Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Night Watchman Episode 3

Jo Sang Hun fends off the growling King Hae Jong. Rin continues to just cry. Queen Min (who again must have been using her superhuman DramaKorean hearing) comes running into the courtyard to break the two men up. Oh thank goodness, here also come some more Nightwatchmen. They surround the possessed king, papering him with talismans, and start performing an exorcism.
 
 
Oh no! Not only did the exorcism not work, the king breaks out of the magic circle and stabs Sang Hun in the chest. No, not GatMan! We're not even five minutes into the show and I'm highly upset.
 
Queen Min takes Rin back into his room and... puts him to bed. Yeah, like he can go to sleep after something like that. She orders him to stay in his room and not to open the (flimsy paper) doors for anyone as she goes back outside.
 
Meanwhile, the Queen Dowager has been woken up and informed about her son going cuckoo for Coco Puffs. She orders for the ministers to be assembled immediately.
 
Alone in his room, Rin is crying and seriously getting on my nerves, when an ominous shadow appears on the other side of the (flimsy paper) doors. Here's Johnny! Also, here's Hae Jong and his glow in the dark sacred flower. Rin is too scared to move. Seeing how frightened his son is, the king drops his bloody sword and asks Rin if he's alright. So, did the exorcism finally kick in? Is Hae Jong sane now?
 
 
Rin sobbingly asks where his mother is. Hae Jong can't bring himself to tell the boy what has happened to the queen. The king passes the sacred flower over to his son and apologizes for his terrible behavior of late. Hae Jong tearfully instructs Rin to grow up to be strong and brave. Suddenly Minister Park Soo Jong and some soldiers burst into the room and take the king into custody.
 
The executing kind of custody as when we next see Rin, he and the court are all wearing mourning. I mourn for you as well, King Kickass. Elsewhere, Minister Park and Queen Dowager Pain-In-The-Butt have tea as they discuss putting Hae Jong's other son, Ki San, on the throne instead of Rin.
 
Poor little Rin is being comforted by Ddoong Jung Seung when Minister Park and his soldiers march in and arrest the big man for treason (and for being Minister Park's rival in the court.) Other "traitors" are also arrested and dragged off for execution. Uh-oh, I think they just got that old guy who is the head of the Nightwatchmen whose name I have yet to catch.
 
Rin and his flower are packed up and moved out of the palace.
 
 
Time skip to 12 years later. That sound you're hearing is all of Jung Il Woo's fangirls going "Squee!" as he takes over the role of adult Rin. Adult Rin is understandably terrified of the dark. He demands his house to be lit up and all sorts of anti-ghost deterrents be put up. Ah, but a couple of lackeys were careless and there's a breach in spectral security, allowing three ghosts to work their way into the house.
 
Who ya gonna call, Rin? Who ya gonna call? Nobody, cuz phones and Bill Murray haven't been invented yet.
 
We get a brief glimpse of the palace where a spooky smoke bomb tries to strangle a sleeping Adult Ki San. His bed companion snoozes on.
 
 
Back at Rin's house, the three ghosts brave the pungent incense he's burning to sit before Rin. Aw, it's Eunuch Song (is he still a eunuch in the afterlife?), Ddoong Jung Seung, and... who's the little girl? She suspects Rin can see them although the other two scoff at the idea. Rin throws some more incense on the fire in an attempt to drive them away.
 
 
Back at the palace, Sleeping Beauty finally wakes up which causes the spooky smoke bomb (which she can't see) to stop trying to choke the king. A session of court shows us Ki San is the kind of king who sits back and allows Minister Park to run the show. Ki San's evil alter ego (which again only he can see) taunts him and urges Ki San to kill the entire court. The king starts arguing with himself, making him appear the crazy that he is in front of everyone.
 
Ki San blames his erratic behavior on lack of sleep. He wants the help of someone who can protect him in the night so he can get some shut-eye.
 
And who is this just now arriving by boat? Its Sadam, who is met at the docks by a female bee keeper. Not sure who the woman is as I thought the evil tribe was all male. 
 
 
Over at the Mago village, Adult Do Ha is praying at the altar when Yun Ha's bell bracelet starts to shake. Do Ha takes this as a sign for her to leave home and start her search for her sister. Mom advises Do Ha to seek help from the Nightwatchmen if she needs it. 
 
With the sun back out, Rin is ready to play. In an effort to avoid seeing the three ghosts, Rin dons his Ray Bans.
 
 
Somewhere along a mountain path, an escapee from Assassin's Creed is walking along when he's accosted by three bandits. They're threatening the guy with the huge biceps when Do Ha steps out of the bushes and comes to his rescue. The girl has some moves. Good. I hate wimpy heroines.
 
 
If you haven't guessed by now, it's Sang Hun under that hood. I can't tell you how happy I am that he survived. Also, he's kinda hot. Il Woo who? 
 
Do Ha tries to make chit chat with the stranger. He doesn't feel like talking. That doesn't stop her from tagging along as he walks away.
 
A new and potentially lethal gisaeng has come to town. Her name is Mae Hyang, and while all the men are atwitter at her beauty, she also has a reputation of her customers not living very long. Naturally Rin must test the waters. Just as he's getting his best Barry White on, Rin is distracted by the running commentary of a ghost. The spectral spectator is the ghost of a man who once loved Mae Hyang. He is the one who is attacking all the men who try to sleep with the beauty.
 
Rin makes his excuses and quickly escapes the cursed couple. All the other customers are amazed Rin is still alive and assume the prince got some. Two new customers have just arrived as the other men are congratulating Rin. One guy, Moo Suk, turns his nose up at such crash behavior. Suddenly they are joined by Adult Park Soo Ryun who has been worried about Rin's safety. She starts scolding Rin about his frat boy mentality.
 
Commentary Ghost reappears, still angry at Rin for trying to mess around with Mae Hyang. The ghost makes the roof tiles levitate and then crash down upon the crowd below. Everyone else thinks it is an earthquake while Rin is the only one who can see the vengeful spirit. Rin throws himself in front of Soo Ryun to protect her from the flying missiles. Moo Suk steps forward and uses his martial arts skills to knock the roof tiles aside. 
 
The vengeful ghost then enters the body of one of the customers. The possessed man doesn't get very far before Moo Suk takes him down and somehow manages to knock the ghost out of him. The spirit then slips around and possesses the companion who had accompanied Moo Suk. He attacks Rin but the prince is able to get out some of his special incense and throw it on a nearby fire. The incense exorcises the ghost from the companion. 
 
Moo Suk escorts Soo Ryun home, warning her not to get so emotionally involved with the playboy prince. Oh yeah, somebody has unrequited love.
 
Sadam is introduced to the king as a Taoist priest who has come to use his magic to help Ki San get a good night's sleep. Sadam starts burning some incense next to the king's head. As Ki San falls asleep, Sadam begins muttering a spell that turns the smoke green. You know that can't be good.
 
Sang Hun has directed Do Ha to an inn where the comic relief know him and will take good care of the girl. Sang Hun has gone out to the blacksmith shop to do some shirtless work and get me all hot and bothered. This is why I watch Korean dramas.
 
 
Now that he's in good with the king, Sadam can begin his search for the stone dragon Hae Jong stashed in the basement.      

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