A Satisfying Tale of Second Chances and Mutual Support
I don't rewatch many long dramas, but this one makes the cut! It's just so good--heartwarming and encouraging while still having some grittiness and angst and very hard sad choices along the way. But I adore the trust that blooms between the two leads and once it's there--mmm. No late-season horrible misunderstandings or any of that. They're such a great team. When one is distraught, the other is the steady rock, and then they trade as the emotional waves come for one and then the other.Lots of clever maneuvering and strategy. Lots of delving into people's motivations. Questions of whether fate can change -- which kind of ties into the ability of individuals to make a difference in the sweep of historical forces. Questions of redemption, and digging down to examine your own weaknesses and decide to do better (or the failure to do so). Friendships, found family. And lots more.
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Unclear Motivations are more Dislikable than Mysterious
Ep 01 - having made it to the end of the first episode, I'm not sure this is going to be for me. The "cold and abusive/autocratic" ML is not really my cup of tea, but I can sometimes hang with it early on when their motivations for it are laid out (ex: Prisoner of Beauty where her family caused his family's death and are from a different nation). But that usually involves, in addition to other extenuating circumstances, the leads being strangers or enemies. Here, they're supposed to be friends/sweethearts?? So what if he has hidden motivations for the usurpation? I can't imagine any reason he would have for treating FL with such autocratic tyranny, claiming she gets no personal possessions because he's the ruler and owns everything, forcing her marriage without a single word of comfort or reassurance, not the slightest hint that there are things he can't explain. There's that hint that he has to embrace being "lonely" as the ruler and can't explain to her, but you could still hint...or let her go. If he's decided to shut her out then he should do it all the way and set her free of the marriage too. Wanting to force her to stay close while playing the villain is just plain selfish and cruel from what I can tell--and if there are secret reasons for that too, I'm not sure I'm going to stick around long enough to find out.Was this review helpful to you?
