This review may contain spoilers
Alot of food & alot of violence with last minute unexplained happy ending
The male lead is pretty loathful for a good bit & then his deranged broken bad boy charm slowly (slowly) settles in. This is fiction/fantasy, so it's best to avoid seeing his character as real boyfriend material, but you have to admire his loyalty & "all in" attitude. (well Let's try to say so anyway) . Kudos to male lead Lee Chae Min for pulling off the nuances of deranged, unhinged , smolderingly charming & heartbreakingly distraught.
A nod to Choi Gwi Hwa as well for making his villain so maniacal.
The Female lead works really hard to sell her character & though the actress is not my favorite (SO I say ,as I realize just how many drama's I've watched with her in them!) she jumps into every scene with "gusto" and makes it work for her. Male lead's character ,(a demonic form of Austen's Mr. Darcy ), & is angry at everyone & bent on revenge -though he's not sure (or particular about) who the target is. The cooking & the killing being equal parts in this drama, are an odd mix. The cooking segments are wonderful (even if you aren't a foodie) The bite size mysteries that pop up every once in awhile concerning sabotage , trading out new world ingredients for Joseon dynasty ones is surprisingly interesting. Figuring out who (all) the bad guys are is difficult as there are alot of people who'd like to see the leads dead.
In order to enjoy this drama : suspend disbelief a good bit and take it for the violent yet somewhat fluffy drama it is. Set your expectations at that bar & don't get caught up in the few plot holes ( might be more than a few). Overall I enjoyed the drama, though Ep. 11 was brutal & hard to get through, but as you go you see it's necessary. The first half of Ep. 12 is unpleasantly bloody & gut wrenchingly emotional (pun intended). Both Ep 11 & 12 have recollection montages (which I hate) , but the warm fuzzy in them set you up to be emotionally invested in the final struggle & then to fully enjoy the happy conclusion . (Though be warned; the happy ending is both nonsensical & satisfying). If given another episode they might have gone into explanations, but really, why bother ? They have already given clues for us to fill in the blanks ourselves & why does it matter anyway ?
I took off points in my rating for what I felt was too much time spend on drawing out killing scenes . ( A quick stab -camera pans away & move on is the way I like my drama deaths!)
I will rewatch this.
I didn't notice the OST at all, which fits this drama well.
A nod to Choi Gwi Hwa as well for making his villain so maniacal.
The Female lead works really hard to sell her character & though the actress is not my favorite (SO I say ,as I realize just how many drama's I've watched with her in them!) she jumps into every scene with "gusto" and makes it work for her. Male lead's character ,(a demonic form of Austen's Mr. Darcy ), & is angry at everyone & bent on revenge -though he's not sure (or particular about) who the target is. The cooking & the killing being equal parts in this drama, are an odd mix. The cooking segments are wonderful (even if you aren't a foodie) The bite size mysteries that pop up every once in awhile concerning sabotage , trading out new world ingredients for Joseon dynasty ones is surprisingly interesting. Figuring out who (all) the bad guys are is difficult as there are alot of people who'd like to see the leads dead.
In order to enjoy this drama : suspend disbelief a good bit and take it for the violent yet somewhat fluffy drama it is. Set your expectations at that bar & don't get caught up in the few plot holes ( might be more than a few). Overall I enjoyed the drama, though Ep. 11 was brutal & hard to get through, but as you go you see it's necessary. The first half of Ep. 12 is unpleasantly bloody & gut wrenchingly emotional (pun intended). Both Ep 11 & 12 have recollection montages (which I hate) , but the warm fuzzy in them set you up to be emotionally invested in the final struggle & then to fully enjoy the happy conclusion . (Though be warned; the happy ending is both nonsensical & satisfying). If given another episode they might have gone into explanations, but really, why bother ? They have already given clues for us to fill in the blanks ourselves & why does it matter anyway ?
I took off points in my rating for what I felt was too much time spend on drawing out killing scenes . ( A quick stab -camera pans away & move on is the way I like my drama deaths!)
I will rewatch this.
I didn't notice the OST at all, which fits this drama well.
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