Shine or Go Crazy - Episode 15 (A SqueeCap)

In this episode, he knows that she knows that she knows that he knows. Or something like that. In other words, secrets are dragged out into the open and everybody wants that antidote. And then, there's Se-won's backstory. Which means: lots of Se-won pictures. Enjoy!
S@ki6: Se-won is always good.  In fact, he may be the redeeming factor for me at this point. Also, neither I nor my drama club had much to say on this episode, so I will comment with SPEED song titles.  
Jang Hyuk and I clearly feel the same about that.
Episode 15 verdict: Very badly edited. And clumsily written. Take it easy, guys. Less life-shoot, more sleep!
It was a Zombie Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tXdPuQTBls
They need to be slapped for it, yes

Episode 15

In a flashback, we see Shin-yool fiddling around with the powder-poison again (goddamn, woman! Wear a mask!!!) The water turns blue - and she puts one of her bracelets in. The gems seem to suck the blueness (and hence the poison?!) out of the water and turn blue! (that CGI wasn't too bad, actually)
Now back to the women-who-drink-tea. (Perhaps this was the original point of the tea ceremony, a kind of poison duel.) Yeo-won threatens Shin-yool's livelihood (and life): leave or the Company goes down. And die. She is so charming, our Princess! (Yes.) (No.) At this point, Shin-yool has enough of the threats and subtly flashes her two bracelets. Yeo-won is quite surprised to see them but keeps quiet for the moment. Shin-yool sips some of the tea ... wondering aloud whether she will leave this place dead or alive. But the tea isn't poisoned. Yet. Both women smile all the time ... and indeed, it's almost like they're having fun. You know, it's like when you have a rival that you cannot fully hate because you somewhat respect them, even though you cannot like them?
Nah, when I hate it's with my whole heart. Anyway, Hey Ma Lady:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzGVuLqMxg
In other words, perfect second lead material?
Yeo-won is not one to ignore the elephant in the room for long. Where did Shin-yool get those bracelets? Oh, says Shin-yool, now that you mention them: one is full of poison, the other not yet. The same poison the King has been poisoned with. A rare poison. And whoever handles it needs to wear the bracelet (if you say so, show). She knows that she and the Princess are the only ones in the whole of Goryeo with such bracelets. And Shin-yool only bought hers yesterday. Dun-dun.
I sat here the whole time thinking that Yeo Won was going to turn it around and somehow make it so that Shin Yool was blamed for the poisoning, but no.
But here's the deal: Yeo-won will keep quiet about Shin-yool's marriage with Wang So if Shin-yool will keep quiet about the King's poisoning. if Yeo-won hands over the antidote. Yeo-won marvels about how Shin-yool isn't afraid of death at all cause there's no way she'll make deals with the likes of Shin-yool. It's true that she isn't afraid, is Shin-yool's answer. It's not about the time of death or the method of death: it's about what you embrace in your heart the moment you die, says Shin-yool. And in that department, Yeo-won can only lose. Shin-yool will die with the honor she always defended whereas Yeo-won will die with shame in her heart. Anyway: if the antidote isn't with Shin-yool by tomorrow, Wang So will learn of Yeo-won's involvement. Oupsie.
It's Over, It's Over, I Take It Now It's Overhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOlBheJB3ww
They do always tell us crime doesn't pay, but some how I think Yeo Won will rally. Until the end when we CRUSH HER LIKE A BUG.
She's a pretty empowered villain, yup.
At the palace, Wang Sik-Ryeom tells Wook and So that the construction of the Western Capital will start asap and that his word is now royal decree. And because Wook is Uncle Wang's little lapdog, his words are also royal decree. Yeah, Wang So ... I laugh at that too! He is going to ask the King directly whether the two Wangs can proceed so flippantly.
Two Wangs don't make it right.
Only... the King is really not well. He seems to be hallucinating and paranoid. Wang So talks to him soothingly (that helps only briefly) and then picks up the sword that the King has dropped. That brings on a new panic attack - but Wang So simply pretends to be fighting off ghost attackers. He then declares that they all ran away and hugs his brother like a child.
I skipped past all of this.
What happens when the king recovers? Does he just say 'oopsie' and pretend like it never happened? Do we get to watch Uncle Hairline get rolled up into the human burrito thing?
When he is alone with Ji-mong, Wang So is shocked that his brother's health has deteriorated so much in such a short time. And he also finds it quite noteworthy that Uncle Wang seemed to have known exactly when to make his power move. The only way out of this is to find the antidote.
You know, I'm a little bit pissed at Ji Mong, because he saw the king acting flaky a long time ago and he didn't say anything to Wang So at the time.
I've been pissed at Ji-mong from the very first moment he appeared
Only ... that's not easily done. Shin-yool's doctor friend has no clue what could help plus has to inform him that the effects of the calming tea will diminish gradually as well. Yeo-won is just fiddling around with the sliding doors to her poison arsenal (is she getting the antidote?!), when Wang So is announced. She slams the doors shut. She is pleased he has come to look for her, but it's not out of love he has come! He is here to ask her to make an antidote. He knows she made that medicine for him when he was wounded - so he believes in her ability. Damn, man. Does she realize he suspects her?!
Of course she realizes. They're all plotting and subplotting and weaseling so this is like breathing for them all. Anyway, the point is a Painkiller for the king: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCSfaHeIinE 
I was worried that the coincidental timing here would make Yeo Won suspect that Shin Yool had told Wang So anyway, but again, no.
So Cheong-Ok has become head of the Gisaeng House indeed - but we learn what her secret mission is: Gain Yeo-won's trust and wait until the Princess has all the five bronze mirror pieces in her possession (Wang So is certain she'll go for them). Then steal them all at once.
What's next? Do we learn that Cheong-Ok's even MORE secret mission is to convince both Yeo Won and Wang So that she's trustworthy, wait for the mirror pieces, steal them all at once, and give them to Se Won?

Consul Wang is triumphant: all the power is in his hands! He promises the Western Castle to Wook as new home. If he sways that Merchant Woman. Hehe. I like the look that Wang Wook gives his devious Uncle behind his back... he's playing him like a fiddle.
I have to admit that as Wook grows more of a backbone he gets more attractive, but check out Se Won giving the side-eye back there.
At the hideout, Ji-mong tries to convince Wang So that he has to keep away from Shin-yool. Wang So has a minor freakout because they really should be spending their time looking for the antidote instead! After he has stormed out, Ji-mong and Eun-chun ask themselves how Wang So could possibly know that woman for 5 years, as he just claimed? Eun-chun remembers that night in Gaebong when Wang So disappeared for a while. Ah, good! So they'll find out she's really a Princess soon?
I absolutely remember that day that I didn't see my boss five years ago. Do you? To be fair, that was a pretty memorable day. Ok, fine. I'll go with it.
Wang Wook is too intelligent, dammit. (Not just a pretty face and erratic hair, that one.) Him and Se-won, both without success in finding them, realize that the Righteous Men must be right under their noses - in the city. Oh. And then! Wang Wook notices that little ornament Yeo-won gave to Se-won a while ago that is now on his sword hilt. He recognizes it, too: isn't that a Bi-uh? That fish god from Balhae? OH! IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE! IT'S HIM! Se-won says he had a sister and a mother but finds it more comforting to think them dead. Wook says he knows someone from Balhae who also had a brother and mother but hasn't given up at all: she continues searching. Hint, hint!
Okay, there wasn't an appropriate SPEED song, so, here's Team H, "What Is Your Name?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iU2JTVG90g
And then because he's a normal human being he says who it is and they should compare notes. What? No? That's not what happens? They put 2 and 2 together faster than Sherlock can get a puff on his opium pipe, but on THIS they are strangely lagging? Okay, whatever.
Shin-yool is at home and getting more and more nervous - will Yeo-won send someone with the antidote? Her brother bursts in and tells her that Wang So has come. He's in the storage, not looking good - he is out of ideas for how to get the antidote. When he hugs her, he heaves a deep sigh: finally, he can breath. Seeing how down he is, she tells him that it may be possible to get the antidote by tomorrow. He wants to go to that person right away, but she stops him. Are all the men really dull in this episode? Does he not get whom she went and talked to?!
Which brings us to Taewoon's solo, Focushttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvGAQyE1y14.
And here, I thought they might twist it so that he begins to suspect her, since she can mysteriously come up with the antidote he was told couldn't be sourced. But yet again, no.
Yeo-won has decided to give Shin-yool the antidote to avoid losing Wang So (or losing her head at his hands, who knows). But DAMN, the antidote is no longer there!! 
Great. The only twist I DIDN'T think of.
Did little bro Wang Wook take it? She goes straight to see him, but he plays dumb ("what antidote"?) and kicks her out. She tells him that such a strong weapon needs to be wielded at the right moment. When she is gone, he opens a ceramic box where he has hidden the antidote and vows that he'll use it only once, when it is most effective. 
Oooh, is he saving up all the evil in his heart just so he can pour the antidote out on the ground in front of Wang So and the king? Or will he keep it for the inevitable moment when Yeo Won looks at HIM and thinks, 'Hey! Here's someone I haven't poisoned yet!'
What devilish thing is the Witch planning now?! She sends her Snake Servant to find someone who can copy handwriting and somebody else who can copy a seal. Then, she goes outside ... where Se-won is staring into the night skies. Ah, so sad ... now we know why. Poooooooor boy. He asks his mistress whether her time was ... "uneventful". Hahahaaaaaaaaa. He wants to know how it was to sleep with the Tiger from Geumwhatever Mountain! As an answer, she touches his ... Fishgod. And asks whether he is still her shadow. The poor man is crying :((( (I guess it doesn't matter what she tells him, he will always be heartbroken since he cannot have her) She orders him to bring Shin-yool to her.
Pain, The Love Of The Heart. (I'm sobbing here). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQUwJxKkhNo
I was torn between laughing my ass off and crying here, honestly. 'Uneventful.' That was pretty damn funny.  But oh man, Se Won, you poor baby come to Mama. Forget the evil princess she is not worthy of you, and let me get to know your...ummm...FishGod.
Wang So is guarding his brother's sleep. When he wakes up, he has a lucid moment and apologizes to So for not being more of a help to him. Silently, Wang So urges his brother to hang in there - they will have an antidote soon. Together, they will fight Wang Sik-Ryeom! He wants his brother as a strong King on the throne after that so that he, Wang So, can go live with Shin-yool in peace somewhere.
Yes, please go away. Be Lovey Dovey Plus somewhere else. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSaPmPwfCBs.
I had no idea he was planning to pull a Prince Edward! This is exciting! The King will recover, Uncle Hairline and Yeo Won will rot in jail, Wang So and Shin Yool will live happily ever after (producing baby after baby) and her brother, Prince Se Won, will fall in love with... hmmm... CHEONG OK! Yes! Wook will go sit in fields and look moody and write bad poetry and be completely happy.
The next day, Se-won accompanies Wang Wook to the Trading Company (because of Yeo-won's order). Wook is worried that Wang So might recognize him, but Se-won points out that Wang So doesn't know his face. Wook introduces Se-won as his "attendant". Indeed, Wang So does not recognize him - but Gang-Myeong does! Almost. He cannot place him.
He's kind of an idiot, but he ships SoYool (SoShin?) so I like him a little bit.
Oh, someone will become pretty popular pretty fast, I think
Inside, the fight over the move to the West continues. Uncle Wang will issue a general draft like in wartime - every able bodied man has to go slave away for that damn new castle. Wang So will resist - he doesn't follow Uncle Wang's words and he most certainly doesn't recognize Wook to have any authority. There's only one way that this deadlock will get resolved: go for drinks.
Wang Wook's whole raison d'etre in this show is Why I'm Not? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR-lV1vGgXk
I think I will be feeling almost as satisfied as So, the day Uncle Hairline goes down.

Outside, Se-won is snooping around. He makes his way into Shin-yool's room and places a letter on her table. That can't be good. And have you not felt the wind of fate tugging at your hair earlier? Meet Yool. Ho Yool.
I knew you'd gif this one! It was too stupid.
I even tweeted it at the time, laughing!
The drinking isn't very merry: Wang So and Wang Wook are about ready to kill each other over who gets to pour first. Shin-yool gets her very own supply and starts knocking back cup after cup. When the men starts haggling again, she has enough. Does that draft mean that all the people she has contracted will have to work without wages? Indeed so, since nobody gets paid in wartime (that, my dear Wook, is not true. We Swiss got REALLY rich as mercenaries). Alright, that's it: Chunghae Trading Company is OUT. No more sailing to the West. No laborers, no material. Hahahaaaa, Wang So is having a ball and Wang Wook is increasingly pissed.
Wang Wook: Don't Tease Mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLAipKdZmP8
So, you're gloating.  It's not very sportsmanlike, but you know, I laughed really hard too.
She leaves the two alone, pretending to be drunk (she isn't) and goes to her room. There, she finds the letter that Se-won placed. It tells her to go to a specific place at night to get the antidote. Alone.
Because that's not obvious at all.

Outside, Wang So is trying to appeal to his half-brother's good side. Why fight each other when their hyungnim is ill and Wang Sik-Ryeom is the real problem? Hm, but Wang Wook has a different perspective. He believes that Wang So is special because he grew up away from the palace. If he hadn't, he would be the first to unsheath his sword against their brother. But no, Wang So doesn't think so. Wherever you grew up: it's a home to put your weary head down.
Whatever, I stopped having the ability to listen once you put 'Wang So' and 'unsheathed sword' images in my mind at the same time.
He leaves the trading company and Shin-yool is running after him to tell him about the antidote. She slips him a note, too, reading "Don't forget the wedding in Gaebong - the Woman in Red". 
Okay, fine, my turn. Because everytime it comes up, here's what I hear: https://youtu.be/Vt2YIpZWBqA

Trouble is brewing though. Yeo-won had Shin-yool's "bedding selection date" copied. And a ledger. To Wang Sik-Ryeom she goes with it. With this, he can take over the whole Trading Company. She wants half the profit, Uncle Wang can have all the power.
Dirty pool, Yeo Won. Getting a little desperate?
That struck me as a bit desperate. But to him being king, she's basically saying, okay, I Do, I Dohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtwfcf99108&list=PLJ410t_T4F2naCZIO2xS2sKkuEF0RxzpW&index=6 . Even if she doesn't realize it. 
hahahaha we think alike this time.

Wang Wook has begged Baek-Myo to change Shin-yool's mind ... I think he is worried about her. He knows what resisting power (=Wang Sik-Ryeom) will do to her. Afterwards, he is going for a drink with Se-won who is quite talkative and curious today. He wants to know whether Wook loves Shin-yool (yup, he does). Wook in turn is curious about Se-won's story (because it's SO OBVIOUS) and Se-won tells him that he was on his way to see his newborn baby sister when he was overpowered by Kithans. He doesn't remember his name from back then.
Hmm, got to use SPEED's labelmate's song, Do You Know Me? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XQbVLi8x-k
I'm sorry, that kid was easily 8 or 9. How on Earth do you forget your name? No one mentioned amnesia. The implication is that it was so long ago he just forgot? No. Don't make my lovely assassin an idiot, Writer.
Next, Ji-mong is visiting Shin-yool. He tells her he knows about that day in Gaebong and she falls to her knees, saying it was all her fault. Silly! He didn''t know THAT! But now he does. He wants to send her away right this instance, but he also realizes that this woman is always near Wang So when it matters, so he asks her whether she has a star-like birthmark. She does indeed. 
Doesn't YeoWon have this too? Does it make YW the Dark Star?
Since she never gets a chance to be the black hole... hahaha I'm laughing but you know, that might be a little rough even for me. What say ye? Leave it, take it out?
Hahahahaaaaaaaa, damn, NOway am I going to remove this. She's not Dark Star, but Death Star. That'll make people forget what they just read
He demands that she writes down her year, month, day, and hour of birth plus the date of the marriage in Gaebong. After she has done so, he realizes she is a second Northstar miracle. He turns all polite now and tells her that Wang So is most likely the next King. It's her duty to lead him on that path.
So...you know, I was thinking: Just how common does something have to be before it's not a miracle, but just some thing that happens once in a while? I mean, could Cheong Ok pop up with one of these babies? Maybe it'll be Gyu-Dal.

It's night and Shin-yool is dressing as Kaebong. She sends Kyeong ahead of her ... to a wrong place, because the letter told her to come alone. What she doesn't know is that Wang So is waiting outside. He is suspicious of the whole thing: whom would she receive the antidote from that no physician was able to make? It must be the poison supplier. Yeo-won. He sends Eun-chun to watch Yeo-won and shadows Shin-yool himself.
Yeo Won is definitely going to die a virgin. Assuming Se Won has held back all these years.
Do I look like I wouldn't go for it? She's no virgin.  (also: daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, boy)
Somewhere in the dark, Se-won gets ready. (Me too.) When Kaebong exits the Trading Company, Wang So follows her through the dark streets. Suddenly, a horse appears behind him and overtakes him. He shouts a warning, but too late! The dark figure sweeps up Kaebong onto the galloping horse.
Wang So tries the old "I will catch you by running over the roofs"-trick, but when he jumps onto Se-won, he swats him aside.
Sorry, Wang So, but I laughed my ASS off.
(if you want to see a BTS of poor Hyuk jumping off that roof 10000 times, watch this)
Oh my God that's even better!  Oh Yeon-So is cute, though - doesn't she look mighty happy all snuggled up in Na Jong-Chan's arms?
 
At the Chunghae Trading Company, Wang Sik-Ryeom's officials arrive. It's a lock-down! No touching of goods, no coming and going. Is this the end?
Oh, yes, and she faints at being pulled onto the horse. What a wuss.
It was the breeze. You know how the cold affects her.
Maybe the wind of fate that ruffled her head a bit too much.

Comments

For the first time, I'm annoyed at this drama. Mildly. This was a dumb episode - or at least, everybody in it was dumb. Yes, I get that Se-won lives with the self-fabricated certainty that his mother and sister are dead because he doesn't want to expose himself to the bitter disappointment of not finding them if he'd start looking. That's dumb, show. But he is 100000 times more dumb for not asking why Wang Wook knows the Fishgod and who that woman from Balhae is he keeps talking about. Idiot! *hits him over the head for that*. And Wook is also an idiot, for not just telling him he is talking about Shin-yool. Duh!
That's called 'we just bought another episode' in Korean.

Wang So is equally dumb for knowing his wife is poisoning everybody but not doing anything against it. Take action! Go force her to make the antidote!
Seriously. Just hit her on the head or something, and tell people she tripped over a carpet rushing after him when he turned her bed invitation down YET AGAIN. It's not like everyone doesn't know she's hot for his bod.

The one scene I really liked was the one between the two brothers at the inn, where Wook tells So that he is not like all his brothers that grew up at the palace. Yes, bromance is still possible. Get your acts together!
I did get a little hopeful.

I really don't have anything.  Though, I guess I think GyuDal should have his own spinoff comedy show.  Oh, yes, and if people die or become permanently disabled because So didn't do anything and everything to get the antidote, then he can sing That's My Fault https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gxMvAa2V1Q. How many more episodes?  I'm betting 4? A lot needs to happen.
You're betting wrong. It's a 24 episodes drama. And Saki: thanks for introducing me to SPEED!