The Spirit of the Ruler (2017)

Watched because of F4 syndrome (f4 fan here)

I honestly watched and searched for this drama because of k-drama Descendants of the Sun and c-drama My Dear Guardian.....I like the themed of those drama, and searched for lakorn that are also the same themed. Hence as per suggestion by google and youtube I ended up to watched those 4. For me this is my top among the 4. Not just that I am fascinated by Weir and other cast. But also the way they act, the flow of the story, and the feeling/
emotion show for me are so catchy........I feel pity for the second lead couples as they had to separate in that way. But in overall for me this is a recommended drama for all.

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I wanted to watch this because the synopsis sounded interesting and I have a soft spot for male-lead-falls-in-love-first, and for a spell of unrequited love angst (a lot of my favourite dramas have this trope, lol).

STORY (No spoilers)
The synopsis is a good summary of the overarching plot-line of the show. However, it is best to adjust your expectations accordingly if you were expecting a realistic depiction of military manoeuvres or setting, or of proper medical procedures or protocol. I mean, I won't say I'm an expert of both but even I could see how contrived, artificial and 'convenient' certain actions and scenes are played out. Logic or sense or the natural laws of physics, hygiene or danger should be conveniently shelved if you want to enjoy this drama.

Having established that this is a show that likes to bend its settings and circumstances for its own convenience to the plot or to the development of the relationship between characters, you can make lemonade out of lemons by inferring that common sense notwithstanding, everything that later happens on-screen is there to drive the story in a particular direction i.e. to add to the main leads' relationship building. This may cause some loss of tension during some dramatic scenes but I don't think this show is trying to sell itself as a slick military show, but instead is a romance that happens to be in a military and medical setting.

The pacing of the show is not bad, really. There is a lot of forward movement in plot and in action. The romance is actually rather cute for the first half of the show when the main male lead is on a mission to rescue the main female lead. However, once the rescue mission is over, probably in order to create some conflict so that there is some drama over the second half of the show, the romance starts entering the territory of misunderstandings, missteps, anger, unforgiveness and grovelling. Throw in some additional issues such as terrorist groups, weapons brokering, resistance movements, other love-interests plotting to separate the two, and you have quite an interesting recipe of a show (perhaps to your taste, or perhaps not?).

I personally felt that some of the charm from the initial romance fizzled out towards the second half. And that unrequited love angst and internal conflict which I was so looking forward to from the main male lead was... pretty short-lived and stunted.

I liked the panoramic pans of the mountain scenes and the jungles though! Lovely scenery in this show, where you have them.


ACTING/ CAST
WEIR SUKOLLAWAT - first time seeing him act in a lakorn for me and it took me a while to warm up to him because I'm a little bit of a superficial person and moustaches are not really my thing so that took some adjusting and getting used to. He is not a stiff actor though, and has a knack for carrying off cocky and cheeky personalities. I'm not quite convinced of his ability to carry the internal conflict and angst scenes though, so it was probably just as well that they were not too prolonged. He was a good enough leading man for me in this show, but not really a standout performance.

PEAK PATTARASAYA - was also serviceable enough as our main female lead. Perhaps it is the character script but I quite liked her for the first half of the show as a rather assertive but kind volunteer doctor out in the jungle but once the romance hit the rocks after the rescue mission, her character sort of went into a bit of a tailspin, which was a pity.

I quite like the supporting casts though! The Krating team members, the various key people in the resistance groups, especially Chayin, were nice additions to the drama. I also liked seeing how the second female doctor evolved through the series.


RE-WATCH-VALUE
On the whole, this lakorn was not sticky or absorbing enough for me to consider re-watching it again.
However, overall, it is not a bad romance drama placed within a military and medical setting. Don't expect any 'Descendents of the Sun' production slickness or any proper realism from a military or medical perspective and you're good to go!

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