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*"This is the best drama I’ve watched so far. The acting, the storyline, and the strength of both the female and male leads — it’s truly amazing. I really hope there will be a second season. This drama is absolutely wonderful, and I highly recommend watching it. Thank you, I truly enjoyed it. Gang Dong-won, you were truly amazing, and Jun Ji-hyun, you were absolutely incredible. All the actors were fantastic."*
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A Captivating Tempest That Never Reached Full Force
With Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong-won leading, my expectations were through the roof. And to be fair, the first episode did an excellent job setting the stage; a strong, badass female lead with immense potential, and a loyal protector bound to fall for her. It had everything to become a jaw-dropping series filled with plot twists and emotional depth.Unfortunately, Tempest never quite takes the leap. It feels like the show couldn’t decide what it wanted to be; political thriller, action drama, or romance and kept circling between them without a clear focus. Despite having an exceptional cast and a huge budget, it ended up wasting a lot of that potential.
The ending also felt more like fan service than a true conclusion, which left me disappointed. For a drama that could’ve easily been one of the best of 2025, it ended up being just… average.
That said, the acting was undeniably great, the chemistry between Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong-won was sizzling, and the action scenes were well executed. There were moments when the story really clicked. I just wish there had been more of them.
In the end, Tempest is a visually stunning drama carried by its leads, but one that never quite lives up to the storm it promised.
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A Stellar Cast Held Back by Overambition
There is a lot to like in this drama, and you’ll get your fair share of political intrigue, assassination attempts, and large-scale “we need to save the world” arcs. The cast is absolutely stellar, and the inclusion of top American actors for the foreign segments is a refreshing surprise for a K-drama. The result is consistently strong performances across the board.Despite that, it often feels like the show is trying to do too much at once. A tighter, more grounded storyline might have served it better. The characters were already compelling, even if a bit surface level, and raising the stakes so high ends up diluting some of the emotional impact. The action scenes are solid, and there’s even a touch of romance, but the constant push toward major events leaves no room to explore those personal dynamics.
The narrative also doesn’t stay centered on the two main leads. With so many characters playing crucial roles, the drama spreads itself thin in an attempt to depict every angle of the situation. This choice adds scope but takes away from developing the heart of the story.
Still, the show delivers some genuinely strong moments, and even if it didn’t go in the direction I hoped for, it’s undeniably high quality. And of course, it’s a pleasure to see Jun Ji Hyun doing what she does best, commanding the screen with ease.
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This is not my cup of tea-- I like quick-paced romances with happy endings. This was action packed, full of political mazes, and did not have a typical happy ending.....but I think I liked it! I LOVED the angsty/forbidden romance between our FL and ML and really wanted a happy ending for them, even if it wouldn't have been logical. 😅 I also was digging the politics *to a point*...towards the end, my head started whirling and I was seeing Communists in my soup (or whatever the saying is).
There were a couple of moments that made me eyeroll...like the very end where we're dealing with a pressure-sensitive bomb and instead of doing the 'ol switcheroo like we did earlier in the series, we LOCK OURSELF IN and deal with it somehow??? I just feel like they could have pushed something of equal weight into the area and then escaped together and lived happily ever after?? Too much to ask?? 🤷♀️
Overall, I thought this was a very good series with excellent chemistry between the FL and ML, but feel like it was a little too politic-dense at times and had a lackluster ending.
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A would have been a slick thriller slightly sabotaged by an unnecessary romance
Rating: 8.5/10, realistically closer to an 8.0 and here is why
Tempest is a tight, fast moving thriller that leans heavily into geopolitics, espionage, unification politics, the usual spy genre machinery and sprinkles of our normal activator element( cough couch USA). It started with a decisive entry, lost it's way in the middle but luckily saved by a final stretch where the direction sharpens, the tension finally locks in, and the story slightly regains the momentum. That last two episodes do a lot of heavy lifting and almost makes you forget the wobble that came before it.
The biggest issue sits with the screenplay. The attempt to mix sensitive facts with delusional fiction felt ambitious but uneven, and that is where the narrative starts to slip. It feels very rooted in Korean political consciousness, which likely lands more cleanly for local audiences than for outsiders, since much of it reflects lived realities rather than exposition built for international viewers.
Performance wise, the female lead is solid and confident, clearly carried by experience, but her character is frustratingly underwritten. She does the work, the script simply does not meet her halfway. The supporting cast is stacked with familiar, reliable faces, yet most of them are left standing on the sidelines, present but rarely used to their full potential.
As for the male lead, this is where things get unintentionally awkward. He has a long, established history in action and thrillers, and watching him attempt softness and romantic vulnerability is, frankly, painful. His face never quite buys into it, and neither do we. The romance subplot feels grafted on rather than organically grown, and whoever decided the story needed it probably should have trusted the genre to stand on its own.
Overall, Tempest is decent, occasionally very good, but never quite thrilling enough to justify its own ambitions. Coming back from a two and a half month drama break likely did it no favors, expectations were high and the show did not fully rise to meet them.
I will settle on an 8.5 out of 10, though it is an easy 8.0. That said, the villainess might be one of the most baffling antagonists I have seen in a Korean drama, she truly takes the cup. And sincere thanks to the casting director for hiring actual American actors, not just people who happen to speak English. That alone deserves a small round of applause.
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Not as tempestous as I was hoping to be...
Big hopes for this one when I found out it had Jun Ji-hyun and Gang Dong-won as leads. Did it deliver? Not as much as I would have hoped but it was still a good series. I love a political/espionage drama. It's so exciting, action-packed, and full of drama and intrigue. This one had all of that. I liked the fast-paced story-telling . Stereotypical and controversial political issues were plentiful in this drama as well. The cast did a great job - acting was top-notch, especially by the main leads. The twists kept you guessing and thinking. And the actual villain was a surprise but with how they explained it, it did make sense. It is a short series so if you are looking for a good suspenseful, mystery drama with a side of romance (think The Bodyguard), this is for you.Was this review helpful to you?
vibes over substance
I took out a Disney sub just for this show and all I can say is, I'm so glad there are so many other options to watch in the lineup because this show was a wild disappointment. Part of it was high expectations - good premise, strong production values, actors that didn't look like plastic. Based on a review that said it picked up in episode 3, I persevered past episode 2. Yes, it picked up for a couple of episode, only to flatline again. The overall plot lines are interesting but too many random details were shoved into a story of 9 episodes, the romance was never deserved and I could just not get over how bad the dialogue was. Maybe it's pedantic but it just threw me out of the world of the story so often. And while I get that Seo Munju is stoic, she often reads as blank. The best performance was probably Oh Jung-se, maybe it was a saving grace he didn't have much screen time to mess it up. Perhaps what is most frustrating is how highly rated this series is, DESPITE almost everyone recognizing the problems.Was this review helpful to you?
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Hate open ending
The storyline was pretty great overall. It hooked us from the very beginning with its intense setup and suspense, but unfortunately, it started to lose its way as the series went on. A lot of questions were left unanswered, which was frustrating.For example, who was the person in the video pretending to be Jang Junik? How did Munju lose her child? I really would’ve liked a deeper dive into the characters’ pasts—there was so much emotional depth that just got brushed over. I’m also not sure if I missed something, but who exactly hired Valkyrie to protect Munju?
Another big question for me: if Junik’s mother was exiled from Korea due to political issues in the U.S., how did they manage to return and build such a prominent business in Korea? That part didn’t quite add up.
And finally, I hated the ending. Open endings just aren’t for me—I prefer closure, especially after investing so much time into a show.
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How can a drama start so strong finish so weak?
After the first few episodes of watching Tempest, I had so much confidence by at the end of this drama I would be giving this a 10 out of 10. After the final few episodes, I actually think my 6.5 out of 10 rating is actually somewhat slightly generous. This started out brilliant, so what went wrong?First of all, I personally found all of the romance totally unnecessary and forced. This story didn't need romance and it kind of undermined the main story point. Secondly, everything felt rushed and because of this, the main story alongside the relationships that connected this main story became confusing to understand. Thirdly (although if I had all the time in the world I could definitely provide more reasons) would have to be, and I don't use this word lightly, the absurd amount of unoriginal cliches.
Positives of this drama however include the characters. The characters all felt very different from one another, the 'good' feel good and you want to root for them, the 'bad'... well, hating them is easy, and of course that's what you want to happen! Acting was also really good. Even if the story became bad/boring in the later stages, the story at the beginning and middle were superb/excellent.
Actually, I have no idea whether to recommend this or not. My head says yes, because the first few episodes were so good that I want everyone to watch it. However, the final ones were so weak that I couldn't recommend it. No matter what though, I definitely would say, it was 'interesting'!
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Action, politics, great acting, mature cast and themes.
Don't be distracted by the score, it's just butthutt people from China, Iraq, the US and all the countries this show managed to piss off because it's the truth, all political states are trash and self-serving. Just try watching it. Can't get better than this. Jun Ji Hyun's perfect comeback. One of the best korean dramas ever.Was this review helpful to you?
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9 eps aren't enough
Political Thrillers are very complex that requires a really good writer to create an epic story. #TEMPEST proves with its finale that its one of the best of the genre ever made.9 eps are just too short for this top tier pairing but im really glad that they didnt waste dongwon and jihyun’s insane chemistry like they gave us real love real yearning real angst. This kdrama also have so many super strong and powerful women. It's great to see this in a drama full of action, suspense, and investigation. The entire cast of the drama was very well cast!
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Iraq will not be disrespected ??
This show insults Iraq by reducing it to nothing but war and danger. Iraq is not just a name you can casually throw into a script for cheap action scenes, it is the cradle of civilisation long before you knew what the word means, a land whose people fought for its existence and whose history stretches far deeper than Korea’s. To erase our achievements and reduce us to a war zone, while exploiting our suffering for your entertainment is ignorant, insulting, and utterly disgusting. Iraq and its people deserve truth, dignity, and respect and we will no longer accept anything less. instead of spreading ignorance, get educated.And to those criticising us for defending our country being mentioned negatively, no nation with pride would stay silent if its name, history, and martyrs were reduced to cheap stereotypes. Defending Iraq is not an overreaction it is our right and our duty. And in fact it’s nothing to do with you! It’s simple don't mention us.
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