Cast:
Lee Cheon-Hee as Yang Man-Oh
Jin Yi-Han as Park Sang-Gyu
Kim Ha-Eun as Lee Na-Young
Ahn Nae-Sang as the King
Jung Ae-Ri as the Queen Dowager
Kim Eung-Soo as Park In-Bin
Kim Gi-Hyeon as Shim Min-Gu
Jang Hyun-Sung as Lee Jae-Han
Kim Myung-Soo as Butler Hwang
Han Jung-Soo as Seo Ju Pil
Genre:
Period, Thriller, Romance
Plot: (Taken from Withs2 Blog)
Yang Man-Oh is an ambitious merchant selling his soul to the devil, with the aspiration of creating a new world for people like him and his loved one. Lee Na-Young is the daughter of a minister executed for treason, abandoning her every emotion to mercilessly rid this damned world of all the people who wronged her. Park Sang-Gyu is a petty officer, the illegitimate son of a powerful politician, still too naive to understand how much of a big shade of gray the world surrounding him is. And then is the king… a reformist loved by the people but detested by those who cannot allow him to bring his fresh ideas into fruition. Enough to gather together and scream to all creation their new mantra: bloodshed will save our nation. Love, blood and conspiracies. All in the same court. How about that?
Review:
Because it was a period drama, I didn’t think I had the background knowledge to write an appropriate summary, and so I took a peak at the With s2 version and just decided to cite that here.
If I had to describe this drama in one sentence, I’d have to say it was gorgeous, deep, and bountifully filled with memorable themes. I’m rarely one to dig too deeply into any drama and dissect what each line of dialogue tries to portray within the drama and in the context of the real world. The political intrigue, the dark twists, and the steadfast determination of its main leads really puts this drama in the top of my love list. In a mesh of the past and present, the drama tells the interwoven story of three characters and shows how they all come to a climaxing clash. I must applaud the director as well as the writers for such a fantastic production.
The drama begins already molded in darkness. Even before the entire plot begins to reveal itself we are dropped in a world of cloak and daggers and also the scheming of politicians, not to forget the struggles of naive and hopeful lower officials. The world seems to be on the brink of chaos, and then suddenly we rewind into flashbacks and are introduced to its main characters.
The acting by all three leads was amazing. Na Young was especially captivating to me. Her hidden pain and inner conflict ravages her through the drama but we see that her true character prevails. As for the men around her, they all struggle for their beliefs and love for her to try and accomplish their vision of the world. On that journey they learn things about the world that show them the true nature of man. This is such a great drama filled with intricate character development through each characters growth and relation to the political plot. Not only do we learn about the main characters, but we learn a great deal about the Empress, the King, his advisers, and even the other scattered minor characters like the bodyguards.
The music, film quality, acting, and also the set preparation truly amazed me. This has got to be the best period drama I have seen encompassing all the factors of a great drama. The authenticity of the production even surpasses that of Hwang Ji Yi and Damo, which I personally rank as the best of all time.
BEWARE MAY HAVE SMALL SPOILER
The ending was absolutely fantastic. It did remind me of Damo and the pursuit, however, although we are thrown into a mournful ending, there is still hope for the future as we see that the survivors are able to move on and see a future. Ultimately we find out that the power of the government and its corruption remained unmoved, but there are still those serving within it that follow the correct path.
Rating:
5.0/5.0