The series began at a very interesting note when we see a mother going so far as to poison her son just to protect him, but soon in the second half we realize that the King has grown up to be a bad guy. At least that is what an itellectual would infer. We begin hating Counciller Park but he dies a hero in my eyes. The true villain of the story is the King himself. I think in his introduction scene where he broke the eggs which the kids were willing to hatch, that itself was a big red flag. If the makers are subtly telling us that the king is supposed to be a cruel tyrant and they build a second season to have him fall, then thats a brilliant idea. However if the writers want us to believe that the King was the good guy then I must spoil it for you- nah, he is evil, infinetely toxic, self-righteous brat who wants to rule people and force his command on everyone.
Counciller Park IMO was one of the greatest characters ever written. He starts of as the bad guy. But as the series progresses you realize he is actually a great king-maker. He rules with an iron fist. He had previously deposed a tyrant and installed the previous king. He was always wary of the small and big conspiracies going on and treaded accordingly. He would keep a grip on the royalities so neither of them could exceed their power. His ideology was to keep the nation safe. This is why he commanded respect and held authority in the whole game. It so happened that he came to odds with the King's mother- which led to her committing suicide so she could blame Counciller Park, who later had to frame Yoo Hak Soo just so he could save all his people.
Yoo Hak Soo and his family were presecuted while their daughter survived. She seldom had any interest in the Palace politics but the king's fascination had her dragged into it. For once I thought she was a great player and seeing Counciller Park deeming her worthy made me believe she would do something interesting. But nah, what a waste. While after the whole Dowager Queen blunder I was screaming on the top of my lungs "You fool, you NEED Couciller Park. You need Defence Minister Cho!" I was hoping Yoo Jeong would knock some sense into the king but oh well... Counciller Park and Minister Cho were misunderstood characters. They were both strong and forged in experience. Eliminating the two for an "eighth grade revenge" was stupidity. A King can not make decisions based on personal vendetta. He was simply against them because he blamed them for killing his mom, while he knew well enough that his mother willingly drank the poison so she could destroy them. This is a story of bad parenting, bad upbringing, bad behaviour.
Coming to the technical aspects, series was pleasant to the eyes. The camera-work was wonderful. The sets and locations were gorgeous. The acting was passable. The lead actor was good however I got sick of seeing him cry/tear up in every scene. Female Lead is a very known actress and I am actually quite fond of her. But in this series her charater was so dull, it was wooden. I grew tired of her expressionless face, which is a shame because she had done plenty other shows where she had shown a range of emotions. Waste of potential indeed.
The only actor who put its blood sweat and tears was Jang Hyuk. I absolutely adored his portrayal of Counciller Park. Through his performance you really begin to see the character as a fleshed out person. His character was magnanimous and trust me, he was the only reason I was hooked to the show. A senior actor indeed, Jang Hyuk showed the world why he is still a huge name.
Overall this series was average. Watch it for the politics. Keep in mind that if you are an intellectual being, you might end up hating the "hero" and loving the "villain". Afterall, the series does play with our minds.
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