This review may contain spoilers
THE SCANDAL: Or how a great story was badly told
I went into this with an open mind, decided not to be biased or have my opinion “tainted” by its predecessors, Untold Scandal and Dangerous Liaisons, and told myself this was a fresh take on the story. But the fact remains (read it in Viscount Du Valmont’s voice) that those previous amazing works of ART share the same core, the same main idea: that a lecherous, vicious, and cruel womanizer finds love and redemption in the arms of a very pious, devoted woman. And destroys her and himself in the process, taking along the very calculating Lady Cho/Marquise de Merteuil.
I have several problems with this adaptation:
For one, it is too long. Instead of a tight, pressure-cooker narrative, the show dilutes the tension with heavy palace intrigue, slowing down the mind games that should be at the forefront of the story, because, they indeed, are the story. Additionally, this is supposed to be psychological warfare, yet the writers chose to show the story through the prism of tragic love. Yes, there is an element of that, but at its core, it’s about a psychological chess game where no one wins in the end.
Secondly, I did not see the chemistry, not between Son Je-yin and Ji Chang-wook, and neither between Ji Chang-wook and NaNa. One might argue that the three leads are considered to be among the sexiest, prettiest, and most seductive actors in Korean entertainment, but that is no guarantee that chemistry will appear and translate onto the screen. Ji Chang-wook plays Cho Won, at times, like a caricature of the character. He breaks the fourth wall, laughs at everything and everyone, and even when trying to seduce Ahn Hui-yeon, his attempts border on buffoonery. I know Hui-yeon’s character is supposed to know nothing of men and the world, and that she has lived her life being very guarded, but anyone, I mean, even the simplest of minds, could see he was lying through his teeth.
Nana, instead, plays Ahn Hui-yeon like a frightened child cowering in a corner. There were scenes where she was actually hunched over, as if trying to make herself smaller. Her character is supposed to be, a woman of deep moral conviction; her spiritual dignity and virtue are her armor. Instead, the actress gave us a woman who trembled at the very look of Cho Won, rather than slowly breaking down under his relentless pursuit.
This lack of chemistry directly impacts the characters’ arcs. We don’t see Cho Won transitioning from a man who holds nothing and no one in high regard, into a man who slowly starts to comprehend that he could have a better life next to a woman who truly loves him. We don’t see this knowledge dawn on him. Where is the doubt in his eyes? Where are the tenderness, the yearning, the passion?
Yes, they do give us a very explicit scene involving the seduction, but I, for one, did not see the flashes of tenderness or the realization that he might have feelings for this woman whom he has won over completely. We don’t even see him relishing the fact that he has won his bet with Lady Cho, and is now entitled to cash in his prize. We do see him, though, following Lady Cho around like a lost puppy, but the element of viciousness is missing from their relationship. If anything, he remains under her spell, almost to the last frame his character is on screen. Yes, he does show remorse over his treatment and betrayal of Ahn Hui-yeon, but not for a single moment did I believe he had fallen prey to his own trap, that he loved her, or that this was a tragic waste of an opportunity. By the final episodes, the story was sinking faster than Cho Won jumping into the river, and I can sympathize with him taking himself out of it.
To add insult to injury, Lady Cho faces no reckoning. She simply lives on, gliding effortlessly through society, always behind a mask of politeness and boredom, boredom that I was sharing at this point, if I’m honest.
Lady Cho loved her position in society and her power more than anything. She did not truly love Cho Won beyond what he could do for her, or what useful he could be. Yet, in the last scene, the director tries to make us believe that she is suffering in silence because he has disappeared. What irks me is that they stripped her of her downfall and tried to frame it as though she had always loved him, making her punishment the realization of that love when it’s already too late. They took one of the greatest villains known to history, and turned her into a woman pining for a man she can no longer have. She should have lost her place in society, she should have faced ridicule, been ostracized, but nothing really happened to her. That was a poor way to wrap the story. That is the real scandal here.
I have several problems with this adaptation:
For one, it is too long. Instead of a tight, pressure-cooker narrative, the show dilutes the tension with heavy palace intrigue, slowing down the mind games that should be at the forefront of the story, because, they indeed, are the story. Additionally, this is supposed to be psychological warfare, yet the writers chose to show the story through the prism of tragic love. Yes, there is an element of that, but at its core, it’s about a psychological chess game where no one wins in the end.
Secondly, I did not see the chemistry, not between Son Je-yin and Ji Chang-wook, and neither between Ji Chang-wook and NaNa. One might argue that the three leads are considered to be among the sexiest, prettiest, and most seductive actors in Korean entertainment, but that is no guarantee that chemistry will appear and translate onto the screen. Ji Chang-wook plays Cho Won, at times, like a caricature of the character. He breaks the fourth wall, laughs at everything and everyone, and even when trying to seduce Ahn Hui-yeon, his attempts border on buffoonery. I know Hui-yeon’s character is supposed to know nothing of men and the world, and that she has lived her life being very guarded, but anyone, I mean, even the simplest of minds, could see he was lying through his teeth.
Nana, instead, plays Ahn Hui-yeon like a frightened child cowering in a corner. There were scenes where she was actually hunched over, as if trying to make herself smaller. Her character is supposed to be, a woman of deep moral conviction; her spiritual dignity and virtue are her armor. Instead, the actress gave us a woman who trembled at the very look of Cho Won, rather than slowly breaking down under his relentless pursuit.
This lack of chemistry directly impacts the characters’ arcs. We don’t see Cho Won transitioning from a man who holds nothing and no one in high regard, into a man who slowly starts to comprehend that he could have a better life next to a woman who truly loves him. We don’t see this knowledge dawn on him. Where is the doubt in his eyes? Where are the tenderness, the yearning, the passion?
Yes, they do give us a very explicit scene involving the seduction, but I, for one, did not see the flashes of tenderness or the realization that he might have feelings for this woman whom he has won over completely. We don’t even see him relishing the fact that he has won his bet with Lady Cho, and is now entitled to cash in his prize. We do see him, though, following Lady Cho around like a lost puppy, but the element of viciousness is missing from their relationship. If anything, he remains under her spell, almost to the last frame his character is on screen. Yes, he does show remorse over his treatment and betrayal of Ahn Hui-yeon, but not for a single moment did I believe he had fallen prey to his own trap, that he loved her, or that this was a tragic waste of an opportunity. By the final episodes, the story was sinking faster than Cho Won jumping into the river, and I can sympathize with him taking himself out of it.
To add insult to injury, Lady Cho faces no reckoning. She simply lives on, gliding effortlessly through society, always behind a mask of politeness and boredom, boredom that I was sharing at this point, if I’m honest.
Lady Cho loved her position in society and her power more than anything. She did not truly love Cho Won beyond what he could do for her, or what useful he could be. Yet, in the last scene, the director tries to make us believe that she is suffering in silence because he has disappeared. What irks me is that they stripped her of her downfall and tried to frame it as though she had always loved him, making her punishment the realization of that love when it’s already too late. They took one of the greatest villains known to history, and turned her into a woman pining for a man she can no longer have. She should have lost her place in society, she should have faced ridicule, been ostracized, but nothing really happened to her. That was a poor way to wrap the story. That is the real scandal here.
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