ShortCircuit

I kind of don't think WJ's dad is still alive. He would have found a way to at least watch WJ from a distance, they were pretty close, someone would have seen him, or WJ would have felt someone sticking around if it were the case. But maybe he hid the painting, then rigged the car to go in the water, then went off the grid before something happened to him. Or maybe he is still alive and just got real good at doing secret stuff. Or had plastic surgery to change his face.

Let's see if the drama placed those details just for that reason - having watchers come up with a certain theory, building up on it, then subverting expectations LOL. If it does that, I hope it does it in an intelligent way, not a deus-ex-machina kind of twist :D

It's just like WJ's dad weiqi playing style - they're setting up baits for us, and wait for us to take the bait :D

An episode with no fight, finally, LOL.

I don't know about you guys, but the true hero of this drama is Mr Oh, the poor investigator that KHW keeps working extra hours, LOL. If it wasn't for him, they'd have no info to act on at all.

I mean, he tracked down the steps of Old Fang so accurately after all this time, found the CD with the images and even managed to figure out how Old Fang fell. It was heartbreaking to realize the last call wasn't before he fell (as I had thought), but AFTER, and LJ was number 1 on his speed dial T_T

I loved to see him laser-focusing on it. And the restaurant owner is good too, he just opened up with no reservations and helped him. I like that kind of people.

Based on the boots the third person had on that day, he is DEFINITELY Mr Xu. Unless Monsieur as a different person just happens to wear that kind of distinctive boots too, which isn't all that much probable, Mr Xu is Monsieur (still no more noise from Monsieur's underlings concerning WenJie. It's clear it was all to get him in the game, and he's in, so they stopped. He's not really all that smart, Mr Xu). Then Mr Xu and the helpful thief put on that show for WenJie, to explain away the money Mr Xu got from DSH for WenJie's dad. I KNEW he was scum, and he keeps proving me right.

It looks like there's going to be a replay on what happened 12 years back, at least in part. I hope this time it won't be LJ calling out for help, but neither do I want WJ to be the one to get in trouble...

Only 5 eps left, so much time to wait until next week. I should eventually learn not to watch dramas while they're airing LOL.

PS I'm pretty sure WenJie caught on to Mr Xu, what with never asking about his presence in the warehouse and then with the small ~innocent~ remarks on his father's weiqi's playing style. I liked that thing about setting out traps and waiting to see if anyone bites - if he's doing it knowingly, he just told Mr Xu he's going to get him. Can't wait :D

This was SUCH a good ep showcasing Luo Jian :D (21).

12 years back, his police mentor (Old Fang) was trying to call him on the phone on the day he died, around the time he died. LJ was the last person he called, before falling to his death.

LJ first rejected his call, then tried to answer the second one and his phone's battery died before connecting. He didn't even know his mentor had fallen before getting back to the police station, hours later.

IF he were Monsieur, and wanted to get Luoshen, and WenJie's father was still alive and in hiding with the paiting, he (Mr Xu) would want WJ in the forefront of things, to catch WJ's dad's attention. It LOOKS like he's letting WJ think about things and make decisions - but HE was the one who just happened to "luckily" pick that person from a very long list that "just" so happened to be (more than) friendly and give them access to the auction and info on what's going to be auctioned... He's manipulating WJ and rather obviously too.

Now, IF he's the mastermind... His rather heavy-handed approach to pushing WJ in the direction he wants him to go might be a pretty impressive move in making WJ underestimate him to the end. If WJ gets the impression he can easily control Mr Xu, while Mr Xu is actually Monsieur, the intelligent and secretive thief, then WJ is going to end up holding the stick and Mr Xu will walk away no matter how this ends.

On the other hand, he might just be a low-level thief who just caught on to a great value possible robbery and would love to get his paws on the treasure.

I still feel he's Monsieur, and I really hope WJ and LJ set up a communication channel before it all started... then again, that's why it's so suspenseful. I just hope for a happy ending.

Mr Xu is scum, and his actions regarding Liao DeTong show it in detail. He didn't need to break his finger, he just wanted to. And since he already sold out WJ's dad, if he isn't Monsieur, he definitely is selling out WenJie right now.

WJ got a major case of stupid over Mr Xu. He knows he can't trust him, yet he wants to discover Monsieur so he takes risk after risk so easily. It's glaringly obvious that since Mr Xu entered the scene, there are no more subplots involving WJ and how to implicate him in thefts and more scummy things - they got what they wanted, he's committed to it and now even if it ends on a more positive note for him, he's part of the underworld. How could Luo Jian trust him after this? :(

I liked how this set of eps were VERY much slimmed down - it's WJ and Mr Xu on one side, and LJ on the other. No more clutter and other case details, no more thieves playing games, no more side-attacks etc. It looks like it's the endgame already. BUT exactly because of that, Mr Xu is more suspicious than ever. He already sent vibes of having his own plan, and he keeps pushing WJ to the front of things, a monkey's paw... He is either Monsieur, or his most trustful underling. I wonder what else will Ding ShengHuo is going to be doing from prison in their turf war.

Where did Luoshen come from, though? If it's disappeared with WJ's dad, then is WJ's dad the one selling it? Or is it a trap for WenJie so that, IF his father is alive, he'd come save his son?!

That message LJ got is probably from WJ, but I wouldn't bet on it being enough for LJ to forgive him, if WJ is working behind his back on this. Also, it's a scary paralel to what happened to LJ's mentor 12 years back...

Tomorrow there's only one ep, then another 4-day wait... Dammit, dammit, dammit...

WenJie just gets mired, deeper and deeper... This is going to hurt.

There's going to be an illegal secret auction including Luoshen, and WenJie got duped into going there.

And Luo Jian just found the note that was secretly passed to his old police mentor 12 years back, sending him to the site of the initial theft of the Luoshen painting, the one that WenJie's dad died for. LJ's mentor died that day too and it's probably in connection to the theft.

He didn't get to read the note before the episode ended. It's probably an informer's note - WJ's dad most likely - with details on the theft about to happen...

A beautiful bromance, the brothers-in-arms kind of bromance.

The stick is what makes me suspect him, actually. Nobody saw Monsieur's face BUT everybody noticed and remembered the stick and its distinctive head (is it a bear or something like that? It looks like a silver bear to me).

It's something magicians always use - misdirected attention is what enables one to do good magic tricks. I think Monsieur settled on that - and maybe the gloves too - to make everybody think he's partially disabled, so nobody looks twice at who he really is in real life. As he was retelling the story of 12 years back, and "remembered" he had heard about Monsieur before, Mr Xu immediately explained the stick through some wound Monsieur had in childhood or the like, while at the same time saying he didn't know much actually. Pretty suspicious if you ask me...

WJ managed to untie himself then left the room through the ceiling, but he was found out and chased through that warehouse... and juuuust as he's about to be trapped, a mysterious hooded someone (who he correctly identifies as Mr Xu) just happens to pull him into a side room and unlock a door to the outside for him to run away through.

I mean, WHERE did Mr Xu come from, and in that particular place where he had no business being?! I bet he's Monsieur setting more traps. I just jope WJ realizes it.

But aww, LJ gets into papa bear mode again after WJ comes back, all counseling him to go study, get good grades, not get into trouble, have a great life, etc. He's so cute, trying to protect WJ, I hope they work together (and neither get hurt) to bring down all the baddies. And maybe leave Cpt Su at home while this is happening, LOL.

As in, how DID Mr. Xu (the clock repairman) manage to get INSIDE Wharf 6 juuuust in time to save WenJie and let him free?! That's mighty suspicious but WenJie isn't batting an eye over it. And despite saying he'd confess everything to LJ, he didn't mention Mr. Xu.

My theory at this time is that Mr. Xu IS Monsieur. He got Li Anfu and Li ShuTing to involve WenJie in Mrs Hong's plan then he appeared in the right place at the right time with the right tools to save WJ from his kidnappers. Then he went on with the drama story of how DSH caused WJ's mom's death and how his father got dragged into stealing the painting in order to protect WJ and then - maybe - he mysteriously died... or not.

He's so fake you can see it from the Moon. I hope WJ can expose him and has a plan in place already... though him trying to verify Mr. Xu's story from small details is concerning. It's almost like he's willing to trust him and so he tells him all of his plans. I thought he's smarter than that. But it would make no sense for him to trust a complete stranger out of the blue, so if it happens, I'll blame the script writer.

There were a few hilarious moments in the eps, like...

Li Anfu: "I'm Monsieur's disciple but I still never saw his face."
Luo Jian: "So it's like a correspondence course?"

911, we need you to send the Burn Unit over, ASAP.

LJ: "Your job here is done, we're sorry to see you go, too bad there's no time for a goodbye party. Bye-bye!"
Cpt Su: "Not going anywhere."
LJ: "Dammit you're here to steal our case WTH *explodes*"
Cpt Su: "I guess I'll be leaving if you don't want me here."
LJ: "You could be staying a few more days, just sayin' (don't take me seriously though.)"
Cpt Su: "OK then I'll be staying."
LJ: "Dammit not like that!!!"

So at this moment in time... I think Mr Xu is the mastermind, which sadly might mean WJ's dad is dead after all, and there's a turf war between Monsieur and his former underling DSH (that is, if Mr Xu is to be believed). WJ is like that piece of material they both are pulling towards themselves, and it'll reach a breaking point soon...

Still not liking Cpt Su at all, and she's way too manipulative (even when it's funny) and ALWAYS talks over LJ. That's bad, Cpt Su, no cookies for you!

I want WJ to be really really smart and have a backup plan or two. As long as he doesn't get stupid... this still will end up good :D

PS I also think that the numbers on the necklace are coordinates that tell where the rest of the artefacts were hidden back in the Republican Era, and that maybe the Luoshen painting hides a map that uses thoose coordinates.

There's a massive plot hole still not addressed in 17-18, I hope it's solved smartly.

It did look like he was considering himself their king. Making them grovel, letting them wait, and they the most powerful men in the nation. Having them fight among themselves to prove their worth to HIM.

It's pretty blunt, what CTS is supposed to portrait.

But then, IF any country got THAT corrupt... we'd be in the ending times.

Oh wait...

I thought you meant LBH the actor and he was going to have a cameo in AML :D

I just read a rumour somewhere that LJG was/is in talks to replace Song Joong Ki in the second season of Arthdal Chronicles, if it ever gets made (and it's not just a feeler sent out by the press to see if it'll stick LOL). If so, LJG probably picked AML to make a change from the heavy and emotional Flower of Evil and prepare physically for AC. Again, I'm taking it with a huge grain of salt, but it would explain how the drama is not too deep or engaging, and a bit "phoned in" from some charas. They just made the hero and the villain both overpowered and it's just a game of see-saw between them right now. I wish there was more so far in the episodes...

Also, it seems this year's trend in kdramas is webtoon adaptations. Everyone and their momma are doing webtoons and nary an original script to be found in prime-time :(

I don't know what people in China are assuming about the actors, but the actors are spot on (with a few who are a bit rough, like the actress playing LZY in the episode with the suicide of her friend from college.) But KW's acting suspicious and reserved in the first few eps was amazing, and actually it's what got me hooked. He's supposed to be reclusive, suspicious of everyone, expecting to be attacked, particularly from the police, as he's his father's son. And a smart guy to boot, so he's always calculating what he should do so he gets away. It takes time for Luo Jian to get close to him, and even less to cut that smallest thread that linked them, when he's expressing his exasperation with WenJie being not too forthcoming with info. They've both been great so far.

At least that's how I see the character.

Ah, Ryung-Gu, you broke my heart.

I guess we're left with the story of Ms Koo and PJG and then the waking of Jun Woong. I have this impression something's going to happen and it won't go smoothly (if it happens at all, in case there's a second season planned.)

It feels like they keep setting things up, again and again and again. And then nothing. It's moving too fast and at the same time it's too slow - there's not a lot of build up against the villains and whatever there is gets swept away really fast under political power.

We're way past the halfway point and it still feels like it's only just beginning. I hope it's actually going somewhere soon (and not to a second season either.)

Also, I don't like HeeAh and I don't care about her fight with her brothers for the company. Her secretary that she calls Director Park looks like a more polished Frankenstein's monster, though. He at least is interesting in a strange kind of way.

I watched a few of these and I have just two small questions LOL.

First, how on EARTH did the producers of Masquerade manage not to get sued into oblivion by the producers of The King and the Clown? That's basically the same movie poster, LOL. Unless of course it's the same production team or they got permission.

And second, is that an official poster for Along With the Gods 3? 'Cause the movie's thread doesn't have any, yet. Are there more where it came from? I loved the first two movies, this is on my anticipated movies list.

Thank you for the article :D