The thread is now open for spoilers and theories.
The opening credits of the drama. From ircnix’s tumblr.
Let’s enjoy the show.
22 Comments On “Bulgasal: Eps 7 & 8 Open Thread”
Comments are closed.
The thread is now open for spoilers and theories.
The opening credits of the drama. From ircnix’s tumblr.
Let’s enjoy the show.
Comments are closed.
Hi @pkml3, I dropped by to see what anyone had to say about Ep 7, and hmm… no one has watched it yet? No one has anything to say? No one has time? I’ll be back LOL.
@GB,
π Iβm keeping quiet because I was completely nonplussed by the βromanticβ scenes. They were completely trope-y.
Sleeping together in one room at a seaside pension (or guesthouse)
Giving her a piggy back ride bec of her ankle
Lol. These tropes are so circa 2000s when βWinter Sonataβ and βCoffee Princeβ were big hits.
I watched ep 7, and there were so twists and turns. I’m thinking there may be a love/hate past between Ok Eul Tae and Min Sang Wo, and not Dan Hwal and MSW? Perhaps the sadness/broken heart that MSW and past lives have felt is the physical manifestaion as a dark hole on OET’s body?
@pkml3, I was nonplussed earlier by how obviously the actors were ‘acting’. It was as if they put their heart and soul into acting and it came through as intentional acting, instead of the fleshing out of convincing characters. It was as if they were acting the caricatures of the characters they were supposed to be instead of the characters themselves.
I have not watched the tropey ‘romantic’ scenes. I’m guessing they will also look intentional, like… now we have to show that there is going to be romance between these two, therefore a piggyback ride is called for. And they gamely do the piggyback scene according to script. π
@Fan of TKEM,
Same here. If we go with that old adage that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, then Eul Tae must have loved the immortal Lady in Red. Howeverβ¦
In Hwalβs dream, the Lady in Red stabbed his right hand. There must be a pretty good reason for her to kill him, and to curse him like that: that she would go looking for him to kill him every time.
Also, 600 years ago, the Lady in Red knew that Ok Eul Tae (an alias too) existed but she wasnβt interested in pursuing him or meeting up with him. Remember? Back in Ep 1, she stood in front of the tree and saw the deep fingernail marks left on the tree where the villager was killed by the Bulgasal. So she knew the monster was around but she didnβt go after it.
Instead, she hovered around the child Hwal. Thatβs why she was (conveniently? Not coincidentally) there to rescue him when he fell into the icy lake.
Right, @GB! Thatβs exactly how I reacted when I saw the piggy-back right. ππ I could tell that the writer has entered the βletβs develop the romanceβ stage of the drama.
Itβs not as if we havenβt seen this done before. It happens all the time: the writer makes two fighting, bickering, warring couple suddenly change their perception of each other, so he/she creates a PIVOTAL scenario.
I remember in Hometown Cha Cha Cha, I almost puked π€’ when Mr Fake Dimples returned glass slippers to Madam Over-Aegyo. That was supposed to be the turning point in that relationship: the moment when she was enlightened that Mr Fake Dimples was a swoon-worthy.
Although my reaction to the piggy-back scene in this drama was a whole lot less visceral, I knew the writer was making a PIVOT here and it was so cheesy, old-fashioned and cliched, I was mentally groaning.
Come on, writer/director. Be more creative!
@pkml3 Oh dear. I get the visceral reaction to bits and scenes in this show. I literally sigh or shake my head. Things like these made me suggest/ask if the show creators were green as in inexperienced. Well perhaps, PD Jan Young Woo, only did 3 other shows before this. A couple were romances, but I have not watched those. Not sure if they were cheesy.
The writers wrote The Guest which I did watch and liked, but that one was darker, serious, but much closer to how the Roman Catholic Church carries out exorcism. Other than that, the writers have also only middling experience with 3-4 other shows under their belt.
Maybe Bulgasal is a bigger mouthful than they can chew? It’s done on a huge scale but the story does not necessarily require it. I feel that the show makers were distracted by making it look big and grand, and forgot about the substance.
Kalispera,
I do hope you are okay!
After I was watching Episode 7, one thought came to my mind, the movie Hancock with Will Smith and Charlize Theron and their weird godlike connection.
If Min Sang-Un in her previous life as Female Bulgasal and Ok Eul-Tae were Gods – I would add divine creatures, as @Packmule3 suggested because of the Halo and I agree with her idea based on the painting the male Bulgasal possesses. Then they have some sort of symbiotic connection manifestes when the Female Lady is in danger / dying the Male Bulgasal feels the excrutiating pain.
In the beginning I thought it was a curse, because they keep repeating that to us, but if we take into consideration that the narrator is unreliable that I strongly believe about how we have informations the past, then we have an idea of what might have happened.
I want to capture that painting in a screenshot, because in the edges we got to see the Monsters they are dealing with. In Episode 7 we got to see the Fire Lady Monster, sorry I don’t remember her name in Korean Folklore.
If that is truth, then the Male and Female Bulgasal instead of lovers could also be siblings.
I am interesting to what is going to happen tonight. π
I saw episode 7. Yes, I think the young orphan boy is the reincarnated blind son too, but I was shocked by the revelation of his knowledge of who everyone is, and of his friendship and loyalty to Deep Hole. I didnβt see that coming! I think too that Deep Hole (not Red Lady) probably murdered our Bulgasalβs family. I agree that Red Lady, like our Bulgasal, likely refused to drink human blood. So the mysterious Karmic hostility she βprophesiedβ about continuing to our Bulgasal when she took his soul and he killed her, has me very intrigued. What is their backstory? What is the backstory between her and Deep Hole? Honestly, the possible romance between them doesnβt interest me much, but the mythology – history that intwines them all sure does! Does anyone know what is being said in the creepy chant-like singing that keeps happening at times in the episodes? Iβm so curious.
Hello everyone! And thanks for my warm welcome on the other thread, I replied there. But not sure Moonshine is my thing, and wondered about binging this one since Pkm3 seems to be posting takeaways and it’s only halfway through its run. Can binge to catch up but dont want to spoil with your comments before watching, so just a few questions: is it good? Discussion-worthy? I watched the first episode, found it pretty grim, but if you all recommend it I will definitely binge!
Kalimera!
Welcome on board @K-drama grandma and @Barbey!
@Barbrey, I like Bulgasal. I don’t know if you like such a story with mythical creatures aka monsters, but I like this dark element as well.
Give it a try and if you don’t like it you can stop watching it!
I will post my comment on Episode 8 after that post!
My thoughts on Episode 8:
We finally got to the point, where we – the audience- learned a part of the truth.
As it seems, Hwal’s family was murdered by Ok Eul-Tae aka the Dark Hole and not the Female Bulgasal. That was the previous reincarnation of Min Sang-Un was saying to her Unnie Kim Go-Bun and her parents.
The thing is that Ok Eul-Tae said some interesting things to Detective Kwon, that unfortunately I cannot trascribe at the moment.
So, which one is saying the truth? Dark Hole or Min Sang-Un ?
If we take as granted that Dark Hole killed Hwal’s family in the past, I would like an explanation why the Female Bulgasal killed Hwal and took his Soul.
Especially after what happened when Sang Un was almost choked to death by Gapsangoe / Shaman.
Sang Un has Hwal’s soul, we know that since we saw it firsthanded back in Episode 1.
So, HOW is Dark Hole connected with Sang Un?
Is there a chance that Sang Un doesn’t really have Hwal’s soul, but in truth the soul Hwal has had was Dark Hole’s?
If that is the case then we get an answer to that symbiotic relationship Dark Soul and SU have, where Dark Hole is in endless pain when he kills SU or SU is threatened.
If that is the case, what has happened between the three of them that connects them in such a way?
If we add to the mix, that big painting, then maybe the first Bulgasal – godlike creatures was the Female Bulgasal and Hwal in his first life and somehow Dark Hole got in the mix?
I think now we get to ponder, who is saying the truth and who isn’t. If that is the case, my assumption from the beginning that the Narrator is Unreliable is valid and we get to see who is who in the second part of the Show.
Cleopatra, thanks for the welcome!
I watched episode 8 and now have even more questions. Itβs a great story so far; lots of interesting mysteries. So strange and sad that the re-incarnations of all the character seem to keep repeating their past, our Bulgasalβs father being the latest. That confrontation, Ouch! I wonder, are all the characterβs endlessly repeated bad choices in every reincarnation a curse, karma, fate, or fault? If every loop of life is supposed to change them (or change the humans, if not the monsters), why do they seem unable to ever change? After all isnβt that the point of reincarnation, growth? Or am I totally misunderstanding the concept? Anyway, this series really has me thinking.
Anneyong!
@K-drama Gramma(k-d G),
They continue to be in the circle of Karma and repeating endlessly the same things time after time, because none of the them has done anything to be out of it.
Hwal was after the Girl.
Dark Hole was killing the Girl
The monsters were after the Hwal’s soul aka the Girl.
The Girl was reincarnated so many times and she was being killed everytime.
So, all the major players were not breaking the pattern and none of them has reached self-realization.
Hwal has to forgive himself about the Bulgasal’s grudge.
Also, he has to forgive himself that his family has died, not because of him as he says, but because someone killed them and he was not there.
He also has to forgive the Female Bulgasal who had a grudge against him – IF she was the one who held a grudge on him in the first place. It could also be Dark Hole.
Hwal has grown up with lots of self guilt and lots of regrets that were cast upon him by the Shaman Lady and the Village people. I agree with @Packmule3 that she is responsible for what happened to Hwal since his birth.
Hwal has to make amends with his past in order to break the cycle. If he does that, then all the second characters will have a chance to do the same.
Now, we don’t know a lot about how all these started in the first place.
I am pointing into Hwal because so far he is the one who suffers in a different way than the Female Bulgasal. He has memories up to a point. He remembers only his current life and not a reincarnation before it, like Dark Hole and the Female Bulgasal.
So, I am eager to see what we are going to find next.
Cleopatra, oh thatβs an intriguing explanation. A karmic circle, hmmm. I hope the next episode or two drops more hints at their backstories. Iβm finding this fascinating!
@K-d G,
I think it is. I cannot recall this usage of a karmic cycle before!
This week’s episodes should give us more info.
We shall see!
Saying hello for the first time, although I have been a reader/follower of your blog for quite some time now! Love your analysis. To add an observation even if Dark Hole mirrors the pain he won’t die because he has no soul. Hence coaxing Heal into murdering her is not all that improbable. Also may I get the password for the piggyback post?
@Soulsearcher,
Don’t get confused now. π Dark Hole can die despite not having a soul. Remember? SangUn needs the assistance of a Bulgasal to kill a Bulgasal. In effect, both SangUn and Dark Hole are vying for Hwal’s service.
Dark Hole is using his 1000-year-old hole-in-the-chest to gain Hwal’s sympathy. He doesn’t dare kill Detective Kwon and anybody close to Hwal (like the Ahjumma). He won’t get Hwal to come join his side otherwise.
SangUn (according to Dark Hole) is using her human face and her caring ways to persuade Hwal to kill Dark Hole for her.
Both of them need Hwal to do the killing for them since they can’t kill each other.
But all Hwal wants is to get his old soul back from SangUn so he can die.
@packmule3 yes, Dark Hole can be killed but only by Hwal, so in the scenario where Hwal kills Sangun, Dark Hole would feel the pain but not die.
On a side note, all beings no matter of they are monsters or goblins or Grimm reapers, they are meant to die in kdramaworld, consistent with reality where all that lives must die. However I wonder what will happen to Kim Shin eventually in the universe of Goblin! Eun tak will live out the three lives she has left but than what? Will Kim Shin live forever? How sad and lonely is that! He should have just chosen to die instead of staying in that inbetween land and then be united with Eun tak in the afterlife. They too then could have been reborn and have their happy ending.
Hi @Soulsearcher,
Interjecting on a Bulgasal thread LOL.
About Goblin: an added impediment to Goblin’s Kim Shin choosing to go into the afterlife and leave Eun Tak behind, is that he had happily agreed to the terms of a contract with Eun Tak. He still wanted to be able to honour the terms of the contract, especially the last clause:
“The contractor must grant one wish for the contractee on the first snowfall of the season, every year. That’s because the contractor will be waiting for the contractee.”
The old fashioned gentleman that he was, said that his word was his bond, and he was determined to see ET again, in her current life, even if it was just once a year for the 80 or so remaining years of her life. Hence he refused the almighty’s offer to leave the in-between land.
A foolish gesture of a grand love. But we are expected to go ‘Oh! Soooo romantic!!’ LOL.
Omg…. @GB, @packmule3, these ep 7 and 8 : ‘let’s get the romance started’ phase is just so tropey and annoying to bits… π€¦π»ββοΈ not only it fails to ignite any fluttering even on my nose… the feeling is so blehhh… they both are beautiful but their scenes are superb boring… that sit up straight piggyback looks soooooo awkward and unfeeling(?) Feel like show is dragging a bit with those supposedly romantic scenes…π₯±π₯±π₯±π₯±
Anyway, back to more interesting characters – yes, guess right that the boy is the mole/spy. It seems he knew who Siho is yet not sure if siho knows him. The way he asked OET why he had to kidnap siho made me think that the theory that siho was OET gf may have been possible. We might see he opens up to Hwal. He seems like he is Hwal’s blind son.
I decided to avoid the Episodes I missed and just jump in to see what I could gather from Episode 8. I wondered what the scene of Deuoksini contributed: just to show that Dark Hole was trying to play favourites with Hwal to contradict Sang Un? Now it’s his word against hers and Hwal has to decide whom to believe.
So the spirit of the original shaman still awakens out of the blue to give similar dire predictions. She never did it before, so what was the trigger? Did those people all have to be present before she started spouting her prophecies?
I see that kdrama has done it again, it creates a cosy atmosphere and makes a grouping out of the most divergent creatures, who are mostly in contradiction with each other, and seats them around a loud TV. That does not necessarily turn them into a family, nor turn that house into a home, but Show is certainly trying.