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Queen Seondeok, Jewel in the Palace, Dong Yi, The Long Ballad, A Dream of Splendor.

If only. At this point I feel like the classic epic sageuk is completely dead.

Lady Mishil is simply immense but I never really felt like Lee Yo Won quite carried the role of Queen Seondeok. Did love the intrigue in this drama though... much more curious than Dong Yi, which I'm watching now.

Incredible.

Episode 6 somewhat redeemed by episode 7 before the show (very aptly) "skyrockets" to its peak so far in episode 8.

For me the opposite. A lot of try-hard failed comedy, but actually quite interesting.

This is basically a chronic fault of dramas in general. It's at its worst in Westworld (especially seasons 2 and 3 IIRC.)

Double "oof!" for sure.

I think that fits well in line with your profile GIF haha.

She is beautiful and natural... doesn't have to try hard to be pretty. Hasn't had her jawline chiselled at by bone artists.

Isn't this competing against the VIRAL Reborn Rich?

You only have one completed drama on your profile and yet I get the feeling you've probably watched 100s of dramas. Am I wrong? :)

I also really enjoy strong female-centric stories and it was refreshing to see a drama where the two most competent and brilliant characters, who were also robust leaders, were women. They had a battle of wits and philosophies which was surely unique and deeply intriguing. Still, that alone wasn't enough to automatically catapult it into greatness, yet I did really enjoy this so much especially in the first half and also just generally up to about episode 50. It's possible that I watched this too soon after Empress Ki, which I adored (again such a strong female protagonist). The story and mystique in Queen Seondeok was so compelling and yet I ran out of stamina toward the end. I think it for sure deserves a second viewing soon, and maybe I'll have a more sustained appreciation of it. Thank you for your reply. Happy sageuk watching!

I dunno. You're making me feel like I really need to watch Queen Seondeok again. Though I liked it a LOT for a long time, it lost steam towards the end, especially in how it was extended beyond its originally planned end point. But the intrigue I had for the characters was second to none, so maybe I've been too harsh in my overall rating of the drama (only 6.0, which means "good" on my system). Still, I really want to watch Jumong and Yi San before giving it another watch.

A true scientist.

Can't I just add these 8 eps as 1 series? Weird. They tell different stories but that doesn't mean it ain't a series.

I enjoyed Park Ju Hyun's performances in Extracurricular and Mouse so am cautiously optimistic for The Forbidden Marriage, which starts airing this month. Quite short for a sageuk at 12 episodes though - I generally prefer the epics. Sageuks like Six Flying Dragons, Dong Yi, Queen Seondeok - these 50+ episode epics - have a VERY different vibe, pacing and feel to the type of sageuk you've tried to watch (based on what I can see from your watchlists). Perhaps you could take the plunge on one those epics to see if it jives better with you, even if it might seem daunting and counterintuitive because you might be wondering how any drama can really keep you invested with such a **long** runtime. The shortest sageuk I can think of which still maintains that "classic" vibe of the sageuk epics is Deep Rooted Tree aka Tree With Deep Roots. (2011).

I will surely do the same. Always interested in the takes of others and am intrigued to see what others are watching and rate highly, which in turn informs my watchlist. Cheers.

Meh I'm more of an extemporaneous riffer of casual comments than a review planner, but who knows?

Although we disagree on some dramas with our views (which is of course expected between every single different user) I'm enjoying all your comments about various dramas you've put in lists on your profile page. Cool stuff.

As for Under The Queen's Umbrella, not mad keen on it after 5 eps. I'm persisting based on some brief discussions with other users in the drama comment section. I have a list for sageuk ranking if you want a general impression of where it currently sits, though very few comments have been added to that list as of now.

To quote a comment I made after 4 episodes...

"4 eps in. Very underwhelming for me, especially after watching such masterful storytelling and characterisation in Dae Jang Geum, which I'm watching in phase with it. It falls flat when it tries to be funny, and somehow a lot of its melodrama, which is supposed to be serious and profound, comes off as trite. The use of the OST probably contributes to the incongruous affectation of the show. I love strong female leads and have watched many dramas where that's the key focus, but this show ain't cuttin' it.


From sageuks of a similar length and production value, I think The Crowned Clown and Mr. Queen are much better and establish their identity far more clearly (which may or may not be important for the viewer). The Red Sleeve started off much better as well, though went downhill for me in the second half for various reasons."

So I'm looking for the plot to drive this one, and the writing is warming up with its intrigue and pacing as of the end of ep. 5.

I hear you on a lot of that, though haven't seen those specific example and I've probably generally steered away from the drama genres where a lot of those dynamics play out.

Too many times I'm left thinking the FLs in Korean dramas are two-dimensional. Instead of being objectified they are being marginalised and caricatured with a treatment you'd expect of some sort of comic relief side character at best.

I like my main leads to be nuanced and also show considerable development throughout. At first, the FL in New Life Begins might appear to be an annoying and cutesy loli character but it just becomes clearer and clearer throughout just how intelligent, willed, capable and mature she is, all showcased through well-handled character development through a variety of scenarios. And I've recently found this to be a consistent virtue of FL writing in Cdramas.

Unless the show is really centered around a strong FL as the protagonist (Empress Ki and such), K dramas seem sacrifice the FL's *dignity* to make the ML look better... "appear more badass and heroic", as you put it. A good example is the FL from Vincenzo, who many often cite as being a strong badass FL, except most of the time she's vacuous and plays some virtual lackey to the ML, who is pretty much presented as a god.

I just recently started The King: Eternal Monarch. Only a couple of eps in, but already the FL has left a horrible first impression with her general attitude, aggressiveness, cattiness, bitchiness. Yet it feels like they intended for her to come across as cool while being this way. The ML is even worse here though because dayum... that is some flat-ass acting from Lee Min-ho. Not recommended. And before that, I started watching Reborn Rich, and again the FL is some sort of ridiculous and almost non-sensical caricature, written as though they were deliberately trying to character assassinate the actress hahaha.

Maybe some bad luck recently in my choices, but Kdrama screenwriters do need to take more risks in how they write the dynamics between leads and diverge from these tired and hackneyed formulas.

There's no accounting for taste, but I'll certainly remember that offer - thanks.