Celebrity 
This review may contain spoilers
Chemistry-free casting and colorless storytelling ruined this series—not the “explicit” sex.
I’m giving this a 3 because at least the acting was good. Everything else, not so much.
I guess the pearl clutching over a little T&A is warranted if viewers haven’t venture outside of specific types of K-dramas, but if a viewer has done a deeper dive into K-dramas beyond the puppy-love romantic shows that are often the most popular, they will know Korean entertainment does not shy away from T&A. The sex in this is hardly memorable or controversial when compared with K-dramas like Somebody, A Frozen Flower etc.
That said, this series is not a love story, and it is not a romance drama. It’s not even about lust. Its about seduction purely for the sake of manipulation. Or at least it tries to be. This series is clearly the Korean version of the French book Dangerous Liaisons, but unfortunately did a poor job at interpreting the work. The acting was good. However, the story left a lot to be desired. There was no set up that these individuals had a history of being master manipulators. Though I understood Lady Cho’s reasons for wanting Cho-won to return to town to stir up trouble. The writing did a poor job at exhibiting how oppressed she felt and thus her reasons for resorting to such actions.
Moreover, it failed to raise the stakes, making this game of manipulation intriguing and the risks it posed tangible. Watching the “manipulation” play out I did not feel there would be any severe consequences if these actions were exposed. Maybe a little gossip amongst the aristocrats, but the writing did a poor job of setting up what these characters could lose if their schemes were exposed. Lastly, the lack of chemistry amongst the actors made it difficult for me to care about who they were and what they meant to each other. For a story like this to work, chemistry is key. Even if the writing is less than stellar.
The writers really should’ve watch the American movie version of this story to get an idea of how its done. In that version, the stakes were clearly high. The chemistry between the characters was palpable and the story was deeply engaging. Unfortunately, this series failed to live up to it’s potential.
I guess the pearl clutching over a little T&A is warranted if viewers haven’t venture outside of specific types of K-dramas, but if a viewer has done a deeper dive into K-dramas beyond the puppy-love romantic shows that are often the most popular, they will know Korean entertainment does not shy away from T&A. The sex in this is hardly memorable or controversial when compared with K-dramas like Somebody, A Frozen Flower etc.
That said, this series is not a love story, and it is not a romance drama. It’s not even about lust. Its about seduction purely for the sake of manipulation. Or at least it tries to be. This series is clearly the Korean version of the French book Dangerous Liaisons, but unfortunately did a poor job at interpreting the work. The acting was good. However, the story left a lot to be desired. There was no set up that these individuals had a history of being master manipulators. Though I understood Lady Cho’s reasons for wanting Cho-won to return to town to stir up trouble. The writing did a poor job at exhibiting how oppressed she felt and thus her reasons for resorting to such actions.
Moreover, it failed to raise the stakes, making this game of manipulation intriguing and the risks it posed tangible. Watching the “manipulation” play out I did not feel there would be any severe consequences if these actions were exposed. Maybe a little gossip amongst the aristocrats, but the writing did a poor job of setting up what these characters could lose if their schemes were exposed. Lastly, the lack of chemistry amongst the actors made it difficult for me to care about who they were and what they meant to each other. For a story like this to work, chemistry is key. Even if the writing is less than stellar.
The writers really should’ve watch the American movie version of this story to get an idea of how its done. In that version, the stakes were clearly high. The chemistry between the characters was palpable and the story was deeply engaging. Unfortunately, this series failed to live up to it’s potential.
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