Kathryn_51

Maybe. One photo was a baseball glove/ball with a young child's hand. The other was a baby birthday photo. Maybe lots of kids!! The drama did begin with him at an orphanage, so perhaps there is some connection.

Pre-release/Sneak Peak for Ep. 7

"Kill me, please!"
Lim Ji-yeon, playing the role of a lowly consort who pushes aside the royal consort Lee Se-hee
in a historical drama with an annoying wink😜

https://x.com/SBSNOW/status/2060164218759098547

Some dramas are roller-coasters of plot twists and turns, but you are correct - this one is predictable. We aren't sure exactly what happened 300 years ago, but we know it was bad and we know that Dan-shim landed in the modern era for the purpose of. . . . destiny, I guess.

But the writer has done an incredible job of making this fish-out-of water story absolutely hilarious w/out hitting the viewer over the head with unnecessary explanations/dialogue.

It's a very entertaining ride - like a bus full of characters headed in a known destination but unknown stops along the way. The bus full of characters is going to crash at some point, but unless they kill of Grandpapa or Grandmama, it will be a happy end.

Mun-do has a different surname than the Grandfather. I think there are three generations at play. 1st Gen: Grandfather and any siblings. 2nd Gen: His two daughters and se-gye's father. 3rd Gen: Se-gye. That could mean:

Grandfather had a sister who married a "Choi". The male members of HER lineage would be named Choi and Mon-do could very well be nephew (unlikely) or grand-nephew (more likely. He would properly call Dal-su "Uncle" [his great uncle]. In this situation, se-gye and Mund- do are 2nd cousins.

I believe Dal-su built the Choil empire on his own - which is why his two daughters and se-gye are clear heirs. Although he is willing to help out a grand-nephew (or any other possible family cousins) Mun-do is not a direct descendant.

According to the subtitles, the charges were: (i) disrupting the royal hierarchy; (ii) having relations with [?] are wed; and attempting to murder the prince and royal consort Gyeongbin. Huibin Kang shall be put to death to rectify the dignity of the royal family."

But the real/political reason was (if I understood other parts of the drama) that the country was experiencing a severe drought and they blamed the "red star" [comet] which symbolized the temptress/villainess and it was easy to placate the masses by killing her off.

Plus, it appears the King wanted a good excuse to get rid of her.

After re-watching modern day shaman's explanation which ended with "to get technical, there's a huge difference, but in reality they're alike" I've concluded that writer-nim doesn't intend to explain the intricacies of what happened between Seo-ri and Dan-sim. Traveling back-and-forth in time/split souls/multiple personalities seems overly complicated to me. Reincarnation seems simple and easy to explain; heck even soul possession is understandable and could possibly explain how Dan-shim has adjusted so quickly (relying on a soul partner Seo-ri).

writer said his inspiration was taking "female villains" from history (Huibin Jang/Jang Ok-jeong; Cleopatra) and imagining what would they be like if transported into the modern era.
I think he's done an awesome job and it's funny as hell.

Ooops, I got my beaches mixed up! The sunset scene *was* in Ep. 6(mid-way) - but not the same beach as the kiss scene. However, my point stands - filming anything on a beach during the fall/winter would have been brutal and it makes sense that they were done as late as possible.

LOL, they didn't miss that detail.. They ignored it - a plots gotta plot and @HanHan's question is a proper one. Another problem with those scenes is that bright lights kept moving across the trees - the moon? Wouldn't have moved like that. But the scene was spooky/scary, and it worked for the reasons they wanted - se-gye as desperate hero.

But I hope we don't get too many more of these because for viewers who notice these things, it can be distracting.

To get the perfect shot of SUNSET-on-the-beach, you don't do it in February, that's for sure! Even in April, it would have been very cold in Korea.

The folklore regarding foxes/shapeshifter is good insight/helpful. The radio announcer made several points about the sun-shower:

Message: from the heart that was never conveyed
Story: the cloud sheds tears when the fox it loved married a tiger
True Meaning: a blessing from a loved one wishing you happiness in your new life even when they cry.

Se-gye was listening to the broadcast, so I'm thinking all of the above describe the feelings of the Grand Prince when Dan-shim became the King's Royal Concubine. Or. . . it could mean nothing.😊😊😊

The inspiration for the character Kang Dan-shim was a real (historical) woman named Kang Ok-jeong or Kang Hui-bin. She also died from forced poisoning. They aren't going to "return" to the past to make things right.

Re-watch the intro and focus on the very, very last scene. That's the end. (happy ending).

As for Seo-ri, writer has hinted but we really don't know if we are dealing with time travel, soul possession or reincarnation. My bet is the last one but could be any of them.

I think they are setting her up for some redemption, especially now that the viewer knows that Ms. Blind Date is the baddie. In fact, other than Grandmama, she's the only one who has some memory of what happened 20-ish years ago with Seo-ri.

I think I might create a discussion topic on this question so people can speculate/discuss all in one spot.

Three theories:

1. Soul possession: Joseon Dan-sin's "soul" traveled around in the cosmos until she suddenly landed in the modern era and possessed the body of Seo-ri. This theory means that Seo-ri's body holds two souls - her own and Dan-sin, where Dan-sin is now prominent. Dan-sim believes that her soul in possessing Seo-ri's body.
2. Reincarnation: Dan'sin's soul traveled around the cosmos until she was reincarnated when Seo-ri was born. As a reincarnation, seo-ri has no memories of her former life, but her personality has similarities. She was a child star - very energetic/dramatic until she had "an accident" and faded from public eye. Was she badly injured? Did her parents die in the accident? It's plausible that her personality changed at this point. and she has struggled to stage a come-back in the entertainment world.
3. Soul Swap - Seo-ri's soul somehow traveled BACK in time to inhabit Dan-sim's body (perhaps when she was trapped in the rice bin) but at some point Dan-sim's gutsy/brave soul re-took possession and then. . . .that's where I lose the theory.

I think reincarnation makes the most sense (obviously that's the case with se-gye) but if true, then we will need an explanation as to why Dan-sin's memories/personalityl manifested at that particular moment ( which coincidentally is while Seo-ri is suffering from a fever/flu). Clear as mud?

Palm would have 100% inappropriate - sex on steroids.

Kissing her WOUND on her wrist - first-class.

Se-gye told his assistant to dig deeper into her background. I assume all it took was a few phone calls to learn her address - her agency? the film production?

Anyway, that's what I assumed because SHE definitely didn't know her address until he took her there.

If the King decides you will be his royal concubine, you don't have a choice.

I mean, if your father decides to sell you into slavey, you don't have a choice.

Re-watch the intro. Happy ending.

She rejected him! Twice! He's not the type to cherish a keepsake from a woman who rejected him. That one's easy. He's the type to avoid someone who rejected him (which he tried to do several times).

And, of course, the type to still be concerned about her safety.

After watching Cha Eun Woo in Wonderfools, I decided to try this out. It was cringey from the beginning and I thought - have kdramas improved that much in 6 years.

And then realized it's a highschool drama and they are totally different from adult rom-coms. It has a decent message about "beauty", especially in light of Korean obsession with beauty perfection (not to mention global obsession with Korean products/skin treatments, etc). hoping it gets better - and Cha Eun Woo has got that stoic/icy persona down to a T.

Edit: Well, I finished, but it was a struggle w/lots of FF- had to remind myself that the 16 episode drama was standard back in 2020 because after the requisite bickering/arguing and then 1st kiss, viewer had to sit through happy/break-up/happy/break-up/happy/medical emergency - noble break-up/2 years later. The message was good, especially the anti-bullying but 12 episodes with just one major break-up would have been better. 7⭐- and only because the two leads were charming and unique.

I don't know if we will ever see the face of Joseon Queen, but if we do, I think it will be Mo Taehee.