spark101

Okay, I'm gonna have a little rant on acting, funnily enough not about CEW. It bothers me how casual the crown princess' sageuk speech is when she first enters lee jin's quarters? Like, if it was a lighthearted character in a lighthearted scene it makes sense but in a tense scene where she's facing off with the crown prince who has the formal/traditional sageuk speak down to a T, it seems jarring and out of place. I mean, it gets better when she sits down to talk, but it was weirdly modern and casual when she first came in the room. Anyways... I feel sorry for her, not her fault she was born to minister min. And I bet she had no say in her marriage or whether she would be used as a political pawn or not. But I mean, if you know even a little bit about your father, girl... you should at least understand why he's avoiding you like smallpox. But yikes, how much must he not like her if he ain't sleeping with her when it's formally planned, LOL. (I know, it's not funny but it is.) Poor lee jin, even the girl who he potentially actually likes has a toxic father. The scene afterwards where they discuss what records they should keep/record or discard was really great! And LMAO historian yang ended up taking this dilemma to the chief state councillor (the highest ranked official in court). Ha, he ended up pushing the decision to min woo won, the brother

I had to LOL at min woo won and lee rim's incompetence in labor outside writing. Their wealthy upbringing is showing. Also, I may have teared up a bit when the little girl brought 떡 and hae ryung said they didn't even distribute that much barley that day. It takes quite a bit of grain to make a small amount of rice cake. It looks like we'll get romance time next week with our main pair as well as the crown prince/princess/sahui deal. min woo won coming from that household as upright as he is is a dang miracle, lol. Comments on CEW's acting: Expressions were on point this week, especially the last scene where he's in front of the king. Voice is a bit too "up" for the serious bits for my liking in sageuks, but cadence and otherwise was good.

Lee Rim's initial rejection of the concept of vaccination shines a light on people's fear and rejection of new, concepts- really the theme of this drama. It was frustrating at first but nice to see a protagonist who's not so perfect and good that he's immediately open to foreign ideas- highly unrealistic for a Joseon person, especially one of his rank. (only jeongjo comes to mind among prominent joseon figures who's known to have been that progressive) Also, shout-out to Lee Seung Hyo(the doctor? guy who wrote/narrates the book mohwa gave to hae ryung, who gave it to lee rim), one of the most underrated and amazing sageuk actors! He was also in queen seon duk and six flying dragons, for those unfamiliar with him. I'm becoming more and more impressed by the writer, particularly in the characterization of min woo won and his moral dilemma of not siding with his evil father but also doing nothing. Though make no mistake, what he said to hae ryung about being a historian in his exchange with hae ryung is correct as well. edit: just recognized the doctor in blue who checked on lee rim after the inoculation was also a doctor in yi san(who checked song yeon's pulse for pregnancy- sorry, i realize im getting off track). Love recognizing minor supporting actors from past sageuks.

Exactly my point; we're seeing a natural and realistic(for a drama? haha) progression of his character; it's great.

Loved seeing Lee Rim's first big step into the real world. We can see his naivety slowly melt away- of course he has still yet to completely shed his childlike demeanor from being sheltered for so long. Looking forward to his continued growth with hae ryung. Also, great to see my favorite seo young joo And as always: sa hui, please wake up and stand up to your dad and minister min. I know it's hard but you're better than this!

I just find it really refreshing that the main lead who is capable and smart is the girl and not the guy. (also, the male lead is not the crown prince- for once! lol) I know it's not the first time in kdramas but it's nice to have the male lead be a bit naive and silly, and show growth throughout the drama instead of being "all that" right off the bat. People who aren't actually watching the drama love to complain about eunwoo's acting and only talk about that, while ignoring the fact that shin se kyung is the titular character and the screentime is reflecting that as well. While lee ji hoon and park ki woong are obviously more seasoned and better actors, they really shine in their given roles so I can't really complain about them not being the leads over CEW given the context of the drama and characters.

Ah, this theory would explain Lee Rim's nightmare. This is probably the most interesting "serious" story in a romance/fantasy sageuk.

Ooh, next week looks juicy. Yay, more seo young joo! Sa hui, guurll- hope the crown prince sets her straight. If you really like him, stop working for the left minister dammit! Is this loyalty out of her father and left minister's close relationship/alliance? The political/serious stuff is so well done; there's a lot going on but it just works. Major kudos to the writer and PD; the combination of comedic parts and political intrigue is very nicely woven- not at all jarring. Also, while all fluff/fantasy sageuks follow the same format of romance+ obligatory serious subplot for substance, the political scheming seems more substantial and urgent. I've praised the writer aplenty but the PD has a history of some major sageuks(emperor wang gun in 2000, sea god in 2004, and kingdom of the winds in 2008), and it's showing. On the topic of sageuks, I implore those who are hesitant about traditional, long sageuks to try haechi, yi san, queen seon duk, and jumong. The latter three are quite long, but they all mix real history with fiction, and I think most will find them more immediately engaging than KBS's conventional sageuks (which are great but aren't everyone's, especially young folks', cup of tea). Also, I needed the yoon mi rae(pretty sure it's her) OST yesterday!

Wednesday episode ratings: 4.4, 7.3. If you're going by average or first half, it's lower, but it hit another new high in the second half.

LOL the archery scene! He got shown up. Also, that historian that scolds them all the time cracks me up. Love that character. Looking forward to more shenanigans at the history bureau(?). Hope that min woo won can help sa hui can uh, turn from her shady ways. And that last scene- honestly, to whoever is continuing to watch this drama just to whine about cha eunwoo's acting- I have no words for you! And is that a yoon mi rae ost I hear??? Great song. Besides sexism(which has already been mentioned in the thread as a major theme of this drama), joseon just had too many issues/backwards thinking in its society/system- after watching a couple of sageuks(or better, researching joseon history directly), I just think no wonder joseon/korea fell and eventually got annexed by japan. (I say this as a korean myself, though really it shouldn't matter since it's the truth.) Jeongjo was the last great king(made some great efforts/changes), and personally I can't watch any sageuks based on real history/figures post-jeongjo era because it's depressing, lol. Back to a positive note- lee rim's hanboks are stunning. Especially love the white one with gray bamboo leaves. I'm very impressed by the writer so far. Not really that suprising considering Solomon's perjury was great but underrated(if you haven't watched it, give it a go), but a sageuk, especially one billed as a fluffy romance type, is very different from grim school mystery drama. If the plot stays strong until the end, this writer is definitely going on my "trust and watch" list.

Did mystery man kill the guy?? Pretty sure he's the one who saved the dying man via surgery- I thought. I don't think it was very clear whether mystery man is good or bad. Anyways, hiding his(lee rim) identity at knifepoint doesn't seem to be a helpful option either.

The autopsy scene cracked me up. Very intrigued about the deal with Ho dam and lee rim's interest in him. I can see the writing chops that made me love solomon's perjury; looking forward to next week. btw: Is everyone surprised because that guy's life was saved with surgery?

I feel the same. The nightmare lee rim had with him being in the red king's(!) robes got me nervous about impending doom for lee jin. Like you sad, hopefully lee jin doesn't actually die, just maybe a threat to him that gets lee rim to "wake up" and mature. Looking forward to our leading man's growth.

You may want to rewatch episode 2 then. That's where it's explained. (see the 36 minute mark) It was minister min's idea. His motive is to catch the writer of The Story of Ho Dam, who bothers him in mind for some reason. He talks about how he has people everywhere and his influence reaches all over the country- except within the palace. Remember sa hee met with him. Guess she's supposed to be his spy. Remember, men are not allowed around the palace as women are, especially the women's quarters.

According to the relationship chart, there's no connection shown between the crown prince and hae ryung. Which is good; I don't need sibling love rivalry on top of the other drama! However, sa hee might misunderstand later in the series and have animosity towards hae ryung. I agree that park ki woong and shin se kyung have great chemistry.