My Sassy Girl: Episodes 5-6

by dramallama

As Hyemyeong continues to search for her jade ring, she finds herself in more trouble with Gyun Woo and beyond. Escaping the palace comes with freedom—a freedom that Hyemyeong enjoys in her petty revenge on Gyun Woo—but also danger. Though fun hijinks always follow Hyemyeong, it seems that there are threats along for the ride as well.

 
EPISODE 5 RECAP

As they walk through the palace, guard Joon-young comments on Gyun Woo’s accomplishments in Qing, and Gyun Woo says that Joseon’s national treasure almost became Qing’s national treasure. Doubtful of Gyun Woo, Joon-young returns that one’s worth is false until proven true. But Gyun Woo responds that a tall mountain will be recognized as tall even if you don’t insist upon it.

Then, Joon-young requests that Gyun Woo take good care of the prince and wonders about the princess’s frequent visits to him. Gyun Woo comments on Joon-young’s obvious concern for the prince, and they part ways.

Princess Hyemyeong spots Gyun Woo and calls out, “Pervert!” She asks what they talked about and threatens to report Gyun Woo’s true pervert nature to Joon-young. Exasperated at her continued use of “pervert,” Gyun Woo offers to find her ring in exchange for her no longer calling him that.

Hyemyeong attempts to escape the palace by dressing as a court lady, but her obvious shifty movements catch the attention of the guard. Just as the guard reaches for the robe, Gyun Woo steps in with an identity card and explains that this stupid court lady forgot to bring it on her errand to buy the prince’s book. The guard buys the story, and they safely escape the palace.

When they reach a safe distance, Hyemyeong criticizes Gyun Woo for his smooth lies, which would be a bad influence for the prince. But Gyun Woo responds that he’s nothing compared to her. Heh.

We return to where we left off in the previous episode, with Gyun Woo and Hyemyeong peering out toward the headquarters of a gang of criminals and smugglers. Despite the warning by Gyun Woo, Hyemyeong fearlessly walks among the notorious criminals, and they are escorted to the loan shark leader, who is busy punishing a man for breaking promises. The leader recognizes Gyun Woo from jail as “Attempted Assault,” and Hyemyeong glares at him for his supposed notoriety.

The gang leader shows them his collection of stolen jade rings, and they’re forced to pay to look through the rings. Hyemyeong signals Gyun Woo to pay, and she quickly deflates when she doesn’t find her ring among the batch. But she does notice the log of clients that the loan shark flips through, and she distracts the loan shark by asking to look through another batch of jewelry.

When the loan shark turns around, Hyemyeong takes the ledger and tells the loan shark that she isn’t interested in the jewelry after all. But the loan shark soon realizes that his ledger is gone and orders for his lackeys to catch the two thieves. Gyun Woo and Hyemyeong anage surprisingly well against the criminals (with Hyemyeong even kicking a guy in the balls), and they jump off a ledge onto the streets.

But they’re soon surrounded and outnumbered by the thugs, and bodyguard Byul shows up with a timely idea. She notices a basket of coins and kicks it into the air, making it rain money. The townspeople drop everything to collect the money, and the crowd creates a buffer between the book thieves and the thugs. Hyemyeong loses her grip on the book, and it flings into the air. But she catches it as it falls, and the two make their escape.

Gyun Woo and Hyemyeong find refuge in a quiet alley, and Hyemyeong flips through the ledger. She looks emotional as she reads through the names of people who are indebted to these criminals. She rips a couple pages out, throws them into a nearby furnace, and then throws the whole book into the fire. Turning to Gyun Woo, she says, “Although I didn’t find my ring, I think I earned my dinner.”

On the menu for dinner is chicken feet, and Gyun Woo looks disgusted as he watches Hyemyeong eat and spit out the bones. He asks why she would eat such weird things, and she explains that only chicken feet have this unique taste.

She convinces him by saying that influential people must not have prejudices against people or food, so he carefully takes a bite. As he chews, she vividly describes the taste: spicy and sweet, chewy, and crunchy.

Then, she pours him a shot of soju, teaching him the perfect combination. Gyun Woo doesn’t outwardly protest, and soon enough, he’s drunk and eating chicken feet like a pro.

Drunk Gyun Woo asks if Hyemyeong likes him and if she’s using this jade ring as an excuse to see him. But he says that he won’t accept her admiration, since he’s not an easy man. He points to Hyemyeong and says that he doesn’t like ladies who are like reckless fillies.

Hyemyeong grabs a chicken foot to smack him, but she decides that that would be waste of food. She eats it instead, and drunk Gyun Woo grabs one as well. But then he lays his head down on the table and falls asleep, chicken foot still in hand.

The next morning, Gyun Woo’s mother feeds Gyun Woo a hangover detox drink that makes him wide awake. His mother worries about all the drinking he does for his job, and Gyun Hee wonders if he has a secret lover. His mother dismisses those speculations and tells her precious son to take care of himself.

As Gyun Woo walks back to his room, the events from last night flash back through his mind. He grabs his head in shock as he remembers insulting Hyemyeong and asking if she liked him. Gyun Hee asks if the detox drink made him sick, but he ignores her and goes into his room.

Gyun Hee follows him there and asks if he would be interested in marrying Da-yeon, who’s her top pick for bride material. She even promises to bridge them together.

Gyun Hee wonders if he’s not interested because of his secret lover, but Gyun Woo denies that such a person exists. She sighs in relief, saying that she’d thought that the jade ring might belong to his lover, then gasps to realize her slip-up. Gyun Woo jerks up from his bed at the mention of the jade ring.

Meanwhile, Da-yeon smiles at the memory of receiving the ring from Gyun Hee, who had told her it was picked out by Gyun Woo as a gift for her. A servant catches Da-yeon trying on the ring again and tells her that a guest has come to visit her.

It’s Gyun Woo, and he first apologizes to Da-yeon before asking for the ring back. He tries to explain that there was some misunderstanding, but Da-yeon already looks hurt. She lies that she left the ring with a jeweler and says that she isn’t sure if she will return the ring. She asks to meet him at the lantern festival on the day after the next, which is when she will decide if she will return the ring.

King Hwijong and his ministers go on a hunting trip, chasing a deer through the field. The king brings his group to a halt and slowly pulls his bow aimed at the animal, but an arrow flies past him and pierces the animal before he shoots. He turns around and finds Minister Jung putting down his bow.

At their meal, King Hwijong congratulates Minister Jung on his hunt and asks for a few tips. Minister Jung says that he doesn’t miss even the smallest movements, which he seems to imply for matters outside of hunting as well.

Hyemyeong opens up a map of the palace to plot her next escape, but eunuch Young-shin and bodyguard Byul forbid her from leaving the palace. She begrudgingly agrees and lies down on her bed. But when Young-shin and Byul return to her room with treats, she’s nowhere to be found.

 
EPISODE 6 RECAP

Hyemyeong walks through the village looking for her jade ring while Da-yeon gets dressed in her best hanbok and shoes. Gyun Hee praises her beauty and tries to flatter her before apologizing for her mistake with the ring. She admits that she misunderstood Gyun Woo’s gift for her, but Da-yeon doubts that he prepared a gift at all. Gyun Hee assures her that he did, and Da-yeon says that she’ll find out soon enough.

Joon-young trains inside the palace, swinging his sword expertly against his imaginary rivals. He lands with flair, and he remembers discovering the tabloid printmaking site too late. The site was all cleared out, except for a few copies of the tabloid depicting the princess sneaking out of the palace.

Young-shin and Byul urgently find Joon-young and tell him that the princess has disappeared once again. They think that she’s escaped the palace, and they know that the king will be infuriated if he finds out.

From afar, one of the queen’s court ladies eavesdrops and reports this to the queen, who looks quite satisfied. She sends this message to Minister Jung, who smiles and says that they have a long night ahead of them.

The gang leader, DOCHI, punishes his gang for failing to catch the thieves and embarrassing his reputation. Then, an unexpected guest (the black-hatted man overseeing the tabloid printmaking) shows up looking for Dochi.

Hyemyeong finds more vendors at the marketplace by the festival, and she takes a moment to enjoy the sights. Da-yeon also walks through the festival, backed by her loyal entourage, and runs into Chang-hui (Gyun Woo’s old mate and jealous rival) on a bridge. He offers her flowers and a love letter, which she reads and then writes on. She returns the proofread letter to Chang-hui and tells him to learn the language instead of wasting ink and paper.

Chang-hui is mortified to find all the corrections on the letter and yells at his friends for making him pay someone to write an incompetent letter. Then, he’s further demoralized when his friends point out that Da-yeon left to meet with Gyun Woo.

He’s not the only one who notices the two meeting. As Hyemyeong walks through the village, she notices Gyun Woo meeting with another lady. She had been wondering why he was so absent recently, and he’s just been caught.

Da-yeon admits to Gyun Woo that she considered not returning the jade ring for a while to keep him in suspense, but his urgency has convinced her to return it. In exchange, Gyun Woo offers her a beautiful ornament, and she barely has time to admire it before a voice calls out, “Husband!”

It’s Hyemyeong, and she links arms with Gyun Woo, asking what he’s doing with another woman. Da-yeon looks on jealously as Hyemyeong clarifies her relationship with Gyun Woo, explaining that they’ve spent the night together.

Gyun Woo tries to shake her off, and Da-yeon advises him to report this obsessive stalker immediately. Hyemyeong realizes that “obsessive stalker” means “crazy lady” and yells at Gyun Woo for spreading false rumors about her. Gyun Woo decides to end this interaction and drags Hyemyeong away, leaving Da-yeon.

Gyun Woo explains to Hyemyeong that he’s come to find the jade ring, but before her can pull the ring out, Hyemyeong kicks him. She doesn’t believe a guy who pretends to be a great scholar inside the palace while pursuing ladies outside the it.

They’re interrupted by Gyun Woo’s friends, who blurt that they could stay here all night because the ladies are so fine. Then, Se-ho gasps at Hyemyeong and says that this pretty lady looks familiar. He recognizes her from the picture and Gyun Woo referring to her as his enemy, which makes Hyemyeong scowl.

Hyemyeong realizes that they’re Gyun Woo’s friends and lies that Gyun Woo had been chasing her around, saying that he had fallen in love at first sight. Se-ho and Kwang-soo invite her to join them, and against Gyun Woo’s wishes, she accepts, telling Gyun Woo that one way to get to know a person’s character is to know his friends. She will determine if he’s worthy to be the prince’s teacher based on what she finds.

The queen dowager tells the queen that she feels stifled in the palace while the youthful lantern festival is happening. She suggests that she and the queen sneak out to watch the festival. She even proposes that they take along the prince and princess to enjoy the fun, while the king is away and the proxy asleep.

However, the queen demurs, saying that the king would not like it and that they never know what might happen. Disappointed, the queen dowager agrees with the safe plan and sighs at the killjoy.

Gathered to play the King’s Game, Hyemyeong initially looks offended that they would diminish the king to such a game, and Gyun Woo explains that they mean no offense. But Hyemyeong quickly lightens up and shows excitement to play. They all pick a stick that determines their role, and Gyun Woo gets the role of king. Hyemyeong is “it,” so she receives the orders from the king.

Gyun Woo mischievously smiles and orders Hyemyeong to shout “I am an obsessive stalker” ten times. His friends think it’s too harsh of a punishment, but Gyun Woo says that games are games and rules are rules, and if she doesn’t want to play, she can go home instead. He clearly expects her to quit rather than endure this punishment.

But to their shock, Hyemyeong stands at the edge of the patio and bellows, “I am an obsessive stalker!” The villagers think she’s a crazy lady, while Da-yeon’s mean girl entourage decides to get revenge on her for offending Da-yeon.

The game continues, and Hyemyeong finally picks the stick for king, which makes her look gleefully at Gyun Woo. Unfortunately for her, he doesn’t have the “it” stick—Kwang-soo does. So Hyemyeong orders that they switch sticks, overriding his protests by saying that she’s the king and these are her orders.

She orders the two friends to punish Gyun Woo by striking the bottom of his feet, and they do so. But they hit his feet too lightly, so Hyemyeong takes over, slapping his feet harder with pure joy.

From a distance, Choon Poong pauses, a gisaeng on each arm, and notices the ruckus of the game. They recognize Gyun Woo as the scholar being beaten, and Choon Poong comments that the lady has once again escaped the palace. He tells the gisaengs that she’s someone they could only dare to look at and reveals no more.

Hyemyeong walks with a skip in her step while Gyun Woo follows with a slight limp. He suggests that she return to the palace before it gets dark, but Hyemyeong says that she might as well stay for the lighting of the lanterns since she’s out already. He calls her uncontrollable and impossible and gives up, saying that she can do whatever she wants.

Once Gyun Woo leaves, Hyemyeong is confronted by Da-yeon’s entourage, and Gyun Hee is pushed to lead their revenge effort. Looking half-scared, Gyun Hee tries to throw a strong insult but instead stutters, saying that Hyemyeong is a disgrace to Hanyang. Hyemyeong doesn’t look offended and scoffs at the girls.

While walking away, Gyun Woo stops and realizes that he didn’t return the jade ring to Hyemyeong. From behind, Joon-young recognizes Gyun Woo and asks for his help.

Gyun Hee tells Hyemyeong to apologize to Da-yeon, but Hyemyeong says that Da-yeon should come herself instead of sending her minions to go pick a fight. The ladies bristle initially, but look alarmed when Hyemyeong picks up a vase and pretends to swing it at them before throwing it into the air.

As the vase comes down, Hyemyeong kicks it and shatters the vase to pieces. The girls are shaken, so when Hyemyeong challenges them to fight her, they run away in fear.

Hyemyeong takes pleasure in her victory, but her celebration is short-lived. From behind, someone strikes her in the neck, and she passes out.

Gyun Woo and Joon-young run back to where Gyun Woo last saw the princess, but she’s nowhere to be found. Joon-young scolds Gyun Woo for leaving her to wander on her own and not escorting her back the palace, and says they must find her before dark.

They search the village looking for a sign of Hyemyeong, but can’t find her since she’s currently held hostage in a shed. She’s tied to a post, and we see a man holding a knife in front of her.

That night, King Hwijong walks along the road accompanied by his large entourage, and relishes the calm walk. Suddenly, an arrow flies right past his face and lodges in a tree, prompting the guards to surround the king protectively, while Minister Jung acts worried.

The king pulls the arrow from the tree and opens the note wrapped around it, which reads: “Today, the king will lose his child and cry with grief.”

Thug leader Dochi uses his knife to lift Hyemyeong’s face into the light, and thinks back to the transaction initiated by the mysterious black-hatted man. Black Hat had given Do-chi money along with a picture of his target—a young lady—offering twice that amount when the deed was completed.

So now, Dochi compares Black Hat’s picture to Hyemyeong’s face and looks pleased at having a match.

Gyun Woo continues to search the festival but comes up empty. That’s when Gyun Hee finds him, wearing a guilty face.

Dochi pokes Hyemyeong awake, and she demands that they release her. Dochi asks where his ledger is, and she asks if he will release her once she tells them. But Dochi threatens her life if she doesn’t tell them.

Joon-young continues to search the streets, looking carefully at the all the ladies’ faces. Then, he comes upon a familiar shoe at the head of the bridge and recognizes it as Hyemyeong’s.

Hyemyeong continues to bargain for escape and says that she will tell Dochi the location of his ledger upon her release. Dochi warns her of the danger she’s in, approaching Hyemyeong with his knife and wondering how her face will look with a little handiwork.

But they’re interrupted by a voice ordering him to stop. Gyun Woo pushes his way through the crowd of thugs to stand in front of Dochi. Hyemyeong is relieved to see him and, for once, calls him Teacher Gyun. Gyun Woo opens his fan, and Dochi orders his minions to attack.

But Gyun Woo is a surprisingly skilled fighter with his fan and easily faces multiple attackers at once. He uses his fan to distract and strike his attackers, but he suffers a punch and gets knocked against the wall.

When a man attacks him a knife, Gyun Woo opens his fan in defense and deflects—but then we see that Gyun Woo’s arm has been cut, and Hyemyeong calls out to him in worry.

 
COMMENTS

I don’t find this drama particularly smart or witty, but I find myself enjoying the cheap laughs anyway. I’ve accepted that this is a drama based on comical hijinks and fun character interactions, and I think my altered expectations are allowing me to enjoy the show for what it does. It’s feels like more of a parody with a vague story in the background, and for now, that will do. I still am hoping for more depth in these characters and this story in the future, but I have lowered my bar.

The interactions between Hyemyeong and Gyun Woo have been superficial, but I enjoy that the thing driving their relationship is animosity. It’s completely dysfunctional and unreal, but it’s quite comical to watch. Oh Yeon-seo can be over-the-top with her comedy, but I think that’s the appeal of the sassy girl character: bizarre, over-the-top, and outspoken. I think it works well with the often deadpan reactions by Joo-won, who cracks me up with his instant change in expressions.

I think maybe Joo-won’s potential is not fully taken advantage of in this drama, though it may be too early to tell. There was a moment during the fight scene at the end that I had quick Gaksital flashbacks, but it was only momentarily. It’s hard to alter my expectations for Joo-won because I know what he’s capable of, but I guess it’s only fair to base my expectations on the genre and the story. He can’t go all Gaksital in a rom-com, right? He has be cute and grumpy and adorable, and he’s doing great. So if this show continues to deliver on cute moments, I’ll be fine with my altered expectations.*

*If those altered expectations include more cute drunk moments of Gyun Woo.

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