First, if you are choosing to watch this drama due to historical context reenactments, you might be disappointed because it is fictitious rendition of the historical events, so creative liberties have been taken. Personally, I didn't mind the changes and/or omissions of history to suit the drama because I was more interested in the fiction of the story rather than the history being presented.
Second, there have been some people who have said that they really didn't find the music to be fitting for the tone of the drama. I completely and wholeheartedly disagree. I think ALL of the music was exceptionally fitting and helped really build the scenes. Even though there was some EDM, rock, and bagpipes in the OST's, they all blended well, and none of them took away from the drama.
Now that I got those out of the way...
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What was amazing:
The friendship felt between Hwi and Seon-Ho was impeccably powerful. Their friendship lasted through the good times and the horrific times. There was a brotherly love they hold for each other that motivated them to fight and die for each other. I loved every moment of it. Especially when they only had bad and worse options to choose from - it was hard to watch, but you can't help but keep watching it happen.
Writers did a great job blurring the lines between "good" and "bad." A lot of times in historical dramas, all the main characters are "good guys" and the opposing party is clearly the "bad guys" - there are no blurred lines. But this drama is deeper than that. It very powerfully demonstrates that when you believe that what you're doing is best for those you love, it's not "wrong" or "bad" just the best option out of the choices you have. The plot in regards to good vs. evil was so well crafted. There were only some characters that I truly thought were bastards (such as Seon-Ho's father), but for the most part, I could see where they were coming from and couldn't hate them for it. Which leads me to my next point...
I ADORE Seon-Ho. Yes, he made some really awful decisions that put Hwi through some really horrible things, but they were the best decisions be could make in trying to protect Hwi and Yeon. AND he tortured himself every day knowing what he did to his best friend and sister. So no, I couldn't hate him, not once. He was actually my favorite character.
I think the writers also did a really good job of writing a story that WASN'T about people fighting over the throne for themselves. The main characters are trying to protect what they view as "their country" but they go about it in vastly different ways. And they do indeed have very different ideas as to what their "country" is too. The writers did a great job writing about historical figures that got mixed up with royalty, but it wasn't about them being king and instead about them surviving in their respective worlds.
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While I really enjoyed this drama, I do need to address some issues:
Unnecessary romance - I am usually ALL about the romance, but honestly, the romance between Hwi and Hui Jae was unnecessary (it reminded me of Hwarang's romance, to give comparison). I don't think it was very well developed at all (we were just meant to acknowledge that they love each other and fight to the death for one another after only 3 or 4 encounters). Personally, the story would have still been just as great without the added romance.
Battle wounds - Simply put, characters recovered really quickly and easily from mortal blows during battle. Some characters would be stabbed through-and-through and would be able to fight within a couple of days with little issue or ride a horse for hours without issue. *shrugs* It's a plot convenience, I know, but highly unrealistic. It didn't distract me much from the drama, but I feel like, either make the battle wounds more realistic to fit the intended plot or have the characters suffer the actual battle wounds given.
Hwi's character development (specifically in comparison to Seon-Ho) - Seon-Ho was extremely well-written with lots of gray areas - he had to make a lot of horrible decisions, live with his choices, and fight for what he thought was right, constantly evolving. Hwi felt like the weaker written main character, lacking the same amount of depth that Seon-Ho was given. I know that they are different characters, but I would have really liked to witness Hwi experience the same amount of depth in plot realizations that Seon-Ho had even though their experiences were obviously different.
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I would like to sincerely compliment all the actors in the drama - they were all wonderful and powerful in their roles. But I would like to say that Woo Do-Hwan stood out exceptionally to me. He is exceptionally handsome, especially in historical attire (LOVED the long hair on him). And he simply did the most amazing portrayal of his character. Again, all actors were amazing, but he stood out to me the most. Do you realize how hard it is to have a man cry and truly portray the emotion without the audience giggling at the silliness of it on screen? Woo Do-Hwan portrayed Seon-Ho's emotions on all fronts with expert precision - you could truly feel his character's pain, turmoil, grief, and sincere love for not only Hwi, but Yeon even after her death. I will definitely be seeking out the dramas I've yet to see with him.
Ending: I don't like tragedies in general and typically avoid them. I started this drama before it was complete and got hooked before the drama was tagged as a "tragedy." Nonetheless, I really liked this drama. The ending makes sense and I'm not upset about it being a tragedy. I say this to hopefully give courage to those people reading this who are unsure about the "tragedy" tag.
Rewatch Value: Yes! I will definitely rewatch! I don't watch too many historical dramas, but this one is incredibly fast-paced and the story is worth witnessing again (tragedy or not).
This drama is not for everyone and definitely more targeted for more seasoned K-drama watchers. It's got some heavy plot and turmoil, bloody battles, little-to-no romance, and a tragic ending - all of which aren't usually mainstreamed. But, if the trailer intrigues you, perhaps give the first episode a shot - that's all it took for me to get hooked!
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My Country is a bit like Six Flying Dragons, and Warrior Baek Dong Soo had a beautiful angsty baby together.
Six Flying Dragons since the story takes place in the same time period and a lot of the characters who were the main characters there and secondary characters in this one. And Warrior Baek Dong Soo that is also drama about two friends who end up fighting against each other and the sad and angsty bromance that comes with that. Yet I feel like My Country managed to be its own show despite all these comparisons.
I recognized and knew about the events that took place here, I knew where we were heading all the time. However, it did not damage the story in any for me. There was plenty of other parts within the story that surprised me.
The main story is so much more than the power of the Lee family as Goryeo changes into Joseon, which was the center story in Six Flying Dragons, but here the story of friendship and relationship between Hwi and Seon Ho is the center of it all – their love story even, if Korea had daring enough to go there. How their friendship and love for each other pulls them apart and back together and then apart again and so on. That is what draws you in and keep you there as the story goes along. That is the emotional core of the show. The politics and all of that is just the structure around it.
Each episode was over an hour in length, but all of them had a rather quicker pace, things didn’t really drag on all too much, things were rather action packed - there were some cool fight scenes in there from time to time – and it continued to surprise all the way until the end. I always found myself really engaged within the story, I was always excited about the next episode and each episode made me feel something; anger, horror, sadness, etc., which is what I'm looking for in a tv show. It really hooked me in and didn’t want to let me go, which I liked.
My Country is quite heavy on the politics, as well on the battles and blood and all that good stuff you can find in a drama such as this. This is no picknick at the park. This is a drama about men fighting their troubles and feelings away with swords, are usually covered in blood at some point in each episode, and nobody is really truly happy outside maybe the first two episodes. I am a rather simple soul when it comes to these things and My Country gave me my fix for handsome warriors in period dramas who are somehow always covered in ether blood or sweat or both.
You can pretty much predict how it ends before you get there, the story isn’t super subtle about it, but the story still takes you on a wild ride. The story sort of just gives you what it promised in the beginning, and I can respect that.
This drama gave you what it promised in the beginning, when it opens with the two main characters about to fight each other. It set the tone quite well. This is not a drama that starts as a cute and fluffy little tale in the first ten episodes and then does a switch and the last six episodes are almost a Shakespearian tragedy, as many other kdramas tend to do.
It’s not for everybody, but I rather enjoy the bloodbath, the politics, the sword fighting and all the other stuff that comes with this type of show. A bit on the heavy side, rather male-dominated or male centric story. But most stories, no matter what form they come in, kdramas or not, are sometimes rather male-centric. Having grown up oh those kinds of stories I don’t have a problem enjoying them, though over the years I have learned to be more watchful and critical over such things.
My biggest (and possibly only) gripe with this show exactly how much space the male characters took in comparison with the female characters. The females started of strong, they mattered and they had their own thing going on, but a little by little most of them kind of seemed to either die or almost disappear as we went further into the story – and I almost did not notice it until the very end, because the story had sort of swept me away from them.
I have said it before that I do not necessarily need to see female characters in these stories fighting with sword (though I do like it when that happens) and being a complete badass like Hwi or Seon Ho. But getting to see them have more influence within the story. See them give advice, solve problems, even cause problems, and in general have something significant to do within the story that helps the plot along is always appreciated. Even requested (from me).
This took place in a very male-centric world; a lot of decisions were made by men and they fought in wars and all that. But I have still seen stories that happen at a similar time, or other period dramas from Korea that seemed to achieve doing so much more with the female characters then this drama did. Like the Six Flying Dragons or even the Rebel Hong Gil Dong did (both rather male stories on their own way) for example. I know it is possible, so I expected a more from My Country then I got in that respect.
My Country isn't really a drama for the average or newbie kdrama watcher who shuns away from most sageuks and especially this one who is more on the heavier side with very little romance - but a whole lot of bromance - and political intrigue. But I do feel like it gave me my sageuk fix and I do think it could appeal to some of other people who might not be too keen on the average kdrama because of the romance and all of that. Like Tree With Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons (even if 50 episodes us a lot).
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I knew after only 10 mins that I would love this drama so if you're still unsure if you want to watch this just do that.
The first episode starts with a scene 10 years in the future and this show leads up to this beautifully filmed sequence.
Basically this is a show about two best friends that get affected by the downfall of Goryeo and the establishment of the Joseon Kingdom and how their own definition of how they want their country to be makes them drift apart.
Moreover this is also a story of the political game at that time, especially by Nam Jeon, a high ranking minister, a General that will become the King and of course Bang Won, played by Jang Hyuk with a breathtaking performance, who for sure outdid himself in this role.
The actors were all exceptional in their roles and the OST is simply amazing and matched the mood of the show very well.
One of the best things of the drama was definitely the high production value, the amazing directional and camera work and the great fighting sequences which I personally loved to watch.
It is a serious drama with a lot of tragedy, heartbreak and angst, but more than that it shows amazing fleshed out characters and their unique development. While it was definitely character driven it had a high-paced storyline and the show suffered a little bit of squeezing so much storyline into 16 episodes. I think 2/4 more episodes would have made it even greater.
While I liked the romance, it was overshadowed by the amazing friendship portrayed by the main leads. It was truly one of the best I've seen on TV and I thought the writer made a great job of exploring the different stages of it.
There are a few things I think could have been made better, like the expansion of the FL storyline that started to feel like a secondary character at the end, the unrealistic recoveries of stabbing wounds and the huge timeskips in which a lot of storyline happened offscreen without much explanation, which could be a bit confusing for people who aren't familiar with korean history (like me).
But overall the show was just SO good that I could easily ignore those things in favor of this amazing show which I will definitely rewatch (when my heart is ready again).
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This review may contain spoilers
The abundance of (epic) tragedy is KDrama at its finest - meanwhile the Joseon empire is born
"My Country - The New Age" is set in the historical transition period between the Goryeo era and the Joseon era. The context is General Yi Song-gye, who for the next approximately 5 centuries tied the throne to his bloodline with a coup d'etat. However, this KDrama isn´t a history lesson as such, though historical figures get involved. Also romance is not the predominant matter. ... First and foremost it's about loyalty, unconditional male friendship and love as its basis. Secondly, it is about relationships between fathers and sons. Thirdly it is about romantic love, too. Besides and as a backbone for the storyline´s dramatic dynamics it its about political attitudes, visionary leaders and the throne. Overall, "My Country - The New Age" is definitely worth seeing, yet you should be prepared for makjang-like emotional roller coasters.The actors significantly contribute to the intensity of the story. Above all, the charisma of Jang Hyuk as Lee Bang-won (the 5th son of General Yi and later 1st Joseon King), as well as Ahn Nae-sang as the fictional Nam Jeon, whose political stances are reminiscent of the historical Jong Do-jeon (the historical Jong Do-jeon and chief chancellor, who set the political, administrative and legal course for the newly blossoming Joseon Empire.)
----------------- SIDE NOTE: --- Lee Bang-won (later King Taejong) and Jong Do-jeon (first chief chancellor of the Joseon aera) ---
These two crucial historical personalities (Lee Bang-won and Jong Do-jeon) were both driving forces in those early years of the new empire with quite lasting impact, and at their time fundamental adversaries.
Jong Do-jeon as the first Joseon King´s chief chancellor decided all matters relating to military affairs, diplomatic procedures, questions of education, new legislation and constitution (the once feudal state was now organized in a bureaucratic manner), new tax laws as well as new state religion (Buddhism became Confucianism). He ultimately moved the capital to Hanyang (now Seoul). He also named the districts of Hanyang and the 8 provinces in the country and caused many slaves to be freed. He was a man with strong visions for an innovative political system in the new kingdom - and consequently implemented those (quite unscrupulously).
His opponent was Yi Bang-won, who did not want an empire with ministers being more important than the king. Rather, he prefered a powerful monarch, a solidly grounded monarchy. He was also one of those who had contributed most to his father's successful coup d´etat. However, the latter had finally disappointed him by not choosing him as his successor. After the Queen's death, Bang-won took advantage of his father's period of mourning and invaded the palace. In doing so, he killed the state chancellor, all ministers loyal to him and the children of the deceased queen as well as the crown prince, too. So he (also) took the throne by force - his father could only abdicate and reluctantly hand over the crown. However, as King Taejong, Bang-won effectively contributed to a stable system of government in his own way. Among other things, he enacted a law allowing all citizens to register and established new Ministries: of Human Resources, Finance, Protocol, Defence, Justice and Public Affairs.
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With Jang Hyuk as Lee Bang-won and Ahn Nae-sang as the fictional Nam Jeon, who to a certain extent represents the ideas of Jong Do-jeon, the KDrama paints a strong picture of the crucial conflict between those political visions from the very beginning. The actors live their roles with high intensity. We get to know more about their character in their respective relationships with the two protagonists Seo Hwi, son of a once-legendary soldier of the Goryeo Empire, and Nam Sun-ho, the illegitimate son by Minister Nam Joen. Since childhood they are best friends. Then there is a twist of fate. (Here, again: two actors with splendid performance - Yang Se-jong and Woo Do-hwan.) Minister Nam Jeon alone is responsible for the twist of fate in this friendship, but Prince Bang-won becomes a free rider in this.
In short: "My Country: The New Age" offers an epic, visually stunning story with a lot of action and emotion, worth seeing sword fights (actor Jang Hyuk does the stunts all by himself), plenty of blood and even more emotion. Yes, of course there are also women and love involved ... The abundance of (epic) tragedy is KDrama at its finest.
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This review may contain spoilers
After many years of misunderstandings and betrayals, Hwi and Sun finally get a chance to repair all of the hurt between them, giving each other the strength to do what must be done. When I started watching My Country I wasn't sure what type of journey the writer would take us on, I just knew I wanted to watch it since Jang Hyuk was one of the main lead and, of course, Woo Do Hwan. By episode three I knew there was no way this drama would end with both Hwi and Sun alive and understood it would be a very hard drama to watch not because it was poorly made but because it was that good, it evoked serious emotions - everything from joy, pain, deep sorrow, laughter to heartache, I was right but it was worth the ride. Throughout the journey, it becomes clear that the true love story in My Country: The New Age was always the one between Hwi and Sun, they were always each other’s Number One, no matter what happened between them, be it hurting each other physically and emotionally, but whenever a choice had to be made, they choose each other every time. Even though Sun betrayed Hwi over and over again, Hwi never hesitated to go to his rescue if he needed it. As sad as it was, it was just right that in the end, they chose each other to protect and love until the very end.Hwi, Sun, and Bang-won, every actor brought their best performance and I won’t be surprised if several acting awards are handed out for My Country, particularly in the cases of Jang Hyuk (Bong-won) and Woo Do-hwan (Sun). They both portrayed characters that could easily have become intensely unlikeable, but were able to show moments of vulnerability, sorrow, love, and regret even when committing the most heinous acts. Yang Se-jong was fantastic as well, embodying Hwi with a soft vulnerability that he never lost, despite everything he goes through. What I took from My Country is that we all have a country we are willing to risk everything for and that that “country” is the people we love. A story beautifully told, produced, directed and acted!
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Jang Hyuk's role and acting performance.
His character was one of the few based on true history. Very well written, a strong, smart and sneaky prince who is after the throne and want to be recognized by his father, the first king of Joseon. Overall the acting of all the main cast was good, from Kim Yeong Cheol to Jang Young Nam, closing with Ahn Nae Sang, he did a great job as villian, unfortunately his role also suffers the draggy plot, making his actions very repetitive, together with the two main leads.
The bromance between the two protagonist, and the acting skills of Yang Se Jong & Woo Do Hwan, both actors did a great job despite their roles being very repetitive. The drama is full of actions with many battles and spilled blood, the revenge and tragedy gave a strong and dark vibe to the plot. The part of the plot based on true history was more interesting than the ficional one. The OST was great despite sometimes being too modern for a historical.
NEGATIVE:
The plot was extremely fictional, repetitive, and draggy due to unnecessary long episodes. To fill such amount of hours they had to add fillers, which came in the form of ripetitive situations, like endless political scheming between factions that keep switching side every 15 minutes. In addition it didn't matter who won the current battle, cause in the next episode everything will start all over again for the sake to drag the story till the end.
Some roles were really weak and added only for the sake of the plot and for the sake of justify the main leads' decisions. Such as the sister of Seo Hwi and the girl Han Hee Jae. Both actress weren't that great in the acting department, specially the sister.
The romance, I didn't feel any chemistry between the cast involved in a romance situation, considering what was happening the romance part was weak and unnecessary. The two male main lead, with the bromance they have showed, they had more potential as a couple than not the one they proposed.
Endless bromance, despite their bond being quite facinating, on the long run it became very annoying to see the same things happen all the time. They keep switching from friend to enemies from start to end.
Immortal characters, despite all the sword and arch injuries they had received, characters always survived and recover, ready to fight again a few episodes later if not the next one. In addition to being extremely unrealistic, it denotes once again that it is all due to the need to fill the episodes and drag the story.
Waste of talent not putting the focus on Jang Hyuk's role, specially toward the end. He was put a bit aside to let the two main lead shine in their ending.
MY FINAL OPINION:
Overall My Country focused too much on the fiction, ruining a great potential historical drama, to feed us with the same repetitive and draggy situations. The acting, specially Jang Hyuk performance, some well written roles, the action battles and the ost saved the drama from a flop.
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This review may contain spoilers
Badly written but made palatable by the incredibly talented cast
This drama was an adaptation of historical events ( with a sprinkling of fiction) so I expected a certain level of smooth story telling. From episode two however, I had already ascertained that the love story between Hwi and Hui Jae was superfluous to the story, it was improbable and hastily introduced as a fully fledged romance. Right up to the end I was never on board with this romance, it left me cold. Hui Jae was often the third wheel in the wonderful bromance between Hwi and Seon Ho and I often found myself asking "why is she even in this story?" Show tried to give her some substance with the Ihwaru angle but that fell flat, her interventions, especially in the beginning of the drama often backfired and hurt the people she was trying to protect. In my opinion Madame Seo was much more capable in the role of leader of Ihwaru.The real romance that would have emotionally resonated with me at least would have been between Seon Ho and Yeon; now that would have been wonderfully conflicted, heartfelt and angsty; I feel the writers hinted at this in the beginning but dropped this thread as they were focussing on the political intrigue, It was a lost opportunity.
The bromance between Seon Ho and Hwi was the real OTP of this drama. The highs and lows of their relationship were very well written and exquisitely acted. This is the only relationship I cared about along with that of Hwi and his band of brothers.
The political aspects of this story were well written although in the final two episodes it felt as though the writers were brought up short by the way they had written Bang Won's character and hastily tried to retrace their steps, this created inconsistency and attempted to introduce previously unexplored aspects of his character at the last minute. In addition, the story of the death of Hwi's father was suddenly picked up again in the final two episodes in a very poorly executed plot twist.
Overall I didn't like the way the story was written; when I find myself rewriting a drama and thinking "they should have done this or they should have done that" then I'm already deducting points because the drama would have failed to grab my attention and immerse me in its world.
Did Show sufficiently illustrate each characters' definition of "what is my country?" Yes Show did this admirably.
The cast is what made this show entirely. Overall all the actors were very good from the main roles to the minor roles. Special mention however goes to Woo Do Hwan who shone so brightly in his role as Seon Ho, I was completely on board with his angst, his anger, his sadness, his loneliness, his fear, his love, his despair, his arrogance and every emotion in between, I loved him, hated him then loved him again - I will definitely be keeping an eye out for his dramas, he absolutely impressed me.
Jang Hyuk as Bang Won was phenomenal, in the earlier episodes he was all that kept me watching, he embodied the role so much that he managed to make me sympathise with an ultimately polarising and maybe not so likeable character.
Ahn Nae Sang absolutely killed it as Lord Nam, I hated him so much sometimes I would pause the show so I could rant and shout abuse at his latest antic; he is a very talented actor.
Hwi's band of brothers were all good actors I enjoyed all their scenes together.
Kim Yeong Cheol as Lee Sung Gye was good in his role although at times I felt the writing of his character was inconsistent especially when you compare the time periods before he became King and after, he mad a great General but a weak King.
Yang Se Jong as Hwi was rather disappointing in his performance, I found him wooden and one dimensional, perhaps this is because he's supposed to be a simple man without ambition? Even if that's the case he had ample opportunity as one of the main actors to show us some texture in his character portrayal, something which he failed to do in my opinion.
Finally Kim Seo Hyun as Hui Jae, was nondescript, the show would not have suffered if her character wasn't in it, I know this sounds harsh but look at it this way, Queen Seon Deok was in the drama for about six episodes but her performance was memorable, she made an impression while she was there, her acting was resonant.
The music is iffy, I didn't like the choice of music for this drama, especially the EDM sounding song and the modern rock one and the one that sounded like bagpipes, these songs created a disconnect between the story being told and the emotions that were being evoked. The songs themselves are not bad, I just don't think they fit well with the drama.
Rewatch value for me is a 4, there were no memorable moments or emotions I would like to revisit, it's definitely a watch once drama for me.
Overall I give this a 7 out of 10. The story was sufficiently intriguing that I'm now compelled to watch older dramas which depict this time period in history.
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At the first, the Story was great, cause the Mainpoint wasn't Romance at all. More Friendship and BROMANCE! Hwi and Seon Ho - they were such an Eye Candy. Their acting - was superb. I liked every character. The female main was at first so-so for me, but you make used to it. Every fight was so great. Hwi was a good Swordman. And to these fights - the OST. I liked all Song - and this is not very often, that i like a whole Ost. But that killed me.
Even though it's sad - i definitely recommend this Drama to all.
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Sunho was loyal, everything he did was to protect his friend and his sister, and I kinda hated Hwi for not seeing it..
and so I'll stop talking about Sunho and go to my next point. Hwi was such an inconsistent character.. it was like the writers changed him throughout the story just to fit their vision, and that took away my interest for the character.
Hwi from the start, Hwi from the middle and Hwi from the end were different people driven by different objectives. maybe it'd have been better if they added a 3rd friend?
as a "younger" audience I found myself really captivated by the idea of two young friends fighting for their vision of "my country". I'm not not a fan of historical genres, but I am slightly bored of the "fight over the crown" story every drama needs to have, even if it's based on a real story.. maybe my point is, it doesn't have to always be about real events to make a dark intriguing historical drama.
overall I was not happy with the script, and I think the writers/producers hit the jackpot only because of the great cast (and they were ALL great).
I did also dislike the forced romance between the two mains, those 2 side characters, and even Hwi's sister, I feel like they added them just to appeal to the "younger" audience, but it'd have been better off without it..
and the ending could've been better too...
the whole OST was great too, I liked how each kinda had their own background music, like the "main" teams fighting scenes ;)
my rewatch values are either a 1 or 10, and I might just look at WDH's photos so ;p
Edit: I actually did end up rewatching it in 2022 and I appreciated it more, dark historicals are rare
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The beginning sets up the characters and the complicated political situation. All great stuff. Good cast, great costumes, beautifully shot.
Then...we start chasing our tails. They betray each other left and right, but shoemhow are alllowed to live. They battle to great big climax...and no one dies. The romance and bromance are stalled and repeat. Repeat.Repeat.
It got so bad, I felt Vazini from The Princess Bride — “He didn’t die? inconceivable!”
I wanted to like this, but got too frustrated with the last half. They needed some new characters or a new plot direction to keep the last third fresh.
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A Gorgeous Waste
The best thing this series has going for it is its visuals. Sweeping and truly cinematic in scope, it is absolutely beautifully photographed with sumptuous costumes, breathtaking landscapes, and impressive action including full-scale battle scenes. Most episodes have fairly ambitious set pieces and the results are glorious to look at, with a level of technical complexity and proficiency not usually seen on TV. They really put money on the screen. Excellent cinematography, excellent SFX. The first episode was well-crafted and effective overall, quickly establishing the characters and the stakes with deft economy and setting up enough intrigue to get you interested without info dumping.However.
The main character (Hwi) starts out endearingly sweet but is ultimately incredibly boring (the actor’s awkward constipated expression as his only attempt to emote does not help this), the second lead (Seon Ho) is way more interesting and played by a much better actor but his motivations shift so wildly so often that he doesn’t make any sense. I mean, he REALLY doesn't make any sense. The actor's performance is commendable, and he can manage to make you feel for this nonsensical character a few times through sheer grit, but it's pretty thankless work since the script is completely letting him down.
Their friendship is meant to be at the heart of the story and they do have great chemistry together, but there’s so little of the good times to invest in and with no build up at all to the first time they almost kill each other (in the second! episode!!), I don’t understand why or how I’m supposed to care. There’s just no attempt whatsoever to sell a conflict which makes sense, their epic bromance is in the bin less than two hours into the series. Hwi is dim and noble, Seon Ho decides to start fucking him over and being pointlessly cruel to him like a catty Bond villain for no apparent reason, then they randomly oscillate between saving each other and killing each other. The relationship has no weight for either the characters or the audience.
There’s no explanation or fleshing out of anyone’s emotional landscape, it’s just ponderous cryptic dialogue, sword fights, and mood swings. At no point did I ever feel like there was a legitimate or sympathetic reason for the leads to be forced into opposition, nor that they genuinely felt they were doing something correct or necessary in attacking each other even though they loved each other. At no point does it feel like there’s a legitimate reason they’re on opposite sides apart from near the beginning when Hwi is understandably reacting to Seon Ho being a Machiavellian douche who refuses to be honest about anything. Often, they’re NOT on opposite sides of anything and it makes even less sense that they’re acting like deeply ideologically divided enemies. They have the same goals more than they don’t, yet they end up constantly fighting to (what should be) the death.
Which is another thing. This show has at least three Terminators in it, because certain characters survive hilariously fatal strings of injuries with no ill effects whatsoever. One in particular was slashed, stabbed through the gut up to the hilt of the sword, shot twice in the chest with arrows, galloped on a horse while bleeding out, stood around in a burning building for roughly four hundred years having a nice leisurely conversation, and then continued about his day with zero treatment. It was the stupidest thing I’d ever seen until a few episodes later when there was something even stupider. This gets more egregious as it goes along, too, because some people die of paper cuts while others are dramatically lanced through the torso over and over and walk it off. It, again, just becomes funny.
‘Oh yes, how horrifying, another full-on impalement which will have no apparent lasting effect.’ There’s real comedy in the slow motion and intense music over something that should be a big deal but no longer is because the show has now taught us that the worse an injury looks the less likely it is to matter. After a while you completely stop taking the sword fights seriously, which is a shame because the early battle scenes were absolutely incredible and one of the highlights of the series. The fake outs cheapen every subsequent 'character in peril' moment because the stakes have become so unbelievable. By the time important characters do die, it feels hollow. Not one character death was satisfying or well-executed, they all felt anti-climatic.
The show also has very possibly the most perfunctory romantic subplot of all time. There is absolutely nothing to it and they proceed to spend VAST amounts of screentime on tinkling music and long pauses which rely on you caring about their alleged love and I just do not. I could not care less if I tried. So much is riding on the audience being invested in this and I don’t understand why they couldn’t be bothered establishing some kind of basis for buying it. Hui-jae is a great character and I really liked her, she’s way more engaging than Hwi, but this romance is a millstone around the show's neck. She ends up nearly irrelevant later on with nothing to do but make doe eyes at him and it’s such a waste. In the beginning of the series, she was the most idealistic, driven, ambitious person out of the three of them, the only one who had an actual moral and ideological stance on the country, and probably the smartest, but all of this goes nowhere. She changes from being a major player in the plot with (again, shifting and unexplained) political convictions to a passive accessory.
Hwi’s relationship with his sister, Yeon, gets less time but is by far his best developed and the only one to feel like it has some substance, though it’s mostly just cute vignettes. It worked, it was enough, I got teary over them a couple times. Seon Ho’s relationship with Yeon is also more genuine and touching than anything else he’s got going on. There are early set ups for some good tension because Yeon has a crush on him and could have had her loyalty torn between him and her brother, which would have paid way more dramatic dividends than the nothingness that is the Hwi and Hui-jae ‘romance’, but it completely disappears with no pay off. Organic character conflict is deftly avoided and she is ultimately treated as a glorified plot device in an extremely predictable way.
By the time you get to the middle of the series, you’re literally only watching it for the prince.
Bang-won, who is BY FAR the most compelling character in the entire show, single-handedly saves this mess from becoming unwatchable and kept snatching my attention back right when the irritation and boredom were about to hit critical mass. This is largely because his characterisation is actually consistent and his motivations make sense (unlike everyone else), but probably not a little because Jang Hyuk is just that charismatic even a massively underwritten script won’t prevent him from being fun to watch. On reflection, I suspect this is also why Seon Ho usually remains more engaging than Hwi despite equally poor writing for both. Good actor doing his best vs a bit of wood with scrunched up eyebrows. And here we have a /great/ actor playing an archetype he seems born to play and able to make compelling almost regardless of how thinly the story sketches it.
Bang-won IS genuinely a good character, though. He’s very complicated and he’s one of the few people engaging in sometimes terrible behaviour whose pov is actually coherent and who questions whether he’s doing the right thing. No one else ever seems to feel guilty about or accept responsibility for their choices, no one else ever has any kind of consistent personal ethical standards- he does. He’s tortured by his own ruthlessness and seems to hate himself for it, but he also won’t stop and always falls back on an absolute belief that his actions will eventually be justified when challenged. Being basically the only character the story kind of, sort of holds accountable and definitely the only one who holds himself accountable, I found it much easier to sympathise with him than with the other shitty people. The series tries to have it both ways because they also sometimes pretend he’s some kind of monster (where he’s no worse than Seon Ho or the king, no one has any moral high ground by the end), but there’s always a nod to nuance.
Although, even here, we’re left scratching our head. Why does Hui-jae instantly hate Bang-won so much and declare she’ll kill him several times? When did she stop hating him? Because they’re later working together and appear to be on perfectly fine terms. Like, was this ever important? Why these dramatic declarations that are never mentioned again? It was just random, it had nothing to do with her character or back story or anything. Bang-won is a real historical person so there’s baggage there, but you still need to establish why the fictional characters feel the way about him they do. She has one line about him being a scoundrel according to her info net- okay? And? Why does this exist and why doesn't it go anywhere? The way he’s portrayed, there’s no justification for some of the reactions people have to him. They act like they know what will happen years down the line.
Just… everything about the plot and the character arcs (calling them arcs is being very generous) is so idiotic. I don’t know how you can have this level of production value and just waste it on a vacuous, absurd story which only occasionally pretends it has some kind of theme about values and the meaning of nation, so empty and pat that it gives you second hand embarrassment. The historical backdrop and historical characters are infinitely more interesting than our bland protagonist or his bipolar bestie, but huge swathes of that are merely glossed over and it doesn’t start getting major screentime until very late in the game. I'm inclined to say it's almost worth it for the vivid depiction of a fascinating prince, but there is a LOT of chaff with that wheat. All the amazing talent which clearly went into this show and all of it being in service of such a weak core frustrates me so much. Good writing needs to come first! By the end, I deeply did not care about any of the leads and only wanted to see the wrap ups for Bang-won and Hwi's army buddies.
It’s really such a let down, because I thought the first episode was very good and was so ready to be impressed.
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Pacing: Honestly, I was a little skeptical going into this drama. Can they really finish a historical in 16 episodes and not rush the ending? Apparently they can. And how amazingly they did it. I love love loved the pacing of this drama. It was fast no nonsense drama. Let me explain, if you have been watching dramas for a while now, you would know that there are certain scenes in which one of the leads do something and you painstakingly wait for the other to find out? Well, not here, my friend. They might torture you but not with this.
Acting/Leads: Spot on. Every damn actor in this show (good, bad and everything in between) needs a accolade. Especially (and not limited to) WDH, YSJ and also, JH. Because mind blowingly good needs to be more of a thing.
One more thing I loved about the drama. The female lead had her own independent story line. I know, wonders never cease. And, none of the male leads interfere. There was also no quibbling over her like a bunch of 5 year olds too. Which was a very refreshing bonus.
OST: There are certain OST's that stay with you, not just because it sounds nice but because you start associating it with scenes from the drama? There are a bunch here. I am a Pavlov's Goat. I have been trained such that emotions flow through me when I hear certain beats.
Cinematography: Korean dramas are especially good at getting shots that are so specific to the characters. Like a lone soldier in a battlefield. Or beautiful landscapes. This drama is no different. Its breathtaking in its metaphors. The background says just as much about the situations as the characters in the scene.
Overall: well, the title did say "Best historical drama". I don't kid around with words like Best and epic. It really excelled in defeating my expectations and skewering me in the gut with a blunt sword of feelings. As all the best ones do.
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