This young actress killed it.

This young actress killed it. She carried the entire show on her back along with her way in over his head kidnapper. Their pseudo father-daughter relationship on screen is awkward, funny, and endearing, despite the unfortunate circumstances that have brought them to their current situation. Since the new family dynamic was the focus of the earlier episodes, I found the beginning more enjoyable than the latter half, as the big mystery of the show naturally started taking over.

The show's central mystery of who did what to whom, which landed our fugitive duo in their predicament, is intriguing but ultimately unoriginal. The gradual revelation of a single crime scene and the events that transpired can become somewhat repetitive; however, it still managed to hold my attention. Fortunately, this series consists of only 12 episodes.

The bad guy is comically… a rich villain stereotype—something you've seen countless times before. In contrast, the other villain who works under him and handles all the dirty work is surprisingly decent. I found myself liking him because, deep down, he is actually a softie.

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Ok, just like other shows like it...

In another timeline, I would have enjoyed this more. When you've seen a handful of historical time period kdrama, this genre starts to become, for a lack of a better word, "samey." Maybe If I had watched this earlier than other historical kdramas, I would have loved it more; sadly, that's not the case. At a whopping 30 episodes, this was needlessly long. I think I got the point 2 episodes in. "Slavery bad." Good, I got it; let's move on. Another bad and abusive king? No way! You don't say; I would have never expected it! A lowly peasant boy rises up to said bad king? Shocked! Yeah, it's predictable. For me, the romance was the only thing holding my interest, but it too is slow and sparsely spread out.

The visuals leave much to be desired, even for something from 2017. It looks unironically old. That and VIKI's compression is horrendous. The battles are slightly laughable when MC displays his strength. It looks cheap and tacky.

One last point that really irked me was that the initial 5 minutes of the show are HEAVY spoilers. Like, who thought that was a good idea? Ruined the impact when the show got back to those initial scenes 20 episodes later.

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So so...

This show… is fine. I only watched it to check it off my imaginary to watch list of old shows featuring actors and actresses I like (IU and Kim Soo-hyun). Surprisingly, it worked out well. With lowish ratings, I approached it with no expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by the direction of the primary romance. It caught me off guard. Sure, the male lead is a bit of a bonehead, socially inept, and often leaves you wondering how he even got to this point, but he does have his charming moments, and I eventually changed my opinion about his character.

The drama surrounding IU is whatever. I don’t think she’s written particularly well to begin with.

The storyline involving ML's unsuccessful show is rather unremarkable.

Look, this show has low ratings for a reason. There wasn't much that compelled me to hit the play button to the next episode. For me, the romance was the only thing holding my interest, and even then you know there’s no shot between them.

Other than that, my favorite thing about this show is the side character Nam Kyung plays. She stands out visually with the outfits they have her wearing, and despite her limited screen time, I found her moments to be the funniest thing about this show.

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All over the place...

This show is all over the place. First of all, at no point in time throughout these 10 episodes did I even for a single second feel as though female lead (FL) and male lead (ML) were right for each other. What a weird pairing. Despite that though, FL can act. She has a wide range of emotions in a sea of stiff performances from everyone else. ML has his moments too that made me change my opinion on him for the positive, but I feel this couple pairing felt too forced.

Second, the young antagonist is comically cringe worthy. What is this acting? Holy, it’s bad. And this boy be a freak! He nasty! It doesn’t make it better he looks dangerously young. And the story has the audacity to give him a redemption arc. Furthermore, all the scenes that revolve around his business are awful - awful concept, awful music, and awful visuals.

Third, there’s a range of random characters thrown into this show. Cosplayer girl, while very cute with her different cosplays and general acting, is such a weird addition to the show. Truth be told though, since this show is kind of bad, I didn’t really mind her presence. Even with her limited screen time she spices things up visually. Then there is bike boy… This part of the show was an insane miss. Did not care, this entire plot line should have been deleted from the script.

Lastly, I think the only unique thing this show has to offer is the whole realm of highly professional flower arrangements. Although it is an intriguing concept to center a show around, it’s just not for me. While the show does a good job of opening up this world to me for the first time, I didn’t find it all practically interesting and felt more disbelief regarding how this could be such a big thing in the first place. How should I say it, it’s very Japanese.

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The fast-forward button was my friend...

Your enjoyment of this show will largely depend on your tolerance for the weaselly little rat that is the female lead’s father. He is the primary reason for the show’s unnecessarily lengthy 52-episode count. He is insufferable, and you’ll quickly realize why. I was astonished by how he manages to insert himself into conflicts that do not concern him. The character is written in such a one-dimensional way that his actions will make you angry again and again. With 52 episodes I gave him a chance and was hopeful, this was a mistake.

It reached a point where I was primarily invested in the main storyline involving the male and female leads and their daughter, and the challenges they faced together. It was truly touching. I mean, how difficult can it be to plop a sad little girl on screen and not make you root for her and her parents?

Everything else began to feel overwhelming. The intertwining drama among the three families started to become too much. There are other relationships a plenty, but I reached a point where I no longer cared. The fast-forward button became my friend to the finish line because I just had to know how everything ended without dropping the show. I was satisfied with the ending, but it wasn’t easy to reach.

Otherwise, it’s acted well enough. The visuals appear somewhat dated as I am watching this in 2024 and K-drama visuals have come a long way.

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