Cheon

I went in expecting a heavy political drama - and I did get one, but with a romantic subplot that turned out to be just as important. Honestly, at some point it basically took over the whole thing for me.

Did it bother me? Not at all. Why? Because the chemistry between Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong Won was so incredible that while watching this drama I felt like a teenager kicking my feet and screaming with excitement while reading Wattpad fanfics. In fact, that's pretty much how I'd sum it up: Bodyguard x Y/N.

But more seriously, Tempest is just overall a really well-made show. Seo Mun Ju was a strong woman, always ready to do whatever it took to achieve what she wanted, but at the same time, I liked how she wasn't THAT strong. There were moments when she just wanted to breathe, when she wanted to give up entirely - she felt like a strong yet human character, and that made her all the more interesting to follow.

Baek San Ho is literally the Wattpad dream guy, and I won't even try to call him anything else. His devotion, his gaze, his determination - all of it was aimed directly at a very specific target audience. And while I'm not exactly that audience, the drama made me feel like I was, whether I wanted it or not.

That said, while I consider most of the drama great, I think in the last episodes the script kind of derailed, and some characters and their motivations either felt unclear or just plain dumb. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending. It screamed cheap melodrama, but at the same time, I think it kind of worked in the context of the whole story. I like it just as much as I don't.

Back to the positives, it's one of those dramas that I feel delivered on every single aspect it promised. Action? Really good. Thriller? The thrills were there every single episode. Despite the weekly wait between episodes, as soon as I came back to this drama it instantly pulled me in, and nothing could take me away from it. Romance? I already expressed my admiration for that part. Mystery? The way everyone gathered in the comments each week to speculate who would do what and who was responsible for what perfectly shows how well it delivered on that front too.

Acting-wise, perfect. This is how you make use of the opportunity to have a cast like this in your drama. Jun Ji Hyun shines as always, and Kang Dong Won is actually a new gem for me - I'll definitely be checking out more of his filmography. The entire cast did an amazing job, with a special mention for Lee Mi Sook, who barely had to move a muscle on her face to pierce right through me with just her gaze.

It's also worth mentioning that this is one of the very few dramas where the English-speaking actors actually did a good job. It never felt like they just grabbed some random people off the street for those roles. I do think that's the bare minimum, considering the subject matter, but compared to other kdramas, it's still pretty praiseworthy.

Production value is obviously high - you can tell Disney put a lot of money into this drama, and it really paid off. Good cinematography, editing, score - consistently strong and polished, even if not particularly memorable.

So, is Tempest good? Yes. Is it brilliant? No. But was it ridiculously entertaining? YES. And for me, the good parts were so good that, for the most part, they completely overshadowed any flaws it might've had.