Good Grief

I would like to apologize to all those who dropped after episode 1 and I shamed you . you were right this drama was horrible. The actors did the best they could with a shit script but ultimately it could not be enough

well maybe but even the early episodes had bad writing

i need to know how this script won a writing contest like it's wattpad level of writing

Yi An wore "구류면류관" (Nine-row crown) in the coronation ceremony (nine rows of jade bead ornaments hanging down on both sides of the hat) which is historically inaccurate, Traditionally, the nine-row crown was worn by "King''s of a vassal state... He was supposed to wear "십이면류관" (Twelve-row crown) as an ''Emperor" of independent imperial state. (A total of 24 strands of gemstones hanging down , with 12 strands each on the front and back of the square plate on top of the hat)

Furthermore, the subjects attending the coronation ceremony was shouting "천세" (Cheonse) following the etiquette of a vassal state, instead of “만세" (Manse) which is the symbol of an independent imperial state.

(For context, Korean Joseon Dynasty held the formal position of a 'vassal state' for a period of time within its tributary relationship with the superior independent Chinese Ming and Qing dynasties,at that time it was standardized etiquette to shout 'Cheonse' to Joseon Kings, instead of 'Manse ' at official gatherings or in front of Chinese envoys (Cheonse is one rank lower than Manse)..After the proclamation of the Korean Empire, From the time Emperor Gojong proclaimed the Korean Empire in 1897 and elevated the country to an independent imperial state,he reclaimed the Title "Emperor" from "King" & they were officially able to shout “Manse Manse Manmanse".From then, they no longer wore vassal state's 9 crowned crown, nor they used "cheonse choense choencheonse" in King's coronation ceremonies anymore)

and hello to you !

oh no, turns out we were right and the script is actually bad and so of course the ending also is ! who could have predicted it ? certainly not us, we are just haters after all for pointing out the flaws of the scripts 🙄(I saw a tweet about how the story is unfolding and thought I'd come say hi to the people who camped in my mentions the other day bc they take criticism personally🫶)

Wow. You’ve said it all. The world building wasn’t landing as well as it should have and that I could forgive. But the storyline? The supposed buildup to every situation? It fell so flat it was quite shocking considering the cast ensemble and budget. The storytelling here is quite weak. It’s like they slapped all these situations that we are supposed to ‘awwww’ at yet we’re out of place.

Why is he abolishing the monarchy? What’s the motive? The pain point? Where the hell did the foreshadowing go to? Why in the hell do the producers believe they can suddenly slap that to our face and we will just take and gobble it up like that? Lol. And the PM’s villainy? What the…? This drama was trying to do so much and yet it ended up achieving nothing. And it has nothing to do with the number of episodes, no. This is evidence of what poor writing can do even the most exciting storylines. This one had -10 depth. The depth level ended up so shallow they now owe all the audience they baited into watching this delicious mess.

At episode 10, I was prepared to finish this and call it a day despite its shortcomings. That was until episode 11 happened. The way I shut my laptop hard when they began to yap about abolishing the monarchy. Fine. I will still finish this. But it’s now a 7.5 at most. 5 goes to the cast and 2.5 to whatever will remain of this mess after E12 airs.

Episode 11

That “braving the fire” scene was so weak because the fire itself felt nonexistent. Hui Ju walked in there casually like she was entering a normal room to save a man who merely fainted. Where was the heat? The smoke? The suffocating panic? None of it was there. The only “effect” of the fire was random stuff falling from the ceiling and fire spraying so she could look startled. At the very least, put some soot or smoke stains on her face. The lack of realism completely took me out of the scene.

And honestly, most of the characters started feeling out of character by the end. Hui Ju suddenly becoming this determined, rage-filled person in the name of love felt strange to me. I need more time to process it, but it didn’t feel fully earned.

Jeong Woo’s turn into villainy had potential, but the execution was lacking. After acting like the kind, dependable prime minister for so long, he suddenly couldn’t suppress his desire to protect the crown and his feelings once Hui Ju got hurt. I can see what they were trying to do, but the buildup was just too weak for it to land properly. Yi Rang’s transformation from a power-hungry empress dowager into a caring mother also felt abrupt. What exactly caused such a drastic change? And was it really enough to justify it?

Then there’s Yi An surviving the fire in the most fake, idol-drama way possible. It felt anticlimactic instead of emotional. And his sudden decision to abolish the monarchy? Completely underdeveloped. If that was the direction they wanted to take, they should’ve planted the seeds much earlier. His brother’s death could’ve been the catalyst. Show him questioning the system, making plans with the little emperor, or even secretly preparing to dismantle the monarchy over time. There were so many ways to build toward it.

Instead, it ended up feeling like he abolished the monarchy because Hui Ju got hurt. As if romance became the answer to everything. It stripped away so much potential depth from both his character and the story itself.

And that’s my biggest disappointment with this drama overall: the depth just wasn’t there.

Thank goodness there’s only one episode left. Let’s see how they’ll rage bait me this time… or maybe not.

some fans be like - Blame mbc & move on, as if Actors ain't a part of the team.they are also south korean in nationality & supposed to have a say in script & historical depictions. they are not newbie actors who are pressurized to do anything from the production team, both of the leads are famous renowned artists in the industry & they have an influence in their domestic country, & history matters for koreans ,that's why the backlash.the responsibility does fall on the Artists too,along with mbc, production team writer Directors & anyone involved.

20 episodes ? Nah. A well written narrative can be done well within 12 episodes if the point is to just depict a romantic journey with sprinkles of politics in it. How much royal scheming can one take anyway. 20 episodes of that ? That is better off with stuff like Empress Ki.

im hating the monarchy abolishment situation.

agreed, it's such a lazy & boring plot. like, really? that's the solution? abolishing? 🙄 not like there are royal families in this day and age...surely can't have a modern royalty in a fiction....boring. Didn't think the drama would go this stupid route, che, so sad.

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Clickbait title. EAW Director breaks silence? Did he really? He merely said "Season 2 is not yet at a stage where we can talk about it."