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.

Dong Yi — a review of episodes 30 to 36

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.

In Dong Yi, a lot can happen in 120 days. A new Queen can be installed and have a chance to replant an ex-Queen’s garden. A King (Ji Jin Hee) can mourn a missing smiling face. Seo Yong-Gi (Jeong Jin-Yeon), the Chief of Police, can be dismissed from his post by the King and disappear into the countryside with a trusted friend Cha Jeon-Soo (Bae Su-Bin). The family of the new Queen and some of their loyal supporters can find new wealth and status, moving up in the housing market. . . So what’s really happening?

Queen Jang (Lee So-Yeon) is haunted by dreams of Choi Dong Yi (Han Hyo Joo), fearing that she will suddenly reappear and reveal all to the King. She and her brother, Jang Hee-Jae (Kim Yoo Suk), are also concerned that the Chinese have not yet acknowledged the “boy” as the heir. While the passage of time is wearing away resistance among the courtiers, this failure from the neighbours is disconcerting. Otherwise, all the plotting appears to have paid off. Except, out in the countryside, Seo Yong-Gi and Cha Jeon-Soo are turning over every stone in their secret search for Dong Yi. Yes, the dismissal was a ruse. This ex-Chief of Police is carrying a royal seal requiring instant obedience. Not surprisingly, this “secret” mission is soon reported back to the capital.

King Sukjong insists Dong Yi looks directly at him

As to Dong Yi herself, it now appears she was found unconscious by a merchant who has nursed her back to health. She was unconscious for two months but is now regaining her strength. He has already found her to be an astute businesswoman, prepared at her own initiative to take control over much of the day-to-day trading. He has been lying to her, of course. He sees profit in a wife and someone to run the business for him. None of the messages she wrote to the capital have been delivered.

Now the searchers are on the trail. They have literally been turning over the stones left by merchants to give each other messages. They have found word of a Dong Yi in a distant province. By one of these coincidences favoured by scriptwriters, Jang Hee-Jae is also going there to meet with a Chinese delegation. Now, after delivering the good news to the King, everyone is converging on the right point on the map. Not surprisingly, by this time Dong Yi has recruited a potential ally. A young nobleman turned academic in exile, Shim Woon Taek (Kim Dong-Yoon) has appeared as a lodger in the merchant’s house.

Bae Su-Bin as Cha Jeon-Soo riding to the rescue again

As an aside, I find myself growing slightly annoyed by the instant flashback technique employed in this series. I’m quite happy for this to be employed every now and again to remind us what happened in previous episodes. But it’s a bit wearing to have a scene start, then we cut to “some time later” and have flashbacks to discover what was said in the first scene or to hear the same lines instantly repeated. This is bad continuity, redundant padding, and distracting. And that dream sequence. What where they thinking? This is so Dallas when Hollywood is having a bad day. Korean directors should have more style.

So now we know Jang Hee-Jae is prepared to give military secrets to persuade the Chinese to formally endorse the “boy” as legitimate heir. He will stop at nothing to see his faction win even though this may mean prejudicing the defence of the realm. Dong Yi is fortuitously reunited with Sul-Hee (Kim Hye-Jin) from her past, now acting as a courtesan in this border region. It seems she has fallen among friends but, because her new male confederate’s name is known to Jang Hee-Jae, the letter he tries to send to the capital is intercepted and she’s once again captured by her enemy. This is cranking up the melodrama, but it remains quite exciting. I’m reminded of early Batman episodes where super-villains come up with ever more elaborate plans to kill the caped crusader rather than just shooting him in the head. A rational Jang Hee-Jae would immediately insist on having his nemesis killed in front of him with the body cut into pieces and buried in distant parts of the land so she can never be resurrected. But the exigencies of the plot require her to survive so, with a little help from her friends, she’s free again and heading off in the direction of the capital to tell all. Fortunately, thanks to the ingenuity of our academic, the Chinese delegation leaves with the wrong documents. Not unnaturally, Dong Yi is carrying the military secrets safely with her.

Kim Hye-Jin as Sul Hee — a courtesan with a heart of gold

While the Police Chief and her brother search for her in the provinces, Dong Yi and Sul-Hee make it back to the capital only to find it in lock-down mode. The Jangs have put every police officer and soldier under their command on the look-out for Dong-Yi — it’s wonderful just how many copies of an artist’s impression of our heroine can be cranked out and distributed only among the “loyal” supporters. Cross-dressing as a boy, she sneaks into the city by the skin of her teeth and, as a chambermaid, gets to within sight of the King before being caught by disinterested guards and thrown out of the Palace. Now she needs a Plan B.

Back in the palace, desperate times call for desperate measures, so Lady Jang takes poison, and all her supporters allege yet another conspiracy from the deposed Queen. Although the plotting remains quite interesting, I find the melodrama of whether Dong Yi will be caught before she gets to the King with all the evidence is a little wearing. When you know how many other episodes there are to come, I wish the scriptwriters would make faster progress to reunite the lovers. As it is, she sits outside the walls playing her two-stringed fiddle with a tear in her eye, while he moons about inside the Palace dreaming he still has the chance of seeing her again.

Lee So-Yeon as Lady Jang relaxing into a happy moment

In all this, Lady Jang is actually the most interesting figure. Having been trapped into playing the role of a villain, she displays a simple determination to succeed. She’s risen from poor circumstances to the position of Queen and she’s not going to give up the position without a fight. Ironically, she feels the King has betrayed her. During all this, he has smiled, allowed her to become Queen and made a fuss of their son. But he has had the Chief of Police out in the countryside secretly searching for Dong Yi. She takes poison not caring whether she lives or dies. Either way, the ex-Queen can be blamed. When she lives, the relief that the King showed signs of worry is short-lived. It seems the King continues to play a double game as the search for Dong Yi focusses on the capital.

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.