I already gave you my reactions to Episodes 1 - 4 in Twitter, but I really want to read the two comments here. This is why I will repost the Episode 1 commentary here:

Dated: 19 Dec 2022

Good start! There was some misdirection in that I was expecting that this was part of the real world, but happened in the Joseon era. But surprise! It’s a manhwa.

Recall No 9 + Recall No 10

If these are flashbacks, sure it provides information. I’m not sure if this were a kdrama if this would be good for one, let alone two flashbacks.

#15

I can imagine the suspense at this part, and then the surprise that the previous scenes are just web toons.

#17 good bit of comedy here

#22 informative crash course on the cliches of screenwriting

also a good reintroduction to Oh Yeonjoo

#25 another suspense scene, a repetition of the suicide scene, but when I first read it, it seemed out of place.....but episode 2 filled me in

a good cliff hanger

• • Enchanteur

    Wednesday 21st December 2022 at 22:16
    

    Purposes of the scenes in Queen of Darkness:

    - Intended to surprise by dropping the action in Joseon, while we are in the W universe.

    - To have a very strong start, especially the very first scene.

    - Create a long lasting hook on Queen of Darkness, which we will see later in the drama.

    - Reproduces a pattern somewhat similar to that of W season 1. A character on whom a whole series of misfortunes fall at high speed.

    - The two flashbacks are in this sense, as after-shock, underlining the sadness of the character who has just lost the two most important people in his life.

     

    However, I hesitated for a long time to start with this, because it is also a false lead. The first manhwa involved will be Butterfly Girl. In the balance: it makes the story more unpredictable. On the other hand it makes the story more scattered and less easy to follow. It is very risky. So I only followed the path of pleasure, because it was exhilarating to start like this with strong scenes and action. And especially, the final freeze on Wang Shin's face clenching his teeth as the cliffhanger of the manhwa.

     

    As I know, the first two and a half episodes tend to lack a clear direction. Lots of primers, whose pay-offs appear later, sometimes even towards the end of the drama for some. I wish it could have been otherwise, but the crystallization of the story into a coherent, hyper-linked structure decided otherwise. I feel like a helpless author in front of the story that builds its own life as a whole.

     

    Scene 22: As the previous scene shows Soo-Bong talking about his future partnership with another author, the natural connection is that the next scene shows his partner. There's a red herring that this could be the professional writer SJJ. Her speech is a bit long but that will also serve later (a first reference to this at the beginning of episode 4). The purpose of the scene is mainly:

    - To introduce Yeon-Joo and establish that she is Soo-Bong's future partner. Because she already imagines a story for a hospital manhwa.

    - To show Yeon-Joo's personality, which I hope is true to season 1: a bit whimsical and having a rather naive taste for scenarios (not really the best).

    - A little bit of comedy or SJJ's anecdotes that I hope are interesting enough, like the anecdote of the alien doing his lesson, at the beginning of "My love from the stars".

    - SJJ's character is not completely free either, as she'll reappear later on.

     

    The last scenes do everything to trap the audience for the cliffhanger. Especially with the reaction of the curious girls at the edge of the bridge, or even that of the cab.