6
A surprise
We almost never see a historical drama led by the commoners. This drama came out in 1996 but it has such a fresh and interesting take on the entire genre to this very day! However, it's not perfect, its biggest problem is that it's bloated with too many side stories carried by less interesting characters which delayed getting to good parts. The drama didn't fully focus on Im Kkeok Jung until the 2nd half. The set design was decent for 1996. The set was reasonably lit at night while taking into consideration they used to use candles instead of high beam studio lights back then!Was this review helpful to you?
A clone!
The drama had a weak and uninteresting start but it managed to pick itself back up after some time. Some patients' stories didn't blend well with what was going on and it passed off as an interruption. It shares a lot of similarities with Jewel in the Palace (2003) but with a less attractive cast. Not only that but it also shares the same problems Jewel in the Palace (2003) had had. You may refer to my comment there. The drama is a remake of the original back in 1999. There was no specific fundamental issues with the base story to prompt a remake. There were too many identical copy-pasted scenes and jokes, they don't take any creative freedom with the core story/scenes to make the remake worthwhile. Although the remake is longer but this came at the expense of its pace since the extended content was poorly utilized and made it a worse experience overall. A lot of over exaggeration/dramatization and a lot less human. I hoped the remake would have a better written ending but no, it was identical frame by frame to the original. I prefer the original over the remake for its roughness, rawness and concise cut, it makes for a better watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Decent enough
The drama had a weak and uninteresting start but it managed to pick itself back up after some time. Some patients' stories didn't blend well with what was going on and it passed off as an interruption. It shares a lot of similarities with Jewel in the Palace (2003) but with a less attractive cast. Not only that but it also shares the same problems Jewel in the Palace (2003) had had. You may refer to my comment there. In comparison, I would nudge this one slightly higher since it had a more raw feeling to it. The drama also had a modern remake back in 2013. There was no specific fundamental issues with the base story to prompt a remake. There were too many identical copy-pasted scenes and jokes, they don't take any creative freedom with the core story/scenes to make the remake worthwhile. Although the remake is longer but this came at the expense of its pace since the extended content was poorly utilized and made it a worse experience overall. A lot of over exaggeration/dramatization and a lot less human. I hoped the remake would have a better written ending but no, it was identical frame by frame to the original. I prefer this version over the remake for its roughness, rawness and concise cut, it makes for a better watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Not quite there...
The drama had one of the worst introductions out there. You can never expect anyone to be interested after watching the first 4 episodes. As if they were purposefully made to push viewers away. Anyway, the drama had some brilliant and creative moments at times but all of that was overshadowed by the dominant hot garbage moments. You may expect something worse than Oblivion NPC's level of dialogue and directing. All of the three male leads sucked and disappointed. There was a big massive slump between episodes 35-45 that was rough to get through. Villains and ending were meh.Was this review helpful to you?
On the verge of meh-ness...
Although it's politically themed drama but it's a watered-down surface-level politics and the excessive overdramatization didn't fit its theme. Repeating the exact same dramatic flashbacks multiple times throughout both seasons further highlights my point. It ended up relying on these melo moments rather than having a better written political drama and a more engaging dialogues as you would expect from a good political drama to have. What also didn't fit its theme is the male lead constant overreacting and overacting for his role. The romance of the main leads and the pair up of the secondary leads were all out of place. On the other hand, the OST was nice, it reminded me of Comrades (2010). The drama is okay if it was your first political drama, can serve as an easy introduction to the genre.Was this review helpful to you?
Weaker than expected
No matter how you look at it, the drama was a missed opportunity for something much better. It's a very dumbed-down secondhand tacky "be careful what you wish for" type of story. Little to no dynamic between the female lead and the witch until the last episode. The introduction of the female lead and her "wish" was definitely a weak start for the drama. Poorly written and executed love interest for the female lead, it wouldn't have been an issue if they didn't give her a trashy pair up but instead something that would serve the narrative and the resolution better. None of the clients were interesting and the outcome was always lacking the x-factor other than the obvious trade off of the deal. At least the drama looked nice and the cast was good enough.Was this review helpful to you?
It's 20 stories mashed into one...
The drama was a one big tournament of who had it the worst. Whose misery is worse than the next person? Who should be the saddest? Who is the least fortunate? It was a constant competition where everyone was competing for these misery points. This is the drama's biggest downfall, having a handful of "sad" stories competing against the main story of the trio. It misses up with the emotional direction the characters were meant to carry and shifts the focus outside the scoop of the drama. It was nothing but laughable and disingenuous when a certain character had to react to 2 sad events at once. The problem also extends to the casual relationships of everyone around them. There was simply just too much interference with the main story to make the drama work. Outside of the misery, there were a few romantic plot-lines that didn't have a place but was forced anyway. Mi Jo & Seon Woo had a full romance story along side all of the sadness going around. It wouldn't be much of a problem if it was good but their story and romance was tasteless, uncomfortable, tacky and most importantly, lacking the chemistry, easily the worst part of the drama. The drama was also leaning a bit too much onto throwing in a handful of plot conveniences when it really didn't need to. These instances could've been written naturally and it wouldn't stick out as much. The most obvious example was Seon Woo's introduction and his initial connection to other characters. The drama sure does look pretty and attractive but lacks a defining identity. The main trio were good while the rest of the support cast were okay.Was this review helpful to you?
Bad
It's nothing but a dreadful watch, following this piece of artificial soulless junk made me wonder why some cast members, who are well off, accept such projects. I feel like somewhere not too long ago writers stopped trying when it came to these high-society themed dramas. A squeaky clean wardrobe, a massive mansion and a handful of dirty secrets won't cut it anymore. The shallowness and the lack of substance made a killer combo for a mind numbing experience. The drama's message absolutely wasn't worth 20 episodes to tell its tale nor was it interesting or entertaining to follow. In fact, they did a goddamn poor job in that regard. I'm fairly certain if you were to pick up any random drama from Park Soo Ae or Kim Kang Woo catalog it would be a guaranteed better watch than whatever this was.Was this review helpful to you?
Could've been worse....
The first 15-20 minutes of the first episode were genuinely bad that it immediately eliminated any diluted expectations one might have had. Dodgy edits, poor direction with abysmal shot compositions, dead sound design, trash dialogue exchanges, and an inept delusional writer who thinks they can write more than two coherent sentences. When taking everything into consideration, no wonder this was broadcasted on MBN. I fault no one but the cast who, which holds a handful of recognizable faces, to partake in this insult of a drama.Was this review helpful to you?
Inept writer
This drama was unbelievable bland. The worst set up with the worst match up of cast. Dead on arrival. Not a single working dynamic. Not a single plot-line ended up gracefully. Not a single couple were a good pair up nor were they appealing. The writing was a catastrophic miss up. Inept writer even for the lowest of standards. A failure through and through.Was this review helpful to you?
Fell off
Good enough but misses the mark and fails to maintain its momentum with the 2nd half being a significant downgrade to what we were presented earlier. By then, it seems even the cast got smaller including the extras in the background. There weren't as many people in towns or the palace anymore. The ML's kid was barely seen too. Possible budget cuts? The lengthy 20 episodes didn't help its case either. Even if we were to tolerate the downgrade, it's impossible for this drama to leave us with a good impression when every single scene of the last episode was laughably and shamelessly bad. Having two writers might explain why the drama ended up like that.Was this review helpful to you?
lazy
Low effort makjang. A random makjang drama from early 2000s would make a better watch than whatever this was. One of the most crucial elements in makjang is creating tension and this one kept failing in that regard. The tiny teasers at the beginning and end of every episode were nothing but cheap tacky fillers.Was this review helpful to you?
Weak
I was losing my mind by the sheer amount of repeated flashbacks from their past. The exact same sequence of flashbacks was played more than any amount considered to be normal. The doubleganger didn't really have an active role in the drama, you see her once at the beginning and at the end. The chemistry between the leads was quite right. The introduction was interesting enough but once they switched the events to the family it fell apart. There were a handful of members in the family of which none of them were interesting or appealing, which is unfortunate because they occupy most of the runtime. All of them were a copy-paste of the exact bad-rich-scumbag character.Was this review helpful to you?
Wasted
It started off poor with a tacky set up failing to construct a half-assed mystery element, even a thriller one for what it matter. Which broke off the tension right from the beginning. The violent scenes weren't there to contribute to either themes but to be violent for the sake of it. The villains were utterly comical and straight up ruined the drama shamelessly! As if things weren't bad already, they went ahead and turned the whole thing into a cult chase. it's been proven time and time again that cult focused plots have a dangerously high failure rate, yet we've been flooded by these in the recent years. The handful of violent scenes weren't enough to save the drama. Despite all of that, they had the audacity to tease for possible future continuation! What a load of rubbish!Was this review helpful to you?
.
The drama was embarrassingly lackluster in all aspects. The writing was its biggest downfall, especially how the characters were written, nothing but a major disappointment from otherwise a capable cast. I wouldn't recommend unless you're a die hard fan of one of the cast members. Keep in mind that Gong Yoo isn't the main male lead here.Was this review helpful to you?
