1
Entertaining but ultimately shallow drama
On paper, this story has the makings of one of the greatest of the historical genre. But sloppy and disjointed execution and the writer's over-reliance on worn out tropes kept it from being anything more than just another entertaining but ultimately forgettable saguek romance.
There were so many interesting characters in this story that devolved into cliches or were forgotten about halfway through the show, so many interesting relationships that were never truly explored, or were escalated AND resolved in a scene or two in the last couple eps when there wasn't room for us to really care about them anyway, and so many plotlines that ended up half baked, rushed, or resolved before we really got to marinate in the conflict and tension of them, or really explore their impact on the characters.
SPOILERS BELOW
The second FL became practically a guest star, showing up to say a cute line or two only disappear for the rest of the show. She had zero reason to actually be there, she had no goals or story of her own. The second ML started out as a tortured and interesting contradiction, only to became a lovesick puppy chasing the female lead for episodes on end with nothing else to do but mope around and manhandle her when she stepped out of line.
In fact, that was one of the main problems with the drama--both male leads started out as layered characters with potential for amazing arcs, but suddenly stopped developing as people and became completely defined by being in love with the female lead, with their only goal to protect her at all costs. Which resulted in a cycle of silly love triangle tropey scenes over and over again for 2/3 of the drama. The romance itself also suffered from the usual cliches of noble idiocy, not communicating with each other for no real reason, forced separation for no real reason, multiple near death experiences, and this supposedly insurmountable chasm between and their statuses that was waved away within a scene or two, so that by the end all the magic and joy of their relationship had been kinda drained outta me.
The only character that had a true arc was Eun Jo. Who was at her best when traipsing around as Gildong, and yet we spent half the drama with her having hung up the mask, only to have her throw it on now and again when it was convenient for the plot.
SPOILERS ENDED
It's all real shame, too, because the actors in this show had so much more to give. Moon Sang Ming gave such heart and soul to the drama, and could have done so much more as the gentle prince who had to step from the shadows into the light. Lee Min Ki showed so much promise as the tortured son of the minister , but never seemed to be able to truly settle into the character since the writing never really gave him something tangible to hold onto. Choi Won Yong was dynamic as usual, but he can only do so much with a cliche evil minister character. And Ha Seok Jin made such an impact as the king, especially in his final scenes, he was criminally underutilized. He wrung every last drop out of yet another cliche character.
There were some funny moments, some swoony moments, some moving moments in this drama, but it ultimately didn't delve deep enough into the motivations or emotions of the characters, or the conflict or depth of the relationship, or the intricacy or meaning of the plotlines to make any lasting impact.
There were so many interesting characters in this story that devolved into cliches or were forgotten about halfway through the show, so many interesting relationships that were never truly explored, or were escalated AND resolved in a scene or two in the last couple eps when there wasn't room for us to really care about them anyway, and so many plotlines that ended up half baked, rushed, or resolved before we really got to marinate in the conflict and tension of them, or really explore their impact on the characters.
SPOILERS BELOW
The second FL became practically a guest star, showing up to say a cute line or two only disappear for the rest of the show. She had zero reason to actually be there, she had no goals or story of her own. The second ML started out as a tortured and interesting contradiction, only to became a lovesick puppy chasing the female lead for episodes on end with nothing else to do but mope around and manhandle her when she stepped out of line.
In fact, that was one of the main problems with the drama--both male leads started out as layered characters with potential for amazing arcs, but suddenly stopped developing as people and became completely defined by being in love with the female lead, with their only goal to protect her at all costs. Which resulted in a cycle of silly love triangle tropey scenes over and over again for 2/3 of the drama. The romance itself also suffered from the usual cliches of noble idiocy, not communicating with each other for no real reason, forced separation for no real reason, multiple near death experiences, and this supposedly insurmountable chasm between and their statuses that was waved away within a scene or two, so that by the end all the magic and joy of their relationship had been kinda drained outta me.
The only character that had a true arc was Eun Jo. Who was at her best when traipsing around as Gildong, and yet we spent half the drama with her having hung up the mask, only to have her throw it on now and again when it was convenient for the plot.
SPOILERS ENDED
It's all real shame, too, because the actors in this show had so much more to give. Moon Sang Ming gave such heart and soul to the drama, and could have done so much more as the gentle prince who had to step from the shadows into the light. Lee Min Ki showed so much promise as the tortured son of the minister , but never seemed to be able to truly settle into the character since the writing never really gave him something tangible to hold onto. Choi Won Yong was dynamic as usual, but he can only do so much with a cliche evil minister character. And Ha Seok Jin made such an impact as the king, especially in his final scenes, he was criminally underutilized. He wrung every last drop out of yet another cliche character.
There were some funny moments, some swoony moments, some moving moments in this drama, but it ultimately didn't delve deep enough into the motivations or emotions of the characters, or the conflict or depth of the relationship, or the intricacy or meaning of the plotlines to make any lasting impact.
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