The Duo, episodes 21-23: In which somebody gets rescued and somebody else gets slapped
What I like about this drama is that there's very little black and white morality. The noble bandits are not idealized. The police officials are not universally corrupt. The heroine with a tragic past is herself deeply flawed. The parental figures (Mak Soon and Lord Kim) are not evil caricatures, nor are they angelic martyrs. The story doesn't beat heavy-handed metaphors into the ground. The result is a very complex story, filled with human subtleties. Which is not something I can say about the majority of kdramas I watch.
Yet there's a flip side to that as well. Personally, I do find it comforting sometimes to know where the story is going, or at least to feel like the writer knows where she or he is going with the story, and that's not a feeling I've really gotten from The Duo. Yet in these three episodes something of a bigger picture starts to come into focus as the titular duo starts to diverge, settling on two very different paths in their pursuit of justice. While Gwi Dong solidifies his determination to address worldly corruption as an upright man of the law, fighting the system from within, Chun Doong finally begins to accept the way of the outlaw, which he's resisted for so long. I kind of which these developments had happened much earlier, but they're exciting nonetheless.
I actually did feel bad for Dong Nyeo in these episodes. When she admitted to Gwi Dong how lonely she's been all these years, how afraid she is of returning to her dark room at night, lighting her lantern with shaking hands - I felt for her. And I do get why Chun Doong sees her as a pitiful person - not only because of how she lost her family, but also because she's trapped in her narrow view of the world. Still, it was satisfying to see him (Chun Doong) finally lose his patience and his temper with her. Even I was surprised at his harshness. When he said that he regretted risking his life to help save her from being sold as a gisaeng ten years ago - because then she might have understood the sorrow of being a slave to the upper classes - it was a powerful but painful moment.
