beesknees

Thanks so much for sharing that with us. I had read up on the real king, who sounds like he maybe suffered from a mental illness, of some kind. But since the plot of this one diverged so much from his life - this king didn't kill his grandmother, didn't have kids, and most importantly did have a time traveller for a chef - I wondered if they had given us a clearer picture of why the fictional Queen had died. One that differed from the historical queen's history. I also think this whole story was a missed opportunity. The fact that he grew up believing that he was "the son of Queen Jeonghyeon, his father's third wife. and during his early reign was a wise and able administrator who strengthened the national defense and aided the poor" (per Wikipedia) would have made a great evil twin plot. Like the first twin really was the benevolent and wise son of Queen Jeonghyeon and he was the gourmet but big change came during a fight where an evil alternate reality twin takes over. The chef would, of course, had been the first guy's cook and they would have travelled back to the future together during the fight :0

I'm a bit stunned by the high rating on this one. I get that everyone has different tastes. I also understand that all fiction requires a certain degree of suspension of disbelief. If it had just been accepting that the brother and sister swapped roles, in spite of the intense scrutiny the prince would have been under and the likelihood that it would have been discovered, I think I could have accepted it. But the heroine lacked the intelligence to pull it off. Even having firsthand knowledge that her grandfather would kill to see her as the Crown Prince, she did nothing to deal with him—she made no allies among his numerous enemies. She did not utilize the allies she did have, such as Court Lady Kim or Eunuch Hong except to have their aid to hide her identity. When an ally presented himself, such as Hyun, her erstwhile lover Jung or her body guard, she didn't coax their aid at all. They served her grandfather more than her, since they could be used as hostages. She had no dang exit plan, simply planned to play the role into perpetuity, even though she knew (or should have known) the danger she presented to her younger brother. I like watching a smart character pull off the impossible. This is not that. Only on episode14 but even if she finally pulls it together , i will be too late to save this for me. Probably going to give it a four for its train wreck appeal.

Also, the romance is goofy as heck. It's disjointed and silly and lacks the gravitas the rest of the plot calls for.

Thanks. I appreciate these answers. The story did mention those things, but from my understanding, she was framed for all of it. That's why when the consorts were in the Queen Dowager's room after the cooking competition, they were talking about fearing the King had learned the truth. I think even if the former queen had done all those things, that would have explained being deposed, but not being poisoned.

The Dowager Queen's relative discussed their family in episode 10 or 11, mentioning that the King couldn't be trusted to protect them and needed to be deposed. He's one of the people Jesan winds up killing, and I think he was involved with Jesan in the original plot to depose the king. That's why I thought it might have something to do with the Dowager's family. Additionally, AI stated that it was part of a political power play orchestrated by the Dowager, which makes sense. I just wondered if I had somehow missed a big confession scene because I have to read it all in English and don't speak Korean.

I didn't quite understand why the queen (his mom) was killed. I guessed it was because she stood in the way of something the Queen Dowager wanted, but does anybody know for sure?

People like to blame the screenwriter for everything, but they are often directed to make changes that sabotage their work

.This is so true. I recall an actor telling a magazine that his popular 90s show had been ruined by producers who all wanted to be a part of it and changed the direction. Meg Ryan had changed a script and the movie turned out to be a flop, and the company blamed her. So yes, I agree, it is not always the writer who is to blame.

I can beliee that they were jerks but this just seemed like sloppy writing to me. But maybe that was the point?! Lol.

I thought that, too. It seemed like the emperor thought Nan Heng's uncle had the empress killed and Nan Heng somehow led her to her death but the emperor was a jerk to him before then. He told him his kill of four rabbits was a stench. It's obvious the emperor hates NH mom and uncle but the kid is an innocent victim of all three of them doing power plays. More explanation needed. The script writer really was as bad as the heroine said!

What about Yuan and the chef? Their lives were completely altered by the Shen family? What about the empirial edict" It's not just the paintings. Them all perishing in the fire (but not really due to time travel) because of the villain makes sense. But everyone forgetting them makes zero sense. There would have been too much evidence. If you are going to go with shared dream, make it like Love Game in Eastern Fantasy.

I do not understand the emperor/father at all. I get that he wants 18th to inherit. I get that he is angry over what happened with the empress. I even get that he hates 7th's uncle. But does he really have to be this big of a jerk to his own kid? Only on ep 19, is this explained later?

Also, if you haven't seen Secret Inspector and Joy I'd recommend that over this.

Bon Appetiti is, I think, a little bit stronger than this one. The leads have more chemistry between them and the humor is sharper. However, both go from silly, happy comedy in the first episodes to dark towards the end. There are also A LOT of cooking scenes in Bon Appetit. Some found them boring, some found them fun. Your tolerance of those will determine how much you like that one.

First Night with the Duke has her staying in the past/fictional world.

Right? I mean, I'm not going around and fighting people on drama threads for women's rights for people who are either fictional or dead but at least I can pat myself on the back for not judging others ;-)

The problem is that when this came out in 2018 the age of consent in Japan was 13. In 2023, it changed to 16. So this show isn't technically about someone doing anything illegal with children. Would I watch it? No. I disagree with Japan on both those ages. Would I tell the Japanese, who are not my people, what they can or can't do? Also no. I might try to persuade them but I wouldn't start from a position of "You can't because I find it problematic."

I struggled with the last two. I liked the show, I just didn't find it perfect.

I've never seen a drama featuring pedophilia discussed on these forums, so before I respond specifically to that, I would have to know what we are taking about. What shows are these? Regarding the rest, believe what you want about the stupidity of the bulk of viewers and posters who enjoyed the show.

I'm not the thought police. I won't tell people what they should or shouldn't like. I've worked in the romance novel industry for years and have always found it odd how anxious other women are to tell grown women what we can or can't enjoy. It's okay if you don't like something and say so. Especially if you are calling a show, book or movie out based on is merits or lack thereof. But I find it problematic when people curtail free speech by insisting that something has to exist to their standards in order for anyone to be allowed to enjoy it

Again, with entertainment, unless it involves pedophilia or something along those lines, I don't think we should say, "No one should enjoy that." Kill Me, Love Me has an assassin heroine who tried to kill the hero over a misunderstanding. Should no one enjoy that because she was initially violent? It also includes tribute women (she uses that to enter the country and kill her target). So I guess we should ban that one since he led the wedding procession with the women into the captial, and yet falls in love with a tribute woman. What about Prisoner of Beauty? That's an arranged marriage where they don't like each other and he initially uses his military superiority to make life very difficult for her, Should we call that one out, too? Who gets to draw these lines over what is and isn't okay?

But Business Proposal did include a modern, 21st century man having sex wih a woman so drunk she couldn't remember the encounter. How could she have consented?

I was okay with a TV show including the fact that kings enslaved young girls during this era. I am not okay with the fact it happened.