K-Drama Review: Faith, Episodes 9-10

 

Read Episode reviews for:

Faith--Episodes 1-2
Faith--Episodes 3-4
Faith--Episodes 5-6
Faith--Episodes 7-8
Faith--Episodes 9-10
Faith--Episodes 11-12
Faith--Episodes 13-14
Faith--Episodes 15-16
Faith--Episodes 17-18


Contains Spoilers for Episodes 9-10

King Gongmin reinstates Choi Young and all the other royal guards, clearing them of false charges.

Our Hero Restored to His Rightful Place!

 

And then King Gongmin ups the ante on his newly restored guard--no one will have the right to disarm them except the king himself, and they are to be respected by all.

Choi Young now spends some time off to himself, recalling Tiny King, the former monarch he loved like a baby brother. Choi Young had to kill the boy to stop him from suffering the slow agony of a death from poison, and he's devastated by the loss.

 

King Gongmin decides that the warriors' first order of business should be getting Eunsoo back from Gicheol. Choi Young tenses up at that suggestion, since she might not br happy to see him. Choi Young Aunt, Court Lady Choi, warns him not to fall for Eunsoo because it would be too dangerous for Eunsoo.

Auntie Knows Best.

And at Casa de Gicheol, Gicheol remembers that Eunsoo can predict the future. She said that the Yuan Empire was about to fall, and he wants her to feed him more information so he can change the world.

Choi Young arrives at Gicheol's house, under the pretense of retrieving his sword, which was taken from him when they captured him--yanno, right before he was falsely thrown in the dungeons for treason.

Awkwardest Conversation Ever.

Gicheol then leaves Choi Young and Eunsoo alone to talk. He angrily asks if it's true that she has given her loyalty to Gicheol. She tellingly replies, "If I say that I'm trapped and I want to leave, you'll just get into a big fight again." Choi Young cryptically tells her that she needs to become very good at lying to Gicheol, and he leaves.

At Gicheol's house, Eunsoo tries to escape. By wildly slinging her purse at a half-dozen armed guards who try to stop her.

I Love Her For This.

Gicheol warns her that she belongs to him and he's at the limits of his patience, when Court Lady Choi arrives to pick up Eunsoo. The Queen's wound is infected, and they need the heavenly doctor back. And wow, it's actually true--the Queen is lying sick in her bed, but I wonder if it's from poison, not infection, considering that one of her maids is a spy.

Or....NOT! When the Queen is visited by the King alone, she sits up and it's revealed that they came up with this ruse together.

Three Cheers For Our Scheming Royals!

And the Queen admits that she has wanted to help the King for the longest time, but her attempts haven't been truly helpful to him until now. He pulls aside the curtain, and it looks like the may confess their real feelings for each other...but no, we're stuck in limbo, still.

Gicheol and Eunsoo arrive at the palace and are then escorted to the King's courtroom. I anticipate a showdown. The King acts mysterious, then Choi Young arrives to announce that they're ready to interrogate the traitor--Eunsoo, who conspired against the King.

What Are You Doing, You Madman?

But of course, it's all a clever plot to get Eunsoo back. They couldn't just demand her back from Gicheol, but if she's a criminal, they have to hold her in custody. Ahh! It's such a cool plan! Eunsoo freaks out when the guards drag her to the Queen's quarters, because she's expecting some sort of awful punishment, but her punishment for treason is just to stay in the Queen's territory and be her personal doctor, the same gig she had before. Big sigh o' relief.

Eunsoo briefly sees Choi Young, and she kicks him repeatedly and tells him to stay away from her. She has been threatened with death so many times and been kidnapped and manhandled again and again, and all because he kidnapped her from her home in the modern world. He is hurt by her rejection, and then he has an incredibly long memory montage of all their most intense crisis moments together. I'm glad we had this montage because it emphasizes to the watchers just how much they've endured together in 9 episodes. Eunsoo stumbles off and hugs the Doctor, collapsing into tears.

Poor Baby Has Endured One Kidnapping Too Many.

Doctor Jangbin makes Eunsoo some ginseng tea and helps her talk through her thoughts. He also explains to her why Choi Young had to kill Tiny King to save him, and that in doing so, Choi Young ripped apart his own heart because he loved the child. Eunsoo finally understands why her psycho protector did what he did.

Gicheol is flipping out, back at his house. He clutches his hand, and his own private doctor asks if he wants medicine. Wait. Is Gicheol dying? Or does he take medicine to help him exhibit/control some sort of power?

Either Option Sounds Cool to Me.

Gicheol visits Eunsoo and the palace and for some unknown reason, she agrees to meet with him alone, to see a relic of legendary Doctor Hwa Ta. Gicheol shows her a book that turns out to be a modern diary. But HER initials are on the back page. How can this be her diary? Does she go back even further into the past? Is she the great Hwa Ta?

How Is This Possible?

Eunsoo bursts into tears as episode 10 begins. This diary isn't hers, but it has her name on it and is full of numbers that look like coordinates. She thinks they might be coordinates to heaven-gates, places to go back to the present, but Gicheol snatches the diary away before she can get a good look.

Choi Young assigns one of his men to watch over Eunsoo now, giving him orders to pick her up and carry her to safety if they are attacked.

Random Warrior Seems Rather Pleased at the Prospect.

The warrior assigned to look out for her is Deok Man, and it's pretty funny how Eunsoo can just boss him around when she needs something. In this case, she needs her medical supplies, which are in Gicheol's custody, so she can tend to a new patient with appendicitis. She gets the necessary tools and performs a successful appendectomy.

Choi Young reproaches her for going off to see the villain so carelessly, but she protests that she was fine. Eunsoo also takes a serious moment to apologize to Choi Young for not saving Tiny King, and to thank him for protecting her all this time. Then she announces that she can handle her Gicheol problem by herself now, because she thinks she knows how to control him.

You Might Want to Rethink That Plan, Eunsoo.

Before long, the bad guys invade the palace. Sephiroth has super-hearing and listens as Eunsoo talks about the appendicitis patient she just saved--she almost spills the fact that the kid is one day going to be the first king of a new dynasty, the Joseon dynasty. He's also destined to kill Choi Young in the future. Oy.

The bad guys kidnap the future king, to blackmail Eunsoo. She goes with them to prevent the kid's death. The bad guys kill all the people that King Gongmin was trying to recruit for his new government, and now they're going to make Eunsoo choose who they will assassinate next. Choi Young is one of the potential targets.


Things I Loved:

1. Eunsoo's Talks With Gicheol. Heroine has battle of wills with the villain? It never gets old. She's always having to figure out how to keep the upper hand while she's living in the home of badness incarnate.

At Home With the Dragon.

2. Sleeve-Grab of Significance. When Eunsoo grabs Choi Young's sleeve to let him know she'd been worried about him, it's a very important moment for both of them. I appreciate how these tiny gestures gain loads of meaning in Faith.

Shockingly Important Moment, Right Here.

Complaints:

1. Sephiroth's Super-Hearing. It was really awful that the bad guys found out all of Eunsoo's thoughts and secrets because the white-haired man was listening in. Those scenes were very frustrating.

2. Too Many Kidnappings. Eunsoo's been in bad-guy clutches so many times, I'm starting to not care when she gets hijacked.

Watch Faith on DramaFever.

Episode Evaluations: I love all the layers in the plot. Constraints lie everywhere. Even modern girl Eunsoo can't do whatever she likes; she has to subtly jockey for the position and objectives she wants.

And I really, really like the parallelism we're getting in the story. First Gicheol was "given" Choi Young and Eunsoo because he forced the situation. When he knew he couldn't win over Choi Young, he accused him of treason and tried to get him executed. But the King got Choi Young back, and soon the only way to get Eunsoo back is to accuse her of treason and kidnap her back home to the palace. Turnabout is fair play.

Everything's developing well, but couldn't we get some more Choi Young/Eunsoo soon? Pweeease? And no more kidnappings, like ever.

K-Drama Review: To the Beautiful You, Episodes 7-8

Read Episode reviews for:

To The Beautiful You--Episodes 1-2
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 3-4
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 5-6
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 7-8
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 9-10
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 11-12
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 13-14
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 15-16



Contains Spoilers for Episodes 7-8

So Jaehee falls and Taejoon catches her, landing on the puffy highjump mat.

As the Magical Glitter of Love Rains Down.

 

Both parties are embarrassed and bug-eyed, as are Hanna and Eungyul, who were watching from the doorway of the gym. Hanna is not pleased, and she tells Taejoon that he is not allowed to slip anymore, without her permission. I guess that's part of Hanna's abrasive charm. Hanna even wheedles her way into a boys-only party for Dorm 2, just by calling dorm captain Seungri "oppa" and whining a bit.

Jaehee is sad that Hanna is hanging on to Taejoon, but she can't exactly do anything about it. Meanwhile, Eungyul tells Jaehee the news that he is going to start dating a girl he used to go to elementary school with. Jaehee is thrilled for him.

He Isn't As Happy As He Should Be, Though.

At the dorm party, the boys are singing off key to SISTAR's "Loving U," and they're having so much fun, it's downright embarrassing. Hanna gets up to sing her own karaoke song, and you can tell she's not a good singer, but the song is her plea to Taejoon to accept her affection. Jaehee leaves the room to go sit with the dorm's dog. Taejoon follows her outside, and Hanna looks on, simultaneously hurt and seething.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, and in a lovely turn of events, Dorm 1 is flooded, so all the occupants have to be moved to Dorm 2, and the Dorm 2 guys have to share rooms between three of them. YAY. The funniest part of this show is the dorm hijinks, so this is like the best possible thing that could happen. Annoying Jongmin moves in with Eungyul and Hyunjae, cause he adores Eungyul...except he's told that Eungyul has already moved elsewhere!

Jongmin is Disappoint.

Guess where Eungyul has decided to move? To the home of all awkwardness, aka, Taejoon and Jaehee's room.

This Will Be In No Way Tense and Uncomfortable!

Taejoon gives his alpha stare and wants Eungyul to leave, while Eungyul is all, "Hey, this is school policy. It's not like I want to be here." Cue flashbacks of him whimpering and begging an upperclassman to switch room assignments. Teehee.

It's cute how Taejoon, Eungyul, and Jaehee start walking around campus like a happy trio of buddies. This from Taejoon the loner, who once had no friends at all. Jaehee and Eungyul have further instances of cuteness, like when she pushes him in the pool and when he brings her ramyun noodles.

And I'm Really Loving His Rainbow-Brick Shirt.

 

Taejoon starts to feel left out. He tells Eungyul and Jaehee to go eat their ramyun in the bathroom, since he doesn't like the smell of food in the room. Their happy giggling over their food makes him notice that he's the dark, stoic third wheel of the group.

 

Taejoon's life elsewhere is a bit awkward, too. His rivalry with fellow high jumper Hyunjae is always grating at him, and little things continually remind him of the loss of his mom. Then Eungyul and Jaehee are always giggling up a storm and distracting him.

 

But Soon They Make an Effort to Include Him In the Fun.

 

Eungyul and Jaehee take Taejoon out for bowling, and they just so happen to run into Seungri, Jongmin, and Hyunjae, who want to play 3-on-3. Doggone if they're not all the most precious things ever, using pink bowling balls and acting like big kids.

 

Later, Eungyul is fishing in the pool for Taejoon's necklace, which Jaehee desperately wants to find, and he actually retrieves it. He rushes to the student union to announce the news, as Super Junior's awful saxophone-driven song "SPY" plays in the background (I got you, little runaway!). But Eungyul decides not to give Jaehee the necklace when he hears she was only trying to find it for Taejoon.

 

Aw, Sweetie, You're Important to Her, Too!

 

Soon, Jaehee's listening to Jongmin (who hates her!) telling her that he found the necklace, but that the necklace has been left inside a soon-to-be-demolished building--so she should totally go check out that location, alone at night. *headdesk* But there is a really funny sequence where Jongmin and some friends dress up like ghosts, while Jaehee remains unscared and uninvolved in their antics.

 

Taejoon gets suspicious of Jaehee's absence and goes after her, which is helpful because a night watchman has locked her into a room in the abandoned building. How did she even think she'd find the missing necklace somewhere inside that entire huge place, in the dark? These plot contrivances will be the end of me. How am I supposed to care about a heroine who is so gullible?

 

Fortunately, Her Knight in Shining Armor is There.

 

Jaehee's so relieved to be found, she rushes to hug Taejoon and it's a darling moment. He holds her hand while walking down the stairs, and it's totally aww-worthy. They start talking and Taejoon finally shares the story of how his mom died on the day he won the Olympics. He collapses into tears and Jaehee comforts him. Later that night, they watch a movie together--the last movie his mom had ever tried to watch with him.

 

Hijinks Over; Time For the Heartwarming.

 

Next morning, Taejoon discovers it's Jaehee's birthday and he sneaks out to a girly little shop to buy her a present. But what gift to buy a girl who is masquerading as a guy? Unisex moisturizing cream! It's so funny and endearing that he wants to buy her something feminine, but circumstances ruin that possibility. So he gives her the birthday present, adding that he just bought whatever and didn't put any thought into it. :-)

 

Which Doesn't Stop Her From Being One Happy Puppy, Anyway.

 

And she gives Taejoon his mom's necklace, which Eungyul finally gave to her. Next, Jaehee opens up a birthday present from her big brother in America--Oppa sent her a taser, to keep away the nasty boys! Where was this taser when she needed it, four episodes ago?

 

Oh, and sweet little Eungyul brings her a birthday cake, just as Jaehee is feeling bummed out that she won't get to spend her birthday evening with Taejoon.

 

"Please Accept My Desperate Overtures of Friendship."

 

In other news, members of the athletic club are having their weekend training camp, which necessitates going off-campus. I predict more lovely scenery.

 

Hanna sneaks into Dorm 2 again--they should really just install a kitty door for her because she invades once per episode--and she fusses at Jaehee for stealing Taejoon's attention away. Hanna goes so far as to try to steal Jaehee's moisture cream, just so she won't have any token of Taejoon's affection left, and the container spills in the ensuing tug of war. Hanna needs a good shake right now for being such a bully.

 

Why You Gotta Be So Catty, Hanna?

 

At training camp, Jaehee and Taejoon joke and prepare everybody's meals together. Eungyul crashes the training camp just in time for the big, hardcore paintball battle.

 

These Boys Take Their Training Seriously.

 

During the fighting, Jaehee gets her wrist injured, and Taejoon "kills" everyone in the vicinity to keep her safe. Eungyul also saves Jaehee from getting eliminated, and I'm getting more and more tired of our girl being so incompetent. Yeah, she couldn't help spraining her wrist, but yeesh. She hasn't truly succeeded at anything since the mini-marathon in episode 3.

 

And after the exercise, she's really pale and she faints! The School Doctor who knows her secret sends everyone out of the medical tent. Doc wraps her wrist and says she's been binding her chest too tight--she's cutting off her own circulation and making it hard for herself to breathe. Doc wonders why she's even at Genie High anymore, now that she's seen Taejoon recover fully.

 

Time For Some Soul-Searching.

 

The next day, Jaehee invites Taejoon to watch an upcoming meteor shower with her. But their plans are kind interrupted when Hanna comes to training camp with bad news: Taejoon's dad wants to move him to Canada. Taejoon leaves camp to go talk some sense into Dad. In Taejoon's absence, Eungyul finds Jaehee and says he has something to tell her. That's the very anticlimactic end.

 

 

Things I Loved:

 

1. Jealous Taejoon. He's finally starting to see that Jaehee's an important person to him, beyond just wanting to project her and enjoying her company. He wants to be the main person she spends her time with, and he feels lonely when she's off with Eungyul.

Rather Sweet When He's Feeling Neglected.

2. Happy Taejoon. Sharing his sad past with Jaehee has made him open up and be a less-burdened person. It's great to see this show's resident Eeyore lightening up under Jaehee's sunshiny influence.

He Does Know How to Smile!

3. Epic Paintball! One of the best action scenes ever takes place in episode 8. It's funny, it's fast-paced, it's glorious.

And It Builds Friendships.

Complaints:

1. Jaehee's TSTL (Too Stupid to Live) Behaviors. Okay, girl. Your naivete already got you shoved into a pool from three stories up, so why do you think that going into yet another abandoned building alone at night is going to end well?

Stop Being So Trusting Before it Kills You!

2. Eungyul's Aegyo. Eungyul acting cutesy to get seaweed soup from the kitchen staff is just horrifying. If he tried that aegyo act on this noona, not only would he get no soup, and he might even get a bowl thrown at him!

 

Episode Evaluations:  I love the Eungyul-Jaehee-Taejoon friendship circle, which has brought lots of smiles to my face, but I'm getting seriously bored/miffed at the fact that Jaehee's always blindly wandering into some ridiculous problem where one or both of the boys has to save her. (Taejoon saves her from the predator dude, Taejoon and Eungyul save her from her fall into the pool, Taejoon saves her from the locked building, Taejoon and Eungyul save her in the paintball battle.)

Yet there's so much preciousness in the show and so many smile-worthy scenes. I'm liking To The Beautiful You much better now. I'm glad I stuck with it, despite the downsides.

Psalms on Sunday: Psalm 11

This short psalm builds on the idea that God is a judge who sees everything.

Verse 1 addresses an enemy, saying that the speaker trusts God, so why is this antagonist telling the speaker to run and hide like a frightened bird? Verses 2-3 shows wicked people acting like archers, hunting the righteous with their hidden arrows. If the righteous people lost God's protection, what could they do to defend themselves from such attacks?

But verse 4 shows that God's protection is still with the righteous people. He may be on his throne in heaven, but he sees everything that humankind does down on earth. He judges the righteous to be worthy of good things, but he hates the wicked, and he will return horrible punishments to the wicked people as their rightful due.

Verse 7 ends with the speaker emphasizing how God loves to look upon those who do right.

______________________________________

¹In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

² For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

³ If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

⁴ The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

⁵ The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

⁶ Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷ For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
____________________________________________

K-Drama Review: Faith, Episodes 7-8

 

Read Episode reviews for:

Faith--Episodes 1-2
Faith--Episodes 3-4
Faith--Episodes 5-6
Faith--Episodes 7-8
Faith--Episodes 9-10
Faith--Episodes 11-12
Faith--Episodes 13-14
Faith--Episodes 15-16
Faith--Episodes 17-18


Contains Spoilers for Episodes 7-8

Oh, man. Episode 7 hurts so bad, I just want to rush through the whole thing and get it over with. These episodes really bring the heart, but in bringing the heart, they also bring some pain.

Royal guard Choi Young, doctor Eunsoo, and Tiny King (a little boy who used to be Choi Young's sovreign and boss) are leaving Tiny King's exile home because the villain Gicheol wants the present king, Gongmin, to think Choi Young is a traitor still loyal to the previous king. Politically intense enough for you? Eunsoo doesn't understand the full weight of the conflict, but she know she has to protect Tiny King, who has some kind of deathly illness.

Save This Child, Please!

But alas, nothing goes happily in these episodes. Tiny King dies. He drinks some poison after being manipulated by Gicheol, then Choi Young has to stab the boy he loved like a little brother, just to spare the boy from any more suffering. It's so bad, I can't rewatch the episode to get screenshots. Just can't do it.

On to episode 8.

Choi Young lets himself be captured by Gicheol's goons, so the baddie doesn't hurt Eunsoo. Trouble is, Eunsoo saw Choi Young kill the Tiny King, but she didn't understand the context--that the boy was dying an agonizing, irreversible death from poison. Now Eunsoo thinks Choi Young is a coldblooded killer and is afraid of him.

Just Can't Win.

Eunsoo tries to think of ways to free Choi Young ('cause weirdly, she's still on his side, despite thinking he's a killer), but Choi Young is soon chained up in Gicheol's dungeon, awaiting punishment for betraying King Gongmin. Which he didn't do.

Situation Has Gone From Dire to Grim.

Eunsoo goes to bargain with Gicheol, and she's so snappy about it. She reminds everyone in the room that Gicheol treated her abominably before, and now he wants to make nice? Pssh. Eunsoo makes it clear that she's only talking to him because he's got something she needs. Gicheol is still playing that power game introduced a few episodes ago, where he somehow needs to win Eunsoo's loyalty, just to prove he can. Gicheol says that if Eunsoo becomes part of his entourage of cool yet evil people, he'll let Choi Young live.

Choi Young falls asleep for a few days, as he is wont to do, and dreams of the fantasy world where he visits his father. Only, instead of being iced over and wintry as it usually is, the dream world has bloomed into spring. What could it signify?

That He Has Regained His Will to Live?

Back at the Goryeo palace, King Gongmin is finally convinced that Choi Young didn't betray him. And he is so wonderfully gleeful about that. The King visits Choi Young in prison and asks him to help him learn how to fight, metaphorically, for his kingdom.

And at villain headquarters, Eunsoo is mixing up bomb shots for her captors to drink. Hilarious.

Heavenly Maiden Who Drinks Like a Fish.

Eunsoo's charming and disarming attitude nearly allows her to escape, but Choi Young has other plans in mind for her--he could have rescued her, but instead he allows her to stay with Gicheol. Choi Young seems to be messing with Gicheol's mind because he escapes from his prison, then re-imprisons himself, as if to make a point. The King, the villain, and the warrior are all just playing roles and making subtle chess moves which don't always reveal the full extent of what they can do.

In the palace, King Gongmin makes a huge statement to his courtiers by changing from his Yuan (Chinese) robes into full-out Goryeo kingly robes. It's a heck of a statement, and it means that he's ready to rule for real this time.

Like a Boss!

He reinstates the honor of the Wodalchi royal guard, Choi Young included, and the warriors march into the throne room triumphantly. Yes!

Things I Loved:

1. Choi Young's Nap. When Eunsoo convinces an exhausted Choi Young to lean on her, it's not just cute; it's heartwarming because she's worried about him and the way he shoulders all the burdens in their little group.

The Only Nice Moment in All of Episode 7.

2. Hwasuin's arrogance. She's a glorious, glamorous villain. When she discovers that Eunsoo can see the future, she asks, "Then you must know about me! In the future, what am I more famous for; my special fire powers, or my ability to capture men's hearts?" Oh, girl.

You're So Self-Centered, and I Kind of Love It.

 

3. King/Warrior Bonding. King Gongmin and Choi Young are really the best pair of friends ever, and it was great to see them finally getting past the life-threatening misunderstandings that separated them.

The Royally-Robed Hand, Reaching to the Hand in Chains...*Sniffle*

Complaints:

1. Over-Scheming. Gicheol changes his mind about whether he wants to kill Choi Young or win him over so many times. I can't keep up, and I'm starting to not care about what the villain is actually trying to do. He's just there, causing a variety of problems.

Watch Faith on DramaFever.

Episode Evaluations: Pack your Kleenex, it's time for the weepy parts, at least for episode 7. For episode 8, what I like best is Eunsoo getting a chance to act bossy toward the villain, and King Gongmin finally standing up for himself and becoming the true king of Goryeo.

Also: I love Eunsoo. I started out feeling really ticked off at her personality, but now she's one of my favorite things about the show. Can't wait for next week!

Psalms on Sunday: Psalm 10

Psalm 10 is another one that pleads with God to listen to the speaker. Verse 1 wonders out loud why God seems removed, why he's just not present when the speaker is in need.

Verses 2-5 show the attitudes and practices of the wicked people who trouble the speaker's heart. They harm the poor and they invent new ways to do wrong things. They are prideful and greedy and want nothing do to with God. I feel like the word "wicked" no longer has as harsh connotations as the Bible is trying to imply (even I use the word wicked in the cool sense of "wicked awesome"). But these wicked people aren't merely people who like to wear leather and play loud music; they are truly evil and destructive.

Verses 6-11 elaborate more on the inner thoughts and values of the wicked man. He has decided that no harm will ever befall him; he thinks he's invincible. He curses and lies and uses his words for the worst purposes he can. He kills innocent people and looks for ways to exploit the underprivileged. He doesn't think that God can see his actions, or if God can, God is not powerful enough to punish him.

Verses 12-15 are a call from the speaker to God, asking God to rise to action. God is the helper of the poor and fatherless, and he will not allow the wicked man to continue taking advantage of them.

Verses 16-18 praise God for vanquishing the evil people. God is a righteous judge, and he judges in favor of the weak.

___________________________________

¹Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

² The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

³ For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

⁴ The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

⁵ His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

⁶ He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

⁸ He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

⁹ He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

¹⁰ He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

¹¹ He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

¹² Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

¹³ Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

¹⁴ Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵ Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

¹⁷ Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

¹⁸ To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
__________________________________

K-Drama Review: To The Beautiful You, Episodes 5-6

Read Episode reviews for:

To The Beautiful You--Episodes 1-2
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 3-4
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 5-6
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 7-8
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 9-10
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 11-12
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 13-14
To The Beautiful You--Episodes 15-16


Contains Spoilers for Episodes 5-6

As episode 5 begins, Taejoon sits sadly by himself in his spacious and empty dorm room, getting thoughtful now that he's kicked Jaehee out.

Never Brood Alone, My Friend.

Taejoon sees a video letter on...Jaehee's laptop?...where she's asking an American coach to give Taejoon one more chance to fly. A flashback shows Jaehee's high school days in America, where she felt horrible about her Korean heritage because the students bullied her and said mean things to her about smelling like garlic. And now we finally get a decent reason for Jaehee liking Taejoon! When she was at her lowest and ready to quit school, she saw Taejoon on TV and decided to work hard like he did, and turn her life around. She joined the track team and found her place in life.

Aww, now that's quite sweet and not nearly so cockamamie a reason for supporting Taejoon as a mere celebrity crush. Taejoon now has a flashback montage of every nice/creepy thing Jaehee ever did for him or said about him, and his heart is moved. He runs down the dorm hallway to bring her back. As Jaehee walks down the school steps in the dead of night, he begs her to stay, looking like he's about to cry.

Jaeehee's Getting Misty-Eyed As Well...As Are We All.

This scene should not matter one whit because we all saw it coming, but it still charms because it's innocent and precious.

Cue the training montage! The next day, Taejoon gets back into the swing of things and works as hard as he's ever worked to get back in shape for jumping.

"Gonna Fly Nowwwww..."

Taejoon's rival, who I've just now discovered is named Hyunjae (too many names to learn!), takes offense at Taejoon's use of the gym, so Taejoon has to try to get back into the athletic club just so he can train properly.

Hanna sneaks on campus and lets herself into Taejoon's dorm room with no invitation. I guess I'm just going to have to keep repeating my "don't be freaked out" mantra regarding this show's tendency to portray characters who have no concept of privacy or personal space.

Whoops, Jaehee's Oppa, Daniel, is back!

And He's Not About to Let His Kid Sister Stay at This Wacky School.

Jaehee begs him to let her remain, and School Doctor talks Oppa out of making her leave (over shots of soju--the only way that real men decide anything in K-dramas).

Jaehee goes back to her dorm with a cake for Taejoon to celebrate his return to sports, and the celebration devolves into a cuuuute cake fight. Taejoon is nice to Jaehee at school, too, joking with her and carrying heavy things for her. Things haven't gotten romantic yet, and their friendship is really blossoming.

Jaehee finally gets to hinting around to her best bud Eungyul that she's a girl.

Which He Should've Already Known. Seriously.

But Eungyul doesn't catch on.

We run into trouble when Jaehee thinks Taejoon has called her out to meet him by the pool at night, but Eungyul and Taejoon soon discover the deception and rush to the pool. Jaehee creeps further into the dark room, not realizing that water + night + no witnesses = a bad thing.

Has Clearly Never Seen Any Slasher Films.

She gets pushed off the high dive by an unseen hand. Both Eungyul and Taejoon dive in to save her. Taejoon has to perform CPR, natch, and it successfully saves her, also natch. Because television still hasn't heard that CPR is only effective 30% of the time when administered in hospitals, and about 3% of the time outside of hospitals. Oy.

Jaehee recovers and grows closer to Taejoon after the experience, but her time at school is limited--her Oppa soon arrives to take her away. Again. I'm not terribly interested in the "Jaehee's leaving for reals!" subplots. If she ever actually left for a while and we got to feel how her absence affected her friends, then it would matter. As it is, it's an empty plot-threat.

No, Leaving For Five Minutes Then Returning, Does Not Count. 

Taejoon's at his big high jumping meet and it looks like he's going to fail, but when Jaehee shows up to cheer him on, it gives him some much-needed confidence and he performs well. Aw, and he was even wearing the lucky shoelaces Jaehee gave him.

I just now realized that Jaehee still doesn't know that Taejoon knows she's a girl. Come on, honey. You didn't figure it out when he started treating you like a breakable pretty princess instead of the bane of his existence?

At Least Someone Is Amused At Her Lack of a Clue.

The school festival is coming up, and in addition to serving coffee in a class cafe, Jaehee is drafted into the Miss Genie competition where the guys dress as girls. I haven't seen Coffee Prince, but I'm pretty sure that the school festival cafe scene is a parody of it.

Eungyul Could Only Find Half a Vest, For Some Reason.

The nighttime portion of the festival consists of live performances; one from a pretty awesome taekwondo exhibition team, one musical show that I think is a guest appearance by LEDapple (their song "Time's Up" is sung, at least), and then we cut to some guys getting ready for the Miss Genie pageant. It's hilarious how ugly they are. Jaehee's dress is stolen by the mean guy who pushed her off the high dive (because she humiliated in a fight on the first day of school). But Taejoon stops the guy, confronts him, and gets the dress back for Jaehee. Crisis averted.

Jaehee steps on stage for the pageant and sings a song in her girl-voice that couldn't be any girlier, and Eungyul still doesn't know her identity--neither does anyone in the auditorium besides the Doctor, who knew already. I...I give up on these people.

Sulli's So Pretty!

After the pageant, Jaehee trips and Taejoon catches her. This semi-romantic moment closes our sixth episode. And I'm noticing that people, Jaehee in particular, trip a lot in this show.

 

Things I Loved:


1. Taejoon Getting Out of His Slump. Really, you can only watch a hero mope and make half-hearted efforts for so long before you lose interest in his goals entirely, so it was great that Taejoon rallied himself and got back in the game. He apologized to everyone he had let down, too, it was a really nice comeback.

There is Hope For You Yet, Taejoonie.

Complaints:

1. Hanna Sneaking In. We dove right into Looney Tunes cartoon territory when Hanna kept doing flips and gymnastic moves to sneak into Taejoon's dorm. It's hard to take any portion of a show seriously when we get scenes like this.

Defies the Laws of Physics.

Episode Evaluations:  In spite of myself, I find so many of the scenes precious. I don't really care about the characters or their trials and tribulations, but I still get the warm-fuzzies when they are happy. However, I do miss seeing some genuine comedy, which is only present in the dorm rivalry scenes. This show is shorter on funny that it ought to be.

These episodes weren't what you'd call interesting, bu I'm still hanging in there and still watching. Everybody else sticking to the show, mainly just for loyalty's sake?