I love sageuks but the offerings haven't been great as of the past 5 years. I was hopeful when Lee Bang Wong - King of Tears came along but alas, it was embroiled in scandal and became dismal after; almost as if the cast and crew lost their motivation and just wanted to finish filming without any further incident so they could put it behind them and move on.

Then there was Red Sleeve Cuff and I was very hopeful. The show is great, if you like romance. And that's my biggest beef with sageuks of late - that they always turn to the romance angle, focus on the idol actors, and ignore the political and court intrigue. I liked it until the old Emperor died and then I didn't like it quite as much because it just became another idol romance drama where the king couldn't be together with the love of his life. Dullsville.

Finally we get to watch two greats - Lee Joon and Jang Hyuk. On their own, neither are good and have tended to over-act. Both ventured into sageuks in the past but neither really made the roles their own and were just sad caricatures of the characters they played. (The exception was Jang Hyuk in Shine and Go Crazy, but that's another review in itself.) This time however is different. Together, they possess a certain chemistry as a king and his nemesis. They feed off each other. Something about the whole production - the epic cinematography, the details in the costumes (never have I ever seen quilted jeogori!) tragic soulful music, even acting of the the other main leads and supporting actors make for very cinematic watching. Their acting is top notch and the show is cleverly filled with political twists and turns. It's like watching a beautiful yet mood-filled movie rather than a TV drama

If you enjoy idols and romance, give this a miss as you will be severely disappointed. There is some tragedy involved in star-crossed lovers but if that's what you crave, you're better off watching the King's Affection. However, if you (like me) have missed a great political and court drama filled with intrigue and lot of clever plotting for ends that you never saw coming culminating in clever twists and turns (think Tree with Deep Roots, Dong Yi, Yi San), this is the show for you. I've watched 5 episodes so far and I'm intrigued and very hopeful. I will be back at the end for another wrap up review.

Update: I have now finished the whole series and have a few further comments. I agree with some of the comments of the other reviewers in terms of what I liked and what I didn't.

******spoilers ahead*****
What I liked: I continued to love the attention to cinematic details - the apt and rousing OSTs, the cinematic scenery, and the well-written lines. No line was ever wasted. Often I found myself rewinding because I had missed a crucial detail that later eventuated in a major plot point. The twist and turns left me gasping at the end of each episode.

What I disliked. The development of the Dowager Queen was indeed problematic. How did she go from a star-crossed lovelorn woman to a power hungry demon who bit the hand that fed her? She had nothing to protect, no real blood-related child. Why did she end up doing all that she did? I did not see how it achieved anything in the end. She lost everything and everyone in the process and ended up very much alone. On the other hand, Yoo Jung and Lee Tae both became the people they were and made the choices they did because they had people they loved and wanted to protect. Yeon Hee learnt the same lesson and came to the same conclusion in the end. Love is an illusion that doesn't put food on the table (or protect/save your family).

As another reviewer said, the ending was generic and I totally agree. Yet another love story ending. Meh. I feel a bit cheated. But most of all, my heart ached at the romance between the Dowager Queen and Gye Won. I know it could never have been and was never going to be because they both loved different things. Hence, I wish there could have been a better resolution but perhaps that's impossible. It's perplexing.

In sum , I attribute the rushed ending to the fact that perhaps the drama was too short. That's not often a conclusion I come to. It seemed like the writers had opened up too many plot portals but didn't know how to close them and a few more episodes would have helped. The shortest saguek I've ever seen has been about 20 episodes but I think for this drama, having around 30 and really fleshing out their motivations would have helped immensely. This was a squandered opportunity because the drama was a totally fictionalised account of history. So many plot points the writers could have elaborated upon and wouldn't have incurred the ire of the Korean historical purist-keyboard warriors. The irony is that the writers didn't and resorted to the trope plot sageuks of old in order to tie up everything.