Knife and Flower is a pretty basic periodical drama. The story won't blow you away and there is not a lot of romance, but there are some redeeming qualities that make it worth watching, especially if you like periodical dramas. positives: + Uhm Tae Woong (the male lead) sort of grew on me. He looks terrible at times and then again sometimes quite handsome. It's always nice to feel a character is charismatic even without a botoxed and perfectly symmetric face. + No Min Woo (Yeon Nam-Saeng) really surprised me! I never really took his acting seriously before, but in this drama he was actually kinda great as an evil sociopath. + The cinematography of this drama was at times very nice - beautiful colors and calm scenes where nothing happens and it is all about the mood of the shot. Sometimes it went a little overboard with the repetitive cuts, where they showed 4 different angles of someone opening a door... negatives: - The story was not that good. It did keep me interested, but mostly because of the romantic issues. The politics and backstabbing would have been better with less plot holes. Also it was a story I have seen many times before with different twists. - Kim Ok Bin (the female lead) was too stiff and expressionless during the entire drama. It was very difficult to understand which emotion she was trying to convey. Also she is known for not having had plastic surgery, but I kept looking at the side profile of her nose... it just looks unnatural. I kept feeling like unlike most of the other actors, she didn't fit into the Goguryeo period. Might sound really dumb, but that was the feeling I got from her appearance. - I love my overtly romantic dramas and this is not one of those. This is only a personal preference, but I just don't recommend this drama for anyone who watches dramas for the romantic thrills.