Captivating the King (2024)

DISAPPOINTING AT BEST, INSUFFERABLE AT WORST.

***DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE AND I'M NOT HERE TO ARGUE WITH ANYONE.***

To sum everything up in simple terms:

- Disappointing storyline, plot and flow of events.
- I lost interest at episode 9 and forced myself to watch the rest.
- Watching became a chore and it felt like the biggest waste of time.
- Female MC was badly written (I hate her character and I wish she died)
- If not for the ML (Jo Jong Suk) most people wouldn’t think of rating this drama kindly.
- This drama totally missed the mark for me and to be honest it was boring.
- I definitely would not recommend, you’re better off watching any other ongoing drama or critically acclaimed historical drama.
- I didn't even find the political schemes interesting because it seemed like child's play and was not very engaging. I felt like they were going around in circles for the entirety of the drama. ML did not have anyone on his side and they were all trying to undermine and sabotage him in some way / shape or form. The worst part is the woman he loved tried to kill him even though he tried being very honest with her.
- The whole narrative of being captivated and how they tied it in was bs. If you watched from the beginning you could easily see see that the FL falling for ML would be her downfall and she was the one who would end up captivated.
- The chemistry between the leads were lacking and their love / kissing scenes sucked. In the last episode especially it was painful to watch them interact because it seemed so forced. Their love was not believable at all and the FL looked very uncomfortable. I wish I could erase their scenes from my mind bc they just gave me the ick.
- The drama pissed me off, especially due to the fact that they were sleeping together and he didn’t even figure out her name or demand to know it until the last episode. They’re just so irksome. FL especially she is so trifling ughhh.
- I believe FL should try another career. She's pretty so she can model or do brand deals instead. I feel like I have given her enough chances to redeem herself but she is still the same as she was in Black Knight. She has the same expression (looking like a damn deer in the headlights) throughout the entire series and was almost always crying.
- If you want to watch this drama for the romance I advise you not to. You will be disappointed. If however you still want to give this drama a chance because you love Jo Jong Suk and political schemes (which imo were cliche) then by all means be my guest. I however, would not put myself through that again because I believe that one person should not be expected to carry the weight of the entire drama on their back.
- With all that said, I give this shit show / mess of a drama a 5/10

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The King carried the nation and the drama on his back

I will quickly mention the things that I liked and disliked about the series and then I will refer to my biggest problem about it that made it such a huge disappointment.

What I liked:
+ First four episodes (with pick being the fourth)
+ Jo Jung Suk as the King
+ Park Ye Young as Lady Dong
+ Most of the veteran actors performances (along with a few non-veteran ones)
+ The child actor that starred as Dae Gun
+ Politics based
+ Visuals
+ Non-puppet king
+ The dark atmosphere
+ Production quality


What I disliked or found mediocre:
- Script was mediocre -to be kind-
- Music: okayish individually, but nothing memorable and shouldn't have been used in some scenes
- Pacing: Each episode could easily be 15-20 minutes shorter
- Jang Young Nam tended to overact as Queen Park
- Cobweb-like beards
- The absence of tension in the majority of the show
- The romance aspect made me feel nothing most of the times
- Many clichés - Very underwhelming, especially towards the end
- Ending


Now, to the thing I was mostly disappointed about. Friendly reminder that this is my opinion.
Also, what will be mentioned does not contain spoilers, unless you have not read the synopsis, watched the trailer or seen the poster. So to anyone that wants to go into the series without any previous knowledge I suggest you to stop reading.

And here it is, my biggest problem with the series -> Shin Sae Kyeong and the female lead that she portrayed

1. Portrayal as a male baduk player
- Obviously no one in the crew wanted her to look like a male. The make-up department did their best to make her look like a woman.
- The makeup they used when she was actually dressed as a woman was either the same (as her male identity) or not as prominent...
- Someone must have told the actress to act like a woman at all times too, because everything, be it her mannerisms or voice, could never have anyone fooled that she is a man.

2. Everyone looked brainless
- Have I seen series where an actress that is impossible to look like a man pretends to be one and no one questions it? Yes, many!
But you know what those series weren't? Serious.
They were mostly focused, one way or another, on romance where anything was possible -and they were certainly not focused on politics-.

Captivating the King sets a very serious tone from the get go and the romance is not the center of the plot.
So it feels not only extremely unrealistic, but also a bit dumb.
We have a ton of people scheming and no one mentions that she looks and acts as a woman (not that they could, but at least try to make her look like a man, just try).

3. Every other man VS Her
- This is a series filled with veteran actors, most older in age. There are no idol looking characters and barely any very young men are starring.
The majority of the men are old or middle aged, the younger ones are tall and build and all of them have a beard. Of course even though all actors wear make-up it is not really that visible on the men. And what is the female lead as a male like? Petite, super young, glass skin, no beard - not to mention the absence of the adam's apple- and of course face full of make-up...
She feels so out of place between all these people, yet no one seems to notice.

4. Character
Her character is stupid, there I said it.
- Everything goes her way, because the script says so. She would be dead a long time ago if the series took itself seriously.
- She literally has no plans (she is just going with the flow, even though she wants revenge)
- The scriptwriter and director try very hard to convince the audience that she is a smart and capable character, but her plan makes 0 sense -because there isn't one-. And as we all know, it is very easy for someone to get revenge against powerful people when they have no plan. Let's not forget the thing that irritated me the most. She acts depending on her emotions.

5. Acting
- The female lead is supposed to be a desperate character that will do anything to bring justice about what happened to her and everyone around her. She is supposed to be smart and calculative.
And you know what she does? She is ready to bawl her eyes out every freaking scene!
She is having a serious conversation where she should look intimidating and she looks like she is about to cry! Am I -or any character- supposed to take her seriously?

- Shi Sae Kyung has a limited amount of expressions the entire series
1. She looks like she is about to cry (or cries)
2. She is expressionless with her mouth always open
3. She is moving her eyes around or semi closes them to look flustered/confused

6. She ends up being a vital part of the plot, even though she is unimportant
- The writer tends to involve her in situations out of nowhere just to include her in the plot. She is not really an important character, more like a guest role in her own show that they had to involve in the plot somehow to give her screentime. The whole drama could easily work without her character.

In the few series I have seen Shin Sae Kyeong, I have never considered her a very good actress, but also not bad to a point that bothers me (plus I can’t avoid saying that she is super pretty).
Now, Shin Sae Kyeong was -as usual- not really great, but was basically ruined by a very badly written character -and an equally badly written script-. Also, having Jo Jung Suk as her co-star undermined her performance even more. He was the one that carried this show and he was the only thing that was worth it from beginning to end.

All in all? Unfortunately, despite its good start, this ended up being another series that did not need a female lead, but they decided to use one just to squeeze in the romance and because the scriptwriter apparently couldn't do anything better with the script -while also using the false ''strong woman'' armor-. Some good performances and the production quality weren’t enough to save a very badly written script that was also lacking greatly in terms of pacing. And yes, I will say it, this would work much better as a revenge based male VS male lead drama that focuses on politics and schemes inside the palace.

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