Aramintai

Kingdom was the best, it was very fresh and Joseon hats very especially epic. Too bad there's no season 3.
My favorite scene there was in season 2 when the old general turned into a zombie but as a final epic "f*ck you" managed to bite the main villain and basically screwed all of his grand plans, I laughed so hard at that scene.
I also loved that high ranking officials, prince included, were all able swordsmen, ready to defend the country, not some lazy showoffs with no actual warfare skills like it usually is in saeguks.

AoS all the way - it's fun, fresh and relaxing to watch. Something to excitedly dive into every weekend and have a feel good afterglow for the next week.
I'm really tired of kdramas about corrupt chaebols/politicians/government officials and endless power struggles. I get that it's "the tongue ever turns to the aching tooth" and that this shit is very real irl in SK, but TV air is just oversaturated with these types of dramas. So I got bored of RR pretty quickly and dropped it, didn't care about the ridiculous manga style premise neither.

Korea was always struggling throughout history because everyone wanted a piece of it - Mongols, Chinese, Japanese. It was always under someone's boot or fending off the attackers. But in saeguks it's like none of these external problems exist and everything is fine internally, but some disgruntled minister or concubine just gotta invent some stuff to bitch about and invents nefarious plots out of boredom.
That's why I'm not a fan of saeguks, they're usually all the same. The only ones that I liked were Kingdom (because they threw zombies into the mix) and Mr. Queen (isekai fantasy basically). Alchemy of Souls is also great, but it's pure fantasy in a fantastical world.

Watch episode 2 again, when he talks to mama Jin. He said: "She has a new body now, so her memory is gone".

Childhood connection, yea, can't forget about that one 🙄. As well as amnesia and unnecessary time skip, preferrably by going to US.
It's very rare to see a kdrama without those cliche tired tropes. But those that manage that are usually fresh.

Why basically every saeguk has to have third wheeling SML? Most of them also end up sacrificing themselves for FL.
And of course there just gotta be some moustache twirling minister for a villain, instead of some rival country. Because of course no external problems exist and the court invents internal ones out of boredom - basically every saeguk's premise.
This drama doesn't seem to be breaking any of those tired cliches.

🙏

Yea, I may even reconsider my part 1 score depending on how they wrap up part 2. My main gripe with part 1 was pacing and fake Bu-Yeon plot wasting too much time. But after I binge rewatched it I found that pacing was actually ok and it seems that all that "Bu-Yeon" lead up is really bearing fruit in part 2.

I've seen dramas suddenly having changes in schedule due to various reasons. So it's not set in stone. But I really hope they won't postpone it, it even airs earlier now, hopefelly so as to not to intervene with any evening celebratory shows.

That would contradict what he said in episode 2. And if you haven't noticed, master Lee never actually lied even once.

I think it's just that he's says one thing, but does another. It seems to be his schtick in part 2. He pretends to be the cold, mean guy, but actually is still a nice and soft guy inside.
If he really suspected something I don't think he would have been able to still be so cold to Naksu.

It was mama Jin's husband, who was the traitor in part 1. He was also the shaman's brother and father to Jin Bu-Yeon and Jin Cho-Yeon. He was killed by rampaging Naksu at the end of part 1.

I gotta say I was annoyed of how much time was wasted on fake Bu-Yeon plot in part 1. But in perspective, after watching part 2 episodes, I guess inclusion of all of that detailed focus and backstory about Bu-Yeon does make sense. Without events happening like they were there'd be no seamless transfer into part 2 - why Naksu didn't turn wild in part 1 like she quickly should have, why she was saved at the end of part 1 from final death, how she stopped being a soul shifter and regained her body in part 2. It's all connected to Bu-Yeon and I guess she does play a major role in this whole drama, even though more like a cruicial plot device, not as a full fledged character. And having Naksu in Bu-Yeon's body does allow implementation of some classical tropes in the drama. If she was to transform into some noname girl's body nobody cares about, it wouldn't have been as interesting.
Hong sisters were playing the long game, it seems.

They will air it on holidays, right? I'm afraid that they gonna skip a week or two because of Christmas and New Year.

He said he removed what was unnecessary, meaning Bu-Yeon's soul. Everything else is still there, even Naksu's memories are not permanently gone. Kinda cruel on his behalf, Bu-Yeon deserved a better ending, but since the audience barely knew her as a character, more of a plot device, I guess it's not so bad, for Naksu that is. It's actually the best case scenario for her.

I'm salty that Uk, usually very smart and quick to catch on, was dumb when it came to explaining "Bu-Yeon" remembering something. He can't even conceive that she may have Naksu's soul. Even though he knew at the end of part 1 that Naksu possessed some powerful priestess' body. And he knew that Jin clan were still looking for Bu-Yeon, the one and only currently known most powerful preiestess. And that there's something fishy about this newly found Bu-Yeon, starting from same 3 years gap since Naksu died and "Bu-Yeon" regained consciousness. He could have put 2+2 and at least suspect something.
But now, no matter what Naksu remembers, it will be deemed as her simply reading the blue jade. I guess unless master Lee or mama Jin spill the beans explicitly to those two dumbasses about what's what they gonna continue suffering in vain. Uk - still being tormented by Naksu's death and conflicted by his feelings for "Bu-Yeon". Naksu - being jealous of herself.

He didn't. He only used Naksu's energy to transform the body. He said that since the body is basically new, loss of memory is a side effect. But not permanent. I guess in this fantasy memories are not stored in brains, but in souls 🤷‍♂️?

She did regain some, but both leads were dumb and decided it was not her own memories, but as a priestess she’s reading them from the blue jade. Now no matter what she’ll remember I guess they’ll still think that, until someone like Master Lee will explicitly tell them she’s Naksu 🙄
And of course she’s now jealous of herself 🙃

Flower of Evil was good until around episode 13, then it went downhill rapidly and ending was contrived crap. Another overyhyped drama for me, but actor was good indeed.

Whether a drama is crap or not is decided by me, I don't care what other people think. I'm not basing my opinions on other people's opinions. If you like it, good for you, keep riding in the bandwagon. I've my own preferences. And if you keep insulting me and other people here for disagreeing with you and for having their own tastes , I'll just block you.