“When it’s fate, there are no coincidences. It is inevitable by nature. But when you realize its meaning, it’s always too late.” – Jeong Tae Eul
Oh, I’m not sure how to start this post. I am one of those people who don’t really have positive impression on Kim Eun Sook‘s dramas. I usually just skip her works because they’re just the copy paste of her past works. At some points The King felt like the second version of Goblin (tvN, 2016-2017). I’m also not quite sure how I picked this up LOL. So I watched this, I finished this but I’m not sure how I’m feeling about this drama.
Acting
Oh, everyone was great, oozing with charisma and was so graceful. Jung Eun Chae (Prime Minister Koo) could be better though.
Plot
This is the section I want to talk about the most! I think at this point we all agree that KES’s dramas always debut to way too big of expectation and ends up letting us down. The plot usually picks up several episodes after. This also what happened to The King. Episode 1 and 2 were downright confusing and annoying. It got better as the episode went on.
The pilot episode was fancy to some people, I also did think so. Parallel world plot is always fun! While it’s not exactly a new thing in this kdramaland but KES packaged this in a fancy way plus the great cinematography just made it even fancier. The opening was so grand but that feeling didn’t last long. It picked up again nearing the end of the episode.
It was cliche though, KES’ style. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it was predictable and she has been abusing this for too long already. The two leads (Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun)’s first meeting was cringy as hell. Jeong Tae Eul kept on getting angry and looked down on Lee Gon and it went on for several episode. Then so suddenly she missed him, she longed for him, she LOVED him. Out of the blue. I felt like it was pretty sudden. It happened abruptly!
The plot did slow down in the middle, common problem with so many dramas out there too. But I’ll be honest, it was disappointing. For a very famous writer to suffer midway drag is really disappointing. What was fun was all the theories and possibilities that could have happened next. But too complex plot is not always fun for me. I’m not a fan of too complicated dramas that require me to think hard LOL. So I found all of the theories, twists to be a bit too much to handle. Also, even though one episode only lasted for 60 minutes it def felt too long for me. It was fun and all but it could not make me focus 100%.
I must say that episode 14 was the slowest of all and also the most boring one. It did tell just how much Lee Gon treasured Tae Eul but was it necessary to prolonged it?
Ah, really a shame
PM Koo character was such a shame for me. I was hoping she was an ambitious person who’s only using the King for political gain but she was just another antagonist who’s head over heels over a man. Imagine PM Koo as an ambitious person! How powerful it’d be!
Cinematography
Stunning! Crisp shots and carefully calculated, esthetic. Just pretty. I really appreciated it that they even shot the details of the props and costumes. Team also incorporated CGI and it was really smooth. I also loved how the team shot the scenes in many different angle and all so it was really nice and not monotone. So pretty~~
OST
Nothing really stands out from the OST album except Hwasa‘s Orbit (oh Hwasa is a goddess!). I was hoping to have one iconic song that could represent this drama but oh well
Overall
I read this somewhere, KES’ dramas are not so strong when it comes to plot, so it needs to be backed up by good looking actors and pretty cinematography. I do agree to some extend but The King was actually a pretty good drama to make your brain work. The plot wasn’t anything grand (even though the theories and cinematography kind of gave off that vibe but nah) and the characters were so KES’ fav characters (that’s actually copy-paste from her previous works). But the cinematography was pretty to look at.
Score: 7 out of 10
Will I rewatch it? Nah
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