6
3
This review may contain spoilers
The plot has lost the plot
I'm torn about this drama. There is so much to like. Yet, the plot is doing my head in.
It is not as if there is no through-line. There are too many! I'm constantly thinking, did I miss something? Are we still in Kansas . . I mean Seoul.
I have a laundry list of such observations. I'll just focus on a few key ones that are particularly problematic.
For instance, the Joseon part of the show is quite inconsistent. Most of the time, the FL appears as a young (late teen?) court lady. Yet in other scenes, she appeared as an older high-ranking concubine and even the Queen. I know forbidden love is plot du jour for many sageuk dramas, but one core tenets is a lowly maid don't get elevated to Queenship without exceptional circumstances. In this case, I saw none.
The confusion spreads to the present. The soul swapped FL has this haughty quality, and I love her archaic ways. She knows a lot about the intricacies of the Joseon court, and she is supposed to know Chinese medicine as well. Once again, these are all above the pay grade of a typical court lady. In the present, she is clever and SUPER adaptable. She can use a mobile phone and other mod cons within hours of crash landing in modern Seoul. Who is she? I sense a great disturbance in the Force. 🤔
Along the way, several characters are used as plot devices. Such as the lady shaman which is air dropped into the plot to give the writer-nim a convenient out. There is no backstory. Is she a demi-god?
My biggest issue is with the soul of the modern FL. She is meant to be a c-grade actress playing small roles to survive. She was a famous child star, but a family tragedy torpedoed her promising career. The show did give us a bit of her backstory, but it is hyper fixated on one event. Then nothing. Why is this woman the Chosen One?
To this day, I'm still not sure what happened to her soul. Did it get wiped? Did she get send to Joseon? If you stop and think about, it feels wrong. That woman lived for 30+ years and has a grandma who loves her. Don't get in the way of story telling is a poor excuse. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with this series.
On the positive side, I love the FL's acting. She IS the show. The ML is fine. He is suitably stoic and handsome. He played both roles comfortably.
They certainly have chemistry and the skinship felt nice and natural. Especially towards the end when they are quite playful with each other. This is a nice change from the one-and-done staged kiss with fireworks.
The large ensemble is filled with familiar faces. Most of their roles are straight out of central casting. They fulfilled their contractual obligations.
Then the ending happened. Ye gods, they must have blown their budget on rainbow effect and unicorn hire. It is sweetness overload and should come with health warnings.
Our leads certainly deserved their HEA ending and I can't complain. My problem is how it is delivered. It is just a parade of scenes. Delightful but hardly illuminating.
Oh, there is one final sting in that tail. The FL visits the antagonist in jail and did the usual farewell speech. She then told him he could have broken the cycle of suffering that trapped the three of them. The problem is the antagonist has no memory of his past life so he is just being a ruthless heir-in-waiting. He did exactly what is expected of his character. It feels rather self serving.
If I'm honest, I'm not sure what she is talking about either. I don't remember any 300yo curse. Our writer-nim loves this type of "convenient" throwaway lines and subplots. It sounds good on a neat and tidy storyboard with the writer-nim seeing all. We are none the wiser.
This is the fundamental problem. It is hard to be immersed when you start to question everything.
In the end, I must temper my expectations. It went from a refreshing and promising romance to a messy guilty pleasure. Damn those little grey cells. I wish I can go full couch potato mode.
Even now, half of me wants to bottle the swoon-y bits and sell them on Etsy. The other half is hugging my therapy teddy while rocking back and fore mumbling "Ask no questions. Ask no . .".
Inner peace. INNER PEACE.
It is not as if there is no through-line. There are too many! I'm constantly thinking, did I miss something? Are we still in Kansas . . I mean Seoul.
I have a laundry list of such observations. I'll just focus on a few key ones that are particularly problematic.
For instance, the Joseon part of the show is quite inconsistent. Most of the time, the FL appears as a young (late teen?) court lady. Yet in other scenes, she appeared as an older high-ranking concubine and even the Queen. I know forbidden love is plot du jour for many sageuk dramas, but one core tenets is a lowly maid don't get elevated to Queenship without exceptional circumstances. In this case, I saw none.
The confusion spreads to the present. The soul swapped FL has this haughty quality, and I love her archaic ways. She knows a lot about the intricacies of the Joseon court, and she is supposed to know Chinese medicine as well. Once again, these are all above the pay grade of a typical court lady. In the present, she is clever and SUPER adaptable. She can use a mobile phone and other mod cons within hours of crash landing in modern Seoul. Who is she? I sense a great disturbance in the Force. 🤔
Along the way, several characters are used as plot devices. Such as the lady shaman which is air dropped into the plot to give the writer-nim a convenient out. There is no backstory. Is she a demi-god?
My biggest issue is with the soul of the modern FL. She is meant to be a c-grade actress playing small roles to survive. She was a famous child star, but a family tragedy torpedoed her promising career. The show did give us a bit of her backstory, but it is hyper fixated on one event. Then nothing. Why is this woman the Chosen One?
To this day, I'm still not sure what happened to her soul. Did it get wiped? Did she get send to Joseon? If you stop and think about, it feels wrong. That woman lived for 30+ years and has a grandma who loves her. Don't get in the way of story telling is a poor excuse. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with this series.
On the positive side, I love the FL's acting. She IS the show. The ML is fine. He is suitably stoic and handsome. He played both roles comfortably.
They certainly have chemistry and the skinship felt nice and natural. Especially towards the end when they are quite playful with each other. This is a nice change from the one-and-done staged kiss with fireworks.
The large ensemble is filled with familiar faces. Most of their roles are straight out of central casting. They fulfilled their contractual obligations.
Then the ending happened. Ye gods, they must have blown their budget on rainbow effect and unicorn hire. It is sweetness overload and should come with health warnings.
Our leads certainly deserved their HEA ending and I can't complain. My problem is how it is delivered. It is just a parade of scenes. Delightful but hardly illuminating.
Oh, there is one final sting in that tail. The FL visits the antagonist in jail and did the usual farewell speech. She then told him he could have broken the cycle of suffering that trapped the three of them. The problem is the antagonist has no memory of his past life so he is just being a ruthless heir-in-waiting. He did exactly what is expected of his character. It feels rather self serving.
If I'm honest, I'm not sure what she is talking about either. I don't remember any 300yo curse. Our writer-nim loves this type of "convenient" throwaway lines and subplots. It sounds good on a neat and tidy storyboard with the writer-nim seeing all. We are none the wiser.
This is the fundamental problem. It is hard to be immersed when you start to question everything.
In the end, I must temper my expectations. It went from a refreshing and promising romance to a messy guilty pleasure. Damn those little grey cells. I wish I can go full couch potato mode.
Even now, half of me wants to bottle the swoon-y bits and sell them on Etsy. The other half is hugging my therapy teddy while rocking back and fore mumbling "Ask no questions. Ask no . .".
Inner peace. INNER PEACE.
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