The Scandal

underwhelmed

Having waited expectantly for this drama for a fair while as soon as it was mentioned on Netflix, especially given the cast with two of the best actors around as the leads, I have to say that the creeping dissatisfaction I felt as the drama went on was a great disappointment to me.
I know the original book very well, and given the range and capabilities of the two lead actors, I had hoped we were in for an adaptation that would maintain some of the radical amorality of the book. Are SYJ and JCW just fundamentally too nice as people to be able to portray the depths of depravity that the book exploits, and which the script tried to emulate? I don't think the fault lies there ... but it was no good, I just didn't feel any of the perverse push-and-pull relationship the main characters were supposed to have. The widow figure also was annoying with her constant hunched up shoulders. The most fun were the two servants who just got on with life. But I suppose they had an easier job. The sex scenes felt overly manicured, flagrantly aestheticized. Intimacy coaching gone a bit too far?
On the good side however, I have to say that a lot of effort went in to the set, and even the choice of music at times was ironic, eg. the sleazy trumpet (Shostakovitch?) when Cho Won puts on his seductive act. The pansori story-telling was a good idea for a sideways take on the action. The silk worm farm was an excellent metaphor for the ugly hearts under the silks worn by all . The sound of thousands of silkworms chewing the leaves was spot on.
Choderlos de Laclos was exposing the heartless machinations of two libertines at the time (just before the Revolution), but what was this drama saying about today? Blessed if I know.

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I'm sorry i tried but i just cant

I was honestly excited for this drama because of the cast. I really wanted to love it, and I tried to keep myself interested while watching, but unfortunately, it just felt boring. The chemistry wasn’t there for me, either.

I’m sorry for the negative review, but I’ve been watching dramas for decades, and usually, a good drama manages to hook me within the first episode, or at least the second. With this one, I found myself forcing myself to give it another chance with every episode. Sadly, it just didn’t work for me.

But hey maybe its not everybody's cup of tea.

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Came for the Heartbreak, Stayed for the 8-Episode Survival

The story itself is very familiar, but even before I started watching, I had a few expectations. I knew there was no way this was going to have a happy ending. I expected it to be mature and, more than anything, to leave that kind of lingering emotional ache that stays with you long after the story ends.

Honestly, I started this drama because I was in the mood for something deeply heart-wrenching. I wanted to finish it feeling emotionally wrecked, heartbroken, and haunted by the story for a while.

But somehow, it gave me none of that.

The ML was the only character whose emotional ups and downs were explored to at least some extent. But when it came to the two female leads, the drama barely made any effort to get inside their heads.

The FL had so many layers that could have been explored, yet none of them were really brought to life. From beginning to end, she was kept almost completely stoic and emotionally detached. By the time the drama finally tried to show a little more of what was going on inside her, it ended before there was enough time to actually understand or feel it.

And the SFL is a whole different story. There was almost no sense of what was actually going on inside her. Her loneliness, how her feelings for the ML developed, why they developed, when it happened, or how she eventually came to love him so intensely, none of it was properly established.

Throughout the entire drama, the SFL felt more like a plot device than an actual character. At times, she honestly felt like a joke.

And the funniest part is, after struggling my way through the whole thing, I didn’t finish it feeling heartbroken. I finished it thinking, “Well, thank God that’s over. At least it was only 8 episodes.”

I went in wanting my heart to be shattered, and somehow came out just feeling relieved that I survived this pointless drama.

This might genuinely be my biggest disappointment of the year.

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Watch the 1988 movie with Michelle Pfeiffer & John Malkovich

A short review:

Nothing fits here, it's a very long accident. The setting in Joseon time does not fit the European Baroque style music - at all.
The actors seem like they are all exhaustingly trying hard to read their lines one by one. There is no chemistry between, well, no one actually - I think that is a first =D

I fast forwarded through all 8 episodes after watching the first episode and I couldn't take it anymore. There was no chemistry or connection between Ji Chang Wook and Son Ye-yin - both actors I normally like and both actors who can act - but not here. Both are pale and wooden in their acting, worlds from what they can show as actors.

I didn't know Nana before but goodness was she miscast. Someone with such a modiefied face in that time? These duck lips were so distracting I couldn't get over it. I think she would be cast fine in ANYthing modern set in our times, but seriously not in a Joseon time drama, it's just ridiculous.

I know and love the 1988 movie with Michelle Pfeiffer and John Malkovich. It's a two-hour long movie and the pace and timing is perfect in there. There is tension, wit, fun, tragedy and wonderful language that underlines the plot. Nothing of this happened in this Korean version here. And making eight episodes of something that is perfectly told in two hours is just a mistake. And goodness, even the explicit scenes were boring and seemed like a strange evening at the theatre with some actors trying pantomime the whole time Oo

If you don't know it, watch the 1988 movie, (best in my opinion) or, also a rather good version, the 1999 movie with Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Philippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar. (movies are named 'Dangerous Liaisosons' (1988) 'Cruel Intentions' (1999)) Also a two- hour- movie with a great soundtrack on top and a more modern touch.
This here is a very long waste of time.

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pointless and trashy show

disregarding all the unnecessary s*x scenes in this show,it was so boring. they leads had no chemistry whatsoever either. idk if the ML was too scared of the duck lips widow or what but it was like a cold stove. I love the FL from crash landing and some other shows but this one...idk what happened...she had the same facial expression in every scene and was so stiff. there was no plot except getting one chick to have s*x with him...like what? what was the point of the show? I had to fast forward so much just hoping to find an interesting scene or two but it never came. the best part was the ML offing himself at the end and the evil,scheming FL ending up alone and miserable 🤣🤣🤣 haven't seen a show this horrible in so long 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

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Scandal or Human Greed

The Acting: A Psychological Masterclass the collective acting in The Scandal is nothing short of breathtaking, anchored by a screenplay that swaps drawing-room drawing blocks for heavy, unspoken Joseon era subtext. Unlike typical historical dramas that rely on sweeping royal political machinations, the conflict here is intimate, psychological, and profoundly interpersonal. The entire ensemble treats the script not as a narrative to recite, but as a chessboard where every line of dialogue serves as a calculated maneuver. The overarching brilliance of the acting lies in the duality every performer must manage: maintaining the flawless, rigid decorum required by high society while letting raw malice, desperation, or forbidden desire crack through their polished exteriors. The cast strikes a delicate balance, transforming standard melodrama into an atmospheric, high-stakes game of emotional survival.


Cinematography: A Lavish, Suffocating Canvas visually, screen into a rich, moving canvas that juxtaposes breathtaking aesthetic beauty with thematic confinement. The frame compositions heavily employ internal architectural framing—shooting characters through the layered sliding doors of hanbok estates, dense bamboo thickets, and ornate silk screens. This constant visual boundary serves as a reminder of the suffocating societal structures enclosing these characters, particularly the noblewomen. The lighting changes drastically alongside the characters' descents into corruption; bright, soft morning light filtered through paper walls eventually gives way to amber-lit, shadow-heavy night sequences dominated by deep blacks and rich jewel tones. The camera moves with a slow, predatory grace, frequently lingering on microscopic details—the untying of a traditional norigae, the subtle tremble of a hand pouring tea, or the heavy rustle of silk layers—which amplifies the show's intense erotic and psychological tension.

Music: The Haunting Resonance of Tradition musical score,, is an audacious and brilliantly executed component of the production's identity. Rather than settling for a standard orchestral or sweeping contemporary ballad soundtrack, the musical direction prominently features pansori (traditional Korean musical storytelling) and deep, solo string instruments like the geomungo and haegeum. The pansori elements function almost as a Greek chorus, with low, guttural vocals scoring moments of deep betrayal and emotional undoing. The percussion is minimal yet deeply impactful, utilizing traditional drums that mimic a rising heartbeat during the show's most suspenseful seduction sequences. By using raw, unpolished traditional instrumentation against such a polished, high-gloss production, the music directly echoes the underlying savagery hiding behind the characters' sophisticated aristocratic masks.

Ji Chang Wook: The Charming Playboy Undone ji Chang-wook delivers a career-defining performance as Cho Won, the most notorious, alluring playboy in all of Joseon. Stepping far away from his familiar action-hero or sweet rom-com archetypes, Ji commands the screen with a lethal mix of arrogance, effortless charisma, and underlying vacancy. In the initial episodes, his performance is wonderfully fluid; his posture, the casual tilt of his hat (gat), and his silver-tongued delivery perfectly embody a man who views seduction purely as a sport. However, Ji's true brilliance emerges as the wager spirals out of his control. His transition from a cold, detached manipulator into a man thoroughly shattered by genuine, uninvited love is agonizing to watch. The subtle shift in his eyes—from calculated amusement to absolute vulnerability—shows a remarkable depth of restraint, solidifying this as one of his finest dramatic turns.

Son Ye Jin: A Relentless, Brilliant Matriarch Son Ye-jin commands the screen with terrifying grace as Lady Cho, the brilliant noblewoman pulling the strings of the entire narrative. Making her long-awaited return to the screen, Son sheds her "nation's first love" image entirely to play a deeply complex, resentful, and strategically brilliant antagonist. Bound tightly by the suffocating gender constraints of the Joseon era, her Lady Cho channels her immense intellect into weaponizing the desires of those around her. Son plays the role with an icy, calculated posture and a sharp, calculating gaze that can shift from a warm societal smile to chilling indifference in a single breath. She prevents Lady Cho from becoming a one-dimensional villain, embedding her actions with a palpable, tragic rage against a patriarchal society that refuses to grant women an independent voice. It is a tour de force performance of calculated malice and deeply hidden pain.

Nana: The Heartbreaking Fragility of Virtue nana turns in a staggeringly emotional performance as Hui-yeon, the deeply pious and fiercely chaste young widow who unwittingly becomes the target of the central wager. Stepping into a role that requires profound vulnerability, Nana serves as the emotional anchor and moral compass of the entire series. Her performance beautifully tracks the slow, painful cracking of a woman's lifelong defenses. She portrays Hui-yeon’s internal conflict with excruciating clarity, capturing the precise moment where terror of societal ruin gives way to the undeniable awakening of repressed passion. Nana's chemistry with Ji Chang-wook is electric yet tragic; her expressive eyes ground the high-stakes melodrama in genuine, human stakes, making her inevitable heartbreak feel deeply devastating.Praise for the Supporting Cast beyond the central trio, the supporting cast elevates The Scandal into a truly rich ensemble piece.

Han Sun-hwa shines brilliantly in an original role created specifically for this Netflix adaptation—a shameless, upwardly mobile woman fiercely obsessed with wealth and status. Han injects a chaotic, vibrant energy into the otherwise tense atmosphere, playing her character with a perfect blend of wit and desperate

Shin Yoon-ha: The Breakout, Multi-Layered Catalyst as So-ok—the young woman intended to become a concubine and the secondary target of the central wager—rookie actress Shin Yoon-ha delivers a true breakout performance. Her character is a complex linchpin in the narrative, and Shin navigates these shifting allegiances with a maturity far beyond her years. She plays So-ok not merely as a passive pawn, but as a young woman trying to discover her own desires and agency amid a web of elite deceit, marking her as an exciting talent to watch.Lee Ji-hoon: The Suffocating

Kang Chan-hee (Chani): The Anchor of Naive Innocence playing Kwon In-ho, Kang Chan-hee provides the necessary moral contrast to the cynical games played by the central characters. Chani is widely praised for his remarkably earnest, grounded screen presence. In a narrative dominated by manipulation, his portrayal of wide-eyed, youthful sincerity serves as a tragic reminder of what is at stake. Reviewers highlight his ability to convey deep vulnerability through minimal dialogue, ensuring his character’s slow realization of the corruption around him hits with genuine emotional weight


Overall a good watch

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All the Scandal, None of the Chemistry

Scandal somehow managed to make Dangerous Liaisons feel completely lifeless, and I genuinely don't know how they pulled that off. I felt almost no chemistry between the three leads. The direction and sound weren't bad, but they never created enough tension or emotional weight to make me actually feel the story. Even the acting felt too influenced by previous adaptations, especially in the way the characters behaved and reacted, rather than giving them a distinct personality of their own.

As a fan of Nana and Ji Chang-wook, I had high expectations, but I found all three protagonists rather dull. And I'm not against the changes they made to the original. Those alterations could have made the adaptation more interesting, but they simply weren't used to create anything emotionally compelling.

What bothered me most was the lack of emotional progression. In the original, Valmont never explicitly says he falls for Madame de Tourvel, yet you can feel it through his actions and changing emotions. Here, I felt absolutely nothing. I was mostly bored, with only a little anxiety about the ending. Just so-so.

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Bland and Emotionless

It’s fine to stan an actor and still admit their drama is trash. This one is boring AF, NaNa’s face is killing me every damn time, the sound design is a menace, Seo YeJin stays timeless beauty, and the rest of the cast are just existing. Zero chemistry across the board, intimacy scenes bland, and I’m just gagging at the intimacy scenes 😩. The only thing that’ll send me over the edge is if JCW’s scenes were done by a double 😩😂… and after that NaNa x JCW moment, I know they used one. By episode 5 I was on 2X speed and skipping, no way I’m wasting 8 hours on this piece of shit. Omo, I’m drained! #TheScandal bye bye!!!

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Impossible to Revisit

What I really enjoyed about this drama was Son Ye Jin’s performance. I dare say this is her strongest performance yet. She perfectly captured both the essence of the script and the lack of it. Ji Chang Wook gave an okayish performance next to her. However, Nana felt completely dull, which is sad because her character’s motives are at the center of the storytelling.
My main issue with the script is that it felt somewhat rushed. I blame it on the eight-episode quota. No doubt, the best part of the drama was the directing and production.
Overall, I don’t think I’d rewatch it, mainly because the writing lacks personality, leaving even established actors like JCW struggling to make their characters stand out.

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What an acting masterclass to witness

The premise and the story in itself is (in my opinion) goofy and not serious at all, which works perfectly with the direction the director has taken. I never thought the show was taking itself too seriously, which made the execution work really well!

The main cast was incredible, it truly is a masterpiece just because of their acting choices and how they portray the characters and their motivations. I was never bored just because of their talent.

I have never understood the hate for nudity, especially when the whole premise is about sex. Reading the reviews on this site is so weird to me, why on earth would you ever give a drama a low rating just because they had nudity in it? And how could you think nudity is unnecessary in a drama specifically about sex. Just don't watch a show if you know you don't like to watch certain types of shows of scenes.

And I have to say that the yearning in this drama is magnificent, that aspect alone makes this a drama worth watching!

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