I cried so much watching this drama that I swear my heart will never heal again. LOL
To start with, it's Joseon era so, things are different from what they are now. And you have to watch it with this mindset. First of all, let's give a shout-out to the actors.
Park Min Young - I'm not her biggest fan but for some reason, she always deliver the best chemistry with her co-stars. So, I have to give her the salute. I don't know how she does it. Does she do some MBTI test on her co-stars before she says 'yes' to a show? From the start to the end, she is on point through happy and sad times.
Yeon Woo Jin - I've only watched one show with him in it and it's Introverted Boss. He was VERY VERY VERY VERY different there. So, his performance here knocked my socks off. Oh, I had a quick glimpse of his acting in Thirty-Nine (one of the latest Netflix series with none other than Son Ye Jin) and it's also very, very, very, VERY different from his performance here. His acting as a soft-hearted, in-love prince, smitten man who wants nothing more than to be with the love of his life, and then forceful and aggressive King...blew me away.
Lee Dong Gun - It's been a long time since i've watch Lee Dong Gun act but I knew he had the chops. I was looking forward to him playing the tyrant King a lot because I think he has the emotional range. Somehow, towards the middle when he starts becoming more and more unreasonable, the smirk on his face becomes overused. For his story arch, I blame it on the writer. Why the sudden love triangle? Why does he yo-yo around between treating Chae-Kyung like shit and then kissing her at midnight in the middle of a bridge? WTF....LOL
OMG, the soundtrack...flawless. I don't know who the singers are but the lyrics and melody really played a role in ripping your heart into bits and pieces along with those effing crying scenes.
I usually get really impatient with the flashback scenes, preferring to jump straight into the main storyline but the first 4 or so episodes were completely flashbacks, giving all the characters their backstories. Good idea. It pays that the backstory was well written and the actors were adorable.
The casting was perfect. They were so sweet that I had tot pause for a while to swoon, one time too many. My sons would roll their eyes and groan "Soooooo cheeeesssyyyyyyy....". Hahaha but that's what I like about it...because I know what's ahead of me. They need to inject as much sweetness and totally fairy tale romance and devotion for this story to work.
There was also a whole lot of love and devotion on the family side of things as well. I know that back in the days, princes, kings, and ministers fight and kill each other often for power. Even then, they painted a good reason for the evilness that is to come soon.
Here's a quote of what I wrote on my note while watching.
They are so sweet I wanna die! Lololol 😂❤️ Why am I jumping on this ship when I know it's gonna sink? ðŸ˜
As mentioned, Lee Dong Gun was OTT with his acting. There were times when I thought that he should have a point of redemption but...you won't believe how despicable his character was...he was beyond help.
There were also some light-hearted moments, as few as they were. Like the nanny who made blumbering comments at inappropriate moments. Her loyalty to the little girl she raised lasted for the rest of her life. Sob Sob.
It also tells the story of brotherhood, commitment to a cause bigger than oneself, If you're watching, beware of Episode 13. There's ugly cry coming your way.
The more I watch, the more in love I became with Yeon Woo Jin. He's perfect for this role. Like I said, I wasn't really convinced he could pull off this role because he's relatively soft-spoken. But when he's aggressive, determined, or angry...boy.
So, the rest of my notes while watching was just me hearting Yeon Woo Jin and crying at the injustice of it all.
But based on historical facts, we all knew there was no happy ending. The writer did gave up a pair of rose-tinted glasses to soften the blow. I am thankful for that. We know it didn't end well but at least, there was a little bit of hope and it made their love and devotion to each other a little that much more bearable.
8.9/10
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