Dramatic Friday Review: The King 2 Hearts ep 18

Back somewhere around, oh I don't know, episode 7 or something, I had told Unnie that if I had to review that particular episode that week, the only thing I'd be able to articulate would be something along the lines of ACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!! Or was it ARRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! ???  Or maybe AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!  

There was definitely a 

involved.

Haha - well, joke's on me.  This episode was a lot more deserving of those sentiments and here I find myself, responsible for the review/recap of it.  

Obviously it's been an intense show pretty much all along.  And now we're entering the big grand finale, so all this dramatic craziness is to be expected.  But even when something is expected, like a big drop on a roller coaster, it can still be one heck of a ride.

You ready?  Ok, everybody hop on.  Make sure your harness is secure and keep all the parts of you that you want to keep inside the ride at all times.  Throw your hands up in the air, scream with all your might, enjoy the ride and away we go!

Hang Ah stumbles, injured and bleeding, into what I am assuming is a home in China.  At first I thought it was some sort of monastery, but now that I think about it, it seemed to be a husband and wife there, so most likely not a monastery.  Unless it's one of those progressive monasteries where monks and women co-reside.  You never know....

{Stop stalling Dongsaeng.  You really do have to do this.  The readers are waiting.  Be brave and just get it over with.}

She seeks help, but is instead captured and held prisoner.

Of course Bong Gu is there pulling the puppet strings and calling her a Joker and there to rattle North and South Korea.

Oh Puppetmaster, I'm growing weary of your evil ways. Can't you just go away and leave us alone now?  Please?

While in her prison cell, she stays strong - working out and keeping herself active.  I'm assuming partly to stave off boredom and mental issues.

It doesn't work too well, because while sitting there, she feels a hand on her shoulder.  She turns and sees Jae Ha.

Obviously a hallucination, but oh, what a hallucination to have.  I'd take an imaginary hug from that man anytime too.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Eun Shi Kyeong goes to his father and they have a reconciliation of sorts.  In other words, Shi Kyeong makes peace with what his father did.  He pretty much says that he lived his whole life feeling like he couldn't measure up to his father.  He never felt good enough, and now that his father has fallen, it is freeing to him.  He realizes that he is his own man, possesses his own abilities and strengths and doesn't need to suffer from this inferiority complex anymore.

We even see his smile return.  Oh, Eun Shi Kyeong, it's so good to see that smile back on your face.

 After making peace with his father, it's time to approach the king.

He begs to be allowed to go to China and be a double agent.  It's an interesting conversation between these two men through the door.  Shi Kyeong (can I just please call him ESK - is that all right?  I've got a lot of typing to do and his name is killing me).  There's a lot of back and forth between these two men that can't just come out and say, "hey dude, you're like a brother to me and I'm worried about you and want to help/keep you safe".  They both want to help and protect each other.

The best moment is when, after turning to walk away, ESK turns back and shouts "LEE JAE HA!" at the top of his lungs.  (sorry for the stinky shot here - I tried so hard to capture that moment, but this was the best I could do)

That sure gets the king's attention!  He finally leaves his office and they have a face-to-face.

Jae Ha is hesitant to let ESK do this, but he's also a desperate man and sees no alternative, so he finally gives in to his (ESK's) request and they begin preparing.

The time draws near.  ESK is ready to go.  But first, he has something he must take care of.  Saying goodbye to Princess Jae Shin.  Can you imagine having to ask a king for permission to see his sister?  There's a little back and forth, and Jae Ha is sort of surprised, but not really.  He orders for the princess to be brought to the garden and for no one to come within 2K of her, except for ESK.

The princess is settled in her seat in the garden when who should appear but the very handsome and dashing Eun Shi Kyeong.  The visual beauty of this scene was outstanding.  Marvelously done in my humble opinion.

They talk.  This is the first time they have seen each other since Jae Shin's memory of killing her brother came out.  She is ashamed.  She thinks he must be disgusted with her.

Obviously this isn't the case.  He assures her that it wasn't her fault and that just her trying to remember was impressive by itself.  He's proud of her.  He also tells her of his father's sins and basically says that neither one of them should hold on to the guilt they feel - they've just been unwilling pawns in the evil scheme of Bong Gu.

He carries her.  He tells her of his plan to "take a vacation".  Then he gives her homework, encouraging her to 100 times a day tell herself that it's not her fault what happened to King Jae Kang.  She tells him the same.  He tells her that she should keep up with all of her therapy.  And laugh three times a day, even if she has to force herself.

He helps her back in to her wheelchair and kneels in front of her and, with emotion wavering in his voice, also asks her to keep singing.  She is touched and gives him a sweet, quick little kiss.

And then, the moment we've all been waiting for.  He finally, FINALLY, lets down his guard and plants a big old smacker on her.  AH!   Glorious moment!!!

Back to the fishing hole we go, this time it's Jae Ha going to Eun Gyu Tae and asking him to return to work at the palace.  This shows great strength on the part of Jae Ha I think.  He's strong enough to put aside his personal feelings of anger towards this man and recognize the ability he has to help.

And, in what I think also shows great strength and courage on Eun Gyu Tae's part, he returns.  And he faces the queen mother.  She also shows great strength and forgives him in a scene that ripped my heart out. She asks him, as the last one to see him alive, what her son's mood had been.  She is assured to know that he was happy, excited for a much needed vacation, and died with a smile on his face.  Knowing this gives her great comfort.  I could go on and on about this whole side story, but there's still a lot of episode left, so I'll just leave it by saying that all three of these people, Jae Ha, Queen Mother, and Eun Gyu Tae, really impressed me with their ability to put the death of King Jae Kang behind them and move forward, working together to take down the madman truly responsible for his death.

And that brings me to the next part and the part that I was quite literally cheering for joy!

The press conference.

The press conference broadcast to the entire nation in which Jae Ha provides the evidence needed to go after Bong Gu.  The evidence, spoken by his very own mouth, that he, Bong Gu, killed the late king.

Turns out that Bong Gu accidentally said the password to turn on the diary recording while sitting down with Jae Ha and bragging about killing the king.  Every word was caught on tape.  Every. Single. Word.  And now the whole nation has heard it to.  50 million people now know that the king was assassinated and who did it.

 They have him now!

 And he knows it too.  He decides he should go into hiding.

And here's the part that I'm sure had Unnie giggling in delight.

Bong Gu's abnoxious henchman is plotting against him.

 And gets caught.

 Bwahahaha!!!  Check out the look on his face!

Okay, so I added the tears, but if he had a soul, you know he'd totally be crying them 

And is eliminated.

There!  Happy now Unnie?  He is gone.  No more obnoxious guy with the bad toupee.  Yay!

This leaves a job opening at Club M.
Oh, but wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

What's up with the whole Hang Ah situation?

Well, she's being held prisoner.
Bong Gu is pulling his puppet strings.  She's in trouble.

She is finally getting some medical treatment for her gunshot wound when she overpowers the doctor and takes his cell phone.

 She calls Jae Ha.  Tells him where she's being held captive.

 He and an entire entourage consisting of not only South Korean officials, but Northern as well, immediately head to China.  There they are met with resistance.  They are told that there must be some misunderstanding - Hang Ah isn't there.  Meanwhile, the prison officials are trying to move Hang Ah (courtesy Bong Gu's orders) secretly.  Silly prison officials, you should know that she's not going to go quietly.

The soldiers/officers start running through the prison looking for her.  She hears their calls.  She calls out for Jae Ha.

He hears her.

He starts running.  I'm crying, "Run Jae Ha!  Run!  Go find her!"

She's bound and gagged and held at gunpoint.  The search is on.  I am on the edge of my seat, still screaming for them to find her.

She makes a run for it and is shot.  I scream.  She falls.  I cry.

The kids come in all worried.  Oops.  Maybe I shouldn't scream or cry out loud anymore (at least not until they go to school).

This tortured moment continues as we are led to believe that she, after all of this, is dying.

Mean writers. Turns out she was only shot in the leg.  She's fine.

And in Jae Ha's arms (for real this time).

Okay, she's been recovered and is once again in his arms.  Now back to the situation at Club M.  Remember that job opening?

By this time, ESK has been captured and held by Bong Gu.  He's been tortured.

A little snag in the plan though.  Bong Gu has figured out their plan.  He knows that ESK is trying to be a double agent.  Aw crap.  What now?

He offers him the job as adviser.  He tell ESK that he will listen to him.  He wants ESK to turn him in to a decent, proper man.  He will get rid of the people on his team that he, ESK, feels are "stinky".  To which ESK responds, "Aren't you the main culprit - the main culprit of stink?"  Zing!  Nice one ESK!

Hang Ah wakes up, safe and sound with her father and Jae Ha by her side.  Is she relieved though?  No.  She starts screaming.  Calls Bong Gu a truly evil person that needs to be stopped immediately.  Jae Ha tries to get her to relax, but she's not having it.  Her eyes have been fully opened to the power that this man possesses and knows he will stop at nothing to destroy them all.

There is some political back and forth.  China is in the pocket of Bong Gu and he's throwing his weight around there.  China is in a tough spot and needs to make a decision on which side to take.

China's not the only one.
ESK is also in a tight spot.  After his zinger (calling Bong Gu stinky), the torture has continued.  Bon Bon is there, acid in hand.  The people he loves have been threatened.

He turns.

He calls up Jae Ha.  He gets him to meet him, alone.

He brings him to Bong Gu.

He holds him at gunpoint.

And that's where we end it.  Holy guacamole!  Can this get any more intense?  Next week can't come soon enough.  I cannot wait to see how this one is resolved.

I just have to state for the record that I still have total, complete, unwavering faith in Eun Shi Kyeong.  He's got a plan.  He will still be the hero.  I'm not falling for the tricky trickster writers' tricks here.  They fooled me with the whole Hang Ah getting shot business, but not here.  Oh no sir-ee.  My ESK will pull through - just you wait and see.  Jae Ha's strength lies within his people.  They won't let him down.

Now, I think we've heard enough from me.  I can't believe I made it through!  I'm going to go celebrate with a little Rooftop Prince and maybe follow that up with some 1N2D and/or Love Rain.  Or housework.  Crap.  Housework.  I hope you have enjoyed this week's installment of The King 2 Hearts and are just as eagerly excited to see how this one wraps up next week.  It has been quite the epic journey, has it not?  So, until next time, I bid you farewell and leave you in the capable hands of my Unnie, who I'm sure has a word or two to share about this episode.

Unnie's 2 Cents:

So I'm actually writing my 2 cents before dongsaeng writes her review because I watched the show last night before I went to bed & I had to get my thoughts out before I forgot what I wanted to say.

So I have to touch on my favorite parts & my least favorite parts...

LOVED LOVED LOVED the kiss between Eun Shi Kyeong & Princess Jae Shin!  But really I loved his reaction afterwards by himself in his office.  When he is asking himself why he let himself lose control & kiss her like that?!?  So sweet & I just wanted to ...well never mind what I wanted to do there.  ^_^  I also loved the reunion between Jae Ha & Hang Ah.  I was absolutely hands clenched into tight fists together on the edge of my seat crazy when they could hear her screaming for him & were searching for her.  And when she got shot!!!!  OMO OMO OMO OMO !!!!  I was holding my breath.  I knew they wouldn't do that to me but still heart stopping moment.  And when he was holding her so close after she was safe & she was sobbing & then they were in bed holding each other & talking together.  Just such happiness in my heart to see them together again!  I love this couple so much!!

But the scene I hated!!! Eun Shi Kyeong  double crossing Jae Ha at the end & then holding a gun to his head.  The biggest part of my conscious self believes it's all a ruse & that Jae Ha is TOTALLY aware of what Eun Shi Kyeong was going to do & they are both just amazing actors & they are totally setting up John Mayer to come out into the open so they can get him.  BEST sting operation EVER!!  Because I LOVE Eun Shi Kyeong SOOOOO SOOOOO SOOOOO MUCH I cannot & WILL NOT believe anything other than this.  {Fingers in my ears to your opposing viewpoints - lalalalalalalalalalalala.... - I can't hear you!!!}

But still there is that still small voice, in the very deepest recesses of my head, that are screaming an insane & crazed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ......"

Watching this show last night was horrible & I went to bed completely anxiety ridden & upset.  I texted dongsaeng & warned her before I went to sleep, to wait until morning to watch the show.  Chincha.  We all know how this drama has affected her.

Now onto a serious question from me to all of our readers....

By a show of comments....here or on FB or Twitter....how many of you, when you got to that one scene where the henchman gets caught double crossing Bong Gu & is then killed....how many of you were thinking of me or thinking well Unnie should be happy or Unnie will probably be dancing a jig when she gets to this part?!?!

Because I SO was!!!  *{MANIACAL LAUGH!  MANIACAL LAUGH!  MANIACAL LAUGH!}*

Well, as much as I could while CA was snoring sleeping next to me.

I woke up singing, to myself of course:

"Really bad actor with the horrible toupee is dead!!  YAY!"

{HEY DON'T JUDGE ME! You guys probably wanted him dead too.  I'm just the only one brave enough to admit it out loud.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  giggle}

And them is my 2 cents worth for this episode.  So excited to see the grand finale next week.  Excited but sad too.  I am already dreading the thought of saying goodbye to Jae Ha & Hang Ah.  Ok mostly just Jae Ha.  Seung Gi you & your dimple are so cute!  Please do another drama again really soon... for me, pretty please?!?!  This means I get to review the final episode though & for that I am so excited!!!  Squeeee!!!!!

Until next week AddiKts.

Sarang,

*{EARN FAKE POINTS GAME: anybody get the referrence to the maniacal laugh?  I can do fake points contests like dongsaeng too.  Can you tell me what recent kid aimed movie had a character that said "Maniacal Laugh" rather than actually doing a Maniacal Laugh???} *