I was initially drawn to this new Korean drama, currently airing in Korea and on Netflix (oh how times have changed just since 2015 when Asian dramas airing live on Netflix wasn't a thing yet!), admittedly because of Cha Eun-woo (My ID is Gangnam Beauty, which, by the way, is an amazing drama deeply reflective about today's beauty standards and how they destroy our society - highly recommended) from K-pop idol group ASTRO. I loved My ID is Gangnam Beauty so much that I just have positive feelings towards any actor from that production and would likely support and try out any of their subsequent projects.
Anyway, we are 4 weeks into the show and episode 7 just aired with episode 8 airing in a few hours in Korea. I am here writing about this show mostly because I'm confused and feeling torn about this show. I was initially going to tweet about it (follow me! @karebearnoona) but quickly realized I had way more screencaps and thoughts than would be acceptable on stan Twitter.
Okay, so re: my confusion. What is this show really about? I can't decide, and it seems Show also cannot decide. Is it supposed to be a Historical Romance with all the love triangles and squares? Or Historical Drama documenting the difficulties of being the first women government officials? Or Historical Political with all the usual court cronies scheming behind everyone's backs? There are too many plotlines going on at once, and that's okay, but they are not tightly woven, only loosely related to each other, and the pacing is super slow. I'm okay with it right now, but I just wish Show would hurry up and choose its identity. I feel like only then can it come into its own and really make some impactiful statements.
