Posting my Jewel in the Palace commentary a good five months after I started watching the series makes me want to watch through it again. Being 54 one-hour episodes makes this prohibitive, however.

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The transition from young Jang-Geum to older Jang-Geum started out a bit slow for me. Some episodes were nice, but something seemed to have been lost over the years. Jang-Geum’s triumph in growing the herb began the change to an even better series, as Lady Han and Jang-Geum continually swapped wins for loses for wins back and forth with Lady Choi and Keum-Young.

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Episode six is the first episode to present the cast at an older age. From Chang-Yee and Yeun-Seng being scolded at the beginning to Keum-Young and Young-ro. I’m going to miss the younger cast, and I’ll have to learn how to distinguish between the girls all over again. Yeun-Seng strongly stands out, which makes her easy to spot in a crowd, but the others will be difficult for me.

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Early on, Keum-Young acts as a friend to Jang-Geum, but after Jang-Geum refuses Keum-Young’s help, Keum-Young has a sly look on her face. Does she see Jang-Geum as a potential friend, or a potential rival? At this point, she doesn’t exist as a potential threat to Choi Keum-Young’s future in the royal palace.

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One of the criticisms I’ve read about the Korean animated movie Oseam is that the emotion the viewer should feel for the two children in the movie is forced. While I don’t feel the same, I do see where the sentiment comes from. This episode of Jewel in the Palace reminds me of this criticism, except that everything which happens flows smoothly, naturally.

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