The drama has an intriguing premise and a strong cast but sadly the execution is weak and unexpectedly
amateurish.
The most problematic part for me is that the drama fails to establish both the characters and the
relationships between them. The main leads are a South Korean prince (Lee Seung Gi) and a North
Korean special forces female officer (Ha Ji Won). It sounds promising but in fact not enough thought or
effort has been put into developing the characters and they come off as shallow and are really hard to
emphasize with. Especially the Fl faking the North Korean accent and acting cute and naïve look so lame to the
point it is impossible to take her seriously. I actually like the actress but the character she portrays here
is just not written well.
The prince is an equally underdeveloped character. When in the beginning he is spoilt and utterly
disrespectful to everybody else it looks convincing. Further on the supposed transformation into caring
and less selfish person is not explored enough and lacks subtlety. By the final episodes he does get
somewhat better and more defined but it is already too late. The romance line between the leads is no
better. Instead of showing how they gradually start to appreciate and fall for each other despite initial
distrust and differences the drama has two random people spending many weeks humiliating and
harming each other in all possible ways. Then suddenly she is deeply in love and ready to marry the guy
who did nothing but played cruel jokes on her. And what the prince feels is not even possible to
determine. They have almost zero scenes showing the growing affection or even mere attraction. They
even communicate smoothly only under influence of alcohol. Sure by the ending episodes there is some
glimpse of the feelings but not much. Besides the scriptwriter seems not to know how to use dialogues
because they all make little sense and add nothing to the characterization.
The second couple is definitely preferable to the main one though their relationship also is not given
enough time and effort. Nevertheless Jo Jung Suk does a truly great job portraying his character’s shy
but loyal and staunch personality. His quiet undemanding love for the beautiful, vulnerable and
impulsive princess (Lee Yoon Ji) is so endearing and sweet. Jo Jung Suk’s amazing performance is the
only really good thing the drama has to offer. If only more screen time and better dialogues would be
given to their story instead of the silly military tournament or the ridiculous antagonist. The couple’s
ending is a heavy blow and such an infuriatingly unnecessary drama for the sake of drama that my blood
still boils at the thought of it.
Now to the plot. It has little logic or sense. What is the reasoning behind marrying the only male heir of
the South Korean royal family to a random North Korean woman who is in the military on top of that? It
is never properly explained. And how dumb and careless the king can be to trespass into the North
Korea just to get his woman back after they had an argument? Or to make his engagement depend on
the success of the Korean team at the military tournament?
The antagonist is a joke and not threatening at all. What he is supposed to be with all his magical tricks
and sick humor? A Korean Joker or something? His “American” sidekicks are doubly cringe worthy. The
drama is evidently trying to show how an evil transnational corporation is gaining power over the
governments but it is done in extremely awkward and simplistic way.
I would hardly recommend the drama to anyone as it is mediocre in almost everything from script
to directing, even good acting (and good looks) of the cast can not redeem it.