I actually think Lee Chae-min works better because the ML comes across as more bratty and confused than evil. But, yeah, the age difference between those two actors was very apparent and jarring in that scene!

Well said!!!! Thanks!

@amnesiayawns

Mort was a very skinny boy, if I remember correctly. And younger than Seo In Guk.
Red haired too. It would have to be adapted, obviously :)

I'm reading up about the real person and, yikes. Maybe he's loosely based?

I'm so excited about this drama! I think Lee Chae-min is doing a great job as ML/tyrant/king, but he struck me as looking too young, especially since there were flashbacks of him sparring with his bestie the Royal Secretary when they were children. The grown secretary looks decades older than the king, so it was a bit jarring. This led me down a google rabbit hole and I found out that Park Sung-hoon was to play the role originally. I hope that my disappointment about this last minute switch doesn't color my thoughts about Lee Chae-min's performance.

I love how competent and mature the FL is. SO refreshing. Her love of food is beautiful and, as I said elsewhere, I ship her with getting to live out of her dream of being a chef more than anything. My husband also watched with me and seemed to enjoy himself, which is rare with kdramas these days.

I'm not against the romance, but it feels weird. Imagine going back in time and falling in love with, like, Mussolini or something. The ML's hurting a lot of people and mommy issues alone do not make up for that. I also just found out that he's a real historical figure, which makes this even weirder for me. Plus I don't see any way they can end up together in a satisfying manner (like, I don't want the FL to stay in the Joseon era, and the ML wouldn't fit in modern society), and the book message suggests that they don't, too. Btw, I gotta admit, despite my reservations about the romance, that book message made me swoon.

Also as I said elsewhere, I am quite confused by the palace relationships and politics.

Oof, I don't like that

I loved the first episode! This is my kind of fun drama with romance? thrown in along with food to make my mouth water. Its fun and Yoon-ah is spot on with the humor!

It baffles me sometimes and gets to cheesy yet here I am still watching. The scenery and travel is its selling point.

Love the butter gochujang bibimbap! I actually started salivating and had a sudden craving for bibimbap whilst watching

I hope they showcase a dish per episode! #foodporngalore
says the gal who's still salty about Tastefully Yours

p.s. Question: isn't said tyrant in this drama the historical Yeosanggun, no? I got a bit thrown off cos they called him Lee Yi Heon but Yeonsanggun's personal name is Yi Yung

I'm really excited about this one. I feel some intrigue coming on! I love the theme the actors and the time period so I'm all in.

Regarding Genie, our beloved retriever: if I'm understanding correctly the blind actor had to give Genie up because he (she?) became old and sick, and unable to fulfill his duties as a seeing eye dog. I remember Yeo-reum mentioning that she'll take the dog, but at the end of the episode it looked like Genie was reunited with the actor. I was also surprised when I saw the dog in the video and thought that maybe she took him after all. On the other hand, this drama does pull you out of the story at times, like when random characters start singing at the end of each episode, so maybe I'm trying too hard to make sense of things when the writers apparently are not?

In the battle between Girl's Generation Isekai Kdramas, Yoona won with these 2 episodes. I think the FL's personality was consistent, not like in The First Night with the Duke.

It looks like some Kings can be in a fantastic story but not every King :p

I agree about the Japan love story. Just so much did not make sense and felt too contrived, all to create a 20 year separation with them both pining for each other. I honestly did not notice the accountant's clothes, maybe it's because (like you) I have no interest in their story and I just tune out when they're on.

Tropey, predictable and cute

It seems like this years version of "Story of Parks Marriage"

Yoona does not have much range as an actress but this plays to her strengths and shes always been better at comedy than dramatic roles.

P.S "Queen In-Hyuns Man" is still the all time greatest time travel romance in dramaland

We’ll do some recon and report back! 🫡

It 100% is! I don’t know why they couldn’t have dropped a couple of these at the end of July or something, when there wasn’t as much going on. And of course it premieres on a Friday. I’m going to have to figure out what order the Beankeepers are going to drop the weecaps so that I can watch all the weekend shows in that order and (maybe) keep up!

so he just stares and hopes the stream will disappear, or ...?