Celebrity 
Highbrow not entertainment
This is a first draft - the more I digest what I watched the more this will get adapted.This isn't entertainment. I can't decide whether this is a highbrow success or a highbrow mess.
Either way that is on the director. Given what Ji Chang Wook said of the process it is hard to rate the performances because, if all the main cast experienced that direction, they each gave multiple differing performances of their role and then the director picked which he wanted. In that context I can't criticise the delivery of Lady Cho Yun in the way I'd like without feeling I'm being unfair to the actress.
Ji Chang Wook is great but also portraying - from the script - a character who becomes more elusive the more we see of him.
I wish there were meta-versions of this edited with different picks from the actors scene approaches so we could compare versions as it might have been.
The cinematography is fantastic and I'd love to resivit the rich world the sets and extras and more provided in a less ambitious drama.
Familiarity with the book Liasons Dangereuse and with adaptations is a huge disadvantage watching this because all of those I've seen were aimed more at entertaining and the characters were easier to interpret. I kept waiting for plot points that didn't happen. This is loosely inspired by the book and not an adaptation as I understand it.
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The acting was top-notch, especially my Ji Chang Wook. 😂 He excelled as usual. The others were good too, but Nana really lacked. I didn’t find her convincing at all.
The story was the biggest disappointment. It was poorly written, with so many plot holes and inconsistencies. The nude/sex scenes also felt completely unnecessary and seemed to be there mainly for marketing, especially the scenes with the maid. 😭
Unfortunately, the drama had a lot of potential, but it was completely wasted.
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This review may contain spoilers
Their Cruelty was the Most Intriguing Part
Now, to get the least important bits out of the way,1. I started this because I could not believe that a show with such a prominent cast has such a bad rating.
2. The sex scenes didn't bother me. While they are certainly unusual for East Asian dramas (I hear the movies are different, but I'm more of a series watcher myself), I don't think they deserve the pitchforks-and-torches reaction I have seen. At the end of the day, Koreans aren't sexless people, so...meh. Am I asking for all K-dramas to be this explicit? No. But it doesn't scandalize
3. I have not read the book, seen the French movie, or watched the Korean movie that this is apparently based on
Now as for the plot itself, I feel largely confused. Like I don't quite grasp what they were trying to tell us. But let's start with what worked
What I liked
Cultural Relevance: Woven into this confusing story is a wealth of information about how suffocating societal rules were in Joseon.
→Class Disparity ←
We see Cho Won happily galloping on his horse back to the capital as his servant runs behind him on foot carrying all the bags. Cho Won doesn't quite care, and you can see Chil Seong mumbling about it. But Cho Won is a better master than most, so he's happy nonetheless
→ Then the social climbing←
» Bun-hui sends her daughter to seduce a man who could be her father because he's a noble and she wants that life. She cannot get it herself, so she uses her daughter.
»Cho Yun is a noble woman, beautiful, educated, and respected, but she has to bow to the Left State Councilor's wife because of class hierarchy. From my understanding, associating with the Left State Councilor's wife and sitting among women who openly gossip about her helps with the business, her standing, as well as a job for her husband
→ Treatment of Women←
» Cho Yun - Educated and a talented writer, but the world can never know that. Even her father cries, lamenting it. Because she's a woman, she can never be more than that. Amount to anything. And she hates it. She and her husband are also childless. The earlier episodes tell you in not so many words that it's the husband's fault. But it can never be his fault. So, when he desires someone else - A TEENAGER, I MIGHT ADD (EW🤮)- Cho Yun has to accept this other woman (child) into her home and smile about it. Give her a place to stay, feed her, groom her, and teach her how to be a proper woman for this household. For her husband.
»Hui Yeon - Hers is the saddest story of all. A virgin wife (who, according to my understanding, never even met her husband but has to die for him and his family. It's never for her sake.
I first learnt of the practice of widow chastity back in 2024 through the drama 'Knight Flower'. In that, our main lead, Yeo Hwa, was disliked by her in-laws because she didn't kill herself as was desired for widows. To show dedication to their husbands. I believe in that drama too; Yeo Hwa had never met the said husband, yet she was expected to mourn and wail for him, and eventually kill herself for honour.
I recommend you watch the Cdrama 'The Road to Splendor' to better learn just how barbaric that practice truly was
»Bun Hui - A sexually liberated female merchant—three terrible things to be in Joseon. It’s telling how Cho Won speaks of her later. They were enthusiastic, mutual partners, yet to endear himself to Hui Yeon, he paints Bun Hui as a predatory seductress. A loose woman, both in words and conduct, who couldn't let him go. Joseon might be over, but that double standard hasn't changed.
→The servants - Chil Seong and Eun Sil. I loved that they got their happy ending. Found love, better jobs, and stopped being servants to those nobles.
The Confusing Parts
» Cho Yun «
Her motivations regarding her cousin are baffling. She loved him when they were young and resented being stifled as a woman, but why call him back? Initially, I thought she wanted his child as a keepsake, or wanted to sleep with him as a "fuck you" to her husband. But as the story progressed, her love looked like a cruel ego trip. She just had to win, outsmart everyone in Bokchon, and block his chances.
Even when he won the bet, she withheld sex, dangling the cookie to push him into lying to the King and driving Hui Yeon to suicide for her own selfish desires. Even her back-hug lacked love; she just needed him to deliver her writings to the King and report back. It screams ego, not romance. She needs Cho Won in her corner witnessing her brilliance, at her beck and call, all for the promise of sex. The ending is poetic: she receives high-quality paper but has no one left to write to. No one remains to appreciate how smart she is
» Cho Won «
Part of me wants to feel sad for his ending but the other slightly louder part of me is screaming 'good riddance.' Despite how hurt he was by his cousin and how his brilliance pales in comparison to hers, it does not erase that he too was cruel and reckless. How he plays with and pushes Hui Yeon into a corner in his pursuit of her left a bad taste in my mouth.
Even when they got together, and he developed some genuine feeling for her, I couldn't forget how he put her in harm's way multiple times. He was so uncaring and reckless where she was concerned that any empathy I might have had for him for being his cousin's plaything was wiped away. I think Hui Yeon's genuine terror whenever he approached her, risking her being discovered and I get mad all over again
» Hui Yeon «
I love that she got to live and leave, but I hate that her love for him remained. He didn't deserve it. The incestuous Cho cousins may have done all that due to selfishness but it inadvertently allowed her to finally choose herself. From the 1st time we met her, I never believed that she wanted to die. She tried what seemed like multiple times but couldn't do it. I think subconsciously she wanted to live but didn't dare claim this desire. Her society had ingrained in her that she needed to die. However, the games of the Cho cousins allowed her to not only see more of the world but finally claim this desire.
What I found unfortunate about her was that we never got to learn what went on in her head. We see her constantly scared, hunched, and scuttling away to get away from him, and we never know what goes on in her head. She is sad and quiet. I wish we at least got some internal monologues where she was concerned. I especially would've loved to hear what was going on in her head whenever she met him and read his letters - rather than have us get a glimpse of her final love feeling through the letter that he read
» The Palace Plot «
What was that even about? I don't understand why we wasted time on the King, his ministers, and construction scenes (honestly, I don't even know what they were constructing). Part of me assumes the King was included to show how Yun’s words helped Won move up in life, but they easily could have told us that without all those extra scenes.
» The Pacing: I agree that it is slow. Had the pace been faster and the episodes shorter, the psychological thriller elements of this drama could have truly shone.
Final Thoughts
This makes an okay-ish, one-time watch. Not because of the nudity or erotic art, but because the story left me completely lost. I feel like I understood it, but also didn't. Whether that fault lies with me or the writing itself, I couldn't tell you.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great acting - Disappointing plot
My favorite k-drama genre is historical, and I typically am super drawn and invested while watching a historical k-drama, but this was probably one of my least favorite and most disappointing historical k-dramas to date.Main reason: The plot -> The reasons behind decisions and character motivations were very unclear. I know that the actors themselves said that a lot of things were open to interpretation from the viewers but this was too much and made things not make sense and therefore, it also made the viewers not really invested in what happens to these characters. I found myself bored, confused, and not that invested throughout most of the show.
Spoilers below:
- #1: The foundation of the story is the bet, but their bet was very stupid (or it was very poorly explained). The bet was either (1) you win the widow's chastity and then you get to sleep with me or (2) I win and you impregnate my husband's consort because I want to raise your baby. Given the fact that they loved each other, this "smart" woman could've easily said hey I love you, can you please impregnate this consort for me, and then you get to sleep with me too – a win/win for both of us. The bet was illogical and so unnecessary.
- #2: I wish they explained the mourning situation for widows a bit better. What is typical of widows during that period? How long is a typical mourning? Is the widow supposed to kill herself or is it preferred if she does? What happens to the widow if she doesn't kill herself? What are their options for the future? It wasn't made clear so it added to feeling confused about what this poor girl's options for the future are.
- #3: Episode 8 - the final episode was a BIG disappointment. If our ML abandoned the FL and her manipulative love for the widow's pure love, that would've been real character growth and a beautiful arc. But the ending was disappointing all around. I found both the ML and FL's motivations unclear and confusing. The king finding out the ML lied because of the rain was also very stupid since the ML was in the city helping the widow escape that day so he 100% knew the weather so it made no sense for him to get the weather of that day wrong. Idk if the writers even read the script properly themselves to see this big plot hole. They really should've done some audience testing.
Anyways, the only good thing at the end was that the widow survived and lived on. I still didn't like the fact that the one maid she had, somehow joined the underground church that she was at (what are the chances of that?). They could've at least given us one satisfying ending showing that the widow got settled and found some sort of freedom and peace at the underground church. I guess I also liked the FL's ending of losing her love because of her own manipulations and games, and the ML's death was somewhat deserving given his playing/toying with the widow but I wish he had grown from that and lived to correct his mistakes rather than simply dying.
Great cast, great acting, and great visuals, but the story fell flat.
By the end, I was just disappointed by the story, and a little relieved that at least it was done.
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The Women of Bukchon
After all, Korea is not France.I think director Jung Ji Woo knew exactly what he was doing when he adapted Les Liaisons dangereuses into a Korean period drama. The two societies were very different. Laclos gave us French aristocrats playing dangerous games with sex, love and reputation. Joseon society was much more controlled, especially for women. How they dressed, behaved, loved and even showed desire had rules.
So instead of simply putting the French story in Korean period, the director changed it.
Even the outcome is different. The original story ends with death, disgrace and destruction. The Scandal is much more subtle. There is still honor among sinners, and morality and reputation continue to control their lives. Oh yes, there is sex and nudity…but please, a few breasts and buttocks hardly compare with the scandalous behavior of the original story. Again…subtleties. And subtlety is both the strength and weakness of this series.
Eight episodes gave the director plenty of time to explain these characters and why they behaved the way they did. Unfortunately, it also gave us long conversations, slower pacing and less intensity. Sometimes I wanted the manipulation to burn instead of simmer. I honestly think this would have been much better as a tightly written three hour movie. Keep the beautiful cinematography, the glances, the silence and the sexual tension…but move the story along.
I admire the actors for taking risks, especially Ji Chang Wook. He stepped away from the clean and romantic image many of us are used to and played a man who uses sex and seduction as weapons. Earlier I wondered if Cho Won could eventually make me forget Ji Chang Wook. Not completely…but I admire him for trying something different.
Nana will probably divide viewers. Some saw her quiet performance as lacking emotion. I saw a young widow whose husband died before she really had a chance to live. Instead of enjoying marriage, she was expected to mourn, remain pure and behave exactly as society demanded. Even seeing her smile became difficult during these eight episodes. Her restraint was not necessarily a lack of emotion…perhaps it was a woman who had learned she was not allowed to show it.
By the end, I wondered if The Scandal should have been called The Women of Bukchon. Lady Cho fights the rules by manipulating them. Hui Yeon survives by living within them until she finally begins choosing for herself. Both women want something society tells them they should not want.
Maybe that is what this version ultimately became. It started with Laclos and his scandalous games of sex, power and manipulation, but somewhere along the way it became a story about women, desire and the price of living in a society that decides what is proper.
It is not the French story copied into Korea. And it should not be. After all…Korea is not France
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acting was on point but just that
first of all nana was just amazing haven’t watched that much of her but now I am going to.ok so this drama feels like they just recorded bits of the script and want me to put it together, it just feels like I just watched water like is it good or is it bad well I can’t tell cause water got no taste.
like what is going on one hand it’s an ad on Korean culture and on the other it’s some bs.
like can we stick to one thing please.
honestly just feel like if zoro(one piece made a map of where he walked to get to a place, just a confusing yet simple mess.
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I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS DRAMA! ❤️ One of My Favorite Historical K-Dramas!
I honestly LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT The Scandal! ❤️ From the very beginning to the final episode, I was completely hooked. The storyline, the emotions, the characters, the relationships, the twists, and the overall atmosphere all came together so beautifully. I didn't expect to become this attached to the drama, but by the end, I was genuinely sad that the journey was over. This is only my **third historical K-drama**, and somehow it managed to leave a really special impression on me. ❤️Ji Chang-wook was PERFECT as usual! There is something about watching him in a drama that makes it so easy to get invested in his character. He completely delivered here, and I absolutely loved watching him throughout the story. And then we have Son Ye-jin, who was a completely new experience for me because this was my first drama with her. She honestly did NOT disappoint me at all! I loved her acting so much, and she made such a strong impression on me. She was absolutely wonderful to watch. ❤️
And Nana was fantastic too! This was only my second drama with her after Justice, and once again, I really enjoyed her performance. I loved seeing all these characters develop and interact with each other, and the cast made the entire story so much more enjoyable. The acting, chemistry, emotional moments, and tension kept me invested all the way through. There were so many moments where I just wanted to keep watching because I needed to know what would happen next!
And that ENDING!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Honestly, one of the best-fitting endings I have seen that proved one fact.
# DESIRE HAS A PRICE , A VERY EXPENSIVE ONE
I loved how everything came together, and it felt so satisfying after everything the story had taken us through. As someone who isn't usually a huge historical K-drama watcher, I am genuinely surprised by how much I loved The Scandal. Only my third historical drama, and it has already made this much of an impression on me. ❤️ I loved the cast, I loved the storyline, I loved the emotions, and I loved the ending. I LOVED IT ALL.
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a drama that refused to explain itself
A well written and even nicely executed drama.If I had to give you one word to describe the goodness of this drama, it would be storytelling. The use of music to describe feelings, the use of seasons, and the use of the surroundings as well as the NPCs to dictate motivation and intent is beyond telling of great storytelling.
Some dramas, though very well made, still piss you off. This drama passed that test with flying colours.
I won’t get too much into the details, but i do want to mark off everything that pissed me off and everything that didn’t.
I had already read the spoilers for the story, so i definitely wasn’t going to act like every other offended viewer. Because yes, it’s annoying. It’s deeply offensive and unlikable. But at the same time, there are only so many dramas where the leads are genuinely evil people.
The main leads are not morally grey. They are horrible people. But don’t take the historical timeline as a means to justify their actions, because if anything, what they did would have been even more “scandalous” and problematic at the time.
Thank goodness I read the spoilers and knew the female lead was a wicked witch. So i wasn’t emotionally attached to any character development on that front. Same with the male lead and his unseemly virtues.
I would never like nudity in media, so without question, some of the scenes were skipped.
Pardon me, did i say some?
MANY scenes.
But it’s still not beating GOT in that department.
This drama has been an ambiguous watch throughout. i genuinely can’t figure out whether i like it or hate it. The techniques and cinematography were immaculate, and I doubt filmmaking is going to be one of the major points of criticism.
But there is another thing that is just as ambiguous, if not more: the dialogues.
There can be two reasons why dialogues can be a big issue in a drama.
One, you are simply too dumb to understand them.
Or two, you’re dumb and so is the screenwriter.
I’ll take the latter.
There were moments where I could appreciate the “show, don’t tell” strategy. If it wasn’t the entire show filled with it.
If you’re going to serve me a dish on a platter, at least explain the ingredients first. i might be allergic to peanuts.
But no. You expect me to understand everything they are saying with their eyes.
Eyes don’t lie, chico.
But here they did.
How am I supposed to sleep peacefully without knowing what he meant in the last episode?
Ambiguity to a certain extent is cinema.
But to this extent, it is blasphemy.
There were just too many indirect conversations. And i get it, you guys are literature majors, and on top of that, this is a historical drama. But for once, tell me what you mean in one fucking sentence.
This drama, though great in execution, fails to achieve the one thing i expected it to have: clarity.
So i lie somewhere in the middle.
I like it for its cinematography, its storytelling, and the acting.
I hate it more for the plot and the ambiguity of the whole thing.
I appreciate a complex plot with uncertain directions and events, and i can absolutely appreciate unlikable leads.
But never did I say I’d like them regardless. I didn’t like the leads. And that’s my problem.
If I can’t root for a character, i can’t possibly be happy seeing them happy. But the ending, ironically, wasn’t satisfying at all.
How dare the fl still survive and go completely unscathed?
I don’t care if you yearn for him for the rest of your life. If you can’t face some tangible consequences, I’m not satisfied.
Though the biggest question for me was: Did the ml like the widow at all?
I think he did. I also think the director deliberately made sure not to make it too obvious the change in his expressions whenever she wasn’t there said a lot more than his actual dialogue ever did. But honestly, i’d blame that on their lack of guts. I presume the source material had instances where it was much more obvious he liked the widow.
But i digress.
He definitely ended up liking her in the end. But he was just too entangled with the fl that he couldn’t possibly imagine his life without her.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, i was still shipping the two leads together. i knew it was probably better that they didn’t end up together, but there was still a part of me that wanted them to. We had two antagonists, after all, and I loved seeing a female character doing all the manipulation for once.
To my surprise, though, I couldn’t feel nearly as much chemistry between the widow and the ml as I did with the leads. Only in the last episode did I see some of that supposed chemistry.
It’s a shame, really.
The ml and fl’s relationship was nothing but toxic, and they proved me time and time again with the games they were playing. What started with love turned into obsession and desire for something unreachable.
and things that are forbidden are hard to let go of.
And ironically, he let himself get trapped in the same forbidden love with the widow.
It’s a shame because the widow got caught in the fire.
It’s quite obvious this isn’t for the masses but definitely a refreshing drama from all the supposed fluff going these days. i should feel conflicted about whether i like something or not and here i did.
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Bold and Intriguing
Without the influence of previous versions I found the plot easy to follow and intriguing from the get go. If you appreciate a good game of Go or Chess then you will enjoy it. All of the cast portrayed their roles well. I will not debate the shows choice of consequences. Many directorial choices could have been made.The insertion of some nudity was necessary to amplify the seduction and sexual tensions. It was a refreshing contrast to the majority of K-dramas that hide nudity as a shameful and disgraceful act.
This show is well worth the watch.
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It went totally opposite direction.
They couldn't capture the essence of the original work. When making a remake, the goal is to make it better than the previous one. But they kinda changed the characters' stories.Big fan of all the actors, especially JCW and HSH; that's why I watched it. But the concept was all over the place. While watching it, I was like, "What? Why? What does that have to do with anything? Where did that come from?" Basically, I was asking "Why!?" most of the time.
They had all the top actors, but looking at the state of the new story, they messed up big time.
I had watched the original work a long time ago. Didn't like that much. But this drama... is worse than that so; it's disappointing :]
Seems like the production hired all the good actors just to make it releaseable and to conceal the bad remake storyline.
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The Scandal
I am puzzled by the negativity this drama received . People seem to want chemistry , romance , plot , pace .It is a different drama . It is not a romantic drama , when one understands that the main characters play a dangerous game and do not show outwardly any emotions , there is no need for chemistry , because all is fake . The pace is slower because ladies of a certain rank , in the Joseon era , were captives of their status , thrown into arranged marriages all was asked of them was to do was to be supportive of their husbands careers and produce an heir . There was not much else for them to do but smoke , or play games or gossip . The plot develops from a mere bet into a sad , tragic story where the characters are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning . Their entertainment was to destroy a woman's life , as a means of regaining some control over their lives , and love life . It all goes wrong , because in the end their own tangled emotions blur the outcome . it is a drama visually beautiful ( some scenes are framed like in a painting ) , to look at , great script and original OST , but these main actors , at the top of their game , gave flesh and blood to very dislikable characters , gave them feelings and at the end you feel so sorry for them . At least I did . I loved this challenging drama which took us out of our comfort zone . Congratulations to the cast and director . A drama difficult to forget or surpass.
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Risk-Taking and Talented Cast, But Ultimately Hard to Finish
This series had potential right from the start. I thought it was a really risky show for Korea, and that's why I loved the idea of them tackling certain topics without holding back, facing them head-on instead of doing the typical thing of infantilizing situations that most adult viewers find ridiculous.Not to mention the top-tier cast. I was so excited to see the actresses (especially them) taking those risks, considering how unfortunate it can get in a country where you're criticized for everything, from not fitting the historical aesthetics they think belonged to that era, to having your personal morality questioned just for acting in a drama like this while married.
I started watching with high hopes. From the very first episode, I could tell the approach was different and boundary-pushing, so I placed my bet on it. But I have to say I lost interest around episode 4. Even though all 8 episodes were available from day one, it was a struggle to keep going; it felt way too long and repetitive, without a clear direction for the main story. It felt very restrained, though I did appreciate that the cruelty was more psychological than physical. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to make it a priority on my watchlist.
Still, I pushed through to the end just to see if I would connect with it at some point. I must admit I caught myself fast-forwarding through quite a few scenes with the remote.
That being said, the final episode was definitely the one that hit me the most, and the performances across the entire cast were a solid 10/10—especially the male lead and the secondary female actress.
It's watchable, but it wouldn't be anywhere near my top choices, especially with such a massive selection of shows available on streaming platforms today.
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