I was going to give this one a strong SEVEN (7) stars, even though it suffers from the usual KDrama tropes such as:
1. Overly cartoonish bad guys
2. Security oversights that are eye-rolling. People murdered? Folks getting poisoned? Have a secret to hide? No problem! Let's not increase our security one stinking bit. Court maids that can snoop without being seen. Royalty confronting people they know are dangerous with zero backup. The list goes on.
3. Throw-away characters that suck up screen time (and yet the writers think having them in the Epilogue, AKA Ep.16, justifies it).
4. Chance and VERY random encounters that have zero chance in hell of happening, simply to move the plot along.
5. Smart people (supposedly) acting in the most unrealistic and stupid way imaginable. Again, to move the plot along and have some semblance of terror.
Still, a solid 6.5 or 7...FOR THE FIRST 14 EPISODES.
Then episode 15 happens, and you're like WTF!?!?!, why is everything happening in 30 minutes. And more damning, why are the most stupid and ridiculous plot twists and reveals happening so fast?
Oh, it's because Korean writers have zero sense of pacing. It is reflected in so many otherwise good shows (not just this one), that it has become cliche. It's like they have world-builded so grandiose-like for the first 80% of the show that they have to sprint around like a chicken with no head trying to wrap up all the plotlines.
Well, it fails miserably here. And that sets up Episode 16 (the usual cliche Korean epilogue episode) for a spectacular fail. Normally, these wrap up episodes have at least some emotions in them. This one was a splattering of 50 different storylines into one jumbled mess of "look, see who's alive, see who's happy, see who's not, etc.". An incredibly unfulfilling hodgepodge that is blatantly fan-service for a "happy" ending.
So much potential wasted. Fans of the lead actress will thumb down my post for sure. She was amazing in the series, but she alone can't salvage this mess.
3. Throw-away characters that suck up screen time (and yet the writers think having them in the Epilogue, AKA Ep.16, justifies it).
4. Chance and VERY random encounters that have zero chance in hell of happening, simply to move the plot along.
5. Smart people (supposedly) acting in the most unrealistic and stupid way imaginable. Again, to move the plot along and have some semblance of terror.
Still, a solid 6.5 or 7...FOR THE FIRST 14 EPISODES.
Then episode 15 happens, and you're like WTF!?!?!, why is everything happening in 30 minutes. And more damning, why are the most stupid and ridiculous plot twists and reveals happening so fast?
Oh, it's because Korean writers have zero sense of pacing. It is reflected in so many otherwise good shows (not just this one), that it has become cliche. It's like they have world-builded so grandiose-like for the first 80% of the show that they have to sprint around like a chicken with no head trying to wrap up all the plotlines.
Well, it fails miserably here. And that sets up Episode 16 (the usual cliche Korean epilogue episode) for a spectacular fail. Normally, these wrap up episodes have at least some emotions in them. This one was a splattering of 50 different storylines into one jumbled mess of "look, see who's alive, see who's happy, see who's not, etc.". An incredibly unfulfilling hodgepodge that is blatantly fan-service for a "happy" ending.
So much potential wasted. Fans of the lead actress will thumb down my post for sure. She was amazing in the series, but she alone can't salvage this mess.