This review may contain spoilers
They Wanted to Have It All — and in the End, They Gave Us Nothing
I was initially enthralled by this series, from the pen of Jeong Seo-kyeong (she gave us Decision to Leave and Lady Vengeance, people!). Gang Dong-won is manly, steadfast, caring, sexy—an all-encompassing amazing guy fighting for the woman he loves (?). Jun Ji-hyun is calm, gorgeous, steely, and engaging. We even have John Cho in the cast and a special appearance by Uhm Tae-goo—what could go wrong?Well, quite a lot. For me, it started going south around episode 6. It got convoluted and hard to believe; I think the writer bit off more than she could chew and then had to spit it all out in what turned out to be a very predictable mess. My biggest issue is the way they ended it. I hate it when I have to Google “ending explained” to see if anyone else understood what the heck happened. Did that character survive or not? There were clues that they maybe did, but might as well have not survived—it’s all up to interpretation.
In my opinion, they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, because it could be a not-so-good ending, but if the ratings are good, there’s a slightly open door for a second series. In the end, they leave the viewer with a generalized meh sensation... what a letdown, honestly.
The action scenes were very fast—sometimes a bit much and hard to follow for some viewers—but overall well performed and enjoyable. The ML was a total badass, and there’s one particular scene in an elevator that got me thinking about Gang Dong-won’s long legs. What can I say? The man exudes charisma and sex appeal even when sitting down.
There was very good chemistry between the leads, but I think they’re both the type of people who could have excellent chemistry even with a wall. In the end, the series left me wanting more. I’m not asking to tie it up with a neat little bow, but don’t make me go all Sherlock Holmes on the Internet trying to see what really happened. Personally, I do not like open-ended finales—just pick a lane and stick to it. Do you have to off one of the characters? Do so and be brave about it! Don’t leave us in a cloud of ambiguity.
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This review may contain spoilers
Bon Appétit, Your Majesty — it needed more time in the oven.
Just an idea, but can’t the protagonist, for once, travel forward in time? Having said that, here’s my honest review.Food: looking delicious.
The King: looking mighty appetising.
The chef: looking very professional.
The chemistry: looking... but cannot find it.
At times, it felt like I was watching Top Chef. Don’t get me wrong — I did enjoy watching the dishes being prepared and adapted to the Joseon era, and seeing how the FL figured her way around each episode’s dish. But if the show is only 12 episodes long, I don’t want to spend four of those watching a cooking battle. There was more sizzle in the meat she was frying than between the leads, and the romance didn’t really start until episode 11, when the FL feebly stated, “What is this feeling that I’m feeling?” And that was supposed to show her love for the King — who, I might add, had been far more invested in her for far longer. Let’s say he wanted to devour the Royal Cook along with her tasty meals.
A lot of situations were never explained. For instance: why did Kang Mok-ju hate the King so much and want to have him dethroned? Was she jealous? Power hungry? No answers to that. Also — and one of the biggest issues — how in the heck did the King travel to the future? When asked, he said, “That’s not important.” Uhm, yes it is! It’s a big deal. Give us a hint, at least. That, to me, spells lazy writing — not finishing the story properly. They put all this attention to detail, all this effort into showing us how the meals are prepared, but didn’t bother to at least give a hint as to how the King travelled hundreds of years into the future — and how he became so well adjusted! He looked like a chaebol, to be honest…
On the plus side, we were given three great supporting characters: Kang Mok-ju — faithful and lovable sidekick to the female lead, with the nose of a bloodhound and a very good eye as well (she spotted the attractive Gong Gil quite quickly); the aforementioned Gong Gil — intrepid jester with a plan of his own and a fantastic set of skills (and abs, let’s admit it); and finally, Sin Su Hyeok — the Commander of Urumwi, who was as brave as he was swift with that sword and, apparently, immortal, because he got out of more than one dangerous situation completely unscathed.
The baddies were really bad, the good ones were very good, Lee Chae-Min was an acceptable find, and the kitchen staff was a bit iffy at times — like meat that’s been defrosted a few days ago (all these food comparisons, I know).
All in all, if you want to enjoy the show, just suspend disbelief — the same way a bag of sous vide is suspended in water — and don’t ask the writers for a proper ending...or to make sense.
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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 pre-decessors, 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 playboy 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, indeed, they 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 Lady Cho and Cho Won, and neither between Cho Won and Ahn Hui-yeon. 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 her 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 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 tangled with her, even 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.
And, 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 use 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, faced ridicule, and 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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