Janggeum’s Dream: Episode 12 Commentary

Nature's Gift

The tie-breaker has finally arrived, and was well executed. Both girls had a completely even chance, and Geum-young gave into greed at the last moment, something she’ll hopefully not repeat if another chance comes up later.

As the Bee Master uses Taoist magic, Granny Pot must have used similar power to appear younger. No clue yet as to why it started to wear off when Janggeum and Geum-young arrived, unless it was a signal of her aging and necessity to pass the pot dish’s recipe on to a new youth.

Although Yeonsaeng and Yeong-ro have differing methods, it begins to look as though they may have a little in common, at least as far as their roles as sidekicks are going. They’re both able to get the feel of playing the Bee Flutes quickly, as well.

The two are given good amounts of time this episode, and Yeong-ro surprised me with as far as she made it. While playing and being “one with nature”, she must not have been aware of the sound of the bees around her, as well as not feeling the ones on her face. Yeonsaeng on the other hand went into it knowing well what would happen, both around her, and to Janggeum should either of them make a mistake. While both sidekicks were uncertain about their duty, Yeonsaeng definitely shone as the more confident of the two. If Yeong-ro had to go second, she might not have been able to, with her fear of bees.

This time around, it’s Geum-young saved by Jeong-ho, and she’s quick to blush after finding what happened, but at the end of the episode it’s Jeong-ho and Janggeum walking along the beach and laughing. As for Suro, this episode and last, he and Yeonsaeng have had a lot in common. It would be interesting to see how things would be if they were stuck together at some point (perhaps with Dongi or Yeong-ro as well).

The Bee Fairy part seemed a bit silly; maybe there’s a connection with Korean fables I don’t know about, though. Or maybe Yeonsaeng simply put herself to sleep with her soothing music, and had a strange dream? I’m waiting to see where the part about keeping the honey cool will come in to play. I foresee Granny Pot’s recipe requiring cooking the honey, and Janggeum having to choose between following Granny Pot’s orders on how to prepare the dish, and Yeonsaeng’s pleas to not heat it. This series never goes in the expected direction, of course.

With Choe readying a devious, and surely unethical, plan, it’s time for Yeong-ro to decide just how much she really would want to bring harm to Janggeum and Yeonsaeng, and this should be Geum-young’s greatest trial yet. She’s been acting on her own, certainly without her aunt’s approval, for a while now, between preparing the cold-fighting soup for her rival, and wanting to do things on her own. This may be her last chance to redeem herself as a member of her family, a family of royal court cooks. She’s expressed a lot more determination this episode, so where does she go with it now?