Rainy Zombie Chat: Goblin Episodes 11-13

Raine: omigoshmyheart. The tears. And honestly, a little bit of incredulity.

Zombie: There was definitely a lot going on in these three episodes. Where do we even start??? Do we start at the heart-shattering end of the last episode and work our way back or work our way from the beginning and end with our hearts being torn out of our chests and our lives losing all meaning? Sorry, was that a bit too dramatic?

Raine: It wasn’t dramatic as those three episodes! You have a long way to go to beat Goblin in dramatics!

Zombie: Oh good grief! We’re like 2 seconds into this chat and already I’m fighting off tears! I just can’t deal with all that’s happened! In some ways it feels like it’s all passed too quickly and in other ways it feels like it dragged on forever. Episode 13 especially, felt like it was dragging but then WHAM! I wasn’t ready for that slap upside the head, even though I’ve known it was coming since the very first episode.

Raine: And it’s not just Gong Yoo and his stint as the most amazing fantastical being EVAR. Just look at Sunny’s arc over the past three episodes. She is this rather apathetic woman looking for love who learns about an entire lifetime and a family she never knew she had. She has her heart torn by a love that is just as tragic the second time around. I’ve always loved Yoo In Na, but holy moly she is stunning here.

Zombie: You know, I think if anyone other than Sunny were in this position, it wouldn’t work out nearly as well. Despite her apathetic appearance, she’s a very strong, intelligent woman and as such, she’s able to deal with having her whole other life laid out in front of her. There really aren’t many people in this world who could receive that sort of information, those memories, that heartbreak, and still be able to function as a normal human being. Of course she’s not the only one dealing with lost memories and broken hearts. Poor Death has had a lot happen to him over the course of these episodes. After 600 years or so of lost memories, he gets them all back in a single blow only to find that he’s not only the cause of Goblin’s pain but also responsible for the death of both his one true love and himself. That’s a lot to deal with!

Raine: I just love the dilemma that Death has morally. Lee Dong Wook manifests it so well and I’m shocked to see myself type that. I generally tend to be bored with LDW, but he has WON me here. He’s so convincing. He was a loving, but weak man who allowed evil and pain to crush and manipulate him into a shriveled, little human being. He is still loving and weak now as Death, but watching him strike out on his own path is magnificent. Pain never hurt so good.

Zombie: I have to say, my heart swelled with many, many emotions as Death decided to act on his own and show up on the rooftop, just when he was needed most. The fact that, after all these years, he’s finally found a way to break free from the grip of that awful Park Joong Heon, made me so happy. It certainly took him long enough to get there, but he did and ended up being a major player in the downfall of that terrible man. I really wish Fate would be nice enough to let Death be the one to drag that wretched being to hell but I guess that would be asking too much. Too bad Goblin isn’t around anymore to… Oh crap! *sobs*

Raine: WHY DID YOU MENTION THAT? But since you did…holy monkey balls that was such a powerful scene. It was a little long in run time (coulda cut down on the staring and crying), but it was so intense. I loved the CG work on the sword as it was pulled out. Loved Death intervening and the camera angles as Goblin struck down their mutual enemy and Eun Tak realizes she had an unwilling part in the death of her loved one. It was magical how Goblin decided to do it for her, Death, and to rid the world of gross, purple-lipped, cracking fingers Park Joong Heon the malicious ghost. Gosh, he’s hella gross.

Zombie: He was rather disgusting, wasn’t he? I actually really loved how creepy and nasty he was in death because it felt like a perfect representation of what he’d been like in life.

Raine: EXACTLY!

Zombie: It seemed fitting that such a black-hearted human should exist in death as a disgusting, rotting, horrendous soul. As great and terrible as he was in his ghostly form, I thought it was sad they didn’t use him as much as they could have. They did a fantastic job of making him look evil and vile but they kinda glossed over just how terrible of a ghost he was. There wasn’t really any sense of urgency built up around him, no clear reasons why he needed to be dealt with so quickly, other than he kept tormenting Eun Tak and threatening to murder people. I suppose he did have that one moment where he took out a group of random people but that felt so out of place and lame. I think if they’d used this horrible creature differently, it would have made Goblin’s death even more potent. Not that I actually needed any more incentive to bawl my eyes out… I just think if they’d made Joong Heon’s plan more clear, if they’d put some sort of effort into explaining Eun Tak’s magical Goblin mark, and delved into the connection between the two, we could have understood (and felt) Goblin’s desperation just a little bit more.

Raine: Yup. He was poorly introduced and utilized and even then he was a marvelous villain. I wanted him introduced earlier and his danger to feel real and present.

Zombie: That certainly would have added more punch to this final scene. Not that really want to feel like our hearts are being ripped apart, but in some cases, feelings as intense as that are fitting and maybe even necessary. I think that with a story as intensely emotional as this one, it would have been nice to feel the full weight of this last scene and not have such an emotional moment ruined by undeveloped characters and missed timing.

Raine: Yeah, I thought they took out Joong Heon the Ghost way to fast after his introduction. Like he was a flea. And he so wasn’t.

Zombie: No, he definitely had the potential to be way more than just another ugly face.

Raine: OMG was he UGLAY!

Zombie: I suppose in a cast this pretty, they needed to throw someone awful in there to balance things out.

Raine: So true. Oh, I just realized this after THIRTEEN episodes. The lady in red…is Samshin Halmoni. I should’ve known when different people saw her different ways and she was taking care of the kiddos. Did I learn nothing from My Girlfriend is a Gumiho?

Zombie: Hahaha! Don’t feel bad, I only just realized that myself. I guess I was too caught up in the pretty to pay much attention to anything else.

Raine: Cons to being a white chick watching Korean drama. I didn’t grow up with her as part of my history. But I really love how she’s included here. Two things to talk about. 1) How she SCHOOLED that horrible teacher who made school life horrible for Eun Tak. 2) her conversation with Duk Hwa when he was possessed by God. Did Sungjae NOT do such a fabulous job with that scene?

Zombie: He really did. I have to say, I really loved the way that little twist was worked into the plot. It was such a great way to tie all of these little bits and piece together while at the same time, giving us so much insight into what’s been going on this whole time. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. As for that awful teacher being put in her place by Samshin Halmoni… That was nothing short of perfect. That horrible woman deserved everything she got and then some!

Raine: Definitely. Take that horrible teacher lady! Speaking of horrible, the chairman’s death broke my heart for so many reasons. He was a great side character. He was important to Goblin and it showed how much Goblin has cared for all of the men like the chairman who have passed through his life. The chairman and Duk Hwa were just precious. And Duk Hwa’s reaction to that death…oh more tears…

Zombie: Oh my gosh! I actually bawled harder over the Chairman’s death than I did Goblin’s! Seriously, when Duk Hwa stepped out of the room and started polishing the silver, I straight up ugly sobbed. It was awful! I ended up buried under a pile of used tissues because I just couldn’t keep myself together.

Raine: When you cry over the rocked community over a SIDE character’s death…that’s good writing.

Zombie: Yes. It. Is. Again, I just wish I’d felt that level of heartbreak when Goblin died. I suppose there’s a good chance I just over-prepared myself for that moment and that’s why it didn’t hit me quite like I thought it would. After all, I’ve known that moment was coming from the very beginning of this story. I guess having 13 episodes to prepare could have caused me to callous my heart too much. Then again, I also didn’t shed that many tears over Death’s story and his big reveal so maybe my heart’s just broken or something. I mean if Death can cry for an episode and a half straight, shouldn’t I feel something as well? Or maybe I just let him do all the crying for me… Or perhaps I was just so mesmerized by how pretty Lee Dong Wook is when he cries, I forgot to cry myself… It’s hard to say.

Raine: Yeah, I was crushed by Goblin’s death, yet at the same time wanted more out of it? I’m left hanging as to what the last 3 episodes will hold now. He comes back to life and “kills” the anticipation of his death. We see how the three main leads remaining live? We see how his vision of older Eun Tak plays out?

Zombie: I actually have a theory about this… My guess is that since they made such a big deal about a human’s determination and their ability to change their fate simply by sheer will, (like the man who burst into Death’s tea house because he desperately needed a bathroom) this will somehow play into Goblin’s return as a human. Yes, he as a supernatural being, had to die. It was his destiny, but that doesn’t mean that he, as Kim Shin, the human, has to subject himself to that fate. His human ability to challenge and change fate could mean that he finds a way, within himself, to escape death. What this would actually entail is still kind of a mystery but I really feel like they wouldn’t have mentioned all of this about human will and changing fate, if it weren’t going to come into play in some major way before the story ends. After all, we still have 3 more episodes before this thing ends and there’s no way in heck they’re going to go that long without our beloved Goblin making some sort of a dramatic return.

Raine: I think we did chat about this before. That guy who had to pee really made an impression on me. K-drama and its bathroom humor…I do hope that the shattered romance does come back together. The way they look at each other like lost lovers is just…*sobs*

Zombie: I have a feeling we’re going to be sobbing a whole lot more before the end. I just hope that when this drama finally wraps up, we’ll be sobbing tears of joy rather than tears of heartache and/or regret.

Raine: I know I keep saying it, but it’s really the 11th hour when this writer craps out. Actually, not just her, but many, many writers who have run the gauntlet of doing any sort of live shooting. So far my biggest complaint is that the show is indulgent in the wide-eyes, tears, and holding focus on faces for far too long. The show could be an hour per episode and be just as impactful.

Zombie: I can’t argue with you there. However, even with all its faults, this drama is still one of the best I’ve watched in a long time. As long as it manages to keep itself together as it wraps up, I’ll be happy. Though a couple more, passionate Gong Yoo kisses would be nice. Oy! Can that man kiss! *swoon*

Raine: I’m glad you brought that up. He just…swooped in out of nowhere. That kiss was just so damn sexy my ovaries exploded. If she wasn’t an adult before, she sure is now. That was like XXX kissing. WOW. Which prompted me to do research on kisses which taught me that some cultures don’t kiss at all. HOW WEIRD!

Zombie: Not gonna lie, all my brain can process now is “research,” “kisses,” and “Gong Yoo.” For some reason, Coffee Prince, immediately comes to mind… And pretty much every other Gong Yoo drama in existence. Ugh! This man can kiss!

Raine: Yeah, he is kissing master. I guess we’ll have to get him to teach us…maybe when he comes back from the…wherever Goblins go…he’ll have lots of pent up kisses to get off his chest, er, lips.

Zombie: I’m not sure whether to fall over laughing or fall over from swooning… Maybe both?

Raine: Did you start singing “He’s gone where the goblins go, beloooooow!”

Zombie: *falls over dead*

Raine: Let’s watch that kiss again.