Let’s roll.

1. Hoon as the kingmaker — or the queen-maker

Link: Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency: Ep 9 The Kingmaker

Remember: Hoon’s undertaking a very risky and dangerous mission. He said that it was a “deceit that shows utter contempt for the people of Joseon.” By this, he meant that should their deception be discovered, heads would roll. Not only his life was on the line, but the King’s, as well. There’d be unintended repercussions on Lord Yoon who allowed his deceased daughter’s name to be used, and his father, the Prime Minister, too. The Prime Minister is a bad guy but I want his comeuppance to be ALL him.

Most importantly, his precious Gaeddong wouldn’t be safe.

However, one thing we should also remember is that Gaeddong lived for this kind of high-risk adventure. Remember what she said in Episode 1? “I love dirty, scary, and dangerous things.”

She didn’t mind being poked with needles and drinking foul-smelling potions. The higher the risk, the greater the reward. Till now, Gaeddong has been the beneficiary of Hoon’s skills, cunning, and foresight. I want her to prove that she’s equal to the task. I want to see her true mettle.

If I was annoyed with “Vagabond” because the female lead, Haeri, bragged about the gender roles as female: brains:: male: brawn, then I’m also getting irritated that, in this drama, all we see is male: brains+brawn:: female: rock-head.

But I did like Gaeddong improvising in that tea party in Episode 5 so I’m crossing my fingers that we can see more of her quick thinking in action.

2. Gaedong’s new name

Was anybody here really surprised to see Lord Yoon linked with Gaedong?

Their connection was “written in the stars” when Gaedong showed up outside his residence and offered her jacket to him. I thought it was clumsy way to introduce a new character because why should she donate her jacket to THIS particular stranger when there were other bums in town? In fact, I was expecting her and her orabeoni to be the two children in the background in this scene.

But sharing the name of his deceased child with Gaedong was better. That would explain why Hoon chose that name. When he asked for permission to use that name, he was actually asking the deceased girl’s spirit.

Remember this scene from Episode 5?

It was just fitting that in this episode, he’d ask the father for his permission to bestow that name on someone else.

I like this shot because it reminds me that a river flows between them. The river symbolizes Lord Yoon’s dead daughter and Hoon’s fake wife. They have a connection between them and that’s why the river flows between them. 🙂

Hoon: It’s been a long time, my Lord.
Lord Yoon: Matchmaker Ma, how did you know to come here?
Hoon: Isn’t it the death anniversary for Lady Soo Yeon?
Lord Yoon: I’m grateful that you remembered. I plan to send away Soo Yeon for real now. Leaving her name as a living person on my family register, that was my greed.
Hoon: Please don’t change that. There’s someone who needs that name on the register. I came to collect on that favor, from that time.

Flashback to when Hoon married his daughter. Her last wish was to be a bride. No one would agree to it, but thanks to Hoon, her wish was granted. Hoon told him, “It’s a fake marriage with a fake groom, but I prepared this wedding as if it was real. So you should be smile, too, my Lord. It’s a happy day, isn’t it?” Lord Yoon said that he’d repay him the favor someday.

Hoon: Like Lady Soo Yeon, she’s a girl who is compassionate and always on the losing end. So that she can use your daughter’s name to experience a good world, please give that girl a chance.

I like this scene because it tells me that despite some of Hoon’s unorthodox methods of achieving his goals, he still respects certain conventions, and certain people. He respects Lord Yoon. And he respects Gaeddong, too. Although she’s a slave, he looks beyond her status and sees her as a person in need of a little help.

I also like it because Lord Yoon wouldn’t give the time of day to any of the ministers because he considered them sycophants, but he welcomed Hoon’s company.

I doubt that Hoon foresaw all this when he selected Gaeddong’s alias for the tea party. I’ve got to admit though that it was a very LUCKY move since he gave Gaeddong a father who was well-esteemed by the scholars and ministers. lol.

I want to to see what Hoon’s own father will do once he hears of Gaeddong’s “family” connections. He wouldn’t mind Hoon marrying Gaeddong now.

As long as no one squeals that the real daughter is dead, Hoon and Gaeddong will be fine.

3. JiHwa

I worry for this girl.

In the aftermath of the great pottery crash, JiHwa crashes her father’s ambition to have a daughter as queen. Her father tells her to pre-order the green jacket and pink skirts, the traditional bride attire, to prepare for the Queen Selection but she refuses.

She claims, “I am but a woman whose life will be controlled by a man, aren’t I? So I will decide who I will marry at the very least.”

Outside her father’s door, she overhears him sighing, “She should have been born as a boy.” Her father grudgingly admires her intelligence, independence, and strong will. He won’t oppose her wishes.

She goes to the gisaeng’s residence and DoJoon meets her there. She avoids his company because she remembers their kiss and he unsettles her. So he suggests meeting somewhere else quiet and private to relay his info on the King. To my surprise, she follows him willingly.

He brings her to the busy marketplace, the exact opposite of a secluded spot, and she’s nonplussed. He tells her, “If we both concentrate on our conversation, it becomes private,” then he covers her ears.

What a seducer! Essentially, he’s telling her that he’ll keep on trying to seduce her, but it’s up to her to slow him down and to hold him back. As it is, he’s tempting her to imagine themselves in a secluded space when they’re standing right in the middle of a crowded street. lol.

Girl, you must resist!!

He spills the tea on the king, including that he was a previous blacksmith. Then, like her father, he praises her intelligence. “You have more than enough spirit to hold and shake all of Joseon with your fist. Why are you fixated on your husband-to-be? What’s the big deal about being a queen?” She shakes off his hold on her, and answers, “Because he’s at the highest position.”

Then, she rubs it in. In a haughty voice, she says, “Of course, all you do is collect information in a courtesan house day and night. What would you know?”

Uh-oh. This lady is big trouble with a capital T. I can think of at least three reasons she said that. One, as payback for always trying to seduce and compromise her. DoJoon had it coming. Two, because she truly finds his job vile and menial. She’s emphasizing their class differences. If so, they won’t make a good couple because basic respect is lacking.

Three, it’s reverse psychology. The more she tells him that she’s out of his reach, the more he’ll want her.

I’m withholding judgment on JiHya because I want to see how she’ll treat Gaedong and her brother if and when she finds out Gaeddong’s scheme. But there are red flags. She can very well be the one to connect that the village sweetheart of the King, the former blacksmith, is Gaeddong. She can expose Gaeddong as an imposter among the candidates for Queen in a fit of spite and jealousy.

But there’s a reason I worry about this character. You see, unlike Gaeddong who has Hoon and the Flower Crew to rely on, JiHya is filled with contempt for everyone. There’s nobody she can look up to, and go for advice. She’ll heed no one but herself because she thinks she’s superior to all. If this show had been a Greek play, we’d already see the foreshadowing of hubris. Her excessive pride will cause her ruin.

4. “My Fair Lady”

After his meeting with Hoon, Lee Soo begins to create a “safe space” Gaeddong. His first task: making an ally of his eunuch and winning over the Queen Mother.

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Meanwhile, Hoon tells the Flower Crew to start training Gaeddong in the next 15 days.

He lays down the rules for Gaeddong. He tells her, “Whether you become a noble lady or not is entirely up to you.”

Let’s compare this to what he told the Lee Soo. He told him, “It’s my duty to clear the path, but the choice is hers to make. So, Your Majesty, you will personally have to win Gaeddong’s heart.”

To both of them, Hoon declares that the choice to become a nobility/royalty belongs to Gaeddong alone. He tells both Gaeddong and Soo that they have to put in their personal efforts first. Gaeddong has to work hard at being a lady, and Soo has to work hard at winning Gaeddong’s heart.

However, Gaeddong’s path is direct, a straight-shot and Soo’s path is taking a detour. Instead of winning her heart, he goes around fixing the palace politics, restructuring the organization, etc., instead of simply going after Gaeddong. Soo is making the same mistake that he did when he courted Gaeddong. Instead of simply asking her herself, he went the roundabout way, that is, went to a matchmaker to arrange his wedding proposal. Ugh! That’s so frustrating.

Look: his mother’s request was straightforward: give the hairpin to the one he loves. That’s pretty direct. Just go ahead and propose with the hairpin.

Hoon continues, “I will only tell you these three things. First, if you receive three strikes, there will be no chances.

“Second, you are forbidden from leaving. Starting now, you cannot take a single step out of this place without my permission.”

This rule sounds as if he’s a controlling freak, but we know that he’s doing this as precaution against the assassins.

Last, you may not talk back to your teachers. If you aren’t confident, you can give up. This is your last chance to back out.”

She answers that for her, too, this is her last chance. He doesn’t know yet that should she fail, she and her brother would be sold off as slaves.

She receives the first strike when she cheats with the chopstick and eats with her hands as soon his back is turned.

She receives the second strike when she leaves the residence in search of his cousin-in-law. He gets mad because a) he was worried that she went missing, and b) she couldn’t even wear her shoes properly when they didn’t have much time as it is to train her to be a lady.

Hoon: Where have you been?
GD: Well…
Hoon: I told you clearly that you were forbidden from leaving. (sees her shoes) You can’t even wear your shoes properly. How can you accomplish anything like this? If you’re going to do such a bad job, quit right now.
GD: Can you hear me out?
Hoon: Well, even if you don’t give up, you will be cast out anyway. Now that you have two strikes.

Gaedong yells back at him (Hellllooooo?? Doesn’t this count as her third strike? Talking back? Give her a third strike, please!!). She tells him that she does want to do her best but to cut her some slack. She’s hungry and have leg cramps. She isn’t the only one with a strike. He deserves a strike, too. Then, after having her say, she leaves him in a huff. He looks sufficiently guilty.

DoJoon and his cousin-in-law hear her outburst and side with Gaeddong. DoJoon thinks he’s too harsh on Gaeddong and the Lady Im explains that she was the reason Gaeddong left the place. He looks doubly guilty.

Has anybody yet noticed that I take a lot of screenshots of KMJ??

He doesn’t apologize to her afterwards. Instead he knocks on her door and tells her to come out for a moment.

She’s sulking and tells him, “I’m not your mutt. Do you think Gaeddong will come and go at your command?” He just leaves her and, after a second or two, she follows him.

And here, I’m adding screenshots of our GSY/Gaeddong, too, so nobody can complain that I’m not being fair and unbiased.  

See what I did there? Naughty me.

Anyway…

I like this scene because he didn’t try to grovel AND she didn’t expect him, too. I dislike people who can’t detach themselves from their hurt feelings. Especially when there’s so much more important things to focus on, it’s a waste of time to hold onto grudges and wallow in self-pity.

I like that, once Gaeddong aired her grievances, she was willing to start all over again. Seriously speaking, she neither has the time nor luxury to remain angry with Hoon for long since she has less than 14 days to be taught to become a lady.

GD: You are the son of the Prime Minister. Why did you build Flower Crew on such a narrow road? You have a lot of money.

Here, I think the actress would have done better if she delivered this line with a bit more charm. She sounds critical and nagging when she needs to be curious and winsome.

Hoon: Because it’s a road that is equal to everyone. It’s narrow so carriages and horses cannot come here. So to come to Flower Crew, everyone must get off their carriages or horse to walk here. Regardless of whether they’re peasants or noble, equality is for everyone. It’s a place we find connections for people, so at least that should not be unequal, should it?

She looks up at him admiringly. See that? The sudden switch from a nagging and critical Gaeddong to an admiring Gaeddong makes her character look fickle and judgmental. She didn’t like him when she thought he was being stingy with his money and didn’t build a bigger road. But now, she liked him because he was an egalitarian.

Hoon hands her an official paper with her new name on it.

To me, this is his apology. He accused her of not taking her task seriously, but he knows now that she’s earnestly doing her best. That’s why he called her new identification paper a “reward.”

Hoon: I asked you to come to give you this.
GD: What’s this?

Hoon: It’s a reward. “Soo” for “remarkable” and “Yeon” for “beautiful.” Yoon Soo Yeon. Become a remarkable and beautiful woman.
GD: This name…it’s what I used at the tea ceremony. So is this really my official name now?

Wide-eyed look alert!

Hoon blinks yes. She’s speechless and hugs him.

GD: A name! It’s my first time having one. I didn’t even have a name. So people called me “dog poop” that rolled around here and there. So do I really have a name now?
Hoon: That name is now your identity. So study it well.
GD: But where is the real Lady Yoon Soo Yeon?
Hoon: She’s no longer of this world.
GD: Then what about her father? Did he lose his family?

Hoon nods.

Hoon: So you must make even more effort to not taint this family’s name. If you don’t do well, it will hurt his heart.
GD: I will do well. I will make sure to do well.

She bows and thanks him before going back inside the house.

He watches her excitedly going back in.

He sighs and says, “Now you’re the King’s woman. The King’s woman.”

Here, I think he’s saying that he has fulfilled his end of the bargain. All he promised was to make Gaeddong a worthy queen to Lee Soo. He didn’t promise to woo her for Lee Soo. He told Lee Soo that he himself had to win Gaeddong’s heart.  Nor did he promise to give her up to Lee Soo should Gaeddong choose him.

That’s why he was never specific when he said she had to return to her “rightful place.” To me, he was letting her decide where her “rightful” place was.

5. Hoon’s generosity

Link: Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency: Ep 9 The Love Knot