As much as I enjoyed these two episodes, I have a few pet peeves that I need to get off my chest. Spoilers abound.

A. The editing

Since we aren’t film majors in this blog, I’ll give a basic definition of my understanding of film editing. Editing is the process of selecting, cutting, combining and (re)organizing camera shots and scenes, as well as dialogues and sounds to create a finished product consistent with the director’s vision of the story.

Two scenes in these first episodes that could have been shortened were:

a) the chase/fighting scene between our female lead YeoRi and the girl possessed by the one-legged evil spirit. I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy watching two women slugging it out.

b) the practice sword duel of the villainous minister. The duel had no purpose but to show that the minister was brutal and still spry despite his years.

In lieu of these prolonged scenes, viewers could have been shown – and not told – that YeoRi and the male lead had been circling the woods for two days because Kang Cheol had enchanted the woods to keep YeoRi from going to Hanyang.

Furthermore, better editing could have been use to organize the flashbacks about Kang Cheol.

I get it that this serpent-like creature named Kang Cheol (KC) was an integral character in the story. The drama started with the shaman narrating KC’s unfortunate saga to her granddaughter YeoRi. The shaman said that KC used to be a dragon that had spent a thousand years practicing self-discipline in the depths of a pond (and essentially, minding its own business) in order to ascend to the heavens. But, just as it was about to achieve its hard-earned goal of apotheosis, it was spotted weaving its way up to the skies by an infant. Since there was a divine rule that no ascending dragons should be detected by human eyes, KC was turned back into an “imoogi” or a serpent-like creature. Apparently, an imoogi is a downgrade from a dragon, and takes on a human form but with scales.

The shaman called KC’s situation an “unfortunate” mishap. (Ha! I would have called it “tragic.”) There was nothing KC could do to appeal against this inflexible decree from the heavens. As a result, KC harbored a deep and perpetual hatred for mankind. (Hmph! Does that make sense to you? I would have cursed the heavens instead for being so uncompromising and intransigent.) 

Now, that’s the backstory of KC. I don’t mind it really, and I think it deserved to be in the opening scene. However, what I disliked about the editing is the constant flashback to the first time YeoRi learned about KC. I blame poor editing for the repetitive and out-of-sequence flashbacks. It caused confusion.

If I were to reassemble things in chronological order, this is what happened:

1. Thirteen years ago, KC spotted YeoRi while she was playing by the waterfall. (This was a scene from Episode 2.)

She was only 13 years old back then. KC was mesmerized at the sight of her. In his own words, he hadn’t seen a “human in perfect harmony with heaven and earth. A child who will become a vessel, worthy enough to cleanse human impurity.”

Sidenotes: Doesn’t this situation feel a bit icky to you? A 1000+ year old creature being enchanted by a 13-year-old child? Okay….

Also, was this the same waterfall where KC used to practice its self-discipline as a dragon? Is water somehow significant to KC? I’ll have to remember this.

2. KC began following stalking YeoRi so she reported him to her grandmother/the shaman (a scene from Episode 1).

Noteworthy: At their first encounter by the waterfall, she gave KC a big smile. She didn’t look afraid of him. But things must have changed after he began stalking her and she discovered that he was an imoogi (or a serpent-like creature). She must have felt endangered/threatened by him. By the time she approached her grandmother, she was clearly in distress.

Also noteworthy:  YeoRi interrupted her grandmother while she was performing a ritual in front of the villagers. YeoRi chose a PUBLIC reveal rather than a private one. Naturally then, the whole village was alarmed to learn that YeoRi had led KC to the village. After her grandmother died, the villagers turned against her for bringing KC into their midst. And in turn, she blamed KC for her situation.

I’m pointing this out because I think it’s unfair to accuse KC of “sabotaging” her life by killing her grandmother when she had no evidence that KC was directly involved in her grandmother’s death. It wouldn’t surprise me if KC got a bad rap because humans needed a scapegoat, and KC was blamed for every disaster even if he had nothing to do with it.

3. Her grandmother recounted the backstory of KC to YeoRi later that night at their hut (this was the opening scene in Episode 1).

Sidenote: To me, the grandmother was trying to paint a sympathetic picture of KC to the young child YeoRi. For the grandmother’s point-of-view, KC’s hatred for humans was understandable, considering his great personal loss and his tragic circumstance.

However, from YeoRi’s perspective, KC was simply a wicked spirit and his hatred was unjustifiable. She reasoned that while he had miserable luck, he didn’t have to take his anger and frustration out on innocent human beings.

Personally, I find YeoRi’s mindset a bit inflexible and intolerant. Yes, a wounded animal is an aggressive one. But if she had an ounce more empathy in her – or if put herself in his snake-skinned shoes – then surely she could pity KC and find a way to help him out of his miserable existence.

4. Later in Episode 1, her grandmother gave her the magic stone.

She explained to YeoRi that the “impurity caused by humans must be cleansed through a human filled with divine power. If a shaman (like YeoRi) with a pure spirit and great capacity takes an imoogi that failed to become a dragon as her guardian, and offers sincere prayers to the heavens, legend has it that it can become a dragon again and ascend.”

She then gave the stone to YeoRi to ward off KC.

Sidenote: Her adamant refusal to help KC is odd considering that she was moved to help the wicked one-legged spirit. If I were her, I would have offered to help KC ascend to heaven, if only to get rid of his constant presence by my side. But maybe there’s more action involved (or more sacrifice required) than just the ritualistic “sincere prayers” the grandmother had told her.

That’s how I re-ordered the flashbacks in these first two episodes if I were to do the editing.

B. The love triangle

To me, one of the many flaws of that trashy hit, “Mr. Queen,” is that it could never convinced me that the king fell in love with the queen, instead of the male chef BongHwan who usurped the queen’s body. In my opinion, the King was attracted to the male imposter and was tantalized by his modern and very unconventional outlook.

I brought up “Mr. Queen” because the director of that kdrama and this “The Haunted Palace” is one and the same. I hope this drama won’t devolve into a tiresome husband guessing games.

YeoRi has two obvious contenders for “true love.”

One, the supernatural imoogi KC who has stalked her for 13 years, beginning when she was merely 13 years old, and who has occupied YoonGap’s body after YoonGap’s murder.

But I’m not clear about his motive for possessing the dead body. KC just jumped in, laid his hand over YoonGap’s eyes and possessed his body. By his own admission, it was the first time he possessed a human. So, what made him do it?

Did he feel injustice and help YoonGap get back at his murderer and the henchmen? Or did he feel altruistic and want to “un-dead” YoonGap because YoonGap was dear to YeoRi? Or did he feel a tinge of jealousy and want to take over YoonGap’s body? Or did he really feel opportunistic and scheme to temporarily “borrow” YoonGap’s body to coerce YeoRi given that as a spirit, he couldn’t do anything while she wore the magic stone?

I don’t get KC’s sudden meddling, but I do get YeoRi’s reaction. When she saw the weak and bloodied body of YoonGap, she knew that she was only seeing a wandering soul. She instantly suspected KC of killing YoonGap to get at her, and she raged at him.

…And we all know that, in kdramas, love and hate are two sides of the same coin.

Two, the original YoonGap who showed affection for YeoRi when they were children.

YeoRi idealized him ever since he offered to get her a persimmon from the tree, then broke his leg after KC “made” him from the tree. He was her first love (or her first infatuation) and when he returned to the village and offered to take her back to Hanyang with him, she realized how lonely she had been all those years.

It’s her vision of the two of them sharing a meal with a little girl that sealed her fate for her. She assumed that her vision meant that YoonGap was her future family. (To me, however, it’s entirely possible that she misinterpreted her vision. She could be seeing a future in which KC still resides in YoonGap’s body.)

However, as certain as she was about her feelings for YoonGap, YoonGap’s true feelings for her remain unclear – at least, in my opinion.

To the maid who brought him YeoRi’s workbox, he claimed that YeoRi was “like a sister” to him because they had lived in the same neighborhood. Perhaps he said this to protect YeoRi’s reputation.

In the woods, when he was all alone, he uttered his sincere apologies for lying to YeoRi and endangering her for “the great cause” of the King he served. He further said, “Do not forgive me, YeoRi.” It seems to me that his mission was more important thatn YeoRi’s welfare.

That said, when his killers came, he opted to have a speedy death to protect YeoRi. He realized that if YeoRi returned soon, she would also be in danger from his attackers. Thus, he taunted them to hasten his death and save YeoRi. While this selfless act is indeed heroic, I’m not sure whether his heroism proves his romantic love for her or just his guilt + responsibility + and platonic love, all combined. I’ll just have to wait and see how things develop in the next few episodes.

In most cases, I don’t mind love triangles where there’s a clear, convincing outcome. But if this turns out messy and obscure like in “Mr. Queen,” I’m out.

C. The Riddle

Did you see it?

I hope you were confused as I was when the grandmother said, “They do not say for nothing that where Kang Cheol goes, even autumn feels like spring.”

Huh?

Didn’t we just see in the previous scene, KC walking on a road between verdant fields and turning the whole green countryside black? There’s a dissonance, a conflict between the grandmother’s statement and the visual picture of the vast desolation KC wrought about him. How could spring and rebirth be associated with him when he ushered death? How could autumn feel like spring in his wake?

At first, I thought this was a mistranslation, but again, it cropped up in Episode 2. The title of Episode 2 is “Where Kang Cheol Goes, even autumn feels like spring.”

To me, then, the story is signalling that I take a second look at the transformative element of death and dying. Life doesn’t end with death. It can be reborn, renewed, recreated.

Take YeoRi for example. She thought that her life ended at thirteen when her grandmother passed away. But, ironically enough, with KC at her side and incessantly pestering her to be his disciple, she transformed herself into a master lenscrafter.

Same thing with YoonGap.

On the surface, it appears as if he’s dead and the king’s “great cause” died with him. But I think KC’s possession of his body just gives YoonGap an opportunity to devise a better plan to outwit the King’s enemies and rid the palace of the monster within. Maybe YoonGap’s soul will eventually return to his body and live again, but in the meantime, KC is an unwitting assistant in accomplishing the King’s “great cause.”

In this sense, it can be said that even autumn feels like spring when KC is around. Contrary to expectations, he isn’t the harbinger of death. Instead, he brings a new world order — and a new hope — in the wreckage.

****

So those are my three pet peeves. The kdrama is fun to watch and I’ll continue to watch it next week. Hope to see some of you.