DFR: Arang and the Magistrate ep 8

We're half way there AddiKts.  Only one more review this week to go before once again the wait is on for more exciting underworldly mischief & mayhem.  I hope yesterday's review wasn't too disjointed & that you were able to understand my rambles & barely there rhetoric.  I thought about going in & seeing if it needed to be revised or edited & then I decided it was already out & it had already been thoroughly read, according to the stats report anyway, so it was too late to make any changes.  What's done is done, so to speak.

In this episode, I noticed, besides how cute Lee Jun Ki looks in his Joseon Era costume, was the fact that I really don't like that our two leads haven't enough scenes together & when they do, all that yummy chemistry, that hooked me so easily in the first few episodes, is lacking.  There is some chemistry but not enough.  It's leaving me a little frustrated.  In episode 7, if you remember from my review, I felt that the writer didn't take advantage of their time together in the cave, to build up that chemistry & as a result it left me wishing for more "umph".  I don't know maybe I am the only one feeling this way.  I still really like the show, I'm just getting a little irritated by the writer.  Although, I have this feeling though that is what they are going for because in this episode we see a little chemistry building between Arang & Ju Wal.  We have to see Arang head towards to Ju Wal, to make Eun Oh jealous enough that he finally admits she means more to him than a means to find his missing mom.

Sigh.  I have no idea if that entire paragraph made any sense whatsoever.  And besides that, I got way ahead of the recap.  I can't christen this episode anything because it didn't really have a cohesive plot outline, it was just a little catch up/moving the plot line ahead kind of story.  I need to focus & bring myself to the beginning. 

It starts off with Eun Oh coming "back to his senses" to quote Dol Soe.  And the first thing he wants to know is where is Arang & what happened to her.  When he asks Dol Soe what happened to Arang Dol Soe says, she fell from the cliff, what do you think happened to her?  And then Dol Soe informs Eun Oh that he sent the Patrolmen to go & look for her body.  It was this that sends Eun Oh in a tailspin out the door looking for Arang, w/ Dol Soe, hot on his trail, begging him not to go.  Was it just me or does Lee Jun Ki racing through the countryside on horseback make anybody else giddy?  Hmmm...just me?  Guess I've got a weakness for an incredibly good looking man on a horse.  

{{Maybe I just have a weakness for an incredibly good looking man.  Ya think?}}

While Eun Oh is wondering where Arang might have gone to, we the viewers, get to see her arrive, also on horseback with a good looking man.  Only this good looking man is not a good man.  He's the quasi villain, Ju Wal.  He arrives back at his house & puts her in his room to recuperate.  We are given the impression that she is out cold & therefore completely unaware of what's happening to her.  Ju Wal looks at her & wonders what she is, that she was able to fall from that very high cliff & live?

Eun Oh has arrived back at the Magistrate's office & finds out that no one has come to claim or even look at the bodies from the Bone Tomb.  And he finds out why too.  The Three Stooges inform him that it's because the entire town is afraid of Lord Choi & they know that it would anger him to see them visiting the Magistrate in any capacity.  But as Dol Soe points out, the town is not that much unlike Eun Oh himself, who has never concerned himself with the world around him.  Only his own interests have ever interested him.  

But Lord Choi isn't the only baddie in town remember?  Oh no...there is more evil to worry about.  Creepy Mommy Dearest has evil covered pretty well on her own.  Once again we find her in her lair.  For the first time we get to see her create the evil sticky notes.  

Step one pull magic into your hands.

Step 2 squeeze magical blood out of your hands. 

Step 3 bleed on magic sticky notes.

Step 4 after imbuing sticky notes w magic blood create seal

Then she takes the magic sticky notes she just created & places them on top of the hilts of two swords.

and then we watch as the magic sticky notes are absorbed into the hilts so that it looks like the sticky note is itself a carving in the wood.  

Then she takes the swords, & pulls two of those bad guys in black & red from two of the urns that line the walls of her little evil workshop, & tells her 'minions', for lack of a better word, it's time to test out the swords.  

In the next scene we see a bad guy (as in human bad guy) chasing a woman & her daughter through the forest.  He's been paid to kill them both.  In their fight the mother falls on the bad guy & his dagger & in turn he hits his head on something sharp on the ground.  So she is stabbed through the heart & he has a punctured brain stem & they both die.  Leaving her little girl sobbing for her mother on the ground next to her mother's body & then both the woman & the bad guy become ghosts.  Just when they're figuring out that they are both dead the grim reapers come & both are grabbed by the red ropes.  

As the Reapers are dragging them off to the underworld Creepy Mommy Dearest's 2 minions jump out & cut the rope.  They then use the sword to destroy the soul of the woman & start to drag the bad guy away with them.  But General Dead Dude & another reaper arrive & we get to see a really cool sword fight between the two different factors of the underworld.  Good Dead vs. Evil Dead.  General Dead Dude rocks with the sword by the way.  His fellow reaper's soul is destroyed by the minion's special sword & while he is able to destroy one minion the other escapes w/ the bad guy back to Mommy Dearest.  Who is not happy that the reapers interfered.  And the dead bad guy she captured?  He's creeped out by her too, until she puts her hand on his forehead & he goes into some sort of trance.  

Meanwhile General Dead Dude takes one of the magically imbued swords back up to the gods & they are less than thrilled by his report.  She is far more powerful than they expected & she is getting desperate if she is doing this.  By the way...Yeom Ra (Hades) is really angry that she messed with his reapers.  

You can see that Mr Beautiful is worried by the appearance of these special swords.  I get the feeling only the reapers are supposed to have these swords.

Any excuse to put pics of Mr. Beautiful into the post.

While Mr Beautiful is worrying about the power that Creepy Mommy Dearest is showing Arang wakes up in Ju Wal's room/bed.  However, Ju Wal is nowhere to be found.  She wanders the grounds & buildings looking for anybody that can help & finds nobody.  This doesn't seem to bother her nearly as much as it does when she realizes that there aren't any ghosts there either.  It's a really big compound after all.  There should be all sorts of yard ghosts,  veranda ghosts, yard storage ghosts etc... but they are suspiciously missing.  

{{Ya don't think Creepy Mommy Dearest's presence on the grounds has anything to do with this strange lack of ghosts do you AddiKts?!?!}}

While she is wandering the grounds she happens upon a rock staircase & starts to explore.  I figured this staircase lead to the building in the back, that houses Creepy Mommy Dearest, because just after she started her exploration we found Lord Choi having an audience with CMD.  Lord Choi is all better & she tells him that his disease shouldn't return for another 3 or 4 months.  He's so smarmy & I love that she can't stand him any more than I can.  He informs her that he has taken care of the Bone Tomb & the bodies & then tries to make Ju Wal out to be an incompetent fool.  But she gets sick of him soon enough & tells him to get out.  He does all grumbly & whining & calling her & Ju Wal filthy names as he leaves.  Then he runs into a wandering Arang.  And is really not pleased to see her.  Just as he is about to hurt her, Ju Wal steps in & explains that she is his guest.  Which Lord Choi cannot quite believe & still he grabs Arang & Ju Wal grabs Arang & she is caught in the middle of the two men.  

Then Ju Wal leans closer to his "Father" & whispers in his ear that this is not the place for this, they're doing all this right in front of a wooden pole that has one of CMD's magically imbues sticky notes carved/painted onto it, he also whispers a reminder to Lord Choi about what happened to his former wife when she wandered too close to CMD.  Which I found quite scary.  Did Creepy Mommy Dearest kill his former wife or eat her?  With this chick I just can't tell but either way she is no longer with Lord Choi.  At this reminder he lets go of Arang & Ju Wal quickly takes her away.  CMD who has been warned by her talisman {{which I now think of as a kind of Magic Nanny Cam}} on the pole comes out & touches the talisman after they leave & then curses Ju Wal.  She is aware that he has Arang & yet he hasn't brought the child to her yet.  She is ticked off by his lack of trust & obedience.

Ju Wal escorts Arang to the front gate of the compound explaining that his father hasn't been well & must be in a bad mood because of his health.  He asks her if she was too scared & she, being the stalwart awesome person she is, smiles & assures him that her heart is far too strong to be scared.  You can see he likes her & she respects him in return.  {{Ju Wal are you good or bad!?!?!  I cannot tell & it's driving me crazy!!}}

Once at the gate though, & just as she walks away, she realizes who he is to her.  She flashes back to the day that Eun Oh brought her to meet Lee Seo Rim's fiance...Choi Ju Wal.  And how fast her heart beat as a result & how she panicked & refused to meet him because she was sure she must have liked him when she was alive.  She turns to him & asks him who he is & he realizes that he hasn't been paying attention to proper etiquette & introduces himself as Choi Ju Wal, and then asks for her name in return.  She tells him her name is Arang.  I found it sweet that he calls her Lady Arang.  Can you tell I still can't get a handle on him?  I can't tell if he is a good guy or a bad guy.  One minute he creeps me out thoroughly & then the next I find myself really liking him & thinking he is sweet & cute.  Seriously dude!!  Who/What ARE YOU!?!?!?  When she hears who he is officially, it sends her heart into frantic beating mode.  She asks him if he doesn't remember meeting her before?  He says why wouldn't I?  I carried you & let you rest in my room.  He then asks her wasn't it at the former magistrate's daughter's funeral?  She just says, "Lee Seo Rim's funeral..." And then he says, "Oh is that so?  Her name is Lee Seo Rim?"  Which surprises her that he didn't know his former fiance's name & then she just runs.  Leaving him looking perplexed at her response.

Eun Oh decides that Arang must have gone back to the Bone Tomb so he goes looking for her there.  Only when he gets there he finds that the tomb has been completely filled in with dirt.  There is no evidence it even existed.  He is positive that the Three Stooges are responsible so he heads back to the Magistrate's Office.  Only it wasn't the Three Stooges.  It was Geo Deol following Lord Choi's orders.  Lord Choi told CMD that he had taken care of it, guess this is what he was talking about.  What happened to Arang?  She ran & ran her way back to the lake.  That is her "go to" place when she's panicking.  She gets there & during her monologue to herself she figures that her beating heart now confirms her beating heart from the other day.  She must have had feelings for Ju Wal when she was Lee Seo Rim.  But why doesn't he remember her at all?

Just then Ju Wal speaks from behind her, asking her if this is the "office" she was talking about?  He followed her because of the way she ran off.  He couldn't just let her wander off by herself.  When he asks her if they can just go back together she turns & says proudly that she'll go & leaves.  He once again follows her all the way back to town.  In his head we hear that he refuses to give her to CMD until he knows CMD's intentions for her.  Arang is a little miffed that he doesn't recognize her & that he didn't know his own fiance's name, especially when she obviously liked him so much.  So she asks him if he is going to continue to follow her.  He is.  He tells her that she can have her own thoughts & he will have his own thoughts that he likes walking & thinking too.  Which makes her smile because it reminds her of Eun Oh.  When he asks her if it's the magistrate she says no but we know it is.  Then she asks him if he knows the magistrate?  He says yes.  When asked when he met him, Ju Wal explains it was the day they found Lee Seo Rim's body.  Which surprises her because she didn't know they met.  Remember Eun Oh told her that he never got the chance.  I think he was protecting her from the knowledge that Ju Wal never really knew or met Lee Seo Rim & had no real regard for her as his fiance.  Of course Eun Oh didn't want her to know that, not after just having seen own dead body & then going to the underworld & being born again.  

At this point Eun Oh interrupts their conversation with a bellowing "WHAT YOU ARE DOING THERE?!?!  They turn & see him sitting, very handsomely on his horse, & he is angry.  He has been searching everywhere for her, worried sick about where she is, how she's doing, if she's come back to life?  He jumps down from the horse & strides across the road to them & he starts to confront her but Ju Wal interrupts him by telling him, "When the sun rose, I should have sent her back right away.  There was just a circumstance for a short while.  I am sorry for sending her back late."  Arang continues to just stand there, refusing to look at Eun Oh.  Ju Wal looks mildly uncomfortable & says, "Then, Lady, please take care of your body.  When the time is right I will stop by again."  

Arang marches into the magistrate's compound & right past the Three Stooges who are covered in dirt & still under the impression she is dead.  

Arang stalks past the stooges, followed by Eun Oh, followed by Dol Soe.  At this point the Stooges follow Dol Soe's example & eavesdrop on Eun Oh & Arang's conversation.  

Which goes like this....

EO: Well...the reason I didn't tell you... was...  {{Door slams shut in his face!  So he yells through the door...}}

All right!  It was fun!  It was the most interesting thing that ever happened to me since I came to Miryang!  I have never seen such an interesting incident ever since I was born!  {{at this point she comes back out of her room}}

A: Why did you do that?

EO: If you gained consciousness, you should have returned right away!

A: Am I such a pushover?

EO: That man... how and where did you meet?

A: Until when are you thinking of making a laughingstock out of me?
EO: Where were you all night long?  Were you with that man for the whole night?!

Then it goes over to the Stooges {Larry, Moe & Curly} & Dol Soe & Moe says...

M: What in the world are they talking about?

L: I don't know what's going on, but they are talking at cross purposes. 

C: How did that Miss survive?

DS: This is not possible.  She is not a person.  

Stooges look at DS & all say, "Huh?"

{{Back to EO & A}}

EO:  Do you know how much I looked for you?!

Arang just stares at him.

EO: I thought  you couldn't be revived.

A: What if I couldn't be revived? What?  Do you have any problem with that?  Is there anything you would miss?  

{{Just say yes!  I would have missed you!  I like you!  I was scared I'd never see you again!}}  

Eun Oh looks irritated & offended by this attitude that she isn't important to him or that he wouldn't miss her if she died.  But it's his own fault.  He told her the only reason he was helping her was because of his mom.  It isn't her fault she has no clue that he has actually started to care for her & was scared he lost her.  But will he admit that to her?!?!  Oh No!!  He's a man & he wouldn't dare express how he is really feeling about her...

{{Breathe Unnie!! It's only episode 8.  He has to get further in before he even figures it out for himself.}}  

She looks at him, with disgust & continues on...

A: Of course you can't say there is none.  Because I have to be here so you can find your mother.  Even you don't say it out loud because you're worried if it will delay finding your mother, isn't it?  A hunk of hypocrisy.

At this he gets really mad & offended & says, "What?"  And she replies with, "Are you deaf?  Should I say it again?  Then she gets right in his face & yells it at him...

"HUNK OF HYPOCRISY!"

A: Listen carefully!  For a hypocrite like you, I will not regain my memory! 

Then she turns & goes back into her room shutting the door & leaving him out.  As a 3rd party viewer it is obvious she is hurt by his "seeming" lack of heart for her & he is in turn hurt by her harsh words.  They obviously both like each other very much but are both refusing to admit it to the other for fear of rejection & possibly scorn.  I wanted to cry for them both. This one scene filled with angry words made me really sad for both of them & I got all tied up in it & wanted to cry when the door closed in his face & she looked so sad on the other side.  This was that moment when I realized that I was emotionally invested in the characters now.  And I thought, "Oh crap!"  ^^  {{I know!  So ladylike, right?!?}}

Eun Oh steps down off the porch & spies the Stooges spying on him & immediately remembers the Bone Tomb & goes to confront them.  Only to find out that they weren't the ones responsible for the filling in.  They thought he was talking about the disposal of the bodies, which they did because Lord Choi commanded them too.  They then explain that they told him that Lord Choi is the real power in the area & that it has been hard to be caught between Lord Choi & Eun Oh.    Eun Oh is furious & demands that they send a message demanding Lord Choi to come & speak to Eun Oh the very next day & that they should get his official Magistrate Uniform ready & it better be ironed properly!  Then he storms off & in his room vows out loud that tomorrow they will see who the real ruler of Miryang is & that they will see he is the real Tiger!  

Here is where I have to giggle.  Dol Soe had stormed off earlier after his realization that there is no way Arang could have survived that fall & be human.  He's in the forest talking to himself.  Is she a ghost?  No, that can't be right.  Then he postulates she must be a Gumiho!  

I like it when he says, "Thinking about it her appearance is similar to what people say about a gumiho!"  meaning she is very beautiful!  Which I learned while watching the KDrama "My Girlfriend is a Gumiho" starring none other than Shin Min Ah {{Arang}} as the incandescently beautiful gumiho girlfriend opposite my beautiful "Dimple" {{Lee Seung Gi}}.  There is no other way Eun Oh would fall for such a person.  He decides he'll have to go & ask the Shaman.  

Up in the heavens General Dead Dude is rehashing a conversation he had w/ Mr Beautiful earlier.  When he asked Mr Beautiful, if he already knew who it was that was responsible for all this?  Mr Beautiful evaded the answer by saying who it is, is not the important part.  What's important is how do we stop them?  General Dead Dude says out loud, "That's right.  It couldn't be Moo Yeon who is doing all this.  She couldn't be."  I cannot wait to find out the twist in the plot.  Is Moo Yeon General Dead Dude's relative?  A sister perhaps?  Just then Mr Beautiful himself appears, wanting to know if Yeom Ra is still angry.  Then he questions whether Yeom Ra will take his anger out on the innocent ghosts, during judgement.  But he discounts his own theory as quickly as he comes up with it, Yeom Ra would never break those rules, he hearts rules.  

Ju Wal goes home after he leaves Arang w/ Eun Oh & upon entering his room he finds Creepy Mommy Dearest waiting for him.  She tells him she is disappointed that he didn't bring Arang.  She looks all sweet {{& Creepy}} when she asks him what is it he wants to know about why she wants Arang?  She just wants to set his mind at ease.  Then she explains that Arang does not die.  She is immortal.  And if she gets Arang then she too will never die. {{I believe a little body stealing is in the works}}.  And if she gets Arang's body Ju Wal won't have to kill girls for her every 3 years to keep her alive.  When he asks her then what will happen to me madam?  She evades his question by telling him that she loves him the most & how can a mother throw away her son?  She then asks him if he brings her Arang can't he please call her "mother"?  I cant tell if he is a sycophant & pleased by the chance to have a mother, even if it is her, OR if he is repulsed by her but playing along.  I'm leaning towards the first.  

He then asks her how is he supposed to get Arang to her?  Is he supposed to kidnap her?  

CMD: No, you don't have to do that.  She will walk into here herself.  If you just do well.  Didn't I tell you to find out what that girl wants the most?  Win her heart.  Make her tell you everything.  Oh right.  Why don't you become her lover? You are now a healthy adult man.  Instead, leave your heart behind, here.  

He looks really freaked out, scared, worried...but I can't tell if it's her that is terrifying him or what she is asking him to do or if he is scared as to whether or not he can pull it off.  UGH!!  It's driving me crazy not knowing whether to think him evil or misguided or good!!!  

The next day Eun Oh dons his official Magistrate Uniform, & can I say Lee Jun Ki you make that look good.  Like really, REALLY good!  Like dreamy sighs issuing forth from unnie while she drooled over her iPad watching the scene good.  

I love this look on his face as he watches Ju Wal walk right past him to go to Arang's quarters.  

I gotta say Ju Wal can really turn on the cute factor when he starts trying to win her over.  He wants to take her shopping, I think, for new clothes.  And I loved the look of jealousy on Eun Oh's face when he watches Ju Wal look her up & down intently.  

She glances sideways at Eun Oh trying to gauge his reaction & Ju Wal is being really sweet & reminds her that she promised to repay him for saving her.  So she agrees to go.  So then Eun Oh makes another really great jealous face when she says, "Okay, fine!"...

Aww he looks like his little magistrate heart is breaking.  

She goes off to wash her face & he angrily heads off to meet with Lord Choi, who has had the red carpet, courtesy Larry, Moe & Curly, rolled out for him.  

Lord Choi arrives & they sit down very civil & Lord Choi asks Eun Oh what is the favor he requested to see him about & Eun Oh tells him I didn't ask for you to come here for a favor.  

"It wasn't a favor but a summons for your appearance."

And that is where it ended just as the two Tigers were about to face off.  Very cliffhangery, right?  

There was one scene I didn't talk about because it interrupted my flow guys so I am going to talk about it here...  It would seem the Shaman is not the only one having feelings in the Shaman/Dol Soe relationship any longer.  At the beginning of the show Dol Soe walks past her sitting in town.  She has spotted him first though & froze with a bit of kimchi hanging in the air above her open mouth.  He stops & turns back to her ready to teach her a lesson for banging him upside the head with the lid to the pot the last time.  Then he too freezes as he edges closer to her.  The kimchi has dripped sauce on her face just above her upper lip & before he realizes it, he stops, reaches down & using his thumb, wipes his thumb across her lips so gently.  She is still staring at him, he is staring at her & then all of a sudden the both of them come to & jump in surprise.  He escapes & breathes heavily & then blames his thumb for being so aggressive.  {{giggle}}
So cute!  

So there is a romance a brewing for the Shaman & Dol Soe which I think is super sweet.  And Eun Oh is seriously jealous of Arang & Ju Wal which I LOVE!  And now we just need Arang to figure out that he is jealous & that he likes her.  Looking for more chemistry.  The preview for next week looks good, but you never know if the preview is lying or not.  AND I am DYING to know is Ju Wal good or evil?!?!  I just keep going back & forth.  One minute I am positive he is evil & the next I am not so sure.  So to err on the side of caution I will not allow myself to like him.  Not till I see concrete evidence he is going to turn out to be a good guy.  I do know that I heart the Three Stooges & their monumental stupidity & avarice.  And I HATE Lord Choi & that Creepy Mommy Dearest quite frankly freaks me out.  The actress who plays her has EPIC cheekbones, which I think are one of the reasons her EVIL faces are purely evil!  She is awesome at psychotically insane.  Don't you think?

Oh I wish you guys would tell me do you think shes awesome or not?  Do you think Ju Wal is evil or will he turn out to be a good guy?  How many more times do you think Arang will die?

For more epic nasty creepiness tune in next week.  Until then....

Saranghabnida,