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A Captivating King…
As other viewers I felt ending was short. Waited for so much more. Although they gave us a happy ending (at least) it needed more substance. The kiss was awful! At least if it was as their first kiss it was good but that kiss? Why after all the trouble they can’t give a better ending, at least I would have been thrilled with a good kiss.Jo Jung Suk saved this drama. If it wasn’t for him probably I would have dropped it. As many others comments he CARRIED this drama. Deserves an Oscar! Don’t know if his acting diminished Shin Sae Kyeong or if she acted poorly next to him or the script. I will go with his acting was too much for her. All the emotions that he could convey in seconds were superb and those eyes said so much. Wow! I hope to see him soon in more dramas similar so I can see more of this potential. I have seen other of his dramas but here I felted he was intense.
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I, for one, was captivated LOL
Writing-wise, this is one of the best sageuks I've ever seen (and at this point, I've watched a whole lot of them).I don't know how else to describe it beside it being smartly written. The characters were interesting and flawed, with multiple layers and complex emotions. Their actions were always motivated by solid reasons, and even the villains were clever in the way they plotted their evil deeds (which is not actually the norm in base of my observations so far). I was hooked throughout, and actually found myself being surprised by some of the twists and turns the story took.
The show was like a baduk game in and of itself, with the two opponents constantly trying to outsmart and outmaneuver each other, both when it was the King and his Gidaeryeong, and the King and those seeking to control him, which I really loved given how prominently the game was featured. There was a constant struggle for power going on, with the knowledge that any move had to be carefully considered because a wrong step could lead to catastrophic results (much as it was shown during the very first episode).
Also, there were a lot of different instances were it was mentioned how the characters were blinded because of how they were "captivated" by a certain emotion. Be it a thirst for revenge, or an overwhelming love, or anything in between. Which again, I liked the tie in to the show's name and theme.
Of course, it was visually stunning, like all sageuks usually are, and the OST matched the show well, even if it was not very memorable. The acting was top notch all across, with Cho Jung Seok shining especially bright in his range from tyrannical King to lovesick man, he really excelled in portraying a deeply complex character. Shin Se Kyung's character reminded me a lot of who she'd played in Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (also a marvelous sageuk fyi), a smart woman, confident in her abilities but somewhat limited by her circumstances.
The only reason I'm not giving Captivating the King the full 10/10 rating is because the romantic spark between the leads was sadly missing. I loved how mature, deep and settled their relationship felt, but the heat that comes with good chemistry was sadly missing. I bought they cared about each other, but didn't feel the attraction. When they kissed, nothing happened.
Either way, it was an amazing show and I had a great time watching it.
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A series not to be missed
I was completely captivated by every moment of the "Captivating the King" series. The story is a fascinating journey through the realm of political intrigue and the royal court, and the king himself has become one of my favorite characters.Every time the king enters the scene, you can't help but admire his calmness and intelligence. The way he approaches every challenge with wisdom and determination makes him an outstanding leader. The actor playing him adds tremendous depth and authenticity to such a complex character.
The series leads us through a maze of political alliances and power shifts, giving us a deep look into the society and politics of the time. Each episode brings with it new twists and moments of tension that kept me glued to the screen.
If you are fond of Korean historical dramas, "Captivating the King" is an experience you should not miss. It will transport you to a fascinating world full of mystery and nobility, where you will be caught in a story that will fascinate you from the first moment.
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The main actress ruined the show
Shin Sae Kyeong (SSK) ruined the show. With a good actress, even the most ridiculous plotlines would've made the show exponentially better. SSK just can't act. She has one facial expression and her mouth is always open. If the sound was on mute, we wouldn't known whether Mongwoo was happy, sad, horny, or constipated. She had no personality and her face always looked the same because of SSK's stiff acting. Half-way through, it was impossible to ignore her overbite and teeth always showing. I don't blame the actress because it was the director's or producer's, or whoever was in charge, responsibility to manage her and to tell her to keep her mouth closed. I am absolutely flabbergasted that they thought her mouth being open in every scene was ok. Even Jo Jung Suk, being the superb actor that he is, couldn't save the show. When one person spills his heart out and the other one just stares blankly, it completely kills the chemistry and any romantic mood.Let me emphasize that the gender bender/cross dressing trope is ridiculous and outdated. It is also very suspect. Dramas where a man is trapped in a woman's body and has a romantic/sexual relationship with another man get ruined by bad endings because the producers try to make them less gay. But, apparently, it's not gay at all to have a man liking a woman pretending to be a man. Totally not gay, because he is actually a she, right? Not really, considering that the guy who is having a crush thinks he is interacting with another guy and keeps questioning his own sexuality. If the show was set today, poor king Jinhan would be erratically taking internet quizzes to convince himself he was not gay.
The king should've found out that Mongwoo was a woman after she came back from the dead to eliminate any bias and identity crisis. This is not to mention that SSK was completely unconvincing as a man, as most women are. There were plenty of opportunities for Jinhan to find out early that she was a woman, like when he grabbed her hand and commented on how delicate it was. His ridiculous conclusion was that she was from a rich family, instead of questioning her gender. Any sane person at that point would've already had a pause, but the writers insisted he remained in the dark to drag the tension out for as long as possible.
The revenge plot was also nonsensical. They spent half the show talking about revenge and not doing anything. It was unclear why they even wanted revenge and what the king did for them to seek revenge. Mongwoo was portrayed as an intelligent person, but her motivations were very narrow-minded. I have no idea why she disliked Myung Ha. All he did was love her and wanted to marry her. Even forging the confession letter was done to protect her from being tortured. It seemed that she judged people's character based solely on their ability to play baduk, which made her very shallow and elitist.
Overall, bad acting, stupid tropes, and a boring and badly written plot make this drama a hard pass.
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It captured the meh
As with many sageuk dramas, the setting, pageantry and historical references hook us in. The plot and characters sustain it. Unfortunately, this series is patchy in the last two and its quality suffers.The first few episodes are nicely done. The idea of the FL being a baduk master is novel, but it has its own narrative issues. Regardless, it set up the meet-cute of the OTP. We are left with no doubt that the romance of our leads is the corner stone of this drama. This is problem #1.
As with many Korean court dramas, the FL ended up having to cross-dress just to get access to the ML. The FL is just not convincing as a man. It also hamstrings her performance. There are moments of animation but it mostly feels wooden.
Unsurprisingly, the main theme is standard issue palace intrigue. There are the odd twists, but they are mere ripples in a mill pond. All the classic courtly characters are there. Both good and evil. The veteran actors turn in solid performances but this is bread and butter for them.
The run-of-the-mill political shenanigans is problem #2. We run through several backstabbing plots as expected. Each time we arrive at a flashpoint we’d get our hopes up. Is this the turning point? Will we see some major realignment? Alas, after each bump, the show would settle back to a long period of doldrum.
Other than the romance and political maneuvers, we must contend with a simmering revenge plot. Unfortunately, this has issues as well. So much time and energy have been devoted to this but at the 11th hour, the protagonist found out that it is all a misunderstanding. We knew this all along so . . . Doh.
Obviously, the evil characters are going to get their comeuppance. However, just like the muddled revenge plots, the righting of such wrongs took its sweet time. Everyone knows who they are but other than much gnashing of teeth, not a great deal happens and then everything happened. By then, I'm past caring.
As I mentioned before, romance of the leads is key. However, their chemistry is questionable. Their skinship mostly leaves me cold. Their first kiss is good but I challenge anyone to feel excited after watching their last kiss in the finale. Go on, watch it and tell me I'm wrong. I double dare you!
Thankfully, the acting of the ML steadied the ship. He was 10 times more animated than the FL and his acting is next level. However, he can't compensate for every shortcomings of this drama.
In the end, the series is watchable but there is nothing new. There are the odd highlights. The ending is a bit ponderous. You’d think an HEA ending is a given. Not so fast, chingu. It is as if the writer is having a bet each way. I have no idea why you'd do that at this late stage. It does reflect on the drama as a whole.
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the FL ruins it
I liked :the ML, Jo Jung Suk is great in this show, probably his best performance !
The story is fine
The supporting characters are good, the villains are bad (very good actors), I enjoyed the queen dowager (actress was so good in the crowned clown) , the first king Choi Dae Hoon, Yang Kyung Won (who was also good in Vincenzo and Crash landing on you)
I dislike :
The Female Lead ! The actress is so bad ! She was bad in rookie historian, she didn't change !
Someone can tell her that to keep your mouth open during all the series is NOT an acting skill !
She spent less than 5 minutes with a closed mouth ! She has no facial expression, she just rolls her eyes lol
Zero chemistry with the ML, always the same face.
The character is not better, at the end why did she leave ???
It s a bit long, especially the last 3 episodes.
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Under satisfying end to an across-the-board amazing drama
This drama had all the factors going for it, an interesting plot, a believable reason for revenge and a consistent amazing acting quality from its cast. However, the way that my interest in the storyline declined in the final episode was astonishing. A lot of plots and reunions were missed in the drama, that I felt would've made the ending more impactful and added a lot of clarity to the reasonings behind people's actions. In fact, the reunion that they did explore at the end was extremely under satisfying as a watcher who was very engaged in their relationship. However, despite my nit-picking, this drama was across the board amazing. I loved watching it, and I would probably watch it again.Was this review helpful to you?
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A Beautiful Start with a Wish for More Romance
Captivating the King began on a beautifully high note, setting the stage for what promised to be an engaging and visually stunning drama. The initial episodes did a fantastic job of drawing me in with their elegant set designs and costumes that perfectly captured the essence of the period. The storyline centred around the complexities of court life and the intrigue of royal politics, was compelling and richly layered.However, as the drama unfolded, I found myself wishing for more romantic scenes to develop between the leads. Given the strong chemistry between them, there was a missed opportunity to delve deeper into their relationship and provide viewers with those heart-fluttering moments that make historical dramas truly memorable. While this drama excelled in many areas, including its storytelling and production values, a greater focus on the romance could have elevated the drama even further, making it an unforgettable experience for fans of the genre.
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a rant about veneers
This drama started with a geart story, good plot, amazing characters wit personalities, however i think it fell off at the end. The ML is an amazing actor, I've been a fan for a few years and he embodies royalty like no other, perhaps a little too self-righteous. But the FL feels a little boring, not to mention her crying is weird, like she's trying to look pretty no matter what. And i don't mean to criticize her looks but does she have veneers? i know it's kind of a trend lately, she looks way too modernized to be in a historical setting.Something about historical dramas that i personally don't enjoy are open endings, it feels like there's more to the story but it is already finished and I'm waiting for something else to happen because the story kept building up. Did they really end up together? Does the King forgive his mother? Does the crown prince ascend the throne? Did the king choose a Queen? they kept bothering him about that even i wanted him to choose one.
But what i really liked about this drama was the ost, I feel like all TVN productions always excels in soundtrack songs
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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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The story was bland
I was really looking forward to watching this drama. Was left disappointed, as the storyline was bland and flat. I felt the ML tried his best with the script but alas there was only so much he could do. The majority of the story focuses on a board game, how odd. FL lead reasons for revenge was silly and you kinda new she was never going to go through with it because she was torn between the two., love or not to love.I hated the fact that throughout the majority of the drama she was dressed in men’s clothing. I mean it was so obvious she was a female.
I guess that’s why it’s called drama.
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