Jane Rosales
This review may contain spoilers
This is an honest, spoiler-free review.
Looking for the next drama to spend my time on is no easy feat when there are so many to choose from. However, this one caught my eye because of all the positive reviews. Let me tell you, anyone who says this is their favorite drama must be a masochist at heart because no one said it would be so PAINFUL. That is the best word I can use to describe it. Things keep going so horribly wrong in every consecutive episode that it feels more like an unfolding nightmare descending into ever-increasing fractal chaos than a drama. This show is INTERESTING, I’ll give it that-- like watching a high speed car collision in slow motion, or maybe like seeing the Hindenburg burn to the ground and crash in a blaze of glorious horror. Somehow I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the disaster I was witnessing. From episode 1 to 20 I was hooked and unable to tear myself away from this source of my frustrations and insomnia for the past two weeks.
---Story: 9/10
The writers did an incredible job. The pacing and cinematography were excellent and everything was awfully believable. I use the word “awfully” because these writers do not paint the world with an idealistic or rosy hue. Even the people we are supposed to root for are flawed and foolish and sometimes corrupted. The world is a harsh setting of hostility and suspicions and misunderstandings, all of which are far too believable. One of the characters even states outright that justice does not exist, only power and money. So as far as realism goes, they certainly appeal to my inner cynic and go straight to the worst possible outcomes and intentions. This is actually what I consider to be one of the greatest strengths of the show.
The plot is engaging and well-structured and it felt like they knew where they were going with it from the beginning. My criticisms of this show are not related to all that, as much as it is about the HEART and the feeling that I’m left with at the end of each episode. It’s a feeling of surprise and frustration mixed up with corrosive curiosity to know what happens next because HOW can they possibly save the situation NOW? (I had a hard time going to sleep these last two weeks because my brain kept running around in circles… sigh.) It’s a sign of good storytelling I think, but also a bad sign because there was really too much frustration going on.
Personally, there was one critical area where I feel they let the ball drop. One thing that kept this show from being stellar in my eyes. I just can’t get over the fact that from the first episode they consistently pit the main characters against each other rather than letting them get along. There’s a psychological fact that for every bad/hurtful thing a person does/says to someone, it takes around 5 good/positive things to make up for it in people’s minds. The truth is, our brains are hardwired to remember the bad things and it takes a LOT to outweigh those so you remember mostly the good. But this show did NOT do that. I kept feeling like there were too many nasty things the characters were saying/doing to each other and not enough good things to keep any positive sentiment afloat. The moments where it seems they have forgiven each other come after too few reassurances, after too many insults and slights. And not just for the main leads, though they were the top offenders—most of the side characters had these moments as well and not enough attention was given to the actions they did that put them in people’s good graces again. It left a bad taste in my mouth and that is why I docked a point.
From the very beginning they are shown to be basically incompatible, completely different in every way from their background to their personality and values. From the first few interactions they have in the first and second episodes I could tell that this relationship was doomed from the start and my intuition was proved right OVER and OVER again with each insult and deception. They had maybe 6 positive interactions in the entire training period and now I'm supposed to believe that… they’re suddenly in love? Ahahaha NO. Let’s just say that these two are NOT my OTP. There’s way too much bickering, arguing, and crying about what they’ve said to each other and not enough fluff and good feelings to hold it together convincingly.
The main leads are ridiculously foolish and terrible at communicating (in spite of being generally smart and competent adults) and I can't tell you how many times I was yelling at them in the first 6 episodes like "NO YOU FOOL, HE'S A LYING JERK" or "NO YOU FOOL, SHE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!" I really just wanted them to sit down with a marriage counselor and learn how to discuss their feelings and differences without shooting themselves in the metaphorical foot every single time.
Speaking of which, I lost track of how many horrible things they said to each other. From episode 2 and onward I kept yelling at the screen, “Oh no! Tell you me you didn’t just SAY that. Tell me this is all just a nightmare and you’ll wake up soon. OH MY GOD IT WAS REAL! HOW DO YOU RECOVER FROM THAT?!” I can't see how you can repair a relationship that has gone through SO MANY deceptions and heartbreaks in only the course of less than two months. Maybe my heart is softer than theirs and cannot withstand that level of purposeful jabbing and backstabbing. I know if I was in Hang Ah’s shoes I would have cut off all thoughts of EVER being in a relationship with Jae Ha after the very first time he insulted her (in episode 2 or 3, if my memory can be trusted). That was already too far, at least in my opinion. But then there wouldn’t be a show, would there?
In spite of all that Hang Ah goes through (and boy does she go through a lot), I think it's Jae Ha who gets the short end of the stick in this story. Yes, he starts off as a manipulative, lying, selfish, arrogant jerk who likes to laugh at other's expense, but the writers really put him through the wringer and kept turning his world upside down in literally every other episode. I can't quite bring myself to feel TOO sorry for him though because at least half of those things are what he brings on himself through his own foolishness and arrogance. Yet somehow I've become attached to all these conflicted, petty, contradictory, REAL characters and I wanted to see how it would end. There is certainly plenty of room for them to grow and change.
---Cast and Acting: 10/10
Amazing performances from everyone! They all got their characters spot-on, especially the main protagonists and the villain. Perfect performances all around, no complaints here. They did amazing with what they were supposed to do. Even that creepy gothic assassin lady. :P
Just one tiny nitpick that I’m not even going to take half a point off for… the “Westerners” or foreigners in the show had a few lines that sometimes made me question the choice of wording (perhaps those parts of the script weren’t written by a native English speaker?) but for most part they did a convincing enough job. Those are probably what I would consider the only weak links of the casting department, and I’m not sure if it was entirely their fault, so like I said before: nitpick.
---Music: 7/10
Nothing really stuck out to me here, which is a good thing. Normally I notice the music only when it is really inappropriate to the mood or just strange. So the music was fine to me! It fits with the tone of the show.
---Rewatch Value: 6/10
As I’ve mentioned in a previous review, I don’t rewatch because I have too many new shows to watch and not enough time to spend looking back on what I’ve already seen. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat. However, I recognize that there is a lot of rewatch value with this drama because you will notice little details and see the foreshadowing for later events that were set up in the first few episodes. The pacing is good enough that rewatching won’t feel boring, I think. I do think there are better things to do with your time than rewatch this, though. If you want to relive the pain, go for it.
---Overall: 7/10
Even though there are so many other reviews, I felt like adding my own two cents because I don’t feel very positive about this drama. What can I say? I didn’t like this show and I can’t add it to my list of favorites. It wasn’t really to my taste—which, admittedly, is more toward cute/happy/fluffy romcoms and King2Hearts was NONE of those things. However, I am glad I went outside my comfort zone for once and I highly appreciate the work and craftsmanship and depth that went into its creation. It’s not the perfect show but it exceeded my expectations in most areas and was certainly entertaining. In spite of all I have said here, the story truly did keep me riveted from start to finish. If not for the things I mentioned previously, this would have been a 9/10 for me.
If you are looking for a VERY dramatic and emotional show that will make you chuckle and weep and regularly grind your teeth in helpless frustration, this is the drama for you. I got something out of this and I think you will too if you give it a chance.
Looking for the next drama to spend my time on is no easy feat when there are so many to choose from. However, this one caught my eye because of all the positive reviews. Let me tell you, anyone who says this is their favorite drama must be a masochist at heart because no one said it would be so PAINFUL. That is the best word I can use to describe it. Things keep going so horribly wrong in every consecutive episode that it feels more like an unfolding nightmare descending into ever-increasing fractal chaos than a drama. This show is INTERESTING, I’ll give it that-- like watching a high speed car collision in slow motion, or maybe like seeing the Hindenburg burn to the ground and crash in a blaze of glorious horror. Somehow I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the disaster I was witnessing. From episode 1 to 20 I was hooked and unable to tear myself away from this source of my frustrations and insomnia for the past two weeks.
---Story: 9/10
The writers did an incredible job. The pacing and cinematography were excellent and everything was awfully believable. I use the word “awfully” because these writers do not paint the world with an idealistic or rosy hue. Even the people we are supposed to root for are flawed and foolish and sometimes corrupted. The world is a harsh setting of hostility and suspicions and misunderstandings, all of which are far too believable. One of the characters even states outright that justice does not exist, only power and money. So as far as realism goes, they certainly appeal to my inner cynic and go straight to the worst possible outcomes and intentions. This is actually what I consider to be one of the greatest strengths of the show.
The plot is engaging and well-structured and it felt like they knew where they were going with it from the beginning. My criticisms of this show are not related to all that, as much as it is about the HEART and the feeling that I’m left with at the end of each episode. It’s a feeling of surprise and frustration mixed up with corrosive curiosity to know what happens next because HOW can they possibly save the situation NOW? (I had a hard time going to sleep these last two weeks because my brain kept running around in circles… sigh.) It’s a sign of good storytelling I think, but also a bad sign because there was really too much frustration going on.
Personally, there was one critical area where I feel they let the ball drop. One thing that kept this show from being stellar in my eyes. I just can’t get over the fact that from the first episode they consistently pit the main characters against each other rather than letting them get along. There’s a psychological fact that for every bad/hurtful thing a person does/says to someone, it takes around 5 good/positive things to make up for it in people’s minds. The truth is, our brains are hardwired to remember the bad things and it takes a LOT to outweigh those so you remember mostly the good. But this show did NOT do that. I kept feeling like there were too many nasty things the characters were saying/doing to each other and not enough good things to keep any positive sentiment afloat. The moments where it seems they have forgiven each other come after too few reassurances, after too many insults and slights. And not just for the main leads, though they were the top offenders—most of the side characters had these moments as well and not enough attention was given to the actions they did that put them in people’s good graces again. It left a bad taste in my mouth and that is why I docked a point.
From the very beginning they are shown to be basically incompatible, completely different in every way from their background to their personality and values. From the first few interactions they have in the first and second episodes I could tell that this relationship was doomed from the start and my intuition was proved right OVER and OVER again with each insult and deception. They had maybe 6 positive interactions in the entire training period and now I'm supposed to believe that… they’re suddenly in love? Ahahaha NO. Let’s just say that these two are NOT my OTP. There’s way too much bickering, arguing, and crying about what they’ve said to each other and not enough fluff and good feelings to hold it together convincingly.
The main leads are ridiculously foolish and terrible at communicating (in spite of being generally smart and competent adults) and I can't tell you how many times I was yelling at them in the first 6 episodes like "NO YOU FOOL, HE'S A LYING JERK" or "NO YOU FOOL, SHE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!" I really just wanted them to sit down with a marriage counselor and learn how to discuss their feelings and differences without shooting themselves in the metaphorical foot every single time.
Speaking of which, I lost track of how many horrible things they said to each other. From episode 2 and onward I kept yelling at the screen, “Oh no! Tell you me you didn’t just SAY that. Tell me this is all just a nightmare and you’ll wake up soon. OH MY GOD IT WAS REAL! HOW DO YOU RECOVER FROM THAT?!” I can't see how you can repair a relationship that has gone through SO MANY deceptions and heartbreaks in only the course of less than two months. Maybe my heart is softer than theirs and cannot withstand that level of purposeful jabbing and backstabbing. I know if I was in Hang Ah’s shoes I would have cut off all thoughts of EVER being in a relationship with Jae Ha after the very first time he insulted her (in episode 2 or 3, if my memory can be trusted). That was already too far, at least in my opinion. But then there wouldn’t be a show, would there?
In spite of all that Hang Ah goes through (and boy does she go through a lot), I think it's Jae Ha who gets the short end of the stick in this story. Yes, he starts off as a manipulative, lying, selfish, arrogant jerk who likes to laugh at other's expense, but the writers really put him through the wringer and kept turning his world upside down in literally every other episode. I can't quite bring myself to feel TOO sorry for him though because at least half of those things are what he brings on himself through his own foolishness and arrogance. Yet somehow I've become attached to all these conflicted, petty, contradictory, REAL characters and I wanted to see how it would end. There is certainly plenty of room for them to grow and change.
---Cast and Acting: 10/10
Amazing performances from everyone! They all got their characters spot-on, especially the main protagonists and the villain. Perfect performances all around, no complaints here. They did amazing with what they were supposed to do. Even that creepy gothic assassin lady. :P
Just one tiny nitpick that I’m not even going to take half a point off for… the “Westerners” or foreigners in the show had a few lines that sometimes made me question the choice of wording (perhaps those parts of the script weren’t written by a native English speaker?) but for most part they did a convincing enough job. Those are probably what I would consider the only weak links of the casting department, and I’m not sure if it was entirely their fault, so like I said before: nitpick.
---Music: 7/10
Nothing really stuck out to me here, which is a good thing. Normally I notice the music only when it is really inappropriate to the mood or just strange. So the music was fine to me! It fits with the tone of the show.
---Rewatch Value: 6/10
As I’ve mentioned in a previous review, I don’t rewatch because I have too many new shows to watch and not enough time to spend looking back on what I’ve already seen. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat. However, I recognize that there is a lot of rewatch value with this drama because you will notice little details and see the foreshadowing for later events that were set up in the first few episodes. The pacing is good enough that rewatching won’t feel boring, I think. I do think there are better things to do with your time than rewatch this, though. If you want to relive the pain, go for it.
---Overall: 7/10
Even though there are so many other reviews, I felt like adding my own two cents because I don’t feel very positive about this drama. What can I say? I didn’t like this show and I can’t add it to my list of favorites. It wasn’t really to my taste—which, admittedly, is more toward cute/happy/fluffy romcoms and King2Hearts was NONE of those things. However, I am glad I went outside my comfort zone for once and I highly appreciate the work and craftsmanship and depth that went into its creation. It’s not the perfect show but it exceeded my expectations in most areas and was certainly entertaining. In spite of all I have said here, the story truly did keep me riveted from start to finish. If not for the things I mentioned previously, this would have been a 9/10 for me.
If you are looking for a VERY dramatic and emotional show that will make you chuckle and weep and regularly grind your teeth in helpless frustration, this is the drama for you. I got something out of this and I think you will too if you give it a chance.
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