it's like to have someone taking care of you! Dong Su, why are you always complaining?-and then training on the mountain, but there was always the knowledge that he'd eventually have to destroy it.)
BTW, I can't believe they did the whole Sado plot and didn't even mention Hye Gyung, even though Jeong Ju got a cameo. Also, clearly, someone went "you know, everyone is goingto be liking Sado and bracing themselves for his death...let's just make it all TEN TIMES WORSE by having someone else sacrifice himself to death in the rice chest, and then kill Sado anyway once they've been tricked into think he might be safe! (Ok, he's not dead yet, but I give him maybe 10 minutes in ep 13.)
Also, I see someone finally realized that Ji, Gwang Taek and Cheon are all in their early-to-late-forties (for some reason, I think Cheon may be a bit older than Ji and Gwang Taek? Or maybe it's just that I know Yoon Ji Min is so much younger than Ji is supposed to be) and tried to add some age lines and grey hair there. I approve, though, while it is PART OF MY FAVORITE THING EVER IN THIS SERIES, I'm just never going to believe that were' supposed to look at Yoon Ji Min and think she could be Yoon So Yi's mother. (I actually think the actresses are pretty close in age?)
OMG if it were possible for me to love Ji/Gwang Taek more, I want to know how. I particularly like how he saw Jin Joo and was all "Gosh, doesn't she kinda look like my ex?" and Sa Mo was all "DUDE! Dumped you twice! Over two decades ago!" and then it wasn't just him seeing Ji everywhere out of pining, he actually had figured it out, even if he only strongly suspects. Also, I like how Jin Joo apparently has Sekrit Mommy detecting senses, but squat when it comes to Gwang Taek, and is instead having the sensible reaction of "OMG why does this guy keep staring at me?"
But oh, Gwang Taek, you seriously have it bad. It takes a lot of chutzpah to just stroll into the assassins' compound and be all "Hi there, I'm your mortal enemy and all, but I'd like to have my ex play some music, that OK?" And then ask her to run away with him, because he promised to free her 20+ years ago, and still means it. And then they had what was basically the sageuk equivalent of Bollywood's musical numbers where it's basically an allegory for sex and he was all "I don't care about wealth or honor or prestige, I just want to be with you."
Oh, Gwang Taek. Be strong. If there's a trope for "Never Giving Up On Her" at TVTropes, I'm sure it has your picture besides it by now.
(I have checked raws of 13 and 14 for Ji/Gwang Taek>Jin Joo stuff and was flipping out over it maybe ever more than I was the raws of the Ji/Gwang Taek fight which I watched, like, 6 times before I had subs.)
Also, wow, Cheon, that green eyes monster is really flaring up, isn't it? Though, strangely, I'm not sure it's actually jealousy so much as it drives him crazy that he can't get Ji to display any realy emotion at all. (It actually makes me slightly worry about Jin Joo, since he knows about her, but I don't think he'd actually go there.)
Anyway, I find Ji's comments to the effect of "you like this, don't you?" extremely telling about their relationship. I don't know if she ever enjoyed being an assassin or how she ended up one (I still kinda think she was born into it), but she certainly hasn't wanted to be one since the time of the flashback, and while I don't know if that's because of Gwang Taek's influence or if it was already starting when he came along, I think that, even without Gwang Taek, it would have kept her from ever being happy with Cheon, because he loves that life and the political backstabbing. (Which rather contributes to my finding him fascinating, but not liking him and my interest in his actual scenes depending on who he's with at the time.)
Moving on:
Jin Joo is such an adrenaline junkie. Like, her inablity to go past something shiny without wanting it kinda makes her look like a klepromaniac at first, but I think that's just a convenient outlet that her upbringing makes her think is an acceptable passtime. She just always needs to be doing something. And Dong Soo is...basically the same? But more prone to blundering if he doesn't have a specific goal. When he has a goal (aside from "impress girl") he's really very together and focused. He's just all "La! A flower! And pretty clouds! Oh, pothole..." in day-to-day stuff. (I shudder to think of the things Sa Mo and Yeo Un have endured from that over the years.)
I have to say, even if I didn't really really want Jin Joo/Dong Soo to be the end game, I think I still wouldn't really want Ji Sun/Dong Soo as the ultimate pairing? I mean, now that Dong Soo has his social aggressiveness under control, I like the pairing a lot more than I did when they were kids, and I can see how they might fall in love if they, uhm, had actual conversations and interactions beyond his tripping over himself to impress her and her responding with coldness because she has no idea what to do with that, but realizes it's sweet (this is why I think that this will be "Ji Sun is his first love but Jin Joo is the one he falls in love with for good" because they have all the pretty shippy scenes, but don't really have much in the way of actual interactions, and the majority one his significant interactions and displays of personality with someone ofthe opposite gender are with Jin Joo, and even if things there are about to go south big time, Ji Sun still seems more comfortable with Yeo Un,) but I don't know that I could see Ji Sun and dong Soo happy together in the long run. Dong Soo basically survives on being around other people and being ably to talk and have adventures and have fun. Take the boy away from civilization for a day or two, and his starts alternating between wilting, entering La La Land, and going completely stircrazy. Ji Sun, meanwhile, isn't exactly anti-social or anything, but she pretty clearly just wants people to leave her alone and have a quiet life where she doesn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders and isn't saddles with tons of expectations.
Also, I am strongly of the opinion that both Ji Sun and Jin Joo should have whatever is the strongest combination of what they want and what would make them happy. With Jin Joo, that's having adventures and dong Soo, and having adventures with Dong Soo. (This "love once, love forever" thing might be hereditary here.) With Ji Sun, it's a quiet and uncomplicated life. (Yeo Un would fit into that lifestyle, but not gonna happen.)
Incidentally, shocking me A LOT, while I still find Yeo Un the more intersting of the two, I'm actually more interested in what's going on with Dong Soo now. With Yeo Un, I mostly...hope he doesn't completely destroy all his bridges and gets some sort of happiness before he dies. (I mean, I think he was happy living with Sa Mo and Dong Su-his face was always "OMG so this is what it's like to have someone taking care of you! Dong Su, why are you always complaining?-and then training on the mountain, but there was always the knowledge that he'd eventually have to destroy it.)
BTW, I can't believe they did the whole Sado plot and didn't even mention Hye Gyung, even though Jeong Ju got a cameo. Also, clearly, someone went "you know, everyone is goingto be liking Sado and bracing themselves for his death...let's just make it all TEN TIMES WORSE by having someone else sacrifice himself to death in the rice chest, and then kill Sado anyway once they've been tricked into think he might be safe! (Ok, he's not dead yet, but I give him maybe 10 minutes in ep 13.)
Also, I see someone finally realized that Ji, Gwang Taek and Cheon are all in their early-to-late-forties (for some reason, I think Cheon may be a bit older than Ji and Gwang Taek? Or maybe it's just that I know Yoon Ji Min is so much younger than Ji is supposed to be) and tried to add some age lines and grey hair there. I approve, though, while it is PART OF MY FAVORITE THING EVER IN THIS SERIES, I'm just never going to believe that were' supposed to look at Yoon Ji Min and think she could be Yoon So Yi's mother. (I actually think the actresses are pretty close in age?)