My journey with TKEM is a bit complicated as its been with most viewers of this drama. I was extremely excited about this show when I found the news of it releasing. I had hopes like everyone else on what the show was and was thinking a sort of Fantasy/thriller romance. However when the premiere dropped like everyone I was underwhelmed. It was confusing and frustrating yet not in a good way. Yet I continued watching it as many dramas don't have great premiers but after finishing the first half I got slightly busy ( and bored ) so I decided to drop it and come back when it finishes.
Starting the review on a sour note may not be the best of ideas however this will give you a better understanding of why I rated the drama so high (at least for the review). So going back to the review, when I rewatched it, (I wasn't looking forward to watching it) but when I did something just clicked. The show that was so hard and complicated to watch while it was airing finally made sense. It was just an enjoyable and fun show.
The show has several plot inconsistencies and many plot holes if you paid attention. Yet it's enjoyable and fun which is the main criteria for rating dramas. However, there are so many better directions this show could've gone and the duo roles were complicated and hard to know. While some were obvious solutions others weren't. I think the greatest flaw of this drama is the Parallel Worlds story itself.
The story is often too complicated and fails to capture audiences eyes until the second half. It's quite confusing and often irritating to watch. The science in the show is quite basic and didn't give a very complicated air to it. The writer bit off more than it could chew with the story. Thus causing certain parts of the story to look laughable. The story's main fault was definitely that it lacks focus and adds too many characters.
The acting wasn't flawless but rather satisfactory. LMH at first is unconvincing as a king yet in the latter episodes when they have to show a more ruthless side shows a charismatic performance. Do I think he was perfect in the role? No. However was he bad? Not really. He displayed his acting well and with this role showed some great performances. Yet like both the leads, he lacked in carrying this show as Lead.
KGE is also pretty good in this role. She delivers her performance well and even though this wasn't her best role it is still a good one. WDH is also good though lacks screentime however when he is there he captures the screen fully and to best of his abilities. He was also the only character who played a double role throughout and does it well. KKN is equally good though he gets even less screentime as we've seen KKN is a great actor and is wonderful in whatever he does.
LJJ is wonderful as a villain yet as many of these characters he also doesn't have enough screentime though he's the main villain. His story is interesting and can be expanded yet isn't like many of the characters. I firmly believe that the writing was more at fault than any other aspect of the show. As the messiness of the writing caused the drama to underperform (at least to what it was expected to get).
Now here's the main reason why this show is worth watching. It's fun. It's a very fun show to watch. I've been having a certain Kdrama drought but this show is really fun to watch. The story as stupid as it gets at points is enjoyable. The show overall is so fun when you binge it because it's more interesting to watch and its easier to put things together. Especially the second half pulls you in and I think if they utilised the action sequences and made the characters greyer the whole show would've done better.
These small solutions like reducing the main(ish) characters and making an overall more tight story the show could've easily been one of the best shows. I think the ending is really what made me happy. Especially how nicely tied everything is for how messy the story was. I think for me the ending was what made the story worthwhile the most yet there were other things.
In a short review of the story, it would go like:
TKEM is an enjoyable show with numerous plot inconsistencies yet is fun and worth watching. If you watch it while it airs the show is disappointing but if you're watching it casually the show is fun and engaging. Overall, I would recommend you to watch the show if you're looking for something enjoyable.
Starting the review on a sour note may not be the best of ideas however this will give you a better understanding of why I rated the drama so high (at least for the review). So going back to the review, when I rewatched it, (I wasn't looking forward to watching it) but when I did something just clicked. The show that was so hard and complicated to watch while it was airing finally made sense. It was just an enjoyable and fun show.
The show has several plot inconsistencies and many plot holes if you paid attention. Yet it's enjoyable and fun which is the main criteria for rating dramas. However, there are so many better directions this show could've gone and the duo roles were complicated and hard to know. While some were obvious solutions others weren't. I think the greatest flaw of this drama is the Parallel Worlds story itself.
The story is often too complicated and fails to capture audiences eyes until the second half. It's quite confusing and often irritating to watch. The science in the show is quite basic and didn't give a very complicated air to it. The writer bit off more than it could chew with the story. Thus causing certain parts of the story to look laughable. The story's main fault was definitely that it lacks focus and adds too many characters.
The acting wasn't flawless but rather satisfactory. LMH at first is unconvincing as a king yet in the latter episodes when they have to show a more ruthless side shows a charismatic performance. Do I think he was perfect in the role? No. However was he bad? Not really. He displayed his acting well and with this role showed some great performances. Yet like both the leads, he lacked in carrying this show as Lead.
KGE is also pretty good in this role. She delivers her performance well and even though this wasn't her best role it is still a good one. WDH is also good though lacks screentime however when he is there he captures the screen fully and to best of his abilities. He was also the only character who played a double role throughout and does it well. KKN is equally good though he gets even less screentime as we've seen KKN is a great actor and is wonderful in whatever he does.
LJJ is wonderful as a villain yet as many of these characters he also doesn't have enough screentime though he's the main villain. His story is interesting and can be expanded yet isn't like many of the characters. I firmly believe that the writing was more at fault than any other aspect of the show. As the messiness of the writing caused the drama to underperform (at least to what it was expected to get).
Now here's the main reason why this show is worth watching. It's fun. It's a very fun show to watch. I've been having a certain Kdrama drought but this show is really fun to watch. The story as stupid as it gets at points is enjoyable. The show overall is so fun when you binge it because it's more interesting to watch and its easier to put things together. Especially the second half pulls you in and I think if they utilised the action sequences and made the characters greyer the whole show would've done better.
These small solutions like reducing the main(ish) characters and making an overall more tight story the show could've easily been one of the best shows. I think the ending is really what made me happy. Especially how nicely tied everything is for how messy the story was. I think for me the ending was what made the story worthwhile the most yet there were other things.
In a short review of the story, it would go like:
TKEM is an enjoyable show with numerous plot inconsistencies yet is fun and worth watching. If you watch it while it airs the show is disappointing but if you're watching it casually the show is fun and engaging. Overall, I would recommend you to watch the show if you're looking for something enjoyable.
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