[Drama Review] 'Scarlet Heart: Ryeo' - Episode 14

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Posted by eric_r_wirsing Tuesday, October 11, 2016

SCARLET HEART: RYEO -- EPISODE 14

"I think I'd be more comfortable if you had real furniture"

Hae Soo goes from being the head of the Damiwon to being accused of regicide -- again.

There were plot holes galore in this episode, and it suffered for them. Not only did they not advance the plot but also they kind of ruined the episode for me. Now I understand that k-dramas thrive on plot holes, it seems almost de rigeur. But these were pretty severe:

This drama does not know how to do effective time lapses. At all. They again have some two-year gap, where not much has changed, except a huge promotion for Hae Soo. While I'm happy she runs the Damiwon, it's still not adequately explained why, not to mention her leg still pains her. This little fact is just one thing that makes it not as obvious that time has passed. Not only that but what about the other people? Is Prince So sitting on the sidelines for a couple years? Doesn't seem the type.

"It's a game from my time called pat-a-cake..."

I also had an issue with Soo being helpless for 2 years while the King gets sicker and sicker. This is the chick who has not only knowledge from our time but also access to some of the ancient arts of medicine from that time period. It was pretty obvious the audience was supposed to know he was being poisoned somehow, so she couldn't have figured it out? She was the one he trusted to bathe him. Wouldn't she have known that it was more severe than just insomnia?

Prince Yo was also a ginormous plot hole. Maybe I'm approaching this from a modern standpoint, but if you've been cursing someone's name for two years, how on God's green earth does he come waltzing in and not get shut down for blaming Hae Soo for regicide? He's disgraced, a traitor and guilty of regicide once before. Not only that, but they know they made a mistake blaming Hae Soo the first time. Plus, his rule will only be accepted by those who follow him. You can't tell me there's not a significant army willing to stand against the traitor's tiny squad.

"Learning to float is easy, sire"

Which brings me to my next point. Without guile or skill, Yo just takes a small force of soldiers, waltzes up to the palace, and takes out the guards, who just stand there without trying to stop him or raising the alarm. Never mind the fact that he was deemed a traitor before. Yeah, I'm sure I could pick off the Secret Service easily were I to march up to the White House steps with an armed force. Not.

Even the romance seems to not be as far along as it should be. While I was extremely happy that Hae Soo and So got together, I still kept thinking, "Where has he been all this time?" He's rather impulsive, not to mention impatient. With her being a big part of palace life, I can well imagine Prince So visiting her and making advances every chance he got. Rather than have Prince Jung sneaking into her room (an odd choice, to be sure), I can sure see So doing that instead.

"I like that beard on you -- it adds character."

It seems to be going back and forth. One good episode, one bad one. It's a little hard to get into it when you keep yelling "Oh, come on!" at certain points. I'm hoping it breaks that pattern soon. Their big reveals seem less like big reveals than they should. It feels like they ran out of ideas more than anything. Of course, they're trying to cram 35 episodes into 20, so that might have something to do with it. Personally, I hope they can go out on a good note.