raquelle b

A well written dark fantasy, beautifully shot and produced! The plot is actually both pretty straightforward and amazingly thrilling at the same time. I especially enjoyed the little twist with Saenggang’s grandmother being the actual big bad mastermind behind the Evil Ghost. It makes perfect sense in terms of motive, practicality, profitability, as well as historical harem fight logic, and yet i was hooked into the show’s narrative of the Queen Dowager as the mastermind, so bravo writing team 😃😃! I also like the reveal that the late Crown Prince was always evil, that the King didn’t randomly kill his son, but did so because the CP killed his siblings first. Was I slightly annoyed that the very obviously dark-spirit, arguably Evil King was redeemed by the narrative in the end? Yeah sure. Especially with the story showing the late CP doing the exact same thing his father did, but was punished because he got caught and found out the truth. Because for me, the current King doesn’t deserve the crown any more than his dead siblings or his son whom he killed for discovering his secret. And the fact that our MCs spend the whole show resenting the King just to do everything to save him and spare him in the end. He doesn’t deserve to live after all that he did and the people that died by his hand/because of him. Ig they couldn’t let the throne be in chaos, and that he “atoned” for his sins by promising to suffer for eternity when he dies, but for me that plot resolution is weak 😭💀. Ig in a sense, he’ll always be haunted by his crimes, so yeah 😭.

I like that the message of the story is there are no ghost more sinister than the human evil. The story started with villainzing the ghosts and spirits, and ends with every arc revealing the real evil is the living human all along. From the Queen Dowager, to the King, to the King’s mother, they all are the real evils, scheming and killing innocent people. And the spirits are the poor souls just seeking justice. And although the Crown Prince being the main villain, the titular “East Palace Curse”, he too was shown to be sinful when he was alive. And I also like that despite everything, our MCs seek to let the souls pass to the other side in peace. Even Gucheon who claimed he didn’t want to send the Crown Prince to oblivion, while yes, avoid that choice out of fear of turning into a vengeful ghost like the CP, also avoid doing that out of his own compassion.

I also like the portrayal of parental relationships here. There’s all very dysfunctional, but still stem from a twisted type of love and care. Like the King being ruthless and evil, still care and spare for his only (?) daughter Saenggang, despite his disdain for those who can hear ghosts (stem from his own son learning his secrets), and her mother KNOWING his secrets. And even when he killed the CP, he was sad and haunted by it. And of course, our MCs’ relationships with their mothers. Saenggang who longs for and bear a grudge against whomever killed her mother, and Gucheon who is haunted by the death and oblivion of his mother. And then the King himself and his relationship with both his mothers, which are both typical of historical palace intrigue drama relationship, filled with schemes and resentment, but also ties back with his relationship with his children. The strained relationship being the cause of the CP’s villainy and yet Saenggang’s empathy.

Shout out to Gucheon and Saenggang! What an amazing duo! And although they had little romantic moments, their relationship and chemistry was beautiful. It really hits different when she drugged him and sacrificed herself to distract and kill the CP, and when Gucheon cuts his own neck to come save Saenggang faster, that was peak 🔥🔥

I did enjoy the leads Nam Joohyuk and Roh Yeonseo’s performances. It was nice. But my outstanding performances go to the King - Cho Seungwoo, Queen Dowager - Jang Youngnam and the King’s mother - Hwang Younghee. They are too good at being villains it’s sickening 🔥🔥 10/10 performances!!

Overall, I had fun with this one! I do like dark fantasy and last time I watched smth similar was Dear Hongrang. Pretty different dramas plot wise, but they give me same mystery dark, ritualistic vibes. Shoutout to music team as well, nice soundtrack! Bonus points because this one is HE! Although the leads didn’t officially end up tgt, they’re both alive and traveling tgt, so 10/10 for the HE! 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Overall rating: 8/10!