Shine or Go Crazy - Episode 23 (A SqueeCap)
Why was I not warned about how emotional this episode is??! I cried my eyes out!
It was very hard to watch SoSo, wasn't it? And really, Wookie too. He willingly broke his own heart.
CRUSH WANG TOAD. Man, Wang So makes a charismatic leader. And didn't you cheer for how our beloved Roy Chang was right in there trying to keep him safe?
They need to drag him away physically, but finally, he does leave the fight, to return to the Capital. The commoners promise to wait for him so that he can fulfill his promise to be their protector and he promises he will reunite them with their families. A bit later, two of the prisoners (including Roy Chang) escape with the help of some guards from their hometown. Words spreads that Wang So is the leader of the Righteous Men in Black, who are a weapon against the greedy nobles.
I liked that scene a lot, the two sides still being humans when you got down to the specifics. Wang Toad's toadies being able to compare for themselves how each leader acts and treats others.
Inside, the Chunghae people plus Wook discuss what to do with Yool: bring her home so she can die with her family around her or wait longer and hope the treatment will work after all? BAM goes the door and in storms a frantic Wang So. With tears in his eyes *starts sobbing* He asks where the Assistant Head is, why doesn't he see her? And he shouts again, "Gaebong-ah! Gaebong-ah!", while everybody remains silent. Finally, Gang-Myeong tells him that she has been killed by an assassin, sent by Consul Wang. No, Wang So, they're not pranking you. She isn't hiding. Please stop crying, Jang Hyuk, please. I can't take it :(((((
Oh my God, I cried. It didn't matter to me at all that she wasn't dead or that the way this show plays it, they'll be having breakfast together tomorrow... in this moment I was heartbroken, just like Wang So.
Ahahahaa ... he goes and grabs Kyeong, ties him up and gags him and then grabs Gyu-dal, claiming that Kyeong "spilled it all". Kyeong tries to signal to Gyu-dal that he hasn't said a word, but our Peacock is too stupid to notice, so he tells him everything. Yeah, that secret lasted long, hahahaaa, show, sometimes you're too stupid.
See what I'm saying?
At the inn, Wook is drinking by himself, thinking about Shin-yool and Wang So. The latter joins him and thanks him for saving Yool and protecting her from Wang Toad. But now, it's time to hand over the burden to him. He knows Shin-yool was the one planning for him to think she was dead - but he also knows that she is waiting for him.
And I start crying again, this time for Wook. You were kind of a snotty kid, Wook... but you are a good man and your poor heart, I'm so sorry.
Wook, the sad but good man, agrees fullheartedly and hence, he has already written down the directions.
Look at him, all resigned and beat to a pulp by love. Sigh. *tears up for Wookie*
It was very hard to watch SoSo, wasn't it? And really, Wookie too. He willingly broke his own heart.
Episode 23
"Wang So Joenha, Wang So Joenha!" thus they chant as Wang So grabs his sword that Eun-chun puts in his hand and attacks. Eun-chun joins the fight and urges Wang So to retreat, since it's him that needs to stop the Wang Toad. Or step on Wang Toad.CRUSH WANG TOAD. Man, Wang So makes a charismatic leader. And didn't you cheer for how our beloved Roy Chang was right in there trying to keep him safe?
I liked that scene a lot, the two sides still being humans when you got down to the specifics. Wang Toad's toadies being able to compare for themselves how each leader acts and treats others.
Wang So uses some secret backroads to get past the guards and on the way, him and Eun-chun figure out what the connection between Chunghae Town and the riots will be (Yes: riots in Chunghae Town, cause it's full of people from Balhae). The riot is a pretext for getting his private army into the Capital. They assume that Wang Toad has already infiltrated the town, hence they will infiltrate themselves.
This poor village, just innocently living along, and all this crap going on around them.
This poor village, just innocently living along, and all this crap going on around them.
Shin-yool is still being cured in that hut in the forest. Well, actually, she's not being cured, she is very, very ill. She is so weak she can't eat and she can't even swallow the medicine. Elf keeps visiting the hut and gets a chance to look very worried once more. He never goes in to see her, the good 2nd Lead, but he does hear her say that she must absolutely seem dead to So So Hyungnim, because he can only become King if he looks forward. She promised him the world - she cannot be an obstacle to him.
Yes, she's so weak she cannot swallow. But she can sit up and speak clearly and quickly, can't she.
Yes, she's so weak she cannot swallow. But she can sit up and speak clearly and quickly, can't she.
Cheong-ok is reporting everything about the riot-plan to Yeo-won and tells her that Wang So requests that the private army of one of the allied families is readied, while other families are worked on to join their cause. Wang Toad's army is huge - so they need a huge number of soldiers too.
I shouldn't blame some people for being sick while others are being brave and actually helping out, but I kinda do. I just feel like 'oh THAT again?'
I shouldn't blame some people for being sick while others are being brave and actually helping out, but I kinda do. I just feel like 'oh THAT again?'
At Chunghae Town, the inhabitants mourn Shin-yool's death, when two of Wang Toad's people start spreading the rumors that she was brutally killed by an assassin and that all the people from Balhae will meet the same fate soon. Add a few Red Assassins who kill a few ex-slaves and fear and anger are rampant. Direct it against the King (who must be behind all this!) and then, people take up arms and begin to "riot".
Yes by locking their doors and refusing to let scary strangers in.
Yes by locking their doors and refusing to let scary strangers in.
Wang So has returned to the Capital and before going anywhere else, he goes to Chunghae Trading Company ... and sees the "In Mourning" sign at the door. Damn, I don't want to see this :((( After staggering a bit (he already fears, even knows who died), he hammers at the door and shouts for his Gaebong-ah. When nobody answers, he simply busts through the door.
Of course he does. We would have this no other way.
Of course he does. We would have this no other way.
Oh my God, I cried. It didn't matter to me at all that she wasn't dead or that the way this show plays it, they'll be having breakfast together tomorrow... in this moment I was heartbroken, just like Wang So.
Woth the help of the others, Wook stops him from going to try and kill Wang Toad right then and there. Once the rage has subsided, Wang So collapses next to her bed, talking to her, regretting he never got to call her Yool. But then ... then. Smart man. He notices that there is absolutely no sign of a struggle in the room. And he notices that Baek-myo isn't here either. He also notices that her half of the butterfly necklace is in a decorative box inside a drawer ... and he concludes that she is alive.
He's smart. They should have changed the bed cover. But hey don't let this stop you from killing Wang Toad, SoSo.
See what I'm saying?
And I start crying again, this time for Wook. You were kind of a snotty kid, Wook... but you are a good man and your poor heart, I'm so sorry.
Look at him, all resigned and beat to a pulp by love. Sigh. *tears up for Wookie*
The riots seems a bit delayed? Anyway, we're with the King next who has solved his father's riddle. Yes, m'lord, all of you were just stepping stones for the Greatest of the Great, nothing more. Though it hurts, the King seems ready to do what his father wants from him.
This guy. This guy... what a guy. I loved this guy. Sure, he did some shit - but he paid for it, I think, and he did try to do the right thing whenever possible.
Ovaries exploded, cause next, Wang So challenges Wang Sik-Ryeom in the street, the Righteous Men right behind him. He vows to kill the Toad and to establish the Thousand-Year Goryeo. He looks better than ever before and I have a hard time choosing just two screencaps.
Seriously, there can't be too many screen caps. This man is just... sigh. What charisma. What beauty. I am in menopause and I'm STILL feeling baby fever when I see this guy in action.
Well, Uncle Wang (who, by the way, wants to be the next King himself now) feels threatened by that bold gesture and starts to feel edgy ... he orders his army to move towards the Capital. At the palace, Yeo-won is forging alliances, right under Wang Sik-Ryeom's nose. It helps that she has Shin-yool's ledger with all the dirt on the nobles.
Huh, something happened. You said something, I... Jang Hyuk's face is right there, sorry. And he's holding a very firm and large sword, so... you know. I can't be blamed.
While the situation at Chunghae Town is about to explode, the doctor has come up with the last treatment of them all: dunk Shin-yool into an ice-cold pond. The extreme cold will scare the lesser cold away. Hahahahaaaaaaa. She is gathering the courage to do such an extremely stupid thing when Wang So arrives. She bars the door. Guess how much he cares about that? Well, not at all. He doesn't care that she's ill and looks like a ghost - to him, she will always be beautiful and lovely, and she will always be his one true love.
Remember that she is too weak to swallow at this point, please. And can we take a moment to look at the radiant face of Honey Lee, right there? Wow. And those dimples make her positively cute, which still works, somehow.
Remember that she is too weak to swallow at this point, please. And can we take a moment to look at the radiant face of Honey Lee, right there? Wow. And those dimples make her positively cute, which still works, somehow.
OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR, WOMAN! He misses her so, so much and she misses him so, so much and this breaks my heart goddamit! (At home, Wang Wook performs some blue plate magic - he does no longer need to worry about Shin-yool).
I feel for all three of them, honestly. Kind of a shitty hand they all got dealt, no?
Being with her one and only love ever forever gives Yool energy to drink her medicine and soup and all kinds of things. But then, it's time for the frozenest of all frozen lakes. Because he sees how absolutely terrified Yool is, Wang So offers to go in with her. Yay! Will you take your clothes off?!!? (he doesn't)
and yet we barely even cared, did we. Such is the power of Jjang Hyuk.
and yet we barely even cared, did we. Such is the power of Jjang Hyuk.
He carries her in, carefully, tenderly, assuring her that everything will be alright ... but
she loses consciousness. He starts to call her name, her real name: "Yool! Yool! Open your eyes!". And he kisses her. But no ... not even that makes her wake up. She definitely must be absolutely dead.
Pffft that man could wake the dead. I'm not worried.
Comments
Awesome episode! Awesome! Well, apart from all that little stuff that isn't really awesome, which has to do with bad writing and bad editing and the whole life-shoot mess. In any case, the awesomeness definitely wins overall and I'm shutting up now. Well, not quite. I wanted to say that this should probably have been the ending. At this point, I don't believe she'll die, which pisses me off, cause she really should. So many episodes talking about her death and then nothing? At least 10 teary goodbyes-forever and then, they meet again the next day? Annoying! Very much so!
I'm with you. I like her and all but she NEEDS TO DIE.