En cours 16/16
sakina rizvi
27 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 5, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
En cours 0
Globalement 5.0
Histoire 1.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 1.0

WOO DOHWAN

the star of the show is easily woo dohwan. only his character was done some level of justice, his acting and his chemistry and bromance with himself is honestly the only thing keeping me through the episodes. everything else is just below par and not enjoyable. i don't know whats happening, and at ep 14 I've given up all hope at understanding the plot/characters/etc. i had so many hopes for this, but the under-done plot and absolute zero development of the characters and overdone romance is just. ew. I was actually jo yeong whenever something romanc-y happened, and this is coming from someone who LOVES romcoms and romances. i wish i knew what went wrong with the script and the plot for it to turn out this way. the romance is too much and too bland, like one second she absolutely hates him and as soon as she finds out hes a king shes suddenly in love with him??? what??? i dont understand the magic of the worlds, or the science of them and no effort has been made to try and make m e understand. we started out solving a mystery, a case but that is lost now?

the characters are so bland. they know nothing about each other and neither do we??? lee gon is justa king with a pasion for math, and a weird obsession with tae eul, and what? the two dimensionality is ridiculous. jang tae eul is just a rude, unlikeable cop and i just ont understand what makes her that great and no one has even tried making her great?? prime minister koo could have been such a powerful, strong female lead but she was only dislikable. not the good kind either.

the only saving grace is jo yeong/jo eun sub. id give my life for these two, absolute cuties.

i absolutely love all the actors, and theyre what made me watch this in the first place. but this was just not it. not worth it at ALL (except ya kno, dohwan. he won)

the good thing about this was the production. a+. beautifully shot and post produced, loved it. the rest however just isnt worth it.

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cyberpug
24 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 15, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 3
Globalement 1.0
Histoire 1.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Musique 1.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 1.0
This series I feel is truly overrated in my opinion..
I guess a lot of people simply give a good score based on star power alone.

The story mostly revolves around a king who is able to travel to a parallel world with the help of a flute that is passed down in the royal family and his close companions. The flute opens a portal that connects to 2 different versions of Korea in two different worlds.

Just like in most other works there is a villain and a heroine. Over the course of 16 episodes, the main character takes care of his business with the villain and the series ends with the main character and heroine hand in hand. Now, this is a tested and proven formula. This type of unfolding of a story is still enjoyed by billions of people including myself even though this same setup has been used 1000's of times. So even though the formula is good the way they put together this formula in this series is utterly mediocre and very forgettable.

The setup has a lot of potential but I think in the end they flushed it down the toilet.

The Story -- I couldn't care less even before halfway through. The series seriously failed to engage me mentally and emotionally. I only finished the entire thing because I hoped that they would turn it around but no. Towards the end, I was watching at 2x speed.

Acting -- The main character felt one dimensional and boring to be honest. the acting was bad and the character itself felt stagnant for the most part. The female lead was good at her role but it is wasted in this crappy drama ( I'm giving a 5 for acting only because of the heroine ). Then there is this other character that is the heroine's long time friend and her work colleague. His character and expressions in the role were so bad and always had that lonely and pitiful look that I wanted to punch him a few times ( No offense to the actor ).

Rewatch Value -- Gonna stay as far away as possible. Don't wanna waste my time re-watching a terrible drama.

Good Things I Can Say About This Drama -- The first few episodes were barely ok. That's about it...

My Thoughts After Watching This -- Why the heck did I complete watching this..... (LOL). On a more serious note and to those that concern, please don't make drama that revolves around the star power and fandom of the actors off-screen...... We get it, they are popular and so you want long shots of their faces, dramatic slow-motion scenes that may not be relevant when you look at the story or the events in the story (Not all the people who watch this are fanboys/fangirls of the actors)....... Instead, focus on creating a solid story and a setting, and the main characters with good character development that drive the story forward ( This is what made these actors the stars they are in the first place ). This is the thing that is going to make the majority of viewers connect with the show on a mental and emotional level and will make the show a success......

This one is a miss guys and gals... Don't waste your time on it... You can thank me later :)... Peace Out Guys I'm done talking.

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Rari
25 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 12, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 5.0
Histoire 5.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Musique 6.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 1.0

A drama that set out to show off to its viewers but ultimately failed to live up to its own hype.

That's the sense I got from the beginning of this show, it felt big headed and self satisfied, "please watch me, I'm so clever" Not.

This show tried its best to dazzle us with the mystery regarding how time can be manipulated and with mathematical wizardry, but unfortunately as the story progressed all of this clever potential was discarded by the wayside and all we ended up with was very poor pacing and inconsistent storytelling.

I consider myself to be adequately well versed in things like music, literature, world events, art, philosophy etc; so as a viewer I really welcome it when a writer presents an unusual and unique story, and I'm quite able to keep up with the events the writer is unfolding. But in this drama I was constantly scratching my head wondering 'what's going on now?" "did I miss something ?" "wait a minute who's that?" all to culminate in this weak ending that rendered all the confusion null, mainly because the huge amount of characters that were introduced came to nothing, were never fleshed out and their stories were minimised towards the end.

This drama took its viewers for granted mainly because the majority of people already loved it even before it began. There was a great willingness on the part of the viewers to forgive some flaws and go with the flow, but I think that the flaws in this show are unforgivable, for example the show has very poor structure and the chronology is all over the place ( I know this is supposed to be explained by the time travel/parallel universe premise) the story is all over the place, literally; As a viewer I was often plunged into scenes without a clue as to the context, thus the head scratching.
In my personal opinion, my real time experience watching this was not enjoyable because as I watched it episode by episode I never got to the point of enjoyment because I was always searching for clues to help me understand the story better.

The acting mention I can give here is for Woo Do Hwan, his scenes are always engaging and he has a depth of delivery that is impressive. I also like Lee Min Ho, he's not a bad actor but in this show, the intention was to make him look cool rather than to act well. Kim Go Eun is the kind of actress that will act according to the quality of her leading man and supporting cast, and I think she failed to shine here; I was also not impressed with how she was written, from a strong, confident police lieutenant to a weak, weeping, lost in love damsel, it was truly awful.
Prime Minister was atrociously written, I can tell she's a good actress but really Jung Eun Chae had no chance with the cards she was dealt in this script, It's a role she should have refused to play; her character's descent into the typical jealous, mean and spiteful spurned woman was so disappointing, because this was a role with so much potential.
Lee Jung Jin as Uncle Yi Rim was a waste of a good actor, he was so badly written with weak motivation and back story, it was sad to see.
Kim Kyung Nam had depth as Shin Jae, but ultimately it all amounted to very little.

This show had flashes of brilliance, the concept is intriguing, unfortunately it was handled poorly.

The rating I've given is mainly for the production value, the cinematography and the few flashes of brilliance, oh and Prime Minister's wardrobe.

I understand the OST is good, but I actually never became too familiar with the songs except for the one by Gummy. The music was not used consistently so that's another lost opportunity to build poignancy because music plays a big part in that.

That's all I have to say, sorry but no.

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Park Jae Hyun
35 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 12, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 10
Histoire 10
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 10
Degrés de Re-visionnage 10

Amazing

What an amazing drama. Honestly, what can I say that's bad about it? Nothing. It was completely new and like nothing I've seen before. It was really different and fantastastical. It had romance, humour, fight scenes, and fantasy elements. All in all, it was just a really great drama. I loved it a lot and the ending was perfect and made sure everyone got their happy ending. I would for sure rewatch it and recommend it to anyone. Don't let the bad reviews get to you and stop you from watching because we all have different tastes and to those who are up for trying it out, I would definitely back you up! Good luck and enjoy.

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JulyMoon
9 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 13, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 6.5
Histoire 6.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Musique 8.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 2.0
I still don't think the drama deserved the hate it received right from the beginning. How people could go and judge it after 4 aired episodes is beyond me. So I'll try to give this constructive criticism, because I don't say that this drama is a masterpiece when it isn't.

After the first 4 episodes I had a blank mind, couldn't say if I liked or disliked the drama. I didn't feel bored, nor excited.
It's the same after I completed it, just that my head is now full of thoughts about all the questions that were left unanswered. I won't go into detail but if you like your drama end to tie all loose ends, look elsewhere because the writer left us with lots of empty room for interpretation.

What's positive about the story is the setting and the idea itself. I found it interesting and still think it could make a good drama. Sadly, as the drama kept going it only got more confusing. There were some moments when I wasn't sure if I missed something or the scriptwriter herself got more and more confused with all this traveling between worlds.
It might have been better to keep it more simple but that's not how it is. And yes I have to admit there are some filler scenes that we could do without and plot holes throughout the drama. But just as much plot holes there are product placements which personally I find just as distracting and annoying.
Bottles with coffee, chicken, food delivery service, beauty products, bakeries, car brands and more. The most annoying for me was the coffee and beauty stuff. More than once it looked like I had accidentally turned the teleshopping channel on. No joke. We even get praising lines with this products telling us how good it tastes or an explanation how to use the beauty product. This might be allowed but it's definitely not what I want to see in a drama. Sponsoring is okay and important, I get it, but please don't shove those products in our faces like that and mess up the flow and logic of the story with them. There were nice scenes that lost its meaning when another product popped up and stole the attention. There are way more subtle ways to do this...

The whole cast did a great job and the acting was really good. If anything I would blame the scriptwriter that made the female lead cry so often and not the actress for having to follow the script. It was my first drama with Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho and I liked them both a lot. Woo Do Hwan was the only one I knew from the cast/who was already among my favorites before this drama and he once again showed how good he can portray different personality types. I enjoyed every scene with him the most. I would wish for more scenes with him and Kim Yong Ji who also left a good impression. ^^ I liked the acting of Jung Eun Chae and Lee Jung Jin. Sadly their characters kept staying pretty much in the dark.

The OST is good, probably not going to be a favorite of mine but it's fitting the scenes of the drama and also nice to listen to on it's own.

As for the rewatch value. Chances I'm gonna rewatch this drama are pretty slim. Maybe a few scenes, mostly from the first couple of episodes when the traveling still caused funny scenes and didn't turn into a who's who.

I recommend everyone to go and see for themselves if this drama is to their liking or not. As I said, it received a lot of hate and I think not all of it was fair and appropriate so go and decide for yourself. Maybe this is your next favorite?
For me it was decent despite flaws in the writing and how the story progressed. I don't regret watching it.

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Frilay
6 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
sept. 8, 2021
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 5.5
Histoire 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musique 6.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 3.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers

VERY Long Fever Dream.

I'm so mad that I don't even want to write a full review at that...

In the beginning during episodes 1-5, I enjoyed the show. I was confused a little bit but still enjoyed! But somewhere in the middle just ticked me off. Like... what the hell is even happening?!

The story is basically about time traveling at this point. The female lead sucks a bit, the male lead is way too nice. No personality after that. The second female lead is just annoying. Woo Do hwan's character was the only one I enjoyed. In fact, he's on my new favorite actors list.

What's even happening in the story?? I have so many questions! How did so many people time travel?? How did it even work?? Why is Luna even involved??

The romance. Oh. My. IT SUCKED! When did they fall in love?! Didn't Tae Eul literally not like Lee Gon the first few episodes?! When did they start dating!? Like. What?

OH! And DONT let me talk about the villain or villains if their were more but, they SUCKED. THEY WERE SOOO BAD! Where they even a main??

The acting was average. Nothing made me feel emotional. Expect for that one scene with both of Woo Do Hwan's characters.

OST reminds me of Goblin but just way worse? It was alright though, nothing that made me die in the inside. I actually enjoyed 1 or 2 soundtracks

I am NEVER, repeating again, NEVER watching this again! Unless I wanna, 1, cringe, 2, change my score 3, just watch for my 3 favorite actors again, or 4, just for memories.

Finishing this show was like a chore. I won't lie, the endings did make me hooked for more even though I skipped basically 80% of the show.

This show is whole damn fever dream. it's like taking Benadryl one day and you dreamed about this. Then woke up and said "what the hell was that?"

Anyway, this show tried to be Goblin a bit, it failed. I don't recommend but if you are THAT much of a fan of any of the mains, check it out. Not even Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun or Woo Do Hwan could save this show.

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kleyrkleyr
6 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 21, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 8.5
Histoire 8.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musique 9.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 5.0
As a fan of science fiction movies and shows and from those that I've seen, this may not be my number one but fortunately one of the best. A parallel universe story with various twists. It felt like I was watching FLASH that needs to go back to the past to change the timeline, and near the end was like LEGEND OF THE BLUE SEA that waited for a long time to come back and suddenly just arrived at home.
If you are looking for a simple love story or a plain science fiction, this one is not for you. This is like a brain game. Every single detail shouldn't be missed, well, of course, there are some scenes and dialogues that are so cheezy and quite long, but that's the downside of the story.
The writer was not able to justify bringing the two lovers in one world, but that's the exact reality of what might happen if there is really a parallel world. I love the story.

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PrincessAlycee
13 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 13, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 10
Histoire 10
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 10
Degrés de Re-visionnage 10
To be honest this drama is not for everyone.
You might have to watch a few episodes more than once to understand what the writers are trying to show us.

The main idea is pretty good and well thought even if sometimes the execution fails to make us understand what is going on.

However I enjoyed every minutes of it and was excited each week to discover a new episode.

The first 3 episodes have some boring moments but after that it’s hard not to get into this drama. despites a few plot holes (but which drama doesn’t have some???) this was very unpredictable and entertaining.

The music and the actors are pretty good. It was my second time seeing a drama with Woo Do Han after Mad Dog and I’m not disappointed.

I’m just sad to say goodbye and I can’t wait to watch another drama with these actors. I’m gonna miss this drama

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OneAjhussi
14 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 15, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 3
Globalement 2.5
Histoire 1.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musique 1.5
Degrés de Re-visionnage 1.0
Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
STORY:

This drama had plenty of possibilities to be entertaining an unforgettable. But it did not lived up the expectations. It was too messy trying to handle too many characters and too many events including details some very important some completely useless. The writer spent the first part of the drama placing all these elements little by little like Lee Lim placing his pieces of chess where all this led? Nowhere. When the action arrived and the characters started to take place in the plot, the drama seemed to take its momentum but it kept being erratic and when the final had to be delivered, there was not enough time to properly wrap up. The writer just scribbled a terrible ending by sending everyone in a maelstrom of time travelling completely absurd but with happy ending for almost everyone. But everyone are not the same ones of course since everything changed. What a silly way of ending a drama. I don't even mention the romance totally forced and not natural. Them ending as time and space travelers until they get old is a joke. They are scientists? They try to correct events? The purpose is to go drink tea? Nonsense ending.

ACTING / CHARACTERS :

- Lee Gon was just too perfect to be sympathetic or credible. The guy could do every good thing (calculating, cooking, rowing, beating, shooting, riding...) or bad thing (order suicide, executing unarmed people, slaying people out of rage, beheading people) all this without being held accountable. How 2020 Lee Gon version 2 doesn't meet 2020 Lee Gon version 1 who came to save Lee Gon as kid? How he did not vanished if Nothing happened in ROK? The way LMH portrayed him was annoying, boring, usual LMH work.

- Tael Eul was interesting at first when she was a cop and she was working on cases and then she become infatuated to the King God knows how and when or where. Then it is only about them missing each other and finding each other. She is a police officer but when Lee Gon slayed people with his sword for free she did not even blink an eye. Inconsistent writing. KGE did a decent job but no sparkles with her co star.

- Luna: what happens to her in the ROK? She just dies like that? She never happened? KGE was better in this role

- Lee Lim : He scarcely appeared, looked so mean but without clear motivations but ended up killed by his younger self in 1994 but he appears again anyway in 2020?? (terrible plot hole) . He vanishes in the twilight zone with his clothes but not his watch which turns counter clockwise because it looks nice this way... Lee Jung Jin wasted his time in this drama.

- Jo Young : No character development for him. He is just a bodyguard. If we assume he survived his travel in 1994 the Myung Seung Ah he meets back in KOC is not even the one he met at the beginning of the story. That scene in the corridor has no backstory.

- Eun Sub : a simple comic relief.

- Shin Jae: most complex and interesting character but what is the end for him? He hugs his mom and that's it? If He never happened in ROK, Lee Gon also never happened and Jo Yeoung as well. These two should have vanished like Lee Lim.

- Prime Minister: Starts a capable strong female who chases Lee Gon but she ends up a divorcee?? who falls from grace before her connections with Lee Lim are even explained.

- Nari / Myung Seung Ah : I am divided between "they were wasted" or "they were useless"

- The woman who is pregnant in KOC and gets swapped in ROK. For what? Just being beaten by her husband? Another plot hole and useless writing.

MUSIC:

I spent my time trying hard to find the logic of the events and characters so no time to notice the music. No song catched my attention.

REWATCH: Never.

OVERALL: This drama is a waste of talent and a waste of time. If you like beautiful and handsome actors showing their best side to the camera, you can try it. If you look for a good, well written and entertaining story, you shall pass. This drama tells you a draggy messy improbable story of some people and events and it ends up telling you "tricked! It never happened...". But how it never happened if it happened for it to never happen. Stupid writing. Stupid drama.


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Cam1988
7 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 26, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 8.0
Histoire 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musique 10
Degrés de Re-visionnage 9.0
First of all this tv series is not for everyone. It tackles parallel universe and time travel and that in itself can get confusing more so if you're the type of viewer that doesn't really focus on watching or you like to do other things while viewing.
I personally like this series mind you I had low expectations because of the reviews that I have read however I watched episode 1 to 9 from morning to night and I was surprise that it got me hooked. I finished the whole series in 2 days and I was on edge the whole time because I just couldn't predict what would happen or how the character would react to difficult moments.

If you want to watch this because of the romantic LMH that you have seen in other series don't expect that here. There are some very romantic scenes but not a lot. Its not your typical romcom. I like the way he expresses love here though it's more realistic lets say compared to his character in The Heirs or BOF. When I watched those shows I always say no such guy exists.
Main comment is Its a complicated tv series even the flow of the scene is not typical. It starts one scene and very subtly ends that scene and you will think that was it. However in the next episode it will show an in-depth view of the scene. This is where I would say a lot of people think it was messy. For me doing it that way gave me that "ahhh" or "gotcha" moment while watching the next ep. Had the director and writer done it the usual way of doing the whole scene in and then a cliffhanger could have change the viewers perception. I like the way they did it but its not everyone's cup of tea. Reminds me of the movie Inception wherein there were so many layers to the scene.

What I like about it was almost every episode there is a "twists" and that got me. Acting was superb, I think they all did a brilliant job I was crying in a lot of scenes but the best actor was the 2nd male lead. He showed a wider variety of characterisation.
What I didn't like -- the ending - i wasn't happy with that "compromise" but that's just me (can't say much w/out spoiling).. Secondly like any other time travel/parallel universe movie there will always be loopholes look at Avengers for instance.

So many negative comments about the sponsored ad have you seen Goblin and other TVN shows they have heaps of them especially with subway brand. This is how tv shows make money and almost every hollywood film does this too so I wasn't very bothered with it. I have seen more blatant advertising

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Anjelle
7 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 14, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 6.0
Histoire 4.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Musique 7.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 4.0
I wanted to love this drama so much. After the first two episodes or so, I was hooked. It was a beautiful, cinematic experience with great actors, characters that I was immediately invested in and a story that I couldn't wait to hear.

Then sometime before we even reached halfway, all of that went 'poof!' and I was left disillusioned, having just wasted over 16 hours of my life.

Before I get into the drama's problems, I want to give it praise for what I feel it did right. The opening episodes were paced so well. They were interesting, they pulled me in, and I eagerly waited for this drama to unfold. The characters of Yeong and Eun Sup were amazing - by the end of it, I was solely watching for their scenes, especially their interactions with one another. Their roles have added Woo Do Hua to my list of actors to watch out for. And, at least to start, I did like the chemistry between the two leads. At the start. Remember that for later, because it's one of the keys to this drama's downfall. Most of the actors did a great job with what they were given and I commend them for it, because I can only imagine what kind of directions they were given when the script was such a mess, and yet they did it. They pulled it off. But I would say that they were the first sign that something was wrong - or Lee Min Ho was, specifically, when I noticed him giving no feeling to the character of Lee Gon. Having seen him act before, I knew he could do better. But I figured, maybe it was just because of the character he was playing. Maybe once the plot revved up, he would show some emotion on his face. With all the comedy towards the start of the drama, his flat tone added to the jokes, so I convinced myself that things would change when the stakes were raised, and I was content.

There is a problem when the side characters to a drama are better written and more immersive than the leads. That was the case for almost all of the characters in this drama, and that was the second bad omen.

It was obvious from episode one that time travel was going to be a factor later in the drama, so I expected it. I'm not someone who takes issue with time travel being included in dramas because so long as it's handled well, the unavoidable logical failings of it don't bother me. I understand that you can't make much sense out of it so provided that the addition of it adds to the story and they handle it carefully, I have no problem with it. Seeing as it was foreshadowed in the very first episode, I was sure that they must have thought it through well. They were confident enough to add it to the start of their drama. That's a LOT of confidence. They had to have given it careful consideration and dedicated a lot of time to mapping out their manipulation of it, surely.

I was wrong.

But the time travel was not my biggest gripe with the story. It's up there, but the worst part of the drama has to be the editing. Episodes jump around from past to future to past again, from one world to the next, and at first, they bothered to add a little note card at the bottom or in the corner to tell you where you were, but that didn't last and the jumps became so frequent that half the time I didn't know what I was looking at. It just got worse with time, not better, and made it very hard to understand the story. Usually, dramas that jump between times or worlds will at least provide some sort of visual or verbal buffer to ground you, something that lets it tell its story without confusing you. I've watched plenty of these dramas and they all do it in a different way. With time travel, they often use a filter or change the colour balance between times. Signal and Life on Mars both gave the past a sepia hue. Circle dedicated the first half of its episodes to the past, then at the halfway mark added a timecard. Between worlds, either both worlds will be different enough to know visually, or the jumps will be acknowledged by the characters so that you know where they are. TKEM decided to include both time travel and alternate realities to their story and yet could only rarely be bothered to give you any direction. I can't enjoy a drama if I can't follow it. I shouldn't have to look through every episode with a fine-toothed comb to figure out what's happening.

The next problem is the leads. I liked them in the beginning, but they quickly fell out of favour when the script stopped respecting them. Tae Eul is a police officer with martial arts experience who, at some points, becomes completely helpless and in need of rescue. There are several--yes, as it more than one, sometimes multiple in an episode--scenes of her sobbing uncontrollably whenever Lee Gon leaves her. When he's gone, either she's assisting with the mess of a plot or she's pining over him. She barely has any agency. And Lee Gon shows maybe three expressions throughout the whole story, all lukewarm. Even when he should be emoting, even when something should be happening inside of him, there's barely anything on his face. I don't know if LMH was directed to act like this, or if he just decided not to act, but his character felt less structured than wet cardboard.

While I haven't seen Mister Sunshine, a lot of the problems with the leads remind me of Goblin, the writer's previous work. Even some of the songs remind me of the Goblin OST. I remember plenty of scenes where Kim Go Eun's character in Goblin would do the same sad sobbing that she had to do here, but I don't remember hating it quite as much there, and I think that has to do with their characterizations and the editing surrounding them. I've noticed the writer just likes to fill her romances with sappy sad pining and a lot of angst that is eventually covered up at the very end. But where Golbin focused mostly on the characters, TKEM started with a promise for a big, grand story and never delivered.

The story doesn't treat its viewers with any intelligence. It gives us rules for these worlds that it freely and consistently breaks, it forgets some things that happen and shoehorns in others, and by the end of it we're left with this lukewarm mishmash of unfinished ideas that don't really mean anything. Others have already gone over how insulting it is to its viewers so I won't go too into detail here. But what upsets me the most is that I watched it all. I finished it, hoping that it would get better, that it would pick itself up in the second half and return to the drama that it was in the first two episodes. But here I am. And my review is this long. And it's all negative.

I will admit there was one scene, one TINY moment in the last episode, that made me feel something. Two characters holding hands, and what it shows while they do. But even there, I was feeling something for the concept, not the characters they belonged to. In the last episode, I didn't care about them. Today I just finished Hyde, Jekyll, Me, a notoriously poorly written trashy drama that I watched during burnouts and I felt more for the characters in that mess than I did for what should have been my favourite story of the year, TKEM. And well, that says a lot. But I can say this.

If nothing else, thank you, Kim Eun Sook, for giving us Jo Eun Sup. I will treasure him always.

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Dani
8 personnes ont trouvé cette critique utile
juin 15, 2020
16 épisodes vus sur 16
Complété 0
Globalement 4.0
Histoire 2.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Musique 1.0
Degrés de Re-visionnage 1.5

A Tale of Lost Potential

One of the most anticipated dramas of the year, The King: Eternal Monarch promised a stellar cast and an intriguing, action-filled plot. Unfortunately, it fell short (way short).

The idea of parallel universes had so much wasted potential. Not much happened in the first few episodes, which would have been fine, except that the writer chose to explain the two different worlds (and how traveling between them worked) through monologues from the main character, Yi Gon. It was all telling, and no showing. As the drama progressed, it also became clear that there were glaring plot holes and cliches. There were a lot of elements that were introduced to the story, including math formulas, time travel, and doppelgangers, but none of it was explained properly and much of it was forgotten later on.

The style in which the drama was produced/directed made the story even more confusing. In each episode, there were too much going on - the story would jump back and forth between characters, flashbacks, and side plots. Then, it would end on a cliff-hanger, which wouldn't be addressed until nearly halfway through the next episode; not only was this confusing, but this anticlimactic progression of the story made the plot twists less effective, less impactful, and all the more disappointing. And don't even get me started on the Product Placement! So many filler scenes (and lines!) were included just for the sake of promoting a variety of products - if anything, it made me NOT want to buy those products. The special effects, especially those related to the portals, were underwhelming and the OST was not memorable at all.

I also found that few of the character were developed or given proper backstories. The female lead, Jung Tae Eul, had an almost 180-degree change in character - she went from being very confident, strong, and independent to clingy and emotional just a few episodes later. As for the 'villain', his motivation was never clearly explained, and he actually got very little screentime compared to the other characters. The romance was also poorly developed and a lot of the romantic scenes/moments with the main couple reuniting seemed out of place or over the top.

There are some good elements about the drama. I think some of the supporting characters had more interesting and well-developed stories (including Jo Young /Jo Eun Sub, Kang Shin Jae, Goo Seo Ryung, etc). This is the first drama I've seen with Woo Do Hwan, and his acting in a double role was quite commendable. The cinematography, of course, was lovely.

Overall, TKEM had potential to be great, but poorly-developed characters, an abundance of plot holes, and an overemphasis on PPL turned this drama into a complete mess.

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The King : Eternal Monarch (2020) poster

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Statistiques

  • Score: 8.1 (marqué par 53,259 utilisateurs)
  • Classé: #1754
  • Popularité: #43
  • Téléspectateurs: 103,362

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