DFR: Arang and the Magistrate ep 4

Do you guys know what I woke up to this morning?  What a stupid question!  Of course you don't, nor do you probably care but I'm gonna tell ya anyway!

{{Neener, Neener, Neener.  What?  Like it's a surprise that I am not mature.}}

I woke up to a slew of pictures & videos featuring the Dimple!!!  Chincha!!  Our friend made it just in time to Singapore, to check in to her hotel, drop her crap & hit the road to see him at his press conference!  So incredibly cool!  Pictures of him smiling, talking, waving, sitting, standing, & smiling some more.  Me loves me some Dimple pictures!  And then the videos!  To our reader/commenter/chingu.... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  In one of the videos, he spoke perfect English, with an incredibly sexy slight Korean accent.  His voice is heavenly!  I could just listen to him all day long!  She said he is even better looking in person.  Which tells me he is one of the sexiest men on the planet because I think he is mighty mighty hunky on film!  SIGH Oh Dimple how I miss you.  Does it seem like The King 2 Hearts was way too long ago?!?!

Okay I know you want a review.  So let's get to it.  Thank you for bearing with Unnie as she daydreams a little Lee Seung Gi.

{{Hmmmmmmmm.....  Dimple....... *Homer Simpson style drooling, head thrown back, drool, the whole shabang!*}}

Seriously, I need to focus.  Oh wait.  I know what will wake me up & get me to focus on this show....

Sigh...Lee Jun Ki-ssi.  Yup I'm back on earth & focused on the right piece of eye candy now AddiKts.  

At the end of episode 3, Arang was granted an audience with the Jade Emperor.  Or as I've been thinking of him...Mr Beautiful.  I don't care that the actor playing him is only 18!  Okay, I care, but still in the period clothing & the wig he is just beautiful.  So he is from here on in known as Mr Beautiful.  Deal with it.  So we see Arang following General Dead Dude (aka Moo Young) & we saw Eun Oh searching everywhere for her & not finding her.  In this episode we pick up right where we left off...

Eun Oh wants to know where "Memory Loss" has gone & what she's doing, so he goes to the Shaman's house to look for her.  And he sees the Shaman run past him, crying & carrying on.  Then she falls to the ground in front of her altar.  She is terrified that by helping Arang threaten Gen Dead Dude & demand an audience w/ Mr Beautiful that she has just sentenced herself to suffer in hell in the next life.  That she'll be found guilty of a heinous sin.  Eun Oh walks up to her & she jumps & cowers in shock & fear...till she realizes who it is that is talking to her.  No Shaman girl he is not a god, you have nothing to fear from him...except maybe falling head over heels for him like Unnie.  {{ahem}}

I have to say, for a person who is supposed to be used to dealing w/ other worldly people & circumstances she has serious anxiety issues related to her job.  As a Shaman shouldn't she be more centered & you know calm & mystical herself?  Maybe that's why her powers suck so much?  She needs to get her Shaman Chi aligned properly.  No matter what the reason, she's just a few centuries too early to be needing Xanax.  Who knows.  Anywho...back to the review.

So Eun Oh sits down with her & gets the 411 on what went down.  She tells him that what Arang did was the most awful of sins.  All her life sins can be forgiven & forgotten but to threaten Mr Beautiful & General Dead Dude was taking it all way too far & so now she is sure that Arang is in deep doo doo in Hell.  Then she tells him there are several different hells she could have gone to & she is sure Arang MUST be in the worst of them.  He questions her knowledge, asking how she could possibly know all this, as she herself has never been to the underworld.  She explains it's all in the book!

{{Would that be Shamanism for Dummies?  I LOVED that book!!}}

Nope guess not. 

Try saying that 5 times fast! 

Well isn't she just Little Suzie Sunshine?!?!

Remind me not to call her when I need to be cheered up! 

Seriously he looks depressed doesn't he?  Thank you Debbie Downer!

Way to sugar coat it babe!

While Eun Oh is getting it right between the eyes, in graphic detail, as to what could be happening to Arang.  We, the audience, gets to see her being escorted to the River Styx by Gen Dead Dude.  I actually thought this scene was visually stunning.  They arrive at the river after a long walk together, that included Arang questioning the crap out of Gen Dead Dude.  I bet he was never so happy to be at the River Styx as he was just then!  So how long have you been a reaper?  Were you always a reaper?  Or did you have another life, like I did?  Do you get dental with that?  {{just kidding that last one wasn't included in her list of questions...just checking to see if you were paying attention}} But you get the idea.  {{giggle}}

Anyway, once they arrive at the River Styx, Gen Dead Dude explains that once she crosses the river there will be No Going Back!  Then a boat, sans a pilot or oarsmen, starts coming toward them from the distance, gliding quickly & smoothly across the water.  Gen Dead Dude gets in & then Arang follows.  She sits down & he stands...and I have to admit I kept thinking how tempting it would be to just push the dude in.  But then that would be why I am not the director or writer.  I'm way too immature.

Then the boat starts it's "Journey to Hell!!!".  Oooooo how ominous that line sounds.  {{Sorry guys I think I'm in the mood to be obnoxious tonight.}}  I'll try to tone it down.  I'm sure it is not appreciated.  {{giggle but I really don't want to}}

So here are some pictures of this really beautiful scene...

I LOVE this tree!  I have no idea what kind of tree it is but I want one in my yard!  So stunning!

Then it turned all black & white.  And I know it is symbolic & spiritual & has a deeper meaning but all I kept thinking was the Wizard of Oz.  I got the symbolism & the poetry honest but I just kept thinking Dorothy Gale from Kansas.

I'd be freaking out if I saw a huge waterfall ahead of me too!

At this point I was thinking .... Emperor's New Groove.

When Emperor Kuzco & Pacha were about to go over the waterfall.

Pacha: Uh-oh. 

Kuzco: Don't tell me. We're about to go over a huge waterfall. 

Pacha: Yep. 

Kuzco: Sharp rocks at the bottom? 

Pacha: Most likely. 

Kuzco: Bring it on. 

And they did.  They definitely "Brought It!"

After she goes over the waterfall the color returned & I wondered....when she came to would she be greeted by Munchkins?  "We welcome you to munchkin land tra lalalalala la la laaa..."

Aw nope, no munchkins.  Oh well.  Here she wakes up & finds herself standing in a darkened cave & in front of her is some sort of demony thingy kind of scary dude.  {{Yes, I got very technical but I felt it was important}}  Who goes flying through the air right towards her.

And then .....

Nothing.  They stopped that scene right there.  Guess they want us to just come back to that part of the story later.  We'll just set that aside & see what's been happening on earth w/ Eun Oh & the guys.

Oh yeah remember how last episode Eun Oh asked Dol Soe to stay by the body of Lee Seo Rim & keep watch over her, protect her?  Then later we saw those guys w/ torches running from Lord Choi's house?  And I said, looks like Dol Soe is going to be getting some company later?  Yeah.  I was right.  Not that I'm gloating or anything.  First, I don't gloat.  {{I do remind people when I haven't been wrong but I never gloat about being right ;) There is a distinctive difference between the two.}}  Second, anybody could see that coming if they paid attention.  Third, I hate people who gloat. It's just so rude!

So he's peeking in on Lee Seo Rim & telling her that even though he doesn't know her his heart feels very uneasy that such a young lady as herself would die this way & have no mum & dad to be there waiting for her.  And so he'll take care of her.  Just then the aforementioned bad guys arrive.  And he is true to his word.  That Dol Soe rocks socks!  He takes quite the beating but refuses to give in to their demands or step out of the way so that they can steal her body on orders from Lord Choi.  Just when things look dire for our hero Dol Soe...

A shoe comes flying out of nowhere & hits the Knife Happy Lackey  in the back of the head & saves Dol Soe's life.  

Even the 3 stooges look shocked as to who saved the day, maybe even fearful they might get in trouble.  Because it is none other than.....

Dun Dun Dunnnnn

A shoeless, hopping on one foot, Eun Oh for the rescue!

Eun Oh has arrived & he manages to save Dol Soe.  Only Knife Happy Lackey is less than thrilled that he was unable to get the body of Lee Seo Rim as Lord Choi demanded.  He confronts Eun Oh, who tells him I am the Magistrate & I am the son of the Minister of Education & the former Prime Minister & if you tick off MY dad he'll not let you escape.  You may be following Lord Choi's orders but it won't be Lord Choi who gets hunted down & has to pay, it'll be you.  Begrudgingly he starts to leave but Eun Oh reprimands his lack of manners & polite speech & says shouldn't you bow to your betters before you leave their presence?  Dang that Eun Oh is one bad dude.  I don't think he's really afraid of anything.  After they leave Dol Soe collapses against Eun Oh with gratitude for saving him just in time.

Back at Lord Choi's house, we see Lord Choi is NOT happy with Knife Happy Lackey.  He threw a brick at the guys' head!  I'd say he's more than a little miffed he didn't get that body like he was told.  I could be wrong.  I'm not but I could be.

Eun Oh goes back to Lee Seo Rim's body & talks to her.  He has no idea if Arang is in hell, if she's okay, if she's coming back.  He has no further clues as to where his mom is, nor does he know what Arang would want him to do with her body.  So he decides the least he can do is offer her a decent funeral.

The next morning he sends for the 3 stooges.  He tells them we are going to do the typical funeral service over 3 days period.  Tell all the villagers that they should come pay their respects to Lee Seo Rim's body & beg her forgiveness for all the bad mouthing they did after she disappeared.  They owe her at least that much.   So an official proclamation is put up in the town.  The townspeople are not pleased that they're being commanded to go to the funeral of a girl they don't even know.  Especially when by doing that they'd be ticking off Lord Choi.  They're also disgruntled by the heavy taxes & fees that Lord Choi charges them.  Blah Blah Blah...  Then they realize that Ju Wal is standing there looking over there shoulders.  He reads the notice as well.  But he hardly seems moved one way or another by the announcement of his former fiance's funeral.

Two days later & we find Eun Oh, alone, sitting at Lee Seo Rim's visitation, he remarks on the inherit sadness that it's been 2 days & not even an ant has come to see her & asks her how she lived in this town.  The next morning dawns the day of the funeral & he is preparing himself to leave.  Throughout the preparations, including a visit from the seamstress, who is broken hearted over Lee Seo Rim's obvious death, & her expressing her gratitude to Eun Oh for the funeral & for honoring the Young Lady, we see a girl in a pink Hanbok running through the streets.  We don't get to see her face just the back of her dress as she runs.  Then just as he is exiting the magistrate's house he sees the girl...

 And we see her too!  It's Arang herself....all smiley & cute.  And what's more???

 Dol Soe can see her too!!!

Eun Oh sends Dol Soe off & we find out that Arang is alive.  She's human.  He can touch her.  And I went....OH!!!  So that's how they get around the whole falling for a ghost part.  Gotcha!  He grabs her hand & takes her back inside & shuts the door then he grabs her by the shoulders & shakes her & starts feeling all around.  Eventually, she shakes me off & looks shocked.  Eun Oh has lots of questions & this is where we find out the rest of the story of her trip to the heavens.

After she faced off the scary demony thingy in the cave she was allowed to pass through to the heavens w/ Gen Dead Dude.  As she alights onto a stone circle floating in the sky, she faces off against the Old Man {{aka Mr Beautiful}}.  Its here she discovers that he is not an Old Man.  After, you know she mistakes Hades (Yeom Ra) as the Old Man.  After the confusion is cleared away he asks her why she has demanded an audience with him & she says, "I want to know why I died & lied under the ground like that?"  Mr Beautiful seems shocked that she was laying under the ground.  When she asks him if he didn't know her situation & he tells her "Do you think you are the only one I look after?"

After he fakes pretending to discuss it with Hades, who calls him out on his fakery, Hades giddily explains to her that she is going straight to hell.  But because of Mr Beautiful's earnest request we've decided to give you one more chance.  They explain this is the first time this has happened since Creation  but they are going to send her back to the living.  This shocks Gen Dead Dude.  Guess they weren't exaggerating.  They've never done this before.  They tell her they are sending her back to answer her own question.  In other words she is to discover how & why she died the way she did.  And she gets to do this as a human.

But there is a catch!  If she cannot discover the answer she will be put into the hell of all hells!  And...

He seems inordinately pleased by this news doesn't he?  Seriously, Hades.  More fiber!  You'll be a much happier god of the Under World!  Just sayin'.

They ask her if she agrees to these terms & of course she does so now we get a lot of powerful imagery...

I was with the whole thing, the really cool flowing of the 2 separate powers, light & dark, turning into a ball of energy w/ the Yin/Yang symbols emblazoned on it, all very awesome & I was with them ...

till they got here.

And then once again my brain went straight to another moment from entertainment.

  

Can any of you guess what this scene reminded me of?

If you guessed that moment when Ariel loses her mermaid tail & gets legs from Ursula the Sea Witch, 

you get 15 imaginary points.  

I just kept hearing Sebastian's voice telling Scuttle...

"SHE'S GOT LEGS MON!!"

And now you're all,

"Thanks Unnie.  It never occurred to me before but now it's all I'll be able to think of when I see this scene!"

{{Giggle, sorry AddiKts.  What can I say?  You are all right.  I should really seek professional help.}}

However, I liked when she came up out of the water & started calling them perverts for sending her back bare butt nekkid!  Men! Aish!!

Seeing as this is Shin Min Ah, I'm willing to bet male viewership jumped a lot just because of this scene.  All hoping to get a quick glimpse of her bits & pieces.  And suddenly I'm remembering AGD when Do Jin was imagining Yi Soo nekkid when she was talking about kitty panties.  LOL  You know you were thinking it too!  Ahhh...Do Jin.  I miss your lascivious nature.

After a little clothing thievery from one of the villager's laundry lines she makes her way through town to the Magistrate's house & sees the funeral notice & that's when she speeds things up & practically sprints to Eun Oh.  And now we're up to date on her sojourn through heaven.  At this point Dol Soe, who is suspicious of his master's interest in the girl starts bellowing from outside that they are all waiting on him.  Eun Oh agrees to leave & tells Arang to stay there, inside, hidden.

While he's gone she runs to her room, I mean Lee Seo Rim's room & looks at herself in the mirror.  That has to feel good to be able to see yourself & know what you look like after not being able to for so long.  While in her room & admiring how pretty she really is, she decides she can & will solve her murder.  She remembers the other important info from Mr Beautiful & Hades.  That she has 3 months.  3 full moons to find her answer.  Then she has to go back.  And when she finds the truth a bell will sound letting her know that she has found the answer she seeks.  Only it isn't a little bell, like she thinks.  When it's time it grows to huge proportions & sounds like a gong.

We again get a glimpse of heaven as Hades & Mr Beautiful continue their board game.  They are discussing the outcome & whether or not their plan is going to work.  I'm guessing if all goes as planned, her going back & uncovering the truth will set the world to right.  The living world & the dead one.  And restore balance.  Then Hades & Mr Beautiful discuss what will be their reward if things go according to plan.  So if Hades is right & Mr Beautiful is wrong then Hades wants to swap bodies.  Being mistaken as the Old Man apparently rubbed the Old Man the wrong way.  Mr Beautiful hesitates but eventually agrees to the terms.  When Hades asks him what he wants if he is right, Mr Beautiful says, he'll say his price at a later day.  I can't wait to see what he'll ask for!

Back on earth Arang scoffs at their doubt of her & decides she is going to start investigating right now.  Plus, she really wants to see her funeral too!  So she steals clothes again.  Only this time she has snatched the clothes from the police/guard guys.  Yeah because she really does look manly doesn't she?  It's the huge dimple in the very feminine & pretty cheek that gives her that manly visage.

At Lord Choi's house we see Ju Wal standing outside a locked outbuilding.  He starts to put a key into the lock but then changes his mind.  And we get a semi glimpse into the building & sort of see what is housed within....

 Your guess is as good as mine at this point AddiKts.

Lord Choi is such a great benefactor to the townspeople.  He allows the starving & the poor to have food from his storage.  Although I doubt that they feel all that grateful as the only food they get are the foods that have already started the rotting process.

 After Lord Choi watches the poor & the needy take his rotting food, his Knife Happy Lackey takes him to another building that is full of tributes from the townspeople who are starving.  I'm guessing this is their taxes. Okay so this is obviously more evil deeds & politics from Lord Choi.

And then the Knife Happy Lackey informs Lord Choi that he has been informed by the 3 Stooges that the new Magistrate will be leaving immediately following the funeral.

I'm not sure..... but I think perhaps just maybe Lord Choi is pleased by this news.  I could be wrong.  I'm not, but I could be. ;)

After this Lord Choi finds his son & it's time for another cryptic conversation.  Oh goody.  {{Were you able to hear the sarcasm there?}}  He tells his son, that the next day is the full moon, a day that the darkness swallows the full moon.  Then he asks his son what that person said they would do if he couldn't find the girl by tomorrow?  That person wouldn't desert you for one mistake?  Finally Ju Wal speaks & he tells his father not to worry.  Then tells him to worry about getting his own job done properly.  So probably "that person" is a reference to the woman in the locked building.  I'm guessing here guys.  As Ju Wal is leaving his father reminds him his former fiance's funeral is today.  He should go & maybe by chance he'll meet the girl he's been looking for.  He tells his dad that he'll leave that to him, she was someone who was going to be his daughter in law after all.  And he should take alcohol to the bearers.  That would be more beneficial than his fake generosity giving away rotten grains.  {{Ooh Snap!  Junior's got some grit after all!  I still don't trust or like him & he still creeps me out to no end but I really liked watching him best his father in the verbal war.}}

But we aren't done with Ju Wal in this episode.  As Arang is running though town trying to find her way to her funeral she runs right into Ju Wal.  Who grabs her arm to prevent her from falling backwards.
After he grabs her though, and while his hand is still on her arm he looks down & finds his ring is all glowey!!

 OOOOOOOH!!  It.  Just.  Got.  Interesting!!

Pretty sure that glowey ring means our Arang is THE girl he's been searching for all this time!  

She apologizes & rushes off to her funeral & he follows because he'll be damned if he's gonna loose the girl he's been searching for.  I gotta imagine he's looking at her incredible beauty in police uniform & more than a little confused.  LOL  Who in their right mind is going to think she's a man!?!?!

She gets to the funeral & no she does not blend in.  Not even close.  Then she refuses to follow the command from the 3 stooges to help fill in the grave because she spots the seamstress & decides if that lady sees her she'll recognize her & that would not be good.  So she tries to run away only the 3 stooges grab a hold of her & by this point Eun Oh has recognized her too & is trying to make his way to her & she realizes that she is in trouble, so she struggles, breaks free & runs hell bent for leather away from the 3 stooges, the police, AND Eun Oh! 

She manages to escape them all but has also managed to get herself cornered.  Ju Wal was in hot pursuit as well & he finds her blocked in, she asks him for help getting over the block wall which he does.  Just as she is spied by Eun Oh.  She freaks & goes over the other side. At this point Eun Oh & Ju Wal face off & that is it!

A pretty good episode all in all.  Answered some questions.  Brought up some new ones.  Had funny, had drama, had excitement.  But we are still getting to know who is who & trying to figure out who to trust & who not to trust as well.  Looking forward to next week's episode.  Looks intriguing from the previews!

Hope you enjoyed the review & that you'll be back next week.  I want to apologize for the late posting of this episode but I have a feeling this will be standard.  See I don't actually speak Korean.  Learning, yes.  But far too early, in my lessons, for me to watch without subs.  So I have to wait for the subbing teams at Viki to finish subbing an episode before I can watch & review.  Personally, I prefer the subbing job from Drama Fever.  So if you are behind on your Arang & the Magistrate episodes.  I would recommend Drama Fever more professionally done subs than Viki's but for the purposes of getting my review out quickly I have to watch on Viki, first.  Then I typically will go back & watch again on DF.  Just my style AddiKts.  

I'd have had this post done earlier today but my kids are still on summer break....just one more full week of summer & then they are the school's problem.  {{giggle}}   I'm kidding!  I love my kids!  No really, not being sarcastic.  But it's a little more difficult to accomplish things like K Drama reviews with all of them home.  Plus, today I had a doctor appointment.  Just the eye doctor.  It's official I am an old lady!  Okay I'm not actually an old lady.  I still have a ways to go before then but I felt old when the eye doctor told me I needed reading glasses.  So I picked out my granny glasses & they should be here next week.  Maybe then I won't get as many headaches & my eyes won't feel quite so tired & worn out.  {{fingers crossed}}  Want to see what I'll look like?  You'll have to go to my Twitter page or to my FB page.  And feel free to tease & pick on me & my granny glasses all you want to.  I'm a big girl, I can take it!

Well that's it for this week.  I'll let you all get back to your regularly scheduled Friday night lives.  Wish I had a Friday night life.  Or whatever day & time it is in your country right now.  :)  Have a great weekend!!

Saranghamnida,