Empress Ki 기황후 Episode 15 Stills ~The Battle of Kickball
Team Wang Yoo (Goryeo) VS Team Toghun (Yuan)
MBC released some interesting pics from tonight’s episode showing Toghun and his minions VS Wang Yoo and his men engaging in a not-so friendly game of kickball (traditional football). I’m pretty sure more than their banner, what they both really want is to win Seung Nyang’s heart. As for me, I’m team Toghun all the way! Go Toghun! (feeling like a cheerleader).
Okay. Let me give a full disclosure. I watched the first episode during it’s premiere but has since then lost interest. It was okay, but I was juggling so many dramas at that time that I had to pick which ones to watch first. Until last weekend. I have no other dramas to watch having watched those that I am keeping abreast with and was left re-watching Legend of the Condor Heroes (2008) for the 3rd time. I still find it entertaining and have a deeper understanding of it (sorry I digress). So, I ended up marathoning episodes 2-12 in a day. If I hadn’t heard the noise from my neighbors I wouldn’t have realized that it was already so late (or rather early in the morning) that I had to finally stop. What kept me glued to it? Or better yet, WHO kept me glued? Who else but the foolish, childish, funny, broken , Emperor Toghun. He makes me smile whenever he acts cute with his eunuch. I feel like a school girl giggling with him when he fantasize about Nyang. He may be silly at times, but his soul is fragile and his heart is pure. His character is so beautifully written (or maybe Ji Chang wook is just a fine actor). He may not be struggling physically or fighting a war but his battle is far deeper…he is abused emotionally and mentally. No wonder he feels like a trapped animal unable to breath freely. I want to hug him and stop him from crying. I want to see him become a fighter. A brave, strong and confident man. I guess that’s why I am more interested in his character, because there’s a promise of a journey.
I have nothing against Joo Ji mo. He’s a good actor, that’s a given. It’s just that, his character is so one-dimensional you could practically guess what he’d do next. His character is actually fiction, loosely based on King Chunghye. So I don’t get where and how the love arc is supposed to progress. We all know how and what happened. No matter how they twist it, everything still has to follow what actually happened in history. Nonetheless, I’d like to see the what writers have to offer. It’s also interesting to note that the drama has broken the 20% so-called barrier.
No matter what they do, I’ll take more Emperor Toghun anytime!