@agdr03 and @GB, why aren’t you watching this kdrama yet? Join me?

Things that baffled me:

1. Was the assassin that shot an arrow at King YiHeon also his court jester?

According to Prince JeSeon’s minion, the assassin was hired by Kim YangSon, the older brother of Kim YiSon whose corpse was desecrated during the first Literati Purge of 1498. (In the history books, the corpse was disinterred and beheaded.)

Then we were shown a montage of the hired assassin dancing in front of the crowd.

This is interesting because in Episode 3, the king had introduced his court jester Gong-Gil (the jester with “many secrets”) to JiYeong after the man helped them from escape the prison and performed the mask dance Cheoyongmu for her and the king. Ironically, the king tasked him to investigate who was behind his assassination attempt.

In Episode 4, Gong-Gil saved JiYeong’s sous-chef, Gil-Geum from getting stabbed by Mokja’s henchwoman so he can’t be entirely bad.

2. What’s the “Year of Gapshin, Year of the Blue Monkey”?

When the king asks her to divine his future, JiYeong (JY) frets that the Literati Purge is drawing near. After the purge, a revolt will ensue, and the king will be dethroned and deposed. She can’t tell him all that because then history can’t be altered. So, instead, she gives him a general divination.

JY: So you want to know about the future, right? Then, let me see. First, you must get through this year well. Hold back even if you get angry and beware of those close to you.

In history books, the second Literati Purge occurred in 1504, and the coup in 1506. The historical Yeonsangun was thereby deposed in 1506 and his younger brother King Jungjong took the throne.

When JY cautions the king to curb his anger and exercise restraint, she’s most likely trying to avoid the second Literati Purge from happening as this will trigger the revolt. In the history books, the king was given a handkerchief purportedly with bloodstains from his mother’s vomit when she was poisoned. The handkerchief was presented by Im SaHong (otherwise known as the king’s bestie in the kdrama) and used as proof that the king’s mother was unjustly deposed, killed, and humiliated even after death.

How was his mother humiliated? Remember, the king grew up believing he was the issue of the third queen. And when he discovered the truth and wanted to reinstate his birthmother’s title and position, the ministers refused. In his rage, then, he killed two of his late father’s concubines (yes, those two unnamed ladies with the butterfly pins in their wigs) and purged the court of all officials who supported his mother’s deposition, plus all his critics and naysayers.

Thus, JiYeong’s counsel to the king to just survive the year unscathed, keep his temper in check, and be wary of confidants and betrayers is sagacious enough.

3. The grawlix (or censored word) in the title

Episode 1. Course Number 1 Gochujang Butter Bibimbap
Episode 2. Course Number 2 Sous Vide Cuisine
Episode 3. Course Number 3 Haute Cuisine
Episode 4. Course Number 4 **** and Spinach Doenjang Soup

At first, I thought the asterisked word referred to the word that Prince JeSeon indecorously blurted in the officials’ gathering. He was asked to share his thoughts on the ongoing cooking competition, and he burst out saying, “ttong” (or poop). He then excused himself to go to the outhouse.

But as it turns out, the word is “clams” or to be specific, freshwater marsh clams called “jaecheop.” The word was probably censored as a playful allusion to a) the clams being a secret – and winning – ingredient in the competition, and b) the likelihood that JiYeong invented the dish 500 years ago and thereby, altered culinary history. Lol.

Things that didn’t baffle me:

It’s sign that I’ve been watching too many kdramas when I can understand some elements in this episode.

1. In the Korean subbed version on Netflix, the king tells his grandmother, “Lips may tell lies, but the tip of a tongue only tells the truth.” In the English-dubbed version, the king however says, “You must try it for yourself. A person’s mouth may lie, [but] it is true that the senses cannot.”

It sounds like he’s warning her not to prejudge JiYeong’s cooking and she should confirm its taste before lying about it. In short, “the proof is in the pudding.”

However, to me, there’s a hidden barb in his words. He’s calling her a snake. The tip of a snake’s tongue is forked. Yes, they’re very sensitive tips, allowing the snake to detect odors from either its prey or attacker from two directions at the same time, and to take premeditated action. The king is saying that he can see through her magnanimous act and know that, just like a snake, her forked tongue has prepared her to kill with her fangs.

2. When the Dowager Queen adds rice to soup, both the Queen mother (the wife of the late king) and the concubine MokJu look horrified. The other two ladies (the concubines of the late king) look oddly at her, too.

There’s a reason for that. In the Joseon period, only the commoners mixed rice with their soup, making a “gukbap” (or “soup rice”). I guess, this was their way of extending the meal when food was scarce. The monarchy, however, was served a meal with plenty of side dishes or “banchans” thus royals didn’t need to mix rice with their soup. The rice and soup were regarded two separate and distinct dishes.

So when the Dowager Queen adds rice to her soup, she’s showing her humble roots for everyone to see. But this very act is a sign of filial piety, too. In displaying her origin, she pays respect to her mother who loved and cared for her.

Personally, I thought this sentimental scene brought home the constant theme in this drama about parental love and its expression in food. The king’s mother showed her love by feeding him. JY’s father showed his love by prepping comfort food for her. And now, we see that the Dowager Queen, too, had a lasting memory of her mother feeding her one more time before she headed off to the palace.

Because she had been so eager to leave her mother and enter a new world, she didn’t want to spare time to sit and eat the soup her mother had painstakingly prepared for her. But her mother foresaw that this would be her last home-cooked meal together and insisted. So, she ate the food, grudgingly, to obey her worried mother. The filial piety was burdensome to her.

As it turns out, this final act of filial duty is the one thing the Queen Dowager misses most in her waning years. She hungers for her mother’s cooking, but the taste is lost upon her mother’s death. Only after eating JiYeong’s soup did she realize that real meaning of filial piety for her. It’s to be grateful for her mother for raising and loving her. Back then, she was too preoccupied to treasure her mother. Now, she understands she values their short time together.

3. “Some”

In one scene in Episode 4, Secretary Im misunderstands the relationship between the king and JY and tells JY to adorn herself with jewelry as the king likes her women like that. JY protests.

JY. What are you talking about? You must be mistaken. There’s no flirting or anything going on between His Majesty and me.

She actually used the word “some” (or 썸 “sseom”).

Lol. Netflix and Viki have been translating this Konglish into “flirting.” It isn’t that, really. But I get why these dramasites can’t explain the meaning and simply use “flirting” as a shorthand.

Here’s my definition of the word “some.” I wrote about this here:

Bitch Talk: On “Some” Relationships

It’s a relationship status when the couple have moved from just being friends but haven’t declared that they’re exclusively dating each other. Because it’s an interim stage between singledom and couplehood, it’s often marked by confusion, ambiguity and frustration. The female lead in “Love is for Suckers” adamantly opposes it because she hates a) the feeling of being kept on tenterhooks, and b) the lack of commitment. But the male lead thinks she should move with the times.

The word “some” came from the English word “something” as in “there may be something there that wasn’t there before.”

I first heard of the word in 2014 when the song “Some” by Soyou and Junggigo became a hit.

Of course, Secretary Im doesn’t understand this modern concept. JY reassures him that nothing is happening between her and the king.

JY: His Majesty doesn’t fancy me or favor me that much. That’s the point.
Gilgeum: Yes. That’s the truth.
Im: You fools! You are truly ungrateful. Do you truly not know what His Majesty is putting up with to protect you?
JY: Are you talking about the competition? It may look like he protected me, but that wasn’t all there was to it. My cooking skills are what convince everyone that—
Im: (tsk-ing) Do you honestly think you survived with your skills alone?

When she asks him to explain himself, Secretary can only whisper conspiratorially that he hopes the king enjoys their “something.”

Of course, what he means is that the king was tacitly helping her during the competition. He showed up unannounced at the competition; he forced the queen play fair; he allowed JY to look for her “secret” ingredient by raising the stakes to two arms instead of one (lol); he made sure she wasn’t disqualified for cooking spinach in an unheard-of method; he put down the other two chefs’ entries to make way for JY.

So yes, the king did put up with quite a lot to ensure that she remains his royal chef.

4. The significance of the butterfly

As kdrama veterans, we should know that screenwriters love this (mis)application of the “butterfly effect” in their dramas.

Earlier, I wrote about the use of the butterfly in this kdrama. Read it here:

Bon Appetit, Your Majesty: On Butterflies

5. Filial piety

I’ll finish this later. I’ve meetings up to my eyeballs now.