This review may contain spoilers
It Was Okay
The last episode of this drama was the most “go girl give me nothing” ever. It could have been an email. At first, I was bummed when I saw it’s “only” 73 minutes long, but for what it gave me… the episode was too long. The Prime Minister’s betrayal had zero impact on me because we never saw I-An and the PM BE friends despite the characters insisting on that for whatever reason. The fact that the revelation of the PM’s murderous actions against the Grand Prince brought I-An to tears … why? Lol? We’ve never seen these dudes interact in a friendly manner that suggests genuine comradery, so what are we doing here? The best bit of the last episode was probably when the two secretaries kissed lmao.
Generally speaking, the show is a bit of a let-down. The first half gave me nothing but complaints. I am one of those people that fixated on the terrible press-on nails of the female lead. Not because I am bored, but because the director himself brought them to my attention. Several times. (Even in the last episode he thought “let’s give her one more close-up of her ugly nails <3”). I don’t care if the female lead has “nail picking problems” due to anxiety or something. She’s rich, she likes to flaunt her wealth, she should have enough money to invest in nice nails. An absolute bummer to focus on her hands so much only to have the nails be such an eyesore.
In the beginning, I found it hard to like IU’s character. All she did was yell at her employees or glare at them. That’s not badass or girlboss, it’s annoying. Especially in the beginning, her little chuckle was so annoying… I don’t care if it was meant to be pretentious or whatever, I did not like it. Throughout the whole show I actually wondered why I-An and Hui Ju even like each other to be honest. He was a bit bland and well she was hot tempered, I guess. It got better in the second half, and I started enjoying the show from episode 7-11. Despite the script maybe not being the best, and certain things not making that much sense, I appreciated the added political intrigue and drama taking the center of the stage because the romance did not give me much. Or the comedy. (This changed as the show went on, it was just in the beginning that the comedy didn’t do much for me)
The styling was also eh. I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of Hui Ju’s clothes, although the wardrobe improved as the show went on. In the first episode, apart from the color, I didn’t quite get the frenzy over the suit combo she wore (More than that, I hated the shoes?? They looked terrible and ruined the outfit for me). The biggest let-down for me was the proposal scene. It was so anticipated, but fell flat in the end. For one, Hui Ju’s dress was beautiful and I liked everything but the color. It was too pale and washed her out in my opinion. On the other hand, the Queen Mother’s dress was stunning. It looked like the midnight sky on her, with the gems sparkling like the stars… just stunning. Both dresses had a nice shape and were elegant, I just took issue with the color of Hui Ju’s. Next came the waltz. Was the dialogue between HJ and IA meant to excuse the lack of actual refinery, or was the choreography of that whole scene meant to be… kind of bad? Okay, they both never liked those dance lessons, but that’s not an excuse for whatever they were doing. The concept of that scene was nice; the PM and Queen Mother switching partners to dance with HJ and the Grand Prince respectively was a nice idea! It should have added some tension as each character had their own agenda, but … eh. I wasn’t that impressed. It lacked the whimsy and magic I had been looking for since the beginning of the show.
One thing I begrudged in the beginning, which actually got better in the second half, was COLOR. I feel like the show was so bland and bleak at first. The end of episode 5 was visually stunning; for once we had vibrant colors such as green and pink actually POP with life. The editing was choppy at times, especially in episode 11. It shouldn’t be that way since the show had a considerate budget.
The best character in the whole show was probably the boy king. He was just a cutie patootie.
Anyway, the show is somewhat worth watching. The styling is okay; the OST has some beautiful instrumentals; the political stuff is interesting (except the last episode) although one should not expect to see much of on-screen scheming from the villains because apparently the scriptwriter didn’t care. I enjoyed the show as a no-brainer-end-of-the-day kind of show the best and had a good time from ep7-11. The first half was okay, the second half was better (minus the last episode). I personally think the show is overhyped; people attribute depth and nuance, attention to detail and layered storytelling to it when there really isn’t any. It is a worthwhile show to watch in-between, but I don’t think it’s a highlight in any of the actors’ portfolios. Good for them for the successful airing time, but this is not representative of IU’s acting talent or characterization for example. It was nice while it lasted!
Generally speaking, the show is a bit of a let-down. The first half gave me nothing but complaints. I am one of those people that fixated on the terrible press-on nails of the female lead. Not because I am bored, but because the director himself brought them to my attention. Several times. (Even in the last episode he thought “let’s give her one more close-up of her ugly nails <3”). I don’t care if the female lead has “nail picking problems” due to anxiety or something. She’s rich, she likes to flaunt her wealth, she should have enough money to invest in nice nails. An absolute bummer to focus on her hands so much only to have the nails be such an eyesore.
In the beginning, I found it hard to like IU’s character. All she did was yell at her employees or glare at them. That’s not badass or girlboss, it’s annoying. Especially in the beginning, her little chuckle was so annoying… I don’t care if it was meant to be pretentious or whatever, I did not like it. Throughout the whole show I actually wondered why I-An and Hui Ju even like each other to be honest. He was a bit bland and well she was hot tempered, I guess. It got better in the second half, and I started enjoying the show from episode 7-11. Despite the script maybe not being the best, and certain things not making that much sense, I appreciated the added political intrigue and drama taking the center of the stage because the romance did not give me much. Or the comedy. (This changed as the show went on, it was just in the beginning that the comedy didn’t do much for me)
The styling was also eh. I wasn’t the biggest fan of some of Hui Ju’s clothes, although the wardrobe improved as the show went on. In the first episode, apart from the color, I didn’t quite get the frenzy over the suit combo she wore (More than that, I hated the shoes?? They looked terrible and ruined the outfit for me). The biggest let-down for me was the proposal scene. It was so anticipated, but fell flat in the end. For one, Hui Ju’s dress was beautiful and I liked everything but the color. It was too pale and washed her out in my opinion. On the other hand, the Queen Mother’s dress was stunning. It looked like the midnight sky on her, with the gems sparkling like the stars… just stunning. Both dresses had a nice shape and were elegant, I just took issue with the color of Hui Ju’s. Next came the waltz. Was the dialogue between HJ and IA meant to excuse the lack of actual refinery, or was the choreography of that whole scene meant to be… kind of bad? Okay, they both never liked those dance lessons, but that’s not an excuse for whatever they were doing. The concept of that scene was nice; the PM and Queen Mother switching partners to dance with HJ and the Grand Prince respectively was a nice idea! It should have added some tension as each character had their own agenda, but … eh. I wasn’t that impressed. It lacked the whimsy and magic I had been looking for since the beginning of the show.
One thing I begrudged in the beginning, which actually got better in the second half, was COLOR. I feel like the show was so bland and bleak at first. The end of episode 5 was visually stunning; for once we had vibrant colors such as green and pink actually POP with life. The editing was choppy at times, especially in episode 11. It shouldn’t be that way since the show had a considerate budget.
The best character in the whole show was probably the boy king. He was just a cutie patootie.
Anyway, the show is somewhat worth watching. The styling is okay; the OST has some beautiful instrumentals; the political stuff is interesting (except the last episode) although one should not expect to see much of on-screen scheming from the villains because apparently the scriptwriter didn’t care. I enjoyed the show as a no-brainer-end-of-the-day kind of show the best and had a good time from ep7-11. The first half was okay, the second half was better (minus the last episode). I personally think the show is overhyped; people attribute depth and nuance, attention to detail and layered storytelling to it when there really isn’t any. It is a worthwhile show to watch in-between, but I don’t think it’s a highlight in any of the actors’ portfolios. Good for them for the successful airing time, but this is not representative of IU’s acting talent or characterization for example. It was nice while it lasted!
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