Drop The Bombshell
I’ve been a big fan of The Crowned Clown ever since I watched the first episode last month. 11 episodes down and I have to admit, the story felt a little padded and somewhat overlong at times despite a plethora of dramatic tension and some beautifully composed scenes along the way. Thankfully, The Crowned Clown delivers a character-driven, dramatic episode here that leaves things hanging on the biggest cliffhanger of the series thus far. It’s also a pretty good indicator over where the series is likely to go for the remaining episodes. We begin this week with a brief look at the events that transpired from before. Still suffering from the wounds he inflicted at the hands of the assassin, Ha Sun is comforted by So Woon in a safe place while Prince Jin thwarts off any intruders who may be foolish enough to come and find them. After a heartfelt talk between the two where So Woon admits she does want to be by Ha Sun’s side, we cut back to the Royal Palace for the crux of drama this week and the first of many politically driven plot points covered, The first, and most pressing, of them involve the Ambassador for the Emperor who we left last week none too pleased with the lack of a King on the throne. After making his displeasure known at court, Ha Sun returns to hear out the demands from the Emperor. It turns out he wants Joseon to train and deliver people to fuel the army. After taking his leave and letting the council chew over these demands, Ha Sun listens to both sides of the argument. After this, he decides against sending the people to war and instead turns his attention back to implementing the Dae Dong Policy. Of course the noblemen, spurred on by the Left State Minister, are none too happy with Ha Sun’s decision but remain predictably quiet when the King suggest they take up their swords and join the “lowly people” to war. He then leaves the council with word that the Crown Prince will defy the Emperor, suffer the consequences instead and not send anyone to their deaths. Knowing the likely repercussions for these actions, the King heads into town to meet and greet the people and get them to believe in his cause. It’s a good idea in theory but unfortunately Dal Rae runs into the man responsible for his heinous crimes against her all those episodes ago. This leads to a chain of events that result in the King and the Left State Minister face to face in the closing moments of the episode. A massive bombshell drops as the scene fades and we’re left shocked and excited for tomorrow’s episode. Stylistically, The Crowned Clown has always been a very slickly produced show and the cinematography throughout the series has been excellent. While the plethora of characters at its helm does make it a little difficult at times to try and catch up with what everyone’s doing, it’s a minor point in an otherwise thrilling and well written drama. Although it does feel in danger of being overlong at times, The Crowned Clown delivers yet another fantastic episode and a serious cliffhanger making it easy to look past these flaws.
