Ep 4 of K2H owns me, body and soul

[dangermousie]

First, let's start with the fact that the King is fucking insane. I am not sure whether we were supposed to think 'yay, clever test' and blame Jae Ha for 'failing' it by shooting Hang Ah, but if so, I am not getting on that bandwagon. Who the hell conducts an experiment like that?! Woo-hoo, dude, put a bunch of people in mortal peril (there so many ways this could have gone deathly wrong), and get your little brother one step away from suicide. Hooray for you! You and Batman Villain should swap tips. People are not toys. Also, while Jae Ha has plenty of faults and flaws, not trusting NK and shooting Hang Ah is not among them. It's pretty significant that perfect soldier Shi Kyung was exactly the same. In fact, to have done otherwise would have been cripplingly naive under the circumstances. The King's bizarro 'you are from a royal family so should have seen through it' seems insane and victim-blaming - the scenario created was beyond probable and, I fail to see what else one will expect when (a) hunted by NK army (b) shown via TV reports that North and South are at war (c) told he is about to be conveyed out and after hard time trusting, finally doing so (d) only to be led out to a full glare of NK soldiers with rifles drawn. At this point, I'd have wondered whether Jae Ha was mentally damaged if he didn't react the way he did! (Also, Kingie, your psycho test only failed because you had the whole army out there for no reason, if it went as scheduled, it would have passed).

I've seen people wonder why Hang Ah held a grudge for Jae Ha's verbal smackdown in ep 2 and doesn't hold one in the least when he shot her point-blank in the chest, but it makes sense to me. In ep 2, he was being a spiteful little bitch and said things he said to hurt her. In ep 4, he (and she) believed their countries were at war and he shot her when he thought she delivered him to his enemies with every reason to believe so. If the tables were turned, I see Hang Ah doing the same. (I did love when he told her it hurt his heart (when he shot her). AWWWWW. I love true love with guns).

Anyway, I want the King offed now. Also, while we are on Kingly insanity, who the hell asks someone 'hey, you had a gun to your head, why didn't you pull the trigger, you should have!' Dude, get therapy! You annoy the fuck out of me.

The episode highlighted the best and worst of Jae Ha. He was being a total dick to the SNSD-loving NK officer and I wanted to club him, but by the end of the ep, I had a ridiculously-sized crush on him. He is deliberately flaky but only when he knows he can be. When push comes to shove and he's the against the wall, he's got a ton of guts and courage. Underneath the spoiled persona is a spine of steel. The whole thing with the 60km run pretty much personifies this. He throws doing this run in his brother's face and, at that time, I do believe he means every word, due to his temper and his hurt/rage/guilt. But then he's quite happy when he thinks he'll run 2km and they will come get him and say he did enough for PR. But then (I am using too many 'but then?', aren't I?), when it turns out he has to do all 60km, he buckles down and grimly keeps going in freezing Korean winter in heavy military gear even with his leg busted, which is pretty much tourniquetted to keep him from bleeding! He refuses to give up even when the soldiers try to get him into the van and even when he thinks he lost anyway because he couldn't make it in time. His outburst near the end where he just yells "I can't! I can't! I can't!" actually made me emo up a bit (LSG is acting this role out of the ballpark btw).

Anyway, on to caps. Supposedly NK and SK are now at war over a minor incident that escalated, and Jae Ha, Shi Kyung and the third SK Korean guy have been caught. Only to have Hang Ah et al. show up and tell them that they will escort them out. The SK guys believe it as much as to be expected. Or, as JH puts it, perhaps it would be more convincing if they put away their guns.
























































Not helping your cause, Hang Ah!




















Jae Ha refuses to go to be taken to Pyongyang and Hang Ah pulls a gun on him. I love an OTP that uses guns in an argument the way other people use curse words.

















JH convinces the gang he and Shi Kyung need the bathroom. One little detail I loved is how his hands are shaking in this scene...

















The escape attempt doesn't work, and we are back to the gun extravangza. And then JH, who hurt his leg in the scuffle, tells Hang Ah that he is not going anywhere. Because sure, he'll be treated well by NK, to be traded for territory or other concessions, but he won't do it, he refuses to be a hostage. And he tells her he won't leave and if she wants to kill him over it, so be it. OMFG, Jae Ha, I think I have just fallen in love!
























































And she turns her gun around and gives it to him! (EEEEE!) And it sinks it for him that maybe she wasn't lying, and she really was going to take them out to get them to SK.














I just love that they are back to bickering in 2 seconds flat.





Only, they step out into the full glare of massed NK army. Hang Ah is shocked but all Jae Ha can think of is that she planned it all along, to betray them.



































He raises his (formerly her) gun, and shoots her point-blank in the chest (since none of them know it's a psycho experiment, none of them know it's blanks). I think this drama knows what I like!














Anybody else find the combo of gun and crazy angst really hot? No? Just me? I'll be backing away slowly from the rest of you sane people, now.











And then he puts the gun to his own head, ready to pull the trigger. I think I just went to drama heaven.


























"Oops, surprise! It was all fake!" Honestly, I want to strangle the moron King, especially when he goes on and on about how this was a super-simple test and he's sorry his own brother failed it blahblahblah go DIAF already.

















Oh, poor Hang Ah, clearly thinking of Jae Ha shooting her.











The confrontation with King and Jae Ha and I ranted about it above so I'll just shut up.



































Guess who joins him for the insane 60km stunt? I love how he's secretly so pleased. Heeee.














He optimistically thinks he won't have to do the whole thing but it turns out he does. I love that he just buckles down and does it. One problem - he's barely limping because he's still freaking bleeding from the unhealed wound in his leg. Hang Ah gets her acupuncture needles out and I love that he freaks out at first until he realizes this is making the pain go away. AWWWWW. Guns AND hurt/comfort? You are spoiling me, drama!
































Only that is a short term solution and, acupuncture or not, nobody should be going on a 60km hike in a blizzard, carrying heavy gear, with a bum leg. So soon, he's barely moving again. The guys in the car freak out and try to get him to give up and come in, but Jae Ha recalls his brother's disappointment and Hang Ah's taunt in ep 3 that he has no pride (and I love that HA's opinion is clearly as important to him as that of his idolized brother), grits his teeth and keeps on.



























Next morning, they are still walking. Or, in Jae Ha's case, hobbling. Despite being on his last legs (hee, pun!) he refuses her hand and then she offers to piggy-back him (!!!!) to which he only growls "Move aside." Both sexy and masochistic. Just how I love my fictional men!























Only he really can't walk any more and pretty much rolls down the hill. Note to self - do not join Korean military, they seem to be insane.














And then he pretty much breaks down, at the end of his rope, crying "I can't!" Awwwww. Is there something in my eye?























They just sit, and she points out that they are out of time - they will never make it to the meeting point on time. And then she gives him a handkerchief to wipe up the tears (AWWWW!) and plops down with a grin, saying the weather is great for winter, so why don't they rest? And they are sneaking looks at each other! (LSG and HJW continue to have so much chemistry, it ought to be illegal!) At some point in there, he also makes his comment about feeling the shot too, right through his chest. *meeeeelt*

























































































After a little bit of time resting, he gets up, telling her he is going to finish. She says the challenge is already over and he lost, and he grins a little and says he's a royal so he has to keep going. My heart!!!!





































He stumbles, and when Shi Kyung tries to help him up, he refuses the help, asking angrily if he's being mocked for failure. This is when Hang Ah reveals she lied about the time because she wanted him to give up and rest, and they can actually make it. I love that he takes her helping hand this time! (Also, how much do I love it that he keeps calling her "Commie" as a term of endearment? EEE!)





























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Apologies for how long this turned out to be. I got kinda carried away! :) You get a virtual cookie (or a shirtless Jae Ha or Hang Ah, if you prefer) if you read through this opus.

It seems barely anyone on my flist is watching this. Guys, you are missing out!