Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938: Episodes 5-6

by DaebakGrits

Last week’s lighthearted adventures in babysitting give way to a scare-tastic horror story as our main antagonist reveals himself to our heroes and secretly unleashes a powerful demon upon them. Not even our antagonist could predict the consequences of his latest scheme, but don’t worry! There’s still plenty of bromance to lighten the mood — and the scary, dark corners.

 
EPISODES 5-6

It’s official: Hong-joo is my new favorite character on this drama — behind Yeon and Rang, of course. She embodies power and vulnerability, and it’s rare that we see both in our K-drama ladies. Admittedly, her unrelenting pursuit of Yeon is at times frustrating (Get over him already!), but she’s not so shameless that she loses sight of her own self-respect. Case in point: her reaction when she tracks down 1938 Yeon, and in his drugged-out state, he mistakes her for Ah-eum.

Initially, there’s a little spark of hope in her eyes as he embraces her in a back hug, but then he pitifully whispers Ah-eum’s name. My heart broke for Hong-joo as her eyes teared up in disappointment. She very easily could have taken advantage of the situation, like so many amoral second lead females have done in the past, but she finds the inner strength to walk away — but not without first smashing a piece of pottery over his head and knocking him unconscious.

Back at Myoyeongak, Yeon and Rang quickly foil the Japanese agents’ baby-napping attempt with a series of eye gouges and groin punches, but nothing deadly — not in front of the baby! Once the Japanese men are subdued, Yeon and Rang use a little fox magic to wipe their memories, but Kato knows immediately that their short-term memory loss means a powerful demon has taken up residence at Myoyeongak. Unfortunately for our heroes, one of Kato’s lackeys has a sister working at Myoyeongak, and he knows all too well that Hong-joo’s weakness is her girls.

So, of course, our bad guys kidnap one of the girls and offer up a trade: the baby in exchange for the girl. And at first, it seems like Hong-joo has double-crossed Yeon and Rang because she sneaks away into the night with the baby, and she personally begs the carrot-loving man to reveal the location of the gold mines in order to save the kidnapped girl. Thankfully, it’s all a ruse. Rang used his fox magic to transform into a baby-double, stalling for time so Yeon and Shin-joo could sneak into the police station and find out where the Japanese officers were holding Hong-joo’s girl.

Their ensuing rescue attempt is another example of this drama’s exemplary use of filler scenes to make the audience laugh, even while it delays us from reaching the next plot point. Did the undercover police infiltration need a side adventure to the barber shop? No, but watching Yeon pretend to cut the terrified Shin-joo’s hair (while the Japanese officer looked on suspiciously) was entirely welcome. Plus, there was a lot of humorous banter between them while Yeon worries (unnecessarily, it turns out) over whether or not Shin-joo’s Japanese comprehension is enough to help them fly under the radar and avoid the Japanese officers’ scrutiny.

Although Yeon and Shin-joo experienced a couple of unintended delays and were nearly caught (twice), their rescue attempt is successful, and once they have the girl in hand, Yeon updates Hong-joo by summoning a storm cloud (because cell phones don’t exist yet). At the same time, the Japanese have finished marking their map with all the gold deposits that the carrot-loving man pointed out, and they have deemed him and the baby expendable. It’s at this point that Rang decides to wisely shed his baby disguise (LOL at the CGI baby running away) and take out the Japanese soldiers. He’s outnumbered, but Hong-joo, who initially tried to leave him behind, turns around to assist her “fox-in-law.”

Hong-joo’s little tongue-in-cheek comment indicates she hasn’t given up on Yeon entirely, but after seeing the state of 1938 Yeon, it’s unclear if she still views them as two parts of the same whole or if she’s set her sights on the more-coherent-and-less-likely-to-fail-a-drug-test Yeon. Either way, she’s aware that the more put-together Yeon has traveled from another time, and her curiosity is only surpassed by her desire to see (some version of) Yeon and Moo-young resolve their differences. If anyone is going to bridge the gap between these two, it will be her.

And how convenient is it that Moo-young shows up on her doorstep to finally reveal himself to Yeon? Yeon is instantly suspicious and doubts Moo-young is the real deal because, last he knew, Taluipa had turned him into stone. Yeon relaxes a bit when Moo-young proves he’s really Yeon’s childhood friend, but when Yeon goes in for a hug, something tingles his fox senses and he accuses Moo-young of being the Masked Man. A fight ensues, and it only comes to an end when Hong-joo runs her sword through the both of them — at the same time. Like they’re two star-crossed lovers destined to die in each another’s arms. (Uh oh, is this another bromance setting sail?)

While they’re shish-kabobbed together, Hong-joo interrogates the former friends and tries to figure out why Moo-young is so hostile towards Yeon. Yeon, who is on the verge of death, coughs up blood and admits he killed Moo-young’s brother. And — in case there was any doubt — he adds that he doesn’t regret his actions. Well, so much for my initial theory that someone shape-shifted into Yeon and killed Moo-young’s brother in disguise, but let’s be real here: Yeon wouldn’t kill his best friend’s brother without a good reason. So there’s definitely more to this backstory.

Hong-joo was banking on Moo-young and his ability to heal Yeon’s injury when she stabbed them, but even she’s a bit surprised when Moo-young complies with her request. His gesture of good faith is probably mostly due to his one-sided affection for Hong-joo, but it feels like there’s a kernel of truth when he explains that he “needs” the modern day Yeon to complete his plan because he has “something” the 1938 Yeon is lacking. Moo-young’s past actions, however, make me question whether he needs Yeon alive; thus, it feels like he’s playing the role of a long-lost friend in order to appease Hong-joo and to bide time while he unleashes (yet another) horrifying demon on Myoyeongak.

So while Yeon, Hong-joo, and Moo-young spend a night on the town and pretend that all is right with their reunited little trio, Eun-ho and the girls back at Myoyeongak take a break from studying to play a spooky “game” to call upon the dead. I mean, when forced to choose between a math lesson and summoning a demon, I can kind of understand the logic, but come on, ladies. Y’all are totally aware that there is supernatural shit existing in your universe, so why tempt it?

Sure enough, whatever hellish creature Moo-young covertly unleashed at Myoyeongak answers their call and kidnaps Eun-ho. So when Yeon and his childhood friends return from their movie date, they reenact the game in order to summon the ghost and theoretically rescue Eun-ho. The problem with their plan, however, is that it’s built upon the theory that they’re dealing with a normal ghost. Since Moo-young remains tight-lipped about the real identity of the demon that took Eun-ho, their ill-informed plan results in another kidnapping. This time, Hong-joo goes missing, and since it takes an extremely powerful being to kidnap a mountain god, Yeon and crew realize they are up against something way, way worse than they initially suspected.

The demon in question is Jang San-beom, and even though Moo-young acquired the means to attract said demon from the KING OF FIVE PATHS (Im Ki-hong) and unleashed Jang San-beom on Myoyeongak, Moo-young wants to personally rectify his mistake and rescue Hong-joo. So after they learn that Jang San-beom takes women because he’s searching for a bride, the two men prepare for the ritual that will take them to Jang San-beom and — hopefully — reunite them with Eun-ho and Hong-joo.

Rang is appropriately distrustful of Moo-young and offers to go with Yeon on the rescue mission instead, but Yeon would rather keep his enemy nearby than place his brother in danger. Not only is Yeon still suspicious that Moo-young is the Masked Man, but he can’t believe it’s a coincidence that both Moo-young and Jang San-beom arrived at Myoyeongak at nearly the same time. Although Rang only looks marginally appeased, it’s comforting to know Yeon hasn’t foolishly allowed past feelings of friendship and camaraderie to cloud his judgment.

I was particularly pleased with this scene because, as much as I love the comedic bromance between Rang and Yeon, this was a vulnerable moment for Rang. He subtly let down his walls and revealed his concern for Yeon’s well-being. Whether he wants to admit it to himself or not, Rang is softening under Yeon’s attention and affection, which is going to make it all the more difficult when Yeon eventually returns to the future. (Ugh, this season is going to crush my heart, too, isn’t it?)

And so, the ritual is performed, and when Yeon and Moo-young come to, they appear to have traveled to the Joseon era. Except, the streets and buildings appear empty, but further exploration leads them to some dead bodies and a young girl cowering in fear. They ask the girl to lead them to Jang San-beom, but she tricks them and they are knocked unconscious instead. When they regain their wits, they’re bound and prepped for beheading, but instead of dying after meeting the sharp end of a pair of swords, they wake up (again) and discover that they are on the set for a drama production entitled Jang San-beom’s Bride. Yeon and Moo-young are appropriately confused, and I’m right there with them.

Unfortunately, we have another cliffhanger on our hands, but I’m seeing a surprising trend with this drama and how it’s using the (more interesting) monsters-of-the-week to keep us in suspense. Meanwhile, the overarching story is mostly background fodder, which is a bit worrisome when we’ve now officially reached the half-way mark. Yes, there was some momentum with Kato this week — we now have confirmation he’s some sort of human-eating demon — but I’m not particularly invested in him or Shin-joo’s little side escapade as the newest member of the Independence Volunteer Corps. So, once again, if I had one complaint about this drama, it’s that the story is not utilizing the setting well, and I have to wonder why they selected this time period if it was going to be mostly irrelevant.

My opinion of the rest of the drama hasn’t changed, though, and I’m having way too much fun with the rest of the story and characters. Yes, even Yeo-hee. She may be blander than an unseasoned catfish, but her innocent little romance with Rang is the instigator of some of the drama’s best moments. Case in point: Yeon and Shin-joo crashing Rang and Yeo-hee’s second date — not that Rang realized it was a date. That man is absolutely clueless, which just adds another layer to this particular romance’s amusing charm, in my opinion. Honestly, the most unbelievable aspect of their pairing is not their chemistry or Rang’s obliviousness; it’s Rang’s innocence. I find it very hard to believe that a fox like him managed to resist his more… animalistic nature — if you know what I mean. (Who am I kidding? You know what I mean.)

 
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