The First Night with the Duke

novel or real life? The power of love

Start by mentioning the title. It sounds like an edict. Who remembers such a long title to recommend it to a friend? A short one would have had more impact.

Two girls have a wish to change their lives at the same time, and one takes the place of the other.
The strange thing is that one is a character in a novel the other is writing.
But upon entering this new world, the "writer" falls in love with the male protagonist and he loves her back. To try to stick to the script, she tries to step aside, but then seizes the opportunity to enjoy this happiness, and so the script changes. At a certain point, however, they are in serious danger, and she manages to return "home" to rewrite the ending. At that point, they must decide whether to return to their roles or swap roles permanently.
Happy ending but nothing sensational.
I liked these main actors acting together also without special chemistry. Two singers, he's a member of 2PM and she's from Girl's Generation, but also good actors.

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Enjoyable as a fun short watch

First Night with the Duke is a light, entertaining drama that doesn’t take itself too seriously — which is both its charm and its limitation. With only twelve episodes, it’s an easy watch that moves at a brisk pace and provides a good dose of escapist fun.

The storyline is relatively silly, filled with playful moments and over-the-top situations, but that’s part of what makes it enjoyable if you’re in the mood for something uncomplicated. OK Taecyeon is, as always, very easy on the eyes, but his acting — like Seohyun — isn’t exactly award-worthy. It’s all serviceable, but don’t expect depth or nuance.

This is not a drama that leaves a lasting impact or begs for a rewatch. It's not groundbreaking in any way, and definitely not worthy of a perfect score — let’s save those high marks for truly exceptional series. That said, First Night with the Duke is a perfectly pleasant diversion and a fun little ride while it lasts.

Recommended if you’re looking for something light, funny, and undemanding — but probably a one-time watch.

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I enjoyed it

An easy watch, lighthearted where it needs to be sweet where it needs to be. FL was amazing from the very beginning she pulled me in. ML I didn't have faith, but by the end of episode 2 I was sold, he is an amazing actor, dare I say the perfect male lead, I enjoyed his acting the most. First half was amazing, gets a little messy in the middle but they redeem it.

Watch if you are looking for a nice fantastical story, with a good romance, little bit(of bad done) palace intrigue, but an overall happy ending, no cliffhanger, no opening ending.

It's not that deep, its fantasy, don't take it to seriously just watch and enjoy.

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starts good

i loved how it started. i got hooked right away. but after episode 4 it got a bit boring. it started light hearted and funny. it kept the funny part up for a little while and then it tried to be heavy and that wasn’t working. i loved the actors. without them the entire drama wohld have tanked. happy but weird ending. the flip flopping wasn’t needed. it should have stayed light instead of trying to be something it wasn’t. up to episode 6 it was a 10 for me. now it barely made an 8. if i rewatch it and i honestly doubt it, I will stop at episode 6 and leave it at that. very disappointed because i loved the beginning!

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Started Strong, Ended in Secondhand Embarrassment ?

“A promising start, but loses charm quickly. Watch at your own risk if you’re sensitive to secondhand embarrassment.”

Let me start by giving credit where it’s due—the storyline of “The First Night with the Duke” had a great setup. The beginning was genuinely fun and engaging, and the plot had real potential. Even the early chemistry was exciting to watch.

But somewhere in the middle, right after the leads started falling for each other… it just lost its spark. The pacing slowed down, and the plot became kinda boring. And I’m so sorry to say this—but the more I watched, the more cringe it became. 😅

It didn’t help that I couldn’t unsee the two main actors as idols trying to play roles that honestly felt more suited for a much younger cast. The acting wasn’t bad, but the dynamic just didn’t feel right anymore. What started as romantic slowly turned awkward, and by that point, I just couldn’t keep going. I had to drop it.

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I watched how it's rating dropped

It happens all the time. Dramas start off amazing. I get really excited and have high expectations. But somewhere around the middle, something always goes wrong. I end up asking myself, “Why did I even watch this drama?”



This one is the same. So cliché. It started with a rating of 8.2 or 8.3, I can’t remember,but look at it now. 7.9 and I think it will be drop more.

Episode 11: The villain manipulates the king, and the ML goes to war. Bad guy wants the FL. Then everyone says ML died. So sad uhuhuh screen time.. screen time then boom… he came back. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Comeeen guys. We watched this more than 100 times.
ML screen time was disappeared.

And really? Real Cha Seon-chaek enters the story now? If we don’t see her story in the next episode, I don’t understand her story. She doesn’t look like she is happy in this life too. She looks like very alone and still is bully . She doesn’t have a friend or family. How she adopted this life? The one who came the historical time, watched a lot of movie and read a lot of book about history. But a girl who come to real world how adapted this technologhy, life style or other this. Plus she is alone. I’ll just assume she was added to fill screen time. And the young boy. We didn’t see him last 3 episodes right?

Don’t get me wrong. I like cliches but ep 11 nothing is new. We can even guess their lines. Cliches are good but they shouldn’t be too much. Or your rating will dropped.

I can't watch episode 12. but I saw they has 12 child. OMG. This is your happy ending REALLY? More children more happy ending. Guys think about the life of women who gave 12 birth. It just suffer for women. But nooo this is happy ending. But in the end this is KBS's drama. Public broadcast., and Korea has a problem about birth rate. They triy to do everything to solve this problem. so mistery is solved.

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The Most Disappointing Watch This Year!!

This is one of those shows that even a good main lead couldn't save!

I kept contemplating if writing a final review for this show was worth the effort; because it was an utter disappointment. In the end, I decided that I should finish the work that I started. The story focuses on the female lead, K gets transported into the novel that she is reading as Cha Seon Chaek, daughter of the Chief State Minister. Supposedly, a supporting character Seon Chaek suddenly becomes the main lead & gets entangled with the dreaded male lead, Prince Gyeong Seong. The novelty of this premise lies in the fact that K tries everything possible to get away from Prince Gyeong Seong and get him back to Cho Eun Ae, the true main lead in the novel. Frankly, the novelty wears off as K suddenly develops feelings for Prince Gyeong Seong and from there the story is a windfall. We are treated to the same old jargon where the protagonists face parental issues and a hundred different problems before ending up together!

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/the-first-night-with-the-duke-series-review/#more-1977

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Enjoyable.

Aug 2025.
Overall an enjoyable watch, although I thought Seon-chaek's hair when in period costume, was weird at the front ~ it always looked messy. For some reason, once seen.... 😬

Some very irritating characters. OTY was his usual cool self, and his character was one I felt a lot of sympathy for. It felt a bit like he cruised this part though, as compared to some of his other roles, it wasn't exactly challenging. That isn't to say he wasn't good in this... I don't think I've ever seen him act badly, in any drama ~ even weakly written ones (he's often carried them).

Another character, that I'd rather have seen get some kind of punishment for their actions, again got off with no reprisals, which always irks me. Another mean character was at least a WYSIWYG ~ rarely bothering to conceal it!

Nice ending.

I doubt I'd watch this again, but I never considered dropping it. It made me laugh as well, which I like!

Worth a look.

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Charming little fantasy/historic romcom.

This drama is just so fun to watch! There are a few cringy bits (very few ), & some WTF logic, but it's meant to be a fantasy about a girl falling into a WEBTOON - & thereby changing it's course! It's not meant to be serious nor historical!
I loved the cast, thought Taecyeon looked fantastic (as usual), and really couldn't figure out how the plot was going to go, which kept my interest
I am not familiar with the source material, so I'm thinking a lot of the hate here has to do with the drama veering from the original. I have no idea where all the negativity is coming from other than that. Still, it did an excellent job of keeping my interest. I really feel it should be judged based on it's own merits & not on faithfulness to the source.

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