Empress Ki (2013)

I am not a fan of historical dramas, but this one did not fail me. Skeptical at first, 51 episodes?..never thought i can stick with that but with all those cliffhangers how do u stop? No wonder everyone i kno whos seen this drama said it was really good (thank you dongsaengs and ajummas :))

If youre not a fan of all those slow, graceful, asian refined woman, do-not-move-a-muscle acts etc etc , like me, lol... this might get pretty boring for you,a lil patience will help. id suggest to download it first then hit the vlc faster playback as fast as u want?Then voila! Youre done in just 5 days yea

No regrets, id still prefer watching it now, 2 years later, than waiting for every ep while it was airing.

Overall, it was really worth watching. Time well spent.

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Outstanding

This is one of the best historical dramas, the acting is excellent, the story captivating, keeps the attention if the audience, it's well written and informative. A must to see for those who live history and intrigue.
Highly recommended for the above audiences.
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Binge it , now !

I have no reason to give it anything below 10 stars !
I was very hesitant to start it , coz of the number of episodes , I mean its the longest K drama I have seen so far ! But I still did it owing to my loyalty to JCW :) ..... and I am happy to announce it was worth my time !

JCW never fails to impress . I mean just see the wide range of roles he has picked up . I couldn't expect the macho in the healer / K2 / Baek Dong too , can actually act this stupid in empress Ki . Forget other roles , he has shown such varied range of emotions in this very drama itself . From happy and funny to anger , desperation , pitiful , emotional and what not ! All the other characters are wonderful too like KI , wang yu , taltal , baykan and not to forget Tanashili ! I m sorry to say but I found Tanashili much more impressive than Ki . I mean her smile , smirks , sadness all say so much

Its based on the real historical story with lots of twisted facts ! So just go with the flow .. Empress Ki was actually a cunning and greedy woman , not a saintess as shown here ! Same goes for Wang yu and ta Hwan... since ta Hwan is yuan dynasty , they shown him stupid , he wasn't this stupid though , he depended on Ki , just coz he loved her ! and there was no connection between wang yu and Ki whatsoever. Here I am just stating facts and not saying that there was something wrong with the plot. I thoroughly enjoyed whatever was shown throughout the series . I just wanted Ta Hwan to grow a little more independent of Ki !

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Beautiful: A well written/directed story of how China and Korea almost became one.

⇢⇢Review for episodes 1-30
The second male lead character (the crowned prince) is such a coward, and he remains one for more than half the drama! At first, I honestly didn't know whether or not it was an act of his, meaning if he intentionally acted like one to deceive the regent. Boy, I thought I disliked watching dramas with damsel in distress female lead characters, I think it's even worse seeing male lead characters that are damsels in distress.

Two things that this drama (screen writers & director) did extremely well, better than most dramas, was the pacing and the setting changes. Pacing & the settings of a drama are both super important because it can determine whether or not viewers stay interested or drop the drama. There's almost nothing worse than a super slow or super face paced story. I almost always drop dramas that are on either extremes. Also, when the setting has little to no variety, I tend to get bored with the characters. For example, if the setting of a 50 episode drama is only in one or two places (e.g. the same palace or the same room). With this drama, within the first 30 episodes, after every 10 episodes we are introduced to a new setting, and the setting is based upon the female lead character. This has helped me stay interested and excited about this drama. Even the pacing of the setting changes was well done. KUDOS! Most historical/period K-dramas are not 51 episodes, but rather 15-20 episodes. Respectfully, the pacing and setting changes in this drama should be an example to Chinese historical/period drama script writers and directors on how to go about producing their typical 50-70 episode drama (which I enjoy, but often end up dropping by episode 40).
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⇢⇢Review for episodes 31-52
By episode 32 I get restless in terms of pacing. I think what transpires between episodes 29-33 is not realistic. When you watch those specific episodes tell me if you can't help but to roll your eyes and sigh at the fact that the regent is basically allowed to do anything, and go anywhere. I also look at those episodes as filler episodes. At some point viewers don't want to wait 30+ episodes to see some justice served to the antagonist. By episode 35, it returns to its greatness again! I think what would have increased my rating is if this drama was split into two seasons. The first 35 episodes for season 1, and the remaining 16 episodes for season 2.

I forgot to mention that I love the fact that the female actress isn't ideal in Korea's (often toxic) beauty standards, although she is beautiful! Please cast more Korean women and men who are beautiful, although they don't fit into a standard of beauty that are ideal. Oh yeah, I've seen the male lead actor on many voting list for most attractive actor on MyDramaList.com. I didn't even realize that it was the same guy. His picture on MyDramaList should be removed because he's very handsome but the picture looks like a totally different person.

I really like the character Tal Tal because he's the most honest out of everyone. He's straight up, and what you see, is what you get. No corruption, no toxicity! At one point I thought he liked the female lead character, and at another point I thought he was the female lead character brother. I am not done with the drama yet, currently on episode 41, so I will know within the next 10 episodes. Btw, I forwarded over much of episodes 38-39 because it felt like the same on thing playing out, but just with a new empress.

Episode 43 is the first time in which I had sympathy for the second male lead, and was finally able to understand the reasons why he did everything he did before episode 43, although I still don't agree with his actions. He lived in fear his whole life, and he would literally have mental breakdowns at certain points. "A nervous breakdown (also called a mental breakdown) is a term that describes a period of extreme mental or emotional stress. The stress is so great that the person is unable to perform normal day-to-day activities." This explains his coward like behavior and his need for the female lead character. What she means to him is comfort, support, and safety, which are the things that he hadn't had because the regent was corrupt and his mother the queen dawger was power-control hungry. When I watched the middle/end of episode 43, I just thought to myself, mannnnn if you don't throw this little prince over the fence and go ahead with your life (lol...totally kidding). The 52-54 minute mark in that episode is not realistic. The little prince, ain't even the crown prince nor is he liked by the emperor; he doesn't hold that much power. I am just ready for the female lead character and male lead character to find out this twisted prince is their child...cause his attitude is horrible.

On episode 48 at the 42 minute mark, I nearly lost my cool. The second male lead is allowing the female lead character enemy to carry their son. The female lead character is a real one (meaning she has more strength to do what I'd never do or put up with). If I were the female lead character, I would have taken my son, and ran for the hills. The emperor thus far (mind you, there's only 3 episodes left) has pretty much been a total loser. He has crowned two empresses, although she saved his life numerous of times. He has excused (although, not allowed) his mom, and the two regents from trying to kill her and their son. As much as I have enjoyed this drama, I am ready for it to end because the disrespect is real!

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I really wanted to love this drama. After all it has high ratings and Ji Chang-wook. This is the first drama that I haven't loved Ji Chang-wook. At first I found his character funny because it was so different from other roles I've seen him in but eventually he became annoying and super irritating with his obsession for the girl.

Now going into this drama I was well aware that it had a sad ending but never the less I decided to give it a shot and I should not have bothered.

One can only watch repetitive back stabbing , uneccessary evil females for so long. I eventually gave up at episode 23. For me the story was not progressive but kept repeating the same things over and over.

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Yes i hate all scene when Emperor play his stupid character and gey looking make me rage instant...
Drama is great but 5/10 coz -5 for Emperor... (wtf Gey) Tru men not cry like that... all the time... And for love he must jump in fire from start to end... I never see any other drama where 1 actor broke all my rating... I end all and i think if he have better script that drama can take max ratio... Im the men and i cant watch other men if gey...

All others actors and story is great... Music ok, but only this emperor... Why no balance in that drama... I dont know... i feel like when complete "goddess of fire."

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Plot Doesn't Hold Up After First Arc

I had mixed feelings about Empress Ki. I nearly abandoned it twice before episode 19. But now, after watching it up until this point, I can confidently assert that this drama is made of little other than idiot plots.

Acting/Cast
Let's start with the good. The acting is superb - in particular, the Emperor is played extremely well. I despised the character with a passion, but that was partially because of how well he was acted. Seung Nyang is acted fairly well, although the particular acting style - somewhat more rough - works much better during the first few episodes before the plot entirely devolves into attempts at courtly intrigue. The minor characters are often a bit overacted, but that actually works - it adds to the comedy in the smaller scenes fairly well, and characters like Eunuch Bang really help to bring together Woo's other retainers.
Even the character voices are good - characters have a certain style of speaking or acting that stays consistent throughout, and you can really feel their personalities shining through during the series.

Music
The music is nothing special. There are fewer than ten tracks that play with little variety starting from the same point, so it gets to feeling quite repetitive, especially when watching several episodes and hearing the exact same song from start to finish several times.

Story
I will admit, I don't watch TV for the characters. They're nice, but ultimately, I watch for the conflict and the plot threads that slowly unravel across the course of a show. And... my goodness, but Empress Ki had some of the most poignant idiot plots I've seen in live action.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
An "idiot plot," as referenced by TVTropes, is any plot that could be resolved in a matter of minutes if everyone in the story were not an idiot. For a brief basis, Seong Nyang - a woman hiding as a man and serving the King of Goryeo as a warrior - is tasked with protecting the Crown Prince of Yuan, as those who control Yuan wish to use his death in Goryeo as an excuse to re-conquer the nation. She successfully protects him, and then - in Goryeo's court - The Crown Prince betrays her, siding with the Prime Minister, the man who wanted him dead. In the middle of Goryeo's court. Where the Goryeo military outnumbered the Prime Minister's men, and they could have killed him and sent the Crown Prince back as soon as he became the Emperor.
Okay, so he's an fool. But that's fine - he was already immature and pompous, so that's quite in-character for him.

Fast-forward a bit, and Seong Nyang has been sold into slavery and, her true sex revealed, is working as a maid in the new Emperor (former Crown Prince)'s court. Understandably, she wants to kill the Emperor for betraying her, getting her father and hundreds of other Goryeoans enslaved and killed, and separating her from her crush, the King of Goryeo. She gets right up to him and is convinced by another Goreyo maid that, if she killed him, everyone else from Goryeo there would be killed. That's honestly pretty reasonable, and after a brief conflict, she decides to accept that. Her next goal is to leave the palace, since she's still loyal to the King of Goryeo.
Here's where things go downhill for her too.
See, Seong Nyang is a seasoned warrior. She can go toe-to-toe with the best trained members of either country's armies. But it's as though putting on a maid's uniform has caused her to forget all her skills, or the far more risky maneuverers she pulled to keep the former Crown Prince alive. Leaving the heavily-guarded palace wouldn't be easy, but she has years of experience acting like a man, fighting, and infiltrating groups. Apparently, we are expected to believe that she is not able, or has deemed it "too risky," to try to escape the palace itself.
So that's a bit out of character, I'd argue, for a rogue who's utterly loyal to the King of Goryeo, but it's not strictly foolish.
And then it gets worse.
The Emperor (former Crown Prince) notices her. See, he developed a bit of a crush on her back when she was dressed as a man and protecting him in Goryeo. So now that she's miraculously turned into a woman, everything's looking up for him! Ignore the fact that he's a puppet controlled by the man who killed his father - he has a crush.
What follows is some of the most frustrating television I have had to watch in a long, long time. The Emperor proceeds to favor Seong Nyang while forcing her to care for him in increasingly creepy and intimate ways. And Nyang, a seasoned warrior who has topped a king before (King Simyang), just goes along with it. He acts magnanimous while refusing the few things she wants, and demands that she care for him like a child, taking up most of her time. He makes it utterly clear that he will never allow her to leave, even burning a letter of exit that she painstakingly obtained in front of her. I cannot properly explain how utterly frustrating it is to watch a warrior "trapped" - because she will not try to escape and she refuses to kill him - by such an arrogant narcissist, who himself is supposedly powerless.
And then there's the Prime Minister plot.
See, the Prime Minister - mentioned earlier - killed the new Emperor's father and brother. For some reason I still don't understand, he decided to let the new Emperor live just because he begged for his life (the Prime Minister presumably could have otherwise just installed himself as emperor). And now, since he's the antagonist for this part of the series, he's doing Bad Things and Stuff. He needs to be stopped. He also meets in private with the emperor almost constantly, in a secluded room where only the Emperor's personal guards are allowed. In the palace. With only the Emperor's allies.
Wait... couldn't the Emperor (or any one of his allies, really) just... stab him? The Prime Minister derives most of his power from threats and violence, but if he's dead, there's only his questionably-competent relatives behind him. But he's unquestionably committed crimes that - while hard to prove - are far from secret in the inner court. Emperors have rarely ever needed justification to kill underlings, and the Prime Minister commits capitol offenses almost daily. Literally, anyone with a competent assassin could have just killed him during one of these meetings, and I doubt any ministers - even those formally on the Prime Minster's side - would have shed a tear.
But unfortunately, nobody seems to consider this idea. He's this utterly impenetrable threat in the form of a weak old man who's constantly alone when he meets with the Emperor, a weak young man.

Honestly, it begs the question: who's running this country while everyone in the court is focused on either deposing the Prime Minister, finding a MacGuffin (bloodletter), or chasing after Seong Nyang, the most and least eligible bachelorette in the inner court?

ENDING
I will admit that I looked up the ending while deciding for the final time whether to drop this show or not, and it does *not* get better. The Emperor doubles down on abuse and combines narcissism with murder, Seong Nyang ends up turning villainess-ish somehow, and remaining few characters who I respected as relatively logical decision makers jumped the shark. If only the series had ended as it began, it might have been worth it to tolerate another thirty episodes; but upon reading how it turned out, I couldn't give it another chance.

SUMMARY
What started as a promising drama with interesting characters quickly spiraled downward after the first arc, with characters ignoring obvious solutions and focusing more on abusing or romancing Seong Nyang than doing anything actually useful. If you're watching more for characters and forlorn glances than plot, you might like this, but if you need a solid plot to enjoy a story, I'd advise you to give this one a pass.
I give Empress Ki a rating of one out of ten.

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