UnaSpenser

All the performances here are quite good. The story construct itself is interesting.

That said, an entire series devoted to shaming and guilt-tripping suicide victims? Bullying at its finest. Art imitates life, as it were. Brutal.

Its hard to stomach.

Is there no collective social responsibility for the milieu that drives people to this? Is there no understand of mental illness in S Korea?

WTF?!

" I kept waiting for the part where someone's kidnapped"

"here's what actually happens for others interested in watching: the FL kidnapped the ML briefly..."

The fact that the writers turned it into him falling in love with her, doesn't make it less toxic. That's just writers with a toxic sense of romance.

Kidnapping is kidnapping. Age and duration don't change that.

If iQiyi had already purchased the rights, their contract might inhibit the ability to sell the rights elsewhere, even though they are not airing it.

this is horrifying. so dystopic.

I understand that there was criticism. It’s not a realistic show, though, so I don’t get why people get all worked up. And that the producers of a fantasy would feel that they have to make such dramatic adjustments to appease.

I hear it has a bigger international audience, than a S Korean one, so, if everyone starts complaining that they preferred Season 1 styling, would a (hypothetical) Season 3 revert? Why isn’t the production team allowed their artistic choices? It doesn’t impact the story or the acting. It disconnects the two seasons to have so much change. I wish I hadn’t rewatched some before starting Season 2. Oh well.

I totally get that the twins had to start presenting more similarly. I think I would have preferred a gradual change. But, I guess we’re supposed to assume that happened during the time skip. I find myself distracted with silly questions:, such as: why would Saya have cut his hair? I can see Eun Som letting his grow. Hair being so culturally important, though, why would Saya have cut his?

Anyway, none of it really matters to the story. I simply found it jarring. The aesthetic and the cinematography feel very different. With the change in actors, too, I had a hard time adjusting without mentally noting things along the way.

There are some subject matters where it is very problematic to treat them so lightly. Storytelling is powerful. Continuing to present stalking victims as if they wouldn’t be hyper vigilant, constantly anxious, and seeking support from everyone around them - family, friends, bosses, the people at the places you regularly go - is absolutely the wrong message to send to young women, who may end up thinking that they are “bad” if they aren’t blithe about it, the way these characters are.

A victim of stalking needs every person they know to be aware, so that when there is contact or you are exhibiting unusual behavior, they know what might be going on and can step up to help. If they’re going to put such a terrifying thing in the story, at least do the minimal to make the character’s reaction be at all plausible. And to demonstrate what she and the people around her might do. Or demonstrate the feelings of betrayal when people around you don’t take it seriously.

Yes, drams are often preposterous. It’s one thing when we’re talking about harmless things. It’s another to take very dangerous, terrifying behavior and treat it like nothing, in a world where so many women don’t get the support they need, and are killed, in real life.

It was lazy writing. They just couldn’t find a way to force the situation they wanted.

There are more options than her co-workers. I’ve had a stalker. Trust me, you don’t go places alone. You enlist anyone you can to accompany you.

I don’t like it when writers out stalkers in stories, but they write the victims’ attitude as though they wouldn’t do anything differently. Or that they’re not constantly anxious about it.

That’s not how it works. It’s a terrifying experience, even when nothing happens in the end. Writers need to talk to people who have been stalked and take this dramatic device seriously. It’s dangerously misleading to keep portraying characters as if they simply go about their life without taking any precautions,

No one being stalked would all into that scenario. Also, they’d tell their bosses and friends and no one around them would leave them unattended. Everyone around you becomes highly vigilant.

I definitely didn't see the costumes as befitting the Bronze Age. But, then, I don't think people with glowing blue and purple eyes and super strength existed then, either. I was willing to go with it because it was pretty to look at. I find it kinda funny that people want period accuracy in a fantasy that is not historically accurate , but I can work with that, too.

Tanya's dress is the one I noticed the most. It went from being elegant to being a gunny sack. Tealha's hair, this time seems a bit much.

Its not as though any of it matters. It catches one's attention when you watch a few episode of Season 1 right before watching Season 2. I definitely experienced the feeling of going from a lush production to one that was more spare. Even the way they made the twins look completely different from each other in Season 1, by giving Saya makeup and long, well-kept hair, while Eun Som had short, tussled hair and a more natural face. In Season 2, there is very little visual distinction between them. I don't know why they made that decision, but it feels like it was a money-saving choice, because it would be easier to film the actor as both characters in quick scene changes, if they didn't have to apply and remove different makeup applications.

Again, it doesn't really matter. Its just noticeable and, somehow, left me feeling sad.
And I probably wouldn't have even bothered mentioning anything outside of my head, except those bad green screens. Yikes.

Because, when I have a stalker maliciously posting photos of me, stealing my clothes and using them to leave creepy, life-size, ominous straw dolls and I'm so anxious about it that I'm carrying self-defense tools, I will always go find the grave-sized pit deep in the woods that someone anonymously reported, all by myself. Who needs safety protocol anyway?!

I wondered about that with the costumes. I remember watching Season 1 and asking myself if they would have had the technology for those fabrics and constructs. Still, they were pretty exquisite. So, when I re-watched the last few episodes and then went right into Season 2, it was a stark difference.

Got it. Ok. I won't blame Disney for these downgrades.

I also still like the show.

Unpopular opinion:

Its too bad that Disney seemed to think it wasn't worth investing in good production quality. Costumes, scenery, etc are all downgraded. In some scenes you can literally see that it was filmed in front a green screen and its so obvious that the background is CGI. In some cases, the foreground, too.

Also, the music. Its so Western. If you want to put orchestral sounds to a SE Asian production, at least add in some SE Asian instruments. It doesn't fit to be seeing a SE Asian cast and hearing a SE Asian language, with distinctly Western music in the background. Also, try some composition that doesn't sound like Hollywood Symphonic Composition 101. (Being a musician, I find this annoyingly distracting. Maybe others don't care.)

It was hard enough to go along with the new casting. We all know that couldn't be helped. (Though I wish someone else was chosen for Tanya.) Downgrading everything else, though?

I guess Disney thought it just didn't have enough of an audience. Of course, if you don't promote it and you limit its distribution, that's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Makes me sad that this was done to such a good story.

Its too bad, because Disney seemed to think it wasn't worth investing in good production quality. Costumes, scenery, etc are all downgraded. In some scenes you can literally see that it was filmed in front a green screen and its so obvious that the background is CGI. Makes me sad that this was done to such a good story.

I guess it just didn't have enough of an audience.

Are we getting a Season 2?

Weren't they at the wedding ceremony in that last scene where we seeing him looking in and she sees him? I think she marries. And, someday, maybe she'll be disabused of her misunderstandings and come to find out that this sleazeball gaslighted her and stole the MLs accomplishments and woman. But, by then, I won't care. They simply don't work well together. I wish them both satisfying, but separate lives.

they seem to be almost approaching the question of the value of a king, being the one person who represents the existence of a nation. they could pursue this and the role of the scholars to make sure that a patriarchal hierarchy is upheld. But, they won't, I don't think. They have servants who do the gatekeeping of the very system which oppresses them. I keep waiting for dramas which explore this dynamic and challenge it.

They have some good opportunities, with the setting of war and instability, to critique the construct of hierarchy and feudalism. Showing the women rise into their own skills and power and become leaders of families and industry and treating people more as equals. They have seeds of this here. But, sadly, it will be a toxic romance.

I'm highly unlikely to be bothered with Season 2, because of that.

Yep. I’m not sure I want to watch season 2. This production is top notch, but I can’t stand this kind of toxic “romance”.

One can admire her audacity and ability to protect and sustain her family. One can admire her commitment and sense of responsibility with her choice to stay.

One can also find her cruelty to him toxic. One can find her persistent trait of assuming the worst about him to be toxic. One can critique her unwillingness to hear his story. He was gone for 2 years. There were rumors of his death. He was in a hostile land and she knows well the brutality of their overlords. Still, she doesn’t think, “what has he been through?”, she just accuses him of nit caring about her. She’s very narcissistic.

They are both too prideful. His pride gets in the way because he doesn’t disabuse her of misunderstandings. Hers makes her quite mean. She could have made that choice without being mean. She did a lot of growing up due to the war, but she’s still behaving like a childish jerk with him.

I’m with you. It’s the persistent worst assumptions that leave me cold to any romance. Her unwillingness to ever find out the whole story. We see why he makes his choices and they are usually valiant. Her choice to take care of her family is also valiant. But her cruelty to him is not. And she always chooses to be cruel. I don’t wish her hurtful toxicity on anyone. I will have less respect fir him if he goes back to her.

He seems to harbor romantic feelings, but knows they won’t be returned, so he doesn’t express them out loud.

On age: isn’t he older than the FL?

The ML told him to call him “hyung’, so he sees him as a younger brother. The age isn’t the problem here, it’s the toxicity of his “caring” and how he really doesn’t want the ML to have anyone else,