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Two Steps From Heaven

Essex

Two Steps From Heaven

Essex
Under the Queen's Umbrella korean drama review
Ongoing 6/16
Under the Queen's Umbrella
16 people found this review helpful
by Two Steps From Heaven
Nov 21, 2022
6 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 5
Overall 5.0
Story 1.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
The overarching issue is the plot itself which is fundamentally flawed and laughable, the only way I could stop from rolling my eyes every 5 minutes was by playing it at 2x speed. I had so many questions.

1. Why didn't the Queen have a palace support system in place? After all, she's been TQ for almost 20 years.

2. How could she have been so complacent about the history of the palace that she didn't even know how her husband (the King) ascended the throne?

3. As a mother, what was she doing while her first son was fainting all over the place and the other Grand Princes played truant? Did she not have caretakers who reported to her? And if she didn't, what exactly was she doing with her day? Arrrrrghhh...I'm so mad that these writers imagined everyone would swallow their BS just because they snagged Kim Hye-soo to play the Queen. In addition, if the writers want us to believe that this is a take-charge-no-nonsense Queen then they should show us her antecedents or at the least, her sphere of influence. Is it the Concubines, courtiers, ladies-in-waiting, etc? What power does she wield?

4. What is her relationship with her husband and how on earth do you sit aside and allow him to acquire nine concubines and other companions? More importantly, why didn't she just tell the King that the Crown Prince was ill, and for that matter, why didn't she simply tell her sons their lives were in danger and they needed to shape up and be on alert?

5. With each episode we're drip-fed new info with hardly any forward momentum which I suspect is a consequence of the scriptwriter's attempt at some sort of psych-thriller; however, the story is particularly cruel and vicious in that the lives of these fictional Princes hold little value to the palace machinations. Personally, I feel nothing but disgust that the writer couldn't or wouldn't choose an intelligent method to introduce shock and intrigue without losing its soul.

Finally, I know these gripes might be addressed in time, still, I feel like fewer episodes, a tighter plot, and fast-paced storytelling would have been better.
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