Screenwriter Han Hee Jung and director Song Hyun Wook’s ‘ The King’s Affection’ attempted to offer viewers the best of two worlds; a Sageuk ( historical drama) and an arguably more “ modern” love story. However against its more intriguing setup ‘ The King’s Affection’ found itself shoehorned into a slow-paced trope extravaganza by the second-half.

Han Hee Jung’s facilitated writing techniques in the first-half of the series seemed to indicate towards foundational world-building and characters- rough around the edges with mystique driving forward many of the characters, but still establishing an intriguing storyline. However whilst Han Hee Jung’s first-part soared with potentiality the actuality of the latter-half gradually began to descend into a cataclysmic attempt to keep the plot interesting- uninspiring “ plot twists” led little time to truly develop more intriguing characters whilst seemingly paramount plot lineups were given an anticlimactic or loose-end outcome.

Of course a director or screenwriter choosing to convey modern twists or themes in a historical drama isn’t always necessarily a “ bad thing”. It can give opportunities to highlight or echo current issues, themes which are still present in today’s world and present different takes on the past through the director/ screenwriter’s objectives. However whilst it was easy to understand ‘ The King’s Affection’ desired depiction of different forms of love, it often felt as though the series would rarely touch upon more prominent issues of the time and today ( e.g. gender expectations, political division in society, social status and prejudice) in more depth. This often resulted in the second-half of the series feeling like a composed accumulation of romantic tropes and cliches against a gradually decadent plot-drive by the final episodes .


Main actress Park Eun Bin undeniably offered one of the strongest performances of the series; adding an air of charm to her onscreen counterpart. The female lead Dami was undeniably the epitome of the “ inserted” and frequently-used cross-dressing trope by having to play the role of her brother l the Crowned Prince Lee throughout most of the events of the series . Whilst with plot context it was necessary for driving the storyline, there were a lot of loose threads considering other story points including exactly why her grandfather ordered her to be killed ( aside from merely just being an “ unnecessary girl”), as well as one evident fact; the female lead’s feminine features and vocal intonations are evident even as her male counterpart . Admittedly whilst this may have just been passed off by members of the royal court it did hit a point blank in plot logic when many scenes and close-ups easily giving away Park Eun Bin’s softer features. Later episodes did little to truly allow Dami to come to terms with these cut-out subplots surrounding her storyline, ultimately reducing her seemingly intriguing character-drive to the equivalent of cannon fodder by the latter-half.

Costarring alongside Park Eun Bin is idol-actor Rowoon. Rowoon’s performance as main lead Jung Ji Woon did undeniably see some surprisingly bittersweet performance moments as his onscreen persona comes to terms with his sexuality and growing feelings for the Prince, as well as his initial motives for entering the palace. However Ji Woon’s initial establishment as the “ mysterious tutor” is subverted in later episodes to the “ lovelorn sweetheart”; pledging his own life to “ protecting” Hwi ( despite his initial reasons early on in the series) and benignly chasing after the female
lead’s affections in a dragged-out and anticlimactic love story. This often resulted in a test of patience for viewers as Ji Woon and Hwi’s sense of gradual chemistry and growth was shoehorned into a lacklustre onscreen relationship despite dominant screen time.

As a consequence of lacking development time potentially intriguing characters such as Lee Hyun-Hwi’s protective cousin ( Nam Yoon Su), the Prince’s mysterious bodyguard ( Choi Byung Chan), Shin So Eun - the daughter of the Minister of Interior ( Bae Yoon Kyung) and Noh Ha-Kyung; the youngest daughter of the Minister of War ( Jung Chae Yeon) were often enforced into staid plot setups and cliches with their character arcs and drives often being cut short.

The cinematography and OST of the series could admittedly vary from scene to scene. Whilst there were some admittedly beautiful shots and powerful soundtracks combined with scenes of the palace and period outfits presented by director Song Hyun Wook, more subtle emotions and scenes could often feel lacklustre from poorly-placed camera angles and song choices onscreen.

So what is left to say about ‘ The King’s Affection’? Is it worth watching or is it a waste of time? The ‘ King’s Affection’ is the epitome of a “ hot mess” series - stunning outfits, an intriguing premise, a fairly good cast lineup and an especially dynamic performance from main actress Park Eun Bin undeniably remained the drama’s greatest takeaways. However the twenty-episode formula applied to a storyline which was written better for no more than sixteen- episodes, created a slow-moving and disengaging second-half for viewers with intriguing subplots and characters left in the background in order to make way for a lacklustre romance which gradually dwindled to an unsurprisingly anticlimactic resolution. Overall whilst the 20-episode drama whilst not unwatchable and certainly decent enough if you are willing to watch out of sheer boredom, it does admittedly lack a more definitive spark of feeling well-rounded also.