Iljimae Episode 6, recap

Waaaaaaah, the badness of this show is making me laugh. Do not, under any circumstance, take this too seriously, and you will have lots of fun. (Like, for example, instead of scoffing at his improbable survival of falling into a body of frozen water in the middle of a freak storm while the rest of the series is happily spring, marvel at Shi Hoo’s abs. Or something. :D)

My new motto when watching Iljimae? Stop using logic!!

Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give you…

Episode 6

Yong walks purposefully, in manner of a cowboy meeting his opponent for a duel, towards the two people he recognizes from the now-convicted prime minister’s house. The other man shakes his head ever so subtly and they pass each other by. Yong sees that the other guy actually has a shadow (same guy who tried to kill him three times, whaddya bet?) and follows them. Alas, they are lost to sight.

Shi Hoo is practicing for his military exam, but he has a shoulder injury, and stops, Tezuka-like, in pain. As it turns out, he’s rushing out to escort his beloved sister home. (He’s a little late today.)

In the woods, the man who was to meet up with Yong hides behind a tree while his subordinate and the guy in black fight it out. His servant is knocked out, but he survives. He runs in the woods (and suddenly, night came!), with the guy in black chasing close behind. He startles Eun Chae’s servant as he crosses the street in rapid retreat.

The man in black is very skilled, however, and pins down Yong’s potential ally. Right at this moment, a fortuitous, if not entirely unwelcome Shi Hoo comes upon them and demands to know what’s going on. He proves absolutely no match for the guy in black, but fights anyway. The man in black recognizes Shi Hoo and only gives him a slash on the arm before chasing after the servant dude.

Eun Chae finds her brother and takes him home to bandage the poor guy up.

The man in black hands over the scrap of fabric denouncing whoever it is to his boss, who is all, hmm, Shi Hoo may have seen you, I must kill you both… (But of course he doesn’t show it.)

At home, Shi Wan reminds us once more that he is the current title holder of Most Annoying Noble Git in Universe by picking on Shi Hoo some more.

The next morning, Yong and co. witness a wife beating up her errant husband (who ran away with another lady) – apparently someone managed to track the husband all the way across the country. He asks the person who did it for help, and the hunter dude overhears. (Where is a convenient lightning bolt when you need it, yo?)

The person will track down his mother and sister, but only for a price, which is where Bong Soon and her father come it. They’ve been swindled by a mother-son duo pretending to be matchmakers. Yong faithfully awaits outside their new quarters.

Shi Hoo tries really hard, but his injured arm makes everything totally impossible. Just then, one of the assassins who routinely meet with Byun Shik come by and tell him to train with the other hand. (Thus making Shi Hoo into an ambidextrous, super-capable martial arts god, I presume.)

Yay! Shi Hoo gets his own theme song. Whatever else you want to say about this over-angsted silent Tezuka wannabe, he’s hardworking. He practices in the day! In the night! With his other arm! With his shirt off! For three days and three nights, come rain or shine, he’s practicing his archery. (All traces of frustration has disappeared, and he smiles – facial expressions! I am so totally floored by the fact that his facial muscles can actually move.)

Yum. Am temporarily distracted by the gleaming, half-naked fitness that is Shi Hoo.

Both Eun Chae and Shi Wan have come to watch, with very different reactions.

Across town, Yong has finally caught up with Bong Soon and her father. He has her thrown into jail for fraud, and only the fact that Swe Dol is a softhearted sap saves her from being incarcerated until her father can rustle up the 200 dollars (actually ounces of silver, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s use dollars). They are both obligated to work for Yong for 50 days to pay off their debts.

Yong brings the money he made from selling their wares to the local mafia head (really seems that way, what with him loan sharking, holding illegal boxing matches and doing a bit of investigating off the side). The mafia head promptly goes to the hunter and asks for the money he owes. The hunter dude tells him the truth about Yong, and is promptly rebuffed for telling lies.

In fact, the mafia dude just doesn’t want to split profits. He gives the hunter another half month to gather up money.

(Yong’s still in danger, huh. Wish the show would decide between comedy and thriller, but then, I’m not complaining. Much. Moving the pace a bit faster would not come amiss either.)

Aww. That night, while Eun Chae’s coming home in the dark from the almost completed inn, Shi Hoo sets up two strings of lanterns on the trees that line the road. Then he uses his new-found archery skills to light them all up by fire-arrow (nevermind that the lanterns are not all at the same height, nor the fact that, hello, forest + fire = bad). The little sister is duly touched by this totally unnecessary and sappy gesture.

(I would be too. Then I would make him take it down and escort me in person, but then I am not the perfect Miss Eun Chae. :D)

Shi Wan throws a hissy fit because he wants lanterns too. (Aww.)

Yong, coming home from a long day, finds the as-of-yet undead person in the bushes. At the same time, he receives news from his friend that the people he’s been asking after have been found. He goes off to meet the mafia boss – yo, dude, it’s a trap. Even I can tell.

Somewhere, somehow, peasant Yong learned how to ride horses. Not questioning drama logic at all.

The scrap of fabric now in Byun Shik and unnamed villain’s hands turns out to be fake. However, the only one who can give an answer, the man who has the original, the one who’s gravely injured, dies. (He keeps pointing to his socks though. What are the odds? *sigh* When will you make sense, Iljimae?)

The autopsy reveals nothing, except that he was related to an ally of Lee Won Ho’s – then one of the two superior investigators Byun Shik pissed off earlier come, and the correct scrap falls into his hands. (He seems to be not part of the conspiracy, and the expression on his face when he reads it is pretty telling too. In passing, I love being able to understand what’s written on the scrolls… yay for ancient Chinese!)

OMG. WE HAVE KYUM’S SISTER!

She’s alive! However, rather inconveniently, two authorized thugs (aka people with uniform, who need to be tied to rocks and then thrown into a river, especially if I were their superior) come and flaunt their authority. They want to see the serving girls take their clothes off, and concoct some weak excuse about seeing one of them steal. Kyum’s sister, being less cowed than most, speak up against them.

Meanwhile, Kyum/Yong is galloping with all speed to where she is.

The person Kyum sent to find his sister tries to get her out, but being the sort who’s easily riled, he beats some idiot officers, and is set upon by what seems like all the blue-uniformed guards in the kingdom. Which, needless to say, is bad.

But, hey, the girl stands up for him at the end, and cows the other guards away with her words. (The scorned one vows revenge and my fingers itch for a good baseball bat.) Go logic!

MAJOR LOLS. Mafia dude has officially fallen for Kyum’s sister

*headdesk* Watching this show is starting to shorten my life. So frustrating

Kyum’s sister makes it out, but ducks into hiding at the sight of someone on a horse – that person is Kyum! So she runs off to where the mafia dude is telling her to go, and there are hordes of people chasing after her… (How I long for some good keymashing.)

Yong meets up with mafia dude, who has changed his mind and will no longer turn him into the authorities. They bond. Finally, the pieces are falling into place. Took them long enough.

Just as she runs up to where Yong and mafia dude are waiting, the guards come, with their dogs, and chase her down. They can only watch.

The next morning, mafia dude waxes optimistic about finding her, while Kyum just feels useless.

(Sorry, am using Kyum and Yong interchangeably, hope you don’t mind – they’re the same person, in case you’re confused.)

Yong rushes back home, only to face impending doom in the face of exams. Dani, not as mean or cold as she appears, goes shopping for materials that Yong is going to use in the exams. She, in spite of working her hands off on sewing, buys the most expensive type of paper for Yong. Hope he does well, but I doubt it. Even child geniuses have to do some studying.

In fact, he’s anxiously awaiting news from his sister.

Meanwhile, Shi Hoo has been practicing super hard. It shows. Swe Dol remembers that his other adopted son is also going through exams, and sneaks off to give him some goodies. Shi Hoo is touched. (But don’t eat all those sweets! It’ll ruin your svelte figure, for one.)

Byun Shik, not one to miss opportunities, warns Shi Wan about not making the cutoff for the exams. If Shi Hoo does, and he doesn’t, Shi Wan’s going to be erased from the family tree (with the implication that Shi Hoo will take his place). Not one to honourably figure things out, Shi Wan bribes the hostelry to give Shi Hoo a really bad horse.

The night before the exam, Dani stays up all night praying. I’m not sure for whom, and I think she’s not sure either.

Eun Chae gives Shi Hoo a thumbguard for archery, which he rebuffs, but the servant and Eun Chae both know he’s just being a cold bastard again. (Has a lot in common with his mom in that area.)

At the entrance, Yong is exceedingly embarrassed by his friends (four, count’em, four! Swe Dol, his two friends, and the hunter, who somehow got dragged into this) and father cheering him on. They do a cheerleading dance reminiscent of DBSK and embarrass the hell out of Yong. (Dude, I wish I had four people cheerleading me before my med interviews.)

Just as Yong’s about to enter the exam site, mafia dude comes up and tells him that he’s found his sister. (Um, bad timing, imho.)

At the military exams, we are once more shown the unfairness that permeates – nobles use horses, sit in the shade, non-nobles use cows and have to stand. Shi Hoo’s horse is perfectly fine, the hostler has elected for the age-old tradition of sticking a burr in the saddle. Poor horsie. Which also means that even with perfect scores for ground archery, Shi Hoo fails the exam. Shi Wan gloats

Kyum’s sister got to Seoul, but since she also needs to find her mother and a job, she became a prostitute. Yong is saddened. He also skips his exams and rushes out at night to find her.

Shi Wan, in the meantime, has gone back to his bad old habits.

(I have a feeling their lives are about to collide. F***)

Yong walks by the place his sister is selling stuff at, because it looks like it’s closed. (Directors! Enough with the near misses already!) Incidentally, Shi Hoo is here, waiting for Shi Wan to leave his habitual haunt. When Kyum’s sister hides upon hearing guards’ voices, Shi Hoo figures out that she’s an escapee, and Shi Wan’s taunts make him turn her in.

WTF. That makes Shi Hoo responsible for his father and sister’s death. I understand what he’s feeling, but sheesh. That’s a bit too much.

So, having made it all the way to Seoul, she gets caught, and will probably die. *clubs Shi Hoo*

Commentary/Rambling:

– I don’t know about you, but this show is trying to be James Bond/Harry Potter/wuxia at the same time… Go guilty summer pleasures? At least I didn’t fast-forward Time Between Dog and Wolf. But then, Nam Sang Mi was very fetching.

– The pairings are still holding strong at Eun Chae/Shi Hoo (sibling love, ahaha, who are you trying to kid?) and Bong Soon/Yong (we all know what glaring dislike between a guy and a girl leads to in kdramas).

– Somehow, I don’t think Shi Hoo’s going to be too happy finding out who he really is. And if only Dani knew.

Sevenses