Writer: Lola Devung
“You change
for two reasons: Either you learn enough that you want to, or you’ve been hurt
enough that you have to.”
~ unknown
The episode begins
with a scene seemingly unrelated to the closing of the previous episode.
Dae-Gil lies unconscious on the bank of the river and is found by Hong-Mae and
her gang, who apparently have been searching for him the whole day. When
Dae-Gil regains his consciousness, Hong-Mae is surprised to find out that he is
suffering from amnesia. However, sly as she is, Hong-Mae takes advantage of the
unfortunate situation by selling Dae-Gil as a slave to a salt flats owner.
After looking at Dae-Gil’s physical condition, he will only pay the
ridiculously low price of five nyang instead of the ten demanded by
Hong-Mae. At first, she seems unsatisfied, but eventually she gives in upon
condition: Dae-Gil must work at the salt flats until his spirit is broken, and
he should not be allowed to return to Hanyang until Hong-Mae buys him back. The
man agrees.
Dae-Gil, not yet
fully recovered but forced to stamp his fingerprint on the slave contract,
starts his days of hard labor at the salt flat. Though the cruel owner insists
on calling him ‘Half-Wit’, he learns from the contract that his name is ‘Baek
Dae-Gil,’ and he “owes” the salt mine owner 45 nyang. He also acquires
some new company, a friendly-looking slave girl named Seo-Rim. She tells him
stories about the place, the other slaves, and the cruel owner, nicknamed ‘the
Demon.’ In addition, Dae-Gil witnesses his fellow slaves being beaten and even
killed. Several times Seo-Rim stops him from intervening and asks him to do
nothing since it won’t help their situation anyway. But when he steps forward
and glares defiantly at the Demon after seeing a fellow slave unjustly
executed, he is punished with starvation, simply adding to all his misery so
far.
Meanwhile, in the
palace, Prince Yeoning has his own royal troubles. He discovers that his mother
called the shaman to ask about his supposed-to-be-dead older brother. Lady Choi
makes up a vague motherly reason, but Yeoning is not satisfied. As he is
leaving his mother, King Sukjong summons him.
The king appears to be sick, surrounded by royal physicians diligently
grinding herbal medicines, yet certainly not lacking even a bit of his
charisma. The reason he has called Yeoning there is to inquire whether his
younger son wants to be king or not! As he doesn’t need to beat around the
bush, Sukjong acknowledges his suspicion regarding Yeoning’s degenerate behavior
and the motives behind it. Even though Yeoning tries to deny it, Sukjong
apparently knows the truth and again asks whether Yeoning wants to take the
throne once he steps down. When Yeoning tries to reason that he cannot be a
king since his older half-brother is the crown prince, Sukjong tells him that
there is no law stating that the crown prince must become the king. He goes
further and points out that it is a blow to his pride to even have this
conversation. Yeoning seems to be thinking hard about it as the king poses his
final question: “whether you become a good and wise king like Sejong or a
monster like Yeonsan, that is up to you. So then, will you do it or not?”
(Note: King Sejong, fourth king of the Joseon dynasty is considered one of the
greatest kings; Yeonsan-gun was the tenth king, often considered the worst
tyrant.)
Back in the forest,
Dae-Gil, who is being punished with starvation for his earlier defiance, tries
to find a way to escape. In his exploration, he discovers the marks of a tiger
on the trees and a middle-aged man with sharp eyes chopping a tree. The man
observes him and signals with his head a viper hanging on a tree branch behind
him! Now here comes one of the most daring scenes of this drama. Dae-Gil,
driven by his hunger and desperate will to survive, doesn’t seem to care about
the danger. He snatches the snake immediately, savagely biting it, peeling the
skin away, and begins to munch on the skinned snake. The man, Kim Chae-Gun (Ahn
Gil-Kang), continues his work while keeping an eye on the desperate young guy savoring
his only ‘meal’ that day.
It looks like
Dae-Gil is destined to meet Kim Chae-Gun. After having his lusty eyes fixed on
Seo-Rim for some time, the Devil tries to rape her one night. Dae-Gil comes to
the rescue when he hears her screaming, and the two slaves flee into the
forest. When she learns there may be tigers, Seo-Rim tries to convince Dae-Gil
to go back, but he refuses. He sweetly promises to get them out of the forest
and takes responsibility for the girl's life. As expected, a tiger appears. As
Dae-Gil orders Seo-Rim to run on his count of three, he braces himself to face
the tiger with only a stick. In the critical moment, however, somebody comes to
rescue him. It’s Kim Chae-Gun who kills the tiger with one slash of his sword
and then leaves, warning Dae-Gil to go back if he wants to stay alive. Dae-Gil
is then found by the Demon’s men, still in shock, and helplessly brought back
to the owner’s house. He is beaten and punished even more severely, culminating
in being thrown into a dung hole because the Demon wants him literally to taste
the crap!
However, the young
guy stays firm. He doesn’t beg for his life.
Instead he spits on the Demon’s face. The Demon angrily orders his man
to stuff Dae-Gil’s lucky one nyang coin back into his mouth as his
“fare” to the underworld and strikes him mercilessly. This time the blow
suddenly brings back memories, from his father’s tragic death to his own cruel
treatment at the hands of Yi In-Jwa. When his one nyang coin comes
rolling out of his mouth and lands on the ground in front of him, he suddenly
remembers Baek Man-Geum saying, “shouldn’t the best gambler in Joseon be
able to do it with one nyang?” Vivid memories of Baek Man-Geum, Yi In-Jwa
and Yeoning each tossing the one nyang coin to him replay dramatically
while a solitary tear rolls down his face.
In the same flash
back, we then return to the closing scene of Episode 5. Kim Chae-Gun walks towards
Dae-Gil, who is almost completely buried in the sea of muddy salt, desperately
trying to get a dead baby crab into his starving mouth. Kim Chae-Gun squats and
puts the baby crab into Dae-Gil’s mouth and gives him water. Instead of giving
his name to the man, Dae-Gil offers to bet whether he will survive or not. The
man only smiles and says, “You should live.” As Kim Chae-Gun walks away,
Dae-Gil sees his father's back instead and more painful memories return to him.
In the end, he made a promise to his late father, with such determination, that
until he gets his hands on the person who killed his father, he will not die.
There is a rather quick turnover here following his ‘enlightenment’ and the regaining of his memory. Soon enough, Dae-Gil shows off his card shark ability, remembering all the old tricks Baek Man-Geum taught him. His strong will to avenge Man-Geum’s murder not only strengthens him physically but also mentally. He demonstrates his skill to the Demon and offers to gamble for him in Hanyang. The man's greed drives him to accept. While preparing for the journey, Dae-Gil learns that Seo-Rim is the daughter of another ill-fated gambler—which makes him remember his father more and more. Now Dae-Gil, who looks neat and handsome again, with his unusually fierce, cold eyes, seems ready to return to Hanyang for some good revenge.
There is a rather quick turnover here following his ‘enlightenment’ and the regaining of his memory. Soon enough, Dae-Gil shows off his card shark ability, remembering all the old tricks Baek Man-Geum taught him. His strong will to avenge Man-Geum’s murder not only strengthens him physically but also mentally. He demonstrates his skill to the Demon and offers to gamble for him in Hanyang. The man's greed drives him to accept. While preparing for the journey, Dae-Gil learns that Seo-Rim is the daughter of another ill-fated gambler—which makes him remember his father more and more. Now Dae-Gil, who looks neat and handsome again, with his unusually fierce, cold eyes, seems ready to return to Hanyang for some good revenge.
Once in Hanyang, Demon
takes Dae-Gil to meet his old acquaintances: Hong-Mae and the Gang. Hong-Mae
isn’t too pleased to know that the Demon has broken their sale terms and
conditions. With Dae-Gil acting like he
still has amnesia, the Demon proposes to ‘sell’ Dae-Gil back to Hong-Mae for
500 nyang—100 times his earlier selling price as a slave—if Dae-Gil can
beat Hong-Mae’s team in a series of card game. If he loses, the Demon won’t
claim anything further. Dae-Gil beats all of them easily, which creates a buzz
in the gambling house. Hearing the noise, Dam-Seo comes in, followed by Yi
In-Jwa. To their surprise, they see a very familiar yet unexpected face: Baek
Dae-Gil. At first, Dae-Gil continues to act as if he had lost his memory, but
finally he loses patience due to the bitter memory of his father’s tragic death.
The surprisingly well-prepared Dae-Gil schemes to beat Yi In-Jwa. He sets up a
trap so that it seems like In-Jwa has cheated to win the game. The episode ends
on a cliffhanger, with Yi In-Jwa about to receive the punishment for cheating
in a gambling house. The punishment for cheating is having his hand chopped off
with an axe. Somewhere on the second floor, the disguised Prince Yeoning attentively
observes everything that happens.
Some personal
thoughts:
Is it eventually
the end? Or is it yet another beginning?
This episode may be
the end of Gae Ddong, who suffered a lot, physically and mentally. The
innocent, happy-go-lucky village boy went through a lot of pain before he
finally reached the peak of all the possible sufferings. Some of Dae-Gil’s
unfortunate scenes revolving around betting games might seem too extreme and
exaggerated for some people in our generation. However, looking back at
history, particularly at the harsh social caste system that shaped the lives of
Joseon people, it is not uncommon to see slaves' lives treated as cheaper than
a one nyang coin. They easily could lose their lives or rights through a
single tujeon or card game.
Dae-Gil’s extreme
sufferings as depicted in this episode, then, might not solely serve as a long,
redundant process of proving his inborn great fortune the hard way. Instead,
these incidents might be the so-called triggers for something even more
important in his life: a change for a new beginning. Without this very unbearable pain—up to the
utmost embarrassment of being literally shat on—would the new Baek Dae-Gil
appear all of a sudden? Well, probably not. Thus, the new Baek Dae-Gil, the
real card shark, was reborn as more resilient because he went through so much
hurt that it led him to change himself accordingly. As Charles Darwin said: “It
is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the
ones most responsive to change”.
On the other side of
the story, we have Prince Yeoning, who slowly changes to what he might truly
be: the intelligent, just, throne-protecting prince who looks up to his
charismatic father. He changes because he wants to. The two cubs belonging to
the old tiger Sukjong have started transforming into young tigers with stronger
claws, ready to play their games against Yi In-Jwa in their own respective
ways.
Finally, to me
personally, the storyline of Daebak has been presented in the most
beautiful, metaphorical narrative pattern possible. Therefore, I am looking forward
to digesting it slowly and carefully since it can be as overwhelming as it is
interesting. I’m ready to see the new beginning in the next part of the story.
Let the dice be thrown and the cards shuffled. Let’s see if we can finally hit
the jackpot!
Whoa! Great recap! I now understand what is mean with King Sejong and Yeongsan. Thank you for explaining it in the recap.
ReplyDeleteYou said it right, it might be beginning to later hit the jackpot. About the graphic scen, I wonder if the drama team did not make it that way, will we feel so good seeing the move of Daegil at the end of episode?
Thank you for the recap! I, too, hope that this is the end of the suffering period and the beginning of a better life for Dae Gil! The ending is such a teaser lol...
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting my recap, TEF! Huge thanks for the amazing editing team as well :). This is indeed one of the most difficult episodes to watch but I'm glad I could manage to retell it and share my personal thoughts as well. 'Daebak' follows a common narrative pattern but it amazes me that the writer has used three phases i.e. 'Complication' (Climax), Resolution (Ending) and Re-orientation (A new start) all in the single episode! No wonder it's not an easy piece to follow. However, I have been enjoying the story so much despite my personal grief as an eel upon seeing Jang Keun Suk being beaten and such lol. Anyway, I hope more people will grow to like this drama- it's worth-watching!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your great recap...this was indeed a very difficult episode...this is really not an easy drama to watch..there is so much going on..with history and fantasy entwined
DeleteSuch a great recap, and so insightful! Thank you for bringing even more dimension to an already deep story!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great recap, and so insightful! Thank you for bringing even more dimension to an already deep story!
ReplyDeleteThese recaps and insights always show me things that I didn't see or completely understand. Thanks to all of the authors for your perception and for all of the work it takes to put your thoughts in writing :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading this recap. So insightful.
ReplyDeleteJust one more thought as I re-read this recap. I really hate that Yi In-Jwa was correct when he said that extreme suffering was the way to create a tiger out of a country bumpkin. I have to hold onto the expectation that in the end the suffering needed to create this tiger will have been necessary not to help Yi succeed in his plans, but to cause Yi's downfall.
ReplyDelete