Back to the King's Reality

I will enumerate the three highlights and favorite scenes in this episode.

#1. As King Lee Gon was back in the palace in time for Prime Minister Koo's visit, it was another day in the office for him. The scene where the PM insisted in barging in to his office just to prove her suspicion that all of the royal courts were lying on the king's whereabouts and instead of being cooped up in his study, he is in fact missing. The surprise on her face when she saw him in the study! In this scene, the great power of the king was being depicted. No one is going to be indebted to the king, not even the prime minister whom the people has chosen. Every moment of the king's life is history and he wants that history to last forever! This is in fact a very powerful statement and I like the way Lee Min Ho acted on this one and showed the prime minister (Jung Eun Chae) who is King around here!

#2. I like how the writer of this story shows that even if he is the all powerful King, he is after all a human being with flaws. He doesn't wear ties only when necessary as he doesn't want anything constricting his neck especially. This just shows that amidst his strong facade, he is in pain and was traumatized by Lee Lim.

#3. Bromance. It was indeed a great decision casting Woo Do Hwan to play the King's captain of the Royal guard! The King has to show a steadfast and unwavering image but when no one is looking , Lee Gon can easily act all gullible around Jo Yeong. But this Unbreakable Sword would gladly climb mountains and take a bullet for his Majesty.

#4. Mysteries slowly unfolding. The introduction of the mysterious boy ( or girl ) or was he/she introduced during the previous episode. Tae Eul lost her ID as it went down the drain. Apparently, somebody has been feeding Lee Lim some information of the whereabouts of the king. The mysterious library. And the fact that Lee Gon's mom version in ROK is kept alive by Lee Rim, what is his end game by doing this? The appearance of a scar on Lee Gon's shoulder every time there is lightning. This show is never EVER boring for that matter.

#5. LONGING. Tae Eul begins to miss Lee Gon and his usual banter of a parallel universe. She went to the bamboo forest and the park where they were maybe hoping to see him once again? With the next turn of events , she begins to suspect that perhaps maybe Lee Gon is telling the truth after all.

This episode ends with a horse ride to the parallel universe and a whole new world for our female lead, Tae Eul.

Read More

The story has officially started…

The story has officially started and this is the best episode so far (mainly because Jung Taeeul's screentime was minimal). The cinematography continues to impress and now the writing is improving.

For me, the most glaring issue is character inconsistencies. Why is Jung Taeeul suddenly fascinated by Lee Gon’s disappearance? Why does she revisit the bamboo forest? When she receives her reissued ID card, why does she look tearful? She hates him and wanted him to leave.

Next week looks promising but at this point, I’m tempering expectations. Although I’m desperate to love this one, to date I’ve only had one successful Kim Eunsuk drama—and I’ve watched six. Unfortunately, there's a real possibility this could be the drama which makes me avoid her future projects.

Read More