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Chaos and Hotpots
The drama came out of the gate fast and frenetic, full of zany fun and energy. I thought I had a handle on what to expect—a light-hearted romcom—but the drama kept expanding my expectations. The comedy was served with a side of thoughtfulness, a generous dollop of tragedy, and some delicious revenge for dessert.
The Good:
• The action never lagged, because there was always a new twist, character, or situation to figure out. This is a drama that might improve on second watching, because a great deal was thrown at the viewer with explanations, if given at all, only provided indirectly or at a later part of the drama.
• The leads had great chemistry together. It felt as though they were enjoying themselves as much as their intended audience.
• The costumes, sets, and visuals were beautiful.
• The OST enhanced the scenes.
The Bad:
• The crown prince was underutilized. He either needed a larger story arc or a smaller one. I understood his father's attitude toward him, but if he planned on him being his successor, he should have introduced him to the consort early on. The Emperor knew from personal experience the horrific life of a puppet crown prince. How could he, in good conscience, not intervene? Poor little prince. (I do wish they'd used different actors to portray the Crown Prince and the Emperor as a child to lessen confusion. I had to keep trying to figure out which was which in a scene. It didn't help that the Empress Dowager looked the same in both situations. Yes, the drama had a cute intro for the young Emperor's parts which helped, but I'm still going to complain.)
• Could we NOT George RR Martin all my favorite characters?
• I felt a bit let down by the ending.
I was going to rate 8 stars, but it deserves an extra half star for the leads' enjoyable relationship.
The Good:
• The action never lagged, because there was always a new twist, character, or situation to figure out. This is a drama that might improve on second watching, because a great deal was thrown at the viewer with explanations, if given at all, only provided indirectly or at a later part of the drama.
• The leads had great chemistry together. It felt as though they were enjoying themselves as much as their intended audience.
• The costumes, sets, and visuals were beautiful.
• The OST enhanced the scenes.
The Bad:
• The crown prince was underutilized. He either needed a larger story arc or a smaller one. I understood his father's attitude toward him, but if he planned on him being his successor, he should have introduced him to the consort early on. The Emperor knew from personal experience the horrific life of a puppet crown prince. How could he, in good conscience, not intervene? Poor little prince. (I do wish they'd used different actors to portray the Crown Prince and the Emperor as a child to lessen confusion. I had to keep trying to figure out which was which in a scene. It didn't help that the Empress Dowager looked the same in both situations. Yes, the drama had a cute intro for the young Emperor's parts which helped, but I'm still going to complain.)
• Could we NOT George RR Martin all my favorite characters?
• I felt a bit let down by the ending.
I was going to rate 8 stars, but it deserves an extra half star for the leads' enjoyable relationship.
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