Early Access: Alchemy Of Souls E2 (Patreon)

E2. Well this show is shaping up to be a pretty fun watch, if these first two episodes are anything to go by.

What strikes me, this episode, are the little spots of humor that are sprinkled through our story.

It's in little beats, like how Mu Deok plays along as Uk's maid, when Yul and Dang Gu come upon them at Songrim. Mu Deok's expressions alternating from fierce, to fake-docile, to quizzical.

And then there's how Dang Gu sees the dagger in Mu Deok's hand, and praises her for trying to protect her master, which is really the opposite of what she'd been trying to do - and then saying that it's a good thing, because her master is sooo weak that he needs the protection, heh.

And how about that scene where Uk closes the door to the secret room, and when the floor shakes, he ends up grabbing onto Mu Deok's hair for stability. Tee hee.

Somehow, I'm quite tickled by all these little touches. I think it's the comic timing of our actors, as they deliver the scenes, that makes it work for me the way it does.

These little spots of tongue-in-cheek funny definitely reminds me of other Hong sisters dramas from their heyday, and that is definitely a Good Thing.

This all lends a comic sort of tone to the overall proceedings, which are actually rather serious, and that makes everything land kinda-sorta like deadpan humor.

So far, this works for me quite nicely, because I think I'd find it more hard going, to try to seriously understand every single thing that goes into our drama world.

As it is right now, I'm approaching the details with a bit of a loose grip. I'm happy enough, if I kinda-sorta get how everything fits together in broad strokes, and I'm not too fussed if Show isn't suuuper clear on how these various organizations fit together.

One important thing we do learn this episode, though, is that the Danju (what seems to be the title of the head of her assassin sect) is, in fact, Jin Mu, the Assistant Gwanju of Cheonbugwan, making him the second-in-command to Uk's father.

We don't know what Cheonbugwan means, but I'm thinking this just miiight be a tongue-in-cheek homonym for 全部管, ie, "taking care of everything," and, it if is, is exactly the Hong sisters' kinda style. 😅

This means that Jin Mu's leading some kind of double life, where his day job is Assistant Gwanju of Cheonbugwan, while commanding a fleet of assassins by night, as the hooded Danju.

Which, of course, begs the question of what Jin Mu's real agenda is, besides coveting the position of Gwanju, which currently belongs to Uk's absent father.

Also, it's just like the Hong sisters, to have Uk keep telling Mu Deok that her eyes are beautiful, not because he actually thinks so, but because he's referring to how the soul shifter's blue mark has bloomed in her eyes, like flowers.

It's amusing yet rather poetic, at the same time.

And how cute, that Mu Deok then thinks to check how visible the blue marks are, in her eyes, by standing closer and closer to Uk, who then advises her that she just has to be careful when she kisses someone, ha.

This half serious, tongue-in-cheek style of banter, complete with played-straight serious expressions, is really working for me.

I actually like how Uk and Mu Deok come to learn more about each other, and come to understand each other's situations and constraints better, this episode, while all these other things are going on around them.

Like how Mu Deok learns that Uk is very weak, and could literally die, if he falls sick. And how Uk learns that Mu Deok herself is very weak, and needs the energy from her sword, if she hopes to regain her strength.

And, I also appreciate how one of the things that keeps recurring, is the two of them, working to keep each other safe. Not so much because they really care about each other just yet, but because they need each other right now.

Like how Uk shields Mu Deok from the Gwigu (ghost dog), because he knows that they won't let him be harmed, and how he breaks Gwigu's pottery in order to save Mu Deok.

And there's how Mu Deok steps away from Uk when she thinks the Gwigu's found her, and tells him to pretend not to know her, and how Mu Deok brings Uk a warm cup of tea while he's being punished, because she knows how weak he is.

It also feels significant, that Mu Deok tells Uk that he's the first person she's encountered, who's tried to save her, instead of kill her. That feels like a big deal for Mu Deok, so I'm guessing that there will be some loyalty born out of this, at least.

It's a bummer that Naksu's body is burned, because this means that she's stuck as Mu Deok - which begs the question of what's happened to the real Mu Deok, while Naksu's taken over her body?

So far, Show hasn't given any answers to that, even though we've already seen several soul shifters turn to stone in their borrowed bodies. Doesn't this mean that the unsuspecting hosts, whose souls we don't know the whereabouts of, die wrongful deaths?

Speaking of wrongful deaths, it seems, from that flashback, that Naksu's family had died wrongful deaths too, and that had been the point at which the Danju had recruited Naksu to join his fleet of assassins.

That definitely makes me curious to know the truth behind Naksu's family's fate. If drama convention holds, Naksu's probably a person of secret significance.

I was really quite startled when Mu Deok jumps into the lake to kill herself, just like she'd said, because, well, this is only the beginning of our story, so she can't possible die now.

However, the way Show plays it, that the lake is full of mystical energy, and that's why she was able to regain her power while in the water, so much so that she could unsheathe her sword, is pretty neat.

And, the way it's executed, with the CGI and all, is pretty cool too.

I really like the last stretch of this episode.

First of all, I like that Uk goes to search for Mu Deok, once he realizes that it's highly likely that she did go out there to the lake, to die.

At this point, he has no idea that he could gain anything further from her, and he still goes out there to search for her, which tells me that he does care about her, from a humane sort of perspective.

I like that sense of humanity and compassion, because up till now, all they've had between them, overtly, had been a tenuous agreement, that she would be his master, and he would be her pupil, if he could help her regain her energy.

And yet, even when he doesn't believe that she can be his master anymore, he saves her, and gets her those eye drops, to treat and lighten the color in her eyes.

All these efforts by Uk to help her, might just be the reason Mu Deok hatches that audacious, crazy, risky plan, to poison him, and force those with enough energy, to open Uk's energy gates and remove the poison from him.

Far out. It really is a risky plan, because she and Uk could both die, if things were to go wrong.

But she just goes for it anyway, and, whaddya know, it actually freaking works! I hafta love that Mu Deok's crazy, audacious, spectacularly hazardous plan actually works, and Uk gets his energy gates opened. High risk, high gain?

Our Mu Deok's not afraid to play big, that's for sure. Plus, you gotta love that amused smirk that she lets out, even as she addresses him as her pupil, before passing out.

And I do love that Uk looks as perplexed as he looks stunned and awed, by the craziness of his new master.

Ahhh. This is working out to be an unpredictable, fun ride, and I can't wait to see how this crazy student will deal with his even crazier master, when the next episode rolls around. 😁

Next episode notes will be out on: Thursday, 30 June 2022!