ORANGE MARMALADE - EPISODE 9
"I did not charge the neighborhood kids a buck to see the pretty vampire! I'm better than that... It was $5!"
And, with this episode, we see the Joseon era come to a close. *sniff*
Jae Min saves Ma Ri from the arrow by parrying it mid-flight. He argues that she's not a vampire and they've been tricked. Shi Hoo arrives to try to intervene for Ma Ri, but her family has already seen to this and puts the Warriors of the Silver Blood to sleep with their mental powers. Jae Min is shocked and hurt to find that his friend and the woman he loves are both vampires. The queen is kidnapped by the Wonsangu vampire clan, and the Minister of Defense (also Jae Min's father) leads the Silver Bloods in the final battle. Ah Ra apologizes to Ma Ri and is attacked by vampires seeking to punish her betrayal. Ma Ri attempts to defend her, but is herself taken. Jae Min invades their hideout to try to rescue Ma Ri and finds himself in direct combat with Lady Won. He kills her, but not before she has a chance to bite him. As Jae Min lays dying from the same affliction that Shi Hoo suffered from before he was turned, Ma Ri cures him and dies in the attempt. He can only be saved (and avoid being turned) if a vampire feeds him the last of her lifeblood, and that's what Ma Ri does. Because Ma Ri's clan aided the Silver Bloods in the final battle, a peace treaty is forged between humans and vampires. And, as Jae Min mourns Ma Ri's death and buries her with the ribbon he promised her, we find ourselves back in the modern era...
Sometimes, at night, he drools on the pillow.
I was a bit sad when we switched back. Far be it for me to want a plot line unresolved, but the Joseon sequence was great: martial arts and sword-swinging action, vampires, magic, war, betrayal, love, and just a number of conceits that don't work as well in the modern era. There is something more visceral about swords over guns, magic over hard science, sweeping epics over the petty concerns of high school. I submit that they could have finished the series in the Joseon era, and it would be been a bit more satisfying. I also feel that if they had a tale to tell in the Joseon era, it might have been better handled by flashbacks, a la the old 90's Highlander TV series. That show featured an immortal, a 400-year-old who told much of his story through historical (or "period") flashbacks. Every episode, there were two or three. They could have done the same in this drama, with Ma Ri and Jae Min's situations mirrored in the Joseon flashbacks.
So where do we go from here? What's funny is that much of the story in the modern era is rebooted. So do we have more Ah Ra or Shi Hoo? Or is it just Jae Min and Ma Ri? I think I had my initial question answered -- are the vampires the same characters? Supposedly vampires live to be 150 in the show and age as humans do (a 125 year old vampire might look like they're about 80), so their lives in the Joseon era were past lives. How do their past lives affect them in the modern era? Do they remember any of this, and if they don't, then why does it matter? It was a lot of fun to watch after I got over the initial change. But I have to ask why? So Jae Min and Ma Ri were in love in a past life and now they're lovers in the present. And...that's it? Maybe not...
"I have to hurry. Lady Gaga needs that dress for the awards ceremony..."
You see Ma Ri has sacrificed a lot for Jae Min. In the Joseon era, he grows up to understand that love crosses lines -- that it doesn't matter if the other person is vampire or human, if you love them, you love them and that's the way it is. That's the way things should be. Now that we've hit the modern era again, I think our modern Jae Min needs to learn the same thing. At the lighthouse he tried to tell her he loved her, that he was willing to overlook the fact that she's a vampire. That's like saying, "I think you're ugly and annoying, but I love you anyway." See the difference? Not cool. It doesn't sound like he's learned anything from his past life, and that's why I'm a bit confused as to the point of the Joseon period. Although, it did do a lot for back-story. :)
Which brings me to the present day and vampires. Vampires were a pretty nasty threat back in the day and almost took over Korea. They even had magic. And now they're essentially kept down and controlled? Can't use their powers in public? That's a pretty harsh law. I can understand why you would ban that sort of thing in sports. That would give vampires an unfair advantage. But how about a vampire league? And vampires could be a special division in companies; using their incredible powers to help out in, say, construction would be a benefit, not something to be suppressed.
Thug life.
I probably shouldn't poke holes in the plot larger than a vamp's bite. It's a pretty good drama for all that, but I'm hoping they can keep the tension up. The last episode in the modern era was a bit contrived. It's more love than action, so to ramp up the tension like they did felt forced. The Joseon sequence was exciting because they'd essentially already introduced the characters to us, and with a new setting they could cut loose. But now we're back in the polite, quiet, modern day setting. I'll still be watching. This episode was worth it.
So how about you guys? Still hanging in there?
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