Episode 7 was about how to lay a table cloth while staring at Jun Ho.

Episode 8 was much better. I feel both the actors look much relaxed and their scenes are looking more natural. I did like their Han River date and the sauna visit. Gu Won needs to spend more time with the friends.

I feel like the show forgot about the Noona romance we are all excited about. Why does cutie fight attendant get only 1 min of air time???

*ahem* Now that is how you do an episode 8 kiss.

This show spent like five minutes on a scene where nothing happens except the Leads stare at each other across a tablecloth. I should be bored. Why am I not bored?! That’s honestly the extent of my critical analysis.

Won is shaping up exactly as I’d hoped. He doesn’t care about power for its own sake, but does care about it to protect others. And I like that it started as just Sa-rang, but has already expanded to include her friends, and probably lots of other people in similar situations. I loved the scene where he was game for illegal sales activities, but then also had a moment to log Pyung-hwa’s desperation away as something to take care of later.

Shout out goes to Da-eul’s daughter this week, who is as disgusted with her father as she should be. I was hoping he was just a little careless, but it turns out he’s a real waste of space and luckily his daughter is not shy about telling him so.

Other highlights for me: The Red Sleeve reference, the smiling lesson for Won, the shy smiles across the traditional wedding ceremony, the best friends approving of and then reprimanding Won for not being straightforward, and the weird but nice frenemy bromance Samir left Won with.

That kiss scene ruined me. The bar has been set astronomically high, and I will never find another man attractive. I am now resigned to the fact that I will be forever alone.

Well that escalated quickly! Lee Jun-ho is threatening to take Park Seo-joon and Ji Chang-wook’s crowns as the kiss master. That scene was pure fire.

Um, are we going to talk about the portrayal of the Arab prince? As Kdramas get more popular world wide, they really need multicultural awareness coaches for the writers. That was hard to watch.

Junho yelling WHAT THE F**K?!? was the highlight of my week. The kiss took an honorable second place, though.

I wish the show had made Samir a prince from some unnamed imaginary country instead of generic 'Arab' 🙄 (which is a scant half-step up from generic 'African'). At least the whole sequence was made less cringey by making his and Won's relationship a rich-guys version of frat boy taunting and by his forward but generally respectful treatment of Sarang.

Oh goodness where do I start.

When watching these two episodes, I was hoping that the recaps would come soooooon. Because while there was plenty of passion (oh yes the eye candy and the ask-for-consent kiss), and the general unfairness of the flight attendant character getting literally two scenes I simply could not believe my eyes with the portrayal of the 'Arab Prince'. That was just distasteful and uncomfortable to watch.

It's too bad because Kdramas do have a growing global following and that sort of stereotyping is unfortunate. Why couldn't Anupam Tripathi have played a nice prince without the alcohol and the random women draped over him? Also was there no casting call for someone who was perhaps closer to that cultural background?

Last week’s episodes of this show, starring Yoona and what’s his name (Taec, something, wasn’t it?) were so impactful in their exploration of the classic romance theme of misbegotten love in the midst of service worker exploitation that they prompted four of the smartest Dramabeans intellectuals, @attiton @dncingemma @elinor and @ladynightshade to discuss the show in the context of European social theory.

So I was quite eager to see what intellectual stimulation this weeks episodes would bring. Episode 7 was frankly a little disappointing. There were a few references to Said’s Orientalism, a lot of Mulvey on the male gaze, but except for some enthralling PPL, a fascinating discourse on table cloth laying, and video hightight tour of a famous palace, I didn’t learn much. I will say that I’m going to buy one of those royal male marriage hats to wear around the house; it could even replace the gat which pull on every time I go out!

Episode 8, though, was good. Very good. There was some cute flirting, some cuter flirting, and then some very watered down food with a side of steaming intimacy, which made me think of the classic line --“waiter-- there’s a kiss in my soup.”

One true story. The first time I kissed my wife, I also asked permission. So I felt after watching this kiss that Junho and I have a great deal in common, at least in terms of our romantic appeal.

I have to admit those scene where the prince was trying to "court" Sa-rang made me uncomfortable as she was at her place of work, in front of all her colleagues & bosses.
For once I understood how her colleagues felt having to stand there and attend to them.

Aside from that, the rest of the episodes were good. They could've done away with the arab prince plot (my spidey senses were tingling with imminent backlash) and maybe worked in some high end conglomerate/president of a company's son if they really wanted to show Won attending to someone else higher than him in terms of status.

The Won+sarang scenes were adorable but I do hope we get to see more of Pyeong-hwa & Da-eul's struggles as well. That lift lobby scene with Da-eul made my heart HURT :')) but I'm so proud of little cho-ryong dragging her dad YOU GO GIRL

I like these 2 episodes a lot. There are many moments that working-class people will relate to. My favorite was when Sa-rang answered Won’s question why she practiced so hard, just because she wanted to do well. Most of us are not privileged with money and talent, so we have to excel by keep practicing.

The kissss 🔥
I didn’t expect much from the kiss scene, but it’s because both actors are idols. It’s about time fans accept that they are 33, not 23. They can date anyone they like, get married, and have kids. And it’s all outside their singing and acting career.

My wife and I love this show.

I get that the role that Anupam Tripathi played here could be perceived as insensitive and I do think comments like the ones here will have an impact with future shows. I also think that we haven't seen the last of Prince Samir. The way that they were sort of buddy buddy at the "dinner party" would lead me to believe he's going to play a role in the end where he is going to help Won out in his battle with his sister. Remember his dad told him and his sister to invite him to the 100 year celebration. BTW, the showing of the Squid Game uniform did get a chuckle out of me.

Ah all the stares! Stare after stare after stare. I get it! You guys are in love. It’s okay. The kiss was fire though and the consent made it even better! Consent is everything!!!

Ali as an Arab prince did not resemble an Arab at all and I totally understand the controversy around his character arc. I cringed at his behaviour towards Sa Rang but I realised it must be true. People with money and power can get away with whatever they want just because they can and it’s the ‘poorer’ folks who pay the price. Poor Sarang. I really felt bad for anyone in real life going through the same.

I did chuckle seeing the squid game uniform on the stand even though it shouldn’t have been there with all the other Joseon costumes.

I'm happy to see Won growing up but it was a little bit easy that he knew the Prince. The guy just realized that people around him are working hard.

Sarang is just trying to work when rich heirs have so much time to make her whatever they want to. I'm not sure why she loves Won for now. He's clearly more caring then her ex but it's just because he doesn't work and can search for ideas of date, watch her working, etc.

The scenes with her friends are really nice. With the length of the episodes, they could give them more than 30 sec of development in their own story. When you own daughter says she doesn't want to marry someone like you, you think he would be affected... Like he's the only who works and is tired.

They really lay it on thick with the ramyeon PPLs, don’t they? I haven’t had these instant noodles but they must be high in sodium, artificial flavours including MSG? Yum. Good things then! I keep thinking Gu Won wouldn’t appreciate these ordinary staples as he probably was fed caviar, pheasants and ortolans in that extraordinary English pile he was supposedly living in but no. He loves every.single.thing. It is hilariously over the top.
Also, does anyone know why most animated opening sequences have characters who don’t appear Korean? I find it quite intriguing ad their features are very non-specific.

PPL or Product placement- I know the shows have to do this as a neccesary evil to survive but seriously episode 8 was overkill.
It felt like one big continuous ad for 12 (that I counted and were really obvious) different products, some shown multiple times throughout. The salt in the cooking shot was shown 7 times.  The continual, obvious advertising takes away from the enjoyment of the show and I begin to feel manipulated and annoyed instead.
Surely there is a better way to do this.  Tale of the Nine tails, episode 7 proved that advertising can be incorporated well with a great script and actors. 

Before I say anything, the kiss was HOT. I didn't expect it to be this long & this intense considering that the building up of the sexual tension wasn't the focus of the episode ( Dramaddictally exactly voiced my thoughts. CIL & IOL ones felt earned through the tension. However, I'm definitely not complaining , if anything, it's the complete opposite)

Now onto the plot progression. Our leads are well smitten by each other & it feels so natural ( maybe because the actors are close friends irl so the chemistry seems natural). However, it was about time the power battle started & I'm afraid that Sarang is going to be dragged into it. I just hope it keeps its sweet & light tone ( I can look at them staring at each other all day <3 ) .

Loved the subtle mention of The Red Sleeve - " This place seems oddly familiar". I wonder why, Jun Ho🤭

*ahem*

ROYAL KISS ANALYST FILES: ENTRY 9
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Total Length: 1:51
Cut Scenes: 15
No. of Extant Camera Angles/Shots: 8 (I think)
Cuts Per Second Ratio: 1:7.4

Cuts per Second Ratio Ranking: GOOD.
- (PD Sicarius' Notes: No need to re-edit because of this anyway.)
- (FILE UPDATE NOTES: New Ranking EXCELLENT, for ratios of 1:10 and over, has been added, with only one current entry (of Royal Kiss Analyst Files recorded kisses only): The Secret Lyfe of My Secretary, Episode 8)

Hand Placement/Movement/Positioning; Lip Action; Cheekbones/Jawline; Hand Structure; Atmosphere/Context/Story:

This was the Most Deliberately Indulgent Fanservicey kiss I’ve ever frakking seen adlkfjhadlkjfhak
The manufactured Sprinkler Fiasco? The utter over the topness? Styling Junho like THAT because he’d look better when wet? The camera framing on (wet) hands and jaws and lips to the point where it felt almost WRONG rewatching????

Asdfghjkl, they knew EXACTLY what tf they were doing. I kinda hate that it worked too because it was SO OBVIOUSLY EXTRA GRATUITOUS-
(I laughed, tho)

The food date was cute and thematically consistent at least.

Song: I was FAR too distracted to pay attention to the song the first like 5 times. It’s generic but sweet; it’s fine. The soft voice and violins work really well.

Bad: I could argue that it was TOO indulgent and TOO sexy HAHAHAHA.

“But, Sic! A Kiss scene can’t be TOO Sexy!” weellll… *pushes Snobby Royal Kiss Analyst glasses farther up her nose*

Some kiss scenes are only there for the trope, to be gratuitous, to be, you know, the KISS. This is Dramaland, obviously.

But a truly great kiss scene should, imo, like everything else, also add to and fit to the story. It should help tell the story or help us get to know the characters more. It shouldn’t be just indulgence for indulgence sakes.

Now, this is, pfft… King the Land. I’m not watching this for uhm, any great example of, well… anything.
This is a silly rom com watch that I watch with the lowest of expectations, and when it delivers on that, it’s fun for what it is.

But, as this is a formal Kiss Analyses File, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also want their serious conversation that he promised, instead of, or as well as, a serious kiss… 😂😂😂

Bonus Points: Permission Asked ✔

Overall Ranking: For how much food Junho eats in this drama, and how often food is used as a motif, AND for how much PPL there is, where is my Junho x Melona nod-to-JBL cameo? As the Queen of Melonia, I demand it.

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all royal rankings use an arbitrary form of melonia measurement known only by Her Royal Highness, and will not be justified compared to past rankings or inconsistencies.
Royal Kiss Analyst Files...

I think that Pyung-hwa's secret is she had an affair with the sleazy pilot. Hopefully, she didn't know that he was married, and not had willingly been his mistress.

In the never-ending tablecloth scene, why did Won not once ask where the other employees were? If Sa-rang's co-workers hate her already, then they're going to really hate her when they find out that she's dating the boss. I'm surprised that they haven't caught on with how obvious Won has been always going to the lounge and asking for her, not to mention the most obvious taking the company helicopter to rescue her.

Hello. Oh, hello? Yes, hello. Ah! Hello!
the drama that tries to fix most mistakes made by other romance dramas?
It should be called Fix the land.
But reforming the system is really hard. The world is built on exploitation. Only family businesses have a fair share of workload but they also hire others on low pay. I cannot imagine how he can think of a solution that feels realistic.

I’ve found this story fascinating along countless others: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/11/the-orca-uprising-whales-are-ramming-boats-but-are-they-inspired-by-revenge-grief-or-memory?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Gu Won was lucky that his yacht - I’m assuming he has one - wasn’t the focus of an orcauprising! Eat the rich and/or disable their super yachts!

Allright. Dammit. That kiss. The sprinklers came on in my living room too.

I’m sometimes exasperated with kisses in k drama, but, you know, all is forgiven now. I saw the most recent episode of See you in my 19tj life and I really loved the kiss there, but this was on a different level.

And that sangria jug looked so good that I wanted some!

I am definitely in the minority clearly but the romance is not working for me. This when I am a very easy to please audience in this genre! The steamy kiss notwithstanding, I just feel like the cutesy-ness of the romance is very forced. The situations that the couple are being put through seem very unnatural and even the humour is not landing. Its a waste of Jun-ho who can do such wonders with good writing backing him up (e.g The Red Sleeve).

Well it looks like I’m gonna eat my words? I appreciate the two friends story lines. Da-eul never catching a beak, working full-time while also solely taking care of her child and doing the household chores with no help from her godawful husband. It’s sadly representative of the role of many working (and non working) mothers. This is statistically a problem in many societies. When women joined the workforce, men didn’t suddenly contribute more equally with household tasks, all the burden is still put upon the women. Da-eul deserves better and I hope she divorces her good-for-nothing husband!

Pyeong-hwa’s workplace seems to be the worst. From unethical (and honestly imo illegal) weigh-ins to the sexual harassment to being forced to sell goods on top of her normal job as a flight attendant! I hope this time we’ll at least see some repercussions for the sleazy asshole whose always harassing Pyeong-hwa.

That said, I guess there’s finally a flaw with Sa-rang. She’s honestly seemed too perfect to me, however her self righteousness is too rigid, especially for scolding her friend for doing something ‘illegal’ when she has no other option. I hope she later understands not everyone has the privilege to build themselves up through ‘legal’ means. Yes Sa-rang is competent no doubt, but she also has the privilege of beauty, so I kinda laughed at the scene when the staff who work at King The Land apparently ‘earned’ their spot for their ‘hard work’ when really some are born into wealth and therefore can get better education while others are born pretty and can use that to their advantage. Everyone works hard and luck is definitely involved.

Yeah I’m not gonna talk about why Samir’s stereotyping is offensive and is deeply rooted in the racist and insidious nature of Orientalism. Watch Lindsey Ellis’ video on the topic if you’re curious:
https://youtu.be/XrhrXTDeue0

Last week Sa-rang scolded Won to take into consideration the employee’s time when he asked one of the chefs to make a last minute cake for her birthday. Won taking the message to heart and apologising to an employee for making him work overtime was a nice progression to see. The drama also seems to understand workers exploitation especially this week when there was a discussion about employees being the owners of the hotel, yes it was mitigated by the sister’s spiel how she was in fact the owner and the most important person. But regardless I’m uncertain where the show is going with this. Won doesn’t want the employees being treated unfairly, but I wouldn’t call it a win if he takes over since it’s still nepotism no? And he as an individual would still hold all the power, not the collective ownership of all the employees and workers of the hotel

This show just keeps getting more and more ridiculous. And I can't help but compare this to A Business Proposal. Even though I prefer Junho's take on the tsundere boss, at least Kang Tae Moo actually acts like a boss and does his job rather than just moon over the girl. Or perhaps I easily get irked by KTL's lack of actual plot 'coz I'm watching it together with See You in My 19th Life. 😅

Most things have been mentioned already by other beanies, but at the moment I'm rating the kiss as the best kdrama kiss so far this year.
I was disappointed that the writers resorted to the old school tie connection for Won and Samir as it took something away from Won's competence overall, I would have liked the route to winning the prince over to be less straightforward. It also didn't show his sister as being less fit for the job as women often are disadvantaged by old school networks or lack thereof. But I'm nitpicking possibly.
I enjoyed the tablecloth scene, when Sa Rang was smoothing down the tablecloth, Won was looking at her like he wished he was the tablecloth- perfect 😍.