A show about a dog or poop

[seichan]

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Hong Gil Dong 1! kdrama. This is the first new drama I wanted to watch that aired this week. It's pretty silly; historical kdrama meets Robin Hood and his merry Power Rangers.

In the opening scene a troop of dancers are entertaining an upperclass lord at his birthday banquet. The hip-hop, pop, and rock clues you in to the modern spice in this historical drama. The dancers turn out to be Hong Gil Dong's group of bandits that then proceed to rob from the rich and give to the poor. I like the big guy with the big paddle.

We then flashback to see the characters a few years back.
Hong Gil Dong is an illegitimate child of a local lord figure. He's characterized as brash, a tiny bit pompous, a skilled fighter(the locals fear when he fights as he makes a mess), and a randy young man. His father says he can't be anything he wants to be since his mother was a slave.

Yi-nok is the female lead which we see coming from China in a boat with her grandfather. Also, on the boat is a mysterious, angtsy, upperclass guy who will undoubtedly be important later.



Yi-nok and her grandfather set up in town in order to sell chinese 'medicine', but first gathers everyone's attention with a competition to win Yi-nok's hand in marriage. Whomever can beat her in a fight wins. Gil Dong wants to leave Korea for China, hears about Yi-nok, and wants her to teach him Chinese. When she refuses, he wins the competition. Their interaction is pretty cute and his role as the town scoundrel is quite endearing.

The bigger picture: The current king is unstable, and spends his time with his harem rather than presiding over the court. The angtsy guy, Chang-whe, from earlier is revealed to be his brother. The angsty guy wants revenge for his dead mother who was ordered to be killed by 'someone'...ie: current king. Either Chang-whe or Gil Dong looks like they will boot the current corrupt king and save the country.


The episode ends with a ruckus at a local techno club.

Great production, cute scenarios & interesting story contribute to the overall entertaining show. I think it will be fun to see how Gil Dong meets the rest of his merry men.