hanni12
The story starts out with two brothers, Prince Jin Yang and Prince Eun Sung. One very much wants to sit on the throne, while the other one would rather dedicate his life to the fine arts. Prince Eun Sung is a sensitive artist trapped in the snake nest that is the royal court, forced to fight in a war and act in a way that belies his gentle nature. Prince Jin Yang is the power hungry snake who wants to the throne to make up for the trauma of having to grow up outside the palace without the love of his mother. He takes revenge upon his family like a vicious child, hating his own brother and destroying everyone in his path.
Sung Ja Hyun is a noble man's daughter who wants ~more~ than an arranged marriage and kids, dabbling in painting, which is how she meets Eun Sung. They bond over their love of the fine arts and plan to marry, when their dreams are shattered by court politics.
After Prince Eun Sung is whisked away to a war, Prince Jin Yang, like a child tries to take Ja Hyun as his concubine to take revenge upon his brother. Setting forth some kind of love triangle, but what was refreshing was that it was always clear that he never loved her. It's not played off as some tragic love story, but always portrayed as what it is: him wanting what his brother had. Just like as a child, when his brother had that love of his mother. I think one of the most compelling parts of the drama was the psychology of Prince Jin Yang. Even if you didn't agree, you understood why he did what he did. It made him human, even if there is a lack of humanity in the things he does.
It doesn't quite have the magic and the complexity of the Princess' Man and it sure doesn't have supporting characters quite as strong. It doesn't have that grandness and the feel of epicness either. Many scenes are very similar and seem a bit copy cat in a distracting way, it's not surprising that they were made by the same director. It's been compared a lot to the Seven Day Queen because of the power struggle, but I think that Grand Prince is actually better plotted and executed.
When it comes to the comparisons with those two dramas I would say that they're cousins, similar but also distinct with their owns unique merits. If you have already seen Princess' Man I would skip the drama, as the similarities are a bit too much.
They were only minor characters, but I enjoyed what Ja Hyun's parents brought to the story, supporting their daughter in everything. I also liked Roo Shi Gae, who could have just been a comic relief character, but managed to worm herself into my heart with her charm and steadfast support of her Eun Sung, knowing and accepting that he only loves Ja Hyun.
I didn't feel like acting in this was especially good, neither of the leading trio have been known as great actors, but I think they all did a serviable albeit a bit bland job. Jin Se Yeon improved quite a bit from her previous roles and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb or anything. She isn't exactly great, but not too shabby either. Yoon Shi Yoon was perfectly cast with his boyish charm and twinkle in his eye at the start, he managed to portray the hardening of his character well. Joo Sang Wook while competent was a bit too wooden and he could have added some more flourish to his character, I didn't feel like he portrayed his character to his full potential. One of the weak points of the drama was Na-Gyeom, Prince Jin Yang wife. It was never believable that her and Ja Hyun were ever friends and the evilness of her seemed to be more to move the plot forward, she just wasn't a well developed character.
The drama suffered a bit from a retread of the plot in the middle, but it picked up again when it came to the third act, where it all payed off and came to a satisfying conclusion. The episodes really got better and better towards the end, the tension reaching a boiling point and it all paid off in the very end.
Recommended for saeguk fans who like their saeguks to lean heavily onto the romantic side. It doesn't reinvent the wheel and some parts are a bit too familiar, but it's certainly a 20 hour well spent and entertained.
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Korean public network dramas just don't have the balls to there in terms of sexuality or darkness. It was all just some pure puppy love bullshit like any other high school/college drama.
It would have been better suited for a cable TV station, but even then the story line would have been stretched dangerously thin. It was never enough material in the original to make a whole TV drama out of it, but I honestly even doubt that the writer even read the original source material, and just watched the 1999 movie and sanitized the whole thing until it was unrecognizable. It just didn't capture the feel of the original story at all.
The source material is about some rich bored people playing dangerous games and messing up people lives and in the end their very own. I got none of that in this drama.
Which was a thousand times better. The drama just lacks characters like Sarah Michelle Gellar's Kathryn Merteuil an promiscuous coke snorting teenager bathing in privilege hell bent on fucking up people's life over nothing with her equally messed up step brother who is trying to fuck.
Soo Jin is none of that. Not even a tenth of that character. Neither is Shi Hyun. Reese Witherspoon's character was the weak point of that movie, but even Tae hee doesn't compare.
This drama lacks such characters that made the 1999 movie a cult classic. All of them are equally anemic and flat caught up in endless cycles of teenage angst and the attached dumb break ups. I can't even come up with anything to say about the characters, after the first few episodes where they are kinda give some personality traits it just stops and blends together into some kind of mush.
And even if that teenage dry humping is your thing you're still forced to sit through the parents storyline. The only good aspect that could have been expanded upon was the friendship of the three in the beginning. More focus on those and much needed character development would have done wonders. A plot would have been nice too, I guess.
Not even Woo Do Hwan could make this watchable. And looking back on it, while he's a decent actor, he can't deliver without a strong character.
I can't even blame Joy for the acting with the character she was given.
If anyone is interested in a Koreanfied version of that story they should watch the 2000 movie "Untold Scandal" with Bae Yong Joon.
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Han Jung Oh (Jung Yoo Mi) is a police woman that actually *gasp* does that job for the paycheck and doesn't feel some higher calling to wear the uniform. Pragmatic, but delicate with a hunting backstory that is the heart of the drama and the themes. It's not surprising that not just one, but two of her coworkers are smitten with her, but only one is able to deal with her heavy back story.
Yeom Sang Soo (Lee Kwang Soo) is a tall dorky idealist who might be a bit too naive for the job. He does that job for the paycheck just like Jung Oh, but it's a bit harder than he first thought. He finds himself attracted to Jung Oh and is persistent in winning her affections.
Ahn Jang Mi (Bae Jong Ok) and Oh Yang Chon (Bae Sung Woo) are a married couple of police officers who find themselves on going through a downward slope in their marriage. Jang Mi is the real highlight of the drama, tough and and equally full of heart. Dedicated and hyper competent at her job, but also a caring daughter in law to her father in law to whom she is closer than his own son. Yang Chon is a supremely unlucky, but also hard working police officer who is going through some shit, some stuff self-inflicted and also some that isn't.
I think every drama fan familiar with Noh Hee Kyoung winced a bit, hearing that she was teamed up with her long time partner in crime Kim Gyu Tae who for some reason is filming everything in hyper close ups and saps the rawness and emotion out of her scripts to a hyper polish. But thankfully he's finally found out the zoom out function and did a surprisingly competent job and let's Noh Hee Kyung's writing shine.
The highlight of the drama is the whole team spirit that develops among the police officers, I especially enjoyed the relationships among the veterans and the new recruits of the force. The chemistry among the actors was mostly great and I especially enjoyed the friendships that developed among the team and how they worked together on the cases. It's a realistic and raw look into the profession that goes against what is usually portrayed. It's also good to see that the subject of sexual violence has come to the forefront in quite a few dramas in recent times. It doesn't hold back and doesn't just show the immediate aftermath, but also the trauma down the line that victims have to deal with their whole lives.
The love triangle I felt didn't quite belong and seemed quite forced. I didn't feel like Jung Yoo Mi and Lee Kwang Soo had the chemistry necessary to make it work and I think that Lee Kwang Soo just isn't leading material. He doesn't have the charisma or screen presence to be the leading man and I feel that he was miscast here, coming across as pushy instead of charming. Jung Yoo Mi on the other hand was a great fit for the role. While the main love story just wasn't working for me, the one of Jang Mi and Yang Chon while quite unusual and unglamorous is also starkly realistic and made up for the main couple not being my cup of tea.
Overall a breath of fresh air, with some casting missteps, recommended for anyone that loved American cop shows and anyone that's sick of the usual Korean cop dramas. The no holds barred realism present in this drama, is not too often found in Korean dramas and should be cherished.
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