Sageuk Lover

After watching Vincenzo, as well as rewatching Innocent Man and Descendants of the Sun, I can still safely say that this is the drama that requires the most of Song Joong Ki acting skills and this is also where he impresses the most. The irony that Song Joong Ki has so many awards but not even a nomination for Arthdal Chronicles, his best acted role.

I might check them out when I have time but I have too much to watch.

Show is very dark but funny at the same time. Actors were very entertaining. Song Joong Ki is really impressive and so is Ok Taecyeon as the villain (this is the second time I'm impressed with idol's acting, first is with his fellow 2pm member Junho in the Red Sleeve). I can't explain it, but I feel like there's something missing in the plot plus the drama is not fast paced which is why I can't gicve it a score of 9 or higher. Therefor my final verdict is 8.5 (real score is 8.3 but I can't give that rating here in mydramalist).
PS: I have watched all of Song Joong Ki's dramas where he is the lead actor, and I noticed that he has more evil main characters than characters that are completely good. We have among the evil/dark characters: Vincenzo here, Saya in Arthdal Chronicles, Kang Maru in Innocent Man. While the ones that are completely good are: Eunseom in Arthdal Chronicles and Yoo Shi Jin in Descendants of the Sun.

A concubine is never an official wife but she is respected. Concubines have different ranks, usually the ones who became concubine first have higher ranks. However, a junior concubine can get a much higher rank than a senior concubine is she bore a child first (especially if oldest son, aka heir to the throne). During King Sukjong's (father of Yisan's grandpa) reign and before, if a Queen dies or deposed, a concubine can become Queen. However, there's too much drama between the Queen and the concubines during King Sukjong era. To give context on what happened on Sukjong's reign: an ambitious concubine caused the queen to be deposed before she is called back as queen, then queen died due to concubine's schemes, leading to that concubine being sentenced to death, not to mention that same concubine was also scheming and planning bad things against a junior concubine (mom of Yi San's grandpa) of humble background who was the woman the king loved among all. It was because of all these drama that a concubine can no longer be a queen. This explains why the King has a very young Queen here. This means that Yi San's grandma was a concubine long before the Queen here married Yi San's grandpa king.

ah okay

He didnt reign after Sukjong. After Sukjong, the crown came to his older son (son of Jang Hee Bin). That older son didn't live long this Sukjong's younger son (aka Dong Yi's son aka King Yeongjo aka the grandpa king here) became king. King Jeongjo/Yisan became king after that.

I'll try my best to answer your question. She is blinded by love. And although he has red flags, he did do a lot of good things for her (even before they got married). I think it was episode 11. She said he was always there to wait when she studies overtime at the library (in her school). He was also a good ear to her when her father died and she was in grief. He's also a good cook. Plus the way everyone in the neighborhood, as she mentioned him while their dating, had noticed the signs he obviously likes her (even he himself didn't realize it). Of course while he was faking it, he didnt realize that his feelings for her are real. I understanf your sentiments though, since she's a detective, she could have noticed these red flags, but then again love is blind.

Drama is so good.

His roles in Vincenzo and Flower of Evil are so different yet he's so good in both roles. Amazing character actor.

I think it's implied they are married in the end. Since the hairstyle of Soo In is of a married woman.

a new concubine

The story is now more interesting (given the previews)! Cant wait to see where it ends.

Like I wish he could have realized who she is so fast to make their romance plot faster (by who she is, meaning she was the young girl he loved long ago). He could have been a more complicated character, knowing it was his father who killed the twin brother.

I got confused with them at first as well! It wasn't until the episode after King's death when I can differentiate them (when I realized the actor for teen prince grandpa is the fake grandpa in Flower of Evil),
I'm actually more confused about the bearded princes (not sons of previous king), which one is which?

sorry but Moon Chae Won has been an acclaimed actress since 2011, she can never be second lead next to IU.

This drama is just not good nor is it for me. Pity I wanted to like this one since this is Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won together. But the plot's execution is just not good. There are some episodes which are more interesting for me than the others (I find the cases in those episodes more compelling to watch), but this drama just fails for me to connect them with the main characters emotionally. I do appreciate some episodes that show the background and the struggles of some NCI members. Actingwise, as good as Joon Gi and Chae Won are as actors in general, the actors that were really given the chance to shine here and neither them nor the rest of the NCI team, but the actors playing the villains and their victims. At least Joon Gi and Son Hyun Joo (the other super main character NCI member) have some moments where they show their acting moments, I just wish Chae Won is given a heavy scene herself too (I hope people who only seen her in this one don't call her a bad actress, she has dramas and movies before this one where her acting really shine). I like Lee Sun Bin. Go Yoon and Yoo Sun in their respective roles but I think this drama didnt make them shine in their own way either (I do think Lee Sun Bin has been given more than the other two actors). Giving this drama a 6.5

I wish the name of the villain here is not Kim Young Chul, that's literally the name of the actor playing Baek San (NCI boss). The seen where Baek San calls the name of the Kim Young Chul character is just so weird because that's the name of the Baek San actor in real life. To demonstrate how weird this is is, it's like Lee Joon Gi or Moon Chae Won has a villain in their drama own respective dramas that's named Lee Joon Gi or Moon Chae Won!

I know this is not the place to promote it, but you can try The Red Sleeve, it's so good.

Jusy finished episode 6 and I love it. Congrats to both Lee Se Young and Lee Jun Ho! The rest of the casts and the people behind the scenes too..

No worries, I didn't find your comments so offensive. I made my original comment because I love to come here reading positive comments about the drama since it's so good yet I find somewhere unnecessary negative comments, even criticizing appearances. I may not be the biggest Lee Se Young fan, but I absolutely find her beautiful (she has a very beautiful picture that I saved in my powerpoint of Korean actresses) and I love her acting here.