Mirror of the Witch Episode 5

A New Chapter?

Spoiler-free

This is definitely the first page of a new chapter. Unfortunately, it's also the show's weakest episode to date.

In the first quarter, everything happened with the speed of light. Spells were cast, darkness was summoned, battles were fought, people won and lost... For the first four episodes, we were going down into a spiral that hit the floor with a loud thud that was episode four.

After which, the reset button was pressed, and in episode 5, the elements of the World of MotW that we came to know in the first quarter of the show were rearranged. The transition was not a smooth one. It's like the whole show hasn't regained its balance after the shock of episode 4. It stumbles all over the place bringing up more questions instead of offering answers, dazing around flashing new characters but hardly introducing them, posing new challenges but not stressing their weights. It was also the episode that had the most visible directorial flaws :S

If I were to describe this episode in one word it would be confusing. Perhaps, shaky too.


Is the show going down the hill, or does it just need some time to regain its balance and rhythm?

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Another time jump . . .

Well it's a 5 year time jump this time! Oh, and a flashback of what already happened in THIS episode.

It's official I'm nervous. The actors can't afford these time jumps! Kim Sae Ron looks her 15 years. 17 was stretching it. But new hairstyles clearly means they've aged. This is a drama trope that gets annoying. But what's more annoying then ageless characters?

Time jumps and flashbacks of things that happened within that episode. That, to me, normally means the writers are losing mojo. Their ideas are failing fast. This is episode 5 for crying out loud! Not only did this episode lose ground with its current characters, but failed to successfully introduce the new characters.

There was a brief moment when I thought the plot regarding the king was going there . . . red robes. Come one guys! But know, it's more curses. One a side note I do enjoy that Poong Yeon's apprentice/henchman is a woman. Mirror of the Witch has some awesome (tough) females.

So for all those wondering why I was using the name Seo Ri instead of Yeon Hee, that's why. That and it was on one of the posters for the series. Overall I'm really disappointed with this. Are the dark fantasy elements still awesome? Yes. Am I happy that they swiftly revealed that Heo Jun is planning revenge? Hecks yes! (Though that preview looks like Heo Jun is on the losing end of things.) Am I still interested in what will happen between the Shamaness and Hyun Seo? Duh, of course.

But the writing better bridge the frigid chill of character distancing that is here. And I'm not just talking about Seo Ri's frozen heart. The writing this episode failed to connect me to the characters and now they're previewing that same falling scene again! Will it actually happen this time? Maybe. It seems to fit, but this episode made me nervous. (Yeah, I can't stop saying it.)

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