L13

She does look a little older than him, but I didn't notice it until I looked up their ages and realised they're quite far apart. They can pass for the same age IMO.

I mean, early marriage was common at different points in ancient Chinese history, but according to the precepts of Confucianism, women were supposed to get married at 20, and men at 30. Noble families like XFF's could afford to follow these recommendations, and indeed we see that Jiang Li's younger sister, who's supposed to be 15-16, is already engaged but not yet married. I'm guessing XFF got married at 16-18 (which was possibly a little earlier than her morally upright father would have liked, since we already know he disapproved of the groom and she was the one who pushed for it).

I mean, I should hope we get a wedding between the leads...

How old are Duke Su and Xue Fangfei supposed to be in the story? Jiang Li, whom XFF is posing as, was not yet 20, but XFF had been married to Shen Yurong for "many years" (which I interpreted as 4-6, not 10+) before her near-death. So XFF should actually be in her mid to late 20s (still young enough to pass for 20, in any case)? Which is, I assume, similar to Duke Su's age? Also, does the original novel give a specific reason he's not married yet? You'd expect a high-ranking noble like him to have been locked down by now.

He's deaf AND he has amnesia? This is like one of those dramas where the protagonist is both a chaebol heir AND a genius lawyer, or a doctor and a lawyer at the same time... Cliche overload! But I like both leads, so I'll give it a try when it comes out.

This sounds like even more of a hot mess than your average Thai lakorn. A social worker… falls in love with an abused minor… whose case she was in charge of… Jesus! Some of these writers need to learn where the line between sexy forbidden love and “you’re either a terrible person or an idiot if you allow yourself to end up in such a questionable situation and I as a viewer have no desire to see you happy” is.

I genuinely thought this would never come out. I've had it in my Plan to Watch list for years! OMG, so excited.

This sounds pretty interesting, but why only 10 episodes? I miss the times when something other than a star-studded romance could get greenlit for 16 episodes.

Gotta say, Yokoyama You is looking like a snack in this drama. And more in the manner of a Hollywood actor with a memorable face that draws you in than like a perfect idol. He's gotten more attractive with age!

I mean… I wouldn’t mind a crumb of romance…

Do you need musical cues to tell you how you’re supposed to react to every line?

Yeah, so his fiancée's father is a retired policeman and his father MAY be one of the top dogs in the Korean police (unless the rumour his boss heard is misdirection and it was another Cha Yeonho who passed the police exam at the same time... but I think it's more likely that our CYH is the son of the commissioner, because his father-in-law mentioned that CYH joined the police force because there was something he had to do; I assume he's on bad terms with his father and his father will turn out to be corrupt).

It's been 10+ years since his pregnant fiancée died, so it's very unlikely he's in his late 20s OR early 30s IMO.

But they're not enemies; he's perfectly decent to her and she treats him the way a bratty teenager treats their parents. That's totally unacceptable in the world of adults (and she's been acting this way since the beginning).

Why is Sooji so damn rude to the only person who's nice to her all the time

I get what you're saying, but I do feel there was enough subtext to leave me satisfied. The contrast between Eun Siyeon's relationship with Prosecutor Gi, who was charming and cool and understood her well thanks to their shared history and values, and her relationship with Seo Minjae, whom she knew and liked less well but who obviously drew her in and resonated with her on a deeper emotional level, suggested the broad outlines of a delicious love triangle (and I don't like love triangles as a rule!). The movie ended with ESY and Prosecutor Gi on good terms and seemingly in a relationship, but ESY sought out SMJ to get his help with a new case (and maybe to recruit him for her new special team)... so we can choose to imagine that she'll end up making a choice between these two, if we want.

The premise sounds SO cool, I love it. Finally a mysterious genius badass female protagonist on a self-destructive quest for honor and revenge… and a rat ML trying to use her for his own advancement? Sign me the fuck up.

You asked, I answered. You don’t have to watch it.

It has four relationships with implied romantic potential (Muqing/the princess, Lucky/Miss Liu, Wang Jialuo/the spy, Zhuo Bufan/Miss Huo), and I can see maybe two of them being relevant to the plot (Muqing's tragic romance and the princess's shitty marriage will sway his loyalties at some point and the spy will probably steal information from WJL and betray his trust... these are also the two relationships I'm most invested in) and maybe two or three of them being consummated/getting a happy ending (I think Muqing or the princess will probably die, which is total bullshit IMO, and I can also see the show maybe fridging Sect Girl toward the end to give Zhuo Bufan character development, which would also suck even though she's an incredibly bland character).

The romance is pretty subtle and light, but I'm enjoying it.

Shovel’s child should be 45 by now. Neither Wang Jialuo nor Lucky looks old enough.