Yes, confused…not confusing. Because this drama acts like it doesn’t know what it wants to be: a comedy or a tragedy. I was so looking forward to this series based on the beautifully edited trailers that had me chuckling at the witty antics of the FL. I knew there would come a shift in tone as the more serious palace matters took precedent, but those usually come towards the end of these types of plots. What I didn’t expect was that this drama was shot in a way that even the scenes that previously had me laughing in the trailer fell with a thud in the actual drama. What was portrayed as cute pranks turned out to be acts of petty cruelty by a FL who isn’t nearly as intelligent as I had hoped for. I’ll give an example:

Minor spoiler here, though it happens in episode 3/4 so not a huge giveaway. Our FL is shocked the man she thought she trusted over everyone would be implicated as the one who poisoned her. We, as the audience, are just slightly surprised UNTIL the backstory is given that his entire family was slaughtered by FL’s father and this man was then made into a eunuch because the FL asked his life be saved and then she shows more “kindness” by offering for him to serve in her palace. Like what?!? And then when it’s revealed he hated her, she’s like “but I saved his life.” How stupid is this character? No, not stupidity - entitlement and completely out-of-touch with normies. This shows up in early episodes with some nasty bullying of the ML. At one point reminding him that he’s just a commoner and that, as a royal, she can take his life whenever she pleases and then this chick turns around and asks the other guy (also a commoner) if he will be her consort after he witnesses and hears her rant. Who would want to marry this and spend their lives catering to - from all he can see - a power tripping harpy?!? And she honestly thinks he’s going to say yes. ? How am I supposed to get on the side of this nasty, bratty character. At this point I’m hoping the ML escapes her claws. But no, he’s mind-bogglingly kind and loyal, which just makes her look even worse.

Who ruined this drama? I honestly put 30% of the blame on the script and the rest on this director. Everything from his direction of acting to the bad editing to the abysmal lack of proper BGM, essential in comedic films. Because the show can be funny. The trailers showed it can be amazing. But the way this director put everything together was just awful. Like imagine the plot of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days but shot with the tone and intensity of Schindler’s List. Ugh!