This review may contain spoilers
Why is Sappiness so Popular?
I'm not sure when it became fashionable to drown the main leads in saccharine sappiness, but this drama is clearly under water. The story has two distinct storylines: a) the love story between the ML and FL, and b) the politics of the empire.
The love story is where the sappiness blooms. A young woman promised in marriage to the (then) crown prince becomes another prince's apprentice. She's initially mute, but finds support and kindness in her apprenticeship and blossoms into a young woman who's found her voice. Unfortunately, the love affair drags itself into an early grave. I was bored to tears by the longing looks and unspoken gestures that seemed to signify everything but a commitment to each other. Neither of the main characters have the backbone, smarts, or determination to do anything but accept the hand dealt to them and fall passively into their respective fates. Arguably, the FL chose her final fate, but she could easily have taken a different route if the scriptwriters hadn't been so wedded to the aforementioned sappiness. It didn't help that the FL was so childish and wooden.
The court politics may very well be a close reflection of reality, but they came across as a hot mess. No emperor, until the final emperor, could maintain power. There were coups within coups, backstabbing, power grabs, and revenge arcs played out in quick succession. It was obviously meant to depict the raw ugliness of power politics, but until the villain finally stepped up, all I could do was watch in utter bemusement as people in power ended up in early graves, one after the other.
The only saving grace for this sappy hot mess was (wait for it) the villain. The young crown prince is deposed before he ever becomes emperor. He is sidelined, abused, discarded, and rejected. He nurses his grievances and waits for his opportunity. He goes from being a sickly, helpless, sad boy to a cunning, vicious powerhouse. It's almost like the writers loved writing him more than any other character in the entire drama. The actor does a brilliant job with this character, and really, this is the only reason this show gets 4.5 stars instead of 2.
The love story is where the sappiness blooms. A young woman promised in marriage to the (then) crown prince becomes another prince's apprentice. She's initially mute, but finds support and kindness in her apprenticeship and blossoms into a young woman who's found her voice. Unfortunately, the love affair drags itself into an early grave. I was bored to tears by the longing looks and unspoken gestures that seemed to signify everything but a commitment to each other. Neither of the main characters have the backbone, smarts, or determination to do anything but accept the hand dealt to them and fall passively into their respective fates. Arguably, the FL chose her final fate, but she could easily have taken a different route if the scriptwriters hadn't been so wedded to the aforementioned sappiness. It didn't help that the FL was so childish and wooden.
The court politics may very well be a close reflection of reality, but they came across as a hot mess. No emperor, until the final emperor, could maintain power. There were coups within coups, backstabbing, power grabs, and revenge arcs played out in quick succession. It was obviously meant to depict the raw ugliness of power politics, but until the villain finally stepped up, all I could do was watch in utter bemusement as people in power ended up in early graves, one after the other.
The only saving grace for this sappy hot mess was (wait for it) the villain. The young crown prince is deposed before he ever becomes emperor. He is sidelined, abused, discarded, and rejected. He nurses his grievances and waits for his opportunity. He goes from being a sickly, helpless, sad boy to a cunning, vicious powerhouse. It's almost like the writers loved writing him more than any other character in the entire drama. The actor does a brilliant job with this character, and really, this is the only reason this show gets 4.5 stars instead of 2.
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