So I was pretty intrigued by the drama when I read the synopsis but I was extremely let down on all fronts. This came as an immense shock to me given the higher overall rating and all the other really good ratings and reviews. I have not seen a single bad one leading me to think maybe I'm the problem? But here me out and see if you agree.

Romance: Don't fight me because I know how you girls like to tussle! I think the FL/ML were cute but I just do not think this drama was suited for either of them. (She was really good in Shine or go Crazy!) I think FL was hilarious and did the best she could with what she was given. ML I didn't care much for. There was an age gap not only irl but also in the story which no one seemed to point out? How can there be stigma around widows and all that other stuff but not a younger guy wanting to be with an older woman? And I am a firm believer that whenever there is a Noona romance the chemistry is always so poor. (ToT) Truly take a moment to think about it. I think of newer dramas like "My dearest" where the age gap was huge irl but there was so much angst and unwavering romance and chemistry!! But in here the leads did not spend that much time together to warrant the love they had for one another even by kdrama standards. Also some of their cuter moments were left to epilogue?? Like why not leave that in main ep to develop the romance more. I feel like besides their trauma what did they truly know about one another? Nothing! They seemed so mismatched, forced almost. Also for FL to proclaim so much that she doesn't want to be seen as someone's belonging, ML still chose to be possessive of her(even if jokingly)?? And it only took 1 year for her to fold and them to get together?? Laugh if you want but personally I think her and her not dead husband had more chemistry than her and main male lead had the entire drama. ML was telling FL's husband to get to know her but its like do you even know her my guy?? I don't think any one except the FL husband actually listened to what she wanted and actually helped her achieve it. They all spoke and thought for her down to the merchant lady.

Plot: The plot for me was pretty weak I feel like there were not enough motivations for any of the characters all across the board. They all share this same measly tiny plot point. When truly none of them should have anything in common. Dare I say this drama needed more villains or a stronger villain. I just couldn't understand the motivations behind the Left councilor. Yes we have mean ministers in dramas but like there was no rhyme or reason as to how he go to that level of power. Was he that strong when the kings father was still king. Does he have a band of ministers behind, him does he embezzle money? Does he want to be a shadow king? Like Kang Pil and Lady Oh were scheming for him but it seemed to be more so for themselves than the councilor. It's not like they were feeding a cohort of money laundering, scheming ministers just one! Like yes they were kidnapping kids but not for the councilor lmaoo just cause! The councilor was a classists thats all XD! And if the current class structure was so bad and unjust dont you think more ministers would be tagging along with? I guess in summary what is the villains stake to claim?

Her being a widow for 15 years was too long they should have done maybe 10 for her to be the person that she was I find it hard to believe she would have stayed like that for that long just because she was waiting for her brother. The character the writers tried to sell was someone who was hot tempered, impatient, and could not stand injustice. So why would she wait around for her father in law and outsiders to help her find her brother when she had all the skills and resources to do so? It also didnt make sense why her husband would be away that long it seems like he intended on always coming back so why 15 years? I mean sure we could speculate but they could have explained it. Then was her husband just never going to tell anyone how he was sent away? They kinda glided over that on the list of crimes of the councilor.

Also since we did not know the family of ML it kinda seemed like his character was just there serving no purpose. His position was of no substance or value because he wasn't the best fighter, ran to his brother whenever shit hit the fan or ended up having to be saved by FL. If I don't tolerate this for female leads I won't tolerate it for a male one either. Like he didn't push the plot at all. For someone's whose entire family was slaughtered, man wouldn't there be hell to pay??

The same can be said for the king. 15 WHOLE YEARS just waiting for some info to plop into your lap while your people are starving nah? Then what did he even do once he got the info nothing! People were still pitying FL because she was either going to stay a widow or be a divorcee which are equally bad in society. After all she did for the nation why wouldn't the king think to do something about his own laws?? Isn't the lesson that all people have value and purpose too? Instead they allowed a child to expose a loophole in which the FL can escape the perils of the patriarchy. LAME! What I saw from this drama was a whole bunch of people being able to enact change and not doing a single thing except waiting for a woman to do all the labor. Then still not changing a damn thing! What world was everyone trying so "hard" to create?? With a time lapse we still didn't see it. We only get a snide remark from that policeman's daughter about wanting to be single longer to keep her own identity longer. Showing us that nothing has actually changed in their world.

If you let me retell it we would scrap the ML completely, work with the missing husband as main male lead, make them younger so when he returns no one recognizes him as he is older now, he should also be a vigilante/merchant/some field that will give him real estate to meet her, they bond not knowing who is who. Reduce 15 years to 7-10. And actually send her to live by the husbands grave so she doesn't have the constraints of living with her inlaws and can move more freely. More bad ministers with fleshed out evils plus left councilor. FL family should be killed off instead by the ministers rather than the ML and king's families this way we can kick out both king and ML from the plotline and focus more on FL!!! King will only serve as plot device to enforce law at end. Also throw in a competing FL/ML or porque no los dos? I just think the writers had a possibly really good story on their hands and they wasted it by not digging deep enough, fleshing out their characters past 2D and cleaning up plotholes. It was just a confusing and lackluster follow.

Music: Not very memorable or outstanding but that is almost becoming the norm for new dramas.

Rewatch: I'm sorry I wont be rewatching and don't recommend it it was hard enough to get through it the first time and it was only 12 eps it felt like 20.