My Royal Nemesis

A good comedy trying to be an unsuccessful tearjerker…

This drama started off AMAZINGLY!!!! I was literally obsessed with the first episodes! It was soooo hilarious!!!! I kept recording the funny scenes and sending it to friends and telling everyone to watch this 😂😂😂
I loved the drama when it was just about Seo-ri trying to get used to the new world. I never realized it but the fish out of water trope really is one of my faves 😂😂😂 The way she was talking was soooo hilarious I was laughing soooo hard I couldn’t breathe 🤣🤣😆 This actress has done such an amazing job!!! One of my highlights of the year so far! I wanna see her in more comedies!!! 😂😂😂
That scene of hers when someone made a youtube edit of her saying this one sentence over and ovet again was the death of me! I was cryingggg soooo harddddd!!!! 😂😂😂
In general in the first few episodes there were a lot footages of Seoul’s famous sights so it almost felt like a promotional travel video for Korea but in a good way. Fun to watch if you miss Korea like I do. Also her addiction to sweets and how she kept on running out of money bcs all she did was spend it on food was hilarious 😂 And the dogggg ommggg!!! 🥹🥹🥹 It was sooo cuteeee!!!! I hoped the drama had stayed in this slice of life world until the end without the numerous time travels, and past life snippets and family intrigue and murder 😕😕😕

I also really liked her next-door neighbor ☺️ That male actor has been one of my favorite second male leads. I always love the roles he plays in dramas and I really wanna see him as a male lead one day. I liked him much more than Cha Se-Gye. Not as a romantic partner for Seo-ri but just as a character in general. I would have likes to see more scenes of him and her and how their friendship evolved 😂 I also really liked how he became her manager 🤣🤣🤣 That was one of the good things of the middle part of the drama…

I would say after the Jeju episodes things went downhill for me…

When Mo Tae-hee shows up things get quite boring… There was also this one episode (8 or 9) when everything takes place in the press… scene after scene there is another news article! It all felt like I was reading twitter rather than watching a k-Drama… that was the point when I lost interest and got sleepy and bored at EVERY episode… I seriously had to force myself to finish one episode / night 🥺🥺🥺

Also I found the male lead to be VERY toxic! The way he treated FL was unacceptable for me. I would have never dated him. He only liked her when he felt loved but as soon as she did something that shattered is ego he became all aggressive… RED FLAG!!! 🚩 nope!
The kiss scenes were indeed amazing tho! And luckily he softens up in the last like 3 episodes or sth 😂😂😂
But the switch from perfect comedy to half-asses romance and family/company intrigues left me quite cold 😕 I wished the first 5 episodes back…

Another thing I didn’t like is how the FL changed from being this badass woman who took no one’s shit and always fought back (she literally beat up a dozen men to save her grandma in the first episodes), to suddenly being this weak, whiny woman who needed to be saved by the ML really rubbed me the wrong way… didn’t like it at all… And it made absolutely no sense…

The past life / reincarnation thing was interesting but a bit sloppy and confusing at times, to the point that it got boring… I feel like they wanted to do sth similar to Hotel Del Luna but they failed…

Then some things towards the end that I didn’t quite understand / had questions about:

1. What was the point of having halmoni have dementia and losing her memory?? Did it contribute to the plot? to the character development? Why? Why did it have to happen? And why did she have to die? I feel like they were trying really hard to make the audience cry but sorry it was not convincing… They should have sticked to the comedy. They did that the best tbh…

2. Why was the grandfather so mean to Se-Gye and favored Mun-Do all his life just to make a 180 turn and call Mun-Do inhumane and start prioritizing Se-Gye?? Just because he finally found a gurl? I didn’t understand that and it never got clarified…

3. The last scene of Dan-sim and the Prince running away? what was that all about? I didn’t understand…

4. Also the way she had to save him in the past but couldn’t be with him again all didn’t matter in the end anyway and they could easily bend the rules again seemed very sloppy to me… I didn’t like it that the rules were so easy to change…

5. Why did Seo-ri’s drama set bestie turn on her???? What happened that she started to hate Seo-ri? I feel like the motive here was not clear. Was it because the second FL aka the actress suddenly turned good that they needed another evil, jealous side girl??? I don’t like that approach! Why cant they all just become friends??? 🙄🙄🙄

Also the amount of hospital scenes was just insane!!! 1. he gets poisoned 2. she gets hit by a truck 3. grandpa is still in the hospital 4. halmoni has to go to the hospital too 5. Seo-ri gets drugges 6. Se-Gye gets stabbed 7. Seo-ri is in a coma … did I forget sth??? 🙄🙄🙄
Tis drama should have been just 10 episodes… then maybe it would have not become such a shipwreck in the end…

All in all, just watch the first 4 episodes for a good laugh and then drop it…

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Matrix Joseon 2026

The real title of this drama is “A Wonderful World” or “A Magnificent World.” I prefer Morpheus’ line to Neo: “Welcome to the real world.” SBS clearly has a sense of humor—or at least ambition. Because let’s be serious: with that kind of budget, why entrust directing and writing to two rookies? The drama constantly oscillates between unintended parody and self-seriousness, and this awkward middle ground ends up leaving you puzzled. Result: 14 episodes in total (easily 16 considering how stretched they feel), more than half of which are a spectacular writing catastrophe. The series seems aimed at two audiences: those discovering romantic K-dramas for the first time, and those willing to accept anything without asking too many questions. In reality, the two groups end up merging. It started off well enough. But as the episodes go on, the conclusion becomes unavoidable: it’s a magnificent narrative aquaplaning, a patchwork that ticks absolutely every cliché and worn-out trope of “dad K-drama.” My Royal Nemesis is a recycling machine that, consciously or not, invites you to travel through the Matrix.

So, which pill will he choose to take? The blue one (accepting the illusion) or the red one (that makes you see reality)?

Joseon, 1726. Kang Dan-Sim (Lim Ji-Yeon), a royal concubine caught in a conspiracy, is sentenced to be poisoned. To her utter shock, she finds herself in 2026, in the body of Shin Seo-Ri, a minor K-drama actress in a Joseon-themed production. Disoriented at first, she doesn’t know what to do. Her path crosses that of a chaebol heir (how original), Cha Se-Gye (Heo Nam-Jun), who is in conflict with his cousin, Choi Mun-Do (Jang Seung-Jo), a rival for the group’s succession. They have been clashing for years through their respective companies. Seeing them one after another, Dan-Sim experiences another shock: she immediately recognizes their faces, as they were important court figures in her own time. Cha Se-Gye, arrogant and self-important, finds in Kang Dan-Sim a sharp, resourceful woman.

Let’s go through the checklist before takeoff into “old-school K-drama” territory:

Chaebol? Roger. / Fated romance? Roger. / Endless clichés? Roger. / Useless characters occupying screen time? Roger. / Flat protagonist incapable of more than three emotions? Roger. / Sick grandmother? Roger. / Weak couple chemistry? Roger. / Implausible coincidences? Roger. / Body swap? Roger. / Convenient amnesia? Roger. / Truck of Doom? Roger. / Kopiko? Roger. / Mysterious comet? Roger. / Lunar eclipse? Roger. / Random twists pulled out of nowhere? Roger. / All-knowing shaman explaining the inexplicable? Roger. / Story rules rewritten mid-way? Roger. / Overdosed melodrama in the final episode? Roger. / Internal logic of the universe? Negative. > Narrative coherence? Still searching. > Writer’s flight plan? Unknown. > Takeoff clearance granted? Affirmative. > May God protect the passengers. (And America?)

My Royal Nemesis actually started under the best possible auspices. The mix of Joseon, time travel, romance, and succession struggles has real potential. The early episodes set up their stakes properly and even manage to spark curiosity. Unfortunately, this initial promise does not survive the script’s excessive ambitions, which gradually fall apart. One of the most striking issues lies in how Dan-Sim/Seo-Ri adapts to her new environment. She is thrown from Joseon into 2026 and assimilates the codes of this world at an almost unrealistic speed. Understanding modern technology, language, social relations, or chaebol dynamics happens in just a few scenes. This form of “instant assimilation,” almost like a Matrix-style upload, removes any credible learning process and significantly weakens the cultural shock. Instead of showing a gradual evolution (hesitations, mistakes, misunderstandings), the script chooses immediate adaptation, which simplifies the plot but weakens character development.

The main issue remains the writing. As episodes progress, the rules of the universe become blurry, unstable, sometimes contradictory. The script even contradicts itself several times—and for a story like this to lose me, that says a lot. Body swaps, locked and recovered memories, mirrored destinies between Joseon and 2026, comet, eclipse, and especially the recurring intervention of the Great Shaman: each new element feels added to solve an immediate narrative problem. Instead of building a coherent system, the story constantly adjusts its rules. Some explanations come too late, others are abandoned, and several initially important elements simply disappear. Even suspending disbelief, it becomes hard to perceive any stable logic. At this point I started losing interest—and we were only at episode 7 (sic!).

All the characters are caricatures, built on outdated archetypes. Aside from Lim Ji-Yeon’s character, who manages to rise above the surrounding mediocrity, all the others play in a flat, one-dimensional way.

Worse still, Dan-Sim’s personality is completely erratic: she goes from badass to helpless in a snap. She also never truly behaves like a noble court lady—we’re more often closer to a street thug. Our “good” Cha Se-Gye is overly flashy and constantly posturing. We never truly feel the psychological trauma he is supposed to have endured since childhood. He comes across as indestructible in the face of adversity. This lack of subtlety affects the main couple’s dynamic, which struggles to achieve any real dramatic depth. Their chemistry relies more on genre conventions than on solid relational construction. As if that weren’t enough, the tone and pacing, which were fairly solid at the beginning, completely collapse, and filler episodes start appearing. Most of the supporting characters have little depth—or worse, act as wallpaper: what were Kim Min-Suk, Baek Ji-Won, Jeong Jae-Kwang, Jung Young-Joo, and Baek Eun-Hye doing in this mess? Seriously, removing them would change nothing; they have no impact on the story. There are a few funny moments, but they are rare and drowned in overall mediocrity.

The finale fully embraces a syrupy, overly sentimental tone designed to make viewers cry. The final twist is so ridiculous it leaves you speechless. It is saturated with clichés and melodrama, almost to the breaking point. In My Royal Nemesis, emotion does not arise naturally—it is forced onto the viewer. The drama gives the impression of a narrative that has lost control of its own structure. Behind a few interesting ideas lies persistent structural instability, fluctuating internal logic, and an accumulation of concepts that never find balance. What is most surprising is not what the drama tells, but the confidence with which it still believes it is coherent. An experience where logic gradually disappears. Any resemblance to another K-drama character that may have existed is purely coincidental (hello Mr. Queen!). Why still a 5/10? For the premise, for Lim Ji-Yeon, for the OST, and because I swallowed both pills at the same time.

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downhill

The first 6 episodes of My Royal Nemesis were a good watch, but after that, the writers wanted to somehow fix their mistake by turning Choi Mun-do into a bad guy, just like King An-jeong in the Joseon period! Furthermore, Shin Seo-ri's traveling back in time made the story more twisted and confusing! I really lost all interest in all the characters, because they had so much more story to tell but somehow the writers forgot them... even the involvement of Choi Mun-do's child is very strange. The aunts were there only for the comical parts. I hate to say this, but I expected a lot more creativity than a failed time-travel nonsense story. It wasn't needed. Instead, Shin Seo-ri could have just remembered her reincarnated past.She could have switched back to her present self and we would have a second, different character without the accent. It is a shame because so much potential was just wasted.

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this couple is so stressful to watch. they fight every damn episode and its not even cute.

the characters are all poorly written and some are unimportant for the plot, it doesn't matter if they're there or not.
the most normal is ML even though he has his own anime moments, he just acts like a typical overprotective romantic provider rich ML, nothing new. also another thing about him is that they haven't really explored or makes sense of his past life. at first he was dreaming of joseon era which was really important to build up the time travel connection but its all forgotten like this whole drama wasn't about time travel. it makes the whole time travel/reincarnation part totally pointless because it just looks like ML would believe anything FL says even without proof whatsoever

my main problem is the female lead. they baited us by getting the actress who played villain in 'the glory' and making us believe she was a strong political figure in joseon. you think it would be interesting how this woman would navigate modern korea. if you are expecting a master manipulator mature woman then you will be disappointed because she is just your typical damsel in distress who acts like a teenager. she is hostile all the time like a tsundere anime character (and its really cringe btw), but thats all you will get for a 'strong' character. its all a facade. she is neither smart or has strong intuition, she is very childish. she sometimes acts like she finally figured things out then goes back to square one like she learned nothing. then she blames everything to ML and take out all her anger on him. its exhausting to watch. her self esteem is very fragile and ML has to comfort and spoil her while she treats him like crap. she switches up easily on ML just by any inconvenience. her character is very unlikeable and she has absolutely no chemistry with ML. she always look uncomfortable and awkward with him. if theyre not lovers in this drama i would be more convinced that she hates him.

its not a good time travel romcom either, it doesnt have that funny element of culture shock whatsoever, everybody just treats her like a modern korean girl despite her weird way of speaking. it doesnt evn feel like watching a time travel drama, its just a lil story about a couple who are constantly bickering about problems they create for themselves because theres really no strong forces in the plot that would get in their way, even the fantasy aspects, and the main villain has no strong reason to be a villain either. its like hes just forced to be a deadbeat dad so he can fulfill his stalker duties. he clearly cares about his son but the plot assigned him to stake out ML 24/7 like a walking CCTV literally watching from the dark.

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Average time travel cringe romcom with historically inaccurate FL

This drama disappointed me even though I was very much looking forward to it. I have cringed multiple times while seeing the FL act the way she does.

The ML is acting okay but he doesn't have a meaty character for a good first half of the show. His character is palatable but there are times when the director and writers have demanded him to act like a full blown anime which is hard to watch.

The FL DOESN'T ACT LIKE HISTORICAL CONCUBINES at all . "Park's marriage contract" is a decent example of how even an average joseon citizen adapts to the modern world. More finesse is expected from a concubine WHO HAS SURVIVED PALACE POLITICS. She doesn't have the tact and cunning charm of the old school concubines who know how to MANIPULATE people. Instead, she acts like a spoiled bratty princess/prince who has grown up with a silver spoon and cannot bend the knee even for her own good.

Of course, these things are done to give the drama a colorful and funny flavor but I feel that it gets somewhat irritating after a while. I think the problem is with the writing and direction because i believe that the actress had quite the range to give justice to any character.

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"Caught between what it is and what it could have been."

Presenting itself from the very beginning as a highly derivative and self-aware work, one that revisits several of the most recognizable archetypes of Korean fantasy romance through a contemporary lens, My Royal Nemesis builds its identity around an immediately familiar formula: a brisk pace, a constant stream of new situations, an abundance of twists, romantic banter, and a continuous interplay between comedy, melodrama, and supernatural elements.

While this approach undeniably contributes to the drama's accessibility and keeps the narrative in constant motion, it also creates the impression of a story that rarely allows itself the time to fully explore the emotional consequences of the events it sets in motion. Each episode introduces new revelations, antagonists, misunderstandings, threats, romantic developments, or unexpected turns, resulting in a narrative that often seems more concerned with carrying the viewer from one development to the next than with allowing its most meaningful moments to settle and acquire their full emotional weight.

The series also appears to cater to a contemporary audience accustomed to fast-paced and highly dynamic storytelling, rarely allowing for moments of stillness and instead relying on a structure that consistently favors momentum over contemplation. From this perspective, My Royal Nemesis succeeds in its primary goal as an entertaining viewing experience. What is occasionally sacrificed, however, is the reflective space that might have allowed some of its more intriguing ideas to develop with greater depth and resonance.

Yet beneath this lively—and often overcrowded—surface, a far more compelling thematic core gradually begins to emerge. Through the character of Kang Dan-sim/Seo-ri, the narrative seems interested in exploring questions of fate, memory, and identity, as well as the ways in which history can distort, erase, or rewrite the truth of a person's life. These themes tend to surface most clearly within the Joseon-era storyline, which frequently proves more evocative and emotionally engaging than many of the contemporary subplots competing for the viewer's attention.

One of the drama's most intriguing qualities lies precisely in the tension between narrative ambition and narrative caution. As the story unfolds, My Royal Nemesis gradually introduces themes and ideas that seem to reach beyond the boundaries of conventional romantic entertainment: the relationship between personal and collective memory, the construction of identity across time, the influence of official narratives on our understanding of history, and the desire to challenge a fate that appears already written. These are the kinds of ideas that lend the story an unexpected degree of substance and, at times, suggest the possibility of a more distinctive and ambitious direction.

However, just when the narrative seems ready to fully engage with these questions, it often retreats toward more familiar territory, relying on well-established fantasy-romance conventions. As a result, its most intriguing revelations frequently coexist with highly predictable developments, while its more stimulating ideas are often accompanied—and occasionally overshadowed—by an ever-growing accumulation of subplots, corporate power struggles, romantic misunderstandings, and twists designed to keep the story in constant motion.

The result is a drama that appears fully aware both of its potential and of the boundaries within which it ultimately chooses to operate. My Royal Nemesis works primarily as a contemporary entertainment product, yet it repeatedly hints at possibilities it rarely commits to exploring in full. More often than not, it favors the reassuring effectiveness of familiar formulas over the risks that might have come with a more ambitious re-examination of the conventions it inherits.

If there is a true gravitational center around which the entire narrative revolves, it is Kang Dan-sim. More than the romantic storyline itself—often fairly predictable in its development—it is her personal journey that provides the drama with its most compelling moments. Through her bewildered encounter with modernity, the paradoxes of her situation, the fragmented memories of the past, the recurring dreams, and her repeated confrontations with the traces left behind by history, My Royal Nemesis gradually builds a reflection on memory and identity that reaches beyond the simple fantasy premise of temporal displacement.

In this regard, the scenes set in museums, along with the historical testimonies, paintings, letters, and documents connected to Kang Dan-sim, often prove more meaningful than the romance itself. It is within these moments that the character seems to find her most authentic dimension, confronting not only who she once was, but also how time and collective memory have chosen to remember her. The dialogue between past and present therefore becomes more than a narrative device; it evolves into a search for a personal and historical truth that has remained unresolved across generations.

As the story progresses, these questions gradually expand in scope. The revelations surrounding Seo-ri and the true nature of the protagonist's identity slowly shift the narrative's center of gravity. The issue is no longer simply how a woman from the Joseon era might adapt to life in the twenty-first century, but rather who the person we are watching truly is. Over time, the series suggests that Kang Dan-sim and Seo-ri are not merely two individuals separated by a temporal anomaly, but different manifestations of the same existence, connected by a continuity that transcends time, memory, and destiny. In doing so, the drama appears to move beyond the familiar framework of time-travel fantasy and toward a more ambitious reflection on identity, memory, and belonging.

It is arguably one of the most fascinating ideas the series has to offer, but also one of the most problematic in its execution. For much of the drama, the audience's emotional investment is built almost entirely around Kang Dan-sim, while Seo-ri remains a largely peripheral presence, defined more through second-hand accounts, diaries, and fragmented memories than through a fully developed narrative identity of her own.

When the story ultimately chooses to merge these two figures and trace them back to a shared origin, the concept is undeniably intriguing on a symbolic and thematic level. Yet it does not always achieve the same degree of emotional impact. Rather than functioning as a revelation capable of retrospectively reshaping the entire narrative, it occasionally feels like an elaborate explanatory mechanism—interesting in theory, but less convincing in its ability to genuinely move or engage the viewer.

As the drama approaches its conclusion, it finally appears ready to fully engage with the questions that had fueled much of its appeal from the very beginning: the relationship between memory and identity, the weight of history, the sacrifice required to confront an unresolved past, and the possibility of redefining the meaning of a life across time. Yet just as these themes seem poised to reshape the overall significance of the narrative, the story gradually steers them back toward a logic of reconciliation and narrative closure.

The more complex implications of its central ideas ultimately become subordinate to the pursuit of a reassuring and universally conciliatory ending. The result is a finale that privileges emotional resolution over the more challenging consequences of the concepts it had previously allowed to emerge. The issue is not so much the absence of answers, but rather the feeling that many of the drama's most compelling questions are ultimately simplified at the very moment they seemed ready to reach their fullest expression.

Among the drama's strongest assets is undoubtedly Im Ji-yeon, who carries much of the story's emotional weight through an energetic and engaging performance. She moves effortlessly between comedy and melancholy, balancing the exuberance of the contemporary setting with the emotional scars inherited from the past. As Kang Dan-sim, she becomes the true driving force of the narrative, and her presence plays a crucial role in sustaining the viewer's investment even when the screenplay becomes at its most fragmented or overextended.

More conventional, however, is the characterization of many of the figures surrounding her. In particular, Heo Nam-joon's male lead often feels like a compilation of familiar chaebol archetypes: wealthy, intelligent, emotionally isolated, burdened by family trauma, and ultimately destined to find redemption through love. The character fulfills his narrative function effectively enough, but rarely develops a distinctive identity of his own, remaining largely defined by conventions and traits that long-time viewers of Korean dramas will immediately recognize.

My Royal Nemesis is a drama that demonstrates a remarkable awareness of both its genre and its audience, yet rarely seems willing to truly challenge the conventions it inherits. It clearly understands the legacy of the fantasy-romance dramas that came before it, embracing their mechanisms, reproducing many of their familiar structures, and successfully appealing to the same audience. What it does only occasionally, however, is find the confidence to move beyond them.

It is perhaps here that the drama's greatest missed opportunity becomes apparent. With greater trust in its characters and a storytelling approach less concerned with constantly sustaining momentum through new twists, subplots, and narrative complications, My Royal Nemesis could have explored the deeper implications of its central premise with far greater conviction. Themes such as memory, identity, the rewriting of history, sacrifice, and the search for belonging run throughout the entire series, repeatedly emerging beneath its entertaining surface. Yet they rarely receive a development as coherent or as daring as the ideas themselves seem to promise, particularly in the drama's final stretch.

The result is a drama that remains consistently enjoyable and often genuinely engaging, built around a memorable protagonist and supported by an undeniable ability to entertain. At the same time, however, it is also a series that, whenever it seems on the verge of confronting the most compelling questions it has raised itself, ultimately retreats toward the safety of more familiar and reassuring formulas.

Behind its mosaic of references, influences, and situations that long-time fans of the genre will instantly recognize, one can glimpse the potential for something more ambitious: a story capable not only of paying tribute to the great fantasy-romance dramas that preceded it, but also of engaging with them on their most challenging terrain—the terrain of memory, sacrifice, and the search for one's place in time. It is a potential the series repeatedly allows us to see, yet never fully embraces as its own defining identity.

6 ½

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A Royal Waste of Time: No Spark, No Heart, No Plot.

I went into My Royal Nemesis hoping for a fun, tense, and engaging fantasy-romance. Instead, I got an agonisingly hollow experience that completely squandered its highly intriguing hook. If you are reading reviews to figure out whether to pick this up, consider this a warning: stay away.

First, the romance is non-existent. For a book or show heavily relying on an "enemies-to-lovers" dynamic, there is absolutely zero romantic progression. The main characters spend half the time scowling at each other and the other half mechanically bickering. There is zero emotional buildup, no underlying tension, and absolutely zero chemistry. When they finally reach a point where they are supposedly falling in love, it feels forced and unearned. It reads more like an obligation to the genre's tropes rather than a believable connection.

Furthermore, there is no real story. The narrative is a patchwork of recycled clichés and painfully sluggish pacing. Instead of an escalating conflict or satisfying character arcs, the "plot" consists of characters endlessly going in circles. The antagonist is laughably one-dimensional and annoying, making you wonder why it takes so long to defeat them. Large chunks of the book are dedicated to repetitive internal monologues and filler scenarios that add nothing to the overarching narrative. It is a massive slog that feels like 500 pages of wasted time.

Finally, the characters lack any relatable depth. The supposed "villain" is more of an inconvenience than a threat, and our protagonists are so robotic that it is impossible to care about what happens to them. If you love a compelling story where you eagerly root for the couple, you will not find it here.

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The BEACH scene

STILL as good as the first episode. I stand on this. This is gold honestly. I'm not gonna go deeper on the beach scene but iykyk. And MAYBE unpopular opinion but the forest scene was for me waaay better 😍😍.

I'm just gonna come clean I am love this actor after this show. I have never seen him before in any other drama this is my first time, but the way he delivers emotions and his lines ughhh, this is exactly what I missed in other romcoms, the feelings I needed from the main actors.

Sooo im bit angsty cause what is gonna come with his half brother or cousin or whatever cause honestly, the actor for him needs applause too im actually scared of him 💀💀.

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Never sure what the show wanted to be.

This show started decent enough, then it got stuck in corporate drama plots, tried to inject relationships along the way then toyed with alternate time frames to shape a happy ending.

The main ML & FL acted fine, I think it was a huge jump the FL coming from Joseon time period to modern day and seemed to just pick everything up and adjust after a couple episodes (touch on this later).

The ML has the typical dsyfunctional rich family background, it must be a Chaebol dynamic everyone is out for themselves, vying to be the special one, get the job, money etc. Same story seen in countess K Dramas. The Cousin is problematic as his acting was comical, no one every questioned the crazy things he did and while Grandfather seemed to understand he was not as 'good' as he played nothing ever came about.

The other roles were not well expanded with the Aunties making an appearence every few episodes to complain no one liked them etc. It's like they were still teenagers. I wish they touched more on the ML mother and had additional flashbacks, how his Grandfather raised him etc.

The Cousin plot was spotty, never explained why he came to live with them, never mentioned he was married or had a wife but midway has a son and just felt weird and make you feel bad for him. He spent little to no time with his child and seems he will now live with Grandfather post ending (repeat the cycle?).

Plot Spoilers / Thoughts below:

My main issue was the whole body jump / time jump. It never really was explained, but what I take occured:

- FL was poisoned for protecting crown price (ML in dual role), instead of dying her Shaman pushed her spirit into FL in modern area (former child K drama actress) ok this was what I went with. Never really resolved what happened to the original FL when she went into the body (note Flashback at end).

- Towards end FL has triggered flashbacks of original body (Future FL) memories which seem to show her parents in debt and decide to drown themselves and daughter, daughter wakes up and it doesn't show her escape but clearly she lived and spent her life with her Grandmother as it touches on she was still in contact with the Grandma. Grandma also sensed FL was not her granddaughter but never expanded why / how.

- Flashback also showed the FL modern era switch into the Joseon FL body in a flashback, so this makes somewhat sense if you align the above plot lines - Joseon era FL was about to die from poison - Shaman sent her to future (how the Future FL was chosen is never explained and if they had a connection outside they looked the same (distant aunt??) and Future FL (child actor) was about to die from drowning - so spirits switched bodies?

- Final episodes FL (from shock) transfers BACK to her body in Joeson era and now tries to save the Crown Prince (ML) to wrap up that plot line yet it never showned anything happen to the Evil Cousin / Prince and they lived life in hiding but together.

So IMO the Modern era FL went into Joeson era instead of drowning and FL was her from that point forward?? But they never showed her survive, but as noted she cleared DID as it showed her living with Grandma? This also assumes Child actor went to some random body as it just showed her in body but not alert in Joseon era and I assume living in that era.

The other big thing that tied the whole spirit swap was the comet which they showed throughout the series and stressed it had been a long time since it last appeared, so logic would be the 'swap' could only occur during the comet in the sky. Just lot of random plot holes here, the same can be said for the legal / crime side of things - events happen but there is no resolution. The stabbing, the fake cast member, the lab plant, the apprent murders.

Anyways - beyond trying to make sense of the logic here and major plot holes, the show overall was watchable. All around entertaining, I guess average is how I'd explain it. Not great, not bad.

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This is not what I was expecting

This kdrama genuinely had one of the best start . I was sold when I heard it was story about two antagonists falling in love . Until the jeju island arc came and everything started going downhill .

MY OPINION ON MAIN CHARACTERS
SHIN SEO RI : her strength lies in her sharp senses which became non existent . Villainess ? hardly , would a joseon antagonist be so slow on her wits ? And even from the flashback she was not even a antagonist so why was the drama even marketed like it . From all the historical dramas I have watched , one thing about smart female antagonists /fl is that they live in a ride or die situation . Let alone that, a normal joseon woman specially someone who has been part of palace hierarchy and harem would never even turn out like her . Even after being in the modern world for long enough she makes a complete fool out of herself in every situation she gets like girl who the hell goes to meet a villain alone when you are aware that he is manipulative jerk . The most obvious step someone does when they are thrown into an unfamiliar surrounding is ADAPT , but the fl doesn't have this word in her dictionary . I get, it's the writers liberty to give her a world of her own but maybe just a little bit of common sense would have made this character better . And why are the lead always fighting , she is slapping her partner like it's no big deal it's basically assault , like the car scene .

Now coming to CHA SE GYE , I expected more villain characteristics from him because he was actually shown threatening people . But alas my rotten luck . I don't hate downbadism of the male lead in fact I love men who are losers in love . But they forgot he was supposed to be a villain in first place . The nurse girl was such a important accomplie of the poisoning , so a perfect evidence . You're telling me he appointed no trustable person to protect her . A man who has tried destroying you , why are letting him off the hook so easily so many times .

CHOI MUN DO , He can't even survive if he had a face off with actual good leads . He was really sloppy with everything he did , it was like he was all mighty and powerful just for the plot's sake . LOL .

NOW TO THE STORY
This should have stayed a rom com but they decided to add succession politics and sh!t . Sometimes what viewers want is not a plot full of twist we just want a genuinely good drama , not to spike our blood pressure but to calm it down . I would like to give this task to psychological thrillers and actions not a rom com for sure .

ACTING
What happened to the actress ?? She was never this bad at acting . I have loved lim ji yeon from the glory and that was because of her strong acting as park yeon jin but the hell was this . Even her smile feels absolutely artificial here , she had done such good work in her previous dramas and now this , Is it some sort of filter migration ? . The actor wasn't so better either , specially when he got angry . I really liked him in your honour and sweethome so I'll look forward to both of these actors work in future since they aren't always bad at acting . I hope they improve.

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Not Worth the Rating

I might get some hate for this, but I don't think the drama deserves the rating it's getting, much like Dynamite Kiss. The first half of the series was genuinely strong and had me hooked, but once again, the writers seem unable to handle the latter half properly, making it increasingly difficult to watch. I'm already on episode 9, and I find myself skipping scenes just to get through it for the sake of finishing. At this point, I might end up dropping it next week because there isn't much left that keeps me invested. The early episodes were excellent and kept me glued to my seat, but the storyline simply doesn't have enough substance to justify 14 episodes. It feels like they're dragging things out unnecessarily. The drama would have been much better if everything had been wrapped up in 8 to 10 episodes. Also don't write bs like how the evil ones turned into saints just to deliver a happy ending without showing their redemption arc.

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