52

Knight Flower: Episodes 3-4

The adventures of our moonlighting heroine continue this week! Our hero closes in on her identity, and sparks fly between them. We also learn more about the lives of some of our supporting characters, and our main villain is revealed.

 
EPISODES 3-4

We resume where we left off last week with Yeo-hwa in Soo-ho’s arms after he “saves” her from the hungry bandits. Although Yeo-hwa is currently out as Lord Seok’s widowed daughter-in-law, she would rather not spend more time with the relentless officer who is dead set on unmasking her moonlighting identity. So she turns down Soo-ho’s offer to escort her to the temple.

To further get him off her back, masked Yeo-hwa sneaks into the capital defense office to return Minister Yeom’s tiger painting, but Soo-ho creeps up on her and they engage in a battle of wits and swords. When push turns to shove, Soo-ho’s hanbok strap comes away in Yeo-hwa’s hand, and hello there, distracting abs! *Fans self* Yeo-hwa manages to escape after feasting her eyes for a few seconds, but Soo-ho is NOT okay afterwards. His dreams are plagued with visions of Yeo-hwa in all her forms: as the masked lady, the veiled hat lady, and Lord Seok’s daughter-in-law.

Soo-ho shares his confusion about the three women who “cannot be the same person, but look the same” with his subordinate, BI-CHAN (Jung Yong-ju), and Bi-chan comes to the natural conclusion that Soo-ho is in love with the three-in-one lady. Lol. Soo-ho firmly denies it, but he’s obviously very interested in Yeo-hwa one way or the other. By the way, apart from Minister Yeom, Pil-jik is also suspiciously interested in the tiger painting.

Knight Flower: Episodes 3-4

Minister Yeom’s wife, LADY OH (Seo Yi-sook), invites Lady Yoo to participate in a relief outreach with other members of the Moran Gathering. Lady Yoo is reluctant to help the poor, but she changes her tune when she hears that the outreach is supported by the dowager, and that her rival, the Minister of Personnel’s wife, will be in attendance. Both women want their daughter-in-laws to snag the coveted Chastity Gate title, but at least unlike the Minister of Personnel’s wife, Lady Yoo’s greed hasn’t reached the extent of goading her daughter-in-law to commit suicide for the title.

While the Moran ladies engage in another round of the daughter-in-law wars, Lady Oh and Yeo-hwa get down to business at the charity event. When one of the weak houses in the relief camp collapses, Yeo-hwa rushes in to shield the granny inside, and Soo-ho holds up the roof for them to escape. Everyone rushes to the scene of the collapse, but Lady Yoo takes one glance at Yeo-hwa and scolds her for being out and about without her head covering. Wow! Her daughter-in-law almost died, but she’s more concerned about modesty.

It is only when Lady Yoo hears that the dowager is sure to praise Yeo-hwa for her heroic act that she puts up a reluctant show of concern for her daughter-in-law. And when the dowager finally rewards Yeo-hwa, Lady Yoo keeps the reward in her possession as the family’s heirloom rather than give it to Yeo-hwa. Tsk.

Knight Flower: Episodes 3-4

We are treated to another Soo-ho shirtless scene, but I have no complaints about fan service that moves the plot. Plus we get to see the brotherly bromance between Soo-ho and Yoon-hak when Yoon-hak dresses his brother’s bruises sustained from the collapsed house.

Touched by the starving people’s plight, a masked Yeo-hwa returns to the relief camp to drop off some more rice for the people, and she learns that quite a number of the kids at the camp have disappeared. She runs into Pil-jik’s thugs who are searching for one of the missing kids, and offers to come with them in exchange for the kid. Meanwhile, Soo-ho — who also returned to the camp to help the granny fix her house — hears that the masked lady is around, and he shows up midway into her negotiation with the thugs.

Soo-ho and Yeo-hwa team up to beat up the thugs, and afterwards have a face-off of their own. Soo-ho manages to pin Yeo-hwa to a wall, and with one deep gaze into her eyes, he finally gets the answer he has been looking for: the three-in-one lady is indeed Lord Seok’s daughter-in-law! Okay, that was fast. But again, I’m not complaining. Yeo-hwa headbutts him to get away, but he doesn’t chase after her. In fact, he prevents Bi-chan from spotting her, and it seems like Yeo-hwa’s secret is safe with him. At least for now.

Soo-ho returns the tiger painting to Minister Yeom, and Yeom holds him responsible for a crack in the crossbar because he failed to catch the thief. Sheesh! What did they say about good deeds and punishment? Soo-ho heads to Myeongdo inn to get a replacement crossbar, and there, he meets masked Yeo-hwa who’s visiting So-woon to inform her that Pil-jik has added human trafficking to his list of crimes. (By the way, one of the crimes on his list is the attempt on So-woon’s life some years ago.)

Yeo-hwa and Soo-ho bicker over the tiger painting, and end up having a picturesque moment when the crossbar comes loose and petals from inside rain on them. Hmmm. There are petals hidden inside the crossbar of a painting that Pil-jik is interested in. How romantic strange! Yeo-hwa reluctantly shares the info about Pil-jik’s trafficking ring with Soo-ho, because the case is bigger than what she and So-woon can handle on their own. In return, he tells her to stay out of it because the capital defense office will handle it according to the law. Pssh. Not him kicking her off the case she brought to him!

Yeo-hwa is not one to fold her arms and take instructions from anyone, so she visits Pil inn for an investigation of her own in her newest disguise: a male hanbok complete with facial hair! LMAO! In the meantime, Soo-ho arrests Pil-jik for questioning, and when the news filters into the palace, Lord Seok is uneasy. Hmmm.

Knight Flower: Episodes 3-4

Minister Yeom pulls strings to get Pil-jik released, and the Capital Defense office is rendered unable to make a move against him for a while. Yoon-hak is not a fan of his brother being the face of the anti-Pil-jik movement especially since Soo-ho has no hard evidence. Yoon-hak advises him to collect evidence one at a time so he can take Pil-jik down in one fell swoop, and to be careful while at it — a warning Soo-ho definitely needs since he is now on Pil-jik’s hit list.

Pil-jik is emboldened by his connection to people in power, and as the week comes to an end, his biggest connection is unsurprisingly revealed to be Lord Seok. Of course Lord Seok is the big bad! And of course, he and Pil-jik were at the forefront of whatever happened 15 years ago! I don’t know how involved Seok is with Pil-jik’s merchant guild, but it cannot be good for both of them now that Yeo-hwa and Soo-ho are digging into the business.

The 15-year-old mystery involves the death of the previous king, the death of the head of the king’s guard (Soo-ho’s biological father), and the disappearance of the other guards — one of which includes Yeo-hwa’s brother. Over the years, the king and Yoon-hak have attempted to locate the missing guards, but they haven’t had much luck. Still, they’re not giving up because one of the guards left the palace with the late king’s jade tablet, and the person might be the key to uncovering the truth about what really happened that day.

Some other things we learned this week include: Minister Yeom the scum is an abusive husband. Lady Oh’s mother had an affair with a servant after her husband died, and Pil-jik is most likely the product of the union. Minister Yeom doesn’t seem to have a clue that there were petals in his painting, but Lady Oh seems to know what these petals are. Hmmm.

We also learnt that 12 years ago, Yeo-hwa ran away from home and spotted Yeon-seon dying on the street. Yeo-hwa couldn’t abandon her or run away with her, so she returned home with Yeon-seon. She taught Yeon-seon how to read and write, and was the first person to pay her for her skills. An industrious Yeon-seon has since made so much money off her many skills and investments that she can become a successful peddler if she decides to join a merchant guild. But for now, Yeon-seon doesn’t want to leave Yeo-hwa’s side.

Perhaps the drama made sure to inform us that Yeon-seon is not a slave because of whatever is being set up between her and Yoon-hak. He recognized her during the hungry bandits incident after just one previous interaction at the bookshop, and they’ve run into each other a few times since then. The adventures of the royal secretary and the commoner girl sounds like something out of a Joseon romance novel. But hey, maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself with this theory.

Knight Flower: Episodes 3-4

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , , , , ,

52

Required fields are marked *

I am bowled over by the gusto with which Honey Lee plays this role. Even something as simple as stepping out disguised as a man, the joy she takes in this little freedom is so darn pleasurable to watch. Yup, totes fallin for her—as is our male lead. I can’t speak for the OG, but this Sheriff is taking a shining to our Robin Hood. Sure, he plays it straight, but we see that twinkle in his eyes, those little smiles. And I’m pretty sure she won’t be too far behind (Wang! 😂).

While this show is just so fuuuntastic, it does make all the abuse stand out in greater contrast. It was particularly hard to watch the Finance Minister’s wife being beaten and the “choice” our other widow faces. However, it will be so satisfying to see these evildoers get their comeuppance.

I liked how they layered the father-in-law: lovely to his DIL and wife, hinting at his true nature in the court, before fully revealing his evil self in his last scene. It makes me wonder if they will add more complexity to the MIL when she figures out who her husband really is. (Tho I don’t think I really want a redemption arc for her.)

Amongst my gripes, I’ve been a little bored by the stock evil Pil-jik, but seeing him as just another cog in this awful hierarchy might make it a little more interesting.

I just hope all these dark elements—and we haven’t even gotten to the grand mystery—don’t overwhelm the fun. It’s the show’s secret sauce; don’t dilute it too much.

23
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

❤ 🫰 I love your description of the drama as "fuuuntastic". Yes, drama please remember that.

4
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love me some evil Kim Sang-joong. Pil-jik is your typical cartoonish baddie wanna-be in most sageuks.

8
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

It gave me flashbacks to AOS2.

6
reply

Required fields are marked *

Her using her moments of open freedom in disguise to finish the wine and snacks was so delightful to watch.

I like the actor for Pil Jik and he's been good in other things, but his character here is pretty one note sneering evil, probably bcs the father in law is the multi-faceted evil role, and I'm not interested in it. I just look forward to him getting his comeuppance.

I'm hoping hard too that it doesn't lose the comedy that makes it such a fun experience to watch. They've managed an interesting balance of strong comic moments with some of the very dark bits, i hope they keep it up.

7
reply

Required fields are marked *

Loved both episodes, the comedy continues to be top notch and I'm very glad for it because there is so much underlying darkness with the social structure of the story. Kudos to the writers and very definitely Honey lee for managing to make it feel like a proper mix of comedy and drama (and romance!) given that the two episodes also contained brutal domestic abuse and instigations of suicide.

I loved every scene of Yeo Hwa and Soo Ho together, they have excellent chemistry and I love that the writers had Soo Ho figuring out who she is and kind of working with her. Credit to him for trying to bring Pil Jik to justice the right way, but he's probably already learning the sad truth about being righteous in a world where money and power rules the law and I hope he will start working with Yeo Hwa more to get justice a different way when the law won't suffice.

Yeo Hwa and Yeon Seon's bond is really charming too, I love how she doesn't want to leave because Yeo Hwa won't be able to visit, and how clever she is and manages to be a perfect assistant for Yeo Hwa's undercover heroics.

Soo Ho getting offended when she said she didn't care if the goon killed him during the confrontation with Pil Jik's men, Yeo Hwa's eyes popping out like a cartoon wolf at Soo Ho's abs and the hilarious epilogue where all she could see was his abs, her amazing transformation into a mustached nobleman enjoying her night off with some wine and snacks before getting to business, Soo Ho's bizarrely funny daydream about a roof vaulting Yeo Hwa, these were all so good. I hope the show continues to keep the light/sweet/fun moments even when the drama gears up more.

The mothers in law continue to be horrendous, I wonder if the other widow will play some part too from now on, or if we're going to be seeing a tragic end for her, though I hope not. I also don't care for whatever romance they seem to be setting up with Soo Ho's brother and Yeo Hwa's assistant. She's too cool for that, and his storyline is better kept with the king and Soo Ho, I like their brotherly moments.

The big bad reveal was the most unsurprising thing, but I am curious to know what happened with Yeo Hwa's brother, and if he's going to return alive.

14
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I’m also not feeling the chemistry between Yeon-seon and Yoon-hak. But the drama seems determined… Maybe it’ll get better. 🤞🏽

4
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oh, I see it at least from him. She's sure that the class distinction would prohibit it so won't give it a 3rd thought...although she has been a bit wonderous about him.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yeo-hwa not even waiting for the goon to finish his threat of killing Sooho before she interrupts him to say "I don't care", followed immediately by Sooho exclaiming how mean that was a perfect one-two punch.

Soo Ho getting offended when she said she didn't care if the goon killed him during the confrontation with Pil Jik's me

4
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes, for sure we had to be set up for Yeon Seon being able to end up with Hyung, I was thinking she might even turn out to be a lost (or stolen) noble daughter.
Can’t wait to have the mysterious petals explained!

8
9
reply

Required fields are marked *

💡 hehe I had the exact same hidden Joseon chabeol / noble idea. 😅
Petals dramaland in explanation?? Since when. 🤔 I do hope it is a saucy secret. 🤣

4
8
reply

Required fields are marked *

* Petals in dramaland need explanation??

2
reply

Required fields are marked *

I wouldn't be surprised if they are poisonous... Might find out more next week (?)

7
6
reply

Required fields are marked *

Same. My first thought was poisoned petals.

5
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oh, that would be good! I’ve been dreading that they are somehow magical, which would take us down a whole ‘nother potential road (that I object to) w this show 😒

5
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I hadn’t even considered a fantasy sageuk (tho it’s sorta already a fantasy in the best sense :). So I vote for poison too.

2

I just hope the petals make more plot sense than the eternal fish with poison caviar from Our Blooming Youth.

6

@marysadanaga Zing! 😂 I thought the name Knight Flower was our heroine, the flower who blooms on her (k)nightly escapades. Could it also refer to this mystery flower? We shall see.

3

Oh no! @lordcobol, @mayhemf, @bbstl, @indyfan

Seriously you guys 😱🤦‍♀️ What if there is a magic / love potion!!

And our sword welding OTP is suddenly / magically become shiny, twinkly, and fragrant (with petals) in luuurrrrve!! Then who will need to get a grip! Maybe the Joseon era Jang Shin-yu can help this OTP get a happy ending or Jung-woo can "match-make" them!! Now those are the types of crossovers / cameos I can get behind!! 👏 👏 👏 😂🤣

6
reply

Required fields are marked *

I think this role fits Honey Lee like a glove.

I also think something is supposed to be on the horizon between Yeon Seon and Yoon Hak which confused me cause the class difference. So a noble can get with merchants?
Well, it's fictional and a bit fantasy so why not.

7
5
reply

Required fields are marked *

Honey Lee is the perfect actress for sageuks: physical appearance, mannerisms, and talents. It was the same with Lee Young Ae when she played Jang Geum in "Jewel Of The Palace," Park Ji Young as "Noksu," Go Hyun-jung as Mishil, etc.

If King Sukjong married a water maid from the musuri class (lowest maid in the palace), then it's possible for a noble to get with a middle class merchant.

5
4
reply

Required fields are marked *

I went down the rabbit hole with that single reference. What a fascinating story. Thanks. Tho I can imagine the endless court scenes with all the factional politics involved in his reign. 😅

2
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Glad you did! "DONG YI" (2010) is her story in 60 episodes.😫 The endless factional court conflicts are part of it, too. 😂
Her son became King Yeongjo and reigned for 51 years. He was the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Joseon.

2
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

60 episodes? Filled with court politics? I'll wait for the remake. 😅

2

@indyfan

Haha, I don't blame you! It didn't need 60 episodes. It could've been told in 16 episodes.
Hopefully, we'll get the short version soon.

2

Lee Ha-Nee - Where do I join the fan club!! Totally smitten and fan girling in MAX capacity mode.
Her expressions and body language are amazing and I am laughing so hard at times. The whole scene of her side eyeing in the bar (whatever you call it in Joseon) was perfect - you didn't need the follow up scene, you knew she drank!! lol..

Also, I am having so much fun with the male lead. I am totally warming up to him. Their fight flirting is too good! I could watch them fight all day.. He is already in a 'protective' mode, while she is like 'what is heck is this dude upto now' mode. But she is 'wang'-ed!!
His little smiles and smirks are delish. I can't wait for them to team up at some point. But for now, I want them to be reluctant partners, because their bickering is the BEST!! (Almost all of them have a flirtatious double meaning in my head!! lol)

And some one please send a ToD to Joseon, have a few MIL's to take care off.. sigh...
And less of Pil dude please. I don't need to see him on my screen so often.

I want the show to end with Yeom Seon becoming a savvy merchant under the guidance of our senior merchant lady - because girl got enterprise!!

15
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The show would be so much better without Pil Jik, lost brother mystery, and evil father-in-law. That is all to say, I did not enjoy the fourth episode as much as every other, primarily because if focused on all the aspects of the show that I am not a fan of. The mother-in-law and her club of women with too much free time are anger inducing, but at least they bring some less discussed topics on Dramaland table. It also helps that the FL can handle everything that is coming to her.

I do hope our Hong Gil Dong saves the other widow. Fiction or not, watching a woman get crushed by the society she lives in is always painful.

4
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Finally a FL that doesn't immediately make you realise that a woman has disguised herself as a man.

My personal highlights of the last few episodes were always the verbal duels between the mothers-in-law. If looks could kill.

And I learnt something new again this week. I knew that women, and widows in particular, were subject to various customs and rules that placed extreme restrictions on their lives, but I was unaware of many details. For example, I didn't know that objects should only be exchanged between men and women in a basket to avoid accidental contact.

7
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

This show is really fun, so much that I can't really take it seriously. 😅

I wish we knew more about Yeo-Hwa.

4
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I need all the fun OTP flirtiness I can get to balance out the horrific conditions for widows, women and the poor. Kudos to the writers for having Soo-ho recognize Yeo-wha’s identity relatively quickly. I actually think it makes their interactions more meaningful — first that he really sees her and also that he can appreciate the risks she is taking on behalf of the common people. Besides, they have so many wrongs to right that they don’t need to be sidetracked with mistaken/mysterious identity subplots.

I liked how the flashbacks showed that Yeon-hwa has always had the heart of a hero and an irrepressible spirit. I don’t know how she would have survived the 15 years if her masked alter ego hadn’t provided an outlet and an escape.

12
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Maybe I need my eyes scrubbed but HL dressed as a man was more believable than the usual cross dressing sageuk female?

But yeah, I loved how he put the clues together so quickly. Among the clues, his cottoning on to the eyes and sketching them was a nice touch to show the cognitive connections and what else a set of pretty eyes might mean—as well as tying back to the show poster. Now her remembering and sketching his memorable body parts was…😂 Both so in character.

8
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I thought the eyes moment when she was protecting the old lady was well conceived. Totally natural that her sleeve would be blocking the lower part of her face in a defensive pose and he would he looking at her in this moment of crisis.

9
reply

Required fields are marked *

I enjoyed these episodes more than the premiere week. The politics still bore me though. I knew Lord Seok was bad. His kind facade looked so fake.

I did like the scenes of Yeo Hwa & her brother.
He has to be alive...

I felt bad for Lady Oh. She looked a little shady at first and also fake, but she is hiding her true feelings and intentions. She is a neutral character for now.

I love all of the encounters between Yeo Hwa & Soo Ho! Definitely the highlights of each episode. I love that he already figured out her identity, but is keeping it a secret. Their fight scenes are great and full of fun tension and over-the-top moves.

9
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love how this show blends comedy and darker elements of Josean society seamlessly. It actually shows us that Josean was not great time for anyone other that few yangban houses (males mostly) i.e. chaebols of Josean time.
On another note, I love every encounter between Yeo-hwa and Soo-ho. I mostly look forward to their fight-flirting. I hope it soon terns to real flirting and then love-fighting.
The biggest baddie to no one’s surprise is left minister. I called it. There is no such thing as good left minister in K-dramaland Josean.

6
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Lol I started looking at comments and then realized I had 20 min left of ep 4 (boo! I got pulled away before I could finish). Will be back!

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The ML is so enjoyable to watch. His facial expressions have been a delight.
The comedy in these episodes has been the highlight for me.
I hope they can keep it up as I'm suffering from sageuk villain fatigue - they all become the same one dimensional character that I couldn't care less about.

9
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The scene of Yeo-hwa seeing abs in the furniture had me almost doing a spit-take!

Honey Lee's physicality really makes her character difficult to emulate. The way she makes Yeo-hwa clumsy (and not in a cute way) and struggling and failing to hold every muscle and gesture to the perfect widowed DIL that the MIL demands. Her "save me!!!" eyes when she was about to collapse from an entire day's practice of getting out of the palanquin.

I'm warming up to the ML. I was expecting to be a "rules rule rules!" guy since he didn't share any enthusiasm for his coworker's praise of the elusive, masked heroine, but he knows to let something slide and the way he worked his supervisor to arrest Kang was awesome.

Again, the drama does a great job at skewering the noble ladies' virtue olympics in both a funny way and a dark way - that graceful widow's family shows her off to the other ladies, while in private, pushes her to commit suicide to get the Chastity Gate title. I hope Yeo-hwa can save her. I also hope Lady Oh can be free from her husband. I love how she tries to give Yeo-hwa opportunities to be outside.

11
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Was her getting out of the palanquin a parody of The Ring? I caught a few more funny references like that, if I have my pop culture right.

4
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yup! Complete with VHS tape flicker!

3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I would love if people will point us to these! There is no way I would get these by myself! Thanks!

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

In a show filled with comedic moments, the use of the Mishil's Theme music for one of the scenes was just so unexpected and funny!

What a treat to see Honey Lee in this role! She's doing great!

9
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

I was wondering if any of the QSD fans remembered it. Lady Mishil's theme made me smile from ear to ear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmYItuqnjyI&ab_channel=BrainBuffet

I kid you not; when she was drumming over those white cloths, she reminded me of Mishil playing music with crystal glasses.

4
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Me too!

2
reply

Required fields are marked *

THAT'S where it was from! Thank you ! The familiarity was driving me crazy. I knew I had heard it somewhere, that the music was from another show and I didn't like not knowing what the joke was

3
reply

Required fields are marked *

"The 15-year-old mystery involves the death of the previous king, the death of the head of the king's guard (Soo-ho's biological father), and the disappearance of the other guards — one of which includes Yeo-hwa's brother. "
It seemed to me that from this scene between the king and his friend, ML's fake brother, that ML was not really the son of the king's guard, but the son of the previous king, the younger brother of the current king. A theory was born in my head that the younger brother was actually the rightful heir to the throne, because his mother was the queen, and the older brother (the current king) was the son of a concubine. ML was raised by the king's guard as his son for his safety. ML's half brother became king after his father's death, because his mother came from the family that led to the king's death and that is why the current king is so dependent on a two-faced minister. So, according to my theory, ML is living for the second time in his life as a member of a family he is not.

3
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

When they revealed the title of that novel Yoonhak saw YeonSeon had, it reminded me of SamSoon as Hwarok in The Matchmakers. 😊

I like that SooHo is smart and already figured out that the masked culprit is none other than YeoHwa. I love Yeo Hwa and hate her in-laws.

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Widow Baek, please don't kill yourself!

4
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I need someone to deduce their age difference. She's 32 according to my calculations, married at 20, and it has been 12 tears since she reached her maid, which was around the time she became a widow. I'm confused about our sheriff though, the "incident" took place 15 years ago, he was I want to say a teenager ? But I'm horrible at guessing kids ages. If he was let's say 13 that would make him 28 today.
Also am I the only one who thinks sheriff-nim looks like he could be Moon Ga young's brother ?

2
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

@marcusync20 @kiara This drama so far has been a joy to binge, thanks for reminding me about it! It's been so long since a drama made me laugh out loud. A few random thoughts:

1) I don't mind it if widows becomes the next sageuk trend. Their situation was so difficult, they were supposed to conform to impossible ideals of virtue, and yet we see here as we did in BOSSAM that they did have some agency in their lives. Maybe they weren't becoming Hong Gil Dong, but what's to say that widows were not donning disguises and leaving their homes once in a while? The fact that Confucian society insists so much on rules about the behavior of women means they were regularly being broken.

2) The references to Hong Gil Dong. Honey Lee, Kim Sang-joon and Seo Yi-Sook reunited. It blows me how Kim Sang-Joong can create a totally different character with just modulating his voice. He sounded so condescending from the first episode that I was sure he was the Big Bad hiding behind that beard. So I'm not surprised on that account.

3) Mishil's theme. The laundry pounding session was most likely a reference to Mishil as well. Actually, there is something about this drama that reminds me more of Silla or Goryeo than Joseon. Maybe it's the fact that we have a merchant guild with a female head or villain Kang Pil Jik's flamboyant silks.

4) The petal fireworks. 😂 I wish I hadn't been spoiled by too many dramas because my brain immediately did the following somersault:
petals -> poison -> poisoned tea -> death of the previous king . At least it's not poisoned fish.

5) Honey Lee as Yeo-hwa. She can jump over walls, fly on rooftops, fight 17 men, but can't for the life of her exit the palanquin gracefully. I mean, I don't blame her, it looks like it requires incredible core strength. But she has a fan in Officer Park's assistant. And Officer Park seems to like the Kitty Portrait as well as its artist. (Not sure how a romance would work between them but I'll let the drama take me where it wants).

6) "I Woke Up and was the Royal Secretary's Wife" sounds like the title of a Chinese drama. The foreshadowing of a secondary love line is strong. I'm not sure it's necessary, but Yoon-hak is a widower himself so it does sort of fit the theme.

Will keep watching and tagging you if you don't mind, so I don't feel like I'm talking to the void.

1
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Argh, the spelling mistakes! Sorry about that @marcusnyc20

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

@wishfultoki I am so glad you are enjoying MBC’s KNIGHT FLOWER (Viki US). If you are at episode 4 it is still early days so enjoy the ride. Great points in your comment.

O/T thoughts.
1. It seemed the last few years it rained sageuk/fusion sageuks and I passed on just about everything.
My recent (last couple of years sageuk viewing before KNIGHT FLOWER:
2023- KBS’s GORYEO-KHITAN WAR. (Viki US). Dropped after 10 episodes. Got distracted and fell too far behind to catch up. Decent production.
2023- MBC’s JOSEON ATTORNEY (Viki US). Finished but disappointing. Woo Do-hwan should have had better material.
2023- tvN’s OUR BLOOMING YOUTH (Viki US). Dropped after episode 15. I just gave up trying to deal with this SK adaptation of the Chinese historical novel “The Golden Hairpin”. Very complicated production history.
Seems to have had a second life here and is a beanie favorite.
Late 2022- MBC’s THE FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE (Viki US). it was awhile ago but I enjoyed it.

Interesting contrast in roles. Currently in the terrific SBS’s CONNECTION Yoon Sa-bong is in the cast playing a bit tough female police detective (Ji Sung’s boss). I swear it took me 2 episodes to realize that Yoon Sa-bong played the prim and proper Head Merchant of the Inn in KNIGHT FLOWER lol.

Chinese historical/mystery recommendation. One of the best dramas I watched in 2023 was the excellent 12 episode RIPE TOWN (Viki US) with wonderful performances by Bai Yu Fan (playing a young constable determined to solve the mystery of the death of his shifu) and Ning LI (playing a judge).

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Responding to your O/T thoughts.

Same. I have passed on most everything. Has it already been 3 years since BOSSAM?

- Re. GORYEO-KHITAN WAR. I only made it to Episode 6 and never got back to it.
-I did not watch JOSEON ATTORNEY because I was watching MY DEAREST. You didn't miss anything much because it became a ridiculous suffering fest. (Or if you want, watch PART 1 and make up your own ending).
-OUR BLOOMING YOUTH was a bland disappointment for me. If I want to watch fusiony youth sageuks I just go to Cdramaland. I didn't know OBY is a favorite here.

I have high hopes for KNIGHT FLOWER finishing on a good note and am reassured by your recommendation.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *