Whoa! What a ride it was. This drama is one of a kind! It's not perfect, and had its ups and downs, but is different from anything I have seen in asian dramas, specially from Korean dramas. I can see the disappointment for some viewers, as it was marketed really differently from what it really was. This drama has its audience, but certainly isn't one with a mass appeal. The main reason: there is no romance or action. It is a corporate political story. It can be considered a present day corporate dynasty. I was listening to a podcast recently about about the world wars and European conquer, all betting on what the other will do, and making their decisions based on it. That is exactly how Empire of Gold is, but on a smaller scale. The writing is the star here, it's the GOLD, with the most thought provoking dialogs, the characters nuanced, complicated. This is a story of greed. The story starts about four characters, four sides, playing each other off, until only one is self on top of the empire. A man coming from the ghetto, who will do anything he can to get on top of the world, on top of those who step on him, not out of revenge, but of envy. A man always there next to that empire, but can never enter it. So close yet too far, he will stop at nothing to take it from those who deny it to him. A woman alone on top of the empire, who always wanted to escape it, but finds herself being the only one part of that empire capable of preserving it. Finally a woman who's own self-victimization keeping her from realizing her truth, greedy and selfish. Most of the drama is spent sitting, either having a meal or drinking tea. During those events, allies happen, betrayals, power switched from one hand to another, lives change, some go to prison, other to castles. It is a hell of a life. As for the acting, it really got me hooked! I think it's my first time watching Go Soo, and oh boy he swept me off my feet. He's flawless, with a beautiful face that he sure isn't afraid to uglify it to suit the mood and state of the character he plays Tae Joo. Tae Joo sure is an inspiring character. Despite being a greedy jerk, what made him capable of turning his fortune he is what I would call a great leader. He manages to move people to his side, have them loyal to him, all in this together, taking the same path. As one of the characters say, he manages to both fill his stomach and his heart. That is where Seo Yoon fails, and will never fill anyone's heart. Her attitude of always telling people *stay put, behave, and I will take care of everything for you* is overbearing. She is very loyal to the family, but her way of showing it, in short, sucks. I'm not a fan of Lee Yo Won, but she plays her character magnificently. Son Hyun Joo is AMAZING! He can do the most devilish thing, but the moment he does this sad look in his eyes, he just gets to me! He was the one I was rooting for, for the most run of the drama. The chemistry that got me hooked was the one between Go Soo and Son Hyun Joo. When they are fighiting, when they are allies, and they face each other off, there's this excitement when they share the screen together. There are many other intriguing characters. The list is too long, but just a couple of highlights: Uhm Hyo Seop as Won Jae, the older brother that is too simple for that hell of a world; Jang Shin Young as Seol Hee, who find a way out of her greed always has an interesting story to tell; Ryu Seung Soo as the awkward gangster with a sense of humour; Kim Mi Sook as Sung Jae's Mom's was terrific. Other than those points, another terrific point is the soundtrack. It was overall a good soundtrack but there was this dramatic music that played out every time a new turn of fortune happen, and had this way of adding of drama and excitement to the scene. I got really addicted to it. As I said the drama is not perfect. One of the main issue it may not have many people complete it, and the reason it took me so LONG to finish it myself is that it drains my energy, specially when you have someone rooting AGAINST. Every time I finish an episode, it just becomes too hard to start a new one, but once I start the episode, I couldn't take my eyes off it, as much as it drained me. Another issue is one I have with many kdramas, there is no sense of time passing. We meet the characters from the time they are in there mid to late 20s (or older), and over 15 years pass, but they are as beautiful as ever, no sense of aging at all. It takes out from the sense of realism, especially when so much emphasize is put on the time those battles took from our protagonists' lives. There was also not much care put to show the different eras the story goes through, from the 90s to the 2Ks. Finally, as the episodes go by, the amount of flashbacks kept increasing, and while I was watching this drama very slowly, I didn't need THIS MANY reminders of what this person said or did. So to summarize it all, it is an amazing, unique drama,that is for a specific audience. It's not perfect by any means, but it excels in its good points. If you like an intelligent drama about people's greed, playing each other off, and corporate politics that mirror real life politics, then that is the drama for you. However, it is NOT a drama about the romance between a self-made man and a heiress. Sometimes I wonder how the drama would've turned out if it followed the synopsis, but I realize it'd probably just be like another kdrama. Then again with such genius writing who knows.