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The East Palace korean drama review
Completed
The East Palace
1 people found this review helpful
by Otiose
2 days ago
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0

Chaotic But Enjoyable Supernatural Thriller

Loved this. At times I couldn't keep up with the supernatural rules or constraints governing matters but with all the action and these characters I didn't mind.

Several mysterious deaths among royal princes in line for the throne lead the King to bring in a young shaman. The King attaches his daughter, someone tainted by the supernatural, to the shaman to observe and report. There are layers of intrigue as the dynamic duo uncover puzzles within puzzles as they contrive to solve and at times force their way through those layers, and grow closer too.

The young female lead, the King's daughter, was in particular a fascinating character given her estranged relationship with her father which in turn created interesting opportunities for her relationship with the male lead. Likely the actress' career got a big boost from her performance here and will command enhanced compensation.

Anyone who's seen Stranger Things will recognize some inspiration borrowed making for some striking visual representations of the supernatural world the duo move through.

I thoroughly enjoyed the episodes and was pleasantly surprised with an ending deliberately and shamelessly leaving an opening for a sequel.

I hope the Korean entertainment industry has learned from Hollywood how to inexpensively hook actors for future seasons of a hit series. Instead of signing a contract for one series/one year, Hollywood requires minimum three year contracts (so I've read). Most series fail, but when there's a success those three year contracts remove negotiations over commitment and compensation (until the fourth year). Let's hope that everyone commits to the second season.
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