Friday, August 31, 2012

DFR: Faith ep 6

Good Friday morning to you all (or whatever day/time it is for you dear readers - we really are quite the international club, us addicKts, aren't we?).  Have you all enjoyed a wonderful drama filled week?  I sure hope so.  I shouldn't mention this here since it's not Faith related, but I just have to say that I added my 6th currently airing drama to my personal rotation this week - Answer Me 1997 and I am hooked.  I don't know if you've tried it yet.  I hadn't heard much about it, but a few readers/friends had started it and went on and on about how funny it was so I decided to give it a shot.  Wow!  Hilarious!  And it seriously has me on the edge of my seat wondering about the 'mysteries' presented.  I won't give any spoilers here, but if you're watching it, you'll know what I am talking about.  Who is it?!  AGHHH!!!  The suspense!  It's a wonderful addition to the line up and I hope it gets lots and lots of viewers because I think it deserves it.  Of course, keep Faith on the list too - especially now as it is starting to pick up a little and get that much more interesting.  At least I think so.  A new twist was added in this episode that really has me scratching my head and curious to see what comes of it.  But that comes towards the end.  Too soon to talk about it now.  So, how about we jump in and see what awaits us?

And away we go!  Off on a wild adventure in the woods.  With Lee Min Ho.  *dreamy sigh*

Oh, but there I go again, getting ahead of myself.  Focus, Dongsaeng, focus.

The king and queen are at it again.  The queen, being a Yuan princess and all, offers to send in some Yuan troops to help rescue Eun Soo and General Choi from Gi Cheol's dirty rotten clutches.

The king doesn't take her up on her offer, reminding her that she now is Goryeo's queen and he the king and Gi Cheol his subject and as the king, he should be able to show that he can control his own subjects.  At least I think that was his argument.  I was more focused just on the interaction between the two of them.  I love how, once the queen leaves, Lady Choi plays marital counselor, telling the king that it took a lot of guts for her to come to him like that - she had to swallow her pride in order to offer to help him.

The king then goes on to tell Lady Choi the full story behind why he let Gi Cheol "borrow" the doctor.  He was afraid that Gi Cheol would hurt Eun Soo before realizing who she really was, so he made a bet.  I'm thinking he means more of a "gamble" - he took a chance.  Gi Cheol has 7 days to gain the doctor's heart.  If he does so, the king will give her to him. In the meantime however, he had planned on doing everything possible to get her back and protect her.

Back at Gi Cheol's place, they're sitting down to a drink.  Gi Cheol has a challenge to issue.  Remember how he brought the doctor there under the pretense that someone in his household was sick and could only be cured by Eun Soo?  Well, the patient he wants her to cure is Prince Kyeong Chang who has been exiled to Ganghwa Island.

Okay, Faithfuls, this is where I made a big error.  I assumed that Prince Kyeong Chang was the current king's icky older brother from Choi Young's sad story.  I watched almost this entire episode under this assumption.  But no.  As I found out later, there was a king in between.  Or so I think.  Honestly, I don't know.  Hopefully you caught my edit in my ep 5 review.  I had to go in and fix that once I realized my mistake.  When it comes to this stuff, never assume that I know what I'm talking about, because, as I proved so well this time around, I can be waayyy off-base sometimes.  What I gathered from it is this:  King Pervy is gone.  Died?  Exiled?  No idea.  Then there was a child king, Kyeong Chang.  Maybe he is just a prince and was never king, but it sounds like he was king for a short while before abdicating the throne for health reasons.  Which is then when the current king comes into play.  Is this the actual succession?  Dunno.  Are they all three of them brothers?  I think so, but again, don't know for sure.  I guess the next time I should study up better on my Goryeo history.  Sorry for leading any of you astray.  By the final episode maybe I'll have it all straight.  Maybe not.

Anyway, Prince Kyeong Chang is sick.  Eun Soo must heal him to prove that she is indeed from the heavens and not some "wily one" sent to con the king.  If she can't heal him, she will be executed.  Yeah, no pressure.  Reminds me a little of another show....  How many times was Dr Jin threatened with his life if he didn't cure somebody?  Too many to count.  Probably one time per episode at least.  Not that I'm comparing the two shows at all.  They're totally different.  o_O  No, they really are, but every once in a while a similarity or two will crop up.  Since Prince Kyeong Chang is exiled and can't leave his house, Eun Soo and Choi Young must travel to Ganghwa Island.

This involves the need for Eun Soo to learn to ride a horse.  Something she isn't too keen to do, but which results in a funny and cute scene for us involving awkward touches and skinship galore.  And some adorable smiles on the part of Choi Young.

Oh, but wait.  We're not there yet.  No, as they start off on their journey, they are just walking - Eun Soo, Choi Young, cutie pie Woodalchi warrior with the hair, and the horses.  As they go along, Eun Soo is pestering Choi Young about his "confession".

"When did you start loving me?", giggling all the while.  He is trying to tell her that he didn't mean it, that it was just a tactic to save themselves, but she doesn't listen.  She just teases and teases until he can't stand it anymore and he grabs cutie pie, frustratedly exclaiming, "Of all the doctors in heaven, why did I just happen to bring her?!"  *giggle*

Then it comes time for cutie pie with the hair to go back for the doctor's tools.  Choi Young begs him to get back before nightfall.  Cutie pie instantly catches on and says, "ah, so you mean you t-t-two at n-n-night...", laughing and teasing right along with the whole awkward situation between the two would-be lovers.  I just adored this whole scene!

Sadly, we had to leave them in the forest for a while and get back to the Gi Cheol mess.  The queen has decided to ignore the king's wishes for her to butt out and leave everything to him and sets herself to go to Gi Cheol's.

There is a maid/guard that has been planted by Gi Cheol admist the queen's entourage and so word gets back to Gi Cheol that he's about to have a royal visitor.  He orders her to be killed, since she so annoyingly didn't die on her way to Goryeo the first time.  The king also hears of the queen running off and orders his men to bring her back using any methods necessary.

Aw...look!  He really does care.  *sniffle*  Some of Gi Cheol's men show up at the medical building, looking for Eun Soo's tools.  Two of my favorite side characters, the mute herbalist lady and Cutie Pie with the Hair (that's going to be his official name now I guess), try to fight them off.  Korean Squiggy reaches into his sleeve - uh oh, this can't be good! - and blows a cloud of green dust on Cutie Pie with the Hair.

He gags and falls to the ground, foaming at the mouth and seizing.  Oh no!  Poor baby!  At this point I am so worried about him and his fate, but have to wait.  Eun Soo is busy trying to ditch Choi Young and the writers/director think that we need to see this more than what happens to CPwtH, so we go there instead.  Fine, I'll play along, just don't keep me in the dark forever, okay?  I really am worried about him.

That's right, Eun Soo is trying to ditch General Choi.  I know!  Right?!  Like any girl in her right mind would leave Lee Min Ho's side for any reason.  Sheesh.  Except, it's just gotten real up in here for her.  She's basically saying, "Uhm yeah, if you could just point me in the direction of Heaven's Gate, I gots to go.  I don't really want to put my neck on the line for this Prince guy I don't know.  He's not my responsibility.  I ain't sticking around just to be killed if I can't fix whatever is ailing him.  See ya!  Good luck!  Oh, and can you lend me some flow?  I won't be able to pay you back or nothin' seeing as how I'll be 700 years back in the future and all, but after what I've been through since you kidnapped me, I think it's reasonable that I be given at least that much.  Besides, you said you love me."  You know, more or less.  Girlfriend's got a point.  These people with all their killing... stop the madness already.  Oi.

Speaking off killing, we now go to the queen who is on a mission of her own.  I need to add in here that I love her royal guard.  All these tough ladies with their robes and swords...they're pretty sweet.  Talk about girl power!  They even get to prove that those swords aren't just for show - they've got them and they know how to use them.

They're attacked by Gi Cheol's goons.  They try to assassinate the queen, but their arrows  are stopped by Dr Jang and his magical fan.
I know that if you look at this shot it looks like Dr Jang is flinching like a little sissy, but in reality he was just prepping for an awesome fan strike. Honest ;)  It does look kind of silly though, doesn't it?

The Woodalchi show up.  More guys start attacking and the archers fire on them.  We are given to believe later on that both the ground troops attacking and the archers are Gi Cheol's own people and he has no problem killing his own guys to cover up his own involvement.

The king is visibly upset and worried about the queen's safety.  She is safely returned back to the palace, but both are too stubborn to go to the other.  Again, Lady Choi steps in as marriage counselor.  Honestly, these two kids need a lot of help - good thing Lady Choi is there.  She tells the queen that the king was very worried about her.  Maybe there's hope yet, huh?  Let's hope so.  I hope these two crazy kids can finally get over their issues and start to make this marriage work between the two of them.

We get a status update on Cutie Pie with the Hair.  He's been poisoned by a strong poison and still hasn't woken up despite Doctor Jang's efforts.  Aw, poor kid.  I hope he's going to be okay.

This is where we get Eun Soo's horse riding lesson.  Like I mentioned before, she wasn't very willing and fought him all along the way.  And there's holding and lifting and touching and cute little smiles.

{I'm thinking that after the whole acting stint, Lee Min Ho should retire and teach horse riding lessons full time.  I bet he'd get a lot of customers after they see this scene.  In addition to teaching horse riding, he could also add in "Lee Min Ho's Outdoor Adventures" where he would take customers not just riding, but camping too.  The whole package.  Like a dude ranch of sorts, but LMH style.  I'm telling you, it'd be a huge hit!}

So, it's evening and time to set up camp for the night.  Being poisoned and all, Cutie Pie with the Hair has not returned, meaning that Eun Soo and Choi Young are all alone...in the woods...for the night.  He hands her a bedroll and tells her to lie down and get some rest.  When she starts to walk away, he says "No, here.  Right next to me".  {Dude, I don't care how much Lee Min Ho's Outdoor Adventure costs, sign me up!  I believe I have mentioned before my dislike of camping, but in this scenario, I'd make an exception.  Yowzers!}  After laying down, she starts launching into him with another barrage of questions as she has been all day.  She asks about his relationship with the former king that they are going to go see.  She asks him if he was married, to which he replies that no, he is not.  Her reponse?  "What woman would like someone who stabs and kills people every day?"  Aw, that's kind of not fair.  It's his job to stab and kill people.  It's not like he necessarily enjoys it.  I mean, maybe on some level he does - it would be cool to have all those sweet martial art skills and all - but he's only trying to serve and do his duty and all that.  She finishes her gab fest with one last reminder that he needs to keep his promise made to her, then rolls over and goes to sleep.

Leaving him with this face

And then this one.  This is him chewing the aspirin she gave him.  Ew.  Why would you chew aspirin?  That would taste awful!  It grossed me out so much I had to include it.

Back at the palace, it seems that Lady Choi's counseling talents go beyond marital and include leadership as well.  The king is facing a dilemma.  He wants to do what is best for his people and is wondering if giving in to Gi Cheol would be the best and safest course of action.  Lady Choi tells him that Gi Cheol only thinks of himself and then asks, "To that kind of person, are you going to hand over your people?"

The king then says, "I keep thinking about it, but there's just nothing I can do."  Lady Choi's response to that?  "There are a few lines that the king shouldn't say.  'There's no other way' and 'There's nothing I can do'".  The king smiles at this and then says, "Indeed, you and General Choi are from the same family."

Oh!  Did I fail to mention that she is Choi Young's aunt?  Yup.  CY's dad is her brother.  Cute, huh?  That made me smile because I adore her and think she's pretty awesome.  I'm glad the king thinks so too and allows her to dole out the advice like he does.  He needs people like her and her nephew around when he has cretins like Jo Il Shin tossing out their own brand of bad advice.

Back at Lee Min Ho's Outdoor Adventure, looks like they have an extra customer after all.  General Choi calls to someone, telling her to come out.  Turns out Fire Lady has been following them.  She tries to get information from him, he from her, neither one of them answering the other.  It's a game of cat and mouse.  Sexy cat and mouse, but cat and mouse.

She tells CY that she is a favorite sister of her older brother, Gi Cheol.  Guess we're making this episode all about family connections.  Okay then.  I'm going to assume that she does indeed mean that she is literally his blood sister and not metaphorically.

Gi Cheol isn't done yet.  Oh no.  He's just getting started.  He is now working hard to convince the king that Choi Young and the former king had a very close brotherly-type relationship since the boy king was 12 and that he (CY) is most definitely still loyal to Prince Kyeong Chang and went to bring him back to the throne.

Now, when I first watched this, I was still under the impression that Kyeong Chang was King Pervy from before.  I was all happy thinking that there was no way the king was going to buy Gi Cheol's story because he had heard the real story of King Pervy from General Choi already.  But now that I was wrong in my who's who, I'm a little nervous that the king might buy it after all.  Why is he so wishy-washy?  Ugh!  Don't believe Gi Cheol!  You know he's a liar and crook and is out for his own gain.  He's not your loyal subject, why even think of believing him?  Grr.  Hopefully he knows all this and doesn't believe Gi Cheol, but I'm just not sure.

General Choi and Eun Soo show up at the home of the exiled Prince Kyeong Chang.  It's a happy reunion indeed.

This was the point where I threw up my hands and was all, "I give up!  Crud!  It's not King Pervy, it's a cute kid and they most definitely have a close relationship.  What the Hwata?!"

While Eun Soo examines the boy prince, Choi Young is telling him excitedly all about what the heavens were like.

All while keeping a close watch on Eun Soo and her reaction as she was examining the boy.  He can tell it's not good news but still goes on with his exciting tales of bright lights, tall buildings, and horseless carriages.

Once the exam is complete, Eun Soo is somber and tells him that she needs further tests to confirm, but it looks like it's most likely rhabdomyosarcoma and is malignant and has started spreading.

She needs to get him back to the royal clinic with Doctor Jang, her tools, and whatever medicines they can get.  This however is impossible, as to step foot outside of the house would be considered treason.

Meanwhile, they're about to get a lot of visitors.  The king is starting to get suspicious, so the Woodalchi are heading to Ganghwa to make sure the General doesn't try to remove the boy.  Gi Cheol has sent his own goons, or at least Fire Lady.  I'm going to be real honest with you, I'm not exactly sure who all the visitors are or why they're all there, just that there's a bunch of people showing up and it will spell trouble for our dear General when they do.

Back at his lair, Gi Cheol is opening the bundle of Eun Soo's tools stolen from Cutie Pie with the Hair.  And then comes the twist that I mentioned at the first part of this post.  The twist that makes this drama suddenly that much more interesting.  These tools?  He's seen them before.  Wha?  Sure enough, he goes over to a drawer and pulls out identical, though rusted, tools.  He lays them side by side.

Squiggy and little brother ask, "Hyungnim, aren't these tools the tools our teacher had given you?"  He replies, "Yes.  Our teacher said that these tools were used by Hwata.  She really is Hwata's disciple.  Go!  Get her from Ganghwa Island - she cannot be hurt!"  But it is too late, Squiggy and little brother tell him - their guys have already been sent and there's no way to stop them at this point.  So Gi Cheol himself rushes off to get her personally.  What the what?!  Who was his teacher?  What's going on?  Did not see that one coming I must say, but it sure adds a whole new element to the story.

So does the last scene.  General Choi is off to get medicine, tools and help.  But leaves the house and sees that this won't be possible as some of the company has started to arrive already.

He can't leave Prince Kyeong Chang and Eun Soo in danger, so they must come with him.  Well, obviously this is going to be problematic since it's all treasonous and such for the prince to leave.  They are surrounded by guards.

He's starting to explain how there were assassins and he's just trying to get the prince to safety, when out of nowhere these gray robed guys show up.

You get the idea that Choi Young is just as surprised to see them as we are.

Either he doesn't know who they are, or he does and is shocked that they are still around.  My vote goes towards the latter.  But we have to wait another week to find out if I'm right, because that is where we end it for today.  Aw, so soon?  {This has got to be one of the longest stinking recaps I have written in awhile.  Sorry.  Don't know why I was so long winded this time.  If you're still here, kudos to you.  You deserve a prize.  I checked out a long time ago myself ;)}


I hope you enjoyed this week's two episodes.  Are you just as curious to see how these new plot twists play out?  This is why K-dramas are so awesome.  They are great with the cliffhangers and plot twists and turns.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend.  Drop us a line sometime and let us know what you think, we're all ears!  See you next time fellow Faithfuls!

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