Not a heavy spoiler review, but may contain some slight important details that might spoil the plot for you if you haven't finished the series.
Review...
K-Drama rulez!!!! Very very very impressed by this!!! Was a bit skeptical at first about our female lead, but quickly grew to like and loooove her. All four female historians are great. Two of them serve more as comic reliefs, but not forced. They are really likable. I wish I had a group like that to share drinks with after a days work. Apprentice Sung (apprentice; as they are called with english subtitles) was a bit unlikable at first. But after her scenes with the Crown Prince (regent king also) I realized she's not just a 2 dimensional character. Great character development.
The actor playing prince Dowon or Doo Woon (Lee Rim or Yi Rim) is amazing!!! Wow!!! This boy conveys the right emotions!!! His scene with the Dowager Queen in one of the later episodes was amazing. (Don't want to leave spoilers, but his scene with the Queen about his SPOILER, true heritage; beautiful!!!)
And now we come to our female lead; Goo Hae-Ryung. At times she seemed wooden, but I'm guessing its the way the character is meant to be. That's what I liked about her. She's different than what we are used to in the females from most k-drama period piece. At first, I couldn't stand her. Part of the reason why I really enjoy k-Dramas is because trough them I can experience TRUE escapism from our current state of affairs. It seems nowadays that every new film or tv-series (ESPECIALLY DISNEY, GAWD!!!) is laced with political propaganda (forced down out throats) in the form of feminism, race, sexism, gender identity, etc.
So naturally, at first when I realized our main heroin was going down the road of western style strong female representation, I was this close to turn off the series and bolt. Thankfully I gave it fair chance. And to my surprise, she is now one of my favorite characters of all time!!! This is how you depict a strong woman. Not the way the western culture (AGAIN, MORE SPECIFICALLY, DISNEY) is portraying them. This is a strong character. She's a woman living in a society where they really don't have a say in most things, if anything. She's intelligent, strong and at the same time she has to show submission (as all subjects, males included) to higher authorities. An example, I love the contrast shown between her first encounter with the prince, at the time not knowing he was actually a prince and her encounter with the Crown Prince (regent King). She came off somewhat arrogant when talking to the prince (again, thinking he was just any other nobleman) but when addressing the king she showed the proper respect. Again, this makes for a compelling character. On the one hand, she feels like she has to stand up for herself living in a world govern mostly by men, but at the same time she knows when and where she can pick her battles. Because lets face it, It must have indeed been difficult for a woman to live back then. For men also, but mostly for women (not getting to choose a proper career and not having a choice when it came to marriage) She wants to become a historian, but society expects something entirely different for her. So in a way, this series was *her* journey.
Again, this is how you properly depict a strong female character rather than what Disney is doing nowadays. In short, a strong woman is a person who fights for fair and equal chances in a world govern by men, and when the time calls for it, works *alongside* (not against) those men to accomplish greater things, and *not* the way Hollywood is showing us, namely by crushing males every chance they get (Admiral Holdo, Ruby Rose Batgirl, female Doctor Who, the treatment Loki received from most female characters in *his* series, the treatment Clint Barton Hawkeye received in *his* series, etc.)
Good job K-drama. I really hope you continue to deliver good shows like this to the world, yes the world. Your main audience may be Korea, but I tell you, you got my attention as a westerner. Great stuff. I also recommend, Yeonmo (2021), Baekilui Nanggoonnim (2018) (100 Days My Prince), Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo (2017) (My Sassy Girl) and Wang-i doin nam-ja (2019) (The Crowned Clown; my God, another great series!! Loved the actor that played the dual role of the clown/king who also stars in Hotel Del Luna (2019)). Honorable mentions are; Lee Ji-hoon as officer Min (my God that backstory about his deceased wife, tearsss), Park Gi-woong as Crown Prince Yi Jin, who also played a small yet imposing part in the Yeonmo (2021) and Geon-woo Ji as apprentice Sung Seo Kwon.
Review...
K-Drama rulez!!!! Very very very impressed by this!!! Was a bit skeptical at first about our female lead, but quickly grew to like and loooove her. All four female historians are great. Two of them serve more as comic reliefs, but not forced. They are really likable. I wish I had a group like that to share drinks with after a days work. Apprentice Sung (apprentice; as they are called with english subtitles) was a bit unlikable at first. But after her scenes with the Crown Prince (regent king also) I realized she's not just a 2 dimensional character. Great character development.
The actor playing prince Dowon or Doo Woon (Lee Rim or Yi Rim) is amazing!!! Wow!!! This boy conveys the right emotions!!! His scene with the Dowager Queen in one of the later episodes was amazing. (Don't want to leave spoilers, but his scene with the Queen about his SPOILER, true heritage; beautiful!!!)
And now we come to our female lead; Goo Hae-Ryung. At times she seemed wooden, but I'm guessing its the way the character is meant to be. That's what I liked about her. She's different than what we are used to in the females from most k-drama period piece. At first, I couldn't stand her. Part of the reason why I really enjoy k-Dramas is because trough them I can experience TRUE escapism from our current state of affairs. It seems nowadays that every new film or tv-series (ESPECIALLY DISNEY, GAWD!!!) is laced with political propaganda (forced down out throats) in the form of feminism, race, sexism, gender identity, etc.
So naturally, at first when I realized our main heroin was going down the road of western style strong female representation, I was this close to turn off the series and bolt. Thankfully I gave it fair chance. And to my surprise, she is now one of my favorite characters of all time!!! This is how you depict a strong woman. Not the way the western culture (AGAIN, MORE SPECIFICALLY, DISNEY) is portraying them. This is a strong character. She's a woman living in a society where they really don't have a say in most things, if anything. She's intelligent, strong and at the same time she has to show submission (as all subjects, males included) to higher authorities. An example, I love the contrast shown between her first encounter with the prince, at the time not knowing he was actually a prince and her encounter with the Crown Prince (regent King). She came off somewhat arrogant when talking to the prince (again, thinking he was just any other nobleman) but when addressing the king she showed the proper respect. Again, this makes for a compelling character. On the one hand, she feels like she has to stand up for herself living in a world govern mostly by men, but at the same time she knows when and where she can pick her battles. Because lets face it, It must have indeed been difficult for a woman to live back then. For men also, but mostly for women (not getting to choose a proper career and not having a choice when it came to marriage) She wants to become a historian, but society expects something entirely different for her. So in a way, this series was *her* journey.
Again, this is how you properly depict a strong female character rather than what Disney is doing nowadays. In short, a strong woman is a person who fights for fair and equal chances in a world govern by men, and when the time calls for it, works *alongside* (not against) those men to accomplish greater things, and *not* the way Hollywood is showing us, namely by crushing males every chance they get (Admiral Holdo, Ruby Rose Batgirl, female Doctor Who, the treatment Loki received from most female characters in *his* series, the treatment Clint Barton Hawkeye received in *his* series, etc.)
Good job K-drama. I really hope you continue to deliver good shows like this to the world, yes the world. Your main audience may be Korea, but I tell you, you got my attention as a westerner. Great stuff. I also recommend, Yeonmo (2021), Baekilui Nanggoonnim (2018) (100 Days My Prince), Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo (2017) (My Sassy Girl) and Wang-i doin nam-ja (2019) (The Crowned Clown; my God, another great series!! Loved the actor that played the dual role of the clown/king who also stars in Hotel Del Luna (2019)). Honorable mentions are; Lee Ji-hoon as officer Min (my God that backstory about his deceased wife, tearsss), Park Gi-woong as Crown Prince Yi Jin, who also played a small yet imposing part in the Yeonmo (2021) and Geon-woo Ji as apprentice Sung Seo Kwon.
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