Gaksital aka Bridal Mask Episode 27 Recap

Gaksital has come to avenge his personal vendetta against Kimura Taro and to help the cause of his comrades as well. Shunji finally faces Kang To once more but as always, their past and their feelings are too much for wither to ignore and neither of the two can truly bring themselves to deliver the final blow. In many aspects, Shunji is the hero of this episode as he surprises and stuns you when you thought that day might never come. He still may not be redeemable, but he’s not too far gone either! One wonders if this really is the happy ending for our long suffering hero or is this just the calm before the actual storm? Is there really no way for a freedom fighter to find happiness along with a cause? Must Kang To and Dan lose their everything-and each other for the sake of their cause?

Episode 27 Recap:

Taro and Kang To as Gaksital face each other after Gaksital beats down the samurais for Taro’s defense. As he faces his nemesis, Gaksital tells him, “I’ve come to deliver justice for my father who died by your hand.” His words are so poignant-to the others, it was simply justice but here, to Taro, it is revenge against his father. Taro, ever sarcastic asks him how long he thinks he’ll be able to wear that mask. Gaksital’s answer-till the oppressors are driven out of ‘this land.’

Taro lunges at him and as a fight breaks out between the two, all it takes Kaang To is two strokes to beat the older Kimura-one slash straight through his stomach and the tag dagger straight to his heart. Oooh, I’ve missed badass Kang To! Taro’s sword falls and slowly, he ekes out-even if Kimura Taro dies, the Japanese will be here forever. Gaksital promises to drive them out and withdraws his dagger. That saps Taro’s strength and he hits the floor, bleeding and dead…

Just as Shunji runs in… Oh crap, for a few moments I forgot you were on your way here! Kang To is surprised to see him an Shunji’s eyes dart between the body of his father and his frenemy standing before him. As he moves to draw his gun, Kang To shoves him sideways, causing Shunji to crash into the door and lose balance, allowing Kang To to make his getaway.

Shunji quickly regains his footing and follows Kang To out, shooting at him but Kang To ducks sideways and knocks the gun out of his hand. A fist fight follows where at first, Kang To barely defends himself while Shunji unleashes his anger and punches him over and over, finally drawing him against a tree and shouting in mad rage.

Kang To fights back and knocks Shunji off his feet but Shunji’s up moments later and they both stand facing each other. Kang To drops his flute and takes off his mask. As he looks upon his old friend, Shunji’s face twists into an expression of pure hatred.

They both head into the fight-fist meeting flesh and battle it out, neither holding back and landing blows one after the other. They’re both knocked to the ground after a bit, theit energies sapped, faces and fists bleeding. By the end, the fight seems to have drained out of Shunji, or his senses dulled since he sits there for moments, on the receiving end of blows.

Kang To knocks him to the ground, moving in to strangle him when he sees Shunji’s red eyes and his tears. Oooof, what a way to throw it all in chaos again! Watching him with clear eyes-devoid of hatred but full of emotion, Shunji tries to get Kang To to release his hold on him.

Kang To meanwhile, stares at his once friend, fist poised to strike but he shouts out in frustration, his own tears falling more viciously and pain etched all over his expression as he flashes back to their past and remembers the time when they were friends-before he was a part of the police force and simply a rickshaw puller-how Shunji would especially give him food. The look on his face-TOTAL HEARTBREAK!!

Drawing back, Kang To picks his flute and mask and runs away. For a few moments, Shunji lies there on the ground, bleeding and hurt and closes his eyes in an effort to stop his tears but they fall and he rises just as his nanny comes from inside, worrying over seeing him like this. Without a word, Shunji heads inside to the room where his father is lying on the ground and kneels beside him, crying his heart out. He cries out, “Father! I’m sorry, Father! FATHER!!”

Dan stands anxiously clutching her rosary and looking around when she hears a horse approaching-it is Kang To! Her face instantly lights up into a smile and she heads over to his side. As he hugs her, she thanks him- for coming back safely. Drawing back, he smiles at her, asking if she waited a long while but she simply mutters that he must be hungry-she had promised to cook his favorite food.

She gives him food and promises to cook for him everyday telling him to enjoy it. But as he tries to focus on it, Kang To’s thoughts are inadvertently drawn elsewhere. Dan asks him what’s bothering him and Kang To mutters, “How would Shunji be right now?” and tells her he killed Shunji’s father and ran into him right after. “I wish I wouldn’t ever run into Shunji again! But because I killed his father, Shunji will never give up, will he? Someday, me and Shunji, we will have no choice but to fight against one another!” Dan has little comfort to offer him.

At Taro’s funeral, Shunji clutches his father’s photo and mutters in voiceover, “Father, I will definitely catch that bastard with my own hands!” and promises to slay his throat in front of his father. At Ueno’s chambers, the phone rings-it’s Shunji. Ueno sympathizes with his loss, saying he feels like his own heart was cut out of his chest and cannot even imagine how Shunji must be feeling. He tells Shunji to take care of “that girl who knew who Gaksital was but hid it from you.” Shunji asks if he can really kill her and Ueno tells him, “Whether you kill her or save her-do whatever you want as you want! I was just waiting for the right time to take care of her anyway.” He instructs Shunji to kill her and then he’ll be able to catch Gaksital. “Kimura Shunji, be warned. The future of Kishokai hangs on your shoulders.” Shunji agrees and Ueno tells him that Taro was like a son to him and now, in his place, Shunji is the same as his bloodline-Man, is this another Rie in the making? Good thing Shunji’s got the smarter end so he’s not as easily duped. Rie comes to see Ueno just then who tells her of Taro’s death and tells her to go to his funeral. She heads off.

At the Kimura residence, Rie asks Kachiyama to wait outside and heads in by herself. Ugh, not a good plan girl. Inside, she truly seems sorry about it as she bows to Shunji and tells him her father gave his condolences as well. Shunji stares at her passively before dragging her off to another room and holding a sword to her. She tells him she’s sorry-she never realized hiding Kang To’s identity would lead to this.

Withdrawing the sword, Shunji tells her to not go back where she came from i.e. to the Chairman. “Wherever you can, run away.” He promises to keep this much secret for her and her eyes widen in realization-Ueno gave the order for her to die. “Now or later, I always wondered when he would give the order.”

She rises and smiles sadly at him, “It’s better to die by father’s hands than your hands. I don’t want you to feel bad about killing me. Thank you for letting me prepare my heart.” He’s surprised and asks her why she is returning-knowing with certainty that she will die. Holding back tears with the barest hint of a smile, Rie simply tells him she’ll be going now. No no no! Please don’t kill her! I want her to be saved! Surprised, Shunji watches her walk away.

Wada, Ueno and Yoshio sit together as they talk over the audacity in killing Taro-the chief of police. While Wada worries that he might be next Yoshio guesses that Taro’s plan to draw out Yang Baek and Dong Jin was probably the reason so Wada’s safe. Yoshio wants to kill the men anyway but Ueno shuts him up-they need to send men to the war to get shot! Wada’s worried about taking action since something this big has happened but that’s the least of Ueno’s worries-for now, getting the Koreans to the war is priority! Just then, Rie walks back in and bows to him. Needless to say, he’s shocked to see her arrive alive and kicking.

At Dong Jin’s camp, they discuss all that they have done to prevent Koreans being dragged off to the war but the latest threat is the students that will be sent. Rescuing them or helping them is a problem since even their families are under observation to stop them from running away. They decide to rescue the students being dragged first so that when those rumors spread-who knows, their movements may find more people-even those students willing to join.

Dong Jin announces that only a little training is left for some men and once that is done, they will be ready for the Manseh movement. Yang Baek thanks them for their hard work and suffering, especially Gaksital who tells them, “We must succeed, so that our sufferings do not go to waste!”

At the police Station, Yoshio greets Shunji when he reports for duty, telling him to buckle up-they know Dong Jin and Yang Baek have joined hands for the sake of ‘Mujang’ terror but they’ve no way of knowing how or when. Shunji says they need to start by finding Dong Jin’s lair and vows to find their hideout himself. Yoshio wants him to hurry-they already have weapons-that sends Shunji thinking and Yoshio wonders how they would know their plans already.

Shunji and company pull up infront of Angel Club just as Song is exiting and Shunji recognizes the man so they give chase but eventually lose him. But Shunji’s not worried-“Angel was the problem, after all!” he mutters. They head to Angel’s where he accosts Madam Tasha, asking what her relationship with Song is. She feigns ignorance so he continues-Kang To and Hae Suk never talked face to face regarding the donation money-there was a go between. Since she doesn’t speak up, he orders them taken-her and her waiter to the station.

At the station, they tie up the waiter to the cuffs and seatr Tasha before him. The waiter tells her he can endure anything and not to reveal anything. Shunji tells her it’s not too late and asks her to reveal the truth-why was Song at the club? She says he is simply a patron but Shunji doesn’t buy it and hits her over and over, repeating the question. When she doesn’t relent, he takes to whipping

Realizing the weaker link, Shunji starts with the waiter and after bearing it for a while, the waiter breaks, unable to take the torture and tells them the truth-he came to find the date for the departure of the students. I love the look on Tasha’s face here-hurting as if she was the one who betrayed the trust of her comrades, unable to deal with it. She closes her eyes and Shunji wonders why they’d want the date.

As Tasha and the waiter walk out later, she’s dazed and he’s clutching his injured side. They arrive back at the club-she’s barefoot and her feet are covered with blisters and the waiter, placing her shoes by her side apologizes for telling them the truth. She tells him not to worry-if he hadn’t broken down, she would have and this is all they could do anyway. She tells the girls it’s time to close the club. Aughhh, no more Kang To dancing happily ever after?

Shunji reports to Yoshio and the two vow to be prepared. Shunji calls Koiso to his office and whispers something in his ear. Koiso asks if two would be alright and Shunji nods, just instructing that they look young. Oh no! Once Koiso’s gone, Shunji stares out his window, muttering in voiceover, “Fine, Lee Kang To, let’s do this!”

Dong Jin and comrades are discussing their plans when Song returns and relays the date-it’s tomorrow! Kang To says he, Ahn and Jin (female Comrade) will go and they will need ten people more. Dong Jin asks if they would be enough but Kang To isn’t worried. He tells Song to have the men prepared and tells his comrades, “We must succeed!”

Deusku watches from afar as Kang To and Sun Hwa sit together, the sound of their laughter reaching his ears, piquing his jealousy even more. Aiioooo, so cute!!! He scratches his head, wondering what the two are doing just as Sun Hwa’s brother comes up, asking to go fishing. Deuksu’s mind is elsewhere and he asks the brother to go and spy on those two-what ARE they doing, hehe? Little bro doesn’t want to but hops off just as Kang To thanks Sun Hwa and heads away.

Sun Hwa joins her brother and Deuksu asks her-what were the two of them doing together for the whole hour? She wonders why he’s getting angry and he’s like-why shouldn’t he be? Hehe, Sun Hwa just turns to little bro, telling him she’ll go fishing with him and Deuksu immediately pipes up, “Sun Hwa sshi, let’s go together!”

Dan meanwhile, is taking a walk in the fields nearby and smiles when she sees Kang To happily skipping over to her, clutching something in his hand. When he reaches her, he tells her to close her eyes for a moment and she complies so he takes her hand and puts on the flower ring he made for her, thanks to Sun Hwa’s teachings-although he messed up around seven times! She smiles even wider at that.

She mutters that it’s pretty and he promises to make it for her every morning. Taking her hand, he asks, “Boon Yi, will you marry me?” Before Teacher Yang Baek leaves for Shanghai again, he wants to have a wedding with her and Yang Baek has already promised to preside over the ceremony! Ah, Dan’s smile is so pretty!! She nods her head and he asks her if she’ll be happy living in the mountains like this. She agrees-the happiest time of her life was when she lived with him in the mountains that one month-when they were kids. As she says yes, he moves in to kiss her.

At the gisaengs place, Rie tells Kachiyama to go and sleep-he didn’t sleep the night before either. Aww, he’s standing there to protect her? Rie urges him to go, telling him her father will not kill her like this-if he wanted to, she’d be dead already. Has he ever stalled when wanting someone dead? But seeing that she’s still alive, there must be a reason Ueno wants her alive.

He asks why she won’t leave but she says she has no place to go. “Is there another place where there is as much power, as much strength here? If there were such a place, I would run away there.” He points out she’s in danger-what use is power and strength? She finally turns to him and asks if he means she should run away with him-all he knows is how to use a sword.

“Can’t you see my heart? You saw Lee Kang To’s heart and Shunji’s heart, but why don’t you see my heart?”

Aww, somebody give him a hug! She tells him she’s a woman who depended on men ever since she was nine years old. For her, a man has to be strong and powerful for her to turn to. “But in the end, you loved Lee Kang To!” Turning away from him, she cries and he watches on, unable to offer any comfort.

At Dong Jin’s camp, the preparations for the rescue mission are complete and Gaksital and comrades are meeting Yang Baek, Dong Jin and Jo before setting off on their mission-Song included. Kang To smiles at Yang Baek assuringly. Shunji is in his office when Koiso brings in two men and introduces them to him-they are dressed as students. Uh oh. Shunji asks if they’ve been briefed by Koiso and tells them they have to do well! They smile deviously and tell him not to worry. Now, I am worried!

Through Kyungsung, a procession passing with the students in two, being led to war. Ahead is the Count’s friend who makes a speech about how Koreans should be grateful to the empire while one man in the crowd laments that these boys are being sent to die. Walking behind in the procession, Gye Soon also cries-her brother is among them.

Watching nearby from a hidden vantage point in a car is Shunji and Koiso. Oooh, devious trap with the students! Suddenly, a man in white-Gaksital! Approaches the convo from the front! Aha,action time! Before the soldiers at front can even respond, Kang To kills handicaps them with his handy flying daggers and kicks them down. From the sidelines, people cheer while Shunji quietly watches from the alley behind. Sending your men in, knowing they will die-that’s damn cold blooded Shunji!

Knocking down the driver, Kang To turns his flute to the principal, who’s quaking in his boots and kills him with one strike. The students watch happily as Dong Jin’s men arrive and deal with the other soldiers, knocking them out or killing them. Ahn and Jin join in the fray and there’s something very heartwarming about seeing the happy smile on Gye Soon’s face as she claps and cheers along with the crowd.

Ahn, Jin and Gaksital head away as Song turns to the crowd and introduces themselves as men from Dong Jin’s group and tells the students they are free now-they may go back with their family or they may join them and fight for their country. Behind him, Ahn and Jin are bringing in trucks.

Several students join them in the trucks and Gye Soon’s brother assures her he will be back. She sends him off with a smile, promising to look after the family till he gets back. Damn, that is making me cry! Unfortunately and unknown to Dong Jin’s men, Shunji’s men also board the trucks. Shunji boards the car and tells Koiso to follow them.

At the police headquarter, Wada is having another freakout because of the latest stunt by Dong Jin’s men. Yoshio takes it calmly, telling him not to worry since Shunji is already after them and the governor asks-when has Shunji not been after them and yet they are still at large, hehe. Yoshio says it is different this time-they have spies planted inside the students who joined Dong Jin and that assures Wada who mutters that Shunji really is different, saying they must crush the rebels as soon as they get them. get them. Yoshio’s more than happy to oblige.

Yang Baek and Jo are waiting anxiously until Dong Jin arrives with news that they are back and all thirteen are unhurt. Happily, they all head out to meet the students-their new recruits. Kang To, Ahn, Jin, Song and Jo stand on the sidelines. Gye Soon’s brother is happy over finally having to meet Yang Baek personally and turns to the person on his side in excitement-it is Shunji’s spy!

Giving the example of a bug that doesn’t fall even when it dies, Yang Baek gives a rousing speech to the men-for the sake of Korea’s independence, they need thousands of legs that are like rock so they may never fall. “Including me standing here, all of you are those legs that protect our land. Let’s become a country where we can go where we want to go. An independent Korea-that’s the world we have to make together.”

Everyone cheers at the top of their lungs and standing nearby in the woods, Koiso and Shunji hear the cheer. Double Uh oh!

Later, everyone is busy with preparations for the wedding tomorrow and Deuksu’s mom tells Dan Leader Jo gave her money to make lots of food-as if he were sending his own daughter off at her wedding. Dan protests to him but he tells her it’s the money her father gave him to send off his daughter. Jo then asks Deuksu’s mother to pick up some clothes from town and to feed the students-they are hungry.

Jo sits at a table with a student and one of Dong Jin’s men and share a bowl of food just as Kang To arrives and digs in too. Awww, this is so cute. Show, you’re gonna make me cry ten minutes from now, aren’t you? Nearby, the two spies make their getaway and arrive at Shunji’s location (which by the way is the Dan-Gaksital tree area) The spies give Shunji confirmation-Yang Baek, Dong Jin and Gaksital are there along with 200/300 men.

Shunji goes to see Ueno and tells him he plans on infiltrating them tomorrow so he needs more men. Since they don’t know they’ve been compromised, they are still resting easy at their hideout, Shunji tells him. Ueno agrees, telling him to make sure he catches Yang Baek and Dong Jin this time around and Shunji reminds him, “As promised, allow me to take Gaksital’s life myself!” Ueno agrees and asks why he never killed Rie.

Shunji tells him there was no need to go so far as to kill her and clarifies one thing, “You gave me Ueno Rie’s life. I never gave it back to you.” GASP! He’s protecting her?!I Ueno watches him thoughtfully and slightly smiles.

At that, Shunji leaves and runs into Rie outside. Approaching him, she asks if he would like a drink. They pour each other drinks and she tells him she wanted to thank him-she doesn’t know when she’ll die so she wanted to make sure to thank him. He tells her to rest assured-Ueno will never kill her. Shunji bargained for her life so she can now live at peace. She’s surprised and asks him why he would do that. “I don’t know that reason either. After I found out the truth that you are Korean and not Chairman’s real daughter, it’s true that I worried that you would die.”

He tells her he knows where Dan and Kang To are. She asks if he’s going to kill the two. He asks why he would kill the two and she realizes he means to kill just Kang To. He muses her heart would feel sad.

“More than me, Oh Mok Dan will hurt. No, she will die.”

Shunji shakes his head vehemently-she will live, by his side, he will show that she can and will live. She calls him a fool but he’s got a determined glint in his eyes- If only he has Mok Dan, no Esther with him, he feels he can go back to the way he was. She looks at him pitifully, unable to say more.

Jo gives Dan and Kang To their wedding clothes and tells them Damsari had brought this stuff with him when he came-prepared to marry the two. He’d wanted to walk Dan down the aisle himself but now Jo will stand in for him and asks Dan’s permission. Dan readily agrees and Jo turns to Kang To, asking if he will keep Dan happy. Kang To agrees and Jo thanks him.

Dan sees her dress and cannot help but tear up. Teary himself, Kang To holds her.

At the police station, Shunji loads his gun decisively and announces the plan for the day-they are moving into the lion’s den and they must capture Dan, Yang Baek and Dong Jin alive. All the others, he says, can be killed except for these. “BUT I will be the one to kill Lee Kang To.” They move out and head to the mountain.

At the camp, Kang To walks down the aisle, dressed in the clothes Damsari gave him and Dan follows behind, escorted by Jo. Kang To smiles at her as Shunji and his company run up to their destination.

Shunji arrives ahead of his company and stops short in surprise while Kang To and Dan look at each other and smile.

Comments:

What an episode! Love Love Love! It’s not just perfectly setting everything up for the finale tomorrow-it focuses on the characters once more-bringing their depths right into the conflict! How amazing to be reminded of the beginning, the whole journey and change from one end to another! Kang To and Shunji form the very axis of this show-Gaksital may be about the freedom movement and revenge but more than all these elements, it’s about the friendship between these two people and how the movement and revenge tears them apart, vying for blood. There’s much time left before Korea can regain its freedom from the Japanese Empire, but the time for the final battle between the two friends is right around the corner and there’s no avoiding it anymore.

The beginning fight scene was an eye opener for both Shunji and Kang To. Shunji launches into a rage seeing his father lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood-similar to the way Kang To went into a rage to find his mother dead. How like this drama to pit these two in the same circumstances and show them and us, just how much our circumstances and our choices shape us. Both Kang To and Shunji have lost their families-Kang To lost it to his ambition to do better for the sake of his family while Shunji lost his because of their heartless and coldblooded nature. And yet they both rose from it-Kang To to come back to the righteous path while Shunji sunk deeper and deeper into the same heartless and coldblooded nature that claimed his family.

Seeing the way Shunji just goes limp in the fight at the beginning was a surprise. I may be hoping for too much here, but maybe losing his father shows Shunji just how Kang To must have felt when he lost his mother. The way Shunji stops hitting Kang To back and stares at him through teary eyes, devoid of hate or animosity, just holding plain emotion and pain was a reminder that Shunji is also human. No matter how much he falls, how much he’s consumed by his rage and hatred, deep down, he’s still got remnants of his soft, caring and friendly side. And as he stands there crying later, it seems to be both for his father and for the friend he has now lost forever.

The best part of this drama is that it delivers-not only in action and dialogue but more so in writing and emotions. The initial fight shows so many dynamics-first it’s Kang To who doesn’t fight back but then it’s Shunji who simply gives up. The scene where Kang To is poised atop his friend, ready to strangle him-the look in his friends eyes shoves him straight back to the past-when Shunji was the only one who was a friend to him in his poorest days. In his own words-that was a world where one could not survive without any strength, any backing and he had none. But Shunji was the one who never cared for any of that and gave him a friendship to cherish.

Now, hitting his friend, he cannot shake off that image and that feeling-whatever they may be now, they were once friends-closer than brothers; no matter what may have passed between them, he cannot bring himself to kill his friend. They are both simply victim to circumstances. They’ve both been wronged, fought injustice in their own sense, wronged each other but at the end, neither slate is above the other. No matter how much they may hate each other or want to kill each other, they’ve got a past full of affection and caring for each other that weighs above it all. However Shunji claims he will pull the trigger when it’s time, I doubt even he would be able to do it as unfeelingly and mercilessly as his blood before him did. And the gesture Kang To shows in this episode, by simply leaving-it wasn’t just for the sake of Shunji and to show him mercy. It was as much for himself. How can he bring himself to kill the one person he has left, besides Dan, who helped him remain sane and human? And moreover, even if he did go ahead and kill Shunji-would he really be able to live with himself after that?

And how satisfying was it to see Gye Soon cheer her brother on and send her off with smiles to fight the war for the Joseons? She’s one of the characters I hated in the beginning-a spy for the Japanese, greedy for money but once again, the drama shows that no one is simply good or bad-choices make you the way you are and finally seeing her make the right choices with a proud expression etched on her face makes you root for her and her brother to survive the war and make it out well! So what if she made wrong choices before-now, she’s made the right choice and by far, it outweighs all the wrong she did before.

I still wish we got to see Rie’s transformation arc complete-her reclaiming her roots and identity as Hong Joo but I’m still satisfied with her scenes in this episode. You see the whole change that she has gone through-for the woman who struggled to survive, she is now at peace even knowing she may die any minute. It’s not resignation in the wrong sense-it’s rather a sense of contentment. She may have lost everything because she fell in love with Kang To but to her, losing everything was a price worth paying for. And that’s why I loved her more. With one episode left, I hope we see a satisfactory end for her-and one that doesn’t involve death (Yes, I’ve read the preview but am still holding out hope!)

Shunji’s given me new hopes throughout this episode. He lets Rie go and moreover, warns the Chairman not to kill her and admits as much to her-that he was worried she may end up dead. It is these little gestures that show he’s still caring beneath all that hatred and anger. And the reason why he wants Mok Dan by his side-so he can go back to being the person he was and reclaim his better self-that was heartening! He’s still like that lost puppy-eager to be back, craving for the goodness but unsure and unaware of how to do it and so he lashes out at anything and everything, grabbing at chances he hopes may lead him back. I once thought that either Kang To or Shunji has to die for the conflict to end but I’m not sure anymore-who knows, things may still be salvaged.

And the ending of this episode adds to the hope-yes Shunji set out to kill Kang To but maybe, just maybe watching him and Dan together he will finally realize he is one step behind and will always be so. Dan’s always had eyes only for her Young Master and no matter what he’s done-she’s gone farther and farther from him. Rie’s words are true and I love that she is the person who understands it best-Kang To and Dan are best suited to each other and without Kang To, Dan will not simply hurt-she will die. Maybe those words will be the catalyst that awaken Shunji and make him realize he doesn’t really need Dan to go back to his former self or be a good person again. Once again, the main conflict is between these three-and I still cling to the hope that all three may weather and survive the storm!