I feel like I can speak for many people when I say that after the last half hour or so of the last episode, this drama went from a 10 to an 8 to me. The ending is going to be what makes or breaks the drama for a lot of people, so that's my focus with this review.

Before that, I want to take a moment to commend the show on everything that it did right. The first 19 episodes were fresh, new and exciting, with an amazing supporting cast and one of the best FL I've ever seen in a k-drama. Of course, the FL was playing a male character, at least partially, so that perhaps could have influenced the writing for the character to be different from the average FL. There's a lot of messy business in there that I don't think I'm qualified to talk about, so I'll just say that the actress did a phenomenal job playing BH's character and I enjoyed her performance immensely. The leads had great chemistry, the humour was on point, and for those first 19 episodes, the only thing that didn't quite keep my attention was the politics which, unlike the fresh take on everything else that the drama had going for it, remained as stale and predictable as any other Joseon drama.

Then the ending happened. Then BH returned to the present, SY seamlessly took his place as queen, and they made an attempt at happily ever after. And that's where the drama lost its spark for me. There are a lot of nuances in the relationship between SY and BH, and sorting through it makes the ending really difficult to argue with. It's made clear that BH is being influenced by SY's feelings for CJ. It's SY's love for the king that causes BH to be drawn to him, so using that logic, it makes perfect sense that SY would stay with the king in the end. Even knowing that I'm left unsatisfied. Over 19 hours of this drama were spent watching BH and CJ interact and a lot of the interactions that stand out most to me were conversations they had that SY never could have had - their constant back-and-forth over BH's slang terminology and the moral conduct that he carried out while in SY's place are some of the best examples. BH's cooking knowledge, as well, is what helped the king get through the festival. SY would not have been able to do so because she lacks BH's experience. And that's just it--the king was charmed by him, by BH's quirks and strange behaviour. Without BH carrying their relationship on his back, SY would not have gotten her happy ending even if it was her who woke up after falling into the lake.

So what we're left with is a main character who does all of the work and gets booted back to his time so that the girl whose body he's been possessing takes all the credit. And I know I should have expected as much - I DID expect as much, right from the moment the drama started - but that doesn't make it any less sour. We've seen this done before, and despite a few years having passed since the last one that I recall, having two male characters in love on a major network, even when one has practically fused with the queen, isn't going to slide. I get it, I understand.

What really got me, though, was how little BH seemed to matter after returning to his time. Despite being the entire focus of the last 19 episodes, when he returns to his body he's only given a few brief scenes that serve entirely to explain the plot that's going on in Joseon. The characters of the past got some fluff scenes, some cute, happy moments, but his screen time was just: wake up-->run away-->find out what happened to CJ-->find out he's in the clear now-->smile while talking about his newfound morality. On the surface, it seems fine. But the more I think about it, the more it doesn't sit well. He spent months with those characters and whether influenced by SY or not, he fell for the king. Then, instead of showing any bittersweet emotions, he just moves on. At least it looks like he moves on. We aren't really given any time to see him process it all. This is the character we followed from the start but he became a side piece in his own story in the last episode, and that's sad to me.

I did like the ending. Well, the other aspects of it. I like the punishment for the antagonists, I like the happy little moments with the side characters and, as always, Court Lady Choi is a blessing. So really, I don't think it's bad writing that left me feeling this way but bad choices. So while I wanted to give it a 7.5 because of how disappointed I was, I did take a moment to look back at the other 19 episodes and all the joy they brought me. Even if the destination is less than desired, the journey was a breath of fresh air for historical dramas. It was like nothing before it and every moment until now was funny and exciting with amazing actors and a music score that perfectly suited the mood. I can't deny that, and I'm still happy to have watched it. I won't punish the whole show for one episode.

But to me, this ending is bittersweet. Seeing BH smile and cry while looking at the king's portrait and knowing that the king feels that something is missing after BH's disappearance, never knowing who BH was or where he really came from and never fully believing the stories that he heard, it's sad. If not to the writers then at least to me, they were in love and this was their story. And I wouldn't have it any other way.