Consider me intrigued! Not going to lie, I was really unsure if I wanted to start this show or wait because I already had two sageuks already on my plate and was like if this one doesn’t offer something different or new, my attention likely won’t stick.

BUT I tried it out and I’m on board. The hook for me was -WDH’s sexy deep voice- our ML’s characterisation. I’m glad he’s not:

a) a crown prince/crown prince with amnesia/crown prince in hiding
b) a flower boy scholar
c) a righteous warrior type

And instead looks like he’s falling slightly into the ‘anti-hero’ grey area WHICH I LOVE! Anti-heroes, when written well, provide such beautifully complex characters that you could analyse for DAYS, plus it’s a little something different from the usual straight edged sageuk male leads. For me, his character feels like those second leads that you sometimes wish were the male lead - the ones that act a bit like a joker/fool type, overly cocky, self-assured and seemingly jovial all the time but they’ve got something simmering underneath.

I have literally no appetite for palace politics these days but this I think I can tolerate because our leads aren't both fully trapped within the confines of the palace so there's an interesting spin on how the politics will affect them.

Nice writeup, thank you.

I have to admit I was confused about who the mysterious person following people around was, and looking forward now to having Jisun hopefully introduced to us!

I did have a slightly different take on the fire - while they initially implied he had deliberately lit it, I took it as he didn't really mean to light the fire - I took the story that came out later on it being an accident as he stopped grandmother from committing suicide as true, not just concocted to protect him after he helped them. Can't see Princess really going along with a deliberate lie for one thing.

More broadly, agree with you on the cinematography, it was beautiful. Costumes too - I guess Korean historical dramas have been scared into being as historically accurate as possible, but this one seems to have gone further than any others I've seen in going with the 'white cotton' look for commoners (colours were basically prohibited for them), and appropriate variants for different classes (or those pretending to be of the relevant class!), while still managing to provide enough variety to be attractive to watch.

In any case, looking forward to the story unfolding.

This drama reminds Mad Dog but in Joseon area.

The ML came back with a revenge plan and in disguise, this time he doesn't work for insurance but he's a lawyer. He chose his cases carefully to make is plan progessing.

It looks fun and WDH is enough to make me watch it :p

@solstices thank you for the weecap. I tapped out of watching this because the male lead has to be cold to set fire to a house where there was an elderly person and child at risk of being harmed. Even if it was an accident (he said himself ‘it wasn't meant to turn out like this’) and he stopped the halmoni from her misplaced noble idiocy of killing herself so as not to be a burden to the family, he still turned up to take from the little they had at a time when they are now homeless and without the resources to make the product that is their livelihood.

I will follow along with the weecaps as there is still so much potential for this to be my kind of drama and for the hero to come to a place where I can reconnect with him but watching will be too disjointed as I would be fast forwarding through the politics and violence.

Wasn’t that a donkey and not a horse? That’s all I have at the end of a long long day.

This drama was fine, I will continue to watching. Plus Bona and Woo Do Hwan are adorable together.

Not gonna lie, at the end of ep1, I was shaken: difficult to love a ML who cares not a jot for the elderly, children, people's property and livelihoods etc. But decided to give ep2 the benefit of the doubt and was glad I did - there is room for growth and repentance, and it looks as if he's going to get there. How he gets there will be the interesting thing - and I think then drama has already shown it's happy to take us on a twisty journey. Nice: I'm in!

I love the potential team we have in Han Soo and Yeon Joo - already we have two firecrackers who will in equal measure bring out the best in each other and annoy the other to the nth degree. I really like the fact that she's a princess moonlighting as a worker - gives her the knowledge and poise of the court but the insight and the humanness of the people. In fact, she's just the kind of accomplice he needs to succeed in his goal...

Fangirling moment: soooooooo good to have WDH back, the voice, the gold that his comedic timing is, his thousand-and-one facial expressions, his energy - and we appreciate the abs too, director... :) :) :)

Honestly, I liked visuals more than actual story here. 5-minute flashbacks explaining ML's vendetta lacked impact for some reason - framing a commoner for stealing royal treasures of all things? And then implying late King himself ordered that? Talk about excessive. Surely this convenient huge stretch of my disbelief is there NOT to create The Angst later when OTP falls in love and have their secret identities revealed to each other. And ofc SML is the son of most sus of all sus ministers here - along with having some stalker vibes for FL - NOT just to mess things even further, no way!

Trickster ML (he's also a commoner! now that's rare) is kinda a fresh take indeed, tho his serial arsonist trait is highly worrying. Plus I don't get his intentions to FL - one second he flirts with her like a pro, then panics and facepalms at her insistence she's fallen for him. Trying to look cooler than you are, mister? Same with Princess who somehow believes lying to a man about her romantic feelings will make him work for her. Well, that's one way, but does she REALLY understand all the dangers of such method? I feel like watching two kindergartners dressed in their parents' clothes and playing the house.

Initial pace was fun, but it's bound to slow down very soon or ML will be done with his revenge after 4 weeks at most))) So many familiar faces though, I love that about sageuks. Colors were fantastic - warm sunny filter, black-and-white plus some red flashbacks - and yes, clothes! Pistachio green and other soft pastels on both male leads made my eyes very happy. Still don't get what's the deal with chewed out gats tho... Liked the music too, fits the mood perfectly.

Barely any Hakyeon this week to my utter disappointment. Good thing he's apparently not prohibited to smile here, I was slightly worried it was the case. And pls keep the cute donkey!

Very zippy and fun premiere. Made me laugh often. I wasn't expecting that much humor, but it worked nicely.

Woo Do Hwan already gave a range of emotions. He's so good at being cheeky and confident.

I like that both Han Soo and Yeon Joo have their own covers while hiding their inner thoughts.

I don't remember if I ever saw a drama that talked about lawsuits in this time period and how the law works for the regular citizens. So this part was interesting to watch.

It was great that we didn't see much of the ministers. The less palace politics, the better. I'm sure there will be more of it eventually. Felt bad for the disrespected King.

Thank you so much, @solstices, for the quick and delightful recap. I can't help but smile and laugh through it. Much appreciated!

First things first, Woo Do-hwan, oh, how I love thee! The military taketh and giveth. I'm glad the PD is in with the abs tradition, even in a sageuk. Haha

Legal dramas are not my thing, but sageuks are, so I had one leg in and one out. I'm glad the writer is not throwing the Gyeongguk Daejeon (code of laws) at us because I'm as ignorant as the commoners.
I also like that the first 2 cases (even when exaggerated) are within the district Megistrate's territory. When it's serious, it goes to the governor or ministry of Justice then we get the heavy politics that put us to sleep.

I know this is fiction, but I had to have a timeline as a history fan.
- The king is based loosely on Seongjong of Joseon, who reigned from 31 December 1469 – 20 January 1495.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seongjong_of_Joseon
He ascended the throne when he was 12 (1469).
The Gyeongguk Daejeon (that Attorney Kang mentioned in the first trial) was completed in 1474. Seongjong was 16 and still under Grand Royal Queen Dowager Jaseong and wasn't given full authority until he was 19 (1477). We are roughly somewhere between 1475 and 1476.

-Jeon-joo, I believe, is based loosely on Princess Myeongsuk. She was Seongjong's older sister. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Myeongsuk
Our sharp recapper refers to them as cousins even though the king calls her sister. They were born to the same parents, but the late king adopted Seongjong as heir to the throne.

@wishfultoki, correct me if I'm wrong. I didn't have time to double-check.

Not one person in that city has figured out the princess owns the merchant house. It is literally named after her.

And of course Han soo is confident, he looks like Woo Do Hwan.

It’s finally here! Thank god or I think I would’ve actually ceased functioning as a normal human being. Leading man Woo Do-hwan, what a beautiful phrase to say.

Now on the introductory episodes themselves…

Honestly, I was not expecting the camera work and cinematography to go off as hard as it did. I will always appreciate some effort towards stylization in these areas, so points for that. I went in fully expecting to love Woo Do-hwan (more on him later), but came out fully on-board with and adoring Bona’s Princess Yeon-joo/So-won even more. I had been a little skeptical of her ability to lead a sageuk since I’m pretty sure she’s never been in one before, but colour me impressed she was just as believable and entertaining as her co-stars. That’s great! I love how she’s righteous and determined to do the right thing and actually tried to take steps to change the material reality of the common people around her. It’s not the systemic, wide-scale improvements she wants to implement via her royal relations, but she’s trying and I find that genuinely impressive. Can’t wait to see her journey.

As for my beloved Woo Do-hwan’s Kang Han-soo… well, I have mixed feelings. WDH is gorgeous and immediately captivating as always - that hasn’t changed in the slightest, but Han-soo is a tough nut to crack. On one hand, I love the moral ambiguity of his character. If he’s willing to commit arson against an innocent civilian just to line his own pockets and fulfill a step in his multiyear revenge plot, that’s not straightforward good guy material. It is a refreshing change of pace from the typical heroic, infallible hero archetype sageuks are married to and I’m glad this drama is doing something to break the mold. That said, setting fire to the livelihood of an innocent family is absolutely reprehensible and I’m honestly relieved he got that flogging. Not that I advocate or support such methods of ‘justice’, but it would’ve left a pretty bad taste in my mouth if he just got away with his crime with zero consequences. I hope Han-soo’s future greyness will be more in the ‘ruthless against the parasitic ruling-class’ category and less ‘being a serial arsonist of working class homes’. Oh well, Yeon-joo can help him out. He’s got a great sense of humour when not committing arson, I’m so glad Woo Do-hwan gets to use his comedic chops to the fullest extent. Like some of the other commenters, I also like that he’s a commoner and desperately hope they don’t throw some last-minute secret noble/royal parentage theory, but I’m not holding my breath. Sageuks gonna sageuk.

Speaking of them together though, I one-hundred percent agree that he’s gonna fall first and he’s gonna fall HARD. Honestly, how could you not, she’s awesome and really pretty. They both are. Pretty, that is. I don’t know if Han-soo is all that awesome yet outside the courtroom. Whatever happens, I already want them to kiss.

Not enough Cha Hak-yeon yet for me to judge, but he seems nice...

Thank you so much for this delightful write-up, @solstices! :) I'm so looking forward to these recaps.

These first two episodes were a pleasant surprise for me. They're so PEPPY. A lot going on already. And dang, this drama is gorgeous?!? For some reason I wasn't expecting that. Compared to the other fusion sageuks that I've tuned into lately, this one is really a sight for sore eyes. A beautiful warm palette, the swishy hanbok in the seaside wind...it's really lovely.

I'm most eager to see how the relationship between our two leads progresses. Of course we know how they'll end up (💘) but how they'll get there will be fun to watch :) The set-up for their relationship is pretty refreshing...no instant swooning, but not really an enemies-to-lovers either. They're already fun together and have worked side by side but we know they will butt heads. I'm exciting to watch it unfold!