Drama Rating: 8/10 Neck Score: A+
So I struggled watching it in the middle probably because I was too into it and I couldn't handle it at the time. I think I was too stressed and it was so hard at the time. But that was why it was so good. It was about a very controversial time in history, with another one of those brotherly struggles for the crown where no one really wins because they're family, but everyone has some reason for being sympathetic. But those brothers were the worst as they caught our girl in the middle. I couldn't handle that at the moment, so I had to take a really long break. But then, as I had to take a picture for my Tiny Edition of Women Who Make Me Watch Dramas Against My Will, and it worked. I love Park Min Young enough that I finished the drama. I was also just ready again. Ready for a good but hard to watch in parts drama. I had watched enough fluff and was ready for some meat, because that is what this show is. The real stuff.
I really like how conflicted all the characters. I love Lee Dong Gun and he did such a good job being the crazy king. The slow progression from him being just conflicted about needing to kill his brother and not following his dad's choice of making his brother king to being completely crazy, tyrannical, and murderous. But I loved that even in all his ranting and craziness, you still saw his vulnerability. He had some reason behind the madness, not that he had justification, and he was just crying out to be loved and appreciated the whole time. The problem was the person who he wanted to love him the most was already dead at the start of the show. His father, the previous king, who was maybe the root cause of everything that happened, since his meddling caused everything to develop, from the OTP's relationship, to the hyung not feeling accepted and worthy.
I also really loved Yeon Woo Jin's portrayal of the wishy washy dongsaeng prince. He was fundamentally good, but he was all over the place. The show did a good job of showing how he wanted to do something, but he was constantly getting swayed as to how or why. As a child he was content to run away so he could be close to his hyung. The he fell in love with Chae Kyung and actually did something, which of course threw off the delicate balance and set the ball rolling for him to be assassinated, to get revenge, and to ultimately start a rebellion. However, he never completely followed through with everything because he was never 100% sure of his motivation or 100% dedicated to his direction, and his motivations were much different from his followers, and they were never 100% behind him completely. They were using him as much as he was using them, and everyone was using everyone else, except maybe Chae Kyung, who just wanted to live a happy life and be loved.
Omo, I love Park Min Young! She was perfect! She had the perfect blend of innocence, spunk, and smarts to show the story of a girl who is caught between a rock and a hard place. Love, her parents, her family, loyalty, friendship, innocence and reality. Seeing her grow up and come to realize what she will have to face, what choices she made, realizing those consequences, it was all awesome. It was terrible, actually. I felt so bad for her all the time. She had only chosen to love, but when the people she loved were all on opposing sides, she lost the most. While I could never fully hate either of the brothers, I certainly hated the forces behind them who escalated the problem and mercilessly killed more people, and made it completely impossible for anyone to be happy. Really, in the end no one was happy. Boo.
It was a great show. Lee Dong Gun made me cry in the end. Like a lot. Park Min Young did too. She is such a queen. In this show and in real life. I guess Chansung made me cry sometimes too. There was crying. A lot, if you're a cryer. I only cried near the end. But I definitely got pissed off a lot at all those other people who were messing with my main peeps. They were all the worst. Grrr. It was also cute and funny at times. It really made you feel all the emotions, although most of them were the harder emotions. It's fine. It was a good show, but the timing of it made me need breaks and take longer than normal. If I had watched it while it was airing, I might have kept up with it, but there is no telling really. It's good, but you have to be ready for this type of show, at least I needed to be, but that's fine too. I do recommend it, to those who like sageuks and such.
