WHY IS THE ML SO DETESTABLE?

I wrote my original review as I was watching the show, still under the full emotional overload, so it was a bit messy and more of a rant than anything else. To say I was furious is an understatement because I was really really really looking forward to this show.

Despite dropping the show for a short while I've now decided to put my emotional attachments to the side and try to finish it. It was mostly because I found the lore so intriguing and high production value in this genre is not exactly a daily occurrence. I've now finished it, gathered my thoughts and put it down in a more coherent matter.

Lets first get the good things out of the way.
- THE LORE
The lore was really awesome. They really put a lot of effort and thought in creating a really rich and intriguing world with complex relationships between families/characters , and rich albeit only limited history. Would've been great if we learned more about history beyond the last 200 years, as well as the world beyond the palace, Songrim etc. Considering the amount of superfluous stuff the stuffed in there this would've absolutely been better use of screen time.

- VFX
Without context it was okay-is at best (smoke simulations were quite iffy) but considering the nature of Korean series and comparing it to Hongs' previous fantasy endeavor Korean Odyssey, this was miles better. After a while you got used to it and it didn't distract from the story.

- MUSIC
Was good. Didn't distract, everything was complementing the story nicely, nothing to distracting but at the same time nothing unforgettable, My spotify is full of OST songs, at least 1 song from each show I watched (at least the theme song) because if it captures the emotion of the moment in the show you know it's going in there. But this show had none unfortunately.

- ACTING & CHARACTERS
Save for a pair of them (more on that later), everyone across the board was great. There were a few odd moments from the Queen (as Choi) and Jin Ho Kyung that were dangerously approaching the soap opera shouting matches. But were really sparse so easily forgivable.

Shin Seung Ho as crown prince was just phenomenal. The character itself was quite nicely written. Given the full range and arc. But his choices were just spot on. Always going against what was on the page and in the text. When the text called for over the top he was showing restraint, when the text called for self-pitty he was showing strength. Like a true veteran who knows the acting happens between the lines and under the text this fairly new actor was just delightful to watch. Will definitely keep an eye on him and really looking forward seeing his career progression.

Hwang Min Hyun as Seo Yul was great as well. The character itself was not that greatest to begin with. But he gave him life and internal thoughts reflected in his eyes even tho he was quite stoic, to the point where I totally got SLS.

Yoo Joon Sang as Park Jin, Im Chul Soo as Master Lee, Jo Jae Yoon as Jin Mu, Lee Do Kyung as Heo Yeom and Oh Na Ra as Kim Do Ju all just doing their thing so nothing to say here expect for lay back and enjoy the skills.

And an honorable mention Seo Hye Won as So Yi was another great pleasant surprise. With a character that could easily fall one either side of the bad spectrum she brought complexity and depth full of internal paradoxes that manifested itself in form of unexpected emotional switches that keep the character fresh and always reacting to the current circumstances and never a caricature or should I say archetype bound by its past.

- OTHER
It was really nicely shot, blocking and composition of the shots - the frame was (mostly) never dull or unbalanced .There were a few times when they utilized negative space way to many times despite the subtext being completely evident form the text. Production design was great, costumes & hair as well. A nice fusion of late Joeson period with some Three Kingdoms Shilla designs. All in all great production value.


Now the ROTTEN part:

- THE PREMISE
A bit on the fence about this one because although it was intriguing and had enough complexity to build and sustain more than 1 season, it left a bittersweet taste in my mouth because it relegated 2 of the best characters Naksu and Jang Kang to a mere furniture. And if we're brutally honest Jang Uk being kinda product of A RAPE!!! doesn't gel well with the whole Chose One agenda. I don't know about you that's a pretty bad start I would say.

- THE DIRECTING
Too many single gazing shots were the actors were just standing there out of their depth and didn't know what to do and were trying really hard to look like whatever emotion they were told to portray (ie squinting their eyes when expressing suspicion, or their eyebrows all the talking when they were supposed to be angry) - it was the two two leads. And this one is not even funny. It's so painfully obvious that it made me uncomfortable to the point of skipping it completely. Replaying the same moments we already saw with 10% of new information as if it was some big reveal. Too many dull and unwarranted flashbacks, especially ML&FL that missed the target so badly it was like watching a documentary on birds.

- THE WRITING

By ep3 I was starting getting this sick feeling in my stomach and was supper annoyed every-time ML showed up on screen. And that's when I knew this show is going to suck because if the show starts being annoying this early on especially if it's character writing it rarely recovers.

So the big question is: WHY IS THE ML SO UTTERLY DETESTABLE?

Lately there seems to be a trend with all the female lead shows (that are written by a woman) to make the ML really unlikable or a total pathetic looser (yes I'm looking at you 'Why Her'). Which is sad because I love female lead shows. It's like the writer spent all her energy on female character and just couldn't be bothered to properly develop the male lead so she used all the lazy and dirty tricks in the book and try to literally force us to like the male lead (More on that later).

The writing of the ML character was quite awful if you take it at a face value. He was an entitled whiny man-child who got everything through sheer dumb luck and was still super arrogant with no emotional growth. And everyone loved him despite all that (just because he was ML). I don't know how can anyone sympathize with that.

I totally get the backstory though I really do. Makes for more tension and conflict. But first inconsistency is him acting entitled. Ok fair enough it kinda makes sense if you MOSTLY lean into the fact that he's from one of the 4 top families. Rich spoiled kid and whatnot.

I mean entitlement is not really a characteristic you would want to build your ML around. I don't personally find it virtuous and believe majority of cultures around the world don't either but whatever.

But if you lean more into the parental neglect etc, I don't think the main characteristic would be entitlement. How can you be entitled if you've been hammered most of your life? Maybe entitled to expect more bad things to happen :) I believe it would be more in the line of bitterness towards the world maybe self loathing etc. right?

So then you kinda ask yourself. Well they set backstory and everything up so nicely and don't really lean into it. Then the only reason it's there is to act like a token to force us (and other characters) to feel sorry for him. On screen you see him act like a jerk with not subtext, but hey remember his past, he's a victim, you gotta feel sorry for him. To me that feels cheap. Actually it's called emotional extortion.

And I also get that he's supposed to be special with King's star energy but everything coming easy to an entitled person with, here's the important part: NO REDEMPTION on his part - what's there to rejoice?

Uk is the god of this universe everything he touches and does turns to gold and should thus be be praised and the people shall bow before him. God forbid you say anything against him. (In ep20 when Naksu is petrified of-course the voice of THE GOD Jang Uk is the only thing that get get her out of trance she's in)

I'm all for godlike ML. Yes please make my mouth water but make him a whole. This is like somebody took a spoiled rude billionaire's son who can buy everything with his dad's money (King's star) is not even drop dead good-looking and told you to adore him and hail him as a your perfect man. No thank you.

The writing is not that great but it's on the actor to fill in the missing gaps. Like for example: when she points out this fact that he's extremely lucky and got everything through his dumb luck. Great opportunity for redemption. He could acknowledge it, yeah she's right I gotta work harder to earn my keep - internal monologue so we see the wheels turning in his eyes, a slight nod. But all we get is the same 'cool' empty stare. Just do anything for christ's sake. So instead of coming across as a bad thing and making the ML reflect on his actions and attitudes, it feels like they are trying to pass it off as some sort of a virtue.

Same goes for their relationship. The master-pupil relationship should be submissive or I should rather say respectful to begin with. But again he's super entitled with her from in the beginning and it takes ages before the dynamic actually changes. And when it does the damage has been done. Because even in the beginning the entitlement doesn't make sense. Like he searched her out in the first place because she's awesome (and he knows that), nothing in his past can make him think that he's any good (he doesn't know about his extreme powers). And when she starts training him she totally embarrasses him. But he still keeps going with the same attitude/delivery.

Well eventually the writers did try to redeem the ML but in the cheapest possible way. By showing him as a 'cute', in-love guy but it totally didn't work because the switch wasn't earned and the damage was done. Even on its own their romance between didn't work at all. Just felt off. When they were getting married I seriously puked in my mouth. And of-course a mandatory I will risk everything for a noble cause. That everything being something that you didn't work for, or with the analogy your dad's money, which doesn't really make it a sacrifice. Don't even get me started with the aftermath.

I can appreciate that the writers were trying to achieve a nuanced character and I blame the actor because his delivery was so bland that it makes a wooden plank look like a human being . He delivered everything with absolutely no subtext. So all the 'bad attitude' on paper was just plain rude and arrogant. I think that the writers didn't intend that because I watched a few of their other shows and other MLs didn't have the same problem. Fore example 이승기 in Korean Odyssey was written as quite of a jerk as well but he put in so much subtext that all his delivery had so much meaning attached to it and was super nuanced. And even withing the show itself, Jin and Housemaid Kim were constantly rude to each-other and bickering but there was so much subtext and meaning behind it because the actors were really good.

I know sometimes it's really hard to separate the actor from the character but I can in good faith say that he didn't do his best in making the character multifaceted let alone likable. Makes sense, ML here is an model turned actor who just got his feet wet and it shows. After a while the only expression he has is a one of a constipation. Plus I find his looks a bit annoying. But that's just my personal bias.

Finally with Ep9 I was beginning to get my hopes up that this show will finally rebound. And then in the last minute they go and ruin it again. With the most cheesy OH-IT'S-FATE moment ever. And her motivations don't make sense at all. All this time she was longing for Yul but the only obstacle she had was that she thought his family killed her dad. And when she finally learns the truth. She changes her mind and all of a sudden she loves this abusive man-child.

According to the writer all it takes is for someone to be nice to a woman (eye-roll) and she falls for them (Yul was being nicer and nicer to her with each passing moment and they have history) but I guess only when it's the ML and convenient for them.

After that the I started skipping whole scenes (ML) because I didn't care anymore, so in the end I ended skipping about 50% it and still knew what was going on and was actually better of because of it. The show could have been at least 6 episodes shorter.


- CONCLUSION

This show without the ML and maybe a different FL would have been 8 maybe 9/10. But the sins they committed are so grave and the disappointment or should I say the negative impact, weighted against the show's potential, my personal expectations and the nonsense of spinless 10/10 ratings, is so big that I cannot change my score and give it anything else but 1/10, even now.

So I'm gonna say this, if you have a least an ounce of brain this show will insult you intelligence over and over again to the point were it expects you to be a brainwashed YES person. And if you don't mind that or if you prepare yourself beforehand it can be somewhat fun. Otherwise avoid it like a plague. Because IT IS gonna make you wanna vomit at certain times.

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