Janggeum’s Dream: Episode 40 Commentary

Secret of the Red Letters

This time around, I thought to look in the ending credits for names. It appears only the main characters are listed by name. No matter for this episode, though, as the newly introduced character is clearly named Sato.

How old is Sato? Six? Eight, tops, I’m sure. He can’t be older and simply short for his age unless he’s also a scaredy-cat, as seen when he awoke to find the red letters on the room wall. (We’ll set aside Suro and Dong-I’s shared reaction to the letters and instead note the calm reaction Janggeum gives.)

Speaking of age, I noticed a while back how Dong-I is much taller than I remember him being back in the first series. I thought he was about a year or two older than Janggeum, but seeing him beside Suro, and comparing heights, then seeing Dong-I and Suro near Janggeum, it changes my perception. Perhaps he really is 16 or 17 after all.

Back to young Sato, is he a town governor? What’s with his half-circle pendant (rather than being a full circle)? Did he lose his parents? (”Children without parents” was a common thing to see back in the first series.) Am I meant to believe if a governor dies, his son takes over, no matter what? Even if the son is only six or so years old?

Most of this episode, Janggeum was out of the spotlight. I think the last two episodes had a fair amount of this. The writers seem to have opted for a focus on story rather than characters for now. This isn’t a bad thing, just an observation. There is a lack of characterization, though. I recall little tidbits from the first season such as Yeonsaeng’s inability to swim and Yeong-ro’s dislike of various kinds of bugs. Actually, now that I think about it, the characters might still be saying things like this. Sometimes I forget: I have no idea, whatsoever what is being said.

Even though Yeong-ro determined she was over Suro, and found herself on edge when plucking flower petals kept partnering her with him, she still has some manner of feeling for him. Just look after her dreamy look after Suro inadvertently holds her in his arms. His authority impressed her as well. Add to these another life-saving incident, which unfortunately results in the loss of Suro, so she can’t even thank him properly.

The next episode preview shows the search for Suro, and finding him. I’m going to predict he’ll have amnesia, and won’t even remember Janggeum. He does look to have a bad bump on his forehead, after all. It’s funny, actually. Series one, I knew what was happening and could not predict anything accurately. Series two, I have no idea what’s going on for the most part, and it’s much easier to predict. Now, if Suro is seen out of uniform in the next episode, what does this mean for the item he bought Janggeum and hasn’t had a chance to give her? Or will it be forgotten from the story?