Tree with Deep Roots - ep 8 - three scenes that made me shake

[dangermousie]

This is not part of these three scenes, but I freaking love Sejong - his anger, his smartness, his decency. That is an amazing amazing performance.



OK, scene one. Chae Yoon follows So Yi to see what she will do with the much-hunted-by-everyone book. You know, I don't remember the last time I've seen such a clear 'this is the moment he falls in love with her' scene - it's amazing. And I found it significant that what draws him in, what has him let down his emotional guard, is seeing her distressed, mourning and vulnerable. It says a lot of interesting things about Chae Yoon. For one, the fact that despite being walking wounded himself, he is capable of wanting to comfort, is huge. But another, I think is he sees a commonality (as we see even more at the closing scene). He's too damaged to ever be drawn to someone well and fixed. Also, oh Jang Hyuk is so amazing in the role. Nobody does the helpless and utter adoration look the way he does.



































This scene - Sejong arguing with his younger self, bitterly throwing the idealism in his face - I never thought I'd see young and adult Sejong together and this was such a treat, I have no words. And the layers - the anger, the coldness (SJK can be scary) and just the depth of emotion...

















Chae Yoon finding out So Yi cannot sleep (and one more thing for him to identify with) and his conversation - telling her she shouldn't take those herbs that way - it kills me how gentle and quietly sad and knowing he is.






















































































And then Sejong shows up and I got the shakes, literally, from the following scene and the conversation about loss and vengeance and purpose and grief, with so many layers. You know, despite Chae Yoon's obsession with vengeance against Sejong, he and Sejong somehow communicate on a level nobody else does. And hearing Chae Yoon recount his loss, grief, terror and rage, gives So Yi, in her turn, something to identify with. They've both been there.

Comments

[timescout.livejournal.com]

I LOVE reading your re-caps! Like clairiere said in her post, it's like reliving these episodes. Sigh. So good....

I'm pinching all your caps! :)

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's like we have this list of the scenes we loved in TwDR, and she's ticking every one of them. :)

Back later with more commentary.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Take all the caps you like, I love seeing your icons!

[quaggy]

What I love is that even if Chae Yoon wasn't So Yi's Ddolbok and her his Dahm, they still would have been drawn to each other. There's this kinship there that I think both are aware, on some level, that it could be more. But I suppose in that scenario, they would have been a much greater chance of a tragic ending. (Not, with four episodes to go, there's a guarantee that there won't be one as of now!)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

That's true. It reminds me of Spring Waltz, which is a very different drama from Tree but has that in common - the couple has no idea they are childhood sweethearts, but their shared background draws them to each other all over again.

pt. 1

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

I freaking love Sejong - his anger, his smartness, his decency. That is an amazing amazing performance

At the press conference, Han Seok-Kyu said he wanted to play Sejong as a ruler with the heart of a tyrant, which I didn't understand immediately but that came through very clearly in ep. 8, showing this esteemed king wrestling with his demons. We had some hints before, when he confessed to Muhyul that it's when he couldn't trust himself that he wanted to kill, but this ep. tied beautifully with the themes that ran through his confrontations with his father.

I found it significant that what draws him in, what has him let down his emotional guard, is seeing her distressed, mourning and vulnerable.

I loved that even with the murders, and the risk she could be running for herself, they showed her desperate to fulfill her mission, and then let her break down. I got the impression she wasn't just crying for the murdered scholar, but those memories that haunt her at night, and that feeling of helplessness when events beyond her control overwhelm her. It all builds up beautifully to those amazing final scenes, the episode was really all about our heroes and heroine, forever bonded by those traumatic events on that fateful night (whether they realize it or not), letting their guards down in each other's presence and seeing past their self-possessions.

Sejong arguing with his younger self, bitterly throwing the idealism in his face - I never thought I'd see young and adult Sejong together and this was such a treat, I have no words.

I'm so glad you weren't spoiled for it, because they spoiled us massively, first with BTS stills (which I loved, was bouncing all over the place when I realized they were going to share a scene), but more unforgivably, with the preview, which showed far too much. It was still an amazing scene, and they did leave out the part that showed that SJK's Sejong was his idealistic self, and not some evil twin or the devil whispering in his ear (which we thought he was from the preview). That was a stroke of genius. And all of this came about because SJK was so.d@mn.good. :) It wasn't in the script initially, but HSK suggested they use SJK for this schizophrenic scene, and by god, it was marvelous. Easily the most talked about scene everywhere after the broadcast.

And the layers - the anger, the coldness (SJK can be scary) and just the depth of emotion...

Taking place at the Hall of Worthies, which embodied his idealism and his first victory over his father. It was like watching something out of a Shakespearean play, the way the room just lit up when he heard his inner voice (a splash of cold water if there ever was) and then dimming again when it disappeared. And the contrast btw the two, as if they were mirror images of each other. We often see one actor play a dual role, but two actors playing the same character in the same scene... I can't recall examples, and this was so much more effective than HSK split in two. And a wonderful way of showing the continuation, growth and change from SJK's Sejong to HSK's.

Re: pt. 1

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

That tyrant comment is fascinating - I like this arc even more because it's not effortless for Sejong to be a wise benevolent ruler (just as it's not natural for CY to rein in his bloodlust etc). They all struggle. Somehow it makes his achievements even more impressive.

I am really not spoiled for anything in this drama and I love it. That scene was so powerful - past and present - his younger self, not yet confronted with setbacks, his older self, despairing through goodness.

pt. 2

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

Chae Yoon finding out So Yi cannot sleep

Such a beautiful scene, but I couldn't concentrate initially because the song bugged me so much. This fan-made, instrumental version does a much better job of underscoring the emotions.

And then Sejong shows up and I got the shakes, literally, from the following scene and the conversation about loss and vengeance and purpose and grief, with so many layers. You know, despite Chae Yoon's obsession with vengeance against Sejong, he and Sejong somehow communicate on a level nobody else does. And hearing Chae Yoon recount his loss, grief, terror and rage, gives So Yi, in her turn, something to identify with. They've both been there.

That was far and away my favorite scene from the episode. All of the scenes that came before, they were all meant for this finale, this unexpected reunion between the three people whose lives were forever changed that night (four, if you count Muhyul), and when Sejong finally came to his senses thanks to Ddolbok, just like that night, that smile, the peace that came over him, his unforgettable answer for Chae-Yoon, and the renewed determination on his face... I wept. And I can't praise enough the actors (and the writing). You could almost forget these weren't the actors who played their young alter egos in the early eps., when Chae-Yoon was recounting those events and both Sejong and Soyi were reliving it in their own minds, they were in such torment. What a fantastic way to reconnect with these characters' journeys...

If I didn't love them before, and I did (even if it wasn't quite the love affair I had with SJK's Sejong), they owned me after that.

Re: pt. 2

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am not tone-deaf but I really don't pay attention to the score unless it's truly one-of-a-kind appalling. I guess that was lucky for me :)

Yes, I loved that it is the man who wants to kill him (and Sejong knows of the fact), who brings peace to Sejong by sharing his scars and how he got through them. In a way, I can see the three protagonists healing each other, even without meaning to.

[(Anonymous)]

This drama is amazing in its way of discribing how two people (Sejong and Chae Yoong)struggle to be decent men. They know they could easily become horrifying men (Sejong as a tyrant, like his father) and Chae Yoong into a ruthless killer...
But they want to be decent men. I like that the drama show us that it is not easy to be "good" and that it is a struggle against our deepest currents and our darkest urges.
Emma

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I love how for both of them it's a struggle to hold on to their humanity and not give in to the dark, even though there is every inducement to do so. Just as for So Yi, it is her struggle not to give in to hopelessness and depression.