Dong Yi — a review of episodes 51 to 54

television

This is a spoiler-rich discussion of what happens in these episodes so do not read this post if you want the experience of watching the serial unfold onscreen. Further, these episode numbers are based on the terrestrial broadcasts I have seen and not on downloaded or DVD episodes. It’s possible that these numbers do not match your experience.

At last, the restored Queen Inhyeon (Park Ha Sun) has decided to stop acting like wallpaper and to be more proactive, appointing Choi Dong Yi (Han Hyo Joo) to take control of the Surveillance Bureau. When Dong Yi forgives the Surveillance Bureau ladies does this confirm that her servant was returned unharmed? You will remember the villains spirited her away when searching Dong Yi’s apartment. Shame there’s been no mention of it. It will be interesting to see how the three react to their reprieve. Matron Yoo (Lim Seong-Min) was clearly enjoying herself under Queen Jang’s protection. It seems unlikely this brush with death will reform her. The two more naive girls, Si-Bi (Oh Eun-Ho) and Eun-Geum (Han Da-Min) may prove more open to the idea of a second chance. In historical context, I suspect clemency in this court will be interpreted as weakness. If people believe they will not face death for their crimes, the deterrent value of capital punishment has been lost — assuming “criminals” ever believe they are going to be caught, of course.

Dong Yi (Han Hyo Joo), Cha Jeon-Soo (Bae Su-Bin) and Ge Dwo Ra (Yeo Hyeon-Soo) — three childhood friends reunited

In the best New York style, the deposed Queen Jang (Lee So-Yeon) gets to do the perp walk as she’s thrown out of her “housing unit” with all the servants and lesser ladies getting to enjoy her humiliation. Yet all this does us move a major enemy from one royal residence to another inside the palace.

The King (Ji Jin Hee) has a pregnancy dream and discovers Dong Yi has a craving for porridge. During their incognito visit to a government site supposedly dedicated to feeding the poor, they discover willful abuse of authority and probable skimming of stores. The King is now in his element, dispensing immediate justice and banishing all those responsible to distant border postings. It’s good to see him more involved in the day-to-day running of the kingdom rather than merely depending on the reports of his officials.

Jang Hee-Jae (Kim Yu-Seok) is exiled. He’s not a happy bunny but, after sacrificing his wealth, he brings himself back into contention when the heat has died down. In the intervening period, our happy couple celebrate the birth of a son, and we have a new villain to enjoy. It’s the return to the capital of Jang Moo-Yul (Choi Jong-Hwan) who’s been working his way up the system, playing the part of an honest administrator. Even the King is pleased to see him and puts him in charge of the investigation into the outbreak of killings. Yes, the Geom-Gye or Sword Society has been resurrected and is once again the scourge of the nobility. Not surprisingly, Dong Yi, Cha Jeon-Soo (Bae Su-Bin) and Chief Seo Yong-Gi (Jeong Jin-Yeon) are greatly upset by this development. So Dong Yi talks the Queen into allowing her out of the palace and now she and Shim Woon Taek (Kim Dong-Yoon) are investigating the hand signs she remembers seeing as a child. They identify it as the Chinese way of counting but, at first, there’s no clue how numbers might be translated into language. Meanwhile, Jang Moo-Yul exploits his knowledge that Deputy Prime Minister Oh Tae-Suk (Jeong Dong-Hwan) ordered the death of his father under the cover of the Sword Society campaign. Now we see the deposed Queen Jang reasserting her position with the South faction using Jang Moo-Yul as her stalking horse.

Dong Yi discusses old times with the Sword Society

As an aside, I wonder about the use of language in this series. When I was growing up, I was bilingual in “English” and Geordie, the local dialect. This was essential to be able to fit into different social situations. So I assume Dong Yi is the same. Born and brought up as a commoner, she would have a pronounced accent and some dialect usages that would clearly mark her speech as low-born. Moving into the palace, she would then learn the different class-based vocabulary and syntax. I ask this because, if armed Geordie terrorists burst into my home and were about to kill me, the moment I opened my mouth they would know me as one of their own and not a southern toff. More importantly, if all but Ge Dwo Ra (Yeo Hyeon-Soo) are new recruits, how do the rank and file killers know about Dong Yi and membership of the old society? As an aside, Ge Dwo Ra gets to wear a unique hat that allows you to track him as he runs through the countryside or moves through a crowded city street. Great thinking by the leader of a secret organisation.

I’m also increasingly confused about geography. While we were mainly based inside the palace or in distant parts of the countryside, it didn’t matter if we had no idea of the scale of movement between different buildings or parts of town. But we now have Lady Jang and Dong Yi out visiting different houses and I have no idea how easy it is to get from one place to another or, even, which are within or outside the city walls.

Jeong Dong-Hwan as Oh Tae-suk is finally expendable

This all boils up to a great climax as the two sides jockey for position. Once Dong Yi cracks the code and identifies Oh Tae-Suk as behind the killings, they spook the veteran politician into giving himself away. Dong Yi also confronts Lady Jang and they both now recognise each other from the murderous events all those years ago. It’s now a race. The Jangs need to kill Oh Tae-Suk and frame the Sword Society. Chief Seo and Cho need to collect all the evidence and arrest Oh Tae-Suk. In the end, Ge Dwo Ra is seriously wounded when Oh Tae-Suk and his entourage are killed. He escapes to Sul-Hee (Kim Hye-Jin). Dong Yi rushes to his side. This is the Jang’s chance and, with the King incognito and encouraged to follow the investigation, he’s there when Dong Yi is “arrested” for aiding a murderer.

For more general discussions of the social and political context for the serial, see:
Dong Yi — the politics

Dong Yi — superstition and magic

Dong Yi — the minor characters

Dong Yi — final thoughts

Click here for the reviews of the narrative itself:

Dong Yi — the first 22 episodes;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 23 to 29;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 30 to 36;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 37 to 41;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 42 to 47;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 48 to 50;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 51 to 54;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 55 to 63;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 64 to 69;

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 70 to the end.