Empress Ki is having fun messing with both ships and today’s episode 21 did an about turn to toss in some skinship between Seung Nyang and Ta Hwan. In the course of romance for this drama one can either go with the slow and simmering intensity of Wang Yoo or the fire and electric sparks of Ta Hwan, and its a testament to the leading lady’s allure that she can be woo’d by both guys and the audience keeps cheering her on. It’s misleading to characterize the skinskip between Ta Hwan and Seung Nyang at the end of episode 21 as romantic since she’s trying to stay alive and jumps into his rose petal strewn bathtub and he ends up passing air to her under the water. I’ve seen underwater air passing deemed romantic but it’s always practical and rather inert to me, especially when one party is unconscious, LOL. I did have to applaud the absurdity of the PD filming the scene with all the red tinted water and surfeit of roses. Same goes for the Wang Yoo-Seung Nyang boating in episode 20 where the prelude kiss was anemically filmed and blocked by Wang Yoo’s shoulders for the most part. EK has two PDs at the helm and the incompetent one is clearly the main PD who directed the laughable Dr. Jin and the brain dead Super Rookie. The secondary PD is the one MBC always drags out for sageuks as he was also the secondary PD on The Moon Embraces the Sun. I find EK’s plotting and directing really taking a steady nose dive partially because of all that love triangle circular mess. Wang Yoo and Seung Nyang finally gets together and then he ups and goes back to Goryeo while she stays behind to look for the blood letter, thereby giving her more time with Ta Hwan again. I’m sure if she starts spending quality time with Ta Hwan then suddenly Wang Yoo will come back and she’ll dart into his arms again. My neck is getting sore craning between the two sides. Check out the clips and pics from the latest episode, there is bound to be something for both sides to gnaw on.
![](http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae145/ockoala/K-dramas/Empress%20Ki/dhgs4.jpg")
Seung Nyang-Wang Yoo farewell:
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Ta Hwan gives air to Seung Nyang and saves her from Dangkise:
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Omo, what’s with the hug thing while Tahwan is undress. Omo, my ship is starting to sail
I think the PDs are pandering to the audience and if the story takes a ridiculous turn then, then I’m out. But until then, I will enjoy the skinship between my OTP.
Its a tough call for me, I love both guys for SN. WY & SN is a mature type of love and one that will last a lifetime. However, I can’t help liking the pairing of TH & SN as well…its refreshing and exciting!!!
Empress Ki is the reason why I like Monday now!
Frankly speaking,I’m actually satisfied with this skinship. Kind of rooting for some progress in this relationship as well. She’s marrying TH in the end. So I ain’t gonna love a sudden jump from WY’s arms to TH’s. I don’t see it as pure fan service really. It could be to some degree for the wonderful setting of the kiss but I really think of it as “this what should happen in this drama”. Or did I miss the opening scene.
But we do not know whether the drama will actually continue after SN’s marriage to Ta Hwan?
Is it just me that I find SN and TH chemistry electrifying? Don’t get me wrong, I like SN and WY’s tandem too, but TH/CJW has this energy that I want to see more of SN and TH on screen. Or is it HJW have more sparks with younger men? 😉
You are right, Ha JiWon has more sparks with the guy younger than her.
You’re not the only one.I also felt that SN and SH chemistry is way higher that the SN and WY’s. It seems to be more believable. I also like SN and WY but as the drama continues I’m like shipping to the other ship.The baby emperor is portraying his role quite well and those watching the drama are also feeling his emotions.
HJW has always had great chemistry with younger leading men and this one is no exception. Love her relationship with both men.
I LOVE THE SKINSHIP….MORE SKINSHIP FROM THEM PLEASE… WAAAAH. …MY SHIP IS SAILING
Lol! I can not wait to see what’s in store for us in eps. 19-20 and for the rest of the drama. Sometimes, I’m running out of patience co’z, considering it’s Monday today by the time Hulu upload it, it will be on Wed or Thursday. Ughh! Just for my HJW, I’ll wait. 🙂
I meant episode 21-22. 🙂
Just watched it without subs. Some involuntarily hilarious scenes like the elite assassins group failing to kill off one and a half men. *eyes roll* But also some great scenes like the air passing ‘kiss’. Yay!
SY clearly had feelings for the Emperor in the last ep (her sad not angry crying after he learned who her father was and her crying after the proposal thinking of him in intimate scenes). Now we get this unconscious skinship, which is great, because she has to be torn between both men to make the story believable in the end and although she will not remember it, we, the viewers, will.
Thanks for the heads up. Oh yeah, you’re right. Remember that part where she was thinking of TH. In ep. 20, she definitely chose WY, but who knows, seems like they are setting us up for SN and TH tandem which I am fond of with a combination of twisted ride. I just love their sparks on screen.
The kiss with Wang Yoo was mutual n lead to making love but the setting was ordinary…with TH it was a CPR but the setting was super romantic..so i guess they r trying to balance things out(in their own perspective)! They gave WY the real action n gave TH the real setting! Frankly im starting to get irritated by this love game..a major step forward should b taken soon other wise its more like a tom n jerry drama! I mean seriously its a 50 episode drama they cant keep it like this..as miss koala said this will crank our necks turning sides in between them!
Laughed out loud with you last sentence. Seriously though, it’s like watching a Tennis game.
Hahahahaahhahahhahha…seriously now didnt u notice that the parallelism btw both men’s actions is way over the top!! WY saves her frm DS n nw TH saves her frm DS..TH gives her a head band(the one she threw out earlier in past epsisodes) then WY gives her a hair pin..WY hugs her n guess what TH hugs her too! I mean does that mean after coronation scene in episode 1 we might also c a wedding scene with WY:pppppp..
It reminds me of “Memories of Bali” with Jo In Sung,Ta Hwan has this strong and passionnate unrequited love for SN that is so mesmerizing to watch… I don’t know why but I’m to Ta Hwan because of his vulnerability… And Chang Ji wook is actually acting circles around the whole cast, yes,even Joo Jin mo…
He is a very good actor n sure he has a bright future ahead of him..but with all due respect u cant compare him to joo jin mo! The man is a monster on screen he can act with his eyes alone! But considering the nature of the roles both actors r playing CJW has a funny playful character which makes him appear more enthusiastic while jjm’s character is that of a Poised serious King which he perfectly portrays!
Joo jin mo might be a great actor, in the opening scene, he truly was heartwrenching… But the truth is since then he made me feel nothing whatsoever, I just could not bring myself to care. Maybe it’s because WY is just too damn perfect to me.. TH seems human, and it actually makes me ache to see him suffer so much because of SN. Everybody knows how unrequited love feels like, and I think that Joo Jin Mo would not have been able to capture the essence of the role of TH that well… But yeah, that’s merely my opinion 🙂
I agree with u. He is so good with both the comedic and dramatic scenes. He is so expressive in his body language. Jo jin mo is expressive with his eyes too but CJW mastered his entire body language completely.
You say take a nose dive, I say still soaring high. I just want to see how everything ends up at the first episode. I know it’s 50 episodes and there are still 29 to go but I’m finding myself impatient. Thanks for continuing with this drama Ms. Koala. ^^
I’m on Team Seung Nyang! I’m shipping for her and her only! I’m hoping that the upcoming episodes will have her as front and center of the story. The epic drama/sageuk is called “Empress Ki” after all,she should be the main focus of the story. I am eagerly awaiting for the developments of the storyline, How will she be a concubine and eventually become the ruthless and manipulative Empress Ki! So excited! Ha Ji Won is doing a fantastic job as expected! Even in scenes where she doesn’t have dialogues and only rely on stares are so damn effective and convincing! Now that’s what you call A REAL GOOD ACTRESS,people!
I just love SN and WY! 🙂 Seriously, I found the PDs directed the TH-SN and WY-SN interactions differently. I thought the PD preferred TH-SN couple since they have been given more screen time, nice settings and cut story lines. With SN and WY, everything was so rush! Besides, the PD did not seem to pay much attention to the settings. After all, there were no flower petals in the bedroom when SN and WY spent their first night together!!
However,I do love the onscreen chemistry of WY and SN :)! There is something special about JJM and HJW. I just love them! The good-bye scene in Episode 21 is absolutely beautiful!!
From the comments, this one feels like another reply 1994, but longer and a sageuk.
Yes, I agree. While it was really really cool that she didn’t die hiding in the bathtub of roses, and I was happy that TH could breath life into SY because he loves her with all his heart, that was not a sexy scene, right? Not in the mutual sense of the word.
How could it be when she was at death’s door?
It was very clever of them, though, to come up with this. I’ll give them that. Next time, I want her to be aware of the lip moves. Who know? Maybe she’ll get carried away and just respond?