There was KISSING at the end of ep 11 of Lobbyist. Caps of that and many other moments of awesomeness coming. There might have also been high-pitched squealing in the house at that, too.
But this post is not about that.
This post is about Damo.
DAMODAMODAMODAMODAMO.
I started showing it to
filmi-girl and, once again, its awesomeness hit me like a ton of brick: the prettiness, the emotional intensity, the strong heroine, the the the everything.
I love the washed out shots from credits. Chae-Ok:
Sung-Baek:
I remember being hooked up from the first minute this drama started. I did not know who this woman and this man were, why they were locked in such a desperate battle to the death, why there was this whole other current running between them, what brought them there...and I needed to know. Now, watching this for the second time, the opening makes me want to cry.
Ha Ji Won is one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen.
Oh God, now since I have seen it before, I know exactly why she looks like this...
I love Sung-Baek so much. In any other drama, I would have been all about him. But in Damo, much as I adore him, my heart belongs to Hwangbo Yoon.
FLASHBACK
I love the scarred, protective cop. He is awesome. All the cops in that division rock.
Our first glimpse of Commander Hwangbo Yoon, the commander of the precinct. Little did I know how much I was going to fall madly for him, despite the beard, and despite the hat, and despite the outfit.
Chae-Ok, the Damo of the department:
Polo game:
Officers of other team were injured in the brawl which started because they claimed Chae-Ok is only a servant so shouldn't have been playing. Since they were nobles, there must be reparation and Yoon says he will resign to protect his men.
So Chae-Ok, who refused to beg or even bow for herself goes to the other guy and begs him to inflict any punishment on her but to forgive the Commander and his men. The first time I saw it, it was my first inkiling that there might be something more between the proud, capable Damo and the reserved police commander. Now...oh, that self-sacrificialness is how they operate, isn't it?
She agrees to have her arm chopped off:
OMGOMGOMG Hwangbo Yoon is there, and he begs for her saying he will do whatever the other commander wants. OMGOMG. And then they basically try to outbeg each other. WOOBIES. And the other commander is all 'is she your whore?' and Hwangbo Yoon doesn't even bother to answer OMGOMG.
How Lee Seo Jin manages to look so smouldering despite the outfit and the beard is a mystery! But a wonderful one.
She is spared but her arm is wounded a bit. And we get the following scene of gorgeousness, where he is binding her arm. Did I mention that Yoon and Chae-Ok have an incredible level of chemistry. You can feel the air between them...and the stares. The intensity is breath-taking. It's like nothing else exists.
He tells her she is like his younger sister. Riiiiight. And he tells her that her being hurt hurts him. 'Don't hurt me.' EEEEE!
She goes on a mission to find some counterfeit coins. And there is more STARING. They are so single-minded about each other, it's gorgeous.
She meets Sung-Baek. Who I love. Did I mention LOVE?
GUUUUUH
Speaking of GUUUUUUH. Hwangbo Yoon clearly thinks the best way to take his mind off Chae-Ok's absence is by some shirtless sword practice. I approve. Long hair+shirtlessness+sword=YUM.
Go ahead, complain over a number of caps of this scene. I dare you!
Yes. I approve. From now all meetings should be held sans shirt:
Oh well, it was too good to last:
More awesomeness:
I love this scene. Did I mention jealosy? Or, even better, his deep anger because she clearly has no sense of fear at all...
Flashback to her childhood:
The scene in the rain. I sort of died. It really is lovemaking through battle. (Side note: that is the most emotional outlet they can allow themselves, due to the rigid rules of class, and parodoxically because of their love for each other: she does not want to ruin the dream he worked so hard for, and he does not want her to go through the same pain his mother went through. And there is of course the promise to his father. They are so trapped).
The girl who wants to marry him observes. She is locked out utterly of that intensity, because there really isn't anything that can come between Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-Ok's emotional entanglement in each other. In a way, it's also because neither have any other emotional outlet: she was the only person who really showed care and warmth to him when he was a child, and he was the only stable and kind thing in her world which was otherwise completely destroyed when she turned seven.
Is this the most gorgeous scene or what? "What am I to you?" Oh, Hwangbo Yoon.
FLASHBACK. I love child!Hwangbo Yoon, just as much an outsider as Chae-Ok, someone intelligent and dedicated who is barred from a future because he is the son of a mistress. (But of course, unlike with Hong Gil Dong, not only is his mother not a slave, but his father cares for him and does his best for him, unlike Gil Dong's horrific father).
First meeting! He is appalled someone so little is a servant and offers to carry her.
AWWWWW. She did something sweet for him!
EEE! Adorableness.
More adorableness. You have no idea how amused I was at the fact that he was all 'you, warmly dressed servant girl, stay by the fire, I will wash the clothes'. Yeah, sister indeed.
Awesomeness of more grown-up nature:
Being finally allowed to call his Father 'father' and not 'My Lord'
More pretty: