Kim MC

I loved this and literally laughed out loud several times. Here's my short list:
1 - the heroine is so good that she allows the a) ex-girlfriend b) future mother-in-law c) frustrated bystander to slap her. I literally stood up and clapped on the first drama that had the female lead slapping back. Hard.
2 - the cold as ice but warm underneath misunderstood male lead that follows the ex-girlfriend to hell and back to protect his female love interest. Come on writers! It's fine to have the conniving ex but allow the male lead to have intelligence.
3 - in agreement with your assessment of the break up in the last two episodes.....either the female or male lead goes on a 1 to 5 year trip oversees only to be reunited the last 10 minutes of the last episode. There's been a few well written dramas that did this and, as a viewer, it was like driving into a car wreck. Willingly.
Thank you so much for your article!

just one as of episode 8.

If I ever found someone like him in real life, I would super glue my hand to his. Yep, that would last a while...

I find him blunt, which in drama land is definitely a different character written for dramas.

LOL! I this same topic on another drama site. I think she's one of the few that can carry it off but I'm not a fan of red lipstick. To me, screams "Off With Their Heads!"

Really good article and thank you! "Hospital Playlist" has a writing, acting and production team that raises the bar really high as far as comparison to other shows. The hardest part for me (on a personal level) is watching the characters comfort those experiencing loss. It's hard for my brain to process that this is not a reality situation but fictional portrayals.

It's still the drama that measures others. Loved your review!

Agree.

I love this drama for so many reasons. It's a cerebral drama which is something a vocal part of this fandom does not like but is something I adore.

I said this wayyyyy down in the comments ... Lee Min Ho does an excellent job portraying the emperor by expressing the characters emotions through his posture and eyes. I'm so glad this is in the top 20 Netflix shows. That made me day!

I love the fact that this part has Dilraba acting as something other than an innocent ingenue. She's definitely got acting skills and can't wait to see where this takes her.

I can't tell you how many Chinese costume dramas I've watched and either loved / liked / disliked / totally dropped in the past six years. I freaking love this one because of the story line: a female ruled city with elements of fantasy....sign me up. Love it!

Jang Na Ra deftly portrays the emotions of someone longing for a child while watching the door of probability slowly closing. Two episodes in and I rate this drama close to perfect.

I'm a huge fan of "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" and have watched other historical Korean dramas. Usually, these productions have great acting but somehow lack the richness of Chinese historical versions (for reasons Cho Na explained below). Thanks for pointing this out and I'll definitely give it a shot.

I think the anticipation of this drama was through the roof with Lee Min Ho fresh out of the military and Kim Eun Sook as the main screenwriter. I cannot fathom the amount of pressure that these two are under and anytime there is something off about their work, heaven help those poor souls because the vocal critics come out to play. I was one of the few that really did not care for Goblin as a whole but loved the actors and visuals beyond sanity. I loved Mr. Sunshine because it made me research that historical era of Korea and lastly, I really like this one. I'm a science fiction fan from birth and the parallel worlds is right up my alley. The chemistry is off between the two leads and I have trouble understanding Kim Go Eun's character portrayal. But, it's not my story to tell but it is one I enjoy, so I'm along for the ride.

One thing that can never, ever be anticipated is chemistry between actors. I've seen an onscreen chemistry that was nothing short of blazing hot and found out much later, the two actors hated each other. It's always interesting.
I love this show. The first episodes were like a spider web at it's outer edges and the more chapters unfolded, the tighter the spin. It's something I look forward too every week and will definitely re-watch a couple of times to see what I missed.

Heaven help me, what a cast!

Thank you so much for the background! My school years in the US were a very much toned down version of this drama. Drugs and alcohol were prevalent as was the bullying and sex. I navigated those waters by trying to keep as low a profile as possible (aka invisible) and that's where I could identify with the male lead.
So, the male writer of this drama is a future want-to-be Quinton Tarantino. I've seen "Kill Bill" and loved the actresses, despised the plot. I've never viewed his movies as anything other than a personal voyeuristic story on film. Definitely not a fan.
I laughed out loud on the family counseling. You've still got it!

I've listened to Song Wei Long's real voice in interviews and he has a beautiful speaking tone. Dubbing, in general, gets on my nerves because I think an actors voice also conveys as much emotion as visual acting. I almost do cartwheels when there is zero dubbing in a C-Drama.

Hey Nonie! I always enjoy your writings.
I started watching this and was startled at the difference between it and other dramas produced on the regular channels. But, my introduction into Korean movies was with the anticipation of thoughtful, introspective dialogue, and that was thumped straight out of me with the first couple of viewings. I very much realized that western entertainment had nothing in the NC17 range that Korean movies could not stand on top of.
In this drama, I was surprised at the character darkness and situations explored and this seems to be a Netflix trend that has relaxed censorship in storytelling. With some of the news headlines about sexual abuse of women in the South Korean, I wondered if this is something the drama writer has actually seen or experienced firsthand. The scene of the daughter meeting / being put on display for her corporate parents friends absolutely made my skin crawl. The situations of girls meeting their clients was something watched in small doses. I live in a economically poor area in the best of times and the violence that comes with this is something witnessed or read about on a regular basis.
I skip the violent parts (personal taste but I do this in all dramas and movies, irregardless of where it's produced), but this story line, to me, is about whether to fight for a glimmer of goodness, hope or kindness when all circumstances seem to be dark. Since the present news seems to mirror this theme, I have to watch this with a lot of distance in between episodes. I use dramas for escape and this doesn't allow that much needed space from the headlines.