veritas vincit

Awards are not the be all & end all because they've lost a lot of credibility. Usually the dramas that get awards are the big budget ones. What matters nowadays is how much recognition the actors get from the audience. SHS & KJH are considered acting genuises and that's gonna translate into big opportunities. Junghyun is getting a lot of recognition and this is his second big hit. His character in CLOY was THE second lead of 2020 (that's why he's the main lead in tvN's big end of year drama) and his character here is currently the most popular male lead. There are articles about his brilliant performance every week and he's gained the title of 'trustworthy" actor (the highest praise an actor can get) because he's consistently delivered the best acting quality.

Honestly, this drama won't get awards because it was controversial. CLOY was a huge international and local success, but it barely got any awards because it was controversial, so I'm just happy with the strong popularity boost Hyesun and Junghyun have received. I'm sure we will see them winning awards in the future. It's already a huge deal that SHS and KJH managed to save the ratings after the big scandal during the first episodes. The forums and boards were on fire back then and people who watched the drama were "traitors" who were trading SK's honor for a bit of fun. That's how bad the scandal got.

Yeah, but the character is cliché & dislikeable. The writer could have done a much better job with it...

https://entertain.naver.com/ranking/read?oid=108&aid=0002930740

"Kim Jung-hyun proved his solid acting career by expressing his rich emotional acting and the emotions of the character with sorrow and determination in detail. Kim Jung-hyun is maximizing the immersion of the play by portraying various emotional characters in a dense manner, and making the play richer with his excellent acting skills. Amid the unpredictable development, expectations are high on how Kim Jung-hyun will lead the play."


Trending #6 on Naver. Knets missed Cheoljongie a lot yesterday.

BI is a character that the general audience in SK dislikes because they say the character "breaks the immersion" since he is constantly getting away with treason. Knets say that his character is beyond unrealistic. There's no way a person could disrespect the king the way he has the entire show without getting any punishment (no matter how weak the king was).

I don't understand why the writer gave him so much screen time if the character has such a negative response from the audience and the actor isn't even popular. It doesn't make sense.

I'm not even angry over KJH's screentime because I expected it since he was MIA and no one (including the audience) was supposed to know he was fine... but this episode was such a mess. The characters were OOC and the tone felt weird. BI was such a pain and one of the most enjoyable scenes was the moment HJ & SY cried together over CJ. Yes, that was one of the highlights...

Freaking BI is the reason all these people are in danger. If he had had the chance, he would've killed Cheoljong without a second thought. The only person that matters to him is Soyong as long as she reciprocates his selfish feelings. I've hated the character all along because his level of obsession shouldn't be called love. There's nothing redeeming about it.

IKR. Gu Seungjun was pretty awesome and his character development was natural and believable. If the writer is using BI's love for Soyong as a redeeming quality to make him a martyr the audience won't give a damn. Knets are infuriated with this episode. I hope the ratings don't go down too much...

Did tvN change the writer? WTH was this episode? ¬¬

Are they really trying to turn this second lead into a Gu Seungjun? I won't feel bad if he dies, show. I've wanted him gone since the moment he said "you should have been mine" *pukes*

Yes. The good thing is that knetz actually bothered to watch the full press conference again and realized that he was in pain the entire time, so most of them support him now and massively downvote the very few antis he has left.

Kim Jung Hyun's acting skills are currently one of the main reasons why the ratings have been rising. There are many articles about his brilliant performance and how it has affected the ratings.

https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/396/0000570919?lfrom=twitter

'Queen Cheorin' Kim Jung-hyun is leading the rise in viewer ratings. Among them, the fan martial arts scene with intense acting was selected as the'Best 1 Minute'.

"Kim Jung Hyun proved his presence by showing an unchanging ratings rise curve for each episode in which he is active."

"Kim Jung-hyun's ability to digest characters is once again attracting attention. In particular, as the episodes continue, his acting creates three-dimensional characters and increases the viewer's interest in the play due to his unlimited acting skills. Furthermore, he creates extreme acting synergy with the other actors and shows a perfect acting combination with them."

Congrats!!! So deserved. ❤️

Junghyun & Hyesun are ruling the ratings! Talented King and Queen.

This is one of my favourite writers. I hope Lee Jae Wook gets the role. Nothing against Kim Seon Ho (he's great), but I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Moon Gayoung in Waikiki 2.

He thinks he's in love, but he's only with her because he believes he owes her his life.

I actually love the king’s character a lot. What I do feel is that the writer or director should show us WHY the king has to remain cool-headed and WHO he is trying to help. Without that, it’s easy to get the wrong idea and think he’s trying to become a hero or trying to get revenge for his own selfish motives. First off, Kings were believed to be the representatives of God on Earth. This is why they were respected and obeyed without questioning. Cheoljong was thought to be dumb, but he was still a king. If you’ve watched sageuks or even historical films about royals, you probably know that kings always had to choose their kingdom over their loved ones. They couldn’t let their hearts rule over their loyalty to their people. Cheoljong’s priority is his kingdom because, whether he likes it or not, he is a king. Everything he does, he does it to benefit his kingdom because he feels that’s his “call” or his “duty”. The problem for him is that he’s always had like a subconscious fondness for a member of the clan that he has to fight against. I’ve realised that his heart has always wanted to believe in Soyong but his head has always refused to accept that because trusting her was a very risky choice. Think with his brain: “what if I trust her and she betrays me? There are a lot of people who believe in me and are fighting for this cause. What if my lack of judgement gets all those people killed?” What he needs to do now is find a way to reconcile what his heart wants with what his brain says. He needs to be able to trust Soyong fully but it will be difficult because there’s a lot at stake.
I re-watched the scene when he “tried to kill her” and Soyong was never in danger, btw. He was harmless and just gave her a bewildered look the entire time. He did not look menacing in any way. Do you actually believe he was going to kill her? That’s extremely unlikely. Maybe CJ wanted to believe he could do it, but the truth is he couldn’t because he hesitated too much and his feelings got in the way. Actually, I think he’s never killed a person in his life.

OK, I think I understand you now. You meant that the show is about her because she's the titular character, not that the show belongs to her alone. I guess she's overlooked if you compare her to other A-list actresses, but she's still very famous in SK. She's called "the queen of ratings" there.

I misunderstood you. I'm sorry.

To make a long story short, the Inca Empire was what currently is known as the city of Cusco in Perú, South America.

Sorry, it's hard to read it that way when you literally stated that the drama solely belonged to her. KJH is less famous than SHS, so I really don't understand why you felt she was being overlooked at all. Everyone keeps saying she's the queen of ratings and that she hard carries the show and that is simply not true. Granted KJH has the advantage on the Hallyu popularity side, but she is more famous locally.

I'm saying this as a fan of both of them. I truly believe the drama's success is the result of their synergy and brilliant acting skills which is what the press and drama director have stated all along.

When did any of us overlook SHS? And, no, this drama DOES NOT belong to her. She deserves the credit for her amazing performance, but the drama's success is obviously the result of the SHS/KJH combination. Today's episode was ALL Kim Jung Hyun and the ratings went up. This means the two are the heart and soul of the drama. You also have the rest of the cast. SHS is doing splendidly well, but this drama belongs to the 2 main leads AND the rest of the cast. Why can't people just understand that you can share the credit and it will still have the same value?

TRUE. This episode's ratings say it all. Both SHS and KJH rock and the viewers love BOTH and their epic acting! ; )

He committed treason. Aiming a sword at the king could have got him beheaded. He's lucky Cheoljong felt sorry for him.