L13

I totally agree. Ever since the Qiu women went to the Royal Academy and Qiu Yan had to become an entertainer I've been having less fun watching this drama. The whole game of pretend between her and Liang Yi and the fact she has to act like his plaything and conceal her real personality, motives and intelligence is not cute to me but tedious and frustrating.

And objectively speaking it *is* filler since nothing major has happened plot-wise.

I think the main couple's romance was more interesting when it was developing naturally and lost some steam when they were forced into pretending to be in a physical relationship in order to deceive onlookers. All the bedsharing tropes, nosy mother-in-law scenes and fake arguments feel childish and artificial compared to the honesty and emotional intimacy/private connection the leads had in earlier episodes.

The lantern scene was definitely filler too, and personally, I don't go ga-ga over the idea of a man staging some convoluted romantic "event" for a woman. As I said, their early relationship dynamic was more interesting.

Thankfully, we should be exiting the pointless fluff arc soon and will go back to the leads being free to be themselves and treat each other as equals (instead of QY role-playing as a sweet country bumpkin concubine, which is not her and feels demeaning) soon enough.

Uh, well, in my opinion you're wrong. The plot is intricate, fast-paced and exciting and Lee Hye-ri has done her job. Compared to other recent fusion sageuks it's very well-executed. There's nothing mindblowing, but the conspiracy plot is exciting and the themes of good governance, just and unjust laws and worthy rulers are given a more nuanced treatment than usual, while the romance is natural and unencumbered by stupid love triangle drama and misunderstandings. The second leads are also interesting, with Lady Han being really charming and the crown prince facing a realistic moral dilemma. The surrounding cast of officials, smugglers, gisaengs, etc. is also well-developed. In most romantic kdramas there are at most 1-2 characters beyond the standard 4 leads who have distinct personalities and motivations that are compelling enough to make you root for or against them, but here there are several side characters I've become invested in.

Also, Ro-seo is a great female lead. She's actually a badass, not just someone we're told is a badass who loses her smarts and independence for the sake of the plot/so the ML can shine by comparison.

We only see Sim Heon’s tattoo and the narrative implies he’s CRS’s son, but the preview a few episodes ago had CRS denying being the father of a son who was implied to be Nam Young and we haven’t seen those scenes yet. We’ve also seen CRS’s doomed love affair with Young’s mother told through flashbacks—so it’s possible Young and Heon are brothers.

This is pure gossip, so take it with a grain of salt, but the FL is rumoured to be in a relationship with Yang Yang.

In any case, acting is their job. They do have good chemistry, but, like. It’s their job to make it look convincing.

I think the directing in this drama is also pretty good; usually the director sets the tone for the actors.

WHO’S CHIEF ROYAL SECRETARY’S SON? IS IT SIM HEON? IS IT YOUNG? IS IT BOTH OF THEM? I hate how this was shown in the preview 3-4 episodes ago and hasn’t been addressed since.

Lady Han lowkey best character in the drama. Also:

Right, at 23 you're in medical school! Get an adult for this role FFS!

I feel really terrible for Qiu Min and wish she had anyone she could confide in after being raped. Her plot to entrap Qin Xuan is ruthless, but I understand she's not thinking clearly, feels like she has no one to rely on in the whole world, and is desperate to survive. Coupled with the trauma of getting sexually assaulted and not being able to tell anyone, it's a lot to deal with.

(Edit: Wait, she actually roofied him? Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying enough attention during that scene... Qiu Min, I can't condone you doing to Qin Xuan the same thing that was done to you! This is really terrible.)

That said, what she needs right now is not a stand-in baby daddy but the support of people who care about her. Qiu Yan spent the first 17 episodes of the drama telling Qiu Min she was weak and useless and needed to solve her problems on her own, so I understand why QM would feel like she couldn't rely on QY in this moment of crisis. After all, QY refused to hug her when their mother died and when their family collapsed and they were sold into slavery. I know QY's tough love came from a place of concern, but she was wrong to treat QM so coldly and we're seeing the consequences right now.

I hope QY will become the pillar of support QM needs and QM will tell her the truth about everything so QY can help her, but I'm afraid the way QM's character arc is trending--meaning the abrupt heel turn from naïve helpless ingenue to scheming self-destructive predator--portends a tragic end. I'm kind of afraid she'll die and QY will be left to take care of her child or something like that. I really hope I'm wrong and QM doesn't let bitterness and despair turn her into a completely different person... but I don't know how she could possibly come back from this.

lmao WHAT. I’m trying to finish Maiden Holmes right now and the acting and characterisation are terrible compared to The Autumn Ballad. The main characters are your cookie-cutter cdrama staples—the wide-eyed innocent girl consumed by her own angst and the manly macho man who forces his feelings on her until at some arbitrary point we all decide she returns them (not that she knows her own heart or expresses her feelings ever); he exists to protect her and cater to her feelings even when he’s on the verge of death and she exists to be a girlboss but also trip and fall into the ML’s arms every episode, learn from him, be saved by him, and be the oblivious virginal target of his jokes about how horny he is. There’s no playful banter, intellectual camaraderie or an answer to the question of why the hell they would even like each other.

The main characters in TAB are so much better both individually and together.

This really is a drama where nothing grabs your attention. There are only two characters whose love lives I wanted to follow, Bo-ri and Kang-rim, but they were both mishandled by the writers. Bo-ri's romance took way too long to take off and doesn't get enough screentime, and re. Kang-rim there's no couple worth rooting for. His age difference with Seul-ah coupled with the fact he's her teacher make that whole proposition sus and they don't have any romantic interactions that could persuade the viewer to root for them despite the moral ambiguity of a potential relationship. Seon-hae, however, is boring like stale bread and the idea of her and Kang-rim together is just depressing since they're both total squares.

Which is the problem of the drama in a nutshell. There's no one interesting and no one likeable, and the storylines lack intrigue and drama.

Also the part where one of her aunts and the ungrateful son tried to make her infertile for no reason...

"Liang Yi keeps helping the Second Young Lady Qiu in front of me because he obviously has feelings for her sister." Yuan Lang is really stupid for a smart guy!

The way he went, oops, I guess I have no choice but to break off this engagement, what a shame!!! and got unengaged in 5 seconds flat was so funny. When Qiu Min appealed on Qiu Yan's behalf "for the sake of our past relationship" I was like, girl, nice try, but his past, current and future relationship is with your sister, this guy has probably forgotten your name in the one hour since he dumped you!

Yuan Lang must be feeling salty because Liang Yi outmanoeuvred him by cutting ties with the Qiu family immediately, but I expect he'll realise he still has leverage because Qiu Yan is Liang Yi's weak point sooner or later. Qiu Yan's deadbeat father was also starting to get a clue before he was thrown in prison. "Don't forget you're engaged to Qiu Min, not Qiu Yan." Uh oh!

Yeah, the raid scene was pretty detailed and realistic.

He's a nice guy, but he's spineless and small-minded and his only purpose so far is to be obsessed with Qiu Yan; we've seen no sign of talent or maturity from him so far.

I do feel bad for him because Qiu Yan is using him, but his scenes bore me (which is the point of his character right now--he nags and discourages Qiu Yan in contrast to Liang Yi, who understands what matters to her and can keep up with her mad plans).

I can't stand most SMLs because of this.

I'm getting really tired of cdrama's obsession with casting actors in their early 20s as hotshot doctors. Was there really no 30-year-old actress they could cast opposite 30-year-old Yang Yang?

Qiu Yan getting Qin Xuan’s letter where he tells her he’s going to forsake his family and status and risk his life to get her out of the Royal Academy and going, hmm, nice, I can use him to get Min’er out of here, and justifying herself to Qiu Min with “whatever, he can make his own decisions!” vs Qiu Yan not wanting Liang Yi to get flogged in exchange for her mother’s medicine… I see you, girl 👀

I'm still on ep. 15, but Qin Xuan is so useless. Just stop getting in the way!

That’s a very good comparison! He has a bit of WH’s charisma and directness.