UnaSpenser

omg, even the White Truck of Doom?!

Yoon Park is a scene stealer here. He's so good at the comedy.

that scene bothered me a lot, for all the reasons you mention. way beyond what is acceptable for willing suspension of disbelief.

They're taking a serious look at depression, particularly that which comes from being driven too hard, toxic competition and the toxic social behavior that comes from that.

So, what's with the absolutely juvenile cliched bits once they become romantic? I'm skipping the entire scenario of "let's not tell anyone." I'm assuming it won't matter to the storyline. But, why would she set him up to be unjustly misunderstood? Its so out of character. And her mother beating him up is not funny. Can we stop using violence as humor, please?

they are both adult actors. It doesn't matter if adult actors are just playing characters.

The age difference of the characters is more meaningful to me.

They're both adult actors. They can choose to be in a drama together. The bigger question is about the age difference of the characters. Storytelling is powerful and can normalize things that we don't want normalized. But, if the characters are only, say, 5 years apart and they're both adults, then it shouldn't be an issue.

Its a dead give away when you put such a well-known face, an actor who has such vibrant presence in every role he plays, into an almost non-existent character, who barely has one line. By the second time I saw him and realized he had such an insignificant role, I knew he was the culprit. Kept hoping he would turn out to have some other meaningful reveal. Still, I'm glad he wasn't just in there as a silent cameo.

I don't if its just the way the music is employed in this production or what, but sometimes, it feels very much like a J-Drama.

Finally getting to this and really enjoying it. But, why are people always hitting each other? Baekdo is constantly being slapped. I feel hit myself every time it happens. He's a gentle personality who just wants everyone around him to be happy and still, they're always hitting him.

Logic isn't a part of this drama, I get that. Still, I thought it was supposed to be a revenge/avenge story. But, there isn't anyone who stays on mission.

The GRH redemption arc is entertaining (but, when did she become a computer expert able to manage the whole Medusa thing? oh, wait. forget logic, just go with it.)

Back to my main point, if KKT and MDH are supposed to be the "good guys" exacting avenge/revenge, then why are they maintaining sympathies for any of the villains they should be punishing? They know what these people have done. Backstories don't matter. They are monsters and you can't trust them. Untrustworthy and cruel should erase your sympathies for someone.

Please don't let these dudes end up in romances. If it seriously goes there, I'm done and will feel that I truly wasted my time watching up to this point. The story is patently absurd, but fun for that very reason; until its not. Even an absurd story has to have something for the viewer to hold onto; an anchor in this derailed roller coaster being tossed around by a tornado.

I mean, you could just make every single character be a shitty person and have all the villains prevail, in the end. That's too close to real life though and this was supposed to be absurd. We're here for escapism, not a mirror.

Absolutely! A most brutal series of murders.

I thought we were past the Stockholm Syndrome plots.

They're all sooooo good in their roles! I'm appreciating the high-quality, high-intensity makjang. Its just that the actors are doing so well at being despicable people that I can't take much at a time. My stomach gets all tensed up. lol

Definitely gonna see it through.

so, there's more coming? Blue sleeve and all....

I'm only in episode 2. This thing is hard to stomach.

Its good to see him standing up for himself. I suspected that there were behind-the-scenes reasons that he was taking on these uncomfortable roles and not getting good acting challenges.

May this turn the tide for him and, if not, may he find a new way in life with grace.

I've made it to ep 14 - clearly, I'm trying. I love the ancient mystery genre. Appreciate many of the actors here. The cases are written with better detail than many in this genre. Zhou Yi Wei is one of my favorite Chinese actors. Its hard for me to turn away and yet, I might, sadly.

Still, I'm a bit bored. It doesn't hold me. I can't binge it. I don't even know if I'll keep coming back to finish it.

Something is missing. There is no interesting dynamic amongst the main characters. We don't get enough background on anyone to really care about them - whether they be main characters, support characters or parties to one of the mysteries.

Do the makers of this not know how to write/direct female characters? Or supporting characters in general? Ma Rong is really poorly written and/or directed. She has no moral code, no boundaries, is childish and can be vicious. Yet, we're supposed to believe that she's a solid deal-maker and would be able to stand toe-to-toe with Ba Rong? Her character is a composite of fragments rather than an integrated whole. Cao is a shell. Is she a worldly traveler who has gained insights about life through her experiences as a musician, likely faced with the vagaries of men? Or a vapid woman chasing a teenage fantasy man? Why is she so lacking in expression or passion? Any time there is a scene with her, I just assume he's going to get information. I skip through it to get back to the case and don't feel I've missed a thing.

Judge Dee is an iconic character. At this point, it would be challenging for anyone to give his stories something refreshing. At minimum, then, they need to give us enthralling on-screen relationship dynamics (both romantic and platonic) or a lot of character development in terms of learning about their pasts and what they are overcoming.

As much as I love detective stories, they can't just be, "here's the details of the case." What makes detectives stories compelling are the human stories underlying them. How do people end up in these tragic circumstances? Why did they make their choices? Anyone can write: "we found a body. We ran around to get clues. This is what happened at the scene of the crime."

I'm disappointed. yet, there is a season 2, so I'm wondering if it gets better. or what I'm missing about this.

Surface strengths of the show so far (Ep 7):

The women are women are smart. All the women, not just the leads. Their maids are sharp, too. (It never makes sense to me when they have these costume dramas with smart leads, but their servants, who have been with them, intimately, for (in some cases) their entire lives, are dumb as a post. They would learn alongside the people they work for or they'd be a liability. So, its nice to see that everyone is capable and witty.)

The lead men don't underestimate the women and they aren't over-protective. They are caring, but without diminishing the women. They allow the women to make their own informed decisions about risk-taking. Very refreshing.

Given these things, its not surprising that the relationship development seems to be going at a natural and mutually respectful pace. Fingers crossed, this doesn't dive into cloying immaturity, once the relationships are established.

The dynamic of the 2nd couple. They are the reason to stay, really. I hope we really get to see them go through things together and watch how their relationship develops. The rest of the drama is average - watchable, but nothing out of the ordinary, thus far - but, these two, with the way their story is written are compelling.

Two public officials, who may feel some amount of rivalry and are from different departments, are actually collaborating with some amount of genuine commitment to justice. Its not a world without corruption, obviously, but its rare to have this particular dynamic amongst people working for the palace.

A queen who isn't (so far) an immoral schemer?! Wow. She actually supports accountability for her family members. (I'm still waiting to see who, in the palace, is behind everything, but, thus far, we have a refreshing presentation of a queen with integrity.)

The story is fairly well-written, in terms of these kinds of plots. I'm not finding myself, rolling my eyes at how people get away with absurd things right in front of everyone.

Surface shortcomings:
The FL voice. I so, so, so wish that Chinese production companies would stop giving young women the voices of children. Yes, she's supposed to be young and in the midst of being forced to grow up quickly. But, she's not 10. She's come of age. A young woman's natural voice wouldn't sound like that. Its an affect (for most healthy people) if a young adult has such a thin, high-pitched voice. We know that the producers know that women don't have that voice, because other than the FL and her maid, all the other women have voices in the normal range of pitch and tone. I almost couldn't get through the 1st episode. I turned the sound way down and relied on subtitles until I was into the story enough to let it go.

The age and maturity gap between the main leads. She's smart, so there's that. But that doesn't erase the power imbalance between them and the creepiness of a 40-something year old matching up with an 18 year old. You can't have it both ways - give her a baby voice to make her seem so young, but then claim she's mature enough to be someone in his 40s. I like JT, the actor, but he doesn't look young. He looks his age. Which is great. Now, let's have him take roles where his romantic partners are a healthy match and not bordering on pedophilia. Its going to be hard to watch if they have these two doing anything physical. I'll skip that and just watch the 2nd couple who are absolutely fantastic as a pairing.

I find the older sister to be cast perfectly! I wouldn't put her in a different role. In fact, she and the 2nd ML are what's keeping me watching.

I agree with the analysis of JT. He's good enough and been around long enough that he shouldn't be getting stuck in these dramas with mediocre scripts and verging on creepy romantic relationships.

It makes me wonder what's gone down behind the scenes.

Please tell me that the voice of FL changes. Hers and her maid's. Why do they keep doing this? The thin, high-pitched voices for women are so offensive to the ear. I'm not even half way through ep 1 and I can't take it.