Early Access: The Red Sleeve E2

E2. Remember how I said I was just ok with episode 1, but expected to get into Show more, if Lee Jun Ho was allowed to serve up some consistent smolder? Muahahaha. The smolder is here, my friends, and I am here for it! 🤩😁

I mean, there is a sense of tropeyness running through this episode, but somehow, I found this episode very amusing and very enjoyable. And that smolder? Totally made everything more delicious, heh.

The way we are properly introduced to adult Yi San, with him so intent on the tiger hunt, is just the sort of thing to set me up for hearts in my eyes. He's so focused, decisive and deliberate, as he goes about hunting down that elusive tiger. And, that look on his face, as his attendants put on his outer robe for him, is just so offhandedly smoldery, like, "I know I'm cool (and hot), and I don't care." Ha.

Also, I feel inexplicably tickled by the whole situation between Yi San and Deok Im, as she interacts with him, having no idea that he is the Crown Prince. His disgruntled expressions and shocked sputter make me laugh, and I find myself lapping up all the veiled identity hijinks with glee.

This episode, I find that Deok Im's growing on me nicely, as in, I somehow find her less over-the-top now, compared to last episode, and I can't quite figure out why, since she's essentially the same. Maybe I'm more used to the tone that they're going for with her.

Plus, I do think that Show's gunning more for funny rather than cute, with the tone around Deok Im, and that's landing for me very nicely. Lee Se Young's got good comic timing, and I found myself giggling at the water scene, even though there was nothing particularly inventive about it. The execution just worked, for me.

I also like the detail, that Deok Im likes it when she gets to make a choice; that having control over various things in her life, brings her joy. This cognizance of hers, that she values personal agency, is a nice foundation on which to build her character. And perhaps because Show lays this out early, it feels like all the other, more lighthearted stuff layered on top of it, has a solid foundation of sorts, to stand on. Does that make sense?

Another detail that I liked, this episode, is the festival for the court ladies. It's so carnival-like, and so festive. I like the idea that even though the court ladies dedicate their lives to serving in the palace, that they get time to have fun like this.

I gotta say, thanks to Deok Ro making that decision to claim the credit of tearing out the offending pages in the book all those years ago, I am viewing him with a decided amount of suspicion. Like when he offers to investigate the sender of the secret message for Yi San, I can't help wondering if he's the one who'd sent the message.

He does seem perfectly pleasant and gentlemanly on the surface, though, so it's possible that I've misjudged him for a lone incident in his youth. We'll have to see.

Yi San pretending to be Deok Ro in front of Deok Im amuses me more than it should, in the sense that the way it's played isn't all that surprising, and yet, I find myself giggling through most of it, like I'm seeing this sort of stuff for the first time. Very well played, Show.

I'm also suitably amused the running gag of Deok Im trying to write that apology letter, only to have Yi San - as himself - continually rejecting every iteration of it that she serves up. This is the sort of thing that gets funnier as it gets dragged out, and by the time Deok Im's barely containing her frustration, even as she kneels before the Crown Prince, I'm thoroughly amused.

I have to confess that I'm somehow still not feeling the younger version of Yi San, there's just something about the young actor's performance that doesn't quite ring true for me. However, I appreciate the note of pathos that we get in adult Yi San as a result, as he thinks back on that memory, of being rejected by his father.

The other side of Yi San that I appreciated seeing this episode, is his cheeky side. The amused smirk, as he realizes that the court lady prostrate before him, is none other than the audacious library maid who'd chased him out with a broom and thrown salt at him, is pretty great. His desire to haze her for it, lands cheeky to me, rather than malicious, and I was suitably tickled at the various lengths he goes to, to avoid speaking out loud in front of Deok Im, so as to conceal his identity.

I like that in the midst of the funny, Show takes time to have Deok Im actually help Yi San with finding that map, and tell him that she thinks he's a great person. That moment feels guileless and genuine, and I can see how this affects Yi San.

This is likely a rare (perhaps the only?) occasion when someone tells him something positive about himself in a frank and unguarded manner, without taking his identity as the Crown Prince into account. I can see why that would be touching and important to him.

I'm curious as to why Yi San drags Deok Im out of the library, where he's got her on night duty, and tells her that he needs her to read a book, to help him with his tiger hunt. What I want to know is, 1, how exactly does that help him with the tiger hunt, and 2, will this blow his cover with Deok Im?

Next episode notes will be out on: Tuesday, 14 Dec 2021!