this drama was one helluva ride and definitely not one i thought i'd see in 2018 but i don't regret watching it and had tons of fun seeing other people discussing it so it was worth it

One unintended side effect of watching this drama was that subconsciously I grew to dislike Shin Sung Rok. I know logically that it is the writing that is at fault, but man, his acting showed the worst that makjang had to offer. I don't think it'll be easy personally to pass off his acting as nuanced in the near future.

Also, I also agree that Choi Jin Hyuk was shafted to the side and even if was able to film for the last 4 episodes, with the way the drama was developing, his death would have played second-fiddle to the Emperor anyway, so in hindsight it was a blessing in disguise that he escaped the indignity. I like to think, with my great bias, that he was granted the opportunity to show the middle finger to the show and do it rightfully.

I caught a handful of episodes courtesy of magnanimous Beanies on Rabb.it who allowed me to ask ignorant questions of the plot and characters. I was probably the annoying family member who walks through the room while everyone is intently watching and says, “Whacha doin?” I loved every second I saw. I didn’t catch the finale, but loved the fan wall gifs and screenshots. Never change, Beanies!

It was obviously making fun of makjang, so I promoted it here and other sites. However, by the end it left a bad taste in my mouth. The extended episodes ruined everything. Shin Sung Rok was too outstanding in his role (and I love his acting) and so left Choi Jin hyuk in the dirt. I refuse to watch the extended episodes.

Let's be clear. This drama was no masterpiece. But everyone was aware of it (including the actors), and once that was out of the way, it was SO DANG FUN. Anything outrageous i could imagine, it would happen in the next few episodes. I loved the random zooms, the over-the-top reactions, the slaps, the table flips, the hissy-fits. SSR (aka RH) and his mom were especially fun to watch.

I do agree with the «feel» part of your review, though. However, I believe watching this show requires a different mind set from the get-go. It should be watched with a brain that's shut down. Don't think, don't feel (Still 17 reference) and just sit back and enjoyyyy (and snark). I was that annoying extra-person in those dramas who unnecessarily points out obvious things and over-reacts to everything and I loved the power it gave me.

With that in mind, I find it pathetic how they treated na wang shik's character, but that only added to my laughs of how ridiculous this show is and how everything changes in a second. (which is technically the pace of this show... so while it felt odd... it felt over-the-top so it worked. not really. but it did cuz it was funny).

Last point: I loved how powerful the women were in this show. For a makjang, this show was actually quite progressive.

Skipped the last two episodes... But overall, this drama is a crazy ride! So sad they just made Wang-shik disappeared... :((. To be honest, the Empress Dowager is the funniest character with all her evil things running around her head and heart, LoL. I love the fact that she wants to be forever young by having bath from colostrum, LoL.

Loving Sunny and Ari relation.... When the story got so crazy, I'd more invested with mother-daughter relationship...

Aaand the Phoenix hairpin and the side pins on the top screencap are GORGEOUS.
In fact, I want ALL the pins and hanboks worn by Sunny!😍😍😍😍😍😍

Shin Sung Rok was the MVP. He completely stole the show. I think the show's been great for his career--on Instagram, when the show first started airing, he had less than 80,000 followers but now he has almost 225,000.

Poor Choi Jin Hyuk got shafted. Felt like he got demoted to second male lead partway through the show.

Jang Nara was excellent. I can understand why she took this role. Very different from prior roles. Plus, she looked gorgeous wearing those royal robes.

I still don't know what to decide. Should I watch it... or not?

Even up to the last extended episodes, this drama was tripping fun. I was watching for Jang Nara and she didn’t disappoint me. Our Queen Sunny was daebak beginning to end. In fact all the actresses were great no matter how crazy their character. I loved the crazy hair pulling cat fights.

Sorry that Choi Jin Hyuk lost his lead spot, but Shin Sung Rok really stole my heart attention. He has always been one of my favorite villain actors but he got rom-com talent. I need him in a comedy again.

Can't take this drama seriously from the moment Na Wang Sik got a total makeover through dieting.

I followed this drama to the end mainly to see how the Emperor turn from evil to in love to redemption.

I loved this drama from the start, but the end made me mad. I wish they had shown more respect for Choi Jin Hyuk's character, just like everyone said. I know he wasn't there to film, but 1) why would they extend when they knew he wasn't available and 2) why wouldn't they even show flashbacks of him in the last 2 eps? He was totally erased.

It makes me sad when dramas I like end badly, because it makes me feel like I don't like the drama and I don't want to recommend it to anyone, even though I enjoyed 95% of it. Sigh.

TLE was a very fun ride especially with a group of people. Thank you rabb.it TLE beanies (finger hearts)

I wouldn't have started if not for word of mouth on the beanie wall and also the rabb.it watch. And if one plans to watch it, a different mindset is needed and just shut all logic.

I tried explaining the drama to my sister and friends but I got stumped. It was too ridiculous to retell 🤣.

There are plotholes (why was there 2 necklaces, who forged it?). And the storyline was jarring to say the least. But it makes good television. A drama that can entertain and make you boiling with rage at the same time.

And as @justme and @egads pointed out too..the women are the driving force in TLE. Be it good or bad, the women were the main masterminds. And it was amazing.

Maybe the main outcome of TLE for me was the rediscovery of SSR. I only saw him in 3 dads 1 mum (eons ago) and Trot Lovers. So it was a pleasant surprise to see him acting all ranges of emotion in this. I became a fan. Which is very obvious. Take a peek at my fan wall. Hahaha

I loved this drama unironically, everything about it was unexpectedly wonderful - I couldn't watch the last two episodes, though, because although I was prepared to see Na Wang-shik die, I can't say I was prepared to just not see him at all.

Empress's Dignity and Return = the same big mess.

Honestly, I was hoping to see Shin Sung Rok in the role of a good emperor and I just see the same crazy character. I hope that he will be more interesting in Vagabond.

At least, the first part of the drama was pretty fun. After it came a nonsense.

I love your article. I love all your screenshots of my beloved Hyuk, R.I.P, and all those swoonworthy moments of him and Sunny. I love what you wrote about how he became Hero and Villain in the end, fusing both in a lethal 2-in-1 combo, much like those instant coffee sachets that he loved so much, that provided so many laughworthy moments in the drama. Thanks for the memories. I miss the drama so much, and I miss my beloved Hyuk, most of all.

I wrote a fanfic because of my obsession with Hyuk, but it's growing into something else altogether.

I just uploaded Chapter 15: Do Not Look Back.

Check it out here.

https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1386079/oh-sunny-s-diary-lee-hyuk-s-confusing-me

One of my favorite things about TLE is how unpredictable it was. Not with plot twists (although those were fun too), but you could go from an attempted murder to an anime fight scene and then have a flashback with the Dowager Empress's voice dubbed by a 7 yr old. I love how it was the kind of show where you could just sit back and enjoy the ride, and watching on Rabbit made it even better. I started the drama because of SSR's coffee PPL and stayed well, for him too, but also for the awesome ladies and the way the whole drama was totally aware of how ridiculous it was.

I just finished watching this drama this week and oh boy. It was definitely entertaining but it was a crazy and ridiculous show.

The way they just wrote Na Wang-shik out of the drama was so poorly done. Here is this character you have been building up as a hero and he just gets killed as an afterthought at the end. His story never really got finished. Clearly the extension caused issues but it was so poorly handled. I didn't care that he died, I just was annoyed it was so badly done. His character also was one of the most boring characters in the drama. We never really got any character development except he is a hero bent on revenge. Also, it was very hard to suspend belief that in just 2 months he lost all that weight, became shredded (those parts I can suspend belief on) and became an expect martial artist and weapons handlers that rivaled those who have trained for years (these parts I can't suspend belief on).

Lee Hyuk was definitely the most interesting character (and like others have said, Shin Sung Rok stole the show). I ran the gamut of emotions with him from hate, to pity, to loving, to hating, to loving. The problems I had with his character was the drama seemed to not know what his character should be. Hero or villain? He was complex but he was shallowly complex and confusing as a character at times.

There were also a lot of weird alliances formed throughout the drama. For example, I never understood why Min Yoo-Ra, Na Wang-Sik and Oh Sunny started working together. The drama told us it was because the Empress Dowager was responsible for separating her from her baby daddy, but it made absolutely no sense. Or why Oh Sunny and Na Wang-Sik was so willing to work with her and even worried about her. Her crimes and villain arc were so easily forgiven and written out of the drama.

The whole ending in general was just ridiculous. A lot of things that happened in the show and the crimes that were committed never really saw a conclusion. And the way the 2 criminals got caught was simply because they were blaming each other and naming their crimes in front of the hidden media (mighty convenient they blabbed it all at that moment). All these plans of revenge and machinations and everything came down to a simple hidden camera scheme.

i loved it all except for what happened to choi jin hyuk. but for me it was a very fun ride thru ridiculous done right. it was fun suspending all logic and just watching the actors have a ball with their roles and play them to the utmost! i could almost hear SSR laughing in the background on some of the scenes! they thoroughly enjoyed it and i did too. SSR definitely upped a notch in my awesome actor list!

This drama without a doubt was one of the most horribly written melodramatic messes I have seen in years. I just usually give up dramas that are this terrible. Don't ask me why I continued. Maybe it's because watching the relatively talented cast ham up each week in this hot mess was actually kind of fun. Jang Nara got to stomp her tiny foot, talk tough and frown a lot in this one. That's a departure from her usual sweet and wounded role. Shin Sung rok showed everyone who's boss by stealing every scene and eventually the entire series. I don't know what this writer has done before but this was just a mess.

This show was so brazenly ridiculous, and I loved it. I knew from the moment their idea of a make-over scene was to play the Rocky theme and switch out actors it was going to be amazing. You've gotta respect a show that so blatantly throws logic out the window to get the results they want. Even the extension episodes didn't bother me, since I thought they hilariously represented the hot mess that was this show. One of the main actors isn't available for the final episodes? Eh, just leave him out. 😂 (Although I did feel bad for Choi Jin Hyuk...) Some shows aren't meant to be masterpieces--they're just plain fun. I had a blast watching this show.

Thanks for the recap. This drama sounded kind of interesting, but I watched a few episodes and it was stupid. I hate this kind of thing, and thanks to the review, will never watch it.

Oh.. i want that makjang survival award too.. 😚😚

The actors threw themselves gleefully into their roles and they gave us one fun ride.

The first time I watched this drama, I was so confused what genre it was supposed to be. At one point it was a mystery, then turned romantic, then turned makjang. It was nevertheless very entertaining as long as you do not take it seriously, otherwise you are going to get a headache. Plotlines abandoned everywhere but still people watched it. Why? The cast did very well in their acting. While some people would dislike Shin Sung Rok in this, I actually liked how fast he can change his persona... his character was ridiculously, annoying, evil and lovable all at the same time. I was actually prepared for the Emperor to be killed in a spectacular manner to be redeemed in Sunny's eyes but well....ratings happened I suppose? Na WangShik's character went nowhere which is a shame. I kept on repeating the scene when he was supposed to die because I could not believe that they killed his character just like that. Jang Nara did wonderfully her part as the Last Empress and it was a fitting end to her strong character. Although it was a mess, I still loved watching it and I am going to terribly miss it.