Bridal Mask ep 8

[dangermousie]

Sorry for the delay (due to travel) but I guess better late than never.



The new hair is here! And a sexy shaving scene to boot. But what really gets me in this scene is not Joo Won's indubitable hotness (because, really, that is like one of the basic facts of the world - North Pole is cold, gravity exists, and Joo Won is hot) but Kang To's eyes in this scene - they look intensely haunted, the saddest eyes in the world - his one time to not have masks on - either as the police officer or gaksital or anything else.




The fact that he assumes his Japanese name, seemingly renouncing the last link with his Korean heritage - wow. The thing with Kang To is that sure, his even more psycho pro-Japanese officer act, is an act but it's effective because there is a grain of truth there - his priorities have shifted and he is hollow inside, but nobody knows it and his behavior is a possible logical extension of what went on before. IF Kang To didn't find out Gaksital was his brother, if he thought Koreans killed his family, he might have acted like this. He never was motivated by abstractions and ideals. And the thing is - he isn't now - it's a very personal revenge and atonement and the fact that he has nothing else to live for. And the fact that he really doesn't care - Koreans, Japanese whoever - none of them really evoke his feelings, and why should they, seeing how things went?





I do love his act of being utterly out of control, only not, intensity dialed up to 11.





Only when he has to arrest Dan does his veneer crack a bit. And in the small private breathing spaces too - when he briefly closes his eyes, stealing for his interview with the Chief.




Shunji is experiencing his own cracking - the scene with the kids was awful and I think as Kang To is going to be dragged towards the light, Shunji will plunge into darkness.



And I love that Dan sees but it understanding - she is tough but not abrasive and she sees he is at the end of his rope and cheers him up. No wonder he is in love with her. And so we get Back Hug! Kang To watching! (He probably thinks she likes Shunji, awww). I have to say that is the weirdest way to impart 'gaksital is likely alive' news ever. I know Shunji is desperate for skinship but really, dude...






Rie, those lips belong to Dan! Or, in the alternate, to Shunji! Mouth off! :) What strikes me in that scene is not just how hollow and lost Kang To looks, his player mask badly frayed, but how similar Rie and KT's damage is - even to trying to get a person who is so important to them try to remember them and meeting with a blank wall. I don't ship them, but it's an interesting dynamic and makes me feel terribly sad for both of them.











Dan, ILY, but notes in blood on your petticoats? Especially since you could have been spending this time sparring with Kang To or similar. I am dying from lack of OTP interaction here, heeeeelp!



You know, I think what Kang To has is the perfect cover - it works because he really is constantly, permanently angry, even if not at the same people.



Yeah, nothing is authentic any more. But I love KT in his player guise.



I kind of like the relationship between KT and Koji because Koji does care about him - even if he cares about him as a soldier of the empire, still, that's a lot more than the rest of the world gives him.



The scene with Shunji - the way Kang To works the situation to protect Dan by getting Shunji involved while seeming to be doing the opposite - KT is not book smart but he has street-smarts in abundance and I just...oh, the dissolution of everything is so sad. The way Kang To gives Dan's well-being into Shunji's keeping without Shunji realizing that is what he is doing. Ohhhh.






OK, somebody's reading Gogol's Taras Bulba. WTFm freakshow! Who does that?




Gaksital!!!



OK, why can't Dan and Shunji be friends? This is before he joins the police? At least try, Dan! The guy has been doing everything for you. And I am not even a Shunji fan.




So, Shunji becomes a cop and Kang To's superior - to protect Dan. How ironically similar to Kang To's reasons for joining (to protect his family). We all know how well the latter turned out. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

EEE! KT and Dan scene! Finally! He freaks out she has been arrested and rushes to help only she comes out...





Every scene of theirs crackles with so much angry chemistry, I feel like an emotional vampire. Oh, KT, stop digging your own grave deeper and saying you'll kill her to her face - as if, you were all rushing to rescue her when you thought she was in trouble. And Dan's words that she wishes Gaksital lived and KT died draw so much blood - she doesn't know it, but they do. I bet KT thinks that, sometimes, in the middle of the night. But I love that she is fearless - she approaches him, even if with disdain - nobody else dares. Any contact is better than none.












I love that at the swearing-in, KT looks immensely sad. He knows what this is going to do to Shunji - everything that made him Shunji will eventually be gone.













You know what is horrible? You know all these people are doomed and yet all of them, except for Kishokai members, are sympathetic people with a core of decency somewhere. In any other time, they'd lead peaceful and productive lives but their time simply won't let them be.