Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 17
by girlfriday
So. Good. Things are escalating in a major way—more romance, more mystery, more answers, and higher stakes than ever. Even now there are new twists to the story, so much that I’m not even sure which resolution will actually deliver a happy ending for these two, if that’s even possible anymore. I love a show that actually picks up the pace and launches into the final act with a surge of adrenaline.
SONG OF THE DAY
Yoo Seung-chan – “Mirage” Arang and the Magistrate OST [ Download ]
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EPISODE 17 RECAP
Arang’s memory of her murder comes flooding back, and we see the moment replay in her head: Seo-rim rushing to save Joo-wal’s life, getting stabbed by Mom and calling out, “Young master…” before dying at his feet.
And now, Eun-oh stands between Arang and his mother, as Mom reaches out a creepy hand. He blocks her and tells Arang to back away. She finally regains her senses and takes a step back.
Eun-oh takes out his fan, and Mom sneers at it, recognizing it as the Jade Emperor’s. She wonders what he plans to do with it. Eun-oh: “I’m going to reclaim my mother!” He swipes at her…
But nothing happens. Because she’s in a human body, silly. Read the owner’s manual on that thing before swinging it all over the place. She cackles in glee and declares that he will never get his mother back, “Unless…” Oh no. No unless! Stop with the unlesses!
She looks over at Arang with a gleam in her eye, “Give me your body, and the magistrate will have his mother back.” Goddamnit.
She smirks as she reaches into her hair, saying that the Jade Emperor is really starting to go soft, sending such a child to come after her. Do you carry daggers in your hair? Because it sure beats a utility belt in the badass department.
She takes out a red hairpin, and jabs. Eun-oh blocks it with his fan, but it goes clean through. Eep! A black mist shoots out, and he freezes in shock. That doesn’t mean the fan is out of mojo, does it?
She reaches out to stab again, but this time Arang jumps in between them, and takes the hit in his place. Aw, honey, why are you always dying for the men you love?
Eun-oh screams her name as she falls limp in his arms. It’s eerily similar to the way Seo-rim died, and though Arang would come back to life, it still makes my heart lurch.
Mom just sneers at Eun-oh for being useless and tells him to hurry and help her recover, and walks away laughing. Thankfully Arang is still conscious, and Eun-oh picks her up and races home.
He lays her down in her bed and holds her hand, “Don’t listen to what that woman said.” Yes, thank you—if you go sacrificing yourself, we’ll never forgive you!
He tells her to rest but she stops him and says she recovered a memory the second she saw that woman. She remembers the night of her death. He asks who killed her, and she hesitates, admitting that she’s unsure if she’s supposed to tell him or not.
He doesn’t see why, and urges her to tell him. Tears fall as she says shaking, “It was… your mother.” He trembles, repeating it over and over in disbelief.
He stumbles into his room and falls to the floor in a heap, finally breaking down in tears. He says he came this far with just the hope that Mom would be alive, “But what is this? Why, why would you give your body to such a demon? Mother, what am I supposed to do now?”
At the same time, Joo-wal is quaking as well, but for very different reasons. It’s unclear why, but the veil separating him from his memories is starting to break down.
The memory of killing a young girl comes back, and he trembles in tears, “Why am I remembering?”
Arang wakes up and pauses at the sight of her bloody bed. I hope it jogs your memory about your other murder at some point. She goes to Seo-rim’s room and thinks to herself that she finally figured out the truth… but is that really all there is?
She thinks about the Jade Emperor and his Truth Bell, thinking that it can’t possibly be this easy—there’s more to the truth than just recovering that memory. She can sense from what she remembers that Mom didn’t mean to kill her, realizing that there are still questions left unanswered.
Eun-oh finds her there and says he doesn’t even know how to look at her right now, or what to say. Should he apologize in his mother’s stead? Should he be swearing to get revenge for Arang? Or should he be asking for his mother’s forgiveness?
Arang cuts him off and says he needn’t say anything—she’s made a decision that there is more truth to be found, and she’s going to spend her remaining time focused on that. There’s no way the Jade Emperor would make it this easy. Well, you’re right there.
“And you should think first about saving your mother.” Aw, that’s sweet, but just as long as you’re not thinking about saving her.
With that, they’re back on the case, and Eun-oh decides the place to start is with the other person who was in her memory: Joo-wal.
He returns to the Choi house to find it teeming with guards now. He just scoffs and hops the fence as usual, but finds Joo-wal’s room empty. He snoops a little and finds a sketch on his desk: Arang. Eun-oh sneers, and then steals it (HA) before making his way back out.
Something else catches his eye on the compound and he sneaks into a shed to find an entire freaking armory inside. Whoa. That’s a lot of weapons, even for the average power-hungry overlord.
A few of the guards stationed outside hear the intruder, and come looking for him. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of weapons to use in defense, and Eun-oh fights them off.
But they’re armed too, and one of them slices Eun-oh in the shoulder. Aaack. He winces from the pain as he puts down the other guards, and then makes a run for it.
Bang-wool gets caught up to speed, and she gapes that there’s such a thing as a demon that hops bodies. Arang knows it’s slightly hypocritical of a ghost who returned from the dead to say, but she finds it creepy too. Heh.
She asks if Bang-wool can figure out a way to separate demon from host, and wonders if maybe they can summon the ghost of her grandmother to ask if she knows. Bang-wool is skeptical that they’ll be able to, but they climb onto the roof anyway and try.
Arang shouts the incantation as told, and the clouds start to roll as the sky darkens… but then nothing. They scream nooooo, just as a voice nags behind them, “What?!” Yay, it’s Grandma.
She sits down with them for a chat, and recognizes Arang right away, “The afterlife is riddled with rumors about you. Everyone’s got a bet going.” Sassy Granny’s a straight shooter, and says that sure, going to heaven is a nice goal and all, but does she know that she can’t take her memories with her?
WUT. Oh no. You’re killing me. You mean even in the best-case scenario, she doesn’t get to remember loving Eun-oh? WTF, old fogeys?!
It gets even worse: if it’s hell she’s going to, then even in the nicest of hells, her soul gets burned up, and she ceases to remain in anyone’s memory, even here. Then Eun-oh forgets her too?! I HATE THESE RULES.
Bang-wool keeps having to ask what Grandma is saying the entire time, and finally Granny gets so fed up that she smacks Bang-wool upside the head. She whines, but it turns out that Granny gifted her with some mojo, because now she can finally see and hear the dead. Well yay for that.
Arang asks her question: Can a demon be separated from its host body? Granny thinks about it and says it’s not certain, but she’s heard that with two souls fighting in a body, if they put what the first soul (Mom) values the most inside the body, it’s bad for the second soul (Mu-yeon).
If they use that precise moment to stab the demon with the Jade Emperor’s knife, then perhaps… But she quickly adds that not just anyone can do the stabbing. Yeah, we got that part on our own.
She advises Arang to figure out what it is that Eun-oh’s mother holds most dear. She bids Bang-wool a quick farewell and vanishes.
Joo-wal goes to see Mom to ask why his memories are coming back. She says it’s his fault, for not providing her with a soul on the last leap moon, because it weakened her powers.
Desperate to erase them again, he asks what he needs to do. She says it’s simple—bring her Arang, and all will be erased. If not, he’ll have to live the rest of his life as a murderer. It’s a coward’s dilemma, to be sure, but an interesting one.
A tear trickles down his cheek, and outside he wonders if this is the price he is to pay for his sins. He stumbles back in, and asks Mom what it is she wants him to do. Damn, so that’s your choice?
Mom: “Kill Kim Eun-oh.” She says that his mom’s soul is rising up and fighting back every time he comes around. He needs to be eliminated.
Arang paces in the yard and decides that Eun-oh will probably know what it is that his mom holds most dear. But he comes home holding his bleeding arm, and she panics, not knowing what to do.
He tells her not to wake Dol-swe (who would just panic even more, heh) and sends her to his room to get a bandage. She runs in and goes digging through the chests, stopping at his fan sporting a big hole in it now. It makes her think of Mu-yeon’s request for her body, which would save his mother.
She grabs a bandage and runs back out. She peels back his shirt and winces at the blood, but he just tells her to wrap it tightly. She wonders what he’s thinking, and he says, “I’m thinking that I’m grateful.”
He says that so much has happened—her, his mother, this place—and now he thinks he’s paying the price for always having lived selfishly. Man, what a world of difference between the two men and what they think they’re paying for.
He says he never once listened to anyone else’s pain or hardship, and turned a blind eye to anything outside himself, only filled with anger that he saw ghosts when no one else could.
Eun-oh: “But when I met you, I changed. I came to see my mother’s pain clearly, and began to see others’ pain. And then one day I realized—ah, I am in a position to help those people. That’s why I’m grateful to you.”
Aw, that’s the best compliment ever. And it’s true—she made him a better person. Arang says he’s the one who’s done so much for her, while she’s never actually done anything for him.
She tells him what Bang-wool said to her, about love and loss: that even if you think you’ll be so sad at losing a love that you can’t survive, that sadness will give a person the strength to live—that’s what being human is, and that’s love, and memory, and remembrance.
Arang: “I thought that leaving that behind would only cause you pain. Like a dummy.” She finishes wrapping up his arm, and puts his clothes back on. Wait, you finally got him half-undressed, and you’re putting them back ON? So much to learn, this girl.
Arang: “That’s why I pushed away your heart, and pretended not to know.” Eun-oh: “I know.” Arang: “But Bang-wool said that even those memories would become a source of strength for the remaining person to live on.” She starts to fasten his clothes as she continues:
Arang: I can’t make your body warm, or stay by your side for a long long time like other people. And there is nothing I can do but put these clothes on you like this. And even if on my way to the afterlife I lose my memories of you… Still… I loved you.
*TEARS*
I know it took forever to get that confession, but man was it worth it. She smiles up at him and says goodnight, and turns to go.
But he’s not having that (thank goodness) and yanks her back toward him. He lingers for a moment, searching her face, and then kisses her, as a tear trickles down her cheek.
Swooooooon. I feel like I’ve lived five lifetimes waiting for that kiss. And of course, just to be cruel, we fade from their kiss to the moon above. I hate you, Moon!
Joo-wal sits in the dark, hatching a plan of his own. He says that he’ll do what Mom wants… but then after that, he’ll do what he wants. “You can take Arang and erase my memory, and then I will erase you!” Ruh-roh.
He pulls the ring off his finger and flings it across the room, where it shatters.
In the morning, Arang knocks on Eun-oh’s door and asks permission before entering instead of just barging in like usual, and they both admit to the sudden awkwardness. How cute.
She tells him what she found out from Granny, and tells him to think about what his mother would want most. Uh, would Lord Choi’s head on a platter be too simple an answer? Probably. But we could still try, no?
She plans to go talk to Joo-wal herself, and he doesn’t like that idea, but she insists that it’s her truth to find out, so she’s going to ask.
Eun-oh tells Dol-swe about Mom, and sends him to the house in the woods to capture her for now. What, the lady who stabbed a hole in your mystical demon-slaying fan? You’re sending the humans with no powers to catch her? Did love turn you stupid overnight?
Unsurprisingly, Dol-swe returns empty-handed. But it’s because no one was there.
Cut to Joo-wal hurrying Mom away into a cave. She asks if it’ll be much longer, and he promises to hurry.
But when he returns to town, he finds Arang waiting for him outside his house. She finally asks what he’s hiding, and how Eun-oh’s mother ended up giving her body to that demon, and what his connection is to her.
Joo-wal tells her the truth—that she’s a fairy who’s using the bodies of humans to survive. She can only possess someone when the host wants it: “She gives them what they want most in the world, and takes their bodies in return.”
She asks what Eun-oh’s mother’s wish was, but he doesn’t know that part. Arang says she’ll ask herself then, and he stammers a protest.
Lord Choi hears that the magistrate was the one who broke into the armory, so he decides it’s time to bust his minion out of jail. He sends some men to break him out, and tells him to lie low until he’s called.
Eun-oh growls at the news, only to be interrupted by a more urgent matter when a townsperson comes crying for his help. Lord Choi has collected the man’s son to sell as a slave, in payment for his debt.
The tiny boy is being dragged through the streets for everyone to see, and the injustice has at least a few brave people willing to jump into the fight. But thankfully Eun-oh comes riding up to save the day.
He scoops the boy up and gives a little go-get-’em nod to Dol-swe to handle the matter, which is awesome. Dol-swe leads the charge and overtakes Lord Choi’s men with some good old-fashioned violence.
Eun-oh learns that this isn’t an isolated incident, and that Lord Choi has been selling off people’s children for a while now. Grrr. News spreads of the magistrate who helps the people, and citizens come in droves to offer gifts and plead their cases.
Even children in the streets start drawing pictures of the hero magistrate of Miryang, which is adorable. Lord Choi fumes, but decides that Eun-oh should enjoy playing magistrate while he can, and he’ll make it so that he digs his own grave.
The murderous Bang is happily doing his part on Team Magistrate, while the two other Bangs wonder if they’ve chosen the right side, still in limbo over which camp is the likeliest to win. They decide that perhaps they should follow Arang’s lead. That’s arbitrary, but I guess sheep are sheep.
Arang returns the next day to see Joo-wal again, and asks him to take her to Mom. He asks why she’s doing this—is it for Eun-oh? She doesn’t answer though it’s clear that it is, and he agrees to take her.
Eun-oh decides that it’s time to promote Dol-swe to an official position (aww) announcing to the entire staff that he will promote anyone who works hard based on merit, without regard to their class.
Dol-swe goes to see Bang-wool in his new uniform, but her reaction is surprisingly negative—she prefers Dol-swe just the way he was (double aww) and turns to leave. He grabs her but he’s so strong that one pull sends her flying into his arms, and they each accuse the other of trying to make a move. Oh you two.
Mu-young contemplates the Jade Emperor’s knife, and decides that he can’t do this alone; he needs Eun-oh’s help. Dude. Please tell me it did not take you this long to figure that out.
Hades stomps over to him and announces that his timeout is over, and sends him back down. It’s just in time too, because Bang-wool and Dol-swe get attacked by a trio of angry ghosts, and Mu-young shows up to collect them.
He goes to see Eun-oh, who doesn’t even blink anymore when the reaper just appears in the corner of the room. Mu-young tells him that the other soul inside his mother’s body is his sister Mu-yeon, and that there’s a way they can both be saved.
He says that she can’t be forced out of the body, so they have to get her to choose to come out. Eun-oh: “What, give up Arang’s body?” He scoffs, “I can’t do that.” And that’s why we love you.
Mu-young: “I thought your objective was to save your mother.” He says they have to join forces to save both Mom and Sister. Eun-oh tells him to come back with a real plan—one that doesn’t involve Arang—and he’ll join Mu-young’s team any time.
Mom sits alone in her dark cave, and says aloud that even she knew love once, because she was human. “There was a time when the love that I belittle now, once controlled me.”
The narration changes hands to Mu-yeon, as we flash back to her human past with Mu-young. What we see is that it wasn’t just one life, but a series of lifetimes that they shared.
She says that when they were lovers, they loved each other madly, but could not have happiness. And then because their destiny ran so deep, they shared another life as siblings.
“Though time had changed and our names had changed, I loved you.” And then another lifetime, as reaper and fairy—they meet again, and she loves him once more.
“I did not like life in heaven. We couldn’t have love.” She says that she found a way to go back down and live as people so that they could finally have love, but he turned her down. Oof, what a tragic life.
The narration changes hands again to the Jade Emperor, who concludes, “And after having been in the dark for so long, you forgot that you once were trying to see, everything becomes the darkness, and now you are not love, obsession, or desire, but a monster itself.”
Hades joins him and says that’s why humans are weak.
Down below, Joo-wal brings Arang to the opening of the cave. She starts to head inside, but he grabs her wrist, urging her not to listen to anything Mom says. Arang pulls away and goes in.
Mom is there waiting, and greets her with a devilish smile.
At the same time, someone bursts into the magistrate’s compound with an army—another magistrate? Someone even higher up? Oh, I don’t like the look of this guy. This must be what Lord Choi was cackling about.
The man has Eun-oh dragged out like a criminal.
COMMENTS
If she sacrifices herself to save him, I will hurt somebody. I’m terrified that this is where we’re going, because we’ve seen Arang make that same choice again and again, in saving Joo-wal AND Eun-oh. If he has to kill her to kill Mu-yeon, I don’t know if I could handle it. Please tell me there’s some other plan, or loophole, or something. Anything.
I’m so fascinated by Mu-yeon’s backstory, because it’s a twist I didn’t expect. You just think siblings are going to be siblings, but being fated to share a connection over multiple lifetimes, and starting out as two thwarted lovers – well that sheds a whole new light on everything, doesn’t it? Even if she’s not conscious of the past, she ends up repeating the same exact fate over and over, in loving him and losing him somehow. And if wanting to leave heaven was because of love, I don’t know if I can blame her for that. If she’s not supposed to have love, then why can she feel it? Obviously her choices once down below have corrupted and twisted her into something else entirely, but it’s so interesting to know that the seed of it all was love.
It introduces a whole new element to Eun-oh and Arang. If they can’t have their happy ending in this life, will they be fated to meet again in the next? But does that mean they’ll share the same fate and be thwarted in every lifetime? What’s to keep them from making the same mistakes that Mu-yeon and Mu-young did?
But most importantly, is there any hope that both of them will retain their memories? That’s the thing that breaks my heart most. The threat of body swapping (and possibly having to sacrifice Arang) was one I knew was coming, but the memory twist made my heart lurch. I can even stand forever separation if I know that it’ll be like Bang-wool said—heartrendingly sad, but a sadness that you can draw strength from, in remembering the one you loved. But no memory? I hate that more than anything. Then it’s like it never happened, and I couldn’t live with that.
And of course that threat would loom overhead just as Arang FINALLY chooses to love and just embrace the pain of losing each other. I love that she declares it in that bittersweet way that says she’s going soon: I was here. And I loved you. I hope she’s finally come to understand the difference between having lived and gone, and never having existed at all, and that she’ll fight to do something about it now that there’s someone she wants to remember having loved.
RELATED POSTS
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 16
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 15
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 14
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 13
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 12
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 11
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 10
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 9
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 8
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 7
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 6
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 5
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 4
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 3
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 2
- Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 1
Tags: Arang and the Magistrate, featured, Lee Jun-ki, Shin Mina, Yeon Woo-jin
Interview with Kim Yoo-jung
Hello Dramabeans series
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1 kbap
October 10, 2012 at 8:23 PM
Thank you so much for the recap! :)
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2 Lemon
October 10, 2012 at 8:23 PM
Whee its here! Thank you!!
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3 Kiara
October 10, 2012 at 8:26 PM
Girlfriday I lup joo, thank you so much.
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Kiara
October 10, 2012 at 8:53 PM
"Wait, you finally got him half-undressed, and you’re putting them back ON? So much to learn, this girl."
Ikr?. Granny should have smack her upside the head too.
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Anastassia
October 10, 2012 at 9:04 PM
Lol
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 8:48 PM
kekeke
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4 Miss D
October 10, 2012 at 8:30 PM
This drama has done a terrific job of keeping me on my toes. It seems like each episode brings something new to the table and just when I think I got it all figured out (wait....that doesn't ever really happen because:) they pull out some more complications. Oh Lordy.
One of my favorite aspects of the show has been watching Eun-Ho mature as a character. I mean, we've come a long way from the guy who ignored any pleads from anyone and refused to apologize.
But please, please, drama Gods, let Arang and her magistrate find a way to overcome the cosmos keeping them apart. That's all I ask for.
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5 Redge
October 10, 2012 at 8:37 PM
I know I'm in the minority but cry me a river, Joo Wal. I still have no empathy (or sympathy) for you.
As for our OTP, finally they're on the same page! Took you long enough, you two. Their love is really something because it's the kind of love many people strive for but very few achieve: a love that changes a person for the better. I also like how how they're already acting married despite not being married. When Arang is tying Eun Oh's dress ribbon--it's a really subtle and sweet gesture and something I thought wives would do for their husbands. Swoon. It's my favorite part of the whole scene (sorry, kiss).
I SERIOUSLY hope Eun Oh and Arang's fate won't be doomed like MY and MY. Worse would be that and no memory of each other. Though it's romantic that they'd fall in love with each other in another lifetime no matter who or where they are, I'd still prefer them to be together in THIS lifetime. Show, why must you pull my heartstrings violently like this? Why won't you just hint of a happy ending? Sigh.
Also, I don't know if anyone remembers, but in the first episode Dol Swe said Eun Oh never says three things: I'm sorry, thank you and I love you. Eun Oh said the first two to Arang already! I knew she'd be the one to have him say it. Now I'm just waiting for the three magic words. ;)
VERY interesting relationship with MY and MY. I thought it was incest at first but thanks to soompi I kind of understood: They were destined to meet in 3 lifetimes and love each other. First as commoners (love), second as siblings (platonic love), third as reaper/fairy (no love). Moo Yeon wanted to love so badly but never had any success, which is why she wanted to be human again to be able to love.
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jasmine
October 10, 2012 at 10:03 PM
OMG "I'm sorry", "thank you", "I love you"?? Totally reminds me of TK2H lotions!!!LOL
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Kate
October 10, 2012 at 10:21 PM
Hahaha! OMG, TK2H! :D
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coby
October 11, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Indeed! Cool!
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Febulous Febs
October 11, 2012 at 4:42 AM
IKR! When I saw those scenes last night all I could think was "OMO! Arang acts just like a fillial wife toward her husband!" (^o^)
Can't they just get married already?
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opheliadrowning
October 11, 2012 at 7:06 AM
My feelings toward Joowal keep changing, too, but I like it. At first I disliked him because I didn't like the role he'd play in the triangle (and I thought him a little stiff). But then I began to feel some sympathy toward him when I began to understand where he had come from and how he had become this way. But now this episode flipped me back if he's to take a coward's way. But it makes him an interesting character. Even if he's not likable or liked by me, I still think that he at least has some interesting dimension that adds to the complexity of the story. So much better than a cardboard villain that is just evil to be evil.
That's one thing this show does so well. The characters are round and complicated, and it's not easy to just love or just hate any of them.
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Mama J
October 11, 2012 at 9:42 AM
Eh. I hate Excellency Choi. No roundness to that, just rotten to the core. He was bad before he lucked into the demon who gave him wealth and security, and he's worse now.
And Dol Sue has always been a good guy, big lug that he is. MAN did he look handsome all dressed up. I liked his face -so open so...welcoming, somehow, right from the first stills. So I'm really glad that he's getting a good life out of this!
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opheliadrowning
October 11, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Ah, I'll add an asterisk for Lord Choi. I wasn't thinking about him! He is pretty one dimensional, but at least the other Big Bads are interesting.
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skelly
October 11, 2012 at 9:29 AM
Same here - I don't care how sweetly he cries and wrings his hands, I have detested him from day one and I hope he dies a horrible death.
Sorry if any of you find that mean and bloodthirsty, but he is a murderer, for heaven's sake, someone who has destroyed countless lives. Playing the victim card does not win him any points with me.
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6 Cez Prieto
October 10, 2012 at 8:39 PM
Awwwwwwww.Come on! AaTM simply always have something up on its sleeve and now Eun-oh is caught. How can he save Arang? I bet Arang would more likely to sacrifice herself for Eun-oh's sake. :( The end will maybe reunite them in another time with *cross-fingers* better relationship.
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7 Rashell
October 10, 2012 at 8:39 PM
Why do I feel like all the current dramas are just going to end in heartbreak for my beloved characters and myself?
Can I PLEASE get an HEA for Arang and Satto? PLEASE!
This episode was beautiful and tragic. Just like most episodes of this show. I loved that Arang finally admitted she love him too. And I loved her explanation of how having loved and lost is part of what makes a real life. Now I just need her NOT to play the noble idiot role and sacrifice herself to save him. But I worry that she will. As GF pointed out that is consistant with her character.
I can't believe we only have 3 episodes left and so many questions still to answer.
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8 missirina
October 10, 2012 at 8:41 PM
Thanks so much for the recap. Its always a pleasure to read yours, because of the little tidbits of insights you gave. Anyway, the one thing I realize from watching AATM is that everything you think you figured out, turns out to be something unexpected. So at this point in time, sure I've got theories - and I try to be as creative with it as possible - but at the same time, I'm anxiously waiting for each episodes like crazy.
Arang and the Magistrate is very, very well written, and I love how the twists and turns each episodes show how well-planned each of the scenes is. Theres sprinkles of spoilers thrown around to keeps us guessing, but what we think were obvious in the end is not true at all!
*sigh*
Can't believe its going to end next week. *cries*
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9 cruthy333
October 10, 2012 at 8:41 PM
That is one attractive shoulder right there.
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gaeinalee
October 10, 2012 at 9:14 PM
...Sadly only tiny part bared... Why there's no post army abs-galore lately? *sigh*
Oh, right, Siwon will do the "pre army" honor soon... ^^
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booboo
October 10, 2012 at 9:58 PM
how I wish she would've at least clean the up the blood so we could see that sexay shoulder in clear view..
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Roslinda
October 10, 2012 at 11:14 PM
I soooo agree
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10 Anastassia
October 10, 2012 at 8:41 PM
Thansk dear. Have been refreashing again and again.
Just finished watched it and just reading ur recap, im tearing
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11 opheliadrowning
October 10, 2012 at 8:44 PM
The pain I felt when we found out that going to heaven or hell would result in one or both of our heroes losing their memory of one another caused a stabby pain in my chest, which must have been comparable to the pain Arang and Lee Seo Rim felt when they took a knife for the men they loves. This episode was amazing.
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Stardust
October 11, 2012 at 6:45 AM
I don't get this part actually... If people lose their memories why did Grandma still know things? And know who is her grand daughter, so tender towards her etc... =.=
Also is Mu Yeon who remembered ALL their reincarnations an anomaly too, otherwise as the belief goes, everytime the people dies and goes places, their slate should be wiped clean each time...
Why? The reformatting didn't work on them? What? lol
That being said, I love this episode, and I hope for the best. Thanks for the insightful recap girl friday! =D
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12 Joongirl
October 10, 2012 at 8:46 PM
Thanks a bunch dear GF and JB :)
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13 bordeauxblack
October 10, 2012 at 8:51 PM
am i the only one here who thinks the pin, being a gift from EO, will be the thing that Mom holds dear? that pin must have a use, right?
and the goat. i can't believe i actually miss hearing a random mention of the goat in an episode. (hurhur.)
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earthna
October 10, 2012 at 8:58 PM
OMG YES! I cant believe I forgot about the goat! We still have our hopeguys! WE STILL HAVE THE GOAT!
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kakashi
October 11, 2012 at 3:49 AM
who knows ... they might have slaughtered and eaten the goat by now?!
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earthna
October 11, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Noooooooooooooooooo
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Anastassia
October 10, 2012 at 9:02 PM
Me too thinking the most precious thing is the pin. Remember when eun oh master gave the pin the him.
Mother heart.
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Redge
October 10, 2012 at 9:06 PM
I think so too. I feel like mother's pin is going to be the Chekhov's gun of the show. That or the goat lol.
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drmjs
October 10, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Agree.
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Ella Zala
October 15, 2012 at 8:44 AM
i vote for goat
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Arang2
October 10, 2012 at 9:18 PM
I think JE hid his goat because he knows where eyeing on it! LOL
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sparkles
October 10, 2012 at 9:32 PM
LOL I agree!! :)
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JK
October 10, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Definitely only a combination of EO and the hairpin will do the trick. Just how is it going to be carried out? Tricky, tsk tsk...
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edge
October 11, 2012 at 4:09 AM
EO in a hanbok with his hair tied up with the hairpin!
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14 earthna
October 10, 2012 at 8:53 PM
Been camping out here since this morning. Lol.
Whoa. What an episode. I'm so happy that Arang finally admitted her feelings towards Eun Oh. And that scene was so beautiful. I cant deby that I was screaming for my life when EunOh was like 1/4 undressed. Damn. Arang saying her piece while tying EunOh's clothes was beautiful. All the right feelings put into actions and words. But yes, girlfriday! We had the same reaction. Damn you, moon! I hate you moon! Now everytime I go out at night and see the moon, my heart breaks into pieces. The things this drama do to me.
It's good to see Mooyeon's past. It's already okay for ne to know that her evilness has a reason (she does not like heaven) but now we understand why she doesnt like it (in there, you cannot desire, cannot love) I've always felt there was something between them besides beig siblings.
I dont like how things are going coz of Lord Choi. Seriously, can he just be gone? I already forgotten all about him >< I wish this will have a strong connection to the plot and not just an event they throw in to add more time.
I'm getting worried about Joowal. He's in that phase when he would be really really evil. Add the guilt from his past killings, losing his love, and all the other heartaches, I wouldn't be surprised to see him become as evil (if not more than) as evil mom. But if the writers can avoid that, please do. ㅠㅠ
Sigh. The memory thing breaks my heart. I kinda have an image of how this will end but now after watching this, I dont know anymore. Whatever, writers throw it to me. Bring it on!
Thanks gf for another awesome recap! 3 episodes left. ㅠㅠ
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satsuki92
October 10, 2012 at 9:09 PM
I forgot about Lord Choi too! That last scene! GAH. Who is that man who drags our satto away??
Eun Oh's daddy said that he'll help him if he ever needs it. Daddy, I think now's the time!!!!
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Kiara
October 10, 2012 at 10:26 PM
I'd love to see Lord Kim again but I'd rather see Eun-oh fight for the people of Miryang on his own. If Choi is allying with the governor then its a fair fight if daddy Kim end up helping his son destroy Choi once and for all.
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Jannie
October 10, 2012 at 11:25 PM
But the problem is that Eun-Oh is stuck in jail, so he can't do anything just like what Lord Choi says.
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Redge
October 10, 2012 at 11:29 PM
Blue Bang (or the Bangs) can always inform his dad.
satsuki92
October 11, 2012 at 5:37 AM
GAHAH! Blue bang. I mis-read it the first time as Big Bang and was wondering what you meant by that.
@Kiara true that. I'd rather see Eun Oh fight and win his own battles but just you know, I really like Daddy Kim. ^^
JK
October 10, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Previously I was under the impression that JW did what he did, firstly, for a decent life. Then when Mu-Yeon was weakened, I thought JW saved her because deep down he thought of her as her mother. At this point though, I've lost my sympathy for JW. If he's willing to exchange Arang in return for his amnesia of the murders, he's beyond redemption. We didn't initially know his memories of the murders were erased, now that we know, and more importantly, he knows, being able to keep those memories at bay turned out to be the only reason for him to keep on helping Mu-Yeon. Can't accept it.
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Kiara
October 10, 2012 at 11:47 PM
I have no sympathy for him either and I had hope for the guy. He just doesn't get it.
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Redge
October 11, 2012 at 1:23 AM
Seriously. I never felt anything for him at all. He's waaaay beyond redemption at this point: that offer to take Arang to Seo was like, the nail in the coffin for me. Even if he sacrifices himself it still wouldn't erase the sins he committed from all the lives he murdered.
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soon
October 11, 2012 at 6:32 AM
I think is not logical at all, though the details of the murder is erased, he knows how to go about killing some girl every 3yrs, see his first attempt on Arang and he asked whether LSr was killed by him so as long he did not rememeber the details he can live with the truth that he is the murderer????
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15 Junkidais
October 10, 2012 at 8:57 PM
Waaahh!!! You really good in recapping!!! Tanx!!
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16 satsuki92
October 10, 2012 at 9:02 PM
Oooooo thanks for the recap!!! I gave in to my curiosity and read it instead of waiting for the subs to come out. BUT! It was worth it!
This episode is such am improvement from the last 2 as we finally have the answer to why Mu Yeon did what she did and of course the admission of mutual feelings.
I too did not expect that twist about her and Mu Young sharing a similar fate throughout multiple lifetimes..... I just thought that she, like Arang, wanted to live as a human being. To find out that Mu Yeon did it all for love is really heartbreaking. No wonder she spouted so venomously that love was nothing. She must have been so hurt and frustrated that no matter how many lifetimes and what lengths she took, she was never going to be able to be together with Mu Young as lovers. I feel for her.
I'm so glad I stuck with this drama because the storyline has been riveting and the revelations extremely satisfying. Sigh, 3 more episodes till the end we go!!
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17 Sailorenigma
October 10, 2012 at 9:04 PM
OMO I can't take it anymore!! This is soooo sad! TT.TT Ottoke?!
Thank you Girlfriday for the recap! <3
Arang and the magistrate FIGHTING!! :))
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18 Caltan
October 10, 2012 at 9:05 PM
Wow. Well written one. Reads like the story has you all gutted.
My opinion.....the kiss pales in comparison to the gravity of their situation. So little linger and so little "stay-in-the-moment" in the kiss. Think the writer is not into rom.
At this point in the story when so much uncertainty about their future has been introduced, it is like seeing so many different forks of the road ahead. The poignancy would be magnified if the intimacy is deeper. Measuring tape did a better job at that time than this kiss did.
Wat a waste.
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lizzzieQ
October 11, 2012 at 5:31 AM
I kinda agree, I was dying for Arang to be the one to kiss one. Sigh.
But her putting on his clothes was a nice touch, sweet though simple.
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19 Riri
October 10, 2012 at 9:07 PM
This recap was like a knife to my heart.
The possible endings of this drama all seem horrible. I'm a sucker for happy endings, and it's getting more and more likely that it won't happen.
Of course I still hold some hope, this drama is infinite in its ideas, and if they do seem to hold some wacky fantastic twist that will make these two end up together, I'd be good with that.
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earthna
October 10, 2012 at 9:16 PM
I actually love tragic endings but this is the first time I earnestly wish for a happy ending for the characters. ㅠㅠ
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20 kelinci biru
October 10, 2012 at 9:08 PM
As GF and JB said in the podcast, Lee Junki suddenly so hot and much more interesting. I also didn't get the pretty before Arang, then suddenly he's so attractive. Is this Arang thing or military thing?
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satsuki92
October 10, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Definitely a military thing. So many stars that I've never found attractive are suddenly Mr Hot hunk to me after they've completed their army duty
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Arang2
October 10, 2012 at 9:22 PM
I'm on the same boat! I've seen LJK's prior drama's but this time he looks totally different! I have the same question too ~ is it Arang or he's become matured ~ that I ended up doing more research on him last night after the show ended! LOL
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jasmine
October 10, 2012 at 10:12 PM
Funny because all my college friends became mature as in 'ahjussi'-mature after the army. I guess it works differently for normal people :(
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Kelinci Biru
October 11, 2012 at 4:01 AM
on the other hand, he looked like a baby before military. now, manly.
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Jeca
October 11, 2012 at 1:17 AM
It's the shorter hair!!!
Beats me why LJK wld keep his hair and fringe so long when he has great eyes with fantastic expressions that speak for his character.
He is just godsend with this new short hair. Hope he does not grow it back!!!!
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Joongirl
October 11, 2012 at 4:39 AM
Well, his hairs are just grown and if you watch his recent JGstyle you'll see how awesome his looks!!! There, he doesn't look like 30years ahjussi, more like 25 cute guy kkkk
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satsuki92
October 11, 2012 at 5:47 AM
@Jeca ohhhhh yesssss. he needs to keep his hair short! I really hate that long girly hairdo that he used to sport (along with many other kpop male stars)
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21 gaeinalee
October 10, 2012 at 9:12 PM
"I hate you, Moon" ~ My sentiment exactly! Thanks GF for the recap!
This drama is well written, and perfectly produced as well.. The casts are amazing, it is simply perfect.
Message of this episode: You'll forget and leave every worldly things behind once you depart to afterlife... Guh! No wonder, Moo Yeon wants immortality.
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22 Arang2
October 10, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Thank you GF! This episode is awesome already but you magnify it more to the max! Love your wit as always
"Do you carry daggers in your hair? Because it sure beats a utility belt in the badass department." ~ almost choke on my food -- now I learned my lesson not to eat while reading your recap hehehe
Every AATM episodes has their own memorable scene for me & this one is when Arang confessed her love to Eun Oh - YES! Finally! I love love love that part where EO finally realized how he became a much better person after meeting Arang & how Arang realized that she doesn't need to hold her feelings anymore. And yeah, I totally agree with GF on this one ~ someone needs to teach this girl ~ and also, come on EO! Why only show us a bloody shoulder/arm? *sigh*
I know I'll get kill if I say this but I wish Arang would have kissed our EO better than what she did...oh well, they kiss & I'm happppyy! :D
I am so proud of Arang ~ she knew that there's more to her death than what it seems and she's ready to find out more. I won't be surprise if she sacrifice herself once more again ~ since we all know that's her personality ~ but I also trust her to make a good judgement on why she'll do it ~ or so I hope...
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23 phxajumma
October 10, 2012 at 9:18 PM
Hi Everyone!
I have been a visitor to this site for the past four years and want to thank JB and GF and all the other guests writers for their wonderful recaps and thoughts. I also love hearing from all of you Beanies! This show has brought me out of hiding. I am in LOVE with this show. I do have a question though. Wasn't it brought up in one of the episodes prior that fairies and reapers could be married? I have always thought an interesting ending would be to have Arang as a fairy and EunOh as a reaper? They could have their everlasting love and run a fairy/reaper magistrate in heaven...but then with this episode I am confused. If MY and MY can't get together, then fairies and reapers can't be together? Sorry for the confusing post, but if anyone knows, fill me in. Also, wow! Can't believe I am posting...maybe see ya all on Open Thread! Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Dramabeans!
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Bakachild
October 10, 2012 at 9:33 PM
They don't get married, Jade was just telling one of his fairies that her attitude was why none of the reapers courted her but he could've been joking around since he's like that. Or the fairies and reapers court and do get married but they don't love each other in a "real" way. So Mu yeon who remembers human love and knows that heaven doesn't allow it was upset that she'd be delegated to having "heaven love". Just a theory.
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phxajumma
October 10, 2012 at 9:40 PM
I didn't think of that. Maybe that is what Mu Yeon really wants is that human kind of love, not really a fairy kind of love. Since we still really don't know all the rules of the heaven world and these parts are hinted at, all is speculation at this point. That is half the fun, the theories! Thanks!
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Kiara
October 10, 2012 at 9:41 PM
I am confuse too. Earlier Jade was talking about reapers and fairies courting each other. Now I'm asking, what the hell for, if there is no love there?. Heaven is not what I envision it to be and no wonder why Mu Yeon left. I'd rather dodge a million knives coming at me everyday in hell than to make tea and weed the heavenly garden everyday.
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Jannie
October 10, 2012 at 11:34 PM
I think the fairies and reapers aren't allowed to have desires, and love is an earthly desire which they can't have.
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ms.auggie
October 11, 2012 at 4:21 AM
MY and MY can't get married, because up in heaven they are not allowed to yearn for something let along to have feelings or or loving.
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Kiara
October 11, 2012 at 11:13 AM
I know I know thank you for both for your comments. I shouldnt look at it from a religious/Christian point of view.
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24 kooriyuki
October 10, 2012 at 9:21 PM
I was perfectly with a sad ending for The Princess Man before it ended, but Arang and the Magistrate, I CANNOT TAKE SAD ENDING! And I refuse to have an ending where they meet again in modern days! NO!
Please give us Eun Oh as Eun Oh and Arang as Arang after the whole ordeal is over!
*does some serious praying*
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25 yumii
October 10, 2012 at 9:21 PM
Thanks for the recap.
I love dead grandma.
She reminds me of the second lead's sister in Panda and Hedgehog.
Both actors give off the same energy!
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26 stars4u
October 10, 2012 at 9:21 PM
"Wait, you finally got him half-undressed, and you’re putting them back ON? So much to learn, this girl."
I guess this scene is the one replacing the mandatory shower scene after military service.
So many new rules and I'm not liking any of it. The only happy ending I could think of is Eun-oh ending as a Grim Reaper and Arang as Heaven's Fairy, upgraded version of Moo-yeong and Moo-yeon's story? Oh, but they can't have love... Old fogey, you better have something in your pocket for the ending.
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27 Madkdr
October 10, 2012 at 9:28 PM
I think that the hair pin is going to play a part in separating the souls - something about Mother's Heart is written on the pin - could it be the instrument that can pierce through MY even though she is still in Seo's body? Which means it is not the knife but the hair pin and not Grim Reaper but EO who has to do it.
The thoughts are still swirling around - need to go and rewatch and rethink to coagulate ideas!
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28 Bakachild
October 10, 2012 at 9:29 PM
Oh god how is a happy ending even possible? The depressing thing is that i trust these writers so much to keep with their story and make it logical within the confines of the world that I forsee a bittersweet ending. Oh the stress.
I can't wait for tomorrow. And next week. I love this mystery and how it's been unraveling at a beautiful pace. Just enough to keep me guessing, intrigued, and entertained. Love this drama!
Thanks for the recap Girlfriday!
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29 sparkles
October 10, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Yeah!!! They kiss at last! Took them long enough! But, I love her confession. It was bittersweet. I love that Eun-Oh didn't just let her walk away after the confession but pulled her back to seal it with a kiss. Yeah! XD
This week, I had seen two great kisses that I had been dying to see. The kiss from Eun-Soo and Young in Faith and now the kiss from Arang and Eun-oh in A&R. Hip hip horaay!!
But, as much as I like Kim and Min Ho, I think that I like A&R's kiss more. They seemed to have better chemistry + scene directing. My only complaint was that these ladies are not kissing their men back!!! They let the men do all the kissing! Oh, well. I guess in ancient times women are not bold enough to kiss their men back yet :(
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 6:17 PM
well, she does reach up and hold on to his side as they kiss (you can see her hand moving just before the camera pulls up to show the moon) so it's not as if she just stood there :)
And I don't know why Faith's Eun Soo wouldn't return the kiss, she's a modern woman after all!
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30 LyArisa
October 10, 2012 at 9:35 PM
It's 8 hours & 30 minutes to go for ep 18. I've been watching this ep last night & rewatch it twice this earlier this morning.
I love how the writer-nim prepare for this episode as they are scenes that makes our heart break (the truth of LSR death), makes our heart flutter (the confession & tying up the cloth), makes us happy (the kissing scene), makes us feel anxious (Arang meet up with Moo Yeon) and of course the scene that makes me feel pissed (Lord Choi capturing EO).
Kudos to the writer. As for the confession scene & the kissing scene, I think the Cameraman should use a better angle and lighting as it is a part of a scene which the viewers consider as memorable..
I'm on the same ship with you GF.. I hate the Moon!! As for the old fogey.. How can you two be so cruel!! I'm not sure how this drama will end as the storyline is always so unexpected and full of surprises in every episodes.
However, I'm crossing my fingers and toes so that JE will give a chance for EO & Arang to love each other & live happily ever after.. Chaeball~~~
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31 ar
October 10, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Thanks for the recap! I have an important meeting with the boss tomorrow, but I can't help but check out Arang. I'm going to miss this drama once it stops airing. At episode 17, it is still going strong. maybe not as strong as the first 4 episodes, but there isn't a decline in quality these past few weeks. Favorite developments and moments in today's episode:
-Arang's confession! YAY! Finally! And it was really romantic how she confessed to him - all that stuff Bang-wool said and while she was tying his clothes back on. And we get a kiss!
-Eun-oh thanking Arang for making him into a better man. And it's not just being a better man for her, but being a better man for all the people and villagers around him.
-Love how Eun-oh and Arang are focused on finding another way that doesn't involve her sacrificing herself. I actually don't mind too much if she attempts to sacrifice herself for Eun-oh (like if his life was in danger), but if it is to get his mother back for him? I will throw a fit.
-Yay for Arang being quick on the uptake that the Jade Emperor has something up his sleeve.
-Another Eun-oh-hopping-the-fence-scene. He always looks so hot doing that.
-Kids drawing Eun-oh's face on the wall.
-Eun-oh stealing Joo-wal's drawing of Arang. Probably jealous he can't draw half as well.
-the sad fate of Mu-yeon and Mu-young. I also wondered if at some point Arang and Eun-oh will end up like them. Once a love gets thwarted, will that fate repeat itself in subsequent lives until it becomes some twisted mess.
I also wonder, do you get to be fairy and reaper after a certain number of reincarnations? I feel like if they had interviewed Mu-yeon beforehand, they would have realized that she isn't really fairy-material.
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LyArisa
October 10, 2012 at 9:43 PM
Yaa!! The old fogey need to conduct interview first before simply electing people to be a Fairy or Grim Reaper...
After watching this episode, I dont want Arang to be a fairy nor EO to be the Grim Reaper.. What's the use of being in heaven but unable to love.. Pfftttt..
I thought LOVE is a beautiful thing.. I hope JE should do something so that the history won't repeat itself between EO & Arang...
<3
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D
October 10, 2012 at 10:02 PM
"I feel like if they had interviewed Mu-yeon beforehand, they would have realized that she isn’t really fairy-material."
bwahahahahahah..
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 6:19 PM
yeah, give her an interview! or a multiple choice test with 'are you in love with your brother?' as one of the options...
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32 katiamon
October 10, 2012 at 9:45 PM
Yes, skinship (well, it was a bare shoulder after 15 eps. with no fan service, hehe) and a kiss! yeah, took you pretty long dude, finally!!!
I knew there was something more between Mu yeon and Mu young, but because they said they were siblings i thought i had twisted ideas but know i'm pretty surprised that they were lovers before becoming siblings!! it changes everything and the distorsion of mu yeon's behavior has a deeper meaning than "i just wanted to be human".... she was human, she loved and cherrished life even though it was a sad and unfullfilling (love) life.
Arang and Eun oh are so cute together, every phrase and care between them makes me wonder: where the hell is my magistrate???? ¬¬.
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Kate
October 10, 2012 at 10:56 PM
IKR, me too! Where the hell is my magistrate?!?!?!
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katiamon
October 11, 2012 at 1:45 AM
right? and if it's not a magistrate, i can settle with a couple years older Jade Emperor (i need to shorten the year difference between us) hehehe....
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33 JK
October 10, 2012 at 9:51 PM
This episode is about love that transcends time, space and memory. A self-less love can only make you stronger individually and bring two person closer together, a selfish love can only weaken the individual and widen the gap between the two.
My eyes misted over when I watched the preview where Arang confessed. I cried a river when I watched the entire scene with subs. With self-less love, Arang and EO have both matured substantially, moving away from their self-centredness and extending their care and concern to, not only each other, but others around them as well.
EO: I want to thank you, I used to be uncaring towards the outside world, thinking that a person should not rely on others but can be responsible only for his own pains and miseries ... but I have changed since I met you – not only do I now understand my mom’s pains, I see others’ plights. And now I'm in a position to help others, so I thank you.
Arang: You have done so much for me... I'd never even made a cup of lemonade for you… I thought if I were to leave something behind, it will make you feel worse when I leave. So I turned you down, and pretended not to know your heart... I can’t make you warm, neither can I grow old with you… Maybe the only thing I can do for you is to help you dress up, but even if I were to leave and leave my memory behind, I still love you.
If this was exchanged at the church, it would make the best wedding vows - ever. Two persons growing stronger in character through support and concern for each other, and then coming together, perhaps not for an eternity, but for a few days that is already a lifetime.
Arang's love for EO transcends time, space and perhaps, memories. Her nanny had quipped, it's amazing how shallow a love can become when one loses her memory. Arang's love for EO is greater than LSR's love, or infatuation with JW. Even when the memories are gone, Arang's love for EO will remain. Now that EO has been captured, will Arang waver and give in? My heart ached and skipped a beat at the thought of this.
I particularly love the play displaying EO's unwavering determination of saving his mom and undying love for Arang. We would have thought EO may hesitate to harm the demon when she's still residing in his mom's body, but think again. Within the first few minutes of exchange, EO swiped the fan at the demon, never mind that his mom is always at the top of his mind. Then even as EO struggled to absorb the "truth" of his mom having killed LSR and was caught between the dilemma of Arang and his mom (apologize or take revenge), it still did not cross his mind to exchange Arang for his mom. And to compensate for that awkward moment that EO had when he smirked that the fan belonged to his teacher only to be informed by MY it belonged to Jade, EO paid back to MY when MY came to request his help by telling him to return with a real plan then he'll be all ears.
Is it a problem of translation or do I take it that it will either be a some-thing (as in the hairpin) or a some-body that will save EO's mom? Somehow, I believe that EO is mom's most precious thing in this world (not Lord Choi's head on a platter).
Compared with JW, for the first time, I truly despise him. His love for Arang is so shallow, allowing the person he loves to be taken by the devil in return for not having to live with his sins.
JW: I will do what I have to do, as long as it can erase the painful memories of Arang being taken away.
Never mind that JW swears to kill Mu-Yeon - I mean, dude, what's the point of doing that after she has taken the one you love? I think he really needs to face his sins and mistakes and stop blaming on his pathetic childhood as a source of all miseries. While I don't entirely agree on Lord Choi making use of Mu-Yeon and then dumping her, at least he's making a stand for himself. JW needs to make a stand - whether it is for himself, for Arang, whatever. I had thought it was his desperate need for motherly love that had JW so dedicated to a she-demon but after he swore revenge on Mu-Yeon, I guess JW has already lost himself.
Jade: As one stays in the darkness for too long, he/ she will forget what was the thing that (s)he treasured the most.
And then the last self-fish love - Mu-Yeon. What a twist! - to be lovers once-upon-a-lifetime, then reincarnated as siblings and then as... colleagues??? If this is destiny, I'd rather not have it. Now I could perhaps understand why memories needed to be left behind. Even though I wonder if it is a loophole or will our PD tell us why Mu-Yeon was able to retain her memory of past lifetimes despite what Bang-Wool's granny said, it must have been devastating to have that love thwarted time and time again. That 5mm of distance that's like an ocean apart. In wanting to have Mu-Young, she lost herself in the abyss of darkness. Even if she has immortality, then what? An entire lifetime of loneliness and lovelessness is the only thing waiting for her.
This is the strongest episode yet, melancholic, yet giving us viewers the adrenaline rush. What's next? Who can get EO out of jail with only a few days left, what's Arang's decision? What's the new weapon, if any, now that the fan has been destroyed? Can't wait for tomorrow.
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LyArisa
October 10, 2012 at 10:36 PM
Well said JK... I wanna hug you OOO
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Fangy
October 10, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Well said! Agree with you totally.
I think seeing EO grown up to be a real person is his mom's most desired. EO probably won't realise it until the crucial moment becos she left him for revenge initially. Like what his dad explained, she left him so that he won't grow up in the same hatred as she did.
And I think Papa will step in to save EO from evil Lord Choi.
As for the memories erased part, we Chinese have this belief that before one reincarnates to the next life, he/she has to drink mengpo soup (a soup that erases one's memory of their previous lives). However, the fate between 2 people may cross paths again and again in different lifetimes with different endings depending on how many good deeds you did in your previous and current lives.
Since Mu-yeon has the ability to erase people's memories, perhaps when she was a fairy, she was in charge of memories? And hence, she had the abilities to see her past lives and realise her ill-fated endings with Mu-Young?
I love Arang & the Magistrate! I love the twist and the surprises the writers have instilled in each episode so I believe the ending will be well-thought of. So I've decided to just enjoy watching the show and leave the ending in their good hands and not trying to think/hope of any possible endings.
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Jessica
November 18, 2012 at 4:55 AM
Since Chinese mythology (which I guess is somewhat similar to Korean), after a person dies they have to drink this "soup" that makes you forget your life before you get reincarnated.
And there's been stories about how someone will either forget or purposely avoids it because they want revenge and so when they are reborn, they remember their past life/lives.
So perhaps MY was just headstrong and avoided it both times :)
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34 Reena
October 10, 2012 at 9:52 PM
Finally!!! My eyes glistened when I saw at least a piece of skin from LJK! hahaha... and oh... my heart breaks for our OTP. Lord Choi just makes me hate him... I'll be all the more satisfied when I see him fall from grace. ha!
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35 MicolaM
October 10, 2012 at 10:04 PM
Thanks Girlfriday!
This ep was really something. Arang's confession brought tears to my eyes. There is something really beautiful in it's simplicity.
I really hope there is something that we are not seeing that will save their relationship from the doom that seems inevitable. It doesn't have to be a story book ending. I don't want to be suffering heartache along with of my AATM withdrawal symptoms after the series ends. sigh
I find MY story fascinating. Just when we thought we knew it all. She started out seeking love but now she wants to live forever. Isn't it counter-productive since MY rejected her? I guess this is the reason the Jade Emperor knew it would be hard for MY to kill MY because their connection spans 3 lifetimes.
QUESTION: How does MY remember her past lives ? I thought they when you go to heaven you lose your memories.
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Farpavilions
October 11, 2012 at 12:04 AM
I'm wondering about Mu Yeon's memories too (and is amnesia a recurring theme here? Arang, Joo Wal, fairies...)
It seems like there are inconsistencies in the Heaven playbook here.... Mu Yeon's rationale for fleeing heaven is that desire was not permitted, but logically that means she desired desire, right? And goodness knows Jade and Hades are allowed to want all kinds of outcomes (e.g. Hades wanting a body swap).
I love this show but occasionally it feels like the otherworldly aspect gives the writer free reign to cover up plot inconsistencies with retroactive supernatural (and therefore indisputable but still frustrating) explanations.
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 6:52 PM
I think people in heaven are held to a Jedi-like kind of code, they're not allowed to be ruled by strong emotions of any kind (i.e. most human emotions).
The 'desire' Mu-Yeon speaks of isn't quite the same as Hades wanting a body swap, but I think much more intense. And I'm sure she CAN have desires, but what it looks like is that achieving/trying to achieve them is what isn't allowed.
(does this make any sense?)
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36 opheliadrowning
October 10, 2012 at 10:07 PM
This episode had so many things to discuss, but I have to start with the relationship between Arang and Eunoh. That scene and the mutual confession, was beautiful. It was thoughtful and grown up and so full of honest love and friendship. Sometimes we put so muh stock in passion that we forget that what remains, what is so important, is tht appreciation and care for one another. That's where the deep love resides.
The contrast can be seen when we compare Lee Seo Rim's love for Joowal to Arang's for Eunoh. In the former, it is one-sided and passionate for LSR, but it's not the love of a lifetime. It won't be returned. Whereas the love Arang and Eunho have for one another is mutual and deep. When Arang risks herself in the same way LSR did, the love is different. I love how it mirrors the other but means different things. How they speak to one another about how they have changed and grown with one another is beautiful. Love has bettered them. It is no obsessive or possessive, which I think we see a lot in dramas. But rather, compassionate and thoughtful. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I love a love story about two adults who aren't being crazy or noble idiots!
But back to the confession scene--the admission in both sides I thought more romantic in the kiss. My heart broke so much, because why they are talking about to one another is not only about love, but about a reason for living, in the literal sense and figurative. Eunoh will no linger live his life selfishly and Arang will no longer stop trying to live life by denying her feelings.
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37 Sonia
October 10, 2012 at 10:07 PM
I am kinda confused. So in this world is there an after-life that doesn't involve either heaven or hell? I mean... in Heaven you don't remember your previous life and in hell no one on earth remembers you, so where is this after-life that Bang wool's granny inhabits? Clearly she remembers Bang wool and Bang wool remembers her... or is she a ghost that is still running from the reapers? And if she is, how the hell does she know what happens in heaven and hell? Or are we to assume that it is her shaman abilities?
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Arang2
October 10, 2012 at 10:44 PM
Had the same exact questions in my mind...I wonder if it's meaning lost in translation because even Mu Yeong still remembers who Mu Yeon is which is exactly why JE tested him or doesn't trust him in the first place. Or is it the feelings that they need to leave behind? Feelings why Mu Yeon ended up to rebel and run away from heaven and became the evil that she is right now? Are there other places aside from heaven and earth? Where are the shaman family ancestors came from ~ such as her mom & friends eating at her table's offering, and her 9th great grandmother? they all still remember the shaman right?
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Kate
October 10, 2012 at 11:10 PM
I also had that exact same question about Shaman Granny. What realm is she from? Based on what was explained to us in this episode it shouldn't be heaven or hell since she remembers and recognizes Bangwool and vice versa. :\
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Jeca
October 11, 2012 at 1:27 AM
Shaman Granny retained the tattoo on her neck but the fairies don't.
So, shaman granny and the rest of the celestisl beings (fairy, reaper) are differrent. Shaman nanny prob retained her memories since she still had that tattoo that marks her.
As for the fairies and reapers, think they function on diff set of rules. It is possible that they could see all their lives that they lived before they become celestisl beings. That wld explain the link between the two MYs. Even in the beginning, we kept hearing MY ask about his sister. He was worried and seemed to be unhappy that she was lost.
As an extension of this deduction, I think Arang will not forget cos she no longer has that tattoo.
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Sonia
October 11, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Oh of course fairies and reapers are different from all the other after-lifers. I mean not everyone can be a fairy or a reaper, but what granny tells here is that if you go to heaven you forget everything (and what I got from this was that you didn't have to be a fairy in heaven to forget everything, you would even if you were just any plain old soul) and everyone on earth would forget you if you went to even the best hell. So granny would have to exist in some other realm, but what is it?
Also the disappearing from everyone's memory as if you didn't exist reminds me of the door Bang wool and Arang had found. I thought such a fate was worse that having to go to hell and I also thought the show hinted as much. So what's this new rule now? Am I just confused?
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38 reenee
October 10, 2012 at 10:14 PM
why i feel nothing and not interest from the screen of kiss???? JK look like want a deeper kiss but Shin min ah don't. she makes an image like a statue....lol. can't wait, what will happen in episode 18
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Joongirl
October 10, 2012 at 10:54 PM
I wonder too, so stiff! I know she's an expert, but this.... ckckck she's kissing LJG, I couldn't imagine what would happen if I were in here shoes, lol
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Redge
October 11, 2012 at 1:26 AM
Haha I know! Compared to her other kiss scenes this one was by far her tamest one. It's like she didn't even reciprocate lol. I think it's the PD's fault (yes I'm saying fault). He wanted her to play dead, which is such a SHAME because guhhh LJK, anyone?!
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anais
October 11, 2012 at 7:26 AM
It's prime time TV. Female actresses don't typically reciprocate. That's partly why the Game Over kiss between Lee Min Ho and Son Ye Jin in Personal Taste a few years ago had everyone going nuts.
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Joongirl
October 11, 2012 at 8:35 AM
It's okey if a prime time is the reason, but what I've seen isn't like that. LJG there... with his lips moved on hers and she? As stiff as a log or maybe statue! Kkkk (hope this is the Director's order, cos if it's not, geez Shin Mina, she has no hormone!!! ) well... this is LJG, kkk
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anais
October 11, 2012 at 12:07 PM
That's usually how it goes. I was surprised that LJK's lips moved, but that seems to be the new trend. Women don't move, but the men do.
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Redge
October 11, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Well that sucks. Did SMH's lips move when she did MGIAG? I think it did.
Maaaaan. What a waste. lol
pogo
October 11, 2012 at 7:08 PM
like I said above, she's a good kisser in A Love To Kill and Naked Kitchen - this is just typical sageuk kissing, is all :)
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waiwai
October 12, 2012 at 7:50 AM
If you noticed...Shinmina (Arang) shredding tears..... when EO kissed her ....
Argh........ I really want that kiss.... Kiss from LJG . He drives me crazy LOL !!!!!!
pogo
October 12, 2012 at 6:27 PM
waiwai, I did notice the tears +her hand moving to clutch at his clothing as the camera pulled out - all I'm saying is that she's looked more 'into it' in her other work, and would probably have kissed him back here too if it wasn't for PD directions!
pogo
October 11, 2012 at 7:12 PM
I wonder if people went equally nuts over Yoon Eun Hye kissing Joo Ji Hoon and Gong Yoo in Goong and Coffee Prince then? Because those were, ahem, even more actively involving her than the Game Over kiss involved Son Ye Jin.
(and I clearly remember YEH and JJH French kissing in Goong!)
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Kiara
October 11, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Thats a typical Joseon kiss. I'd give her break, its her first and she was into it emtionally. Her whole heart was in it. She cried didnt she?.
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM
she did move her hand to hold at his side when the camera pulls away from them, so there is that.
But I agree, I wish there had been some lip movement, too. It's all down to the director, not her - if you've seen A Love To Kill or The Naked Kitchen, she's a good kisser!
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39 Kwhat?!
October 10, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Loved this episode! And not only for the confession and kiss (though that is a big part of it).
I'm pretty sure the soldiers at the end are sent by the king/whoever Lord Choi sent his messenger to at the end of last episode. Obviously he has lots of influence.
I'm sad for Mu Yeon and Moo Young's tragic story, but it is an interesting contrast to Arang. She may not have come back to earth because of love, but she has managed to find it and cherish it nontheless. Whereas Mu Yeon came because of love, but has become so twisted I don't think she can feel it anymore.
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I think this drama will end with our OTP being together in this life. I don't know how, exactly, but it really seems like the show is headed in that direction.
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emmy
October 11, 2012 at 7:22 AM
I agree with your assessment of the ending! The premise of this show is one of tragedy, considering the grief both characters must have experienced with Arang's untimely death and Eun-Oh's loss of his mother, but this show never really struck me as a tragedy. It's a rom-com, mystery-drama at heart (if that makes any sense) and I have a feeling while there will be some tears to be shed (I definitely shed tears in this episode, for Arang and Eun-Oh and MuYeon/ MuYoung's story tugged at my heartstrings), I think we will get a happy ending.
If not, I hope I get fair warning, because then I'd need to stock up on tissues!
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40 Jilly
October 10, 2012 at 10:37 PM
This episode was eventful but mild imo. The scene where Arang caringly dressed Eun-oh was so touching. I hope the ending is not so much bitter and more sweet.
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41 seren140
October 10, 2012 at 10:44 PM
well, both of them, arang and eun-oh, are both alive.. thanks to the jade emperor. that's something common between them. let's just hope that could be of something in use in the future.
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42 Kate
October 10, 2012 at 10:52 PM
There's something about this show that I really love and I can't explain it in words. The theme and plot of the story is simple yet deep and complicated at the same time. It's a really, really well-written show in that we have a delimited central theme/issue but every detail is explored to the last bit and all loose strings end up being tied back together. It's not like those other shows that have so many things thrown at you only to end up unanswered and washed away somewhere along in the story. I think I prefer my shows to be like Arang --- have a singular concept and focus on it, keeping it polished all the way to the end --- as opposed to complex plots that make the whole show a big clutter of goo. The way the storytelling is done in Arang is just so beautiful and the cinematography certainly helps bring it out. It also doesn't hurt that the actors have such sizzling chemistry!
Aaaah, I can't believe it's ending next week. T___T I don't know how it's going to end but I swear to AaTM Heaven and Hell that if the writers give us a crap depressing ending, I'll go to the Jade Emperor's garden myself and roast his precious goat!!!
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earthna
October 10, 2012 at 11:27 PM
If they give us so-so ending, hell yes, I'd go with you!
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Kate
October 11, 2012 at 5:29 PM
hahaha well we better start sharpening our butcher knives just in case. :P
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 7:14 PM
I’ll go to the Jade Emperor’s garden myself and roast his precious goat!!!
I'll bring wood for the fire, lol
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Ella Zala
October 15, 2012 at 8:54 AM
and I'll bring the spices!
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43 ck1Oz
October 10, 2012 at 11:02 PM
Thank you for the recap. There were so many connections between so many people that I can't even comment. There are just too many developments.
What happened there? Everything happened at once? I thought the last 3 weeks were kinda slow but okay but today, every time I turned around there is another scene that needs to be wrapped up.
Arang confessing to Sato- poor. poor Arang.
I literally, am too shocked with the Hong Ryeon being in love with her brother. Eww... even though they were reincarnated siblings. OMG, incesteous thoughts. Yucks.
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ck1Oz
October 10, 2012 at 11:16 PM
You know what? I don't have the brain cells to figure out a probable acceptable ending. Everywhere I turn around, the alternatives are not acceptable or brings happiness.
GF- your priorities in getting the romance forward is pretty hilarious though :-)
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44 sumee
October 10, 2012 at 11:14 PM
oh so much hear break & realizations & revelations at the same time & I so want Arang & Eun Ho to have an happy ending which at this point looks mighty impossible ! :-(
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Wina
October 11, 2012 at 12:02 PM
I am so scared of dealing with another unhappy ending myself...so much so that I sometimes find myself being detached from the emotional value of some of the scenes. sigh....
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45 crazedlu
October 10, 2012 at 11:26 PM
omgah. sad!
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46 Kim Yoonmi
October 10, 2012 at 11:34 PM
*he gets injured per my prediction in one of my scenarios*
Me: *chest* Chest* *chest* *fangs* Give my abs of glory...... NOOWWW!!!
*He keeps covered with his hanbok.*
*Wimps!* *Wimps!*
*fangs* Junki, what are you HIDING? Huh? Have you been hiding flab? Were you using your pretty boy charms not to do sit ups?
*out of rabid fan girl mode*
A little disappointed the characters are so slow on the hairpin thing... and also the revenge thing... they should have gotten that by now. I am a fan of the mudang thing and the Halmoni that spoke in Kyeongsang Saturi (though softened quite a bit).
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Kim Yoonmi
October 10, 2012 at 11:43 PM
Yes, yes, acting is important. I know. Excellent job of that. And I do like the story so far... but, what's the point of the army? Did he take a sageuk 'cause he didn't want to finish his duty to his country? (joking)
*cries* We all know what army duty is really about... Deliver and don't tease us! ㅠㅠ Lee Junki-ssi finish your duty to
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47 Farpavilions
October 11, 2012 at 12:06 AM
Arang to Sato: "I can’t make your body warm ..."
Honey, I don't think that's true. *cough*
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Jade Butterfly
October 11, 2012 at 12:47 AM
YEH. Don't be naively Coy , Arang . Your afterlife doesn't sound like a heap of roses, strawberries & cream.
Awww..Come on, Sato , turn left , go straight , paper- partition door aside! Everybody will be the happier for it!
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Kiara
October 11, 2012 at 5:55 AM
Lol I'm so not gonna go there.
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Kate
October 11, 2012 at 5:32 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
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pogo
October 11, 2012 at 7:16 PM
How will she know if she's never tried THAT particular way, lol ^_^
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48 Junkidais
October 11, 2012 at 12:38 AM
What will happen tonite??? .....5 more hours to wait!!!!!
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49 JK
October 11, 2012 at 12:39 AM
Jade has it all figured out, or so he thought. Obviously he has been quipping a lot about the human heart being unfathomable. But could he also be looking at things from a tinted perspective? When Jade was troubled by MY looking so miserable, he had turned to the sour-faced fairy and asked if she was also cross with him for what he did to Mu-Yeon hence her sour face for the last thousand years. Matter-of-factly, she informed him that she had been looking like this since a thousand years ago. And this was affirmed by Hades - that she's always looked like this.
Perhaps rather than taking his speech literally, we should at best take him figuratively. His jibe at the fairy about not being able to attract any grim reapers wasn't really implying that love or courtship (heavenly or earthly, whatever that means) is allowed in heaven. It was a joke, meant to imply that the fairy was so obstinate, that even if a grim reaper could have courted her, he wouldn't. If one recalls, in episode 2, when MY was reminded of his sister seeing the fairies picking flowers, Jade reminded him that all ties are severed the moment he joins the heavenly troupe.
Again, if we take Jade figuratively, it doesn't necessarily have to imply having to be amnesiac of one's past memories. Given that the theme of the drama seems to be love (the Chinese translation being Qing, relationships of all sorts) transcending beyond time, space and memories, I think simple erasing of one's memories being the fast pass to heaven doesn't quite cut it for me. Perhaps Mu-Yeon had been willing to suppress her desire for MY for a misguided belief that heaven is a nice place, only until she found out to be otherwise or until she chanced upon MY once again in heaven, triggering that love she had for him.
Obviously, I can't close the loop with what BW's granny said about having to give up one's memories be it in heaven or hell. This is the main puzzle. Was granny a misnomer that's why her memories are intact or she didn't visit the level of hell where memories were erased? I hope the PD can give us some good answers.
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Kim Yoonmi
October 11, 2012 at 1:04 AM
Mind is maeum. Heart is also Maeum.
So the heart and the mind in Korean are the same thing. thus, when the Emperor goes on about the heart, most of the time he's using Maeum (마음). Which means it's the human mind/heart, not separate.
Meaning that when the heart comes up, it's also to mind and that means emotions evoke the mind/heart, thus making one most likely to remember.
In sageuk the line is a lot more blurred with vocabulary like that too. The distinction between mind and heart are not really there historically, from what I've seen so far. There is a separate word for mind/brain in Korean, but not used much.
Also Korean communication tends to ride a lot on the emotional seat, so that the mind/heart are one.
There isn't the same separation in the West with Korean. That's why translating is such a pain in the butt when words like that come up.
Should shed some light on your problems though... pesky translation thing.
So when Sato (Eun Ho) goes on about his feelings, heart and how his mind can't be at ease, that's usually maeum (listen for it). So you can see where that's going... a little foreshadowing. Arang has been using the word with more frequency too...
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anais
October 11, 2012 at 7:24 AM
Totally a great point!
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50 JK
October 11, 2012 at 2:13 AM
LJG's official MV for Arang and The Magistrate OST. Sharing the love. Enjoy!!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDYwNDcwNzI0.html
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