Dramatic Friday Review: Faith (The Great Doctor) ep 2

So today (well, yesterday at this point) I had this crazy insane long to do list.  Guess what I did on it?  Almost nothing.  I did what I sometimes do when faced with a crazy long to-do list...I did everything but what was on the list.  I avoided and procrastinated and now it's major crunch time.  I will do my best to give my all to this post, but I can't make any promises.  I mean, *cough cough* I will completely and fully dedicate myself to making this the most amazing Faith review out there in the blogosphere.

Which reminds me.... I want to give a great big shout out to anyone that is joining us here for the first time.  I know that sometimes new dramas can pull in new readers.  It's a wonderful thing.  If you're new here, run while you still can welcome!  Pull up a seat and make yourself comfortable.  Can I offer you a cold beverage?  Maybe a little snack?  Once you finish with this review, take a look around and see what else we have to offer.  I hope you enjoy what my unnie and I have to share with you and we look forward to many repeat visits in the future from you and all of your friends.  Just so you know, we're really needy that way.  ;)

Since time is at a premium at the moment and my bed is calling to me (I have to go camping this weekend.  I hate camping.  The remaining time I have left with my cozy bed is precious to me.), I will dispense with the chit chat and dive right in.  (P.S.  The bed won.  Today is now Friday and I'm leaving any second now to go camping - uh oh!  There's The Husband now.  Oh crap!  Gotta fly and pretend that I've been camp prepping not Faith review writing! Shhh...no one tell him, he'll never know because he doesn't read my blog...hehehe).

When we last left off at the end of episode 1, General Choi and Doctor Yoo were standing in front of Heaven's Door and he was trying to convince her to follow him.  He makes his solemn promise to deliver her safely back home once the queen is saved.  This becomes important later, so file it away in the short-term memory banks.  She's still a wee bit unsure (as well she should be - strange man, strange costume, strange request, but hey, nice face), but they eventually go through the door (just like the fortune teller guy had told her she would need to do) and back in time 700 years.  

Eun Soo is brought to the gravely injured queen.  She believes that she is on a film set and that the queen was injured and that they're afraid of the police finding out so they kidnapped a doctor to help.  Of course everyone there is all like, "what is she talking about?"  She is afraid to treat the queen for fear of losing her medical license.  After a little convincing, she begins surgery to repair the neck injury.  General Choi steps in and starts to help by handing her instruments as she calls out for them.  I found it funny though that as the wound was being sutured back up, the camera pans over to where General Choi is now found sleeping on the floor.  I guess we're to understand that he sleeps...a lot.  A lot more than normal.  Maybe it's how he charges his lightning power.  Hmmm....  I would imagine that using that much energy would sap a guy of his reserves and he'd have to recharge somehow.  Maybe this is how he does it.  Or else he's just really lazy.  Or a narcoleptic.  

  

We get a little building up of some political drama.  The servant girl sneaks away during the surgery and then she is is seen talking and plotting with this guy.

I don't know his name yet.  I'm going to call him Scarface.  Scarface is a bad guy.  Someone is obviously out to get the queen.  He's part of that.  He's a bad dude.  The servant is a bad lady.  They're working together.  They're plotting.  We don't know why exactly or what they're plotting, but we know they are.

The surgery is complete.  The queen lives, though she is still unconscious.  Eun Soo is trying to make her escape but is stopped by General Choi who tells her that they have to wait for the queen to wake up.  The king then shows up.  He reiterates that the queen's survival is of the utmost importance - that his country rests on her living.  "Can I trust that you being here means that the heavens look on us favorably?" he asks her, to which she tearfully turns to General Choi and says, "This guy is even weirder."  Bwahahahaha!

Then there is a little argument.  General Choi would like to keep the promise he made to the lady and return her home.  Jo Il Shin, the real chatty one that told them about Heaven's Door in the first place, tells the king that they need to keep the lady from heaven with them to help back him and strengthen him as a king.  To give him more power.  I just realized that his family name is Jo.  Like JoJo by chance?  Remember from the legend of Hwata?  Coincidence?  I think not.  Remember how Jo Jo wanted Hwata to stay and be his personal doctor and help him as ruler of the land?  Oooh.  I had missed that before because I didn't know what the guy's name was, but now I'm thinking that it is not mere coincidence.  While they all try to figure out what to do with the heavenly doctor, she is locked up in a room.

She bribes the bad servant girl there to let her out though and goes on the lam.

We see her wandering the streets of Goryeo.  She is amazed at the size of the "set".  And can't figure out why no one will talk to her and tell her where she can find a taxi or phone.  She's lost and confused and running scared.

And is then snatched up.

Meanwhile, while this is all going on, Heaven's Door is rapidly closing.  The guards watching it believe that it will be closed by the end of the day.  They better find her and get her home quick or she's out of luck.

While out searching for the doctor, they uncover a stash of poisonous gas bombs.  You know, to liven up the story a bit.

How adorable is this guy by the way?  He's the one that's always standing on his head, right?  I died laughing in the first episode when he was upside down and Lee Philip's character came up and smacked his bare belly.  I had wanted to do the exact same thing so seeing it actually happen was very gratifying and hilarious. I can't believe I didn't mention it in the first review, I was totally gonna.  Better late than never.  Anyway, this guy cracks me up.  He also speaks Chinese which is helpful in them figuring out what is going on with the poison bombs and everything.

The inn where the royal entourage is staying is attacked with these gas bombs.  The queen is carried out in the malay that follows.

The evil servant wench (hehehe...I said "wench") goes to kill the queen.

But has a little problem when she herself is knocked out by the modern day police shield that General Choi throws like a giant boomerang.  Whoops.  And sweet!

Since the queen has awoken, the king goes ahead and gives General Choi the go ahead to return the doctor.

First of course, she must be rescued.  They're searching in vain, unable to locate her until her phone starts going off saying "please feed us!" (meaning it needs to be charged - how cute is that?!).

They rescue her.  She's still a little, shall we say, wary? of the situation and tries to run off.  Or limp off rather as she is having issues with her broken heels.  So, being the gentleman that he is, he scoops her up in his arms and tells her that it's time to return her home.

I didn't get a screenshot of it, but did you catch his smile after he said "If you fall, you'll break".  I think he's already starting to think that this lady is kind of cute.  He certainly feels responsible for her well-being and safety.  A too stinkin' cute moment that made me melt into a big pile of Lee Min Ho-induced goo.

Back at Heaven's Door, time is growing short.  The door is almost closed.

She's about to go through when Jo Il Shin shows up and tells her that she cannot return by order of the king.

Well, now what is Woo Dal Chi (the name they keep calling General Choi so I might give it a try too, we'll see if it stick.  General Choi is easier to remember, but Woodalchi sounds cooler. ^^ Not knowing Korean, I'm guessing that Woodalchi means General, but just a guess) to do?  He's given the promise in his name which is sealed with his life.  If he doesn't keep his promise, he loses his life.  But his king has given an order and he is sworn to obey the king.  Tough one.

Reluctantly, he pulls her back as she is about to go through.  She struggles for a moment, but then the portal closes and she is stuck.

He feels like crap I can imagine.

She runs at him with a sword and he lets her.

Not only does he let her run him through, he helps.

The queen seems to get this whole "promise made with his life" thing and basically scolds the king for his order, saying that either way it's a death sentence to the General.  Either he keeps his promise and dies for criminally disobeying the king's order, or he obeys the order and dies for not keeping his promise.  Either way, he dies.  She wonders aloud if the king meant to kill the general.

Now that she has run him through, she's desperate to save his life.  She doesn't want to be a murderer.  She tells them to keep the sword in place because it is keeping him from bleeding any more.  So Jo Il Shin helps out by yanking out the sword saying, "Okay, now you're not a murderer, I am."  And he does this with a big old grin on his ugly evil face.  Everyone rushes to help the doctor as she tries to save Choi Young (yes, another name to try out for him - I can't just keep calling him General Choi.  Too impersonal and it's Lee Min Ho - don't we want to get as personal as possible? >\\<).  Jo Il Shin orders them to leave him, but they ignore him.  He gets all huffy, "I gave you an order!" but they respond saying, "the lady from the heavens has given an order to apply pressure!".  In other words, her word now trumps his.  HA!  Take that you dirty rotten rat patootey!

Mr cutie pie rushes back to get the medical supplies (aka the 'heavenly tools'). Upon hearing that the General has been stabbed, the king automatically assumes that it was because he had disobeyed the king's order and had been stabbed by the soldiers for this criminal act.  I loved cutie pie's response, "How could we slay our general?"  And then, when asked again by the king what Woodalchi did with his order, Cutie Pie, on his knees and in tears said, "He followed your order, that's why he's dying.  So, please, let me help him".

Then the queen starts to give orders.  She tells Cutie Pie and Dr Jang to go save the general.  This doesn't fly too well with the king.  He's got some serious insecurities.

Choi Young is carried back and surgery begins.

So, now that week one is done and we have our first two episodes, how are we feeling?  Still excited?  On the fence?  Disappointed?  I am still excited.  I really think that I will like this one.  Of course I've been burned before and won't know until we're several more episodes in for sure, but so far, so good.  It's wonderful to have Lee Min Ho back.  I like Kim Hee Sun.  This is my first drama with her believe it or not.  But I like her.  I like that she is a blend.  I've heard some call her whiny and annoying, but I think that she is a strong woman.  She certainly shows that side when need be.  I don't think that she is flakey or flighty or the air-headed money grubber that she at times appears to be.  I look forward to seeing how her character develops as she spends the next year (if the fortune teller had that part right which I believe he probably did since he got everything else right - the man from the past and she had to go through the door and into another world for a year) back in time.

As far as the political wheelings and dealings, I know I didn't touch much on them yet.  That is mostly due to the fact that we still don't have a lot of information yet.  We know that there is some organization of some sort that is after the queen and that the country's life depends on her keeping hers.  There is some threat I take it from the land of Yuan possibly taking over.  Looks like we have our pro-Yuan team and our anti-Yuan team.  Interestingly enough, the queen is from Yuan and the king spent the past 10 years living there.  But I don't know much else.  I don't know who the governmental figures are or who the bad guys are.  They will certainly begin to unravel and be revealed later on as we go along.  Sorry if you came here looking for more information on that facet of the story.

And now, I should probably get this posted.  My time is up and someone might just be waiting for it now that we're into Friday afternoon.  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.  Watch lots of dramas in my behalf as I will be stuck up in the woods communing with nature or rot like that ;)  I will want to hear all about them when I get back!