Easily the best historical drama I've watched

If I could give this drama more stars than 10, I would. At first I was hesitant to watch this drama because I was only familiar with Yang Se Jong (out of the main cast) at the time it aired and I'm not the hugest fan of historical dramas. But after I had seen dramas with Jang Hyuk and Woo Do Hwan, I decided to give this another go in 2020. I was so glad I did.

While viewing this drama, I felt as though it had a very modern feel to it, despite the fact that it was set way back in history. The soundtrack and the beautifully shot action scenes is what drew me in to the drama. I also loved the wardrobe, and the color scheme of red and blue to show the different sides of the main characters. This drama ultimately excelled because of its casting which I felt like was tailor made for the characters in the drama. Each actor did such an amazing job at bringing their character to life. The two actors who stood out the most to me were Jang Hyuk and Ahn Nae Sang. Jang Hyuk played the charismatic and power hungry prince. I was always torn between loving him and hating him. Ahn Nae Sang played the despicable father to Woo Do Hwan's character, Nam Seon Ho. He really captivated the screen in all of his scenes.

As a Woo Do Hwan fan, I have to say he killed it in this drama. Although I paid attention to some of the other characters more, I still loved his performance and appreciated the purpose Seon-ho had in the story. Nam Seon Ho is probably my favorite role of his because of the multitude of emotions he was able to show with sometimes just his eyes.

While the plot revolved around Yi Bang Won scheming to take the throne, I believe that this drama was ultimately all about relationships, which is why I loved the story so much. There were so many connections that were showcased throughout this drama: father-son, friend-friend, boyfriend-girlfriend, brother-sister, king-subjects. I usually watch dramas for entertainment, so they rarely make me stop and think about my life. However, My Country left a huge impact on me. Each character had their own vision of what "their country" was to them, on a more literal level, and on a more philosophical level. This drama caused me slow down for a moment and take a moment to step back and breathe. I never had cried so much while watching a drama. This drama is not for the faint of heart, so have your tissues ready.

Note: There were some drawbacks to the drama. I was disappointed in Seolhyun's character, Hui-jae. I felt like she was underutilized and spent most of the drama worrying about Seo Hwi. In the beginning, I felt like she was doing everything because of Hwi and didn't have any of her own ambitions or desires. Luckily she transformed when she became allied with the Queen. Her best moments were when she was defending Ihwaru as well as carrying out her duties as the head lady. Despite all of that, I wish her character had more to add because I felt like a lot of her story happened off screen. Another thing that didn't make sense was the fact that the characters suffered grave wounds but were seemingly fine the next day. For me, this was just a detail issue rather than a weakness of the plot. Lastly, some of the time skips seemed abrupt because some moments were missing that caused me confusion for part of the episodes. For example, the queen had died during a time skip but it wasn't really fully explained until a little later.

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