HWARANG -- EPISODE 6
Crowd control, courtesy of the RA
The boys wake up and promptly fight, deciding that there's nothing like bruises first thing in the morning. Their resident advisor breaks them up, easily handling any boys that attack him. Their punishment is manual labor (to which they are unaccustomed). Ah Ro starts to get womanly feelings for Moo Myung (now going by Sun Woo), rather than sisterly ones. The next day, attempts to goad Moo Myung into a brawl end up in a free-for-all. Ah Ro is called in to treat the boys' injuries. We see the Hwarang being less than manly when they have boo-boos.
The queen goes out to visit Hwarang House and says to Wi Hwa (chief of the Hwarang) that Sun Woo is her son because she considers her former betrothed's son her own. She confronts Moo Myung/Sun Woo, telling him that he must be Hwarang, for the fate of his father and sister. The flower knights get their first homework assignment, and Ah Ro knows her brother needs more tutoring to do this. Moo Myung's mentor confronts Ahn Ji and tells him that it's wrong to direct his Moo Myung's fate that way. Jinheung goes to see Ah Ro and asks her about the pictures she's painted. She reads the political situation correctly, but he gets angry. She warns him off, and he pulls her to him for a kiss...
"There. Your eyeshadow is fixed"
The fight scenes were disappointing, more an artless flailing of limbs and rolling bodies. I know that wirework is expensive and takes a toll on the pocketbook as well as the body, so I don't expect too many high-flying scenes. But if these boys are supposed to be the fighting elite, that's going to be a long time coming. They seem more rubber than steel. I hope they're not setting these guys up to be a sageuk version of Keystone Cops.
Speaking of the fighting, there was way too much of it in here. I know that sounds inconsistent, but it just seemed like every time they couldn't figure out what to do next the writers had a fight break out. There must have been four or five of these in just this episode alone. If they had been good fight scenes, that's one thing. But they weren't really well done at all and did little to advance the plot (other than establish that Ban Ryu is still an ass and Moo Myung is still an outsider). Their Hwarang titles have done little to transform their characters in any meaningful way.
? The bird bird bird, bird is the word ?
Glad Ah Ro became the defacto healer. It was about time her character does something, and so Go Ara's part became a little more meaningful. They kept teasing that there was more around her edges, but it was a very slow process from A to B. I wrote about this last episode. She finally has a little meat to her, now that the king has a thing for her and makes this known, as well as becoming the healer. Hopefully, this keeps her away from the damsel in distress trope.
I like the use of CGI in this episode, it was all too brief but welcome after the pell-mell combat. It was simple, but fun to watch, as a drawing transforms into an animation and flutters about. It looked fairly convincing, too. I think this show needs a bit more enhancement. It might do well to hide the flaws with a well-placed reflection or gleam on a sword, or glowing particles as they stand in the sunlight.
Cafeteria food is awful in any era
The pacing was a little better but still needed help. It's like they were confused as to what to do and needed something to fill the running time. I don't know. This show is getting more awkward rather than better, and I'm hoping next week's episodes gain a little more in the quality department. This one wasn't quite all there.
Performance.........6
Pacing...................6
Crowd control, courtesy of the RA
The boys wake up and promptly fight, deciding that there's nothing like bruises first thing in the morning. Their resident advisor breaks them up, easily handling any boys that attack him. Their punishment is manual labor (to which they are unaccustomed). Ah Ro starts to get womanly feelings for Moo Myung (now going by Sun Woo), rather than sisterly ones. The next day, attempts to goad Moo Myung into a brawl end up in a free-for-all. Ah Ro is called in to treat the boys' injuries. We see the Hwarang being less than manly when they have boo-boos.
The queen goes out to visit Hwarang House and says to Wi Hwa (chief of the Hwarang) that Sun Woo is her son because she considers her former betrothed's son her own. She confronts Moo Myung/Sun Woo, telling him that he must be Hwarang, for the fate of his father and sister. The flower knights get their first homework assignment, and Ah Ro knows her brother needs more tutoring to do this. Moo Myung's mentor confronts Ahn Ji and tells him that it's wrong to direct his Moo Myung's fate that way. Jinheung goes to see Ah Ro and asks her about the pictures she's painted. She reads the political situation correctly, but he gets angry. She warns him off, and he pulls her to him for a kiss...
"There. Your eyeshadow is fixed"
The fight scenes were disappointing, more an artless flailing of limbs and rolling bodies. I know that wirework is expensive and takes a toll on the pocketbook as well as the body, so I don't expect too many high-flying scenes. But if these boys are supposed to be the fighting elite, that's going to be a long time coming. They seem more rubber than steel. I hope they're not setting these guys up to be a sageuk version of Keystone Cops.
Speaking of the fighting, there was way too much of it in here. I know that sounds inconsistent, but it just seemed like every time they couldn't figure out what to do next the writers had a fight break out. There must have been four or five of these in just this episode alone. If they had been good fight scenes, that's one thing. But they weren't really well done at all and did little to advance the plot (other than establish that Ban Ryu is still an ass and Moo Myung is still an outsider). Their Hwarang titles have done little to transform their characters in any meaningful way.
? The bird bird bird, bird is the word ?
Glad Ah Ro became the defacto healer. It was about time her character does something, and so Go Ara's part became a little more meaningful. They kept teasing that there was more around her edges, but it was a very slow process from A to B. I wrote about this last episode. She finally has a little meat to her, now that the king has a thing for her and makes this known, as well as becoming the healer. Hopefully, this keeps her away from the damsel in distress trope.
I like the use of CGI in this episode, it was all too brief but welcome after the pell-mell combat. It was simple, but fun to watch, as a drawing transforms into an animation and flutters about. It looked fairly convincing, too. I think this show needs a bit more enhancement. It might do well to hide the flaws with a well-placed reflection or gleam on a sword, or glowing particles as they stand in the sunlight.
Cafeteria food is awful in any era
The pacing was a little better but still needed help. It's like they were confused as to what to do and needed something to fill the running time. I don't know. This show is getting more awkward rather than better, and I'm hoping next week's episodes gain a little more in the quality department. This one wasn't quite all there.
Score
Plot........................6Performance.........6
Pacing...................6
OVERALL............6.0
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