L13

Bora continues to be the worst. It’s like the drama is deliberately trying to make her unlikeable at this point. The rich grandma and AR and BR’s dad are also annoying. I’m glad Haeshim at least is starting to see that it’s wrong to try to force AR to have an abortion (!). Although it took her too long to get there, she sees what’s right.

I just really hope AR and Junsoo won’t have to end up living with JS’s parents after the wedding like in every other daily/family drama. I won’t be able to stand the extended exposure to JS’s mother and her shitty treatment of AR (that JS won’t do anything to stop and that AR will overcome on her own by being obedient and understanding of her mother-in-law’s abuse to the point of changing her mind, when they’ll become one big happy family and no one will apologise—I already hate the thought of it!).

There’s no soul transmigration/reincarnation tag for this drama, but episode one opens with it. Is it a big part of the plot/does the main character stay aware of the modern world throughout the drama?

Same, he played one of the best villains I've seen in drama in Surgeons precisely because he wasn't a blackhearted evildoer but a guy with normal relationships and friendships and complex feelings/motivations.

I know people like this drama and I'm sure it's entertaining, but seeing the "misunderstanding," "obsessive second lead" and "love triangle" tags all in one place is enough to make me nope out immediately.

OK, I finished L&R and my first post-drama thought is that we needed more Rahu Ketu.

My enjoyment of this drama has really gone down since I hit episode 40 or so because I am constantly annoyed at how they're forcing the Epic Star-Crossed Romance between Xuanji and Sifeng by making Xuanji extremely stupid. In order for her to consider Sifeng her mortal enemy and to be tragically sad at having to fight him, she needs to believe every poisonous lie out of Hao Chen's mouth--EVEN AFTER HE ADMITTED HE LIED TO HER ABOUT THE VERMILLION BIRD BOTTLE--and to be incapable of noticing the obvious inconsistencies in what the people around her are saying. Also Sifeng abruptly going from the person she trusts the most to the person she trusts the least after she met up with him to clear their misunderstanding/after she broke him out of the cave where he was held prisoner didn't make any sense. They ruined her character for plot reasons, basically. I really hope this stretch of her treating Sifeng extremely unfairly ends soon and King Bailing/Hao Chen gets his comeuppance for all his manipulation because I can't take how frustrating the drama is right now.

Wow, I’m on episode 18 and King Bailing is such an annoying creep. I can’t stand this gaslighting bitch!

Her acting in Begin Again was very natural and she's really pretty. She also has some martial arts skills! I wish she'd find more projects that could utilise them.

Yoon Kye-sang has turned this down and it's now been offered to Kim Dong-wook, reportedly.
I like YKS, but KDW would make for a more interesting co-star for Seo Hyun-jin in my opinion. The idea of YKS and SHJ together kinda gives me the same vibe as YKS and Ha Ji-won in Chocolate and SHJ and Eric Mun in Another Miss Oh. KDW has a different, less macho aura that will give SHJ something new to work with, I think.

Yeah, I have the same feeling, and I'm really happy about it since Ahri is much more likeable (not that she's perfect by any means, just not a terrible person like Bora), but even so Bora is one of the two main female leads and someone we're supposed to root for.

OK, I can live with Producer Eom being the literal devil and every parent in this drama being selfish and manipulative and Junsoo letting people abuse the woman he likes because these are stock kdrama tropes, but I draw the line at Bora, THE MAIN CHARACTER, being a total bitch. I don't understand where the writer is going with her. How are we supposed to have any sympathy for her given her treatment of Ahri and her sense of entitlement? The inevitable redemption arc is not gonna do anything to change my opinion of her at this point.

No idea what everyone is on about comparing this to Queen Cheorin, this is how you can tell tweens from adult viewers lmao. Secret Royal Inspector has solid characterisation, a larger and more diverse cast of characters and an actual plot with actual stakes, as opposed to Queen Cheorin, which is about two unlikable people whom we still know nothing about living in the royal palace. That’s literally it! Nothing is happening! That bitch fell into a lake and they’ve dragged it out for four episodes. Wake up!

Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying QC a lot even though it’s completely silly; it’s entertaining and SHS and KJH are always fun to watch, plus I want to see how the romance between them will start. But it’s already obvious SRI has a more interesting and dynamic plot.

All that said, it’s actually not a requirement to compare them??? You can enjoy both dramas for what they are. They’re not that similar.

You mean production value (costumes, lighting, editing, shooting sets), not cinematography (the ability to tell a story through shot composition).

lol I think the palace intrigue romance plotline is way more played out than the secret agent premise, plus both main characters in this drama are at least likable... I am enjoying both dramas so far, but to say Queen Cheorin is something revolutionary in comparison is an exaggeration.

I'm 25 minutes in and it's obvious there WILL be romance lol. Every time this happens (most recently with Do You Like Brahms) it's like you guys have never seen a kdrama before...

lmao it’s obvious there’s a lot more to her backstory/mental state that night than whether her cousin likes her or not. The kiss also looked pretty one-sided; he confessed and initiated it while she was clearly distraught about something he didn’t understand (and neither do the viewers at this point) after she begged him not to forget about her and at some point she closed her eyes and went along with it, probably while thinking it was the last night of her life. The queen’s unstable mental state and poor judgement and various context clues all point to her trying to commit suicide that night.

As for her feelings, JBH remarked that the queen must have been in love with the king based on her telling him to love her and her body’s reactions to various memories, and in her one real conversation with her cousin that we saw, she noted that he always came after her when she went into hiding, implying that his concern for her made her feel less alone but not really suggesting any sort of reciprocal interest in his person.

Seriously, we’ve seen them interact twice and he keeps following the queen around despite her passivity. I have no idea why people on this website always interpret this kind of stalkerish obsessive dynamic as romantic/appealing.

The cousin is really overbearing. I'm already tired of his crush.

This drama is so questionable but so entertaining. SHS and KJH are both great in their roles and even better when they play off each other, so I want more scenes between them. Their evening conversations are the best. I like the slew of secondary couples/love triangles and have a feeling Tragic Cousin and Loyal Concubine may end up together after their respective paramours kick them to the curb. I’m still not sure how the main couple will come together, but I’m ready to be entertained. The plot moves along at a nice pace and the political intrigue is well done so far.

The premise seems promising—the male lead is not connected to the palace, so we may finally get a historical romance that shows us a wider view of Joseon society and more varied settings, also I'm just a little tired of kings and crown princes—and the actors who've been offered the lead roles are likeable. I am excited!

That's not true.