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My Dearest: Episodes 11-12
by alathe
It’s been a long wait (okay, several weeks), but we’re finally back! After a seriously messy breakup, our leads have gone their sad, separate ways. Still, both are piecing together a life they can be proud of — or at the very least, not ashamed. But they’re soon faced with a daunting question: when those around them are suffering, what are their responsibilities? And do they ever end?
EPISODES 11-12
It’s rough when you’ve been through the long-distance breakup of a lifetime, and it’s centuries too early to stalk your ex on Instagram. All you can really do — at least if you’re Jang-hyun — is get roundly drunk each night, wallowing in desperate fantasies. Meanwhile, every day is horrific. Joseon prisoners of war are chased down by mercenaries, then dragged back into servitude and torture. Jang-hyun takes his usual place in those nightmarish fields, feigning complicity, whilst sabotaging the hunters where he can — especially his mysterious blue-robed frenemy.
One day, he sees her race after an old man whose cut heels are a mess of blood. He’s shielding several terrified children. Hurtling across the grass, Jang-hyun beats her to it — only to come face to face with his unlikely father figure, the indomitable Goo Yang-chun! And just when we thought we’d seen every shade of heartbreak on this poor man’s face. Luckily, he’s in a position to help: our masked mercenary’s feeling merciful, and when Jang-hyun asks her to look the other way… well, technically, she doesn’t say anything. But she does step aside.
With blood streaming down his forehead, and a baby in his arms, Yang-chun doesn’t hide his disgust at the thought that Jang-hyun has turned collaborator. Naturally, nothing could be further from the case. According to Goo Jam, this is all thanks to Ryang-eum’s weapons-grade puppy-dog eyes… but let’s be real, our hero was never going to sit by and let people suffer. Long story short, his home now shelters dozens of former captives, all painstakingly purchased via his dwindling silver supplies, under the pretense of selling them for profit.
Still, despite his clear-ish conscience, he’s not in the most stable of places. Neither, for obvious reasons, is Yang-chun. The latter tries to distract himself with wine, women and song — but none of these quell the nightmares. Jang-hyun, for his part, plasters on a cheerful face, then weirds out a nearby gisaeng by asking her to call him an ugly piece of rock. (Granted, she’s probably heard weirder.) That night, he and Yang-chun slump together on the stairs. At least they can be not-okay together.
The problem with being a decent human being during a military occupation is that you can never really stop. When Jang-hyun hears women screaming in the palace grounds, he’s urged to turn a blind eye. Inconveniently for him, he actually does happen to be a good person. He turns. He looks. He sees an all-too-familiar face. It’s the happy-go-lucky teenage gisaeng from all those episodes ago: Young-rang. She and her fellow captives have been forced to serve the Qing prince. They live in fear of his sadistic consort, who delights in having boiling water poured over the heads of her rivals. Something must be done.
Neither Goo Jam nor Yang-chun are thrilled at risking their lives for women they deem “tainted by barbarians.” Plugging his ears against the background strain of misogynistic grumbling, Jang-hyun begins plotting a rescue. Part one goes off without a hitch: Young-rang and the others are smuggled out of the palace in wheelbarrows full of paper. But that same night, more prisoners cross the dreaded field where bounty hunters lurk. They end up cornered. Yang-chun rises to the occasion, fending off the hunters with a single spear — and occasionally, his teeth. Soon, Jang-hyun comes racing to the rescue, in a whirl of daggers and protective rage.
Our heroes emerge battered but unbroken. Before the women begin the perilous journey back to Joseon, Jang-hyun faces Young-rang. No man in his right mind, he says, would call you tainted. Are you tainted if a dog bites you? No. Fiercely kind, he wipes her tears — and as she leaves, he silently wishes her luck.
Back in Hanyang, life goes on. Everyone copes in their own ways. Gil-chae is raking in cash, and steadfastly refusing to acknowledge a single issue in her marriage. Ryang-eum is giving heterosexuality a shot, in an awkward situationship with a woman he can’t bear to touch. But crisis strikes when, following pressure from the Khan, the king issues a horrifying edict. All escaped Joseon prisoners of war are to be caught and returned to Qing.
And so, the hunt begins. A deeply upsetting montage ensues: faced with the prospect of being violently dragged from their homes again, many choose to mutilate or kill themselves. Due to the steep bounty on their heads, their neighbors turn traitor. And no one — even our filthy rich heroine — is above suspicion. Gil-chae ends up in a legal quagmire for harboring a former prisoner: an old man who begs her to save, if not him, then his grandson. She’s no saint. She prevaricates. She’s terrified of ruining the life she’s built. But after a few hours’ in her thinking barn, she knocks the dust off her conscience, and bribes an official to set the boy free.
Alas, this triggers a series of unfortunate events that lead to serious jeopardy. The officials sent to recapture escaped concubines have hit upon an ingenious solution: substitute random bystanders who bear faint resemblance to the previous victims, and hope the Qing prince is too distracted to care. And what better distraction than the lovely, legally implicated Gil-chae? Gil-chae and Jong Jong are seized in the street, right before the crying child’s eyes. Soon, they’re back in the nightmare scenario they never thought they’d revisit: bound, held at sword point, making their exhausted way across the border.
Elsewhere, chaos hits the court. The crown prince is informed that from now on, members of the Joseon embassy must farm for themselves. This is hampered by the fact that they’ve only the vaguest sense of which way up a rake is meant to go. Well — all besides the crown princess, who actually paid attention when her mother ran a household. Regardless, they need farmers, and fast. Jang-hyun sees an opportunity to rescue more of his countrymen. Why not use the captives from Joseon?
And so, despite warnings, the crown prince steps into the slave market. It’s sheer hell. Blood-stained and filthy, people are beaten in pens. Others are dragged by the neck, bound in stocks. There are children in cages. Only Jang-hyun refuses to avert his eyes, voicing a truth none of his companions dare acknowledge: this has been happening for years. A woman is dragged onto a stand. Her captor squeezes her jaw to show her teeth, as the crowd jeers for her to be stripped. At this, the prince breaks, bolting from the crowd.
How, he asks, could a Joseon woman bear this humiliation and choose to stay alive? How, Jang-hyun snaps back, could the Joseon king bow to his enemies and choose to stay alive? Why is only one situation deemed pitiable? In a flash, the prince’s blade is at his neck. If you truly believe, says Jang-hyun, with icy calm, that those people should die — kill me here and now. The prince wavers. The blade drops.
Later, once both have had time to compose themselves, Jang-hyun rewards him with honesty. A long time ago, he confesses, someone I knew chose to die rather than live humiliated. I was furious. I didn’t understand. I came to Shenyang because I wanted to know: how much could you endure? And yet, you have done well. You have endured honorably. So please, keep going — and I’ll be comforted for hating the one who gave up her life. To his pleasant shock, the prince actually listens. Whether due to lack of silver, or — more likely — a strong sense of sympathy, the farmers Jang-hyun purchases are all old men. With his own fate uncertain, the prince cannot promise them their freedom. But he earns one of Jang-hyun’s genuine smiles as he pledges that if he ever sees his home again, they’ll be there with him.
Meanwhile, on the journey to Shenyang, Gil-chae summons the same strength she did in wartime, to protect those around her. She trades a costly ornament to let a dehydrated Jong Jong ride in the cart — even letting her captor fish it out of her dress. The one, futile hope that keeps her going is the notion that they’re different from their fellow prisoners: they weren’t captured in the first place. That, and a secret note written in her own blood, because our girl is hardcore. The latter will eventually make its way back to her husband.
In Shenyang, they kneel in the square. Members of the Joseon court cluster to watch, having been ordered to do so by the Khan. As ever, only Jang-hyun refuses to avert his eyes, looking each atrocity in the face. Escapees are dragged to the front. Blood spurts as heels are cut. One of them is the man Jang-hyun helped smuggle across the border. Amid this horror, his eyes catch on a green silk dress. Then, the top of Gil-chae’s head. Something half-readable flickers in his face — but by the time he looks away, it’s uncertain if he recognizes her.
The women are ushered to the palace. With dawning horror, Gil-chae pleads with a Joseon concubine to speak on her behalf. Doesn’t anyone get it? She’s noble — she’s not supposed to be here! It’s hardly the greatest pitch, but after several rounds of pestering, the concubine relents. Later, when the Qing prince and his entourage pass, Gil-chae throws herself before him. She reels off the sentences in his language that the concubine had taught her. But she’s been the victim of a cruel prank. The words she speaks? Please let me serve his majesty. It is my only wish.
Instantly, she’s hauled to her feet by the same concubine who terrorized Young-rang. The boiling water looms. But just before the torture begins, she receives an unwelcome reprieve. The prince has selected her to serve him. Gil-chae is tugged away, bathed and inspected for blemishes. Desperate measures are needed. There’s one thing her pride won’t allow, and that’s contacting Jang-hyun for help. Still, she’s willing to abandon vanity. Alone, she smashes a pot in an attempt to scar her face. She manages just a dainty scrape at her temple, but it’s enough — enough, that is, for a ticket to hell on earth. She and Jong Jong will be sold at the slave market.
Caged and bloodied, the women cling to one another. Buyers leer. Joseon captives are paraded before shrieking crowds. Amongst this, Gil-chae peers through the bars to see the old man who worked for her — the one whose grandchild she saved. Suddenly, a cry splits the market: smallpox! A man collapses, foaming at the mouth. The slave-seller comes to investigate, before being tackled. It’s an escape! Prisoners flee in every direction. The old man, generous even in misery, smashes the lock on Gil-chae’s cage.
Meanwhile, Jang-hyun journeys back through the fields, where he spent the night a) purchasing a cow, and b) regaling a bemused farmer’s daughter with a lengthy monologue on heartbreak. He spots mercenaries riding through the grass. They’re in hot pursuit of another crowd of prisoners. Hurtling into action, he rides out to distract the blue-masked hunter. He watches her notch an arrow. Following her gaze, he sees a flash of blue and green silk. Just as Gil-chae turns to see his face, he raises his own bow.
Folks, they have hit the ground running with this gorgeous set of episodes. Once again, they’ve succeeded in combining a vast sense of scope with a focus on the plight of individuals. I love how the narrative never forgets the people we’ve met on the way, or the consequences they experience. The captive Jang-hyun helped escape is recaptured after the king’s edict. The girl who was too frightened to run with Young-rang is punished in her place. The old man and his child never disappear from sight. Instead, everything is interwoven, and minor characters are always afforded sympathy.
These episodes truly showcased the misogyny permeating both Qing and Joseon society. It’s a nasty blow, the reminder that plenty of Joseon men think the female captives would be better off dead. Similarly, social hierarchy is always at the fore. This week, I couldn’t stop thinking about a line from Mr. Sunshine, where a noblewoman fighting for her country’s independence is asked, “Who lives in the Joseon you’re trying to save? Can butchers live? Can slaves live?” This show is asking similar questions. Why are certain people shown more compassion than others? Why must subjects suffer for the sake of a king?
As for the final, million-dollar question… did Jang-hyun recognize Gil-chae and Jong Jong at the square? My heart says yes. There was something in his expression — it was crystal clear! Perhaps he thought he was seeing things. Or perhaps he’s been orchestrating a plan for their escape behind the scenes. One thing’s for sure: I have faith in my Namgoong-Min-reading skills. And so, for our final screenshot, I will finish with one of Jang-hyun’s fantasies, because if I’m an overly optimistic romantic… well, at least I’m in good company.
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