A Tale of Lost Potential

One of the most anticipated dramas of the year, The King: Eternal Monarch promised a stellar cast and an intriguing, action-filled plot. Unfortunately, it fell short (way short).

The idea of parallel universes had so much wasted potential. Not much happened in the first few episodes, which would have been fine, except that the writer chose to explain the two different worlds (and how traveling between them worked) through monologues from the main character, Yi Gon. It was all telling, and no showing. As the drama progressed, it also became clear that there were glaring plot holes and cliches. There were a lot of elements that were introduced to the story, including math formulas, time travel, and doppelgangers, but none of it was explained properly and much of it was forgotten later on.

The style in which the drama was produced/directed made the story even more confusing. In each episode, there were too much going on - the story would jump back and forth between characters, flashbacks, and side plots. Then, it would end on a cliff-hanger, which wouldn't be addressed until nearly halfway through the next episode; not only was this confusing, but this anticlimactic progression of the story made the plot twists less effective, less impactful, and all the more disappointing. And don't even get me started on the Product Placement! So many filler scenes (and lines!) were included just for the sake of promoting a variety of products - if anything, it made me NOT want to buy those products. The special effects, especially those related to the portals, were underwhelming and the OST was not memorable at all.

I also found that few of the character were developed or given proper backstories. The female lead, Jung Tae Eul, had an almost 180-degree change in character - she went from being very confident, strong, and independent to clingy and emotional just a few episodes later. As for the 'villain', his motivation was never clearly explained, and he actually got very little screentime compared to the other characters. The romance was also poorly developed and a lot of the romantic scenes/moments with the main couple reuniting seemed out of place or over the top.

There are some good elements about the drama. I think some of the supporting characters had more interesting and well-developed stories (including Jo Young /Jo Eun Sub, Kang Shin Jae, Goo Seo Ryung, etc). This is the first drama I've seen with Woo Do Hwan, and his acting in a double role was quite commendable. The cinematography, of course, was lovely.

Overall, TKEM had potential to be great, but poorly-developed characters, an abundance of plot holes, and an overemphasis on PPL turned this drama into a complete mess.

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