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'Powerless' Women and Marriages
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75 (a generous rounding up to 8.0 instead of down to 7.5)
I think reading the synopsis here on MDL creates a false expectation of what “The Scandal of Chun Hwa” is really about. Yes, we do have the leads as described in the synopsis. But the drama is so much more than their romance, and their romance is the weakest part of the drama.
Plot:
I actually really like the general plot of the drama. Using erotic pictures of a novel as the backdrop of the drama, “The Scandal of Chun Hwa” really is about how powerless women were during that time, especially when it comes to their marriages. Women were oftentimes ignored from the inability to choose who they want to marry, the decision to accept or deny wedding proposals, the ability to divorce their husbands whether they were mistreated, abused, or cheated on. If you come from a noble family, your marriage is part of a political power struggle. If you are a commoner or slave, you were treated like a plaything for the wealthy. Using the very popular erotic novel to spread the tales of these women, it created quite a storm that has personal, political and nationwide implications. All this is very interesting to me and creates quite a unique plot for a historical drama to tell. However, the execution could have been better. I do think the pacing of the drama is good. I was able to binge watch this quickly and it holds my attention pretty well. I think the last episode is actually the slowest for me due to its focus on palace politics.
Romance:
Coming into this, I was looking for a hot romance with sizzling chemistry and a lot of skinship (kisses, hugs, bed scenes, etc). Well, I did get some of the better kisses in Korean dramas. The men are going at it passionately and hungrily, the women respond surprisingly well to these ‘attacks’. The explicit scenes weren’t really from the main actors themselves, but pictures in the novel and some minor characters. The 3 main couples we see do have intimate scenes, but no nudity (if I remember correctly) except some muscular, toned and beautiful abs/torsos and backs from the actors. LOL. Unfortunately, the main romance is a disappointment. It has a start, missing the middle and then we got the end of their romance. The initial encounter and flirting were fun. But I seem to have missed how they actually fall in love. Therefore, when finally the secrets were all out in the open, the aftermath did not gut punch me as hard as I would have liked. The other suitors come and go, and not a whole lot of time is given to them to really show their affection for FL. They feel like an afterthought. On the other hand, the grand prince/duchess romance is simple, entertaining, sweet and sexy. They didn’t have too much screentime, but I get a full story and see how they started rockily but continue to grow as a couple. The crown prince/crown princess story might have the best development. It has a complete start/middle/end. It might have gone in a direction that I didn’t want, but the ending to their love story is probably more realistic. I was just hoping for a different ending.
Acting:
This is Go A Ra’s return to the small screen after a 5-year hiatus. I can’t believe her last drama was 2020 “Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol” (which has one of the worst endings, by the way). Go A Ra’s acting is good. She looks like a young and spoiled princess in the beginning, and was great with the more emotional scenes as well. I’ve seen Chang Ryul in so many other dramas before, yet I don’t remember him at all. This is probably because he’s mainly in supporting roles but here, he’s the male lead. He is an experienced actor and he didn’t disappoint. I might not have liked how their romance was written, but the actors themselves play the roles really well. They do have good chemistry together. The acting of the whole cast is good. From the main younger leads to the older generation, I didn’t have anything to complain about.
Production:
I like the OST. The songs complement the scenes, except for that one song with English words. It was a little weird listening to it while watching a historical drama. The costumes, sets, accessories all look great. A lot of criticisms are about the explicit scenes of whether they are necessary or not. Despite not minding them and actually am excited to watch a Korean drama that is not afraid to go there, I do have to agree that some of the scenes might not be necessary. There’s a lot of focus on the pictures in the novel to tell the story. Well, I think you can achieve the storytelling without emphasizing on those pictures. On the other hand, I can also understand in order to move the plot forward that shock value is needed to show impact and aftermath. A few of the bed scenes with the leads are fine and I think are applicable to the plot. Besides, there aren’t too many anyway. I guess seeing the actors putting in effort into those scenes minimizes my criticisms of them. Thank goodness for no fish kisses.
“The Scandal of Chun Hwa” is an entertaining watch. I think it can benefit from a few more episodes to flush out the story. I enjoy the general plot but the romance disappoints me. As I said earlier, I was expecting a strong main romance after reading the synopsis. If you tamper your expectations, you might enjoy it more than me. It is by no means an excellent drama, but if you have time to kill and don’t mind some explicit scenes, this could be fun. Otherwise, you can skip this drama.
Completed: 6/16/2025 - Review #592
I think reading the synopsis here on MDL creates a false expectation of what “The Scandal of Chun Hwa” is really about. Yes, we do have the leads as described in the synopsis. But the drama is so much more than their romance, and their romance is the weakest part of the drama.
Plot:
I actually really like the general plot of the drama. Using erotic pictures of a novel as the backdrop of the drama, “The Scandal of Chun Hwa” really is about how powerless women were during that time, especially when it comes to their marriages. Women were oftentimes ignored from the inability to choose who they want to marry, the decision to accept or deny wedding proposals, the ability to divorce their husbands whether they were mistreated, abused, or cheated on. If you come from a noble family, your marriage is part of a political power struggle. If you are a commoner or slave, you were treated like a plaything for the wealthy. Using the very popular erotic novel to spread the tales of these women, it created quite a storm that has personal, political and nationwide implications. All this is very interesting to me and creates quite a unique plot for a historical drama to tell. However, the execution could have been better. I do think the pacing of the drama is good. I was able to binge watch this quickly and it holds my attention pretty well. I think the last episode is actually the slowest for me due to its focus on palace politics.
Romance:
Coming into this, I was looking for a hot romance with sizzling chemistry and a lot of skinship (kisses, hugs, bed scenes, etc). Well, I did get some of the better kisses in Korean dramas. The men are going at it passionately and hungrily, the women respond surprisingly well to these ‘attacks’. The explicit scenes weren’t really from the main actors themselves, but pictures in the novel and some minor characters. The 3 main couples we see do have intimate scenes, but no nudity (if I remember correctly) except some muscular, toned and beautiful abs/torsos and backs from the actors. LOL. Unfortunately, the main romance is a disappointment. It has a start, missing the middle and then we got the end of their romance. The initial encounter and flirting were fun. But I seem to have missed how they actually fall in love. Therefore, when finally the secrets were all out in the open, the aftermath did not gut punch me as hard as I would have liked. The other suitors come and go, and not a whole lot of time is given to them to really show their affection for FL. They feel like an afterthought. On the other hand, the grand prince/duchess romance is simple, entertaining, sweet and sexy. They didn’t have too much screentime, but I get a full story and see how they started rockily but continue to grow as a couple. The crown prince/crown princess story might have the best development. It has a complete start/middle/end. It might have gone in a direction that I didn’t want, but the ending to their love story is probably more realistic. I was just hoping for a different ending.
Acting:
This is Go A Ra’s return to the small screen after a 5-year hiatus. I can’t believe her last drama was 2020 “Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol” (which has one of the worst endings, by the way). Go A Ra’s acting is good. She looks like a young and spoiled princess in the beginning, and was great with the more emotional scenes as well. I’ve seen Chang Ryul in so many other dramas before, yet I don’t remember him at all. This is probably because he’s mainly in supporting roles but here, he’s the male lead. He is an experienced actor and he didn’t disappoint. I might not have liked how their romance was written, but the actors themselves play the roles really well. They do have good chemistry together. The acting of the whole cast is good. From the main younger leads to the older generation, I didn’t have anything to complain about.
Production:
I like the OST. The songs complement the scenes, except for that one song with English words. It was a little weird listening to it while watching a historical drama. The costumes, sets, accessories all look great. A lot of criticisms are about the explicit scenes of whether they are necessary or not. Despite not minding them and actually am excited to watch a Korean drama that is not afraid to go there, I do have to agree that some of the scenes might not be necessary. There’s a lot of focus on the pictures in the novel to tell the story. Well, I think you can achieve the storytelling without emphasizing on those pictures. On the other hand, I can also understand in order to move the plot forward that shock value is needed to show impact and aftermath. A few of the bed scenes with the leads are fine and I think are applicable to the plot. Besides, there aren’t too many anyway. I guess seeing the actors putting in effort into those scenes minimizes my criticisms of them. Thank goodness for no fish kisses.
“The Scandal of Chun Hwa” is an entertaining watch. I think it can benefit from a few more episodes to flush out the story. I enjoy the general plot but the romance disappoints me. As I said earlier, I was expecting a strong main romance after reading the synopsis. If you tamper your expectations, you might enjoy it more than me. It is by no means an excellent drama, but if you have time to kill and don’t mind some explicit scenes, this could be fun. Otherwise, you can skip this drama.
Completed: 6/16/2025 - Review #592
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