The show is starting to lose me. Sure there are controversial scenes as people are discussing below but if you take a step back from that - what happened over the last several episodes?
- Hyo Shim - no debt, debt, no debt. Tae Min tried to force himself on her but she already knew how he felt and so did the audience. Tae Ho asked her out which is a bit more surprising to her but the audience knows it has been building. She rejects them both. So now we're essentially waiting for her to choose Tae Ho whether that's episode 20, 30, 40. Hyo Shim's story is now going to revolve around side characters and her interactions with them. I guess she learned once again her mom used her and took the $100,000 she had saved up. But she hasn't really had a response to it yet and went to a loan shark to save her brother. There is no growth yet.
Now lets delve into the side characters
- Anchorwoman keeps whining Tae Min doesn't like her and they're not going to get married but they're going to get married. Lol. It's been like this since she was introduced. It's going in circles. - Hyo Joon, studying to be a lawyer. Still the exact same as the early episodes. Nothing has changed. We can see where the story will go eventually now that we know he used to make indie movies and his next door neighbor is a lawyer but it hasn't actually moved along. - Hyo Do, the highschool dropout with the princess syndrome. Nothing has changed. Nothing has moved. To start the show he was (allegedly) unintentionally participating in a scam. He met a girl. He lost the girl. The plot has literally not moved from the introduction of his character. - The evil cabal. Secretary and Tae Min's parents. To start the show they were drugging grandma. She escaped. They were desperate to find her. That all disappeared. Grandma might as well be drugged up in that home again for all they've been doing. - The upstairs roof gang. Tae Ho's grandma, that other grandma, the six year old and that man. They just bicker and talk with each other. Their relationship dynamics haven't changed much. - Hyo Shim's oldest brother and his family. Again, what's really changed here? I guess their resentment has all bubbled to the surface.
And the preview for next week looks grim. The writers seem to know they've been stalling so out comes Tae Ho's parents and their car accident courtesy of angry anchorwoman! What happened to Tae Ho's investigation? Because the secretary and Tae Min found the car wreck he stopped looking into it?
The show feels like it's lurching from moment to moment and sometimes it takes several episodes to have a moment that advances a story.
Anyways I'm complaining. It's a family melodrama at the end of the day. I'll probably drop it and come back in February or something and fast forward and watch the scenes I want to.
It's not that big of a deal but they kind of spoiled that introduction towards the end. I get it's less important in Korea where you probably know who that woman was.
I'm kind of curious to how they will handle the king. They've made it clear he's weak and holds no power but how do they show him building power and respect if he doesn't lead the army? Or will he lead the army at some point?
I guess the only big thing is that Tae Ho is becoming Hyo Shim's only confidant. She'll spill the beans to him when she gets drunk. It seems like next weekend could be a little more interesting.
The creepy secretary and his weird conversation with Tae Min has led to some users questioning whether or not Tae Min is a Kang in the biological sense and yeah, I agree with that. What a weird ass conversation if he's not Tae Min's father.
The two younger brothers was probably the major part of episode 17. The sympathetic and emotional music choice was strange because the two of them have individual meltdowns. Maybe the choice in music was supposed to be comedic. No shame in front of other people. Completely willing to blame others for their own predicament. And because of that the writers needed to devote significant time to explaining why the heiress and former law partner would bother with these two self-pitying, self-absorbed assholes.
Finally the grandmother and the other grandmother. Honestly I don't even watch their scenes anymore. I flat out don't care. Worst case scenario they say something relevant to the plot and it's a surprise to me because I didn't bother with their scenes.
Shout out to Im Ju Eun - the anchorwoman - the looks she gives Hyo Shim in recent episodes are something else. She plays the jealous woman extremely well.
I guess the only other minor thing is that Tae Min's parents now both know grandmother is alive. And the drunk dad could potentially reveal it to Tae Min or Tae Ho at some point down the road.
Like others said, a bit of a filler week but it sets up Tae Ho and Hyo Shim nicely for next week.
I think in terms of prominent characters - I like the leads, I like Hyo Shim's oldest brother and Mi Rim (the aspiring actress). I'm on the fence with Tae Min.
The rest are all varying degrees of self-righteous and selfish and I think they're awful. But at least most of them are people you would see in the real world and they're not too cartoonishly evil.
The female lead's backstory has set this all up for failure. There's nothing good about the male lead. Her dead husband was a much better partner in every respect. The show seems to be pushing the divine soulmate theory and also that the leads might be destined to be with each other. It comes across as absurd when the female lead is grieving her husband who was amazing and the male lead is a buffoon who is completely inexperienced in relationships.
The writers hit on the nose here. Rong Yu is the head of the astrology department and predicts a bunch of things. And because he does that the writers feel no need to their jobs and tell a story on the screen for the viewer to show how we get from the start of this story to the prediction he makes.
Maybe in Episode 15 they can get Rong Yu to break the 4th wall to predict the end of this absolute mess of a show and we won't have to continue further.
I'm all for tragic stories that are told well. One of the most highly regarded Chinese historical dramas on here is Nirvana in Fire. This has been so messy. I'll keep watching this trainwreck though. Sometimes you can't look away from an unfolding disaster.
I think the Mongolia stuff was visually beautiful. The characters are promising. It's a good set up, lets see if they can deliver a story with some comedy now.
I couldn't find it in good quality but it's really good alternative to the typical long form melodramas.
The problems are mostly self-contained within episodes and it's about learning life lessons with some comedy so it's not too serious. I think the show did a good job trying to be what it was.
It's short, sweet and light if you're in the mood. Nothing too complicated. Kind of wish the second couple (the general) got more focus but the bulk is definitely with the sickly lord and his bubbly bride without giving too much away.
That seems pretty fair where I'm at with Episode 14. A strong cast but a rather weak story all things considered. You learn pretty quickly who most of the major players are. I'm sure they'll have double crosses and reveals but yeah. Not super impressed, not disappointed either. Average.
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- Hyo Shim - no debt, debt, no debt. Tae Min tried to force himself on her but she already knew how he felt and so did the audience. Tae Ho asked her out which is a bit more surprising to her but the audience knows it has been building. She rejects them both. So now we're essentially waiting for her to choose Tae Ho whether that's episode 20, 30, 40. Hyo Shim's story is now going to revolve around side characters and her interactions with them. I guess she learned once again her mom used her and took the $100,000 she had saved up. But she hasn't really had a response to it yet and went to a loan shark to save her brother. There is no growth yet.
Now lets delve into the side characters
- Anchorwoman keeps whining Tae Min doesn't like her and they're not going to get married but they're going to get married. Lol. It's been like this since she was introduced. It's going in circles.
- Hyo Joon, studying to be a lawyer. Still the exact same as the early episodes. Nothing has changed. We can see where the story will go eventually now that we know he used to make indie movies and his next door neighbor is a lawyer but it hasn't actually moved along.
- Hyo Do, the highschool dropout with the princess syndrome. Nothing has changed. Nothing has moved. To start the show he was (allegedly) unintentionally participating in a scam. He met a girl. He lost the girl. The plot has literally not moved from the introduction of his character.
- The evil cabal. Secretary and Tae Min's parents. To start the show they were drugging grandma. She escaped. They were desperate to find her. That all disappeared. Grandma might as well be drugged up in that home again for all they've been doing.
- The upstairs roof gang. Tae Ho's grandma, that other grandma, the six year old and that man. They just bicker and talk with each other. Their relationship dynamics haven't changed much.
- Hyo Shim's oldest brother and his family. Again, what's really changed here? I guess their resentment has all bubbled to the surface.
And the preview for next week looks grim. The writers seem to know they've been stalling so out comes Tae Ho's parents and their car accident courtesy of angry anchorwoman! What happened to Tae Ho's investigation? Because the secretary and Tae Min found the car wreck he stopped looking into it?
The show feels like it's lurching from moment to moment and sometimes it takes several episodes to have a moment that advances a story.
Anyways I'm complaining. It's a family melodrama at the end of the day. I'll probably drop it and come back in February or something and fast forward and watch the scenes I want to.
I'm kind of curious to how they will handle the king. They've made it clear he's weak and holds no power but how do they show him building power and respect if he doesn't lead the army? Or will he lead the army at some point?
The creepy secretary and his weird conversation with Tae Min has led to some users questioning whether or not Tae Min is a Kang in the biological sense and yeah, I agree with that. What a weird ass conversation if he's not Tae Min's father.
The two younger brothers was probably the major part of episode 17. The sympathetic and emotional music choice was strange because the two of them have individual meltdowns. Maybe the choice in music was supposed to be comedic. No shame in front of other people. Completely willing to blame others for their own predicament. And because of that the writers needed to devote significant time to explaining why the heiress and former law partner would bother with these two self-pitying, self-absorbed assholes.
Finally the grandmother and the other grandmother. Honestly I don't even watch their scenes anymore. I flat out don't care. Worst case scenario they say something relevant to the plot and it's a surprise to me because I didn't bother with their scenes.
Shout out to Im Ju Eun - the anchorwoman - the looks she gives Hyo Shim in recent episodes are something else. She plays the jealous woman extremely well.
I guess the only other minor thing is that Tae Min's parents now both know grandmother is alive. And the drunk dad could potentially reveal it to Tae Min or Tae Ho at some point down the road.
Like others said, a bit of a filler week but it sets up Tae Ho and Hyo Shim nicely for next week.
The rest are all varying degrees of self-righteous and selfish and I think they're awful. But at least most of them are people you would see in the real world and they're not too cartoonishly evil.
Maybe in Episode 15 they can get Rong Yu to break the 4th wall to predict the end of this absolute mess of a show and we won't have to continue further.
I'm all for tragic stories that are told well. One of the most highly regarded Chinese historical dramas on here is Nirvana in Fire. This has been so messy. I'll keep watching this trainwreck though. Sometimes you can't look away from an unfolding disaster.
The problems are mostly self-contained within episodes and it's about learning life lessons with some comedy so it's not too serious. I think the show did a good job trying to be what it was.