Summary
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty bides its time in Episode 6, a little to its detriment, since the pacing and episode runtimes are becoming a hindrance.
As expected, Episode 6 of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty revolves around Ji-young rising up to defend Joseon’s reputation in front of the Ming Dynasty. But surprisingly, that doesn’t take the form of the actual challenge teased in the previous episode, since that’ll come next week, and will apparently be spread out across multiple days, so could constitute a hefty chunk of the season overall at current standards. I know it’s probably my prissy sensibilities, but I really don’t see how this show’s pacing is in any way defensible.
It isn’t just the length of the episodes, although that’s definitely annoying. It’s what’s going on to facilitate that length, which is often nothing. Seriously, not much happens here, and given that large parts of the plot involve a foreign envoy who doesn’t speak the native tongue, a lot of what does happen happens twice for translation purposes. I’m starting to think that there isn’t enough of a story here to justify how long it’s taking to tell it, however much I’m enjoying the stuff in the interim.
Structurally, it’s a bit repetitive too, I think. Each episode introduces a problem – in this one, it’s impressing the Ming envoy – that can only be solved by French fusion cuisine. We then spend a fair amount of time languishing on the preparation of the latest meal – this time, as per the title again, a black sesame macaron – and everyone is dead impressed, which moves the plot along a bit. Rinse and repeat.
Here, things are a little frisky between Ji-young and Yi Heon after she fell on top of him in the previous episode. She’s more excited by the idea of potentially going home now that she has her bag back, but oops, there’s no book inside, and nobody seems to know what happened to it. This leaves her to busy herself making the envoy a special dish – hence the macaron – which in turn leads to the idea of a competition. With Joseon’s fate on the line and a tribute to the Ming Dynasty due to be paid, Yi Heon needs Ji-young to impress, and he uses the promise of potentially helping her find the missing book as a motivator.
The audience is naturally inclined to root for Ji-young, but several characters in court are, of course, actively rooting against her, since if the Ming Dynasty gets to harvest ginseng, it’ll be easier for Prince Jesan and Consort Kang to oust Yi Heon. I’m sometimes inclined to wonder what a non-foodie, politically-focused version of this show might look like. I think it’d be pretty good, but that’s not what we’re dealing with.
Hence, the real stand-out sequence of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty Episode 6 is Ji-young and Yi Heon heading out disguised as smallfolk to acquire some necessary ingredients, since it’s pretty unmistakably a date. Yi Heon showers Ji-young with gifts. Ji-young finds him some flowers meant to calm him down. They share lingering glances. You know the routine. It’d feel played out, but there is genuine chemistry here, and the show’s production is top-notch, so whatever.
But there’s still a war to win, even if it’ll be reserved for subsequent episodes. I say “war”, but you know what I mean. Ji-young can’t have the Ming star chef expertly slicing up spring onions on her watch. The competition is simple enough to grasp – three rounds, the first being a new meat dish, the second being a cuisine exchange, and the third being a ginseng soup, relevant both because the coveted root is what all of this is about, but also because the Ming Dynasty specialises in soups, so it’ll put Joseon on the back foot. The stage is set and the stakes are clear. We’ll have to see how it pans out – no pun intended – next week.
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