“Our Blooming Youth” picks proper again up on the heels of a political scandal that threatens to topple the royal household. When the assassin behind the deaths plaguing the capital dies of seemingly supernatural causes after cursing the King, the court docket and the nation plunge into hypothesis. Was the dying actually the work of somebody past the grave? And if not, then simply the place is the bodily risk coming from? As Crown Prince Lee Hwan (Park Hyung Sik) and Min Jae Yi (Jeon So Nee) race to delve right into a political battle that started lengthy earlier than they have been on the scene, they’re pressured to find out the place their mates and foes lie. And shortly too, as a result of this can be a scheme 10 years within the making, and their enemies have had a very long time to cover.
Warning: spoilers for episodes 9-10 beneath.
1. Sung On: probably the most loyal of mates
The fallout from the King’s (Lee Jong Hyuk) ill-timed interrogation of the now-dead shaman is big. Not solely did she efficiently curse the royal household and depart the world her manner, however she someway managed to create an omen of kinds. A plum tree on the palace grounds is seemingly struck by lightning and burns for an eerily very long time. Naturally, the individuals imagine that the royal household actually has been cursed.
Jae Yi is aware of higher. She suspects that one thing may have been smeared on the tree to make it flare up so quick and burn so lengthy. A fast go to to Kim Myung Jin (Lee Tae Sun) confirms her concept. It’s good to see that our detective-on-the-run doesn’t have all of the solutions and has to work with individuals to get them. Myung Jin suspects {that a} combination of niter (for ignition), sulfur (for flammability), and beeswax (for period) was used to coat the tree, so Jae Yi visits all of the retailers within the space to find out who may have purchased all three.
To her dismay, there’s just one one that matches the invoice and bought all thee substances in very massive portions: Left State Councillor Han Joong On (Jo Sung Ha), Han Sung On’s (Yoon Jong Seok) father. Worse, her search hasn’t gone unnoticed. Proper State Councillor and all-around unhealthy man Jo Gained Bo (Jung Woong In) already is aware of that “Go Solar Dol” isn’t who he says he’s and has been having somebody observe “Solar Dol” round. His henchmen swap the ledgers Jae Yi was taking to Hwan as proof and use the data inside as purpose to storm Joong On’s home to arrest him. The ledgers are damning, and if convicted, Sung On’s total household could be demoted as slaves for treason. Hwan is positioned in a harmful place that impacts lives past his personal and on actually brief discover. He has no purpose to belief Joong On, and given Sung On no purpose to belief him. Joong On’s shed may maintain the reply to what he was doing with niter, sulfur, and beeswax. Or it may maintain proof that Joong On was a part of the group working in opposition to the King. Can a person with belief points as unhealthy as Hwan’s give Joong On and Sung On his belief with out realizing what lies inside the shed?
It seems that Hwan can. After having made the colossal mistake of distrusting Jae Yi, he’s prepared to offer individuals an opportunity and to cease hiding on his personal. He blocks the arrest and opens Joong On’s shed to disclose that each one three substances have been meant for benign functions: niter as a marriage current to Jae Yi’s father for architectural functions, sulfur for fireworks, and beeswax for candles. Sung On is overcome with tears at Hwan standing up for him and saving his household from smash. He’s completely devastated when Hwan asks him when they are often mates once more.
This man is such an cute marshmallow! He must be protected in any respect prices!
The most effective half is Jae Yi watching these two bond once more, and Sung On her gratefully, realizing that she’s an enormous a part of the rationale Hwan’s beginning to open up once more. He definitely sees it, and Hwan has began to grasp it. However for the way lengthy can Jae Yi stay oblivious?
2. Jae Yi: probably the most clever of…companions?
Hwan’s on an actual roll with asking individuals for friendship as a result of when he and Jae Yi return the palace, he wastes no time in asking her if they are often mates. The phrase he makes use of is extra much like “trusted confidant” than it’s buddy, however Jae Yi’s nonetheless miffed about being kicked out of the Jap Palace and calls for an apology. Hwan silently thinks that he’s missed her this previous whereas, that he’s sorry for doubting her, and a number of somewhat fond ideas that he would like she doesn’t know. Jae Yi stays completely oblivious, despite the fact that Hwan’s organized for a elaborate dinner to be left in her quarters, aka. his secret bed room that’s now hers.
How this lady doesn’t get that he’s is past me.
She invitations him to benefit from the dinner along with her, and as alcohol begins flowing, Jae Yi finally ends up having a really revealing and refreshing dialog with Hwan. He desires to inform Sung On of Jae Yi’s id. He’s absolutely activated best-friend mode and doesn’t wish to conceal issues anymore from him. However surprisingly sufficient, Jae Yi is content material to maintain it a secret. It isn’t as a result of she desires to face him along with her identify absolutely cleared, however as a result of she likes issues the way in which they’re now. Hwan appears to be like bewildered, however her clarification makes good sense.
Jae Yi discovered early that her gender meant that she would by no means be capable to have the life she wished. Her brother must take credit score for her work as a result of having a lady working round fixing circumstances would go in opposition to Confucian norms and threaten weaselly males in energy. She knew that marriage could be the head of her existence. It wasn’t that she was excited to marry Sung On out of affection for him, however somewhat as a result of she believed he could be a very good man. At the least that might make the demise of her desires rather less painful. However her household’s murders modified the whole lot. She’s technically a wished prison now. But, someway she has extra energy and talent than she did earlier than.
Hwan grows more and more moved as she explains that he was the primary individual to inform her that she may do something. And by his facet she has saved lives and accomplished extra for the world than she thought potential. She has been capable of converse her thoughts with out having another person take the credit score. Granted, it’s below an assumed id and gender, however she’s lastly free. So, she doesn’t need Sung On. She doesn’t need marriage or to return to her outdated life. Even when her identify is cleared, she’d somewhat keep by Hwan’s facet as Head Eunuch!
Hwan practically bursts a kidney in shock, however she’s all drunk and sweetly demonstrating who she would announce his guests as soon as he’s King and he or she is Head Eunuch, and he can’t refuse her. Heck, he even performs alongside, and it’s hilarious. He retains asking her pointed questions on whether or not she would care if Sung On fell for an additional lady and appears fairly happy when she cares solely about turning into Head Eunuch. It’s clear that Hwan feels one thing and is rising more and more conscious of it, even when he isn’t positive whether or not it’s romantic or not. However, Jae Yi appears to really feel completely nothing, which is hilarious and just a little regarding. We solely have 10 episodes left for them to fall in love!
However even this cute second is interrupted with a touch of hazard as a result of somebody’s been watching them the entire dialog, and it’s now not clear if he’s on Hwan’s facet.
3. Tae Gang: probably the most sketchy of bodyguards
The sageuk bodyguard position is one which typically elevates the actor to new heights. (Kwak Dong Yeon stays the best possible instance of this). So it’s a pleasant contact to have Hwan’s loyal bodyguard reveal a somewhat sketchy facet. Tae Gang (Heo Gained Web optimization) has by no means been a fan of Jae Yi from the beginning. He thinks she’s far too mouthy and doesn’t accord Hwan correct respect. He doesn’t perceive why Hwan even retains her round.
It’s additionally fairly telling that Hwan hasn’t trusted even him with the small print of the ghost-sent letter. We all know that there’s a debt of kinds between the 2, with Hwan having apparently rescued Tae Gang when he was younger. But, the decidedly darkish look that Tae Gang shoots in Hwan’s route after spying on him and Jae Yi signifies a darker goal to their preliminary assembly. The query is, simply how a lot does Tae Gang know? That Jae Yi is a woman? That she’s the identical lady accused of killing her household and on the run? And simply who does he work for? As a result of a stunning variety of gamers are rearing their head, and certainly one of them has had us all fooled.
4. The Queen: probably the most stunning character but
The Queen (Hong Soo Hyun) has been a largely sympathetic and likable character. She refuses to participate in her uncle, Jo Gained Bo’s, scheming, and appears typically out to maintain her kids secure whereas being a fairly respectable individual. So it’s all of the extra surprising once we get a declaration of her motives.
Jo Gained Bo cemented his place as a stable aide to the King when he quelled a insurgent rebellion 10 years in the past, and he was granted the place of the Minister of Struggle to be able to hunt down and kill the chief of the rebels, Music (Yoon Seok Hyun). And Jo Gained Bo made it as ugly a dying as potential. However one thing appears to have gone unsuitable again then as a result of he and his cronies are decided to cease everybody from digging into the case, because it positive factors extra consideration within the wake of the shaman’s dying. And whereas he plots to get the King absolutely below his thumb, the Queen vows that his plans won’t ever come to fruition as a result of she’ll be sitting on the high, and he or she has each intention of killing her uncle for what he did to Music.
She appears to know Music fairly nicely and even assures her son that he isn’t a foul individual, which raises the query of Hwan’s half-siblings’ parentage. Might the Queen be behind all of the unusual happenings on the Palace? The thriller solely grows!
Subsequent week guarantees one other plethora of questions. With Hwan, Jae Yi, and Sung On now on the identical facet, it appears to be time to sort out the central thriller head on. So far, we’ve had a whole lot of time to bounce across the problem of the ghost-sent letter, however it might be good to begin delving into how a failed insurgent rebellion from 10 years in the past may lead to an eerie collection of occasions round a Crown Prince with no data of any of it.
There’s additionally the query of simply what Ga Ram (Pyo Ye Jin) and Myung Jin are doing on this present as a result of it more and more looks like they’re in a comedy of their very own. It’s good within the sense that Hwan and Jae Yi can breathe simple round them, however their scenes often interrupt the stream of the present. This present suffers at occasions from tone and pacing, and it appears to be torn between being a enjoyable sageuk and a weighty one, however maybe with the second half of the present starting, we’ll begin to see some extra momentum on all frontiers!
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Shalini_A is a very long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she works as a lawyer, fangirls over Ji Sung, and makes an attempt to write the best fantasy romance of all time. Observe her on Twitter and Instagram, and be happy to ask her something!
At present Watching: “Island,” “The Curiosity of Love,” “Company,” “Payback.”
Trying Ahead to: “The Heavenly Idol,” “Gyeonseong Creature,” “Ask the Stars,” “The Lady Downstairs,” The Worst Evil,” “Black Knight,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Demon,” “Dr. Romantic 3,” “Every day Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s subsequent drama.
