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

[katakwasabi]

29 minutes ago, ktcjdrama said:

I can't help but keep wondering which part of the finale was as planned from initial writing and which part was new. Somehow I feel that NWS and LH were both meant to die in the end. NWS with the bullet in his head and 3 months left. And both having professed that they'll die to protect Sunny. So the main focus has always been on Sunny, as the last Empress.

 

Sure they tried to develop some romantic feels between Sunny and NWS, but maybe it's just a side story to show that Sunny is not alone and she has a support inside the crazy palace.

 

As for LH, I thought it was normal for Sunny to feel such great loss for his death. He is after all her first crush, first love of so many years, her husband. Although she might have hated him for a while, I am sure that feeling of love is still present in that big heart of Sunny. She never wanted LH to die. She wanted him to acknowledge all his wrongdoings, ask for forgiveness and pay for it. That seems to be the main thing she wanted, an apology from a repentant heart. When watching with subs, I cried a mess again during LH's dying scene.

 

Yes to this! I just see a lot of viewers commenting of how the end should be and stuff. Just wanted to chime in. Lol

 

Maybe we are amongst the select few that appreciates the ending. You do like the ending right @ktcjdrama? Or am i jumping the gun? Heh

 

I think it was a good end. And i cried a river in nearly all Hyuk scenes. I knew it was coming. But it hurts. Hurts even more when i understand what he was saying. It was really well done. From the constant bathing in sunlight shots, to the shaving scene. I must add the shaving scene was a good touch. It showed how different he is now(I'll gif the difference later). Previously he was scared of his mum, hand clenched and all, being submissive. In the last ep, he was content, it was maybe his first and unfortunately his last time defying his mother. I loved the difference. And SSR facial expressions were just....

 

Edit: to think of it. From the shaving scene alone. Maybe this really was the ending in mind. Eventhough it was subtle, i can see how different Hyuk is during that scene.

 

 

 

 

[Lmangla]

4 hours ago, dramaninja said:

Yep he was just an after thought they handled every single thing around him extremely poorly.I never seen a lead done so poorly in a dram then becomes a complete after thought in the end its a complete joke. People might was well just watch  EP1 then stop thats his is complete story done and finish since they didnt bother  to actually doing anything with his plotlines

 

It makes me angry one of the most miserable person  whos suffer again an again though the drama like Sunny got nothing in the end, he could not even see his renege through like he wasted.

 

Such a waste of time to me.

 

 

would agree with you and @Ericaj -- wang shik being an after thought is what makes the ending really disappointing. forget sunny mourning but what about jedi master byun and dong shik? -- these were people who cared and loved him no? all we needed is for these two to stand together and mourn for wang shik even if the world had forgotten him. since there was 48 episodes of choi jin hyuk, the PD could have done a small montage of already televised scenes of wang shik. then if these two had bid a quiet goodbye, at least we would have had a kind of closure.

am really disappointed as I liked the writer's previous works I have seen and felt satisfied even with all the craziness. guess this will be a meh drama for me.. maybe when I have time, I will watch the ending just to see what happens to our baddies but as of now, feeling no motivation to check out the last episodes.

[ktcjdrama]

11 minutes ago, katakwasabi said:

Yes to this! I just see a lot of viewers commenting of how the end should be and stuff. Just wanted to chime in. Lol

 

Maybe we are amongst the select few that appreciates the ending. You do like the ending right @ktcjdrama? Or am i jumping the gun? Heh

 

I think it was a good end. And i cried a river in nearly all Hyuk scenes. I knew it was coming. But it hurts. Hurts even more when i understand what he was saying. It was really well done. From the constant bathing in sunlight shots, to the shaving scene. I must add the shaving scene was a good touch. It showed how different he is now(I'll gif the difference later). Previously he was scared of his mum, hand clenched and all, being submissive. In the last ep, he was content, it was maybe his first and unfortunately his last time defying his mother. I loved the difference. And SSR facial expressions were just....

 

Edit: to think of it. From the shaving scene alone. Maybe this really was the ending in mind. Eventhough it was subtle, i can see how different Hyuk is during that scene.

Yes, I am happy with the ending. *high-five*

 

I personally think that the shaving scene has always been planned to sandwich the beginning and the end. That means, LH was to reach a point where he get himself ready to die and sacrifice his life for the last Empress. Same goes for GED's death by suicide. Her death has always been intended to be suicide. I don't believe after so many episodes, they get the actress to come back and shoot the part where she killed herself. I believe that part was shot very early on, at that same time, ep.15-16.

[katakwasabi]

34 minutes ago, ktcjdrama said:

Yes, I am happy with the ending. *high-five*

 

I personally think that the shaving scene has always been planned to sandwich the beginning and the end. That means, LH was to reach a point where he get himself ready to die and sacrifice his life for the last Empress. Same goes for GED's death by suicide. Her death has always been intended to be suicide. I don't believe after so many episodes, they get the actress to come back and shoot the part where she killed herself. I believe that part was shot very early on, at that same time, ep.15-16.

 

High five!

 

I too believe the suicide was preplanned. They shot multiple versions earlier and saved the footage. I was kinda dissapointed last week, but with this week's ep, i feel that it all make sense. But i find it jarring why they need to make Hyuk so cray last week. Heh

 

Anyways..i also think that they were pressed for time because of live filming. Which resulted in postponing episodes and also the extension. We can only speculate what happens behind the scenes. But from the BTS clips, the cast were having a blast filming (no pun intended with all the explosions lol). So I'm happy~ ehehe

[xprosperity]

I was bawling like a baby from when Lee Hyuk died. From that point on, I just kept crying and crying and crying. Every time they showed something from the past, I cried. It was insane.

 

I'm glad that they at least provided some type of closure on NWS. If we didn't get anything, I think it'd be pretty awkward. 

 

They definitely tried really hard to wash LH and I think it worked in some ways (at least for me). Yes, I have to applaud SSR for his acting. He really brought LH alive. I will admit that stabbing the pin into himself was totally extra... LH used death and persecuting his mother as a way of repent. In some ways, from what I see, Sunny never felt a romantic way toward NWS but it was always with Hyuk. Even at the end, she held his hand, told him not to die, and to earn her forgiveness. Whether they were just things to keep him alive, she wanted him alive.

 

Another person mentioned it but I got super nostalgic at the sight of the palace being turned into a museum, and the painting of Hyuk and Sunny in the middle of the wall along with their wedding clothes. Perhaps that was also a symbol? 

 

I feel that it wasn't a waste of time, but if it just ended with a shorter ending and not a rushed one, I think it would be nicer. And it doesn't make sense that MYR, who also the writer washed- along with LH didn't die (meanwhile LH had to die?) MYR went insane, had family, and Kang Joo-seung and meanwhile the protagonist's husband is dead WHILE trying to repent?

 

In the beginning, everything LH was doing (by his mother's orders) was to keep Sunny away because she was unnecessary in their goals. And at one point, he fell so deeply in love that he protects her from ED because he wants to. I think a lot wouldn't agree but LH didn't deserve to die...

 

I sincerely hope that SSR and JNR will reunite in a romcom drama (one that doesn't make me cry, maybe?) very soon. I can't wait to see their next collaboration!

 

EDIT: I also feel like when we're crying THIS hard, the cast are having a blast time laughing in the BTS...

[Lmangla]

1 minute ago, katakwasabi said:

Anyways..i also think that they were pressed for time because of live filming. Which resulted in postponing episodes and also the extension. We can only speculate what happens behind the scenes. But from the BTS clips, the cast are having a blast filming. So I'm happy~ ehehe

yea I really hope so... hate when the drama gets overshadowed by unhappy actors and crew. kind of takes the good energy vibe for us viewers... and with the way, wang shik's arc was written, there will definitely be fans wondering if choi jin hyuk got some sort of poor character resolution as there was some problems on set.. so hopefully, the BTS is what it is -- the cast had a good time filming but the writing was just a bit meh in the end...

[katakwasabi]

6 minutes ago, xprosperity said:

EDIT: I also feel like when we're crying THIS hard, the cast are having a blast time laughing in the BTS...

 

Hahahahaha. I know right! They are laughing while filming, while we are crying watching. 

 

Can i have more BTS vids please SBS? I want to see the bts for sad Hyuk-sunny scene and Evil Mum going total beserk! Hohoho

[uma14]

Done watching finale episodes...drama still drama ...but i'm happy and enjoy although a bit sad because this drama the end...congratulation for all casts especially Jang Na Ra,Choi Jin Hyuk and Shin Sung Rok cause done play the part of this drama with so great...this first time i watching drama CJH... for forummer in this thread thank you so much share info about TLE..

[annchoi]

BTS.

 

 

[annchoi]

funny one

 

 

[Katrina Abdul Talib]

Agree wth most comnents here, Wang Sik/Woo Bin shld at least be given a proper sending-off.. he was so part of this drama..

 

.. have mixed feelings about the Royals (many monarchy in the world no longer exist).

 

Such a beautiful, rich and colourful culture such a pity.. now remains just a history.

[philosophie]

Indeed I am content with the ending because I could see no other fate for all the characters. However, just as we got so many flashbacks of Hyuk and sunny, I would have loved some with her NWS if they really had some thing special together. I think in the end the summary just doesn’t match up to the show. I have experienced that in the past with a kdrama where the synopsis turns out to be nothing like the actual story (but can’t think of an example from the top of my head because I’m still so shook from this finale).

[nakatsubebe]

Just watched the whole episode again and now with subs. And I am satisfied with it. I won't over-analyze it and just rely on the emotions that the actors gave. All of them did a great job! Actually in the beginning, I knew a villain would shine in this drama because it's a Kim Soon-ok drama. I thought it's gonna be Lee Elijah but turns out it is Shin Sung-rok and he did amazing! I could see on the last BTS video, he cried after his scene is done and everyone is cheering and saying their good-byes. I feel he really loves his character which I think is a role every actor would wish to play. A complex, multi-dimensional character with all range of emotions in play. And of course, I am proud of my Nara and amongst all of her dramas, I am affected with her character here the most. Maybe because she is not the usual cheerful character and she did not have a solid love line with someone. And perhaps, this is her only drama (aside from the one-episode Old Farewell) that basically ended on a sad note. The scene where she was crying over Lee hyuk's dead body reminds me of her scene in Go Back Couple where she was crying over Bando's body. She's really good in her crying scenes lately (I remember hating her crying scenes in her 2005 drama Wedding LOL).

Three months flew by so fast and I enjoyed this roller coaster ride. Overall, without overanalyzing the drama, I only could say, I am very much entertained.

P.S. I especially like the last scene, I commend the PD for that. A very nice closure to all that has happened. And they are now part of pages in history.

Also saw in one article that JNR, CJH, and SSR will not be able to go to Guam for the reward vacation because of their respective schedules. Too bad...

[katakwasabi]

42 minutes ago, nakatsubebe said:

Also saw in one article that JNR, CJH, and SSR will not be able to go to Guam for the reward vacation because of their respective schedules. Too bad...

 

Kinda expected this. They are super busy. I'm still trying to wrap around my head how SSR can film Vagabond concurrently hahahaha

 

Anyways..something for CJH fans and maybe all to look forward to 

 

Ari posted this~ awwww

Her caption (google trans)

Every time I want to see urgent happy memories, I will go to the museum of the museum. I was going to the picture. I was trying to see the bad memories ~ I want to see all the good memories ~ I want to see all the time, I would like to see it. I'm going to see it.

 

P/s: I think there are errors in that google translation 

 

 

[nakatsubebe]

10 minutes ago, katakwasabi said:

 

Kinda expected this. They are super busy. I'm still trying to wrap around my head how SSR can film Vagabond concurrently hahahaha

 

 

I was thinking the same thing...Actually, there was a time when he was filming Vagabond and doing a theater play at the same time. He finished the play just before TLE started. And there was a time when filming for TLE and Vagabond overlapped. I was surprised since the earlier episodes are mostly his and Lee Elijah's scenes, and he was posting instagram pictures from Morocco where he was filming Vagabond. I guess since Vagabond is pre-produced, his filming schedule is not as hectic as TLE and he is just required to show up on some days since Suzy and Lee Seunggi are the leads anyway, whereas in TLE, he is one of the leads and required more of his time. At first, I was wondering why he accepted the role in TLE because he has so much to do. Well, aside from him knowing the PD from his previous work, I think he also fell in love with Lee hyuk.

[ChewyChocolate]

Where do I start?

 

I was going to stop watching this drama after episode 2, because it was so wacky and crazy and over the top, but somehow, I found myself continuing to watch episode after episode, because Hyuk was just so magnetic and compelling. Even that early, the writer had started messing with my head. I hated him one minute, fell in love with him the next. I was like Oh Sunny, swooning over him and his charm and his dashing looks...I remember the round shades and the black umbrella and him so dapper and stiff it was just laughable, and the fake pretence, the false romance being played out to an adoring public captured not only the hearts of reel life but mine as well. It was just so terribly romantic, and when he was having his pretend romance with Sunny, it was as if I was watching a drama within a drama, and I would hurt each time he made a grimace, or rolled his eyes to show his disdain and contempt for her.

 

I was prepared to hate Hyuk though after his physical abuse of her, and his plans to murder her. It was horrifying to watch a murderous protagonist and it was sickening how he was blatantly carrying on an affair with another woman right under her nose.

 

And then the writer produced her trump card: suddenly, Hyuk starts to waver in his feelings for Sunny. I think that it started with the ball kicking contest. It was that moment that my heart melted - he smiled watching her antics, a quick, secret smile, snuffed out the next instant, so swift, so fleeting, that I thought that I had imagined it. And then, the next episode, and the next, and the next started a new shift: he falls deeper and deeper for her and struggles with his own feelings of shock that he could fall for someone as crude and "easy" as Oh Sunny. I was fascinated and enthralled. I wanted to see more of this new Hyuk. And I started to root for the impossible - a romance between the heroine and the villain. Something strange was happening: I was rooting for the villain, and it wasn't only me: comments left online echoed my thoughts- "Am I crazy? Why do I like Hyuk so much? Who do I want them to end up together?"

 

The final episode crushed me. I was sobbing from start to finish. I didn't want Hyuk to die. I was rooting for him as he swathed himself in bandages and took on the persona of The Invisible Man, I cried when he looked so sad at Woo bin's death - I was crying when they said that Woo bin had hugged the bomb, and that was just a great line, and wonderful script writing, when you know that it wasn't even Choi Jin hyuk but an anonymous actor, and you still find yourself welling up with tears. I cried the most at his dying scene, and Jang Nara, as usual, is best at crying scenes. Her voice is just so raw and agonized it makes you hurt so much. He says, I love you, and she's screaming, Don't you dare die on me, you hear, don't you dare die now, you've got to wake up and beg me to forgive you, you've got to wake up don't you dare die now, and I'm crying so hard that I can't even see the screen anymore.

 

Did she love Woo bin? I think she did, she was grateful to him, and he was always there for her. I think the writer abandoned the love line between her and Woo bin, but it was definitely there, from the smile on her lips as she looked at the twinkling stars on her window, to the red scarf warm around her neck. She had feelings for him, and they were building up, but the writer decided to switch to Hyuk and his conflict instead.

 

Did she love Hyuk? I think a part of that old love still lingered, even though she would die than admit it - you don't love someone for ten years and just forget it like that. She loved him and he hurt her so badly that she hated him after that. She cried in the end because she was moved by what he did: sacrificing himself and destroying the Imperial Family for her. I think that old love still lingered somewhere beneath the scars, buried beneath the pain and the hurt. She would not have cried like an animal in pain if she had not loved him, she would not have wept alone in the silent room that was Hyuk's if she had not cared for him. I think that she loved him in the beginning, she hated him in the middle, and a little of that old love rekindled and came back to life in the end, like embers of a fire: a wind stirs, and the embers come back to life. Perhaps she would have learnt to slowly love him back all over again if he had lived. But he died, and we'll never know.

 

I'm still not sure what will happen to my Hyuk in my fanfic since it's early days here.

 

You can read Chapter 11: The Emperor's Women

 

https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1386079/oh-sunny-s-diary-lee-hyuk-s-confusing-me

[Kasmic]

Mianhae Im so late to come back, mianhae I kind of over slept and missed the finale.  So I have yet to catch the finale and just enjoyed being spoilt by all these spoilers here. Sadly I dont think I can watch it, it will be too heartbreaking for my so mixed up emotions. Let's just say Im in a love hate relationship with this drama particularly with Hyuk. I pity him that he had to die in the hands of his mother. How could she do that and not feel an ounce of remorse afterwards? then again Im talking about the ED whom never had any logic and always was evil and selfish to the bitter end. I'd rather Hyuk lived and as Sunni hoped he would live a life of begging for forgiveness. 

 

@annchoi I really loved that funny FMV clip you posted.

 

Makes me really think this drama wouldve been far more entertaining if it it was a rom com and if you minus all those crazy killings and sufferings it wouldve been perfect. Glad even Hyuk agrees with me. 

 

 

I hope Nara and SSR will reunite again in a rom com please. Im weary for a 3rd time lucky for CJH so will hope for SSR lol! But OMG if it does happen I suggest we all go and buy lotto 

 

 

[yamiex]

43 minutes ago, nakatsubebe said:

The scene where she was crying over Lee hyuk's dead body reminds me of her scene in Go Back Couple where she was crying over Bando's body. She's really good in her crying scenes lately (I remember hating her crying scenes in her 2005 drama Wedding LOL).

 

 

 

You just read my mind... It was my immediate thought when I saw that scene... I was thinking "hmmm that's a second time a husband has to faint/die in her arms..." Ah... Wedding... I totally get you there, seems like we are from the same timeline~ There was a time which I have believed Jang Nara is a better singer than an actress... But to be honest, it isn't her fault because she was boxed in right from the start playing bright cheery simple girl role... Even though Oh Sunny grew to become an interesting role, she did start out as a naive lead which is exactly the kind of stereotypes Jang Nara is known for. Wedding was a good start of turn as she changed from a little girl image to a somewhat mature at the end. But it's still sugary sweet somehow, even with the crying... 

 

JNR, CJH, and SSR are no doubt outstanding leads. The script was in a tailspin heading nowhere at times, but it was the actors and actresses who hang on and guided it back to Earth. If anything, all actors and actresses have been outstanding, just that the limelight is more than often on the leads. 

 

I think Oh Sunny had Lee Elijah's Min Yura and Shin Sung-rok's Lee Hyuk fit a T when she said that they are the same, villains who won't accept their wrongdoings. But yet, in a way, I felt that they had both been somewhat touched by Sunny's and Wang-sik's righteousness and tried to redeem themselves not by admitting their wrongs (as what Sunny and Wang-sik would have rather asked for) but actions to help the two of them at the cost of their death. They are action villains who give no promise or empty words, so it only seems right to them to show their worth by actions in their moral compass. Min Yura knew Sunny would have been feeling guilty for her injuries and denied her effort of saving Sunny in a true Min Yura "I did it only for myself" manner. But if we observed, she became angrier when Wang-sik was mentioned. Lee Hyuk on the other hand, took up Wang-sik's unfinished tasks without saying sorry for his earlier wrongdoings. The only person Lee Hyuk had apologized to was Sunny. Even though his love was demanding and toxic for Sunny, it was undeniable that Sunny somewhat became his guiding light and strength. It was her words, near death saving him and Wang-sik's death which gave him the final courage to go against his mother.

 

The only sad thing was Wang-sik's role is almost forgotten in the haste. If they had an ending shot of Sunny, Byun Baek-ho and Kang Joo-seung visiting his grave to say their thanks would be good. No loveline, but at least a mark of thanks and gratefulness would be good. It would be something Sunny would have done. It would have made Wang-sik felt less forgotten by everyone. But I won't be surprised that there is actually a scene like this planned but was cut due to airtime and filming schedules. It did feel that there are many scenes cut from airing when we look at the BTS images.

 

Love-lines wise, it was perhaps most ambiguous at Sunny's side. She had us convinced that she hated Lee Hyuk at one point but at some points, she also showed eye blinking and gone moment of uncertainty such as when Lee Hyuk hugged her... She wanted Lee Hyuk to man up and fight against his fate of being a puppet and admit his wrongdoings. On that thought, it almost seems like Sunny was planning to give him a second chance. She fought for the fall of the royal family, for the royal family to be punished for their wrongs. But she never called for death. It was Wang-sik who wanted death as a repayment. But he changed after getting to know Lee Hyuk. There were many chances he could have killed Lee Hyuk quietly but he didn't. He went along with Sunny's thought. It was obvious that he cares more for Sunny and having to declare his affections more than once to Sunny and Lee Hyuk.

 

But Sunny had never acknowledged it, out of concern of the rumor or Lee Hyuk's anger or her own uncertainty. She was never at a position to show her affection openly in her position only her concern for Wang-sik and to some extent even Lee Hyuk. It was almost certain that as long as she is the Empress, nothing should, can or would happen between Wang-sik and her. Not when everyone is targeting Wang-sik for death... and her out of the Royal family. It was perhaps the first lesson Empress Dowager taught her by stepping up that rumor between Chun Woo-bin and Sunny.

 

It is sad in a way, that both Wang-sik and Sunny are so expressive of their emotions at the start of the series, grew to be wary and held back on their feelings towards the end of the series. Wang-sik might be stormy and cold at times, but in actuality, it was Sunny who was tied down and prevented her heart to feel anything else more than grateful and concern... Love was out of the question for her role as an empress and as an actress, she had thrown herself into the role with the Meisner Method... she became the role in order to act... ie since she is the Empress, there is no Oh Sunny at all. So ... with that thought, I was okay with ending... It did seems reasonable to me with few parts missing (namely Wang-sik) but the production team and actors did what they could given the script and changes... It has been a crazy 3 months ride and heartfelt thanks to The Last Empress team. They have done the best they could in face of the situation! Great job to all! 

[katakwasabi]

Yallll. CJH filmed this recently. So it was true he had pre-arranged schedules 

 

 

[blademan]

Well I for one. LOVED THAT ENDING 

 

The best they could do in my opinion. The plot towards the end was getting too convoluted it seemed like it wouldn't be satisfactory but I LOVED IT!

 

- LH's best punishment was death and the fact that he will never be able to experience love with the woman he loves.

- The Queen went insane and is currently rotting in prison. (if she wasn't already)

- Maybe YR should have gotten a worse off ending...but don't really care tbh

- NWS/WB dying in the line of duty was the best way I could see his character dying actually - him dying of that bullet wound would have been anti-climactic. (and LH basically did whatever WS wanted: end the imperial family and LH die)

- The nanny. Okay she dead. Again, not feeling too bad cause Ari got Sunny now!

- Yoon got his happily ever after!

- Sunny...couldn't see it any other way. She did what she promised she would. End the Imperial family by exposing their truth! 

 

Again LOVED IT! The show was kinda draggy towards the end, but the ending made up for it