Platinum Fox

Depends on what you mean by love triangle. If you are talking about more than one girl or guy after the lead, then, yes. If you are talking about an actual love triangle, then that is debatable. The female lead loves Yoon Gap, but then falls in love with Gang Cheol who is in Yoon Gap's body.

There is a second young lady who also likes Yoon Gap.

Hope this helps.

I have to disagree with you. She falls in love with him when he is her student. She treats him like a colleague and friend. They go on several field trips together without permission from the director or the parents. Romance does not have to be sex, hand holding, kissing, hugging, etc. It can be just wanting to be near each other, sharing an intimate moment (the piggy back ride), or even a day at the museum.

This drama was pointing out all the corruption and bad things that can go wrong in the teaching environment. Both the teacher and the principal had inappropriate relationships with students and both were indeed fired for it. It is the power dynamic between the two that makes this so controversial.

By the end, both are consenting legal adults. She is no longer his teacher. The power dynamics are gone. jmo

Another poster wanted me to watch the same thing. I watched one episode. Maybe we could watch it together?

Yes, I felt that both the male and female leads in this drama were flat. For me, all the female lead did was stand there. I really felt no chemistry between them even when they were suppose to have chemistry. My favorite part of the drama was the servant and the general.

Flourished Peony is a stand alone drama. There is no cliffhanger. However, there are many things left unexplained.

Yes the rule of no more than 40 episodes per season, I believe. The Chinese people complained that dramas were becoming too drawn out with too many filler scenes instead of actual story lines. That's why you will see in many dramas the back story of all the characters which you don't really need. Also, the Chinese people complained about the length of each episode, so most episodes run to 45 minutes or less.

What are you watching next? I will be finishing Legend of Zang Hai and starting Secret of the Three Kingdoms.

Thank you so much. I will see if I can find any of those dramas on the platforms I get. I see Secret of the Three Kingdoms is on Viki. I'll check it out.

Hello, how are you? The last time I wrote to you was on The Double.
I watched 28 episodes of this 27 regular and the last one. How is this a parody on the Three Kingdoms? Can you recommend any dramas about this time period?

Yes, I loved it. It was a strong 8.5 for me. If you liked it, you should try Flourished Peony. It does have two seasons and the next season is coming out in July?2025. It's called In the Name of Blossom.

Just writing to say, "hello". I was watching this with another poster and had to drop it on episode 27. From the illogical beginning to the flat comedic scenes left little desire for me to watch it. Glad you enjoyed it.

I see you are new to MDL. Welcome and happy drama watching!

Historical:
Flourished Peony (Part 1) It has two seasons the name of the second season is In the Name of Blossom (but it is not out yet (July?),
Blossom,
Blossoms in Adversity,
In Blossom
The Sword and the Brocade
Who Rules the World
The Story of Kunning Palace
The Glory (Chinese)
The Princess Wei Young
A Dream of Splendor

Modern:
Hidden Love
The First Frost
The Glory 1 & 2 (Korean)

Yes, many viewers who didn't like this drama loved The Double. You may enjoy The Prisoner of Beauty.

That's a good question. But I think she would be fully human. An imugi is a spirit that can take on many forms. It doesn't reproduce itself. Gang Cheol was a serpent or dragon in his original form, and then later a human. So it stands to reason that the Jade Emperor allowed him to be an imugi spirit in a human body. So essentially Yeo Ri gets the body of her first love and the spirit of her second love. Also, Yeo Ri will essentially be having Yoon Gap's children. jmo

If you mean a love triangle in that there are several men after our female lead then, yes. If you mean an actual love triangle, than no. And yes a very happy ending.

That's okay. This drama is not for everyone. Hope you find something you will enjoy. You might enjoy The Double. It is very much like this, but very light with a dark undertone.

Happy drama watching.

Beautiful review. I also want to say thank you for your take on the queen's death. While many viewers felt is was wrong and evil. I felt like you, that balance had been restored in the universe. Why should the monarchy not have bad things happen to them, especially when they are the ones who caused it in the first place.

You're right. The queen and the unborn child were innocent victims, but so were the people who were massacred. The universe was righting a wrong. Even the queen understood that. Remember the entire premise of the show is, "If people understood that the decisions they make today will affect future generations, would they make better choices?" If the gg grandfather had sent help to the village, the spirits would have been appeased, but he didn't. The guard pleaded the deities to help them. The deities answered by sending Gang Cheol. Gang Cheol was so angry that he didn't get to ascend that he burned all the crops and hated humans after that. Gang Cheol was a hero who didn't answer the call.

The people in the village were pawns used by the great great grandfather to save his own life. Once they were spirits, they continued to be used as pawns because they only did something when they were called upon by a shaman or someone like him to do evil things (kill a royal). The only way to stop what was happening was for Gang Cheol to help the people which was his destiny in the first place.

Ask yourself, if the spirits were hell bent on getting back at the great great grandfather why not just kill off his entire bloodline? Then the present king wouldn't have even been born. Justice would have been served.

I understand where you are coming from. For me, that is the point of the whole drama. One king's decision didn't just decide the fate of the people in the village, but also caused a ripple effect 100 years into the future.

Many viewers here believe all murder is wrong. It doesn't matter the reason why. In this instance, what is justice? What needs to happen to make what happened 100 years ago right.

When Bibi eats these corrupt officials, it appears to be a good thing. However, he is essentially taking in all their essence. He is cultivating hate, jealousy, and rage. His jealousy and rage do not hit its peak until he eats the minister of war (the one who stabs Yun Gap). It is after that event that Bibi starts to become jealous and makes plans to get rid of Yeo Ri. It is why Yeo Ri stops Bibi from eating the officials as she understands what the consequences are. You are what you eat.

Gang Cheol meditated for 1000 years, what did he cultivate, nothing. Once he starts interacting with the humans, he starts cultivating love and kindness. He was the exact opposite of this at the beginning of the drama. If the 8 ft. creature had eaten Gang Cheol's moonlit pearl at the time of the fight, it would have been the end of the 8 ft creature.

If you notice, once the 8 ft. creature ate the pearl its rage, hate, and jealousy became more powerful. That is what the blind shaman wanted.

The fantasy genre is about redemption. the first official that we see Bibi eat had no chance at redemption. The minister of war was never going to change. Consequently, Bibi begins to be jealous.

Yes, I have to agree with you. The writing of the final fight scenes were very poorly written and made the whole thing drag out too long. I almost stopped right there. If I had, I would have missed the final "twist".

One hundred years ago, the palace guard prayed to the deities for help. The deities in heaven sent Gang Cheol. However, Gang Cheol, who was filled with rage and hate for humans, did not answer the call. Under the guise of saving Yeo Ri, Gang Cheol uses up his essence. When he uses up his essence, he fulfills his destiny and can ascend. That is why Yeo Ri is needed for his ascension. This was the final twist in the story.

Thanks for the discussion.

As I wrote to the person above, Gang Cheol didn't sacrifice himself for Yeo Ri, he sacrificed his pearl to save the Celestial General and the Colossal Shadow from eternal damnation. It was his way of ascending.