Romance draggy but the rest is terrific

The problem with the romance for me was the middle section. All emotional development stalled as they continued to lie to one another. The editors seemed to know it as we constantly had flashbacks, which were not needed when there was actual forward motion in the relationship.But everything else was terrific. The women especially. The king's slow disintegration, the cost of chasing power over morals, ethics, and relationships. And Neungyang was equally terrific, handsome but bland through the first ten eps, then fascinatingly complex. Not quite a sociopath--he clearly deeply cared about Dong Hoo--but following the king's path. And at the end, he sits alone on the throne smiling, though he has lost emotional connection; he can't quite see the sorry future ahead. (In history, he will suffer invasion, and eventually lose his throne, too.)Great humor, beautiful cinematography, and I could have watched an entire ep of Nokdu doing the fan dance. He was absolutely terrific, convincing as a woman.

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Clever

While it's not as breathtakingly clever and witty as JOY OF LIFE, it was a great deal of fun. The male lead is particularly good. The older actors deft, and it seemed they were having a great time.The story has plenty of twists and turns, sometimes popping briefly out for meta, and other times thoroughly deconstructing the hoary old cliche of couples forming a bond while little kids, and then staying true until adulthood, refusing to marry anyone else.One case is disastrous, another painful, and one . . . forgotten. There were a few falters--while the two actors playing the secondary leads were excellent, some of their scenes tended to drag, but I blame the screenwriters for the lag and the repetitive emotional beats.Other than that I loved it, and have marked it among those few I plan to rewatch.

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