The thread is now open for spoilers and…fangirling.
I already watched Ep 9 and here are my quick takes:
1. The new actor Na In Woo is so much better at playing the fool than Jisoo.
When he tells Kim So Hyun’s character that he doesn’t mind if they’re married or not, as long as he can protect her, Ondal’s naivety and guilelessness came through.
GaJin: What are you going to say when we arrive at the Ghost Valley?
Ondal: (not looking at her) Don’t worry about that. I’ll tell everybody that this happened because of the royal marriage, and we didn’t really get married. (looking up at her)
GaJin: (not looking at him either) But what if we get caught?
Ondal: What?
GaJin: Anybody from PG castle might come to check if we’re living as a married couple. What if they find out it’s fake? Then what should we do?
Ondal: (dismissing the idea as silly) Ya! Then are you saying we should pretend to live together — (stops himself)
GaJin: (pouting)
She obviously wasn’t averse to living together so she was annoyed that he didn’t consider the prospect.
Ondal: (wondering to himself) Do we have to live together?
I like the way he spaced out for a second to give this idea a serious consideration.
GaJin: Are you talking about someone else’s problem? It’s our issue.
Ondal: I know. I know. I’m your husband, and you’re my wife. (smiling at her)
GaJin: (mumbling) What are you talking about it…?
Ondal: Gajin-ah.
GaJin: What?
Ondal: Let’s do it that way. We can tell the village people that we’re married. Then we wouldn’t get caught.
I like his earnestness here. He looked as if it was HIS idea (rather than hers). He was trying to convince her of that this was the best solution when she didn’t need convincing anyway.
GaJin: (big-eyed) But it’s not a real marriage.
Ondal: (narrowing his eyes) Why? Am I not good enough to be your husband?
I like this “eye conversation” here. When she said “But it’s not a real marriage” with dilated eyes, she was being serious. And when he answered her back, with squinted eyes, he was teasing her.
GaJin: (tossing a weed at him) My goodness!
Ondal: (looking down) I don’t care if this marriage is real or not. As long as I can stay with you, (looking at her) and protect you. (smiling)
To me, this scene was on point. They were having a conversation around the campfire. She told him about her concern. He listened to her. She didn’t need to persuade him. On his own, he came round to her idea to live together like husband and wife. Ondal convinced me that he was complete attuned to her needs. At that moment, she didn’t need a romantic lover so much as she needed a loyal and trustworthy companion.
2. I like his physique.
Jisoo is supposedly 6’1″ but, with his costume in this kdrama, he looked short and squat. Like a mushroom.
Jisoo (credit: kpop reporter)
lol. At 6’2″, Na In Woo is supposed to be only an inch taller than Jisoo but he dwarfed Kim Sohyun here. He’s a full head taller than her.
Hmmm…was Jisoo lying about his height? Or was Na In Woo underreporting his height?
Anyway, I like this new visual.
This actor’s height and shoulders make him a more intimidating general on the battlefield than Jisoo could be. Previously, I could NOT imagine how Ondal could defeat Master Go. They didn’t appear to be evenly matched; Master Go had the presence. But now, I don’t see how Master Go can defend himself against a bear like Na In Woo’s Ondal.
Like in this scene in the forest —
General Go: (scoffing at Ondal) With the hands that pick herbs, and fists that hunt rabbits and badgers…how dare you decide to fight Goyuryeo’s elite warrior?
Ondal: Don’t be silly and bring it on.
Then, Ondal effortlessly picked him up and flung him like a bale of hay. The point was clear. Ondal was a diamond in the rough. Teach him how to fight with a sword, then he’s very much his father’s son: a fighter.
Since I saw this actor’s sword scenes in Mr. Queen, I know it’ll be fun watching him with the sword.
3. The kiss scene
The kiss scene on their honeymoon night worked for me. They were supposed to look awkward, and they nailed it.
Ondal: Why are you trying to play the flute all of a sudden? You don’t even know how to play it.
Gajin: Why do you care if I play the flute or not? (then admitting) I never had a chance to learn to play it.
Ondal: Because of the Cheonjubang?
Gajin: (nodding)
Ondal: (grabbing it from her hand) I’m good at playing pipe. (putting it to his lips)
Gajin: Hey! That’s…I mean…(sighing)
Ondal: (realizing too late that they had a “secondary kiss”)
Gajin: Ya! You’re dirtier than I thought!
What she meant was that she didn’t think he would be this sly and perverted. This was funny because he just came from outside where he tried to get rid of “improper” thoughts and to control his body.
Ondal: (dropping the flute) Dirty? How can you think that of me?
Gajin: Then why did you put this on your lips?
Ondal: (rolling his eyes) Ya! If I wanted to kiss you, I wouldn’t have done it a long time ago. Why would I put my lips on this pipe?
Gajin: Liar.
Ondal: (insulted) You’re the liar. You are sleepy, but you are not going to sleep. You are the coward.
Gajin: Kissing doesn’t scare me.
Ondal: Same here.
Gajin: Then, try it.
Ondal: You try it.
Gajin: You. (grabbing him by the collar)
Ondal: (grabbing her by the arms)
Gajin: (grabbing him by the cheeks and kissing him)
Ondal: (shocked but he wouldn’t let her beat him so he closed his eyes and kissed her, too)
Grinning, they both kissed again for two seconds.
I like this scene. We all knew that they had to kiss each other since we’re midway through the drama. But if they had to kiss, I preferred it under the guise of innocent banter, than heavy breathing and panting.
4. The “river where the moon rises”
I already told you about this, right? I said the title alludes to the bloodbath. The river shall flow with blood if GaJin is to become the heir of the kingdom. Symbolically, the moon represents the queen. So symbolically, as well, the river shall overflow with blood if the queen wants to rise and become the new heir of the throne.
In this episode, the fortune teller also gave a hint to the bloody mess waiting for this couple. “Corpses are piled as high as a mountain, and blood flows like a river. Starved wild dogs gather from all around, and there is nowhere to flee. This karma can only be atoned for with death. What a pity. A fate that is unavoidable. A fate that is cursed.”
And the director followed it up with the camera work. The “starved wild dogs” were the courtiers, of course.
The evil man, Go Won Pyo (Gochuga) must atone for his misdeeds with his death.
The king was a pathetic fool. He had his queen killed because of his jealousy. “What a pity!”
Her fate was unavoidable.
And this poor man, his fate was cursed. But hey! Better a noble death than a dishonorable one.
Let’s enjoy the show.
I have a hard time gauging people’s height in any kdrama. It is pretty amazing what they can do w/ the camera as well as post edits. The first time I noticed it was in Goblin (Gong Yoo 6’0″, Kim Go-eun 5’6″) during her school scenes. They made her 5’6″ look like 5’2″ (or made him 6’8″). Generally, I do notice that height differences fluctuate throughout a series.
That’s because many entertainers “fudge” their height info.
And the camera lies. That’s how Tom Cruise always looks taller than he actually is.
Cho Seung Woo, the actor in “Sisyphus,” is short too. But I don’t care because it must be nice for the actresses he’s paired with, that they don’t have to strain their necks just to look at him. Plus, it’s becomes easy for the director to get their faces in the same shot. 😂
The OnDal replacement actor is tall. He was in Mr Queen. I realized that the lead actor was just average in height because he had to look up to issue a command.
Howdy!
I haven’t seen the episode but are these gifs from episode 5 and 6? Or 7,8? 🙂 That kiss is cute when I saw a glimpse of it.
Anyway, I kinda liked General Go but when he agreed to the marriage saying he will use force to get Ga Jin, he just lost me. 🙁
Lol! You’re right! I lost track of this drama. It’s for Eps 9 and 10 already!! Let me change the title.
Done! The screenshots are from Ep 9.
I liked Gen Go until he wouldn’t stop. 🙂
No worries. 🙂
Yeah this drama went quick and it doesn’t look like it’ll have a happy ending but all good, I’m staying put.
I have put this drama and Sisyphus on hold, but will come back to them after Easter. Glad to hear that the new actor is doing a good job.
I stopped this drama whilst hunting down a serial killer in Mouse. I started it again just to watch the new OD. And you’re right @packmule3, I actually prefer this new OD to the old. JiSoo was bluster and goofy but I somehow doubted his “smarts”. 😂. This OD has a slight glint in his eye which makes me believe he isn’t just all brawn, but he has brains. Maybe not the intelligence that the herbalist lady has but more like survival smarts. I thought he looked oddly out of place in his nobleman silks but once he’s back to the rough linen attire, he looks the part. I liked their interactions in Ep9. No longer a fan of GG. Desperation is never a good look for a man. 😬
To be honest I am only here to watch the love story. I am frankly over the palace politics and convoluted relationships there. I fast forwarded most of it. 😂
✋ High five! Are we back on?
Yes. The political intrigues are really a kiss of death for me, too.
I wish this could be lighter but the actress KSH most likely didn’t sign up to do another fluffy sageuk but something more melodramatic.
Yes I liked Gen Go too. Too bad that he’s being set up to be another bad guy just like his father. Deformed by his unrequited love for her. I wondered if his father had a thing for the previous Queen.
To me, OnDal in his silken robes stuck out like sore thumb bec of his height. 😂 When he and Ganyi walked down the aisle to meet the king, his head was at the same level as the courtiers’ headgears. He was slouching at that.
I think you’re right. Jisoo played OnDal with all bluff and bluster. His portrayal grated on me.
That’s why I hesitated to post my review. 😂 I was critical about his interpretation of a fool.
I didn’t like the way he swaggered and sucked in his cheek. He couldn’t act innocent or gullible. Then that scene when he was hanging upside down when he could have untied himself? That annoyed me. He came off as boastful.
He didn’t look like a fool.
The funny thing was despite all his showboating, I still wasn’t convinced that he could take down GG in combat. Lol. That’s why I was rooting for GG, too.
It’s so tiresome to have a second male lead syndrome simply because the hero looks incapable.
I just finished watching episode 9 and I agree @nrllee, when OD was in the palace, he looked out of place but once he got back to Ghost Valley, he was himself again. I especially liked the scene with his Mom. 😂 That’s really how they are from the beginning.
I think NJW works for me because of his voice? It’s sounds more manly to me than JS. The kiss scene was cute. ☺️
Their puckered-up lips worked for me. I wasn’t ready for this actor to kiss KSH. I still have memories of her kisses with Jang DongYoon in “Tale of Nokdu.”
Let me get used to her being with another guy first…. 😂
Have you found the serial killer yet in Mouse?
Waaaaa! 🙌🏻 The kisses in Tale Of Nokdu was ❤️! I can’t replace it yet too! ☺️ If I need to go back on a kiss scene it’s definitely those ones.
This is my first time watching NJW, let’s see how far the kisses go here. 😊
@packmule3 Mouse is 20eps. We’re only up to Ep4. Ep1 was so gory that it attracted an 18+ rating. This drama will bring me right up to the start of HP2 (if it starts at the rumoured early May). I have my suspects but this writer is terrible at rational endings. She wrote God’s Gift 14 Days and the ending just made zero sense. It made all the initial guesswork useless. I hope she doesn’t do that to this drama. The premise is good. It revolves around the whole nature Vs nurture debate. Can you pick serial killers out based on a gene they have? Do you abort the child with the gene because he has a predilection to becoming a serial killer as an adult? Can you nurture the child and turn him into a decent human being? So far the plot is very convoluted and it’s not straightforward. She likes to keep adding plot twists. Problem is if you keep doing plot twist after plot twist just for the sake of it, it can end up with plot holes galore. So whilst I am hunting the serial killer, I am waiting to see if she tries to be too clever and ties herself up into knots in the middle. 20eps is long. The body count is climbing. I think there are 2 killers. Which makes it even more convoluted. 😂
PS do you think the new OD is naturally that dark? Okay that sounded racist (thanks to MegXit) but I can’t help but wonder if it’s real or fake. 😂. I am so used to the fair skin tones of Korean actors/actresses. Maybe he just looks that way because KSH is so fair.
Let’s just say he’s gone dark because he collects herbs out there in the fields. 😁
@agdr03 😂 yes let’s. But I do like the new OD. Kudos to him for just slotting in and making the role his own. It doesn’t feel forced at all. Not easy to do.
I did notice that actor had a swarthy complexion. Skin that’s weather-beaten and sun-burned. And it’s in keeping with his character.
Don’t get me started on Rachel Meghan Markle. 🤥 Needless to say, I don’t care what she says about racism. She and her ilk would make Martin Luther King look like a racist.
Woke culture is not activism. It’s just a circular firing squad.
She was a red flag when a) she invited none of her relatives except for her mom to the wedding, b) she invited all those celebrities who wouldn’t have given her the time of day back when she was just a two-bit actress on a never-heard show, and c) she pretended to be a virginal bride with that veil and white dress when she was once-, twice-married already.
Like WTH? Who does that?! If that was my son’s fiancée, I would have raised a stinker or at least demanded a psych evaluation/counseling on my son. Markle’s NOT normal, and the prince isn’t too. 🤦♀️ My guess is nobody in his family dared to say anything out of fear of being labeled racist.
Anyway… (told you don’t get me started on RMM)
What distracts me though about this actor is his Adam’s apple. It bobs up and down when he talks and I’ve to focus on his eyes. 😂
@packmule3 you and me both on Markle. 🙄. So disingenuous. I didn’t bother to watch the interview. But unless you’re living in a hole, you can’t avoid the media coverage. The claims both made were just ludicrous. The Palace cut you off? Of course they did? Why would they use British tax payers money to fund your lavish lifestyle in another country? When you’re not even performing any Royal duties? Fearful for baby Archie’s life are you? Use some of your millions to hire your own security detail? 🙄. And the claim that she didn’t know how “hard” it was to be a Royal? Are you for real? You just want the title and all the benefits but none of the responsibilities? There’s a name for that. It’s celebrity. Not royalty. Contrast the Royal response to their 2.5 hr expose…I couldn’t help but laugh. Succinct. Diplomatic. Firm. It’s a private affair. We will deal with it privately. Exactly. Dragging the whole world into a private family affair only muddies the problem. Feeling trapped and hounded by the press? And yet you do this on Oprah? Asking for more aren’t you? 🙄. And asking about the baby’s color? Can it NOT be just a descriptive term? A passing comment? Not meant in any shape or form to be derogatory?
And yeah I agree about the Adam’s apple for this actor. But I do like his smile. When his face breaks into a smile, it’s naturally warm.
Clap! Clap re RMM! I just want to say when did she NOT know that you bow to Queen Elizabeth??? Enough said!
I had put the drama on-hold because of the problems generated by the change of actor :
– Hole generated by two episodes relying on editing and script changes.
– Loss of connection in the relationship of the main couple.
– Henceforth, Impossibility for the drama to be coherent from the beginning to the end and to make it a perennial artistic work.
How sad it was, I had even lost the motivation to watch, even as an on-air drama, without expecting more.
However, the beginning of your article gave me back some motivation and made me be a bit more positive.
I finished “Love alarm”, a rather boring drama, but in which the actress Kim So Hyun is perfect.
A role that fits her more, and in which she is much more beautiful.
It made me miss Kim So Hyun, and now the only chance to see her is RWTMR.
So here, the only thing I can do is… fanboying Kim So Hyun. ❤❤❤
I’ll add this, just for fun:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/16/c1/b4/16c1b445af822a367f2abcbdadfe2f04.jpg
Finished Ep 10. I breezed through the palace politics and savored the Ondal and Gajin moments since I know this sweet encounters won’t last anyway.
It’s clear that Gajin/Princess’s ambitions will put Ondal in harm’s way. He’s walking to his death like a lamb to the slaughter.
If she was somebody else, I’d have serious misgivings about her motives for choosing Ondal to be her husband. Ondal is much easier to control and manipulate than General Go; and Ondal is a besotted fool. I wouldn’t put it past her to use Ondal as a pawn (or to be specific, her general) in her power struggle.
The nanny has understandable reasons for disliking her. Ondal’s father’s words still ring in her head. “Do you know why I haven’t taught Ondal swordfighting? Once you hold the sword, it’s the fate of the swordsman to see blood. Dal…I don’t want him to walk a path full of blood like me.”
Gajin’s character is very much different from the herbalist woman, Moyoung. Moyoung is in love with the General Go, and he’s her blind spot. In a way, Moyoung and Ondal are alike. They’ll love foolishly.
Anyway, I hope Gajin knows what she’s doing and who’s she’s sacrificing for her ambition.
To me, the new actor’s arrival is timely.
Gajin/the Princess was about to choose her husband when the new actor stepped in for Jisoo. If we were to follow the folk tale, then this moment was exactly when the relationship of Ondal and the Princess would have begun. In the folk tale, the strong-willed princess got into an argument with the King because the King wanted to arrange her marriage. When she refused, and threatened to marry the town’s fool, the King took her up on her threat, and sent her away to marry this fool.
So the Princess showed up at Ondal’s door and had to convince him to marry her… and to convince Ondal’s mother that she’d make a good wife and daughter-in-law.
And that’s what Episode 9 and 10 was all about. I view the first 8 episodes as the political background story that required the Princess’ marriage to Ondal. It is long — 8 episodes — but if the viewers only want the romance part (like me), then they can skip the messy palace in-fighting, and begin with Episode 9. That’s when Ondal joined the husband search for the princess’ arranged marriage.
Nothing to do with RWTMR but The Duchess RMM LOL.. After watching the show, me and my friends all come up with the same conclusions, WTH and why so dramatic 😅
I dropped this after episode 3 because I couldn’t connect with Ondal’s character.
After the actor change, I picked up RWTMR again starting episode 9. I like this new Ondal. The visual between him and the princess pleases me. Their kiss made me smile, too.
After watching 9-10 I’m now on board to continuing the series.
I just watched Ep11. Fast forwarded the Palace scenes. 😂. New OnDal is the bomb. GJ and he just work. Love how he’s growing into his General role. And previews show we get a real kiss next ep. 🥰. So far it’s been cute pecks. Which suit their relationship right now.