A solid romance. Though, I have to say, towards the end it gets a bit tedious. The whole, "I bring so much baggage with me", "You'll be unhappy with me", "I've hurt you too much", garbage that gets repeated over and over is tough to swallow. For once, I'd like to see an obvious and satisfying ending to a K historical romance. Instead, we get an epilogue that drags and drags and doesn't give you what you want until literally the last 5 seconds of the show. But the ride was cute getting there, at least at first.
As for the rest of the show, if this isn't your first K Historical Drama/Romance, you can safely wear out your fast forward button, and skip any scenes that the two leads aren't in.
Why? Because, simply, there's nothing new to see. To summarize (every historical piece):
1. Conniving and manipulative queens and princesses? Check.
2. Corrupt and spiteful Ministers? Check.
3. An evil State Counsellor or Premier behind everything? Check.
4. Bad guys that can spy, kill, and spread rumors with impunity? Check
5. Inept good guys who can't spy, never think they're in danger, and wander around aimlessly as puppets for almost the entire show? Check
6. Good guys who let the bad guys kill, kill again, kill some more, kill loved ones, kill more loved ones, simply because they're too caught up in their own fancy revenge plots ("He must die painfully over a long long life" Bleh!) to save the people around them? Check.
7. Inept guards that let royals sneak out and about whenever they want, simply by changing clothes, yet stick to them like glue when they don't have anywhere to go? Check.
I could go on. This one has ALL the standard tropes that make some of these shows painful to watch.
Which is why god created the fast-forward button! Try it. You won't miss anything.
