Monday, October 23, 2017

"Black" Episode 3 recap

The whimsical, yet harsh world of the dead comes to light in episode three of "Black", as we meet new Reapers and go through the events which lead our titular agent of demise into the body of Moo-gang. Ha-ram continues to work on her father's case and her ability draws in those who need to use it. The plot thickens and its rules become complicated. Will "Black" help us make sense of it all?
Our short introduction to Reapers reveals quite a lot, such as the existence of a distanced deity and ranks. This creates the same problems of hierarchy we find on Earth, making their world more relatable. From 444/Black (Kim Tae-woo) being true to his cold and deadly name (4 sounding like and signifying death in several East Asian countries) to 007 enjoying worldly goods like romantic fiction, "Black" gives these entities a bit of flavor.
Black and his co-workers talking about his punishmentMan-soo blowing Ha-ram's cover
We now have a clearer connection between Ha-ram (Go Ara) and Moo-gang's (Song Seung-heon) past through the ever so mysterious Soo-wan (Lee El). I expect that Oh Man-soo (Kim Dong-jun) and his abusive overlord will be related as well. Before the series began I assumed the saving of lives by our characters would be a work of compassion, but I find their selfish reasons more interesting. I do hope the series goes a bit deeper, however. I also sincerely hope it addresses the shaming of suicide victims Black engages in.
Speaking of victims, we learn more about the fate of our main characters. We know that whether through this case or not, both of them are destined to die in the near future. This makes me wonder if the series will stick to the absolute nature of death or not. Will it really kill both of its leads or do special circumstances re-write fate? We are slowly getting acquainted to the rules of this world and I hope the writer does not break them without setting the exceptions up properly.
Soo-wan being threatened by someone from her pastBlack upon discovering he is in charge of taking Ha-ram's soul
This is why some elements here worry me. For example, if Black is already in trouble for being missing in action, how are his plans supposed to magically fix this? If Ha-ram can see the shadows of Reapers inside humans as well, how can she not see Black in Moo-gang? Can seasoned Reapers hide this? Even if they can, how could Black had done it before knowing she sees them?
There is a lot to keep track of in "Black" and that includes possible errors, but if they are easily missed they might not be big enough to spoil one's engagement. On the other hand, I hope the drama avoids or at least eventually addresses more glaring issues like the ones mentioned above. The world of "Black" is captivating and I wish we get a solid journey through it.
"Black" is directed by Kim Hong-seon-I, written by Choi Ran-I and features Song Seung-heon, Go Ara, Lee El and Kim Dong-jun.
Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'
Copy & paste guideline for this article
Always put a link back to the source and HanCinema permalink

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.