Rei

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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I watched this show because I had watched some of it as a child, and I was curious to see whether the show was as good as I remembered it to be. Generally speaking, I love historical K-dramas, but this show is probably one of my least favorite K-dramas I've watched to date (in comparison to some of the older ones like Jumong, The Kingdom of the Winds, Empress Ki, and Iljimae and some of the newer ones like Mr. Queen, Mr. Sunshine, and Moon Lovers). There were holes in the plot of this show, and I kept finding myself confused by the characters' decisions and intentions. The story can also be slow at times.

Best things about the show:
- Song Il Gook (Yum Moon)'s acting
- Very intriguing and exciting war, political, and business strategizing
- Jung Hwa's dresses were so beautiful
- Satisfying to see an underdog rise in the ranks
- Okay fighting scenes
- Beautiful landscapes

**There will be spoilers below**

Worst things about the show:

One of my biggest issues with the show was Yum Moon's final decision to kill Jang Bogo. The second half of the show seemed to be building up Yum Moon's character arc. This character was adopted and raised as a pirate, which explains why he was okay with killing, stealing, and doing shady things. However, from the beginning, the show kept demonstrating that Yum Moon had some difficulty always listening to his pirate father/superior. He seemed to always want to keep his promises and had a soft/moral spot. He himself explained that being a pirate and doing bad things became his fate when he was raised as a pirate and that he couldn't escape this fate. Now, after Jang Bogo branded him and enslaved him, it made sense that Yum Moon came back fueled by anger and revenge. BUT against all odds, Jang Bogo forgave him, trusted him with big tasks and big positions, and treated him like a friend. The show kept showing that Yum Moon was having difficulty doing anything against Jang Bogo. Jang Bogo showed Yum Moon that he can be on the right side of history, doing good things, and he can have people's respect and friendship while not having to do immoral things (which he previously didn't like doing). We keep seeing Yum Moon in conflict with himself trying to figure out if he wants to listen to Kim Yang and get revenge on Jang Bogo or not. His final decision to kill his childhood friend and betray everyone's trust was very disappointing and made me feel like his character arc was just useless. Also, he said that he killed Jang Bogo to prevent the war, but upon coming back from killing Jang Bogo and seeing that Kim Yang is still going to proceed with the war, he doesn't take out one of his little daggers to throw in his face and kill him. Why would Yum Moon kill Jang Bogo, his childhood friend who gave him a second chance, but not Kim Yang, a greedy superior with awful motives? God knows. Very disappointing.

Another big issue with the plot for me was the fact that Jung Hwa still LOVED Jang Bogo, but decided to have both of them be in pain for years without getting together. The show never properly explains why Jung Hwa decides that she should not be with Jang Bogo even though they both loved each other endlessly. The only explanation she provides is something similar to "every time we try to get together, something awful happens to Jang Bogo" and "Jang Bogo needs to do great things and he can't do them with me by his side". This was all very stupid to me and made no sense.

Lastly, I very much disliked Jang Bogo's decision to sacrifice an entire city and army at the end knowing that it was a losing war. It was a very unwise, inconsiderate, and somewhat stupid decision. He could have easily stayed out of Kim Yang's way and found alternative ways of making an impact instead of getting himself, his entire family, friends, city, and army to die pointlessly. Overall, I think Jang Bogo was a little bit too idealistic. For instance, a lot of the issues they were facing would've been solved if he had just sent an assassin to kill Kim Yang and some of the other evil nobles. Yes, that would've been against his morals but by doing that he could've stopped a massacre and prevented the king from being murdered or prevented the new king from being controlled by evil and greedy nobles.

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