Janggeum’s Dream: Episode 15 Commentary
Back to the Palace
The resolve at the pirate island went mostly as expected. Jeong-ho saves Geum-young, but she seems disappointed to learn he’s heading off to save Janggeum next. It’s not that she has anything against Janggeum, of course. It simply shows Jeong-ho saved Geum-young because that’s what he does. He saves people. If looked at as a competition, not only will he save Janggeum equally as he’s saved Geum-young, but he’s saved Janggeum repeatedly in the past (although these may be unknown to Geum-young.)
One moment I’m disappointed in Yeong-ro, and the next I’m ready to praise her. The question is, will her making amends with Yeonsaeng carry over into the next episode, or will she return to her rivalry? Geum-young isn’t about to let her own rivalry end, even if Janggeum views their events as friendly competition, so why should Yeong-ro stop once she’s safe again?
There isn’t much to say about the events with Janggeum, the pirate leader, and Yeoni. The Pot dish did its magic, making Yeoni feel worse and visibly putting her life in danger as it worked hard to improve her health. I don’t understand how such a dish can affect ones health when it’s based on ones thoughts or emotions (such as when Suro drank the dish), but with Yeoni, it must have restored a lot of strength she lost due to not eating.
One again, Suro is unhappy with Jeong-ho taking charge and giving orders, and Jeong-ho is once again more than willing to let Suro have his way. This happened back on Jeju island with the government corruption, and Jeong-ho also avoided confrontation with Suro when Suro challenged him, claiming Suro was the better with a sword. Is Jeong-ho patronizing Suro, or does he really believe Suro is at a higher level? Perhaps he looks up to Suro for something, or he doesn’t want to put their friendship in jeopardy.
Someone really needs to teach Yeong-ro about the dangers of “hero worship”. Suro can literally toss her aside, and she still is starry-eyed over him.
After the group reunites with Geum-young, Yeong-ro observes that Miss Choi is all right now, while making a circular motion. This is similar in appearance to the Americans (and perhaps Western) motion for “crazy”, and I wonder if the meaning is similar. The placement of the hand hear the head suggests a reference to ones mentality, and the circular motion may indicate things being unsettled up there.
Janggeum’s decision to stay when Jeong-ho came to rescue her was predictable, as was her request to leave her behind when he asked if it was worth risking the lives of the others for. Jeong-ho may just learn yet that sometimes there’s more to confrontation than fighting and fleeing. Not always, not even usually, but sometimes.
The events with Yeoni and her father are a bit sappy, as well as the sudden change for the pirates. I can accept the pirate leader changing as he’s realized what he’s become, why he’s doing what he’s doing, what trauma he’s caused the one person he cares about the most, and what it would take to set things right. Apparently the other pirates have no problem going from ruffians to honest farmers.
Changi gets her honey, and Dongi can now be in the palace as a soldier-in-training, the latter with a proud mother and a father who’ll need a little time to get over the disappointment. With Dongi as a soldier, maybe Jisung will make more appearances.
Now Janggeum and Geum-young are mum level and Yeonsaeng and Yeong-ro are orchid level. Han nicely told of how the four girls all helped out, and Choi was more than glad to chime in, to downplay Janggeum’s role. Geum-young still sees this as loss, and she’ll be more eager to compete, to win against Janggeum. But how can she compete with the kindness of Janggeum who’s shown her the Pot dish recipe?
With the level ups, does this put Janggeum and Geum-young in their own individual Mum rooms, with — gasp! — Yeonsaeng and Yeong-ro stuck in a Orchid room for two? And what about poor Changi? Does one Changi, one Danny, and one Tayo make a room for three?
It turns out it wasn’t too soon for Jeong-ho to learn the owner of the ring. The timing turns out to be right, as there was about to be a drop in challenges to be faced, so this offers something new, and builds up expectation for the next episode.
