Vespertyne29

Can anyone who has read the novel tell me if this drama has a happy ending - with both leads alive?
I can’t handle another Journey to Love ending!

What a stupid comparison. I guess you’re a fan of a CONVICTED FELON who was also found liable for rape and defamation, and tried to overturn a lawful election. SMH

What a stupid comparison. I guess you’re a fan of a CONVICTED FELON who was also found liable for rape and defamation, and tried to overturn a lawful election. SMH

You always have to factor in the popularity of the lead actors when viewing the ratings for these dramas.

I was rolling my eyes and laughing derisively for the last half of the finale. Totally ridiculous,and OOC for every single character EXCEPT for the GP, whose character stayed true to the end.

Just a garbage ending, ignoring every single character’s innate nature, not to mention ANY realistic resemblance to the Confucianist values that were the basis of every aspect (governmental, societal and familial ) of that era.

I am pretty sure CSR will die. Everyone hates him except the QD. But with that preview - I am afraid the QD will survive. They've been trying to rehabilitate her character for about 10 episodes now, since she asked CSR if they really had to kill the CP (which was totally unbelievable and out of character since she was trying to kill him ON HER OWN, WITHOUT CSR's URGING, in the first 2 or 3 episodes.

I didn't read the comment, since you'd already deleted it, but YES to Joy of Life!!! In my Top 5 Cdramas. And I've read the novel twice.

As for He Zongwei, I stopped and reread Chapter 710 (Heartbreak in Front of the Hall) of the novel after every episode in which he appeared in JoL2!

The Red Sleeve (based on real historical figures)
Haechi (also based on real historical figures, and interestingly, the grandfather king in The Red Sleeve is the prince who is the ML of Haechi).
Under the Queen's Umbrella (charming)
Mr. Queen - a time travel drama where a 21st century womanizing star chef meets an accident and finds himself transmigrated into the body of a young Joseon queen. It is a gender-bending story that is absolutely hilarious, and the FL is outstanding.

I just recently watch Under the Queen's Umbrella, and loved it.

While it was pretty unrealistic in terms of some things, such as applying 21st century values to a Joseon era drama, I still loved it. When a drama is good, with strong performances from the actors, a compelling story, with episodes that are constantly moving the plot forward instead of wasting screentime on tedious repetitious scenes that do nothing to advance the story, then I am very happy.

I initially found that annoying, but then Do Seong running to tell the QD and CSR about all of Yi Geon's plans, and the secret spies, just to save his mother, pretty much proved that DS is too impetuous and short-sighted to be trusted with the overall plan.
If he had been told about YG's belief that the king would be killed the minute DS became CP, then DS would have been torn between protecting his father and protecting his mother. It was a no-win situation for someone like DS, who is emotionally volatile and unstable.

This is even more strongly reinforced when the king wakes up. He knows everything that has happened, and he's witnessed both YG's ability to strategize and accomplish things even when he's in an emotionally stressful and physically dangerous position, and he's witnessed DS's total emotional breakdown and sense of helplessness, as well as how he's so easily emotionally manipulated by everyone from his grandfather to the DQ.

There are many more significant plot holes and problems with this drama, the most annoying of which is the constant repetition of the same thing over and over again, and the constant PD/screenwriter's attempts to make the viewers feel sympathy for the DQ and CSR. Sorry, but for me it's super annoying and completely ineffective. I don't even care about the new plot twist in the previews for tomorrow's (6-9-24) episode - I want both CSR and the DQ to DIE DIE DIE. No other ending will satisfy me. Too many murders, too many treasonous actions. It will be totally unbelievable if they don''t die at the end of the drama. And I'll be cheering.

One of the weakest parts of the drama, and yet the basis of almost the entire plot!
First the prophecy is that CMH's husband will die and she will be a widow. To avoid the CP dying after marrying her - and thus Evil Doctor Choi only briefly getting power through his daughter being queen, as she will become a widow and thus Dowager Queen - Dr. Choi comes up with the plot to kidnap a random stranger and carry out a "marriage," thus making that scholar the sacrificial "first husband," But Seo Jae-woo unknowingly kidnaps the real CP, mistakenly thinking he's a scholar, to be the sacrificial husband. (Question: Why does no one ever mention that MH is already technically MARRIED to the CP??)
Then Doctor Death thnks the CP - who is the "first husband" is going to die, so he decides to kill CP so GP can become CP and marry his daughter.
Lame, but OK, let's go with that. Then - inexplicably - the prophecy changes to "CP has to die or MH will die."
So much for the stupid prophecy. If, in fact, the initial prophecy were true, then the CP should be dead because he's MH's "first husband." If the faux marriage set up did not count as a real marriage, then MH is a never married maiden, and if she marries Do Seong he will be her first husband and thus will die.
It makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.

Bossam: Steal the Fate was excellent.

Bingo.
The entire reason that the king made YG the Crown Prince is because he is capable of complex, rational thinking, and sees the "Big Picture." DS is ruled by his emotions. They cloud his judgment and cause him to do irrational, spontaneous, occasionally stupid things that are not only unwise, but lead to disastrous results. His passionate personality is attractive as a GP, but is completely unsuited to being king.

What I find inexplicable is why neither Myeong-Hoon nor Yi Geon ever tell Do Seong that they are ALREADY MARRIED/spent the night together. That weird ceremony, which was supposed to be to a stranger, was solely for the purpose of having MH "married" so that the prophecy of her husband dying would not lead to the Crown Prince's death. But everyone just ignores it, like it never happened.

It does seem clear that DS met and fell for MH first - when he was younger and bitten by a snake, and she treated him. It was presented in such a way that it appears to pre-date the kidnapping of the CP.

Usually with a romance, it's "first come, first served," meaning the male character who meets the FL first is the ultimate winner of her heart. It's rare for a Kdrama to depart from that "childhood connection = fated love" thing. Think about how upset audiences get when that trope is broken. Start Up, anyone? Kim Seon Ho's career catapulted when the writer of that drama decided to have the FL end up with the character that should have been - started out being - the second ML. Viewers were outraged! Every poll showed viewers preferred KSH, who ended up as the 2nd ML.!

This is fact. The drama should have been no longer than 12 episodes max.
It has been tiresomely repetitious.

If they'd cut out the 4 or 5 "CP is captured/CP escapes/CP is recaptured/CP re-escapes" scenarios, and the disgusting amount of screen time that the Evil Doctor and QD have, this drama could have been wrapped up in 10 episodes.

Do Seong is doing a great job displaying all the reasons his father chose Yi Geon as the Crown Prince. It's not just birth order - it's temperament. Yi Geon is emotionally stable, reserved, intelligent, and able to out-think and out-strategize his enemies. He remains calm and rational even in the most complex, stressful, dangerous situations. Those are all qualities necessary to be a good leader.
Do Seong is fiery and passionate, and while he is a compelling, charismatic character, his dramatic emotional responses to stress and danger prevent him from thinking - and reacting - rationally. He's all "act first, think later," which is fine for a Grand Prince, but disastrous for a future king.
I like the contrast between the two MLs. Their characters have been consistent since the start of the drama - YG has remained calm and constantly strategizing against his enemies, while DS has remained hot-tempered, and impetuous, making him panic and over-react in the face of his enemies.
I particularly liked when the King was telling YG that he had heard everything while he was lying helpless under the effects of the poison, and that he "knew everything." There was a flashback to the various scenes of YG and DS in the King's room, talking to the king or talking to each other. Every scene showed that YG was the correct choice to be CP and the future king, and that DS did not have the intellectual capacity or emotional stability to be king.
It doesn't mean the king doesn't love both of them, only that YG is the only choice to be the future ruler of Joseon.

Because he was deposed when they tried to frame him as the one who attempted to murder the king. When he returned (with the Royal Seal at the ceremony trying to make GP the new CP), he regained his status as a prince, but only Grand Prince, not Crown Prince. Since the ML was deposed as CP there has been no CP. Both brothers are now Grand Princes.

If the doctor and QD don't die, this drama should be dinged at least 3 points on the rating.

The preview for tomorrow 's (June 8th) episode made me throw up in my mouth. Ugh.
Do Not Care. Not Interested. Please Die Already.

The PD and writer clearly want the audience to feel sympathy for CSR and QD's toxic "love" for each other, but I just hate them more, and want them to be tortured and die more, every single time I see them on screen. They and their nauseating "love" are making me sick. WAY WAY too much time on them, and I am so disgusted with the preview for tomorrow's episode that I might just drop this way-too-long-already drama. It just signals that the QD probably isn't going to die. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.