Original Air-(Aug 29-Nov 1 2016)
Episode duration- 60 mins
This drama is a mix of history, romance, comedy and a pinch of tragedy. Those who are aware of Asian drama know that history is a specific genre in itself. So keeping that in mind we will move forward with our review.
Go Ha-jin (Lee ji-Eun) is a troubled girl with a tragic past and is living her life as nearly a broken person, with everything going wrong she is still kind and caring for those around. In an accident trying to save a kid from drowning she travels to the past mysteriously in the times of Goryeo. (Goryeo-An empire which existed from 918 AD- 1392 AD),as she wakes up in past she finds herself as member of royal family, in this place her identity is off Hae-Soo, her personality charms the people who live along with her in palace, _here we are able to see complex political relationships involved for governing the kingdom, a member in royals isn’t a person but a tool to be taken as leverage for own benefits.
Hae-Soo attracts the interest of 8th prince of Goryeo Wang Wook (Kang Ha-neul) who is a good looking man with charming personality and appears to be mosh pleasant being among other princes, this complicates her relations with other people involved ,slowly she finds herself attracted to rogue 4th prince of Goryeo Wang So (Lee Joon-gi) who treated as outsider in Palace and isn’t appreciated by his father king Taejo and rest of his brothers. The palace life of princes and family members is tragic and reminds us of bloody conflicts for throne and political power.
The story revolves around these three central characters as they form a love triangle adding up drama to the story and starting an intense rivalry among brothers for affection of Hae Soo and at the same time for the throne. With multiple characters and historical backdrop this drama is fun to watch as entertainment but hardly for the purpose of historic information.
The drama works on the central idea of (destiny or fate) which is quite noticeable from very beginning till the conclusion. Past, Present and Future are they similar or do they ever change? Does knowledge of the future change the course of destiny? Here are some important questions which you can ask yourself while watching this drama.
Second most important idea which we here can observe is of (Love) well our affection for the people around us can take a toll on us, for love can become a better person or a bad one, is love capable enough to halt our basic nature for someone or something.. I bet you will at least doubt it after watching this drama.
Third most important characteristic to this drama is power struggle and class divide which is visible in ancient times and relevant still in present.Family background and status decides what kind of life we are going to live. Power and position is hard to get and even harder to manage is the key idea which we can see in the show.. Kindest of us could change in cruelest with time for the sake of power.
Well this isn’t a new drama it was something which aired way back in 2016, but I got my chance now to watch it from my personal experience I can say that this drama is fun to watch but maybe not a cup of tea for everyone it may have everything but sometimes fails to satisfy at certain points that’s the major drawback of this show, it could have been a lot better with a nice execution and taking a bit realistic approach to the history. From my side I would like to give it a 6.5/10 average drama but worth a watch for one time.. As it feels quite fleeting and doesn’t dwell in your psyche for long after you finish.
Signing off till next review Kartikey Mishra- bye.