Janggeum’s Dream: Episode 52 Commentary

First Snow

I’m not sure whose room the soldiers are checking when Jeong-ho finds the flowers. It has to be either Lady Choe’s or Pansul’s. This would mean either that Lady Choe knew enough about Pansul’s activities to keep what I presume to be a main ingredient for a potion to cure the food poisoning, or Pansul kept it around in case the wrong person was poisoned.

Things between Jungjong, the young queen, and Sin-ssi must have had some manner of resolve. If the young queen isn’t related to Jungjong, but instead has a suitor relationship with him, then I can see his time with her this episode as symbolic of his future time with her rather than with Sin-ssi. Poor Jungjong really has had a hard time this series.

It’d be nice to know what the conversation between Lady Choe and Geum-yeong was about. This isn’t the first time Geum-yeong’s stood up to her aunt, but it’s still a very rare occurrence. Maybe Lady Choe will be the one to learn not to control and force her niece rather than Geum-yeong having to be the one to learn to oppose her aunt.

After Geum-yeong shows Janggeum that the old man eats a full meal, I think this is the first teeth-showing smile from Janggeum since the first episode of the first season. Maybe I missed other times, but it definitely stood out as a very proud smile. Immediately after, the two girls meet the old man and his wife outside, and Janggeum says the man’s name, but I can’t make out what she’s saying. It sounds a bit like “Bun Gwu naori”. I really need to see if I can find a Korean fansite with names for all the series two characters, although I’ve reached the final episode of the series.

Back when I started watching series two, I found myself writing, “I’m really trying to like this series,” which is never a good thing. That’s usually a sign that it’s better to check out a different series instead. The lack of English subtitles didn’t help any, either. However, given a small handful of episodes more, I completely forgot to try and like the series, and simply liked watching it instead. I believe the first series has a more strongly tied story and series of episodes (keeping in mind I don’t know a lot of the reasons behind things happening in the second series), but the two series are different enough that one cannot be too strongly compared with the other. The second series is still Janggeum’s Dream, but it doesn’t try to be series one all over again.

The snowfall made for a perfect series ending, and what I expect to be the show’s final ending. Seeing Chang-I and Yeonsaeng’s dreams for their futures is nice (and I can completely support Yeonsaeng’s efforts to be with Hwan now that it’s know he’s related to Haeya, and was a good guy investigating the bad guys the whole time). Too bad Janggeum’s dream is cut show when Yeong-ro aims for Chang-I with that snowball. Although I should have expected it, I should have seen it coming, I was taken by suprise when Chang-I’s aim was just as bad, and she hit Geum-yeong in the face with a snowball. Geum-yeong did not look happy in the least bit, but she definitely had a fun time as she joined in. While Geum-yeong and Janggeum have cooked together prior in the series, this may be the first time they’ve played together, and it gives all the girls, as well as Suro, Jeong-ho, and Dong-I, a well-deserved break, and a chance to have fun together.

It’s actually screenshots of the kids in the snow on the official site for the series which tipped me off that there was a second series. I was still working my way through the first series at the time, so I avoided the screenshots further to keep from seeing spoilers (and didn’t even realize Janggeum wearing the purple outfit rather than blue). After finishing the series, I downloaded all the screenshots to look through at the series two episodes, but completely forgot their contents soon after as I paid to see the second series, so there were no spoilers for me outside of the final episode’s snow scene.