The Tale of Lady Ok: Episodes 1-2

by Dramaddictally

The Tale of Lady Ok begins with a bang, giving us a string of deaths, an ongoing struggle between high and low houses, and the seeds of a romance that is sure to take its sweet time to bloom. But the best part? If you’ve been jonesing for a kick-butt character to root for, this heroine is the one.

 
EPISODES 1-2

We start near the end, with our heroine being accused of posing as a noblewoman, while actually being born a serf. She’s taken to a platform where crowds of people circle her and begin to throw stones. As she stands there, awaiting her fate, she looks off into the distance and we go back in time.

And thus begins our tale of a plucky serf girl who dreams of escaping with her father to the seaside, where they can leave the life of servitude behind. Her name is GOODEOK (Im Ji-yeon), meaning “maggot” — a label given to her by the terrible tyrant she serves, noblewoman KIM SO-HYE (Ha Yul-ri).

Goodeok and So-hye are around the same age, and the former has been serving the latter her whole life. While So-hye threatens to break Goodeok’s legs and humiliate her, Goodeok doesn’t let it get her down. She sneaks out to earn money at every chance, and puts each cent toward her runaway fund.

We learn quickly that Goodeok has a talent for mimicry and only needs to see something done once or twice in order to carry it off herself. She can read, write, and embroider — which is unusual for someone of her status — and she handles all these tasks for So-hye. Not only does this show us just how smart and ambitious our heroine is, it lets us know that So-hye isn’t much of a catch — which is pertinent information when So-hye gets into marriage talks with a book-loving artist called SONG SEO-IN (Choo Young-woo).

When we meet Seo-in, he comes off as a rebel who speaks his mind and refuses to follow the sword-fighting path set out for him. Instead, he’s into literature, dance, painting and — according to him — just generally keeping his hands soft (hehe). Our first meeting of the minds occurs when Goodeok is at the town marketplace selling peanuts (dressed as a man, so she’s allowed to earn dough), and Seo-in is there, dressed as a servant. This leads to a mishap where Goodeok speaks openly, talks back to him, and even unwittingly slings insults.

Later, when Goodeok sees Seo-in in his regular duds, she thinks she’s in trouble for mouthing off to a nobleman. But it seems Seo-in has taken a liking to her, and he leads her to a far-off spot where the two can watch a street performance from a distance and not be bothered. Instantly, they bond over books. He’s read every tale available — and in all likelihood she’s the one who transcribed any novels he’s had his hands on.

They continue to speak openly and when Seo-in mentions The Tale of Hong Gil-dong (about the illegitimate son of a nobleman who leaves home to become a bandit that rises up against the rich), Goodeok says that it’s a source of joy for people like her because it’s something that would never happen in reality. “People want stories where the poor and miserable find happiness.” And suddenly we have a sense of where our tale is headed.

This is a turning point for Seo-in, who takes her sentiment as inspiration for his own writing. When he asks Goodeok her dream, she says she wants to die of old age and to grow old with dignity. That’s what her plan of running away to the seaside with her father is all about. This is eye-opening for Seo-in and in return for her insight, he removes a bead from his gat (evidently worth a pretty price) and gifts it to her.

Now, about the marriage talks. When Seo-in finds out his parents have set him up with So-hye (whom he’s never met), he’s already bored by the idea. But after he and Goodeok get chatting, and she tells him that So-hye isn’t much of a reader (and also buried Goodeok’s mom alive when it was clear she was too ill to continue working — yeah, it’s that kind of story), he despises So-hye. And so, when the two finally meet, Seo-in — not smooth in the slightest — brings up all this unflattering stuff and then calls off the possible engagement.

This is when shit goes crazy. First, Goodeok happens to be hiding in Seo-in’s room when this conversation takes place. Second, So-hye senses that this isn’t just a rumor that Seo-in heard, but that “someone” must have told him. So-hye moves around the room until she discovers Goodeok hiding behind a screen. She accuses her of being involved with Seo-in, which both she and Seo-in deny, and then there’s yelling, hitting, and quick movements, until Goodeok is being dragged outside.

The next thing we know, Goodeok is rolled in a straw mat and beaten almost to death, with her father forced to stand by. So-hye believes that Goodeok sabotaged her marriage on purpose, and as punishment, Goodeok is sent to So-hye’s father’s quarters to be “taken.” But our heroine is not one to lay down and die. She enters the room with a small scythe hidden in her dress, and when the moment is right, she jams it in the neck of the dude who “owns” her.

As you can imagine, now is the time to put that runaway plan into practice. She signals her father, who meets her in the woods, and as they’re chased by a lamp-lit mob, some other servants help them escape. Now, they’re on the run with a bounty on their heads and sketches of their faces in every town. And all Goodeok wants is to make it to the seaside.

But, it’s not to be. As they cross treacherous lands, Goodeok’s sickly father begins to feel like a burden on his daughter. When they stop at an inn to sleep for the night, he abandons her, reasoning that she’ll be better off on her own. But Goodeok won’t go on without her dad and instead takes work at the inn, with the wonderful woman who owns the place (Kim Jung-young), as she awaits his return.

A year passes by and he never comes back. But one day, Lady OK TAE-YOUNG (Sohn Na-eun) comes to stay at the inn with her own father, and she strikes up a fast friendship with Goodeok. At first, our heroine doesn’t know how to take it — why is someone so high status being nice? Tae-young responds that she was born with privileges that she didn’t have to work for, and she feels a responsibility to be kind to people who didn’t have the same. In fact, she wants to become a legal advocate to help people who can’t read the law for themselves.

At this, Goodeok reveals her own life story and by the time Tae-young and her father are scheduled to leave, it’s decided that Goodeok will accompany them — not as a servant — but as Tae-young’s friend, who will be an adopted daughter of the family. As they’re about to head out, Tae-young shares with Goodeok her clothing and jewelry, giving them the appearance of equals.

Just then, a group of bandits sends flaming arrows into the inn, setting everything ablaze, and proceeds to murder literally every person on the property. The two women watch as Tae-young’s father dies, along with the innkeeper. And when they find themselves trapped in a burning room with the roof collapsing on top of Tae-young, she pushes Goodeok out the side of the building, telling her to live her dream — and then Lady Ok perishes in the flames.

When Goodeok awakens, she’s being cared for by a group of women who turn out to be the grandmother and servants of Tae-young. Since they haven’t seen Tae-young in a long time — and Goodeok is wearing Tae-young’s precious ring — there’s a case of mistaken identity. And it’s easy for Goodeok to fall into character because Tae-young has recounted her entire life to her.

However, our heroine comes clean right away when she and GRANDMA (Kim Mi-sook) are alone. She feels horribly guilty about the five-second impersonation and is ready to be punished, but reveals that she knows who the thieves are that murdered everyone at the inn. Grandma takes her to the authorities to tell the story, but she has to tell it as if she’s Tae-young — who would believe her otherwise? Grandma needs her to live as Tae-young, just until the thieves are caught.

And so the stage is set. Goodeok will play the part of Tae-young, keeping her head and face covered any time she’s in public, with only Grandma and one servant, MAK-SHIM (Kim Jae-hwa), knowing her real identity. And since she can read and write, she plays the part quite believably.

But when the thieves are caught and Goodeok bravely identifies and stands up to them, and then turns around and speaks kindly to the servants, Grandma decides she wants Goodeok to play the part forever. Goodeok protests, but Grandma counters that it was Tae-young’s last wish. The catch is that Goodeok will have to keep her face covered in public for the rest of her life (yeesh).

Then we get a two-year time jump and we find out what our male lead has been up to all this time. Essentially, just as Goodeok left town three years ago, Seo-in learned that he was the son of a gisaeng that is father took up with. Following his antics with So-hye, the woman that he thought was his mother (but always hated him) wants him expelled from their house. He decides to leave on his own and, on his way out, he pays the bounty hunters all his money to not bring in Goodeok, even if they find her. “She’s the one who gave me freedom. I want to contribute to her freedom in return.”

He then sets out to look for his birth mother, but discovers she’s already passed. With nowhere else to go, he decides to stay and live at the gisaeng house, where he learns to be a great entertainer, dancing and performing, like the women who live there. Now, he’s a famous storyteller, traveling from town to town (and driving the ladies mad) doing hugely theatrical performances of his romance stories.

As luck would have it, he arrives to Goodeok’s town and she hears from her servant/friend, BAEK-YI (Yoon Seo-ah), about this mysterious man, who’s now known as Cheon Seung-hwi. His famous novel tells the story of how he and Goodeok met — in which the nobleman falls in love with the serf. And while the story is familiar to Goodeok, that last bit is a surprise.

Goodeok and Baek-yi attend his performance and Goodeok temporarily removes her head cover, allowing Seung-hwi to spot her in the audience. But then she runs off. Baek-yi knows something is up and she finds a way to get our two leads together, where they stand face-to-face for the first time in years. And then they begin to quarrel (and we get some comic relief).

He confesses that he fell for her at their first meeting, and she counters that they only met a few times, how can it be love? He argues that the depth of his feelings have nothing to do with how many times they met. And then she calls him selfish: he knows she’s in hiding, how can he write a book about her and perform it all over? He’s appalled at her anger. “My heart has been burning for you for three years! How can you be so cold?!” (Haha.)

She’s still carrying around the gat ornament, but she says it’s a reminder of the only happy moment from her prior life, not a symbol of her longing for him. She’s happy to know he’s a storyteller who makes people forget their worries, but now that they’ve caught up, it’s better if they never meet again.

Seung-hwi completely ignores this and goes to find her the next day. He takes her to the ocean, like she’s been dreaming of, and asks her to run away with him. They can look for her father and then return to the seaside to live as themselves, without covering their faces. She doesn’t answer, but he says he’ll wait for her at his inn.

After their meeting, Goodeok returns to her house and finds Baek-yi dead. The servants, including Mak-shim, who’s Baek-yi’s mother, are gathered around saying it was made to look self-inflicted, but it’s clearly not. The story comes out that a guy of higher status was pursuing Baek-yi and it’s likely his family that’s behind the death. Goodeok is furious and raring to go to the authorities. But the servants understand they have no power, and also, Mak-shim is worried Goodeok will be found out. She tells Goodeok to run off with Seung-hwi and be happy.

Goodeok thinks of Tae-young and how she told her to live for herself from now on. In that instant, she decides to return the gat ornament to Seung-hwi and not go with him. She tells him they should forget each other — because now she’s really going to become Lady Ok. (Yes!)

The episodes end with Mak-shim going to find the boy who was pursuing Baek-yi and blame him for her death. She’s screaming for him to come outside, but ends up getting beaten by his ruthless mother. Goodeok arrives — showing her face in public for the first time — saying she will protect the ones she must protect. She brings the authorities and it’s one side’s word against the other, but they decide to reinvestigate the death and arrest the boy’s mother. The officer asks Goodeok, “What’s your name?” And she responds, “My name is Ok Tae-young.”

Damn, I love this. The villains are extra-despicable and easy to hate. The heroine is the right mix of outspoken and humble. The status differences are played up for intensity and righteousness. The stakes just keeping getting higher. And the hero… eh, he’ll come around. He’s likable enough, but really this is Goodeok’s tale. And right now, all I want to do is watch her kick butt.

RELATED POSTS

• Premiere Watch: The Tale of Lady Ok
• Choo Young-woo’s stolen moments with Lady Ok, Im Ji-yeon
• News bites: November 17, 2024
• News bites: November 13, 2024
• Everyone wants a piece of Lady Ok in new teaser
• The Tale of Lady Ok unfolds with Im Ji-yeon
• Runaway serf Im Ji-yeon steps into The Tale of Lady Ok
• Sung Dong-il and Kim Mi-sook to join Lady Ok’s family
• Im Ji-yeon and Choo Young-woo tell The Life of Lady Ok
• Im Ji-yeon
• Choo Young-woo