I know I keep saying this every week, but these were the best episodes yet.
One of the things I love is how, even before the big reveal of the end of ep 16, Damsari slowly begins to see that Kang To may have good in him, may be partially on their side. One can't be a successful leader of a rebel movement without being a good judge of character and you can see that the difference in KT is eliciting a difference in Damsari who, it was clear, prior this stint in jail, thought of KT as a sort of soulless Japanese machine, a lost cause who is best off dead.
Shunji dwelling on the possibility that KT is Gaksital and remembering all things Gaksital had done. I'd feel sorry for him, if I was capable of any feeling but disgust towards him.
Yup, here he goes, rolling his eyes at Leader Jo, the man he mercilessly tortured, smiling while threatening death to the entire circus troupe, then offering antibiotics to the man. He is so much more effective and scary than Kenji ever was, not just because he's smarter (Kenji thought in straightforward lines, Shunji thinks in squiggles) but because Kenji was just a bad person. Shunji is psychotic and you cannot predict the actions of someone not entirely sane.
Noooo! Shunji sees KT nooooo!
This scene kills me because Kang To is opening up to Leader Jo (he seems to open up more and more as the drama goes on, as if all the pressure must be released somehow), about how he knows he is damned, how he wants to protect Mok Dan from his brother's fate, etc but it is all a trap. In the world of Gaksital, it's safer to be soulless. You see Leader Jo feel bad - what damns Shunji is he turned someone into a traitor by using his best instincts against him. Die.
I love these clandestine meetings. And yay, he's committed to helping Damsari in his fight - he is not a loner hero any more, not as much, YAY! Kang To has no one, and he needs people to love and trust and be loved and trusted by.
I love that slowly, KT is transforming from someone guilt-bound to righting wrongs because they are wrong (he almost jumped out of the car as himself!). And the smiiiiile!
I love h/c a lot but this arm worries me - it still hasn't healed and self-healing in bathrooms is not the best way to treat it - what if it gives it away. Especially when hottie samurai notices the bleeding...
Every interaction between KT and Shunji in this ep freaks me out because KT is unknowingly walking into a trap and that trap is set up by a sadistic madman...
Leave Damsari alone! By far the creepiest thing about this scene is not the whipping, but Shunji's insane smile paired with those cold eyes.
Kang To tries to save Mok Dan but, of course, she misunderstands and runs away harder. OMFG. This OTP, it kills me.
Remember what I said about traps, Kang To! You know, even if in some part Shunji is threatening horrible tortures against Mok Dan as part of his trap, he is so unstable, a large part of him does mean every terrible word he says.
I love that Rie and Shunji's plans collided. Heh. Also, I finally understand why Kishokai is secret. They want to be the power behind the throne which the Emperor won't take kindly to. Also, moving the capital would never happen.
Kang To makes his mind (not as if it wasn't made up already) after eyeing all the implements of torture MD may be subjected to.
Fuuuuuuck! 'Nice to meet you...gaksital!' And Kang To telling part of the truth that he is here to protect Mok Dan, because he loves her and that is not against the law. OMFG - you can see Mok Dan's whole world (and Shunji's) rocked by that. I especially love it because now MD knows, I don't think she'll love him but it opens the door to the future revelation that KT is Gaksital. Thing I love most? Kang To snarling at Goiso that he will walk out on his own feet and such is his command that Goiso steps aside until Shunji calls him to heel.
And then Goiso and his goons administer a brutal beatdown (while calling him a Joseon bastard - in this world you can never escape your racial heritage, drawing your battle lines for you. If you are Korean, you are second class in this new world, no matter your loyalty and status - see also a later scene at the club). And Shunji watches through the blinds, drinking it in, which is the creepiest part of it all. As I said earlier, just go to a BDSM club instead of torturing people you are in love (for want of a batter word to describe your creepy attraction) with.
Did you notice that Rie shots are often off-kilter?
Mok Dan decides it's impossible Kang To is gaksital. OK, girl, let's think. Kang To loves you. Gaksital loves you. Both have the same build, height, chin, mouth, hands. Either you are surprisingly popular with men who look alike or...gasp...Kang To is gaksital.
Shunji pretends he had no idea Kang To got beaten up. You sicken me, go away!
My favorite scene of the episodes - Kang To is beaten to a pulp, chained up, powerless, but still having the upper hand due to his talent for mind games and knowledge of Shunji - what he tells Shunji works so well because it is the truth (or mostly so - he didn't just want Mok Dan alive after he shot her to catch Gaksital), it's just not the whole truth. It also works because a lot of it reflects what Shunji feels - love for a girl you tortured, obsession with catching Gaksital. And omfg the crying, Joo Won, you are amazing.
I love that Shunji is shaken and to him, it is evidence of how far he's traveled into insanity - he thinks 'how could you think KT was Gaksital?' Ah, the irony, because that is the truth.
I loved that Leader Jo made no excuses and just waited for his execution. And I love that the Rebel Lady didn't carry it out. Yay! I love Leader Jo!
Shunji throws KT's knowledge of 'Boon Yi' at Kang To and I love how KT laughs in his face that he chased DSR for years, of course he knows his daughter's childhood name (looked at it soberly, that is really lame evidence). He can pwn Shunji all beaten and with no cards because his personality is this strong.
Guess who gets released.
These scenes kill me.
His touching MD is not the creepiest thing - the creepiest thing is asking her whether it hurts anywhere. And when he tells her he doesn't want to torture her and her father - really, you could have fooled me. And when he asks her 'can't you save me?' I want to punch the screen - it is not all about you and your psychic pain for ordering her torture, it's about her. Plus, let's face it, you are beyond saving - I really think Shunji always had this darkness, this psychosis in him and he was a little aware of it and stayed away from the police only to get dragged in anyway.
Yeah, Shunji and Kang To's friendship is over, regardless of Gaksital status - you don't torture someone and expect them to remain BFFs. I love that Kang To throws into Shunji's face the latter's pledge to protect Mok Dan. And then he says: 'Withdraw, from now on, I am going to protect her.' OMFG, balls of steel, Kang To!
He brings her to see her father. His face! Her face! Damsari's face!
Kang To doesn't betray that Shunji is the one who had him beaten but it's not for Shunji's sake, it's to end all the inquiries.
Father-daughter scene made me sniffle.
Great, time for the 'torture Mok Dan to get info from Damsari' scene. She is threatened with a box of nails. And Kang To can't do anything (or Shunji) because Konno is there. See, your plans run away with you...
He gives her carte blanche, if only she knew, to betray himself...Throughout this whole scene, the look on Kang To's face kills me. But all she asks Kang To is to cover her father's eyes (and this means she is beginning to see him as a fellow human - she never would have even given an inch before). And she walks towards the box of nails herself. You can see Kang To not just love her but admire her nerve and conviction even as he is torn apart - Joo Won is amazing in this scene, all expressed through his eyes (though the effect of box of nails = certain death, that everyone seems to take, is somewhat undercut by the fact that Leader Jo is now wondering about, post box-of-nails, very not dead).
I am 100% sure Kang To would have never let her go in, though that would mean betraying himself, but luckily Konno stops her as it turns out to be a bluff on his part. Thank God. Kimura would have stuck her there without a second thought. (Shunji too, possibly, because he loses his marbles when he's in charge).
Ohhhhh....
Yay! Shunji plans to publicly execute Damsari to draw rebels out. What happened to your 'I don't want to torture your daddy' comment to Mok Dan?
Luckily, Kang To knows.
Damsari tells Mok Dan to go to Kang To for help and tells her about Kang To crying. EEEE!
And then KT is there, to quickly quickly transport Damsari to jail before Shunji gets his hands on him and he tells Mok Dan 'I am going to help your father escape." She HAS to wonder now. I love how in these eps he is doing more and more things without his gaksital shield.
Shunji, you realize Konno is going to kill you for disobeying his orders, right?
Rescue happens and OMFG, Kang To shoots one of his own soldiers when he's about to take out a rebel and OMFG DAMSARI'S FACE AS HE REALIZES KANG TO IS NO TRAITOR BUT IS ON THEIR SIDE (and he may have even figured KT is Gaksital seeing that Shunji was saying there was a freedom fighter among the cops during earlier interrogation). OMFG.
Noooooo! How are they going to get out of this one?
I apologize for the amount of caps but Joo Won has the most amazing face and I got carried away.
Now off to get to all the comments...