UnaSpenser

I think the age gap is bigger. I thought somewhere it is mentioned that he’s in his thirties. Or is 29, going in thirty. But the gap is more than years, too. He’s far more worldly. And there is a social power gap. So, they seem almost a generation apart, even though it’s probably just 7 or 8 years.

It’s not just the style (though CDramas do seem to infantalize their female leads with childish stying.) Her total inability to recognize cop a clue about the ways that anyone is with her. First, after the most obvious displays of interest, she somehow doesn’t know, even after her friend told her, that the ML liked her? I’m not buying it. Then, this guy stalks her and harasses her and is so obviously manipulative, but she maintains that he’s a friend. He’s a narcissistic user. And to not understand how it would be a problem to give her all her time to that guy when her bf, who lives in another country, is here on a short visit? To equate a coworker, that he has to see with a stalker “friend”? She’s so immature. If I were the ML, I wouldn’t trust her. She sets no boundaries.

This is definitely not romance-centered. The main plot is about solving her mother’s murder. There are subplots in the family and elsewhere. How those are resolved is where we see the slowly building marriage partnership. It’s really not all that romantic, as the FL takes about 28 or 29 episodes to even begin to consider changing her original plan of solving her mother’s murder and then leaving for an independent life. Also, eventually, the subplots are tied into the main plot.

The most tedious piece of the story is the worn out trope of the unrequited love, who feels entitled and when she doesn’t get what she wants is constantly scheming and murderous. It was a relief to get her out of the mix. Other than that, it’s an entertaining enough story.

My personal note on “70 episodes of harem”.

I can’t stand harem dynamics and avoid it. MingLan was different, somehow. The way it was done was a bit mesmerizing. It was like being a fly on the wall, it felt so intimidate. Also, the MingLan character was so smart and not vengeful. The story portrayed one of the healthiest romance/partnership developments I’ve seen. I never once felt mired in the drudgery of harem politics, though, in the beginning that is what her life is about.

I find it’s more the way the character is written than the actress herself. While she’s smart, even as the teen she is, she’s kind of boring. Even her interest in an independent life, which set her apart from most noble women, is getting erased in the name of romance (which she is completely lacking in any sensuality for. She’s a young woman with no hormones? It’s weird that they’ve written her to have no response to his overtures. Even if she wants to deny them, because she has her own agenda, she would still have physical reactions. But there’s nothing. As if she’s not a hormonal teen and is oblivious to physical relations. She also has no sense of humor or playfulness. She’s pretty one-dimensional. And that’s written that way.she has nothing to work with.

Oh yikes. I hadn’t gotten that far, yet.

I don’t know. I knew about the all the things the father and brother were up to. I knew the cousin was going to put the scorpion in her bed. I knew she’d find all the prisoners and get them released. I knew she’d get caught in the net and the dude would cut her out. I found myself wanting to just skip ahead because it felt as if I’d already seen it. Oh well. Maybe my brain was being weird and giving me instant de ja vu. ?

Hahahahaa!

I think it’s to highlight their contrasting styles, but that is a such a funny observation!

Is this drama remake?

It felt as if I’d seen all the bits in Hulan before. I absolutely knew all the details that were to happen. Not just the gist of it. It was disorienting.

This is now on DramaCool with subs.

Wanted to enjoy this and did, at first.

Then, it took turns that ruined what made it compelling in the first place.

FL starts off as confident, smart investigator who is better than all the men in the department. But, as soon as she meets up with ML, she’s suddenly almost incapable of analyzing anything and has to turn to him. Also, she was a fighter, able to fend for herself and suddenly she becomes reliant upon him to protect her.

But, the thing that made it unwatchable was the two stalkers. It is not cute or funny or entertaining to have characters refuse to accept “no” and force themselves into the other persons’s life. I’d really like to see this trope die a horrible death, as it diminishes the very serious nature of this kind of behavior. I came to hate every single moment Xie Xiao was in the screen. insisting that the FL be “his”. She very clearly said she was not interested. Not only does he mansplain her own feelings and patronizingly determine what she needs, he stalks her, refusing to leave her alone. He also mansplains his fiancé’s feelings, never once asking her to state her own feelings, The FL has a professional job to perform. Why does he get to tag along? Arrest him for interference in public duty and save the rest of us from having to sit through his horrible scenes, where he is behind juvenile.

The other stalker is a bit more respectful, in that he acknowledges that the woman doesn’t have any interest in him, Still, he insists on “being her shadow” to “protect” her.. His character was interesting before this story arc started. He was a comrade and supporter of the FL. A great feminist ally. He lost all his feminist credentials, the moment he ignored a woman’s “don’t appear in front of me again” command, and he seemed to just abandon his job and his friendship and he became nothing but a sad crush boy.

This crap ruins a story like nothing else. What could have been a fun crime/mystery romp, with a slowly developing relationship between the leads became an annoying focus on misogynist, narcissistic dudes. It was stomach churning and I had to stop watching, as it was drained of all enjoyment. I wish they had stayed with the fun antics of all the men and criminals dealing with this young, female prodigy., while also getting some training from another young professional. Better crime mystery arcs and more interesting problem solving, highlighting how the strengths of the two leads complement each other would have been fabulous. Sadly, this is not that.

Updating to say that this was funnier when it wasn’t about romantic relations. It was all just over the top goofiness until this stuff kicked in. Then it got toxic. Also tedious. I stopped watching.

This is great fun, even though some of it is not my kind of humor. That is, the ensemble does such a great job and the writing is so good that it transcends its genre.

I must say, Lee Yi Kyung really steals the show. I find myself almost just getting through the other scenes in anticipation of his. (Not really. They all do a great job. But, he got a gem of a part and his energy is so infectious.)

Those are all the same reasons that I don’t like CDramas. I was horrified when I started watching at how awful the characters and relationships were. And this trope of the men tormenting or torturing a woman, only to be somehow redeemed as the romantic partner just disgust me. (And, yes, there are some extremely popular dramas where I’m at a loss to appreciate fans who support these toxic notions about women and relations.)

Trust me, based on what you’re saying, I’m pretty sure you will like MingLan.

One of the most solid character actors out there. If he’s in the cast, I’m thinking the director and producer are serious about production. Wish they would give him lead roles.

I was thinking that HwaJin added those notes. She was referring to the scribbles in it and how she should have taken better care. In fact, I found myself wondering if her newfound remorse was fake and she confessed about the well, so that the book would be associated with the queen. She suspected he had already figured it out. And his brother knew, so it was only a matter of time. So, maybe she took control over the reveal and used that to frame the queen.

Do they need to stay true to history? It’s fiction. And it’s not China.

That said, with the idea that CheolJung is having a dream about what is happening now being offered up in episode 16, I felt they weren’t going to give us the “happy ending” of them staying together in this timeline. If it’s all a dying dream, then even if it ends well, it disappears when he dies. But, how that would blend with fact that Bong Hwan is in a coma and having this experience is confusing. Maybe, even the contemporary story is a dream? The dying king wouldn’t know anything about future Joseon/Republic of Korea, though, so how is this info in his dream?

The only possible happy ending is that Bong Hwan’s contemporary body is dying without its soul. The original So Jung has already died. The scene where she sinks in the water while he’s watching implies that her suicide was successful. So, in the death throes of his male body, he gets to make a choice. Return and save that body, or leave and let the queen die.

The audience has no vested interest in the contemporary Bing Hwan character, unless there is going to be a sequel about him and his life after having experienced life as a woman. So, there isn’t anything emotionally compelling about having him go back. Other than stopping him from changing history, what would be the point? And that’s just boring.

But, maybe the writers have some interesting points I haven’t considered.

I find it hit or miss with CDramas. MingLan was one of my favorite female characters of all time. Now, there is the Rebel Princess, with a fantastic female character. And both stories have wonderful male partners with the women. So, urged in a deep pile of patriarchal misogynist portrayals, out come some of the most well-written female characters, who are not warriors. I like my female warriors a lot, but if we want meaningful portrayals of realistic female character types, we need more like Ming Lan.

This has been such a fun ride, so far. Both leads are awesome in their roles.

And episode 14 does something I’ve yet to see done in an Asian drama,

I they’ve gotten around the cultural homophobia by changing his internal dialogue to a feminine voice.

It’s a fascinating choice. If he decides, or is forced, to stay in this timeline, he basically is a trans person.

It was very telling when, in his confused musings about having had sex with the king, there was the line, “did I like it even better?”

As in, maybe he was detached from relationships and overcompensating as a playboy because he is actually more suited to being a woman. None of this has to be intended for it it be a possible interpretation. The story producers can maintain a “heterosexual” story line, while also subtly having the audience accepting a trans person. And/or accepting that it is a gay relationship for him, even though he’s in a female body. Either way, it’s a very clever device for allowing a concept to sneak in while people are not realizing it.

It will be interesting to see where they go with it. Did they cop out and have him return to his original body? Or does he come to terms with being in a female body and come to cherish his relationships in this timeline?

And she lacks the patient planning of a general. I had actually forgotten that she was supposed to have been a general. She has. I military bearing, at all.