bokminthe

Question though, what would you have done in that situation when the king said those sentences?
1. Come out from the hiding place after and see if he says something in the shock of seeing you there.
2. Come out from the hiding place after and ask him why he said that.
3. Not say anything but think about it and make a course of action that includes talking to him or see how things develop before acting.
4. Not say anything and sulk and decide that your friend's plan of killing him is the best course of action because people never lie and because there is no point in questioning what you heard or what he would have to say about it. Doesn't matter if there was a reason or doubting if you heard right, you just take it and run with it.

If she was intelligent in my mind I don't think she would pick 4, but here we are. If her thoughts about him were wavering I wouldn't proceed to do something as definite as number 4 either, it's simply stupid and immature. Now, if you're planning to kill him either way then it wouldn't have mattered from the start and the king would have died in episode 2 or 3.
He didn't betray her because he didn't make any promises of the sort to her, moreover, he wasn't speaking to her.
Why is FL acting like she has no strategic knowledge and she knows zero about court shenanigans. I think the main problem is that FL is inconsistent, she's technically intelligent and smart but she bases her actions on pure emotion but then she doesn't fully either and we get something that it's not emotional nor intelligent. It's a big contradiction of a character in my opinion that makes her both frustrating and somewhat unrealistic.

The cherry on top is how she's making those plans and people around her are following with them or adding the same amount of nonsense to them. If she was the only one like that, or two of them fair, but with the amount of people involved? makes no sense. Also, you would think she would be suspicious of MyungHa, especially after the way he spoke in episode 12 about the king, it was a passionate rage, yet she's just fine with it. But why would we be surprised considering in her power she could have learnt as much as possible about what happened 3 years prior but the writers said she couldn't do that and she goes into the court and with her plans with a blindfold while we're being told she's very intelligent and clever but actually she only has assumptions because writers decided it had more of a shock value for the last couple of episodes. In the same manner, she could have gone in search of her father in those three years but the writers decided it was better for shock value not to, even if it's just unrealistic. That is, if she loved her father that much of course.

I don't understand how she's such a bad written character when we have such an amazing one as the king. It's baffling.

I get your comparison but I would have no complains if FL was more like Elizabeth Bennet though, she's nowhere near as intelligent as Elizabeth was. Other than the fact she had a prejudice against Darcy she was the most intelligent of the sisters and contrary to FL here she navigated the social environments of her era in a clever yet subtle way. Moreover, Elizabeth learnt of Darcy slowly but steadily, here we're both stuck and advancing one step forward and two backwards what makes FL look pretty unintelligent and frustrating, she's not learning and evolving, after each event she goes back to zero.
Generally it's frustrating when you have viewers catching up faster than the characters do, especially when you have multiple hours of content without development of that aspect.
It would be ok if FL hadn't been presented as the best player in baduk around or in such a cunning and strategic way, it generates the expectation that she's somewhat intelligent, not this. They don't have to be equal either nor it means she cannot makes mistakes. She's closer to damsel in distress at this point.
I enjoy the rest of the characters and situations, just not her side of the plot.
Is the writing consistent? Generally yes, but consistent doesn't mean good writing though.

I find FL more and more frustrating each episode and I keep waiting for her to change and to finally start acting as intelligent as she's supposed to be so that her plot changes and becomes more engaging. I just find very frustrating how we have to keep seeing FL point of view while she hammers her head against a wall without acting or asking the right questions.
Considering how they're both full on strategists and good at baduk my original impression was that we were going to get some kind of power couple here that was going to be very playful and clever, but I can only say that of ML really.
Even though I said it last week I'll say it again because I need to vent, but FL's character is a disappointment so far. I hope I can change my idea of her in the remaining episodes but I'm doubting it at this point.

My thoughts exactly. The plan would have worked if they had done the change half way, and I was expecting that was what was going to happen. Either characters are very dumb or it was done this way for plot purposes, what means weak writing.

He's kind of in the grey area and precisely that is what makes him such an interesting character to me. I like him so far.

How is FL so bad a real life strategy when she's so good at baduk. She doesn't even look like she wants revenge with those weak attempts, she's just playing or something. It's weak and I'm losing interest in her side of the story. Her reasoning for revenge is weak as well and she keeps getting into trouble. I hope I don't have to say in the end she was a damsel in distress.
Sure, her friend Hong Jang died and the ML was partially responsible, but that's the whole point, partially. Surely she should be clever enough to know about the court's politics and the spot he was in. Doesn't justify it but also should count towards something for her so called "revenge". On the other hand she doesn't even know nor did she go in those years to check if her father was alive, so that part it's just based on assumptions. I seriously don't get the whole revenge idea on her part.
I wish she was as clever and intelligent as she is supposed to be. So far I'm not impressed.

Also to the list of annoying characters that includes Lady Dong we have to add FL's servant Ja Geun Nyun, can she just shut up and not speak anymore... she's not even helpful, she's just blabbering non stop, like girl, no one cares you're so worried about FL, she clearly doesn't care and she'll be doing whatever she likes so just shut up!!! lol

ML is the best character here.

4 episodes this week. One friday, one saturday and two on sunday.

As many other dramas in the same genre they prioritise FL looking pretty than the story telling. It's the only element of this drama I'm annoyed with so far, but we have to take it as pure fantasy, in a similar way people didn't know Superman was him when he was wearing glasses. Same silly plot device.
And although I would personally welcome it, no one would want to see the FL disguised with more shadows/darker skin and a fake beard for example. I'll be waiting for a drama of this genre that tries hard at decently making the male/female versions of the main lead different.
I was also hoping they wouldn't drag FL as a male for long for a change especially considering it's so blatantly obvious, but as the plot is going, wouldn't be surprised it's not revealed until the last episodes...

Not yet as of episode 6.

Maybe I missed something but I was quite sure FL had already declined SML advances on multiple occasions before the time jump anyway, and the way she treats him is giveaway enough, so to me he's just the pushy type to be honest. How many ways can she say 'no' for him to get it? once should be sufficient. I don't think FL is doing anything wrong in that regard, and it's not her business to keep reiterating something to a guy that just doesn't want to listen, so she's not toying with him, he's decided to stick to unrequited feelings on his own accord.

I'm liking this drama so far but I was hoping FL would be revealed as a woman early on so we could move on with that. They didn't even try to make Shin Sae Kyeong look masculine with the makeup or anything and it really takes me out of the story constantly. It has been done equally as bad in other dramas in the past, it's the problem of wanting to prioritise she looking pretty for the audience than the story telling. To me it's getting a bit old at this point not going to lie.

I didn't even know this film existed. I would have probably checked it out to see if they improved the source material somehow but you saved me the time. Hot Gimmick is one of the couple of mangas I've ever dropped out of sheer despise two volumes before it finished publishing in my country. I don't know why it was so popular when it came out and I ended up jumping on the bandwagon because everyone recommended it to me. I can see going by your review that the movie is both equally bad and somewhat better in some aspects. Personally I dropped the manga simply because the ML was abusive and it was enabled to no end. It became very uncomfortable to read. It's still one of the worst mangas I've ever read.

Nah, it doesn't get better. Plot is even worse as it goes, and the beauty filter is still there even more I would say (the cherry on top for me is the cakey faces while in bed with the hair spread out like a mermaid princess. Anyone that has had waist long hair knows that's just not going to happen unless you want a nest the next day lol). Very unrealistic fabricated scenes, poses, fashion, everything up to the last hair and pore.

If you like the actors and are willing to watch it just because of that or you like upper classy style fashion and want to watch outfits or you don't mind overused clichés one after another then go for it. If you don't like/aren't as interested in those things and you want a somewhat decent plot, this is terrible (I'm only still watching because I have the completitionist problem and I can have it in the background while doing other things).

He mentioned a few times how he couldn't bring back the dead to different people to whom he did deals with.

Was I supposed to feel sorry or pity for Yong Pil's father? Because I don't.
It was solved in the most fast and stupid way possible. People that has been doing that for 20 years doesn't change in 4 days. They would have had me if the change of this man had happened from the beginning of the drama slowly till now, but not like this. It was expected but still got disappointed. I'll keep waiting for a drama that solves family issues in a non-cliché healthy and realistic way.
Also a bit annoyed at the inconsistency of FL's character throughout the series, the writers couldn't decide if they wanted her to be strong minded and independent or cutesy damsel in distress and they change her character depending on who she's appearing in the scene with.
Eun Joo's plot should have already been solved in the half way point, it's so dragged and the anger I had for her actions has become indifference at this point.

For me it's a shame because I think Yong Pil's father will be easily forgiven, and so will Eun Joo.
I would like to be surprised but in my experience kdramas, especially in romcoms and slice of life, always put forgiving above everything else, particularly family members.
In my opinion though, Eun Joo should pay for what she has done by not being able to be a photographer anymore, and Yong Pil should distance himself from his father for a long time. Like I'm sorry, he's abusive and his sense of ego is the size of the village, it's not solved with only a sorry at this point.

Thank you!! Good to know and I'll be watching it then!

Thank you! I'll watch it then!

How much horror is there in this drama? I know it's labelled as such on Netflix but not here, but is it kind of Stranger Things gore level or is it more psychological?
I'm interested in it because of the historical setting and that side of the plot more than anything else and I'm not a fan of horror as a genre.