DFR: Arang and the Magistrate ep 11

Just diving right in since this is posting way later than normal.  We'll save visiting for another time.

At the end of last week's ep 10 we got to see a very sweet & romantic moment between Eun Oh & Arang.  Amidst a field of wild flowers, which Eun Oh pronounced was supposed to be equivalent to him sending Arang to heaven, because of her intense passion for flowers, we watched as Eun Oh opened up a little more about his past.  We learned when & how it came to be that Eun Oh could see & hear ghosts & when Arang asked him what he hopes to accomplish once he finds his missing mother, we found all he wants is to know A) What kind of a son he was & what he meant to her & B) To then live happily & peacefully with her.  I thought it was a sweet easy way to end the episode.

This week ep 11 starts off with them having arrived back at the magistrate's house after their walk & visit.  He sends her off to sleep & when she asks him if he will go with her the next day to pick up the clothes he ordered he says no way.  She can do that on her own.  Heaven forbid she think he like her.

Meanwhile in heaven the gods are fishing & talking about bait.  Hmmm...I'm not sure...but I think this conversation isn't necessarily about fishing like they want us to think it is.  And it would seem Creepy Mommy Dearest is on to their "bait" idea.  It would seem the only one capable of stopping CMD is her big bro General Dead Dude (Moo Yeong).

Speaking of General Dead Dude...he's playing the creepy role too.  He's seriously hooked on wanting to know what that fan & Eun Oh are & how he was able to do that to the ghost?  He is certain that the fan belonged to Mr Beautiful.  But how is that possible?  How would a mortal have a mystical fan of the gods?  So he goes in to Eun Oh's rooms while he's sleeping & finds the fan & then he finds the hairpin that belonged to Eun Oh's mom.  He knows this hairpin.  But how does Eun Oh have it?  Unfortunately for Gen Dead Dude Eun Oh is awake & not exactly thrilled to find the Grim Reaper in his room holding his fan & the hairpin.

The next minute we see both Eun Oh & General Dead Dude come flying through the wall of the Magistrate's room.  Like smash bang boom through (knocking down) the wall!!  Followed by a pretty cool fight scene.

But see they are too evenly matched.  Which either means General Dead Dude is not as powerful as he thinks, even though he's been reaping for about a thousand years... OR...Eun Oh has some powers of his own that he shouldn't normally have.  Just when Eun Oh is asking questions Arang pops her head over the wall wanting to know what is going on?  General Dead Dude uses this opportunity to that smoky vanish thing he's really good at.  Afterwards when Arang asks him where he got the fan from & he tells her he got it from his teacher, she asks him, "My fake father?"  That just made me giggle.  And Eun Oh goes to sleep, leaving Arang wondering a few things herself.

The next morning Ju Wal wakes up to find that the seamstress followed the magistrate's order & returns his money to him, informing that the clothes order has been cancelled.  He hardly looks pleased.  Especially when he runs into Arang in town in front of the seamstress's shop.  Eun Oh on the other hand is rifling through Lee Seo Rim's old room, wondering why it never occurred to him before that he should have searched for clues there.  Arang finally sits down & asks Ju Wal about his relationship w/ Lee Seo Rim.  He explains that it was an arranged marriage, that the request for the union came from Lee Seo Rim's side.  probably because a marriage with his family is ideal.  Which made me snort because talk about in laws from hell?!?!  O.O  I wouldn't want to marry into that family!  Bunch of wackadoos!  He also explained that he & Lee Seo Rim were never formally introduced & he never actually laid eyes on her, so there was no love between them.  And when Arang suggests that maybe the young lady is the one who wanted to marry him, you know crush wise, he said he didn't think that was possible.  And that he doesn't feel guilt for not having any concern or anxiety for her death.

While they are having their meeting & Ju Wal is denying any romantic feelings from either party we see Eun Oh in Lee Seo Rim's room, having found her diary, he is reading it.  And we get to hear one passage in particular from her journal.  A passage that evokes the feeling that Lee Seo Rim did in fact have feelings for Ju Wal as she was very excited about her wedding night with him.

"As I saw my wedding suit in various colors laid in my room, it looked more beautiful than red Grape Myrtle flowers.  Sitting aloof in my empty room, and thinking of my lover who would lie under the same wedding bedclothes with me, my longing for him is getting deeper and deeper, so I'm asking myself when that day would finally come."  

While he is reading this passionate & longing passage we see Arang walking alone in town now believing that she was mistaken about her feelings for Ju Wal when she was a ghost.  She says, "As the Magistrate said... I was totally fooled by the fake sound of a dead heart... What am I doing here?  It's not even an unrequited love..."  Then wonders what she is?  

But she is not the only one in town...the shaman is there as well & still trying to determine if the voice she heard that night was Arang's.  This is her chance to find out... when she sees Arang wander past her, lost in thought.  The Shaman follows her & they disappear around a corner of the building.

Back at the Magistrate's house Eun Oh is pacing.  He needs to talk to Arang but she is taking forever to return.  And we found out when an arrow goes whizzing past his head & lands in the post next to him, with one of the ribbons from Arang's hanbok & a note.

Of course this means that he has to jump on his horse & race to the rescue.  If you are wondering who it is that took Arang & the Shaman, well then you haven't been paying attention.  It was Lord Choi of course.  Or rather it was his lame henchman Geo Deol.  Lord Choi is really ticked off about the storage shed that was full of food that is now in the hands of all the villagers.  He wants Eun Oh & Arang chased out of town, scared off.  Lord Choi tells Geo Deol to keep him apprised of the situation & sends him off to do his dirty work.  Ju Wal happens to overhear Geo Deol & his evil scheme & follows him to the woods where Eun Oh has arrived to save the day & the girls.

At first he fights but then they hold a knife to Arang's neck & he stops fighting & they get their chance to beat him up w/ Arang screaming at him & begging him to not worry about her but to just get up & fight.  But he refuses to... no matter how much she cries out to him to defend himself he doesn't want them to hurt her so he continues to allow them to beat him.

Eventually she is able to get loose enough that she fights back too & just as one of her captors is about to go for her he ends up w/ a knife in his back...from...somewhere...someone.  But they can't see who.  Although we the audience get to see it's from Ju Wal who is determined not to be seen.  

But this death of the bad guy is enough to allow Arang to break free & gives Eun Oh the chance to get back on his feet & fight off his captors & rush to the defense of the Shaman & Arang.  Whom he orders to run away.  She won't do it at first until he tells her with you here I will be distracted so run!!  Eventually she listens & she drags the Shaman away up into the mountains further.  But the bad guys, and there are a lot of them, break off into 2 groups.  One group stays & fights Eun Oh & the other runs after the girls, at Geo Deol's insistence.  Eventually Eun Oh beats up his group & runs up the mountain to find & save Aarang & the Shaman.  

But not before the bad guys have caught up to the girls & are about to take them out.  The Shaman screams out & we see both Ju Wal & Eun Oh, from different places on the mountain panic & run faster to try & save them.  Right after Geo Deol gives the kill order we see Arang standing in front of the Shaman, hands & arms out, to protect the Shaman, with a look of surprise on her face.

Once again...Arang has been killed.  Seriously, I get that she is immortal but come on!  Stop killing her off & bringing her back to life!  At some point this plot device is going to get old...oh wait it already has!  At least for me it has.  It has been...pardon the pun...been done to death.  {{insert rim shot here}}

And shouldn't there be a lot more blood if that is the killing wound?  It doesn't even look that deep, let alone bloody enough.  That scene in Bridal Mask when Kang To kills Shunji's brother with the punch to the throat that was bloody.  This just looks like a scratch.  

But I guess it was important that the Shaman get to see all the mystical stuff for herself.  Oh she knows that it's Arang now.  Eun Oh yelling out very passionately when he sees her dead, "ARANG!" kind of gave it away.   

Of course it was also important that she die in this episode because it lead to the first kiss...sort of.  

She's lying there dead, you know.  And he kneels next to her & grabs her lifeless body from the ground & kisses her.  The Shaman of course looks away but there you have it.  

Hmmmm....  good kiss scene.  I was very happy to see a kiss scene.  I don't have a lot of experience w/ Sageuks of course.  I never made it far enough in to Dr Jin, for obvious reasons.  Faith & Arang are my first real sageuks.  Are they always this slow on the kiss scenes?  I have to admit this is probably the only part of the Sageuk that I don't like, I get the whole its a different era, they didn't do the whole kissing thing then like they do now, want to stay true to the time period we're set in etc...but it's also a drama guys.  A couple of kissing scenes are okay, right?  Am I alone?  

At this point she starts to come to & she asks him what he's doing, he smiles & tells her he was trying to revive her faster so he shared his breath with her.  Guess he took that CPR class seriously!  So kissing scenes aren't good if you want to remain true to the time but CPR is a-okay!  Good to know.  Of course Ju Wal is in the forest too & watching all of this unfold.  Including the kiss scene.  And as he has feelings for Arang too this makes him less than thrilled.  I felt so bad watching him, watch them through the trees w/ tears in his eyes, that his girl just got kissed awake by the enemy.

I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume this will not help him to make good choices.  

Meanwhile Geo Deol has returned to Lord Choi.  He left right after Arang had been killed so he is unaware that she has been revived & is still alive...sort of.  And he informs Lord Choi that she is dead which ticks off Lord Choi.  He wanted them scared into leaving town.  Not for Geo Deol to kill Arang!  This is only going to tick off the Magistrate even more & make him more of an enemy!  Geo Deol leaves a very ticked off Lord Choi & watches an anxious & jumpy Ju Wal stride through the grounds & storm into his room.  Yeah he is so not in a good place after that kiss.

Back at the Magistrate's house, the Shaman is in shock after learning that Arang came back from the dead....several times.  She doesn't understand how this is possible.  But she is grateful that Arang saved her life.

Up in heaven Moo Yeong asks Mr Beautiful straight out if the one doing all the soul stealing is Moo Yeon, his dongsaeng.  TO which Mr Beautiful tells him yes.  he then apologizes for not telling him earlier but he doesn't trust humans, even though at the same time he loves them he doesn't trust their hearts either.  Of course Moo Yeong hasn't been human in a really long time but still ...

Nothing changes.  She still has to be stopped & you are unfortunately the only one that can do it.  Talk about job pressure!

Arang wakes up & finds Eun Oh asleep next to her propped up against the wall.  Once she figures out that he is okay after his beating she punches him in the stomach & explains it's for kissing her.  He tries to explain that he was just breathing for her but she isn't buying it.  She thanks him & tells him to not allow himself to get beaten up like that again for her.  Especially by hoodlums like those men are/were, you get the idea.

While they are being awkward & uncomfortable due to their mutual like that they are mutually denying, Dol Seo is buying the Shaman dinner.  More awkwardness ensues when she tries to shut him up about touching her lips by feeding him a huge mouthful of pork she shoves in with her finger which also stays in his mouth for just a little longer than it should have.  It was a cute, little scene but the most important part is that we find out the Shaman has a name!  I can call her something other than the Shaman!!!  Woot woot!!  Her name is Bang Uri!  It felt really good to give her a name after all she's been through.

Later in Arang's room Eun Oh has laid out all the clothes that the seamstress made for Arang.  He tells her to no matter how tough a man I am, I can't stand the sight of a poorly dressed ghost.  And then tells her to change out of the blood covered clothes & he heads outside to wait for her.  She whispers to the empty room, "you shouldn't be so nice to me."  Then after running her hand over the pretty new clothes lovingly she exits the room all pretty & changed.  And we get another one of these looks from Eun Oh...

I love it when the guy looks all turned on by the pretty girl all cleaned up in the pretty new clothes.  I guess that should have made my list of favorite little things in my WWU.  So I'll add it here instead.  I love it when the guy does the make over thing & when she walks out in just the right outfit etc... all pretty he looks all shocked & flustered & turned on.  Giggle makes my tummy all fluttery.  She smiles at him & says, I know I'm beautiful.  Which makes him smile & then she suggests they go for a walk together in the moonlight.  They are so dating!

Now here the subtitles start to fade in & out & I had so many things going on AddiKts that I am afraid I will have to try & figure it out as I go along.  I really need to sit down & re watch the last 10 minutes of the show but I just do NOT have the time this week.  It's one of those weeks where I am pulled in several different directions at one time & playing a lot of different roles to satisfy everyone around me.  Sigh...and NOT the "good" role playing games either. {{wink/wink}}

{{giggle, it would seem Naughty Unnie couldn't let that slide by without some sort of off color remark..sigh I do heart Naughty Unnie, don't you?}}

Anyway, at this point we visit heaven & we see Yeom Ra visiting w/ Mr Beautiful.  He apologizes for giving away the secret to Moo Yeong about his sister.  But he couldn't stand seeing him so mopey & since Mr Beautiful is just borrowing Moo Yeong, Yeom Ra felt he needed to remind M.B., whom Moo Yeong really serves.  And then Mr Beautiful has a flashback of his own.  He's dressed in mortal clothing & on earth.  We see a little boy, dehydrated & begging his mother for water & crawling pathetically along the pavement.  Then we see his mother, played by CMD, all crazy & staring after the dignitary that was parading through town, saying all crazy like out loud, "That Bastard!"  And following in his wake all nutso.  Did I mention she was crazy eyed & nutty?!?!  Yeah ok.  I'm not sure what role MB was playing here but he bent over the little boy's body on the ground & saved his life, just as a grim reaper came to collect his soul, the grim reaper leaves, MB says, "Let's leave this as a debt.  From now on, the owner of the time here onward... is not you.  There will come a time when you will remember this connection today."  Then he picked up the little boy & carried him back to the house & laid him down gently & walked away.  I assume this is a young Eun Oh, who was very sick & was saved by MB for the future usage we are seeing in the show.  To put a stop to CMD.  And this is when he started to know about the other world.  I'm guessing that his "teacher" is Mr Beautiful himself.

The next morning, after realizing his magistrates clothes are still covered in blood he puts on the cleaned up clothes he wore the day he fell after finding the talisman on the tree.  He & Arang take it to the Shaman who does not recognize it.  Arang is sure it's the same as the talisman she saw on the pole at Lord Choi's house after she came back to life the first time.  So Eun Oh goes to Lord Choi's house to investigate whether or not she is right.  He makes it over the wall, but Ju Wal senses him.  As does Creepy Mommy Dearest as he nears the totem pole w/ the talisman.  And sure enough it's an exact match! ( of course we already knew this)

He then goes off exploring deeper & deeper into the grounds & finds the building that houses CMD & the entrance to her secret lair.  He's standing just outside the door, with her on the other side...

When Ju Wal comes up behind him & asks what he is doing there? 

And that was the end of ep 11.  Creepy ending, right?  I haven't yet watched ep 12.  So I honestly have no idea what is going to happen.  I doubt we get another kiss though.  *snaps fingers disappointed*.

This week, Viki had a harder time than usual subbing, as their fluent subbers were unable to help them out.  They worked as fast as they could & I am sure they appreciate our patience.  As of the finishing of this review, ep 12 is completed.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch it until very late this evening, as I have a church service project w/ the teenagers, as one of the youth leaders I have to be there to supervise & help.  We are serving dinner to the elders in our congregation tonight.  I have been making chicken noodle soup & baking & prepping all day long.  I am looking forward to serving the elders.  And by "elders" I don't mean the male missionaries.  I am using elders in the same sense that our friends in Korea use it.  The older, wiser members who have so much more experience & wisdom.  It's a wonderful opportunity for the youth to get to know them & connect with them.  To hear their stories & I am looking forward to it.  Of course, I am also looking forward to this event being finished too.  ;)  I hope you all have had a wonderful day or night or whatever, depending on where in the world you are.

Saranghamnida,