Bridal Mask ep 2 - in which everyone gets tortured...
If I really enjoyed episode 1, episode 2 left me in utter frenzy, obsessed, excited and cursing that there are no more episodes until next week. It's dark and complex and all sorts of fucked up and utterly delicious.
This is from the preview at the end of ep 1, actually, I just like it:
The sleazy chief of police and his equally sleazy son decide to dispose of Kang To because they don't want him investigating Gaksital in case he comes close to the truth of the secret society, Kishokai, Daddy belongs to. (Question that is puzzling me - why do they care if membership in Kishokai is revealed? As far as I can tell, it's an organization fanatically loyal to the Japanese Emperor. I severely doubt the Japanese establishment is going to do anything but pat them on the back if the truth came out. Unless they did some deeds so illegal even the Empire would balk or are worried about Koreans coming after them in droves? No idea).
Before fake Gaksital can kil him, real Gaksital saves him. We know (or at least unless we are blind by the end of ep 2), it's because Gaksital is his older brother, but much as I hate chief and his son, their conclusion that Kang To must be some sort of double agent in league with Gaksital is not insane. I mean, why would a rebel hero save a brutal policeman for the regime unless said policeman is a double agent a la Ryu Jin in Capital Scandal?
So Kang To gets captured and clearly Chief Jr. is working out major envy issues against KT, because the interrogation consists of a horribly brutal beatdown, and the beatdown is not helped by the fact that Kang To has figured out Chief Jr was behind the fake Gaksital. So the hunter temporarily becomes the hunted. Ironic - Kang To's older brother got tortured for rebellion and KT is getting tortured after being on the Japanese side. There is clearly no safety anywhere.
Meanwhile, Dan displaced the knife that the boy who saved her life, her childhood sweetheart, gave her and is frantic but due to a chain of events, this reunites her not just with the knife but Shunji. Awwwww. It must be noted that their backstory, when she was known as Esther, involves Shunji literally having every limb broken because he sold his father's sword to get money for his Korean nanny's treatment. This show is written by a masochist. The thing with Shunji is that he is a much better bet for Dan than Kang To (with whom she is at the 'enemies to the death' stage) or even gaksital, whose life expectancy is probably nil, but he's not a great choice ever. Shunji is a nice guy but loyal to the Japanese and, even more importantly, do you think his father is going to be OK with his marrying a random Korean (a daughter of an independence fighter, no less?)
Meanwhile, the nominal interrogation has long ago left the 'nominal' behind because Kang To is strung up by his wrists in a barn and is getting horribly whipped as Chief Jr. yawns in boredom. And I start thinking that in this story, you are doomed simply by being a Korean under Japanese rule - Kang To is about as loyal to the Empire as it's humanly possible, but here he is still suspected and tortured. And sure, there is reason for suspicion, but you know that if Kang To's name was Kenji and he was a pure-blooded Japanese, nobody would suspect him of being in league with Gaksital.
This is here due to my hurt/comfort obsession. It's interesting how this drama can make me passionately sympathize with and root for Kang To one moment and root for his failure the next. In the first half of the ep, when he's tortured and framed and you can tell he is both terrified and full of guts, I just root for him to win over his enemies (it helps that they set up a conflict between KT who is redeemable and Chief and Chief Jr. who are real sociopaths so he's a good guy by comparison), but then once he's restored, and starts spreading the hurt on his own behalf, it's back to yelling 'bad guy, WTF!' Anyway, I love that he lures Chief Jr. into his cell and takes him hostage to escape. You go, KT! Now if all that talent was turned towards the good side!
His escape is helped by Shunji (awwwwww! Shunji gets cuffed for his trouble. It's official, the writer has a BDSM fetish) and he goes to the even bigger chief of police.
Luckily, the bigwig is on his side.
I love Shunji standing up for his friend but the interesting thing is during this scene I was all "Yesssss, KT, clear your name and grind Chief into dust and prove your loyalty...oh wait, that would mean catching gaksital and opressing Koreans, oh nooooo!" And drama that can make me root for the bad guy's success before catching myself, is doing it right.
Darling Dan fantasizing about Gaksital. Awwwww. Someone's smitten. And who can blame her?
Meanwhile, KT tracks down Dan because he wants to use her as bait for Gaksital. I love how she manages to escape even if she's caught later. And I also love that we see her knife hanging by the wall right by KT's side but he doesn't see it. EEEEEE! I think someone is going to feel baaaaaad when he finds out the truth, because I don't think "I'll come for you" was supposed to mean "and I'll drag you off for some brutal interrogation."
Oh, Smirky, you are digging your own grave. I love how I can go from passionately rooting for him, to wanting to smack him until his head falls off within minutes. Clearly, his little stint as a victim did nothing to soften him up, it just made him more dangerous and desperate.
Ummmmm...our hero just had our heroine worked over by his flunkies to get information. I have NEVER seen this in a drama. The closest I've seen to this was in the cdrama Infernal Lover, but even there, Mike He's character was a double agent and was actually a revolutionary who deeply loathed all this. Here, KT is no double agent, he is working for the Japanese. As I said, I find it interesting that his own torture made KT harder, more blase about suffering, more off-kilter, not more empathetic. I mean, it's a small mercy he didn't do it himself, but having his flunkies do it isn't much better. This is the most dysfunctional OTP ever. Ever. At this point, I do not see how Dan would EVER fall for Kang To, childhood sweethearts and saved her life or not. The thing is, even if/when he becomes gaksital, she should know it's not Kang To because she saw KT and (old) gaksital at the same time. I guess it could be a weird 'she hates him as KT but loves him as gaksital but that is going to be complicated by the question of which gaksital does she really love?) People either hate or love the childhood love trope - I love it, but also I think action dramas often use it so much because it's a great shorthand. Here, though, it's crucial because otherwise there is not even a sliver of a chance for KT and Dan as any sort of a relationship.
He has her marched out for a public execution so Gaksital would rescue her and drags it out...until gaksital shows up. Interesting question - would he have executed her? I think not but am not sure. This show is not afraid to show darkness but I think that would have been a step too far, not just because romantic storyline would be killed dead, but because that would make KT irredeemable.
You go, gaksital! I am cheering for hero being thwarted!
OK, I have a ship. And it's Kang San/Dan. Seriously. He keeps saving her on horseback! And we get scenes like the below!
Gaksital is Kang San! The village idiot thing was an act! It's not surprising, but I can't wait where this will take the story. Not just because Kang To is wowing to catch gaksital no matter what, thus setting up a fraternal conflict (all the more potent because the brothers love each other), but because Kang San being tortured into imbecility was the event that pushed Kang To off the straight-and-narrow and into joining the Japanese - both to be able to get treatment for his brother and because of his anger/despair at the cause that took everything from him. But then it turns his selling his soul and becoming a despised bad guy was not necessary - his brother needs no treatment and the cause did not take everything from him. It was all for nothing! How will KT react? There might be happiness his bro is OK but there is bound to be a lot of bitterness and also rage and betrayal.
So addictive, it's insane!