All_In

Okay, I was keeping the question of who she loved in mind through the second chunk of the drama. First off, since people are questioning something that was made apparent in the book, that is a failure of the writer. I think a conversation or two with MingYu before she kicked the bucket could have alleviated a lot.

I think FuHeng was her first love and she kept a chunk of her heart for him especially as time went on and resentments faded. But this gal compartmentalized and she wasn't ever willing to give up on revenge/goals and that included for FuHeng, the emperor or anyone else. Love for a man wasn't gonna get in the way...gotta respect it. If you think about it, it's her love for the women in her life that really makes her loyal...to her sister and the first empress.

I really liked that most of the comedic aspects of this drama were between the two leads. I liked they were equals of the mind. I think she at least respected the emperor even if she didn't love him when they married. I think she grew to love him and the scene that sealed the deal was the true anguish she felt regarding the whole scene when he confronts her about the birth control potion. I tie that in with the scene when he asks where her heart is and she tells him a woman would only have a child with the man she loves. That's her way of saying, "dude, I wouldn't be having your kid if I didn't love you" but - as we see- she is NEVER going to say it because he loves the chase and her persnicketyness to the end.

Because the gal is so manipulative and speaking out of both sides of her mouth so to speak, the writers could have done a better job letting the viewers in on what was really going on in her mind but that's my final take on it. She loved them both. The emperor got her in this life and Fu Heng gets her in the next. I can live with that.

At first I thought the ex was going to be the standard cheating, nasty chaebol so now I wonder if he asked for the divorce under the pretext of finding another woman because he saw that the lifestyle was turning his wife into a miserable shell of a woman. I wonder if he set her free. Guess we'll see.

I like the low key vibe and we're learning more about the characters etc. I especially like conversations and such happening without an overbearing OST in the background. However, I'm not going to be able to handle the mom and mom-in-law stuff if it's just them being horrible to the lead. I didn't even watch the Something in the Rain drama and the whole mean mom things annoys me.

I'm the rare middle of the road person about this drama. It didn't get me interested from the get go like W (same writer) did, but I always respect this writer trying something a little different. Like most dramas, it will take 4 episodes to settle and give undecided viewers more of a sense on whether they want to continue.

Interesting take, but kind of reminds me of movie Jumanji where they get sucked into the game.

LOL Yeah, when I first started watching K-dramas , I was surprised by the rabid fans but now I just try to go with the flow. The thing is I get with this genre, it can take a while to set things up. This writer also wrote Queen In Hyun's Man, Nine and W. I loved Queen In Hyun's Man but it took me a few episodes to get into it whereas with W, I loved it right away. I didn't even mind so much that W kind of whimpered to an end. I've never seen 9, but I know the end sent fans into a rage. So I'm going to continue watching because I do hope the writer can pull this off.

I've given up with the early raters. At this point, it's on MDL for allowing it, no disrespect intended.

It's my understanding that Netflix historically has been very hands off in the creative process of things they've financed and distributed. It's something they are known for. I think it's much more likely that the drama thus far isn't living up to its hype. That happens to be what occurs to 75% of hyped up Korean dramas imo. It could be Netflix has been burned a time too many and is putting their finger in the creative pie but I tend to doubt it. I haven't seen the 2nd episode yet so I'm a little bummed at these early reviews as I have liked this writer before.

Never buy into hype is such an important thing to remember when being a fan of K-drama.

I'm just bummed they didn't stay away from the mean mom and mean mom-in-law we see in so many dramas.

I remember the comments about Greatest Romance and how surprised everyone was that the guy fell for her first (and that she turned him down). I need to find #4 on your list.

I'm not done with the drama yet as I'm watching on Viki, but I don't think she ever could have been with Fu Heng because the emperor never would have allowed it. Even though he (the emperor) was clueless about his feelings for YL for the first half of the drama, deep down he knew. He would have blocked it with some excuse or another. That's just my take anyway. Maybe someone who's read the book will flesh this out more. I've tried to read the novels that some C-dramas are based on, but I generally just can't get into them.

Someone posted below that she read the book the drama is based on and it was clear in the book that she loved the emperor. Haven't completed the drama yet so can't really comment on how it ended.

I agree with you. I come here a lot to see if I am even interested and it's a bummer to have it spoiled especially when there is a spoiler tag that users can easily use.

It's more slice of life with romance. I like that it is in an airport setting and not lawyers and doctors; however, it is just in okay territory. Okay if you don't have anything better to watch.

I thought it was exaggerated until hearing about it more in entertainment news. To my surprise it can be just as bad with the stars in Hong Kong and Japan as well.

I was expecting a more serious drama and this one has a lot of silly to start out. I'm willing to give it a few more episodes because it is still laying the foundation of the story but, yeah, others have already dropped.

In the US, it's gotten to be that they can break down regular ratings, streaming clicks, how many DVR and how many view the DVRed show within 48 hours. You then have how much they can expect from overseas sales. US procedural shows (NCIS, any # of cop shows) make massive money overseas to the point production of the genre can't keep up. Then you get into what production company is making the show and if it is an in house production (station involvement) or not. If not, a show can get solid ratings and still get cancelled because it is expensive to make. Sometimes that kind of show can get saved by a streaming site (Netflicks) like Longmire and Lucifer.

Sporting events are a whole other thing. The stations presale the ad space and if a sporting event doesn't get the ratings expected, the stations actually give a portion of the $$ back.

It's all more complicated than expected but fascinating at the same time how the business works.

Ratings do matter especially for stations but the production company it's not only ratings but licensing deals. If things don't go well, you have a situation like Devilish Joy where some of the actors hadn't been paid. I still find it odd actors/staff in Korea are not paid until after the project airs.

"average k-melodrama with lots of squinting" Now that's just funny...and kinda true.

Viki uses volunteers but Dramafever paid for the segmenting and subtitling. The article that explained what happened said the increase in licensing fees, no doubt from competition from Kocowa/Viki and Netflix, is what caused DFs demise.

The only bright side is hopefully this makes Viki stronger as the price of the dramas should be stable. Netflix actually doesn't buy that many dramas thus far.