This drama makes me so angry!

It's so freaking good!

Ok, there is one slight issue I had, but I'll get to it at the end, since it's a spoiler. There isn't much I can say that isn't said already, but this drama surpasses the hype as is damn near perfect in every way.

The cast are incredible and were the best for the dramatic as well as the comedic parts. My favorite moments were when the NK group are in Seoul trying to navigate, and the bond they have with Se-ri is so sweet. I can't really think of a better descriptor than this, but Jeong Seok is so manly, I was in love! The way he didn't say much, but spoke essays with his actions. And every time he did speak, his words had so much impact, I would forget to breathe.

I loved all the twists and turns in the story, and just how everything went for the most part. I think this is far enough down, I can say my one small issue, and that's what happened to Seung-jun. That was way too tragic! He was finally doing better and I wanted him and Dan to have a happy ending, but they kill him! I was waiting and watching until the very last second on the final episode for him to appear, but nothing. Dan tells Jeong Seok that he went far away, but why didn't she tell him he was actually dead? Why leave it vague and giving hope if there is none? It's unnecessary.

Still, overall, this was brilliant. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it, and if you read this far, and haven't, I'm sorry if I spoiled that for you.

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Not what I expected, but not bad

Going into this, I didn't know this would be a chronicle of the life of Gwanghae, and wasn't prepared for all the time skips, but I got used to it pretty quickly.
For it being his first historical drama, Seo In Guk did a fantastic job. Of course, he's a popular actor and it makes sense, but even at the time of this drama, it's very clear how good he is.
Overall, I did like this drama. I came in expecting more romance, though. I wondered throughout most of the drama how the main two were going to end up together, and what actually happened in the end was not it. It was tragic that he had to get married to another woman, and his father claimed Gahee, but I was still surprised when there as a sudden child that must be Gwanghae's, because that meant he really gave up on her. It was silly of me to keep hope, but they had no children for the longest time because Gwanghae still loved Gahee and their marriage was a political one, anyway. But seeing that child had a lot of different meanings on the relationships. Plus how she saved his life would mean they had no future, and that killed it.
I can't decide how this makes me feel on the drama as a whole. There is SO many politics. Don't get me wrong, I like some political game to spice things up, but that was really the main focus.
What was really interesting for me, was none of the characters stayed in their lane. What I mean by that is a lot of the characters aren't "the bad guys" and "the good guys." Everyone is complex, and at one point a character might be an enemy, then an ally, but also the reverse happens. It was really fun to watch which side someone was on at a given time.
One character I didn't like was Imhae, because he was the only one that seemed so one note. I understood his character in the beginning and liked him, but after a while, he just became embarrassing as a royal. Both Gwanghae and King Seonjo kept asking him "Where have you been?" What have you been doing?" Because really, he wasn't doing ANYTHING. He just got mad and got drunk. Like, he's a smart man (I think), at some point, you have to realize when you are beaten and to take it in stride. We don't even know what became of him in the end because it's not shown, but I imagine he was stripped of everything, if not beheaded because of what he tried to pull. I know Kim Dochi was influencing him, but the man should have known it was a suicide mission.
So, this drama is great if you like history, action, and politics, but not so much for the romance. It's there, but not the way you hope.

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What color is his hair?!

Honestly, that is the question that kept going through my mind the whole time I was watching the show. I thought it was a trick of the light at times, and other times it definitely looked like Doom's hair had changed color more than once. Sometimes it looked a mossy green, other times it looked a dark blue, and then would change to an almost black underneath with silver or gray mixed in. I suppose it helps emphasize his non-humanness, but I kept getting distracted by it every time I saw it.

Anyway, on to the actual review.
I'll be honest, a little over half way through the series, I took a break from it and then came back to finish it today and I tried to figure out why I needed to do that. Was I having burnout from all the dramas I've been watching? Possibly, but after coming back to it, I realized I was dragging myself to finish because I told myself I was going to watch something else after I did this one first. I think that says a lot.

I want to echo some things I read in other reviews, whereas this series has everything it should: great cast, good story, nice visuals,but a great soundtrack, but it still felt a bit flat. The cast were superb! I loved every one of them, and a special shout out to the guy that played Uncle Kevin, because he is the only foreign actor I have seen in a kdrama that isn't cringy and stiff in both his lines and acting.

I think the biggest problem with the series is the story. The premise is good and the beginning is intriguing, but where it comes up short is in the writing toward the middle to the end. The moments with the characters are good, but the rules about their situation seem unclear at times. Also, I thought the ending was very abrupt, but that's just me.

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Perfect for Romantics!

I'll be honest, it's not as perfect as people hype it up to be, but what it does have are probably the best vibes off a main couple I have ever seen. These two are so adorable and supportive of each other, my heart actually fluttered during certain scenes. It's got some of the best build up for a slow burn (if you like slow burns) and the afterward doesn't feel rushed or awkward. They were dating while filming the show and it really shows. So, if you are a romantic like me, this series will give you all the feels you could ever ask for, without a lot of heavy drama. It's very light-hearted and fun for most of the run.

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Really cute for the most part!

Besides a few moments that really bring the show down, most of the time, the moments between the lead couple are so cute and funny! Especially Sun-gyeol. His expressions and interactions were a real delight to watch. My favorite moments were actually between him and Ha-In, and I love how their friendship developed. Also agree with others that the kissing scenes are incredible and cute!

Speaking of Ha-In, while I loved his character as a person, there were several times I had a question in my head of just how ethical he was being as a physician. There was one scene where he told O-sol some of Sun-gyeol's family history and roots of his trauma, and I'm not sure that's something he should mention. In any case, I'm happy he didn't turn into a bitter person after he was rejected, and was really looking out for O-sol as an actual friend.

Also, I'm no expert on misophobia, so I don't know how easy it is to cure, but I feel like his condition looked plausible throughout the series. I'm not even sure if "cure" is the right word here, but he looked believably better in the end. Again, kudos to the actor, but he somehow made it look to the naked eye, like normal actions, but since we know his history, there was this uneasiness at times during moments that used to be impossible for him. The fact that he can do all of that now is impressive.

There were some times that felt unnecessarily dramatic (I know, in a drama? Shocking!), but I felt incredibly bad for Sun-gyeol toward the end. Especially the lead up to his accident. I don't care if no one agrees, but O-sol was absolutely partly responsible for that. Not of the accident itself, but the way he was feeling at the time. The one thing he definitely told her was that he felt she was the first person to really empathize with his condition and she didn't make him feel weird about it. Then, in some convoluted dramatic must-break-up scene, she tells him that it was "too much for her" and she was "tired" of him. Like WHY would you say that?! I love slow burns, but I hate terrible break ups just for them to get back together anyway. It was a nice ending, though, but still.

The other characters are great. I love the clean crew so much! Her brother is also fun, and anyone that thought he was mean has probably never had a sibling before. I could tell how much he loves and cares for her.

The soundtrack is also really good! "Cosmos" by Huh Gak is my favorite.

I absolutely recommend watching it at least once. Yeah, there are some moments you might have to get through, but I enjoyed it overall.

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It's a mess

What should have taken me a day or two to finish made me take even longer because I almost gave up watching the whole thing. To make a long review short, I highly recommend you don't watch it.

I was really intrigued by the premise of the story. A modern actress gets sent back in time to the era she is portraying, and tries to navigate that world while looking for a way back to her time. Meanwhile, getting caught up in a love she had no intention of having, and having to choose between going back or staying. It sounds great right? However, while whats on paper is sort of what we get, it gets hidden behind a terrible production.

I'll start with the good:
-The episodes are short, just a half hour, so if you are really dedicated, you can finish it in a day.
-Once I understood the point, I was ok with the weird edits in the middle of the episodes. They stop them about 2/3 of the way into the episodes, though.
-General Ko Il-yong. I can't really explain why, but I just liked his character. I think he was the only one that didn't take his role so seriously, and was good enough to have fun with it. He was over the top at times, but he was enjoyable.
-Gong Seongyeon has an amazing singing voice.

And now the bad:
-It looks so low budget. The wigs and props look incredibly fake, almost cartoonishly. The wigs especially were really distracting with how bad they were styled on some of the actors. The style is all over the place, and while I am not a Korean historical expert, it looked to me like there wasn't much regard for accuracy at all. That could be due to the budget, but some of the styles seemed really modern compared to how they probably should have been portrayed.
-Most of the acting is really cringy. I talked about General Ko already, and there were a couple others that were ok, but in general, it was hard to watch. I feel bad for Gong Seongyeon, because I have seen her in WAY better productions, and I'm sure she was giving her best, but I really didn't like her character. She was really annoying and didn't really redeem herself all the much to me.
-The plot is a mess. I would have given it a higher rating if it was a straight parody, but it tries to be serious half way through and looses whatever edge it had. In one of the earlier episodes, there was even a 4th wall break, so I almost saw it in a better light. Like "Oh, ok, so I shouldn't care about the plot because it's not important" and then they make it important in the end.
-The second lead couple has a better love story. Not that either was portrayed really well, but I believed that they loved each other more than the main couple. I know people have mentioned that they were one of the top couples in WGM, but I didn't see that here. On Dal looked more like he was going to eat her (and not in a sexy way) most of the time.
-The ending doesn't make sense. I was hoping she would have a similar situation to what happened with Samyong, in which we would see a modern incarnation of On Dal, but nope, the real deal just time jumps out of no where with no explanation.
-With all the behind the scenes shots in the earlier episodes (which I loved by the way, it was one of the good things), they stopped them half way through the series. It's like they changed editors at some point in the show.
-This is a personal gripe of mine, but the camerawork that was done is not my personal style. It's the type that looks like they are shooting a soap opera, with hyper defined pan shots and bad lighting. It highlights even more the fake props and makes everything distracting.

There's probably more I can say, but they are smaller things that don't really matter to me that much.

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Absolutely loved it!

I first saw this on Netflix, and there is a very different synopsis there than on here, but even taking that into account, it's not completely wrong. Also, people are being way harsher on it than it deserves.
I thought the story was great overall. Was a certain character's backstory introduced a bit late? Sure, but it didn't ruin anything. The romance was the best part and how Geo Ddong became a part of the crew. The second lead couple had a good story as well, though her personality wasn't as appealing. But he loved her, so what can I say? I love the actress though, since I also saw her in Business Proposal.
The music is also really good, though I am slightly biased since one of the OSTs is by Yesung "Drawn on the Heart." A really beautiful song that made me melt during the romantic scenes.
I don't know what else I can say, just that I'd be happy to watch it again, and think it deserves a better rating. Give it a try!

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This was surprisingly deep, I'm glad I watched it

This show was on my list to watch for a while because I really like Kim Minkyu from Business Proposal, but have also gotten to know Ji Changwook and Kim Yoojung from other dramas as well and absolutely love them. It wasn't any different here. For the roles they had, they did amazingly well.
I won't talk much about that certain character, as everyone has pretty much touched on it already, but I will say that for me, even without the CA, he was a really hard character to watch. His comedy wasn't really that funny, but his one redeeming quality was the loyalty he had for Daehyun and that the character toned down after he got in his relationship.
Speaking of relationships, as much as I love the actors and felt their performances were amazing, I'm not sure I bought the main two as a couple. I kept getting the feeling that he saw her as more of a little sister until the last couple of episodes. But even then, it was more of a tease. Still, I think Ji Changwook is a very funny actor and I still found myself smiling during his scenes.
I mentioned in the title how this drama cut surprisingly deep, and that's because if you just watch the first couple of episodes, the tone is very different to the heart of the story. The message of family is so powerful in this, that I almost wished they cut the romance entirely. Starting with Saetbyol and her sister, I was nearly crying for these two and rooted for them the entire time. The burden that Saetbyol had to carry after moving out with her sister was really handled well by Kim Yoojung. The scenes where she breaks down because of the things happening to her really broke my heart.
Another scene that got to me was during the buildup and reveal of Yeongju's mother's scheming. That was absolutely vile, but what got me even more in the feels were Daehyun's parents in the kitchen trying to have a conversation but tearing up because of the situation. It was so mature and realistic, it caught me off guard.
Overall, if you can get through that character's scenes, this was a good watch.

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Way better than I thought!

I personally love stories where the couple fall for each other the first time, or the first time they are serious about each other. So when I read that this was about a couple that were already married, I didn't know if I would enjoy it as much, but I was very wrong!
The way the story starts out and how they progress, was so captivating! It's a very mature story where, rather than dealing with the conflicts of starting out from scratch, we have a couple that are going through the troubles of after. At the center of it all is family, and what that means in many different ways. If you are normally one to cry, you will!
The acting, production, and soundtrack are all fantastic and the biggest highlights in the series.
I don't know why people are being so negative. It's not a perfect series, but certainly not that bad either. Definitely worth a watch!

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Not bad, but not what I hoped

I agree with what most others are saying.
The ML was the best character and I found myself excited whenever he showed up on screen. It's hard to put this in words, but he is the most "king" character I have ever seen. He felt truly terrifying at times when people got on his bad side, but truly kind at heart. This dynamic made him really compelling. It's also one of the few times I've seen the power dynamic in these historical dramas to really play out. Most of the time, I felt like the FL was far too afraid of him. He gave her good reason to be, but I never felt like we really got over that well enough. At least on her part. I was fully "captivated" by him way sooner than she was, but I'm not the FL.

All in all, if you like political games, this drama has plenty of it to keep you interested, but if you want romance, there is very little of it. The king waists no time in letting the audience know how much he cares for her, and we feel it whenever he looks in her direction, or even just at the sky, but she seems really passe about the whole thing. She didn't even want to tell him that she returned from Qing and was going to leave quietly?! WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO SEE THE MAN YOU LOVE?! That was pretty disappointing.

The rest of the characters are fine. I have a soft spot for Lee Shin Young (Myungha) and Yang Kyung Won (Yoo Hyunbo), as they are my boys from Crash Landing on You, but especially Yang Kyung Won. I will watch him in anything, he's a great actor.

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