El M.

This is the first time I didn’t ship the Male and Female leads. They’re so unsuitable for each other and every time they’re together it’s cringe. She looks very mature and he looks childish and girly. FL also keeps milking those dimples. The King acts like a clown, probably similar to the annoying assistant of the ML. Drama is so slow paced and predictable, and some serious undertones are dumbed down often, for example (spoilers) the FL spent 15 years as a widow to someone she has never met, restricted to the household and never allowed to leave. Her entire youth was wasted and she was pressured to even die for her dead husband, yet when he’s revealed to be alive it was all passed as a big joke with funny music in the background and his family just laughing it off when they showed her. She also had such an indifferent reaction it was ridiculous. I also found it ridiculous that she’s seen to be such a breathtakingly beautiful gentle looking pure woman in the town and by most characters that saw her, yet she can easily pass as a male just with a hat on.

A great drama ruined by an incomplete ending. I think there were more shots of the FL being a female in the trailer than the entire series. The trailer gives you an idea that's completely different than the actual story. You could stop watching at episode 15 and not miss out on much as there's no further development from there on. I share the same frustration as a lot of other viewers with the role of the female lead. Even after the improvement in her life, she remained dull and boring. At times there was no chemistry between her and the king, he seemed passionate but she acted as a mere weak male servant. *Spoilers ahead* I was waiting for more screen time of her being herself, a woman, but surprisingly she still dressed as a male even after her treason plot was no longer in motion, even after she found her father, and even after no longer needing to be a baduk trader. Since she left her role at the palace, she no longer needed to keep up the facade, especially when she came back from the Qing. That was her chance to start over in her father's residence. But we are left disappointed as she yet again comes back as a weak hunched down male servant. I honestly fought long and hard to come up with a reason she's still dressing up as a man, but I can't find it. And a drama shouldn't leave the viewers to make up their own reasoning in their head. Everything should be clear at the end. People assume oh she'll just become a queen, but let me tell you why they suggested she'll merely remain the king's baduk partner. The queen dowager found out about her and was on board of making her fill the queen's quarters, she desperately wanted the king to bear a son, but he said she'll remain a gidaeryeong no matter what. The FL looked pleased that she wasn't involved in the matters of the court, and the king promised her he'll never involve her. He threatened the servants who know of her identity, whereas the innocent supporters of the FL in court like the crown prince have been deceived until the very end. The drama lost the chance of truly putting the story to a close, she is the daughter of a high ranking official, she has all that it takes to become queen, but they suggested she'll live the rest of her days as a mere servant and secret lover to the king. She was even trying to run away at the very end when she promised him she'll come back to him. And btw, she gave the approval of appointing a new queen, and just like that they will forever remain as king and male servant.. for literally no good reason. If there was even a 2 minute scene at the very end of her becoming queen, many of these low reviews would become 5 stars, especially this one.

*Spoilers* Although it has good moments, it's really hard to like the drama overall after watching it til the end. It's one of those stories where there's no punishment for bad deeds. The sister Gong Mi tricks everyone the entire time, only thinking about herself, and she doesn't even get anyone to talk to her and tell her she's wrong. Jun su doesn't even straightforwardly accept her feelings anyway. Jun su's mother who watched her brother kidnap a child, saying her life will be better without him (hinting that it'd be good if he dies), watching the child's mother get hit by a truck and instead of calling for help she runs away.. then doesn't help the family find their missing kid and tried really hard to silence people with money, besides being extremely unfair at the start and firing gong shim for no reason, gets forgiven and everyone loves her as if she's never done anything wrong. They try to paint it as her son wanting to protect her and loves his mum, but what about the mother/son relationship she destroyed before? Most importantly, you realise by the end that it feels like one sided love. Dan tae was never honest with his feelings, and lacked communication. It got to the point where Gong shim was just chasing him and he never honestly told her why he can't date her yet. Dan tae seemed to have this cool action storyline going on, but Gong Shim felt like a side character.. he goes to her when things are bad and she asks him what's wrong, and he just says "it's fine" every single time without fail. She had to find out everything about him coincidentally. Irregardless of what he was going through, she waited for him and was always a phone call away. She seemed so committed to him. As a lot of other people pointed out the weakness in the story when Dan Tae's grandma was desperately looking for him for nearly 3 decades, but the same week he moves in with her, she sends him off to the US to study "business management" when he's already a lawyer. That brings us to the biggest mistake in the story, instead of straightforwardly asking Gong Shim if she wants to come with him, he guesses she'd rather stay at her job. Again, no communication, he just decides to leave without giving her a chance to say anything. Then suddenly he doesn't call or text her for a WHOLE year? How was he too busy for even one text a day? He didn't even say goodbye to her. His excuse was that he studied so hard to come back ASAP, yet when he's back, he goes back to his old law office... What was the whole point? And she accepts him again within a day when he never bothered to keep in touch, and they hug in a rooftop room... The end... So disappointing tbh.

Incredible. Be it action, horror, mystery and psychological thrill, it's all there, and it gets emotional and deep at times and makes you get attached to the characters. No two episodes are the same, you'll keep unpacking new mysteries as you go. Full of mind-boggling plot-twists where nothing is predictable. This story will stay with you for a long time.