K-Drama 
Empowerment, Revenge - and then Romance
A story spanning several decades, about a girl who falls from riches to rags, and then climbs back up to riches; and a boy who unlearns the given patriarchy system and learns to think using empathy and logic instead.
The story is told with lots of flashbacks for reference. There are many characters, so prepare yourself to sometimes have to go back and check who XYZ is in episode 30 or 40, only to realize you've already met them in perhaps ep 2 or 5. Don't worry, this isn't a showstopper.
The main theme (it took a while to understand the main theme) is woman empowerment, as told through the story in a historical timeframe of unknown era. A lot of what we take for granted today, is shown to be fought for, sometimes even at court. That's the good part.
What I didn't enjoy were the inconsistencies. There are several small plots that don't always make sense or tie in with the overall theme. While empowerment is highly stressed, most, if not all the key "villains" are female characters. Revenge is a recurring theme, apparently everyone the FL and ML interract with wants revenge in some form or the other. The main recurring characters don't age (visually that is) for approximately 3 decades. Even with modern plastic surgery skills, this would be quite a feat for one person, let alone an entire village. The FL starts off being very timid in her role as a maid/ daughter of poor family, but there are spurts of aggression and defiance that are not in character. Later on this defiance becomes her trademark and makes sense, but it feels contrived at the beginning. She is warm and loving towards the entire household and family members of the ML, yet remains cold and indifferent - rude even - to the ML till 4 years after their wedding. Even when he bends over backwards to win her over. Very cold and off putting.
Mostly because of the director's idea to make the FL shine bright, the ML has been made to look like a non-essential part of the story. When at home, he bows down to whatever she says and does whatever she suggests in her never changing calm monotone. He is great when he's at the court or fighting in the field - but of course she makes him resign from that position. It's odd that when he becomes a mere tool, she starts showing some affection for him. Apparently empowerment in this story means only for women, the men can be ignored.
I honestly enjoyed the first approximately half of the show. The rest just goes downhill because of the FL character portrayal.
The story is told with lots of flashbacks for reference. There are many characters, so prepare yourself to sometimes have to go back and check who XYZ is in episode 30 or 40, only to realize you've already met them in perhaps ep 2 or 5. Don't worry, this isn't a showstopper.
The main theme (it took a while to understand the main theme) is woman empowerment, as told through the story in a historical timeframe of unknown era. A lot of what we take for granted today, is shown to be fought for, sometimes even at court. That's the good part.
What I didn't enjoy were the inconsistencies. There are several small plots that don't always make sense or tie in with the overall theme. While empowerment is highly stressed, most, if not all the key "villains" are female characters. Revenge is a recurring theme, apparently everyone the FL and ML interract with wants revenge in some form or the other. The main recurring characters don't age (visually that is) for approximately 3 decades. Even with modern plastic surgery skills, this would be quite a feat for one person, let alone an entire village. The FL starts off being very timid in her role as a maid/ daughter of poor family, but there are spurts of aggression and defiance that are not in character. Later on this defiance becomes her trademark and makes sense, but it feels contrived at the beginning. She is warm and loving towards the entire household and family members of the ML, yet remains cold and indifferent - rude even - to the ML till 4 years after their wedding. Even when he bends over backwards to win her over. Very cold and off putting.
Mostly because of the director's idea to make the FL shine bright, the ML has been made to look like a non-essential part of the story. When at home, he bows down to whatever she says and does whatever she suggests in her never changing calm monotone. He is great when he's at the court or fighting in the field - but of course she makes him resign from that position. It's odd that when he becomes a mere tool, she starts showing some affection for him. Apparently empowerment in this story means only for women, the men can be ignored.
I honestly enjoyed the first approximately half of the show. The rest just goes downhill because of the FL character portrayal.
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