BriarMoone
United States
This review may contain spoilers
Starts out Strong, Ends with a Whimper
The strength of "100 Days My Prince" lies in how its story was set up (basically its first episode, which was very "War of the Arrows"). The child actors, Jung Ji-Hoon and Heo Jung-Eun really sell blooming friendship between Lee Yool and I-Seo to such a degree, I would've been content just watching an entire show about these kids. The dynamic between the usurped Princess and the unwilling Crown Prince makes for a fantastic foundation for a friends-to-lovers story. Or would've if the writers had chosen to go in any other direction besides the one they chose.
The idea behind a boy being foisted into a position of royalty because of his opportunist father and a greedy Lord is, at first, interesting. The idea of an amnesic Prince learning to become a better person is also a great idea. But, the two ideas are at odds with each other. One lends itself to the story the writers were telling, the other is more befitting a "riches-to-rags-to-riches" kind've story like "Anastasia (1999)". Ultimately, it seemed to me that writers were torn on who Lee Yool was supposed to be.
Instead of playing the Crown Prince up as stone-faced, passive-aggressive non-actor who gets pushed out of the political intrigue plot for a romantic side-quest, we could've had a proactive Prince who sought to undermine his father's rule. The show doesn't do enough to explore or develop Lee Yool as an adult, wholly against his father's actions and suffering the consequences of them. His relationship with his father is just never explored beyond his resentment.
The show plays up the nastiness of Lee Yool as set up for a romance that's meant to realign him morally (the amnesia being his punishment, of sorts). The amnesia plot is wholly unnecessary when there's enough conflict between King and Prince, and Prince and Lord, that he needn't be removed from the royal palace setting at all.
The thing that kept me glued to this series from beginning to end was the relationship between the brother and sister, Yoon I-Seo (Hong Shim) and Yoon Seok-Ha (Mu-Yeon). That, and the barely explored relationship between the Kim So-Hye (the Crown Princess) and Mu-Yeon (the brother-turned-assassin). Basically, the hope that the show would delve more into their relationship instead of keeping their dynamics obscured in the margins.
I-Seo and Seok-Ha's promise to each other, the hope to be reunited, and the obstacles that kept them apart was a sixteen episode series unto itself. The Princess, unsatisfied and disinterested in her suffocating life as royalty, falling in love with Mu-Yeon, cliched as it is, at least had some spark to it when one considers her fraught relationship with her father (who threatens her life constantly). I can imagine if this series was just about the three of them, my opinion of "100 Days My Prince" might be much higher.
"100 Days My Prince" feels unfocused. There are so many characters (like the Queen, the second Prince, the Eunuch guy) that fall to the wayside, almost forgotten. Things that characters did at the beginning of the show (full on regicide!) are glossed over and dismissed like no biggie.
So much of it leans on the fish-out-of-water antics of the amnesiac Lee Yool, and placating Hong Shim, and the political intrigue" subplot that goes nowhere. The first only works if you like BOTH characters, and the second doesn't because the show barely develops the conflict between King and Lord.
By the time we reach the last six episodes, like most K-dramas, it's hard to even tell what the story's intentions are anymore (beyond the romantic plot) it becomes so aimless (the war subplot feels like it comes out of left-field). The Yoon sibling relationship, and forbidden love between the Crown Princess and Mu-Yeon gets lost in the dishwater of a muddled story.
Lee Yool is not an interesting character post-childhood. He's bland, and the mostly one-note performance of Do Kyung-Soo (rooted in machismo) makes the show a bore to watch toward the midpoint. The story's attempt to rehabilitate of his character just doesn't work for me overall.
Actress Nam Ji-Hyun does most of the heavy lifting that makes the relationship between Hong Shim and Lee Yool work even a little. She's got a great sense of comedic timing, and her more energetic performances with the supporting cast of villagers is fantastic.
Kyung-Soo's lack of presence just exposes how one-sided their on-screen dynamic often is. Their chemistry is weak, especially when compared to the dynamic Ji-Hyun has with Kim Seon-Ho (Jung Jae-Yoon, the face-blind governor) who plays her supporting love interest.
"100 Days My Prince" isn't without merit or its moments, but the execution of the story was lacking in lot of areas.
The idea behind a boy being foisted into a position of royalty because of his opportunist father and a greedy Lord is, at first, interesting. The idea of an amnesic Prince learning to become a better person is also a great idea. But, the two ideas are at odds with each other. One lends itself to the story the writers were telling, the other is more befitting a "riches-to-rags-to-riches" kind've story like "Anastasia (1999)". Ultimately, it seemed to me that writers were torn on who Lee Yool was supposed to be.
Instead of playing the Crown Prince up as stone-faced, passive-aggressive non-actor who gets pushed out of the political intrigue plot for a romantic side-quest, we could've had a proactive Prince who sought to undermine his father's rule. The show doesn't do enough to explore or develop Lee Yool as an adult, wholly against his father's actions and suffering the consequences of them. His relationship with his father is just never explored beyond his resentment.
The show plays up the nastiness of Lee Yool as set up for a romance that's meant to realign him morally (the amnesia being his punishment, of sorts). The amnesia plot is wholly unnecessary when there's enough conflict between King and Prince, and Prince and Lord, that he needn't be removed from the royal palace setting at all.
The thing that kept me glued to this series from beginning to end was the relationship between the brother and sister, Yoon I-Seo (Hong Shim) and Yoon Seok-Ha (Mu-Yeon). That, and the barely explored relationship between the Kim So-Hye (the Crown Princess) and Mu-Yeon (the brother-turned-assassin). Basically, the hope that the show would delve more into their relationship instead of keeping their dynamics obscured in the margins.
I-Seo and Seok-Ha's promise to each other, the hope to be reunited, and the obstacles that kept them apart was a sixteen episode series unto itself. The Princess, unsatisfied and disinterested in her suffocating life as royalty, falling in love with Mu-Yeon, cliched as it is, at least had some spark to it when one considers her fraught relationship with her father (who threatens her life constantly). I can imagine if this series was just about the three of them, my opinion of "100 Days My Prince" might be much higher.
"100 Days My Prince" feels unfocused. There are so many characters (like the Queen, the second Prince, the Eunuch guy) that fall to the wayside, almost forgotten. Things that characters did at the beginning of the show (full on regicide!) are glossed over and dismissed like no biggie.
So much of it leans on the fish-out-of-water antics of the amnesiac Lee Yool, and placating Hong Shim, and the political intrigue" subplot that goes nowhere. The first only works if you like BOTH characters, and the second doesn't because the show barely develops the conflict between King and Lord.
By the time we reach the last six episodes, like most K-dramas, it's hard to even tell what the story's intentions are anymore (beyond the romantic plot) it becomes so aimless (the war subplot feels like it comes out of left-field). The Yoon sibling relationship, and forbidden love between the Crown Princess and Mu-Yeon gets lost in the dishwater of a muddled story.
Lee Yool is not an interesting character post-childhood. He's bland, and the mostly one-note performance of Do Kyung-Soo (rooted in machismo) makes the show a bore to watch toward the midpoint. The story's attempt to rehabilitate of his character just doesn't work for me overall.
Actress Nam Ji-Hyun does most of the heavy lifting that makes the relationship between Hong Shim and Lee Yool work even a little. She's got a great sense of comedic timing, and her more energetic performances with the supporting cast of villagers is fantastic.
Kyung-Soo's lack of presence just exposes how one-sided their on-screen dynamic often is. Their chemistry is weak, especially when compared to the dynamic Ji-Hyun has with Kim Seon-Ho (Jung Jae-Yoon, the face-blind governor) who plays her supporting love interest.
"100 Days My Prince" isn't without merit or its moments, but the execution of the story was lacking in lot of areas.
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