The First Night with the Duke

WHAT EVEN WAS THIS?

Fun first act, trainwreck second act, saved only by the pretty people.

You know what’s worse than a bad drama? A drama that could have been fun but decided to trip over its own feet halfway through. The First Night with the Duke started off like a cheeky, isekai-flavored romcom with a modern girl stirring up Joseon life (cocktail bombs! bold flirting! brains and sass!). And then… it forgot all that and wandered off into fifteen other genres.

By the end, I honestly didn’t know what I was watching. Romcom? Political sageuk? Magical fantasy? Tragedy with evil kings and sad childhood backstories? Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t cohesive.

Taecyeon did what Taecyeon does best: looked great in hanbok, swung a sword like he meant it, and oozed just enough charm to make you forget the script was falling apart. The female lead? She started strong as modern, clever, unbothered by all the prim-and-proper nonsense. But the second half turned her into a crying, rescue-me prop. Where did my bold heroine go? Did she swap souls with some other boring court lady when I wasn’t looking?

Let’s talk about that plot. The three brothers? Wasted. The second male lead? Might as well have been written out, only to reappear in the last five minutes like, “Surprise! I exist!” Eun-ae’s arc? Nonsensical, she did terrible things and got a happy ending anyway, no redemption needed, apparently. And don’t even get me started on the “OG” heroine slipping into modern life like she’s been shopping at Zara her whole existence. Computers, short skirts, and WiFi? No problem, she’s basically Gen Z now!

And then, twelve kids. TWELVE. KIDS. Look, I know it was meant to be “haha, cute, happy ending,” but all I could think was, “Girl, blink twice if you need help.”

If this show had leaned into being a silly, self-aware fusion sageuk, I would have rolled with it. If it had gone full romcom? Fun. But it wanted to do everything and ended up doing nothing. No theme, no proper character growth, no payoff for the chaos it created. It was like watching someone throw darts at three different boards and hitting none.

Watch it for the leads if you’re curious, or for Taecyeon looking devastatingly good with a sword. But don’t expect sense, consistency, or a satisfying ending. By episode 11, I was hate-watching just to see how much wilder it could get.

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Everything was going great… until episode 8.

I swear, episode 8 is like the Bermuda Triangle of Korean dramas — after that, the story either completely falls apart or keeps me hooked.
Guess which one I got?
Yep. The curse of episode 8 is alive and well.
To sum it up in fewer words:Started strong. Then... not so much. I’m actually annoyed by how disappointing this was.
I knew I should've DNF'd, but
1) Only two episodes remained until the finale
and
2) Transmigration is one of my favorite genres.
I have to be honest — I really struggled with how to rate and review this.
The plot isn’t exactly groundbreaking — it's very predictable — but the relationship between the leads is genuinely fun. That’s actually the reason I’m giving it 5 stars. Despite all the flaws in the plot and especially the worldbuilding, the dynamic between Cha Seon Chaek and Yi Beon really worked for me.
The female lead isn’t annoying, just incredibly gullible. She’s just.. like a Disney character wandering into a horror movie. The male lead, on the other hand, seems irredeemable at first — he’s rude, violent, manipulative, and overall just an unpleasant, scowling human being. But if you look past all that (and squint a little), he’s kind of a cute, sad, walking red flag. He's clearly hurting — and emotionally constipated.
It started off well: fresh, funny, and easy to enjoy. Like an anime full of mischievous characters — some charming, some mean, some secretly evil. And then — BAM — things got real. Like, overdramatically real. Suddenly it felt like the whole world turned upside down.I haven’t read the original, so I was truly caught off guard. Wait, wait… What just happened?
It’s as if the writer had a checklist they were determined to complete:
Someone gets sick (Surprise)
Power struggles
Prince rivalry
Mysterious long-lost love from 15 years ago (because, of course)
Tedious family drama
Toxic best friend (of course)
Time travel/magical return to her original world
Mild identity crisis
His Majesty — completely manipulated, as tradition story.
A dramatic solar eclipse (because the CGI team needs something to do).
An unexpected return.
And of course, at least a few assassination attempts.
Did I miss something? Because somewhere between episodes, it turned into a cliché-packed soap opera that lost all its original charm. It became boring, frustrating, and painfully formulaic. Even a sweet ending wasn’t enough to redeem it.

And then it ended. Finally. I was relieved. This series had no right to be this bad.
I watched it. I finished it. I survived it.
Let’s never speak of it again.

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