kdmd

What's not to like in a focused, "get to the castle by daylight", "28 days" type of show. The script and story line were lean and logical and not overly complex. (There were just a few logical inconsistencies such as the queen's sister shooting arrows from horseback rather than riding in the carriage with her and the queen being told, essentially, women should just sit quietly at home, while she is in full military armor ready to lead the battle and she and her sister have been trained as warriors. Makes ZERO sense.) Yes, it was a bit gory. Yes, it was a bit sexy. Yes, it was gritty and violent, but not excessively. Production values were impressive. A stand out for me as far as acting was ever-sexy Lee Soo Hyuk. And he managed to look beautiful even when he was deranged.

The ending was a cliff hanger, so I think that either they knew that the show might be a hard sell in Korea, or they found that out mid-way and cut off the episodes, trying for more funding later. The story could definitely continue as there were many story lines that weren't fully exhausted. But, it could also end here, as we imagine the heros winning. There were plenty of Ji Chang Wook flashbacks and I bet there are plenty already filmed in anticipation of more episodes. His story definitely wasn't fully fleshed out.

Anyway, the only thing that could have been an impactful improvement for me was to have a more expressive FL. She had the steely-eyed look down pat, but more nuance would have been good. She was portrayed as a firebrand as a little girl and now as a queen she is a rather flat, unbelievably controlled queen. I don't see the connection. I have seen other steel queens that still have a bit more spark flowing in their faces. In the last few episodes she cranked it up a bit, but it was too little, too late for me. If the show had continued, we likely would have seen more range in her character.