[Drama 2018-2019] Empress Dignity / The Last Empress, 황후의 품격

[ktcjdrama]

42 minutes ago, nakatsubebe said:

The grand empress dowager said the empress is no ordinary girl. I like how some of their lines point out what's gonna happen in the future. Like how she will be a different empress and how often characters say the line "we'll see". I hope Chun Woo bin/Na Wang Shik will take the advise not to trust anyone because really, everyone has a hidden agenda. He is already in a lot of pain and anger with his mom being killed unjustly but once he finds out that her girlfriend (who he also wants to protect) is actually involved, I don't know how much he can handle. How can you actually kill or exact vengeance to someone you actually had loved and protected?

For Oh Sunny, I don't think discovering her husband's infidelity alone will develop her character. She needs to suffer as much pain like Na Wang Shik, perhaps through in the hands of her mother in law, her husband, and Min Yura. And Min Yura is like a cockroach, even how many times she is stepped on, she is still alive and kicking.

I'm very good in killing cockroaches. Just that sometimes they escaped me too fast under or behind the furniture. If I got them, I kill them good and clean... *evillaughters

 

I am looking forward to what will happen in the future. So far we've been informed that 7 years ago many things happened. Empress So Gyun, LH's first wife, passed away. The guard named Kang Joon Sung went missing. He was the Empress Dowager's guard, and was called into the palace every night, supposedly by the Emperor, but LH doesn't remember doing so. When this was brought up, Empress Dowager (ED) was stunned, she was thinking hard but MYR quickly diverted her train of thoughts by kneeling down and claiming she would investigate the assassination attempt on Emperor. (so is YR involved? but she's been there for only 5 years). As ED started to think again, LH's stirring diverted her too. LH remembered the guy's name, and called him a jerk. My best guess is that guard had an affair with the LH's first wife. Or at least it was staged as so by ED. LH appeared to truly love his first wife, but maybe she wasn't approved by ED and she decided to get rid of her, just as she is planning to get rid of Sunny.

 

The young man at the airport, a member of the Imperial Family, commented that why LH is marrying again, how many tragedies he wants to see happen. This makes me think that ED only wants LH for herself, no other woman can have her beloved son....

 

NWS has saved Sunny for the second time now. First was in the unbelievable deep pond, next was when she was hanging for her life last night. Yes, I agree there will be much more that happen before Sunny will wake up and smell the roses, er, I mean the rot in the Imperial Family. Probably even losing a family member, the dad or sister?....

[booha]

@chubby^green^

Sorry to hear about your situation  Hopefully things will be better soon. Yes life is sometimes half full or half empty. It all depends on one’s perspective.   At least you have cable tv to watch.    
It’s strange to read about scorching heat. whaha  In Midwest we just had the first snow storm last Sunday and the temperature dropped to 20’s, and our furnace is humming all day long.  Though the world turned into a beautiful winter wonderland, palm trees and balmy weather began to entice me.

 

haha you are right.  LH decided to marry Sunny for MYR. But as you wondered, what he feels for her doesn’t seem like love.  
In today’s ep, LH told to MYR that he wanted to be a real emperor with real power. It’s Dowager who has wielded real power.  Dowager mentioned how docile LH had been till MYR came in.  She sensed MYR wasn’t just one of the pretty girls LH dated before.   Maybe LH feels too that MYR has a brain to fight against Dowager and hands over to him real power.  However I doubt LH is thinking about having power for the interest of the public.  He probably wants to be like Dowager who uses power for her own interest.

Now about his first wife it seems he has a genuine feeling for her.  Maybe she was his first love but something happened 7 years ago. Maybe she tried to gain him real power and she lost??

 

Perhaps carrying a long fashionable umbrella  is modeled from the British monarch/ European upper aristocratic class.

 

Despite having strong competition, TLE made the highest rating 12% today so I’m delusionally hopefull about 20% haha 

 

 

[O]

 

3 hours ago, Matilda_Anne said:

i actually dont mind the makjang plots. it’s the overacting that i cant stand..i could not agree more about removing those dirty scenes.. it was inappropriate and awkward to see.. hopefully they can focus on oh sunny’s character development from now on. that girl is as clueless as i was during high school.. is it bad that i want her to change into a cruel person and kill everyone in the palace hahhaa.. that will be the biggest plot twist ever. 

I also agree.  One thing  I have always loved about kdramas is that you do not need to see dirty scenes to know that the couple have done the deed.  Not like western shows where you always need the visual of an almost naked couple in a couple of kamasutra posts to know what they have done!  I really hope Korea don't follow this ugly trend.

Sometimes it feels like a comedy.  None of the royals have a royal or even distinguished appearance.  And Sunny is like a comic character.  

[Lmangla]

7 hours ago, AlexandraReid said:

2. [+360,-12]
Min So Hee drew a mole and others couldn't recognize her after that [t/n: from drama 'Temptation of Wife']. At least it's more realistic this time. He changed himself after dieting. ㅋㅋㅋ

LOL... so true! this mole as a makeover in temptation of wife just cracked me up.... at least it is sort of realistic this time. hahahaha....

 

 

2 hours ago, nakatsubebe said:

 

@Lmangla you are our makjang teacher! thank you for your pointers.  True! this type of drama is the dramas that ahjummas love. I saw this one tweet saying 'my mom is watching it and I'm forcibly watching it'  

 I'm surprised that the writer did a "mini-series" because she might be used to 50 episode daily/weekend dramas. This, I think, is only her 2nd miniseries. So 24 episodes is actually short for her (others comment that 24 is too long because mini-series nowadays run for 16) but with the juiciness of Kim Soon-ok's dramas, 24 episodes should be fast and packed 

kekeke... yea, most folks probably get into makjang because they are watching it with their moms. hahahahahha... but yea, makjang actually works better in longer series but in shorter series, it just feels like one firework after another which can be entertaining in a different way...

 

my soompi chingus like @triplem may find it hysterical but I do love makjang. LOL. like seriously! what I love is that makjang is basically the dark side of human nature but shown in a comedy fashion without any of the depression but it is still uplifting!!! where else can you find a combo like that? hahaha... so I am probably ajummah now that I am in my 30s but I think the reason makjang can be so appealing to the older crowd is this:

-- if there is something that makjang really teaches you is this: don't be an idiot! be shrewd. it is good to be good person but you can't be naive and let folks take you for a ride. so @sonequeen01 ~ I don't really feel sorry for sunny; if anything, it teaches you that there's fangirling and there's reality!

-- no one in makjang just sits there. they are all like chubby bear who are just relentless and persistent. life gives them a punch. they just get back and punch right back!

-- it is fine to be ambitious but the villains lose their way because they fall into the dark side of greed and ambition whereas the good guys learn to find a balance between ambition and being true to their goodness

-- even the villains will have super villains hounding them. so no one is safe from troubles.

-- sometimes you don't have to look far to get your heart broken. it may be the person you trust. what I find interesting about makjang is the good person is not actually surprised by the evilness of the villain but rather that they can't believe the villain fell that low when they knew the good side of the villain.

-- everyone reaps what they sow. no one escapes their actions. in real life, it can get really frustrating to see bad guys continuously winning whereas makjang assures you that no, everyone gets their due and it will be spectacular. so you get immense satisfaction!

 

so thats why I think makjang can be so appealing. the situations are absurd to the core that you can't take it seriously and the comedy comes from that but the emotions and lessons are true.

[nakatsubebe]

From the behind the scenes video, looks like the cast is really having so much fun doing this drama. They might be almost to the point of killing each other in the drama but in reality, they are cheering each other. Look how Shin Sung Rok is actively clapping while Nara is making her hilarious performance. And Shin Eun Kyung is also cheering. This truly is like expectation vs reality. The cast is doing well, making us believe in the unbelievable 

And surprise, Tae Hang-Ho actually wore a fat suit! 

 

 

[Guest]

@Lmangla I knew that introducing you to this drama  was the best thing ever . As you know this drama is usually not my style but it’s because it’s so absurd, I’m so engaged 

some of the comments on line ! 

 

 

3 hours ago, sonequeen01 said:

And I don't mind the "erotic" scenes. They are hot. 

It’s fine with me too . They ain’t that racy in my books since  I’m a certified pervy ahjumma, but I was surprised that SBS was so “daring “ this time 

[ktcjdrama]

44 minutes ago, nakatsubebe said:

And surprise, Tae Hang-Ho actually wore a fat suit! 

I did think the roundness of his belly is rather unnatural... hahaha...

[Lmangla]

54 minutes ago, triplem said:

@Lmangla I knew that introducing you to this drama  was the best thing ever . As you know this drama is usually not my style but it’s because it’s so absurd, I’m so engaged 

perfect antidote for a drama slump. kekekekekke....so kamsamhida....

 

so here's my ode to another beloved trope: the truck of doom. kekekkek...

so I shouldn't laugh but I had to giggle when bear's mom first gets hit by yura and then run over by the yellow truck and then dropped in the road to get hit again. talk about overkill! and over many kdramas, have seen truck of doom in white, green, even red. but this is the first time, we have a shiny yellow metallic truck of doom... kekekek... truck of dooms are usually not so bright and recognizable! but even truck of doom has to get punished in this drama. so off it gets a glorious bonfire by yura. hahahah....

 

and had to laugh at how well she timed her dramatic "I am going to take the fall for my beloved" with the help of GPS and tracker. maybe those companies are having a heart attack at seeing how their technology is being portrayed on TV? this should be the new tagline for GPS -- need to manipulate someone? use the help of GPS to time your entrance dramatically!

[larus]

An Empress’s Dignity: Episodes 1-2

by Regals

An Empress’s Dignity (alternatively, and ominously, titled The Last Empress) scores major points for its unique universe, with the gorgeous imperial backdrop of a fictional constitutional monarchy in modern-day Korea setting the stage for a young actress whose life is about to change forever when she catches the eye of the Emperor. But the palace is teeming with all kinds of plotting and scheming, and little does she know just how dangerous her life is about to become.

More

http://www.dramabeans.com/2018/11/an-empresss-dignity-episodes-1-2/

[Yinye]

Just saw 7 + 8 - still very entertaining and these two episodes were predictable because they had to set-up the next arc of the plot. Besides enjoying the and laughing along, I am loving the Grandmother Queen. She's sharp and clearly no one gives her enough credit. I also love her foreshadowing Sunny's strength. I also enjoyed Sunny's first interaction with Woobin too - can't wait to see more and hopefully it's these 2 taking out the bad royals. Who is the new mysterious royal returned from abroad...can't wait to find out! The whole filming of the newly wed reality TV show is so amusing too.

[Matilda_Anne]

4 hours ago, triplem said:

 They ain’t that racy in my books since  I’m a certified pervy ahjumma, but I was surprised that SBS was so “daring “ this time 

 

7 hours ago, sonequeen01 said:

And I don't mind the "erotic" scenes. They are hot. 

  

haha u had me at certified pervy ahjumma.. we can literally be soul sisters.. i personally dont mind racy love making scenes in tv shows/movies. but, there is something about dirty scenes in this drama that i cant stomach.. it seems lustful and immoral to me.. i dunno why.. maybe bcoz they portrayed sex = love between yura and emperor.. having said that, elijah and ssr didnt really show lovers chemistry so the scenes came out bad and awkward in my eyes.. 

 

 

 

 

[ChewyChocolate]

Just watched episodes 3 and 4 and I loved it. It's crazy wild, and my favourite character is turning to be the mother. The faces that she makes are hilarious, from pathetic to evil to hurt that she's been accused of trying to hurt Sunny.

 

The Rocky music playing as the bodyguard works out was hilarious. Other lol moments - when the concrete poured into the evil girl lolol....so crazy over the top. 

 

But I can't help but swoon over the emperor's romance with Sunny on camera. It's like a parody of Goong, because it's fake. But he's so charming, and dashing I swooned. Do you think he'll ever fall for her? I doubt it. I think she'll be framed for the murder of his mother, the bodyguard will help her escape, and she'll return for revenge, mean and hard and looking totally different - like in Fated - and he'll fall for her.

[jjangnarafan]

 

 

This is a little longer than preview Ep.9-10 video. 

 

 

[nakatsubebe]

30 minutes ago, Matilda_Anne said:

haha u had me at certified pervy ahjumma.. we can literally be soul sisters.. i personally dont mind racy love making scenes in tv shows/movies. but, there is something about dirty scenes in this drama that i cant stomach.. it seems lustful and immoral to me.. i dunno why.. maybe bcoz they portrayed sex = love between yura and emperor.. having said that, elijah and ssr didnt really show lovers chemistry so the scenes came out bad and awkward in my eyes.. 

 

 

If it made you and the other viewers feel uncomfortable then the actors delivered well, in my opinion. It is meant to be viewed as lustful and dirty. There shouldn't be any love because both of them don't really love each other. What makes it even more disgusting now is that the emperor is already married to Oh Sunny and their act becomes adultery now. 

[nara0603]

https://www.dramamilk.com/the-last-empress-episode-7-and-8-live-recap/

[Carmarie]

I watch episode 7 last night and I do not know where to begin with my comments.

 

My strongest reaction was to YR.  I understand she grew up in poverty, and did not have anything, and the hopes of becoming the king's mistress/empress were enticing.  However, YR knew that if the royals found out she had a child, she could never be anymore than a booty call.  I do not know if YR promised to marry  Na, Wank Sik; but his mother and he were under impression that she was his girlfriend and future wife.  The character of YR is a user and she devoid of real human emotions.  She does not love the emperor, she never loved NWS.  Although I have no love lost for the emperor, I think that given a chance and space, he would fall for Sunny.  Sunny is naive; however, she is a breath of fresh air in the palace.  Just Suni's presence has brought live back to the palace.  The Lee Hyuk does not love Sunny and she knows that, but she intrigues him, she does the unexpected.  It think that is why YR acted in the despicable way she did in the the massage room.  If you noticed, the emperor did not seek her, YR sought out LH because he would have been more discreet because he is now married.  YR wants to hurt Sunny, she is trying to mark, like a dog, her territory, the territory is not hers.  When YR get finish debasing herself with the emperor, Sunny is still the empress. Lee Hyuk might not turn down the booty, and does not love the empress, but he is going to protect her has his wife.   

 

The love scenes between the Emperor and YR are tacky, tasteless and steamy , but I am not put off by them because it explains YR's character and how she thinks.  The make-out scenes were not written just because the writer wanted add some racy scenes, those scenes help us to define YR.  We all know how men think, therefore, the emperor responding to YR is no surprise and the scenes do not bother me.

 

When I was young, my mother explained(drilled) to me the difference between men and women, it is unfair (thank God for the "me too" movement); however, it is true.  Woman are precious jewels; perhaps it's because we bring forth life.  By my mother's teaching once the emperor decided to marry Sunny, YR should have walked away.  Even if LH came to YR, her answer should have been no.  The

character of YR has no self respect and in her quest, to get back at the queen mother and show Sunny, she has the emperor, she lost her dignity. Do I feel sorry for whatever happens to YR...the answer is no.

 

The grandmother was so funny, I like her.  She was hilarious in the family's restaurant.  I love her character.

 

 

  

[Lmangla]

 

kekeke... so caught up on this week:

-- what is with rocky bear? he threatened to burn down jedi master's house? LOL. I was like "umm, this is not the way to ask for anyone's help!"

-- rocky bear continues to diet and exercise. but he doesn't seem too impressed with sunny. and yura didn't notice his hotness...

-- why does jedi master know so much martial arts and knowledge that the palace is dangerous? and how does he manage to come up with a fake ID for rocky bear while living in the mountains?...

-- like everyone here, am really confused by queen mother. is she even his mother? she seems so strangely possessive like the emperor is her lover and so no one can have him. and he seems to be downright scared of her. why?

-- @ktcjdrama like you said there are at least 2 murders (the royal guard from seven years ago, and then his brother at the police station) that links directly to queen mother. so is the first wife also related to her? and why does she think that sunny is the perfect prey? what exactly is her great master plan?

-- had to laugh when everyone looked at queen mother as a potential suspect behind the crane malfunctioning. kekeke.. @ChewyChocolate ~ she totally seems to be enjoying herself with all those expressions no? she comes across like a weirdly petulant child who is super dangerous....

-- @stella77 ~ while the grandmother is sharp, her power seems limited?. she wasn't surprised that queen mother might plot stuff like drown yura in cement but she is not doing much to prevent it either. kind of confusing....

-- @Matilda_Anne @triplem ~ I don't mind the erotic scenes either but something that confuses me is the emperor's affections. he seems to be genuinely taken with yura? is it because he sees her as a threat to queen mother and therefore, a good sidekick? they seem to be having fun though even if yura is happily using him.

-- and who is airport boy? some relative of first wife? does anyone wonder if the body they found in beginning of ep 1 is perhaps first wife instead?

 

and is this marriage legal? since the ceremony was abruptly stopped halfway through, is it one of those weird situations where they are kind of married but not really?

[jjangnarafan]

 

 

JNR IG

 

Lovely empress ssuny..

 

 

 

 

[Josephine Safowaa]

1 hour ago, Lmangla said:

 

kekeke... so caught up on this week:

-- what is with rocky bear? he threatened to burn down jedi master's house? LOL. I was like "umm, this is not the way to ask for anyone's help!"

-- rocky bear continues to diet and exercise. but he doesn't seem too impressed with sunny. and yura didn't notice his hotness...

-- why does jedi master know so much martial arts and knowledge that the palace is dangerous? and how does he manage to come up with a fake ID for rocky bear while living in the mountains?...

-- like everyone here, am really confused by queen mother. is she even his mother? she seems so strangely possessive like the emperor is her lover and so no one can have him. and he seems to be downright scared of her. why?

-- @ktcjdrama like you said there are at least 2 murders (the royal guard from seven years ago, and then his brother at the police station) that links directly to queen mother. so is the first wife also related to her? and why does she think that sunny is the perfect prey? what exactly is her great master plan?

-- had to laugh when everyone looked at queen mother as a potential suspect behind the crane malfunctioning. kekeke.. @ChewyChocolate ~ she totally seems to be enjoying herself with all those expressions no? she comes across like a weirdly petulant child who is super dangerous....

-- @stella77 ~ while the grandmother is sharp, her power seems limited?. she wasn't surprised that queen mother might plot stuff like drown yura in cement but she is not doing much to prevent it either. kind of confusing....

-- @Matilda_Anne @triplem ~ I don't mind the erotic scenes either but something that confuses me is the emperor's affections. he seems to be genuinely taken with yura? is it because he sees her as a threat to queen mother and therefore, a good sidekick? they seem to be having fun though even if yura is happily using him.

-- and who is airport boy? some relative of first wife? does anyone wonder if the body they found in beginning of ep 1 is perhaps first wife instead?

 

and is this marriage legal? since the ceremony was abruptly stopped halfway through, is it one of those weird situations where they are kind of married but not really?

 

That boy at the airport is the younger brother of the emperor,he was probably sent abroad after the first empress incident

 

[zba72]

I have to be honest that it was hard for me to watch the scenes between the emperor and Sunny but i cannot stop being curious with the storyline.  Why is Rocky bear, thanks @Lmangla for the cute nick, not see that Yu Ra is into the Emperor ?  Well, at least we have some mystery to look forward too: what happened to the last empress and the security guard?  Is the security guard related to the master who trained rocky bear? It seems that he knows alot about the palace. Also why is the brother got sent away and didn’t want his mother to see him?  So all in all, it still has a potential for me to keep watching