Age of Feeling / Inspiring Generation - Episode 13 (A SqueeCap)

kakashi: We're entering the 2nd half of this drama ... and it seems we're over the slightly confusing gang-war bits and the all-the-side-characters-we-loved-are-gone-or-dead-or-we-do-not-know suspicion. This episode? Simply AWESOME!!! If the show ever slightly lost its footing, or maybe stumbled a veeery little, it is definitely over it. Love.
JoAnne: Hand me a napkin, please. Kim Hyun Jooooooooong! Love means never having to apologize for drooling.
kakashi: hahahaha. 
Episode 13

kakashi: Back to the sword fight! (The camera is extremely shaky - it's been that on and off, but during fight scenes, it's sometimes almost unbearable! Also, it makes giffing very hard, thankyounotverymuch). Anywhoos! This swordsman is no "third rate Samurai" alright, in fact, he is so good, I'm beginning to fear for Jung-tae. Our hero asks himself how his style is different from Shinichi's and I would love to tell him, but I don't know. Concentrate! Oh damn, he is wounded ... can he get up??
JoAnne: My one? My only, tiny, little quibble? The 'alarm' look. Right there. Joongie, show me the Yummy Tummy and I'll forget, I swear.
kakashi: At Club Shanghai, Gaya has revealed her twin-blades to Jae-hwa. He is impressed ... and alarmed. So it was her that killed their hyungnim? Well, is killing somebody who is in unbearable pain an act of kindness or an act of murder? is her question back... uh-oh .... Jae-hwa starts fighting her. I don't think that's a good idea ... oh dear! So he thinks it's murder, she has time to ask him, fine! Tell the world that she murdered Shin Young-chool. They continue fighting (it's cool) and well, I'm not surprised, she WINS, but doesn't kill him. I must admit, I'm thankful. (Note to the sound editor: I general, I really like the sounds you use for fights. But. When somebody puts a knife onto somebodies jacket, there usually is no unsheathing sound.) 
JoAnne: He really is a better fighter than I give him credit for, every time. But why can't she just SAY listen dude, there's someone out there behind all the bullshit and I am trying to find out - oh, because it could be him? You think? I mean, no way in hell it's him but she probably doesn't know that.
kakashi: Instead of being a bit grateful (hey, she could easily have skewered you with her, uhm, totally blunt knife!) he tells her congrats, you just made everyone at Bangsamtong your enemy. See if she cares ... she is totally unimpressed because he? not the owner of Bangsamtong. That is Shin Jung-tae. Oh, but he will SHOW her who the owner is, he says and walks away.
JoAnne: Great. Give your boy another enemy, Gaya. Jae Hwa... lookin' good, boo.
kakashi: Back to the sword fight. Jung-tae may be hurt, but he is still pretty mobile. He even kicks the bastard's sword aside! You gooooo, Jung-tae! He keeps comparing this guy's swordsmanship to Shinichi's and Sasaki's and asks himself why it is so much harder to dodge this guy's blade. He continues fighting while he constantly assesses his opponent's moves and he realizes that in comparison to Shinichi, this guy stabs and slices from all angles. He has to make him come really close ... or he will likely die. 
JoAnne: He's the Ninja Bullet of swordsmanship. And he looks like the evil older brother of Mike over on Full House Thai Version.  
kakashi: He pretends to be much more hurt than he actually is, even turning his back ... and the guy falls for it and prepares for the final strike. Jung-tae whirls around, dodges the sword and hits the guy straight in the face. Full force. Sword fighter down! Sword in Jung-tae's hand. Oh, well DONE, boy. I am proud. But evil dude is not telling who sent him and who he is - he tells him to kill him. Jung-tae gets more and more pissed and says fine, I will kill you.
JoAnne: Seriously, though, Jung Tae, when you flipped that guy like he was just so many pancakes...I thought he'd wake up dead on the ground. I was disappointed he didn't die.
 
kakashi: But when he lifts the sword high to strike, Old Man Fly taps his shoulder, avoids the blade ... and disarms Jung-tae easily. Huh. Swordsman flees, and Jung-tae goes down with a grunt of pain when he wants to run after him. He can't get up anymore. Old Man Fly calls a young man named Kwang-pae over ... and tells him to put Jung-tae on the shit-cart. Nice. Luckily, So-so comes by and says a sword wound doesn't go near shit, call a rickshaw.
JoAnne: Since nothing happens by ACCIDENT in this town... what was THAT all about, Old Man Fly? Who are you working with?

kakashi: Somewhere near, Baek-san is waiting in a car, commenting on the qualities of, I guess, the swordsman. They drive off and he just misses an enraged Jae-hwa. Oh dear, his underlings are a bit TOO dumb, but they still make me smile! Completely clueless. Jae-hwa says no unnecessary fighting and to find out how Gaya and Shin Jung-tae are connected.
JoAnne: Wow, Shinichi has really not aged well.
kakashi: Sigh, Jung-tae is once again being treated for an open sword-wound. Doctor Miss disinfects and sews the wound while So-so stands by. Uhm ... do they use anaesthetics or not? I like the doctor's face! She is angry with Jung-tae for not taking care of himself better (and we know where she gets that from). Yeah, from Ok-ryeon - who is outside, rebelling against everything and even riding off on her bike, "angry".
JoAnne: I do not understand why that unsanitary shirt has not been removed. And there's probably blood on his pants, too. Off with his pants!
 
kakashi: Old Man Fly has arrived and presses his fingers into the wound quite painfully, to "see where it hurts". Oh dear.  He has some special pills for Jung-tae ... made from white dog shit! Jung-tae looks more and more worried, but luckily, Old Man Fly eats them himself. To everybody's relief. But that's not all! Old Man Fly has more "medicine" ... this time, made from human shit! He friggin DRINKS it, which causes So-so to run out, Old Man Fly to start retching, and Jung-tae to sit up. Effective medicine!!!
JoAnne: I... yeah, Jung Tae, that's the face I'm making too.
kakashi: Gaya looks at autopsy pictures of Shin Daddy and thinks about the cruelty of the death caused by internal bleeding (well, she doesn't only think it but she says it out loud). Realizing something (that it wasn't or was Il Gook Hwae? I am not sure), she calls for Yamamoto. He has put away his Samurai clothes for a Western-style suit. She tells him to get Do-ggo! YAAAAAAAAAYYY!
JoAnne: Do Ggoo sent her the documents she's looking at. It is the Il Gook Hwae signature move to let enemies die an excruciating death by massive internal bleeding. Her dad, Jung-Tae's dad, in other words. Because he sent her this information, she wants him to come to Shanghai.
kakashi: Our hero is already up and walking again. Good for him. I guess he has healing super powers? (Wasn't that what Mo told him? Sigh ... Mo. Come back(. He sees Ok-ryeon outside (she is praying and lighting incense sticks) and some romantic piano music starts. bleh. 
JoAnne: Does he honestly love her like, LOVE her love her? Or is he really fond of her and just desperately want the hominess she stands for?

kakashi: Seol seems pleased... so Jung-tae is getting better and better? Once he is as good as his father, he will sweep everybody away, including Il Gook Hwae. But Baek-san is less optimistic. Can Jung-tae be controlled? With his father, they had to stain their hands with his blood to stop him. WTF! They really did kill him! Baek-san is worried he could find out about his father's death. But if that happens, says Seol, it will be time for him to die. Yikes! These two creep me out.
JoAnne: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil
kakashi: More Ok-ryeon. Jung-tae approaches and takes her hand ... he wants her to come with him to a special place. She resists a little, but not very much, so he takes her on a bike tour and they visit a temple. Oh ... he has erected a memorial plate for her mother next to the one for his father.  That's so sweet ... The third plate has no name on it ... it is for the man who saved her. Yeah, JoAnne ... dead.
JoAnne: Son of a goddamn bitch. Why can't they even say his fucking NAME?
kakashi: It's a sort of punishment, I'm sure. They did that in old Egypt, too. 
kakashi: From now on, he vows, he will protect her. He wants to be beside her, for the rest of his life. He takes both of her hands into his, brushes a tear off her cheek and ... kisses her. Oh! He even gets to move his lips!!!!! I declare you man and wife!
JoAnne: I'm sorry, when you speed it up like that it looks like he's eating rice off her lips. What is he thinking right now, really? But whatever, he'd have swept ME off my feet, for sure.
kakashi: Next, I friggin squeeeeeeee cause it's Do-ggo! I really have missed him!! Me toooooooo! Old Man Fly bumps into him while he enjoys the sights of the street. Hmmm ... his voice ... Hahaha, they totally scam him. Old Man Fly says it's 5 Won for bumping into somebody. Then, So-so comes, bumps into him and pays him 5 Won. Do-ggo doesn't fall for it - he totally knows it's a scam. Fine, says Old Man Fly, and calls one of the police men over. It's that dude from before, Kwang-pae! The penalty for not paying is 15 Won, says Old Man Fly. Rather than paying anything, Do-ggo runs away.
JoAnne: Do you think he's there because Gaya summoned him? Or do you think he was already on his way? I still think he's a dog who will go wherever he's fed, but I do love his raspy voice and rather attractive collection of features.

kakashi: Jung-tae and Ok-ryeon are back in town. They eat noodles together and the mood is wonderful right until Do-ggo sits down next to them. He pretends to be all pleased to see Jung-tae, but our hero gets violent immediately: why is he here? What does he want? Where is Chung-ah, he demands to know. Yeah, let's not forget that it was Do-ggo's note that he would get more info on Chung-ah that made Jung-tae come to Shanghai! But Do-ggo says he knows nothing about her, which lands him a right hook. Man in nice suit down and dirty! But then, Do-ggo tells him that Gaya has come to Shanghai claiming the crown after killing his father. 
JoAnne: I don't think he was faking. I think he was genuinely happy to see familiar faces. He deserved to get punched, though. So is Chung Ah alive or dead now? Jung Tae, why do you look like this is news. I am pretty certain you knew about this before. Like, you knew last week.
 
kakashi: At night, Jung-tae cannot sleep. Troubled, he decides to go out (uh-oh), so he puts some bandages on ... moooooooob alert! Niiiiiiiice body. Ok-ryeon wakes up and follows him out, worried. Will he come back? is what she wants to know. Yes, he says. Maybe this romance isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be? I feel a little tug at the heartstrings when I watch them.
JoAnne: .... my goodness gracious. Why is she not all UP ON THAT? It's so JUICY.
kakashi: Jung-tae is going to Club Shanghai! My heart starts beating quite a bit faster as he is beating his way inside. He is quite effective! Or are these Il Gook Hwae minions a bit weak today? One escapes to warn Gaya, but Jung-tae is already behind him. I notice he is wearing his dirty shoes. Take them out, he says, the double swords you killed my father with. Whata if she doesn't? she asks. Behind him, new guards plus everybody else comes in. Gaya tells them to stand down - and leave them alone.
JoAnne: Loved.every.bit.  Smack! One down.  Shove! Two down. Jung Tae don't play.  And then the way he popped out from behind that last guy...perfect.  Still, I am preeeeeetty certain she told him last week that she killed his father. 
kakashi: Shin Jung-tae, she says, what do you know? Everything, he says: she killed his father with the twin swords. But did he see it with his own eyes? He saw the body, yes. And so he thinks she killed his father like that? He doesn't says anything anymore and she asks whether he will believe her if she says the truth. She saw her father being killed by his father with her own eyes. But she chose to believe him, Jung-tae, rather than her eyes. No ... wanted to believe. Wanted to believe that there was a different reason, that Shin-Daddy wasn't a cold-blooded killer. She went into the hell that is Il Gook Hwae and when she returned, he promised her to get the man who killed her father. So, she will ask again ... will he believe her?
JoAnne: I am of several minds about this part. TOTALLY bought her in the first segment. TOTALLY. But when it seemed like he wouldn't believe, did she put back on the self-protective bitch face, or did she drop the act? Which is it?
kakashi: Oh, this is touching ... she cries, and he does too, a little. Will he believe her if she says she didn't kill his father? But he says nothing, and a cynical smile replaces the sadness ... so she believed him ... but she sees that he doesn't believe her. Fine. He may not believe her - and he doesn't have to feel sorry for her, either. Because ... she DID kill his father. Now THAT wakes him up and he attacks her. They stare into each other's eyes, his hands around her neck, her knives at his throat.
JoAnne: The eyes, Joongie. Work on that.
kakashi: She lets her knives sink first and he lets go of her neck. Both are shaken. Go, she tells him. Go. He hasn't grown up enough to be killed by her. Go and mature - and then come back to see clearly where his revenge should be pointed at. So it wasn't her? He asks again. Even if she hadn't used her swords he would have died, she answers. Like her father. But that's as far as she will help him. Now it's his turn: become the owner of Bangsamtong. Become more evil. Become more severe.
JoAnne: This, I believe her. I guess what I think is this: Gaya is one big act all the time. But in her heart of hearts she's still the girl who loved Jung Tae at first sight. She'll ignore that if she has to, to further her plots.. but if she can help him a little bit she'll do that too.
kakashi: Oh yes. He will. And he walks out ... but not before telling her that he hopes to be able to prove that it wasn't her that killed his father. In front of her room, all the minions are ready to take him down, but Gaya tells them to let him paas. He walks out, unscathed. 
JoAnne: Not gonna lie, I assumed they'd kiss at some point tonight. (me too! It was a tense and charged moment) Which would make him a rat over Ok-Ryeon, but come on.  It's Gaya who stirs his deepest soul. Don't do it, Jung Tae. That kind of love is not right for you.
kakashi: ... and cut to ... Shinichi!! Oh my gawd, oh my gawd, oh myyyy gaawwwwd, I'm freaking out now. Some minion is confirming that Do-ggo has gone to Shanghai. He brought her Shin Daddy's autopsy report. Shinichi pauses at that and seems surprised. He seems a bit pale? I think he needs a vacation in Switzerland. There are two things I wonder: will we ever see HIM in a suit, too? and ... will we ever see his "torso" again?
JoAnne: Aka? Wherefore art thou, my Aka?
kakashi: He might have died off-screen... 
kakashi: HOT DAMN and here comes Aoki, too!!! He is so HOT and so displeased, which makes him even hotter. EXCUSE me while I go crazy screencapping these two .... Aoki says what I have been thinking all the time: What the heck was Yamamoto doing when Shin Jung-tae stormed into Gaya's room? 
JoAnne: Being a useless dick, like always. You boys should go to Shanghai and teach him a lesson.
kakashi: Shinichi knows he was injured from fighting Wang Baek-san and he was being treated. What's with just letting him walk out then? Aoki wants to know. It makes me nervous that Shinichi turns his back on Aoki. Did Jung-tae beat all the people at Il Gook Hwae? Shinichi thinks that the Princess must have had some reason for her actions.
JoAnne: Finally he trusts her to have a head on her shoulders? Reward the man with some Gayatime!
kakashi: Did he just say some kind of reason?! WTF does he mean by that?! Calm down, says Shinichi. But Aoki, hm, our Cutie Soo is smart! Might it be that Gaya has feelings for Jung-tae? Shinichi denies it, but hey, dude, we know that you know. Aoki looks evil and isn't convinced at all. Oups, and there's another problem ... if Evil Overlord hears of Gaya's affection, she is as good as dead. Wut ... because he will rather kill her himself than lose her through somebody else?!
JoAnne: Not just someone else, but Jung Tae. And I'm back to thinking Aoki wants her for himself, anyway. Man. They would be, like, the Beyonce and JayZ of the Japanese Occupation.
kakashi: He will go to Shanghai soon, says Aoki and I squeeeeeeee! Yes! Yes! You definitely need to go to Shanghai right away, cause things are not going too well there. Believe me! He wants to protect Gaya. But Shinichi doesn't want him to get involved - he will go himself to take care of things. But Aoki has already been transferred. Oh yes.
JoAnne: It's ok. I have it figured out. Aoki, you go keep an eye on Gaya. Shinichi, you go to make sure that Aoki does his job well. While you're there, chat to your friend Aka about that asshole Seol and his evil minion Baek San, and convince him that he should pay Shanghai a visit too.
kakashi: After a few moments with a very hot Jung-tae pensively staring at the Shanghai skyline,we're inside Club Rome. Some music act practising is going on (oh they suuuuuuuuuck) ... which is interrupted first by Poodle Top, who tells Jae-hwa that Jung-tae walked out of Shanghai Club alive (so they must have dated in Shineuijoo, is the conclusion) and second by Do-ggoo. But after one look at Do-ggo, Jae-hwa turns his back without a word. People keep underestimating Dognose, don't they? Also, we learn that Jae-hwa isn't quite the best businessman in the world. They are in need of money, but Seol's bank doesn't give any to them - so Jae-hwa says to switch to the bank that belongs to Il Gook hwae.
JoAnne: Didn't it seem like Jae Ha KNEW the poor doggy? 
kakashi: Seol has a little crisis when he hears about this .. and goes to see Jae-hwa at Club Rome. As always, he is suuuuper polite, but so over the top it's actually an insult. Seol tells him he will get any money he wants from him - if he returns the dirty money from the Yakuza.
JoAnne: Laughed myself silly over Jae Ha just completely ignoring Seol's measly attempt to control him by denying him money. Seol is proving himself to be more and more of a posturing, image-obsessed, ineffective old man.
But Jae-hwa isn't interested in that deal. He'll not be manipulated by Il Gook hwae, he says. And Mr. Seol is leaving. Outside, Seol gnashes his teeth. But then, he has an evil idea. Do the paper-checking today, and not only in five days. But if two parties check papers at the same time, people in Bangsamtong will get hurt badly, Baek-san interjects. Oh yes, says Evil Papa, they need to suffer and break for the real owner of Bangsamtong to emerge.
JoAnne: Well, I can't say I hate this development.
kakashi: Ok-ryeon is waiting for Jung-tae in front of Club Shanghai, when So-so comes by. Jung-tae isn't far, but at a different club: Club Rome. Sirens start again. It has started! Jung-tae knows nothing of it ... he is here to see Jae-hwa. He demands to see his father's autopsy report.
JoAnne: Who do you think dies tomorrow? I'm actually going with Ok Ryeon. But it could be So-So.

kakashi: So-so is in Bangsamtong ... the sirens start and people start running into the street. She doesn't seem too concerned though. Not yet, anyway. A guy comes running in and shouts to get off the street! He tells her to run if she is a Joseon person, the French sector police is coming - even though it's not their day. The guards are already here and they start to hit people. So-so starts shouting at the guards and is about ready to go help the people, but Old Man Fly is there and pulls her away.
 
kakashi: The raid is now where Ok-ryeon is. She starts running. Jung-tae is still oblivious to it all.He sits at the table with Jae-hwa, who keeps asking all sorts of questions about why Jung-tae wants to find out about his father's death. He then says why not tell him? In Shanghai, there were more than a thousand people who wanted his father dead for ten thousand reasons. He may have been a hero to the Joseon people in Bangsamtong, but anywhere else, Shin Daddy was hated. Find out who killed him? Impossible. Jae-hwa walks away from him, but Jung-tae insists: he wants to know. Why can't he tell him?
JoAnne: Seriously, inquiring minds want to know. Why can't you tell him, Jae Ha. It wasn't you. WAS IT?

kakashi: The thing that will determine whether he will live or die in Bangsamtong, says Jae-hwa, is on which side he will join. So, he is to decide now: will he work under him, Jae-hwa - or will he side with the old man at Hwangbang? Or ... maybe will he side with Gaya? But Jung-tae doesn't want to serve anyone. He demands to see the autopsy report again. Here it is, says Jae-hwa ... try taking it. And the boys gets ready to fight. Yikes! Stop! You should be friends!!!
JoAnne: Yeah that's not going to happen.

Comments

I'm so happy I could burst. Did you see the preview?! It's going to be EPIC! Finally, two of my favorite characters are also coming to Shanghai, it's all I ever wanted for this show! Oh, and Do-ggo! How could I forgot him! All my babies ... almost all my babies ... are here again.
JoAnne: I didn't see it! But I'm still happy!
I can't believe how GOOD Kim Hyun-joong was in this episode. Intense, but not hammy. Ah, I'm in love. MOAR! 

JoAnne: There once was a show with Hyun Joong, and everyone shouted out doom/But hell no, said the show, that ain't how it go! Stick with us and you will see soon.
Saranghae, Show. Jalja!